Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 10/13/25

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

Brough and guest host Jamie Dodd look back at a busy weekend in sports, including a Game 1 ALCS Blue Jays loss to the Mariners and a Canucks dud versus the Oilers, plus they look ahead to tonight's 'Nucks matchup versus the Blues with NHL.com & In Goal Magazine's Kevin Woodley. 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. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Randy is there to make the catch. The Mariners win it three to one, and they take the opening game of this best of seven American League championship series. Darnold has time. Going to let it fly. J.S.N. is out there. J.S.N. has it. Put down. Seahawks. We are so strong physically, so I trust this team. I love this team, and we will go for it. Good morning. Welcome to Halford and Brough here on Sportsnet 650. Happy Thanksgiving

to everyone tuning in an hour later than normal. That's one of the differences on the show today. And other differences, I am not Mike Alford. I'm Jamie Dodd filling in for Mike Alford. It's like a really easy game. You know those like spot and differences pictures? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The kids get a really simple version of that. Well, I'm glad to have you in. I love those pictures, by the way. Happy Thanksgiving to you, Jamie. Happy Thanksgiving, A-Dog. Good morning. How are you, buddy? Good morning. I'm very full on Turkey. You are? You had it yesterday or was it still full from, yeah. I had mine on Friday night. Oh, wow. I had a busy weekend. Oh, okay.

I had Friday and Sunday. You have like a Friday warm-up? Yeah. So two Thanksgiving dinners. I've never, until this moment, I've never heard of anyone having Thanksgiving dinner on the Friday night. It was a Thanksgiving warm-up dinner. Yeah. It was an exhibition game.

Yeah, exactly. Just to make sure I was ready for Sunday. Laddie, good morning. Happy Thanksgiving. How are you, buddy? Hello, hello. Good morning. Okay.

We'll talk about your Blue Jays soon. No, we won't. There will be no Blue Jays discussion. We sure will. We'll text Ben and be like, no, I don't need to come on. Never mind. I think you should. Gladdy's sad. Don't come on. We are broadcasting live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics,

working together with you in step. 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Dumbarlumber.com. Halvard and Brough, 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 sands dash trustee.com and this hour of the show brought to you by jason dot mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find

the perfect mortgage for you. That's jason. So it's an abbreviated show today, but it was a very, very busy and eventful sports weekend for fans locally around the landscape as well, of course, with the Canucks playing, the Jays and the Mariners getting going, the LCS, the White Caps, full NFL Sunday, the Canucks play again today. So there's going to be a lot to get into. On the show today, the guest list, Ben Nicholson Smith joins us at 730 live from Toronto.

Of course, Sportsnet, Blue Jays insider to talk about game one, what we saw yesterday. And they're right back at it today in not that long, about I think, seven hours, if my math is correct. So we'll get the preview on game two as well from Ben Nicholson Smith. At 8 o'clock, we will chat to Kevin Woodley from NHL.com and in Gull. magazine about Thatcher Dempco's incredible, albeit futile performance on Saturday for the Canucks and what that might mean

going forward. Hoffer would be like, a loss is a loss. That's how I judge goalies. Does he have an L or a W and Demko? I guess he just wasn't good enough. That was my main complaint about the Canucks. Great goalies find a way. That's exactly right. He should have kept all of those goals

out. So Kevin Woodley at 8, Ben Nicholson Smith at 730, and of course we will do what we learned as usual. at 830 as well so you can start sending those texts in hashtag WWL what you've learned in the last 72 hours in sports over the weekend so that's what's coming up but before we do that laddie 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'm we know how busy your life can be what happened is that you missed that 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.ca.ca.a. And Laddie, I apologize, but we will start in the ALCS where the Mariners took game one in Toronto over the Blue Jays. 3-1, the final score. George Springer went deep on the first pitch of the game, but that was all the Jays would manage.

rally tied the game with a solo shot of his own in the six before Jorge Polanco drove in Julio Rodriguez for the game winning run. Game two this afternoon at two. Trey Yassavage takes the mound for the Jays against Logan Gilbert for the Mariners. So I have a I have a theory that there are some starts that are too good to be true. Sure. Okay. Okay. So my theory first started working on this theory all the way back in 1994. when I attended personally game three of the Stanley Cup final and Pavel Burray scored early in that game and it was like man we're gonna win the cup

the Canucks last that game 5-1 and Pavlovbury got thrown out of that game that felt like a too good to be true moment by George Springer first batter first pitch Homer everyone's like this is gonna be like the Yankee series it's gonna be party time again at the Rogers Center. I wonder what the odds would have been at that time that that would be the only run the Jay's score

and that they'd only get one more hit. That's the most amazing. One more hit after that. And it was the home run is obviously the headline, of course. I mean, first pitch of the ALCS, that's incredible. As you said, a dream star. You literally cannot start any better than that. But then Nathan Lucas follows it up in the two-hole with a really impressive, I think it was a 10-pitch walk.

So all of a sudden, Bryce Miller, who is the least impressive of Seattle starters, has thrown 11 pitches without getting it out. A couple of hard-hit balls that go for outs in that inning, but you still think, all right, they're driving the ball, they're seeing it, they're getting contact. Another walk, I think he threw 25 pitches in the first inning. That's the ideal game script for the Js, right? They're coming off that 15-inning game where they had to use a ton of pitchers to advance. over the Tigers on Friday and you think hey if we can get to them if we can chase this guy early get into the bullpen this could snowball 25 pitches in the first inning that's an incredible start and then they couldn't replicate that at all for the rest of the game it was like a lot of sub 10

pitch innings from that point on why do you think why do you think that was do you just have to you got to tip your cap yeah I mean to Bryce Miller because that's what the jays were kind of saying afterwards they were like yeah he pitched well yeah what are you going to do and I also think it is from my perspective as a Jay's fan a little bit of the the concerns I had about this team going into the postseason coming to bear because the whole like hey we're going to put the ball

and play a ton thing that can work and when we saw it works against the Yankees we've seen it work and you know throughout the regular season but I think you're also prone to games like this where it's like just a lot of quick outs right and like oh hey I'm going to try and swing and put the ball in play and that was the ground ball to the short stuff

and they didn't boot it away they made the light oh that was a can of corn right there and so I think you're, when you don't have the most power necessarily or your identity is, yeah, we're going to put the ball in play a lot, it can work, but I think this is kind of the flip side and the downside of it. Feels like a real blown opportunity by the Jays. Full credit to the Mariners. I know a lot of you listening right now are are cheering for the Mariners. The Mariners who had to go 15 innings on Friday to eliminate the Detroit Tigers in one of the best postseason baseball. games I've ever watched and I'm sitting there watching it and I was very happy that the Mariners were able to get it done because I'm kind of agnostic on this series like I'm you know I was I was saying last last week like I kind of got over the hump with the jays in the 90s right and

so now I I'm happy if they win if they get to the ALCS that's great but I'm also frankly happy if the Mariners make their first ever appearance in the world series I know that's a very un-jason-bruff-like opinion to not have like one thing that I'm rooting for. It was tearing the market apart this weekend. Oh, my God. What a fascinating debate, too. A lot of new, fresh opinions there. Yeah, how about, cheer for the team you like.

Just don't apologize for it. So that was an unbelievable game. And it was both incredible but also infuriating. If you were a fan, I would say, of either team of the Tigers and the Mariners, because you're like, how have we not won this? Some of the missed opportunities. I mean, the pitching was at the same time incredible. That Flaherty guy that came on for the Tigers,

he fell behind every at bat. It was like three and one. It's like, here it is. Nope, it's not. All he throws is curveballs. Yeah. It's like, they're missing the zone. And he's like, okay.

And he's out there talking to himself. And it's like, I guess he's saying time to lock in. And then he would strike the guy out or get the out. The Mariners pitching was amazing too. It was like not, was there a fastball thrown? No. It was like Splitter. Splitter. It was incredible theater to watch. They get it done. And then I'm thinking, man, the turnaround time for these guys. Like, did they even have time to tape up the room afterwards and party? Like, did they have the same. But I don't know. Probably wasn't as late theater as wild. They're like, you got 10 minutes to drink some bud lights and then we're on the plane to Toronto. I did see they were scheduled to leave that night. And I think they postponed it until the next morning for that reason. But you speak about two big. too good to be true for a from a jays perspective that's what that game felt like the 15 inning one right because you're like this this could not script better they're bringing in starters they're burning

arms and that's why game one felt like such an opportunity and such a now missed opportunity for the jays by the way on the 15 inning game i did i saw someone put out on social media because of course they don't use the ghost runner uh which they use in the regular season you start start every extra inning with a runner on second but as somebody said they're like these teams are like manually observing that rule because every inning they're threatening but they're still not scoring. Yeah, it's crazy.

Yeah, we don't have the ghost runner rule but there's a runner in scoring position every half inning here. That just didn't matter. That is pretty good. Just a quick note and we'll talk we're going to talk to Ben Nicholson Smith and we'll get more on the Blue Jays

from him. J. Dogg the Carthog Texan. That was a game Beau Bichette would have won for the Jays, not having him will prevent them from moving on. Well, I mean, I don't know about that last part, but it sure would be nice to have Bo Bichette in the lineup, considering at times this year for most of the year?

He was their best hitter. Yeah. Or certainly, I don't want to say best necessarily because George Springer, but he was a great hitter. He had a great year, and this text comes in from Nathan Richmond. I cry a little every time Kirk comes up in a big spot when it should be Bo. And in the postseason, typically Bo was hitting in the number four spot. It's kind of been either Kirk or Addison Barger.

And I like both hitters. Kirk hasn't had the most impressive. Like his numbers aren't terrible, but there's been some moments where it's like, yeah, as Nate and Richmond says, I would much prefer having Bo Bichette here. Okay. Let's move on to the Canucks who are going to play today, by the way. Is that a, what's the start time? 430.

What's that start time on that? 430. They're hosting the St. Louis Blues. so a special Thanksgiving start time. If you're going to the game, if you got tickets or you want to watch it, remember, 4.30 start time. Don't show up at 7.

Everyone will be leaving. Well, it's weird because a lot of people do work on Thanksgiving Monday, right? Like, I mean, we're in here working, but there are there going to be people working on Thanksgiving. So just a reminder, it's a 4.30 start, and the Canucks will probably be looking forward to getting back on the ice and having a game because Saturday in Edmonton, they got dominated.

There is one positive to draw, from that game and it was that Thatcher Dempco was incredible for the Canucks if not for Thatcher Dempco that would have been a blowout otherwise there really wasn't much

to be encouraged by I want to play some audio from Quinn Hughes and he showed some frustration at the end of the game smashing his stick on the Canucks goal after Drysidal had put in frankly a really nice backhand play

from like the middle of the ice and put the game away. Now, I don't know if Quinn Hughes was frustrated where maybe he thought he should have been able to make a play on that puck by dry side or he was just like, that was a tough game and we just lost it. But Quinn Hughes sounded tired and pretty frustrated after the game talking about the performance by Thatcher Demko and the fact that, oh, can't rely on that to happen every game.

We better up our game a little. bit. The effort by your goalie today, just unbelievable play. Yeah, he's amazing, so definitely kept the sentence with multiple chances. Most goalies, that goes in, and it's 3-1-4-1. So, I mean, he just gives us a chance. Yeah, he's incredible, seriously. So lost in all that game was that Quinn Hughes got a point and became the leading franchise. The franchise is the leading scorer among defensemen, but he's like, yeah, he's, that was going to happen anyway. I don't really care about that.

And we only scored one goal. And, you know, the Oilers could have scored 10 on the night. I think we start with the top line because, you know, they were a concern for me in the preseason because they didn't do much five on five. And, you know, I know it's tough against the Oilers. I don't think they look very good against Calgary. I think that's fair.

So when the Canucks play today in St. Louis, or sorry, against St. Louis at home, do you rejig that top line? They haven't had to practice to try any combinations, but I think a lot of people that had watched Pedersen and Besser together over the last little while, and we'll be like, yeah, it didn't really work. And like last season, I don't think anyone was like, wow, this incredible chemistry between Pedersen and DeBrusk, and DeBrask himself said, you know, I, you know, we haven't really learned how to play together. And it was a crazy season last year, right? And we were all hoping that,

okay, fresh start, three of them together, Bessor's happy to be back, doesn't have any contract worries anymore. The Canucks have committed to him. Pedersen had this apparently great offseason. He's going to come in, clear-eyed. And it just doesn't. doesn't look very good. No. And to your question of, do we see them today together? I think we will because, as you said, they haven't had a practice in between. There's enough there, like Brock Bessers scored in both games, right? So if you want to kind of look at it through rose colored glasses, you can say, well, hey, they've scored a couple goals, you know, there's no reason to break them up right now. We're going to leave them together. I also think we don't have to play the clip here,

but if you listen to Adam Foote's post-game commentary in Edmonton on Saturday, you know, one of the things he said was, you know, we were right there in that game. We just, we could have had some moments there where if we'd executed and he didn't sound too upset with the performance. And I think that is, like Adam Foote saw what we all saw, right? They got massively out played. So I don't think he's out of his mind.

I think that's a early season tactical decision by a new head coach. He's not going to bury the team on game too. But I think part of that. mentality is, well, hey, this top line that we've been investing time in since day one of training camp, it's two games into the season. They've got two goals. Why rush to break them up? Sure. Right? So I think realistically, they're going to get a longer leash and more time. But, you know, time runs out quickly in the NHL, right? So if they lose two more games and that line isn't stacking up good shifts up five on five, then we could be having a very different

conversation next week. What are the alternatives? That's what I struggle with. You know, do you put Evander Kane up there? Well, I don't think he's looked great. No, but that's, I think that's... That's probably the one to do. That's the option, really. Yeah, yeah.

That was a good hit. Yeah, it was a nice hit. I mean, the other one, I guess, would be Connor Garland in place of Brock Bessor. I don't think that really works either. But, I mean, we talked about this in the preseason, right? Like the Canucks have two, in theory, line drivers. Pedersen and Garland.

So you want to put them together, but the problem, my guess, is if Pedersen's not. Not driving. He just seems so tentative, and it's really sad. I mean, it's, it's, I'm not, I know a lot of people expect me to come in and just be like, oh, Bruff's going to like rant and rave, like, I'm so beyond that. Yeah. I just, I just see a real, he doesn't want to be a difference maker out there. You know, when the Canucks have the goal he pulled and they're desperate for a goal,

you know, he's just, he's not moving his feet and he's just like, he doesn't, it doesn't look like he wants to make an individual play. It doesn't look like he wants to beat someone. he just wants to get the puck and move it on to a teammate. The thing that stands out for me more than anything else, and it's in all three zones, but I think it's especially noticeable in the neutral zone is when he gets the puck,

when he receives a pass or picks the puck up, almost immediately he starts gliding. And there seems to be almost no willingness or no intention to make a play with his skating. That's a confidence thing. To skate into space, to put pressure on the defense by building up some speed. and instead it's gliding and immediately looking for a pass

and that you're not going to be an impact player with that mentality. You need to be able to skate. You need to be willing to take things on. And look, I know we don't necessarily want to get dragged down a Patterson rabbit hole right now. But through two games, has he made a single play that you look at and say that's a top line center play, right?

And what I mean to that is the type of play that a number two, or number three center is not typically capable of. You know what I mean? Like where you're like oh wow, that's what separates a number one center from a number two or a number three center. He hasn't done it. And he's made a lot of like decent number two or number three center plays. But

guess what? Teddy Bluger can do that. Lots of guys can do those plays. God, they're desperate for Bluger now. I know. Honestly. Good grief. Someone takes some of those face offs, yeah. Well, it's only been two games, but Patrick Alvin has been under pressure to add a center for a while

now. I don't think Coots is ready for a full season in the NHL. And I'm not sure, like, that's not a criticism of him. He's 18 years old. This is not where he should be. He might get his nine games, but I think it would just be, I think it's better to, in your mind, keep the fact that, like, well, you shouldn't be here and he's probably not ready for this.

I'm not sure that Canucks have the right players to surround him with either. If you have if you have a guy like Coots who's still got a lot to learn in the NHL because he's 18 and has just played two games in the NHL, you know, you want to have him on a line with two dependable veterans, I think. I just don't know if they can do that. But on the other hand, there's a reason why,

well, there's two reasons why he's in the lineup right now. Number one, he's been really good, right? And he showed up and he's been mature and he's done everything that's been asked for. But let's be honest. The biggest reason is that they're like, well, our alternatives are not great. And I keep on thinking like, you know,

people are like, well, maybe Alvin, you know, if he sees at the center, he's going to make a move. I'm like, well, wouldn't he even made a move already? Like, what move is out there? Who is out there right now on the market for the Canucks to go grab? there's no one if there was

that they were excited about or they would do it or they would have already have done it and the point about the depth I mean yeah with Blugger out right now and we'll see when he gets back

it doesn't sound like it's going to be long term but if Coots wasn't in the lineup you'd have what either Max Sasson or Nealzaman as your fourth center in the lineup right now

right and Max Sasson probably more of a winger Neil Zaman doesn't really win draws doesn't do it much offensively so that would be a really tough spot to be And the Coots conversation is interesting because I think you make a good point about, okay, is it the right environment?

And it's almost there's obviously the question of is his play good enough? Can he hold up at the NHL level? That's one side of the equation. But I also think if the team is having a poor season, I'm not saying they're going to or two games in, they're one and one, whatever. But if the team is not doing well, even if Coots is playing well, you still might want to send them down, right? I remember when Alvin and Rutherford took over,

and they sent, I think Pod Coles and N. Hoaglander back down to Appletford and part of that was, well, hey, go learn some details. But part of it was, this team's a mess and we don't want you guys around it. You know what I mean? It was like a family dinner gone wrong. It was like, can you guys go to the store?

Kids go up to bed. And grab some milk and feel free to stay out for a while. The adults have something to discuss here. I've got to yell at your father for a little bit. Yeah. And it was, so there's almost that element of, well, how's the environment? and whether or independent of how Coots is playing.

Like Coots might be playing really well. But if the team is losing and the team is not a good environment, it's like just go back and have some fun at Junior. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Welcome back to Halford and Brough here, Sportsnet 650. Jamie Dodd here filling in for Mike Halford, who's off. He'll be back tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Thank you for listening. Halford and Brough 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 sands-trustee.com. We are coming to live from the Kintech studio, Kintech Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you and step. I realized I did the Kintech read off the top of the show. I felt bad. I wanted to make sure you had a chance to get it in there. I actually made a complaint to H.R. I will not be doing the show again. That's the final straw.

650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. It's Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Dunbar Lumber. dot com and we're doing what we're doing what we learned coming up at 830 so send your what we learned submissions in hashtag w wl what you've learned in the last 72 hours in the world of sports but now joining us from nchl.com and ingol magazine he has a presentation of white rock hunday he is kevin woodley woodley thanks for doing this happy thanksgiving how are you i'm good i'm you know what i'm really looking forward to this week but beyond the kinnock's game today but that's taking the little white rock hunday electric kona down Seattle. Now I know it makes it there and back because I was there when the Mariners

clinched a playoff spot against Colorado and I'll be back this week against the Blue Jay. So that's what I'm looking for to this week. Which game are you on there, buddy? Game 5 on Friday. Oh, nice. Hey, if they're going to be a game for you on Friday on Friday? I'm just, I'm not one of those guys. I just hope both needs to have fun. Well, you, you must be rooting for at least one Jay's win though. It's so you get to go to that game. That's true. That's true. That's true. Although that's a tough route for me. That's tough. Listen, like, and I I'm not going to be one of these, like, I grew up here. I grew up a Mariners fan, all those things.

So I grew up playing ball at the Mariners Single A, what was the Mariners Single A stadium in Bellingham, Joe Martin. So those ties run deep back to the kingdom and Griffey and Buehner and all those things. So I'm looking forward to it. It's been a long time coming way overdue. And I think it's going to be a hell of a series. And, yeah, to get to be there in person, the night they clinched atmosphere was elected.

and I'm looking forward to soaking that in again. Although Friday night took a few years off my left. No kidding. That was so awesome, though. That was such an incredible baseball game. What were your thoughts during the game? Woods?

It was like, could you believe that each team strand? How many runners did they strand in the next year? It was insane. And again, like, I'm old school. All I'm thinking the whole time was like, does nobody know how to play small ball anymore? Yeah, yeah. I texted

I know they told because like nobody even hits 300 anywhere like this is a totally different era than what I grew up cheering so but yeah

there was a little it was infuriating at times that they couldn't you know convert on some of the opportunities but at the end of the day it all worked out so I was texting with Ferraro

during the game because we were both like in disbelief and I texted him I said trail would have won by now and he said yeah we knew how had a bunt

right fundamentals they taught that back then okay Ray would have run a squeeze play at home all right let's talk about the Canucks game on Saturday before we get

today's to today's game against the blues Thatcher Demko he was the big positive for the Canucks there but I guess what stood out is he was the only positive for the Canucks yeah but let's like let's not

skip over how positive it was right and I'm somebody who when you look at the patterns, I got last year wrong for sure. He had a history of coming back from injury being really good, but I overlooked just how significant the

time off was and the fact that he got no training time in the summer and I got that one totally wrong. But looking back at it, going into this year, and I get to say it because I said it in the summer, the pattern is when he has a healthy off season, like every second year. Like he's got a, what, 64

or 61 game and a 51 game season. Like when he has a healthy off season, he puts up, you know, number one numbers in terms of starts. The only question left is sort of getting him through that season to the end healthy and into the playoffs. But the performance is there in those years as well, right? So I'm not surprised by it. There are some nice little subtle tweaks, very subtle tweaks that I think might be designed towards longevity and a little less impact going in and out of the post at times. Yet he looks explosive. He looks under control. Like there's so much to like.

about his game right now, and that is a massive positive. But you're right. Two games in, there aren't a ton around that. Yeah, and I saw your tweet over the weekend, Woodley, about, you know, yes, it looked bad offensively against the Oilers, but even if you get past the 5-1 score against the flames in game one, and you dig into the ClearSight analytics numbers that you have access to, that wasn't a particularly impressive offensive performance either. What stands out, I know it's just through two games, right? So it's small sample size and then some here. But what stands out to you about

the Canucks' offensive profiles so far early in the season? Yeah, there's just, there's not a lot of there there. Yeah. And listen, like Brock Bessor's goal in game one doesn't go down as a

high danger chance, but that's a positive, right? Like, Brock walking confidently into that shot. Like, that's a clear-sided shot. Wolf is set and square, Brock just beats him clean, right? And whether that's Dustin Wolfe at the end of back-to-back games and whether that was a smart move by the flames or whatever, like that's just, that's Brock Bester beating a really good goalie clean just under the bar.

So that's a positive even if it doesn't show up in the statistics when we're looking for more high danger chances as a positive. So you got to put an asterisk behind that a little bit. They end up scoring five goals, but that was definitely not Dustin Wolf at his best. and when you look at the profile of that game again like under two it's like these are these sort of match up with a lot of what we saw last year where they're not generating even two goals worth of expected offense and you know not even not a single high danger against Edmonton like again it's it's pretty much just a goalie giving up a bad one's the only reason they get back in that game early in the third period and yet for a moment there they were right so and it's two games in and there's a lot of system changes that are going on here and it's it's not preseason anymore, right? Like, and it's, and the other team is going to try and prevent you from doing the things they've identified you trying to do during the preseason and heard talk about.

I just, I'm not, I'm not willing to go as far as some people did it responding to my tweet showing those numbers yesterday. Um, from a negative standpoint, like I'm willing to give it time, but, you know, at the same time, like there's a little bit of sort of, you know, the hype that surrounded the rush chances in the preseason and training camp last year sort of there feels like there's some of that in this you know regular season versus preseason results so we'll see we'll see whether whether the changes they make with the personnel they have start to have traction at the offensive end adam foot said they just missed opportunities right there were chances there they didn't

execute on them um he saw multiple odd man rushes that were there if they could hit and they just didn't hit and that's fair but we heard that a lot in the past like the chances being there and the team just not executing on them. So at some point they're going to have to start to because this underlying profile is not one that, well, I should say, it's not one that is typically going to lead to success. But again, it's two games.

What's going to let you do is do what they did against Calgary. It's going to let you beat up on what might be just a bad team. But against the team like Edmonton, the class of the conference, arguably, the discrepancy was shown in what they are and what you are, at least at this point of the season. Lankinen starts today, right? I don't know.

I'm really curious to see what Adam Foote tells us at 1 o'clock. They canceled their scheduled practice yesterday, which I don't think was a surprise to anyone. I mean, they didn't have Rogers. I think there was a concert there last night too anyway, so it would have been that much more hectic. And so did the Blues. So I don't know who starts for either team.

I'm assuming it's Bendington, as good as Holfer was in Calgary. And I'm with you. Like, if the target is 50, that is one of every three at Kevin Lerner. Lankening gets you 54 starts for Thatcher Dempcld. Like that's two thirds of a season. So this is where you have to avoid temptation.

If the plan was, and I don't know if this was the plan or not, because they are off till Thursday before they go on the road and go back to back. Like there's a gap here. There's time to recover. And three in a row is not the end of the world. But it's not a pattern that gets you to 54 starts. And if the plan was for Lankin to start today all along, then I sure hope they stick with it. and avoid the temptations that they've fallen into in the past

where it's like, wow, Thatcher was so good, we've got to go back with them, right? Like, again, I do think you can make an argument for the year, you know, two years ago when he was a Vesna finalist, like the injury that ultimately ended his season, and he tries to come back from it, and that leads to the complications that carry over into the next season. You don't have to look far.

Like, they played him at a 65-game pace from the All-Star game on, and there was just no need for it. They had a healthy cushion. They just felt like they weren't getting saves at the time from Casey to Smith or the saves they could get from that Trudemico and they kept running them out there. You have to avoid that temptation this year, especially if he's going to play like he did on Saturday night, which is, you know, the type of performance that will get you right back in that,

that Olympic conversation. And that makes managing the minutes all that much more important. Yeah, it feels like a bit of a litmus test, the decision on the starter today, right? Because why are you paying Lankton if you're not going to put him in in moments like this, especially. There's no way they're not starting Lankton. I'd be shocked. Well, the next game is Dallas, right? So you're, you're going to play Demko there, presumably. So if you don't get Lankton in here, it's four games off the start of the season. And as you said, look, four games, if Demko plays four games in a row at some point in the year, it's not the end of the world, obviously. But don't you need to send a statement about how, hey, this is how we're going to manage our goalies right here. Yeah. And again, like if the, I guess it isn't a stated goal, but reported goal of sort of 50-ish starts, that's, that's two out of every three. started the first two this is the third and while I don't think it's an absolute

I'm kind of with breath on this I gotta think it's Lankening and it's just this is just the way you have to roll this is why you have them you're right like again it's it's avoiding the temptation of that was an otherworldly performance on Saturday night we want one of those

we want to get off to a good start and be two and one like that's the temptation but you know what Kevin Lankin was the best goalie in the national hockey league for the first month and a half of last season so not letting that guy sit and rust for too long is also part of this plan so I would expect it's Lankan and tonight

we'll have to wait and see when Adam Wood speaks to the media here at 1 o'clock today what did you think about Calgary's decision to go back to back with Dustin Wolf didn't love it not even so much as the back to back I didn't even hate it from the back to back standpoint even though he wasn't sort of what we're used to seeing

like that wasn't a vintage dust and wolf performance. You know, guys can survive back to back. Guys can actually thrive in the second end of back to back. They get in a rhythm, they feel good. At the start of the season, you're thinking you might have an edge because you've got a game under your belt. You've sort of felt that timing, that sort of, you know, live action, trying to find pucks through all those 10 bodies,

the intensity of traffic in the regular season. Maybe it's an advantage you have if you're Calgary over Vancouver. We're back-to-back get you the next time. and their next time was an afternoon start three and four against the St. Louis Blues and their home opener. And you talk to goalies around the league and Wolf is young. It's not like, it's not like Roberto Luongo at the end of his career for the final like three or four, maybe even five years,

I remember him telling me like he just can't, if he does back to back, like he feels it for a week. You know, Dustin Wolf's not in that spot yet, but that's where you get the impact. It's what it does to you a couple days later. And he wasn't great in the St. Louis. He had some great saves, but he was getting beat on clean looks

in the St. Louis game as well. So I didn't love it. I think it told the whole world, and I know Elliot Friedman reported, that they don't necessarily have faith in their backup goaltending, and that's not a great place to be. But when you look at their first three games,

the truth might just be they're going to need Vesna-level play from Dussimov to have a chance. And that's what they got last year. I don't think people realize it because the raw numbers aren't as flattering, but the adjusted stuff, the clear-side analytics stuff, like his adjusted save percentage was just a tick below Connor Hallibuck

and into the final third of the season he was beating Hellebuck in goals saved above expected like that's what it took to get them on the cusp of the playoffs it looks like they're going to need even more this year and that's a really big ask I know they're missing Hubert O right now and maybe that makes a big difference when they get him back that injured in that final preseason game against Vancouver but right now it looks like a team that's going to need Superman in net

and if you don't have any faith in the guys behind them, that means you risk playing the wheels right off this kid early. Who do you expect in net for the Blues tonight? Bennington opened the season for the Blues. That was not a good game for the Blues. They got shut out. I believe they were at home. Lost 5-0 to Minnesota.

So they put in Joel Hofer in Calgary, and he played pretty well. He's just a 25-year-old. Tell us a little bit about Joel Holfer. Joel Hofer is a really good young goaltender, and I think you saw it. I watched that Calgary game on Saturday afternoon, and he made some saves that really, really kept them in that game and allowed them to sort of do what the conducts did to the flames in the third period

and pull away. Hofer, when we talk about Canadian goaltending future, like, Hofer might be a part of it, right? Like, his numbers, his underlying numbers over the past couple of years are all trending up. His adjusted say percentage was better than Bennington's last year. I still think it's Bennington today

just because that's what he's earned as the number one goaltender. And so a tough opening night for him and the Blues. But largely for him, like that was, I think it was a 5-0 game, but Minnesota only had a couple roles of expected offense.

So it'll be really interesting to see this mix. If you're the Blues, like Hofer playing so well like his adjusted numbers every year are above expected like he's one of those guys that you're like this guy's going to pop at some point when he gets an opportunity

but will he get the opportunity with Jordan Bennington there and obviously doing it in a backup role with an experienced veteran ahead of you is much different than the pressure of being the guy and you sort of have to figure out how he'll handle it but everything I know of Joel Hofer is he will be able to handle it

so this is an interesting year for the Blues in terms of how they transition and starts and it's really easy it's a good opportunity to play home for more because you've sort of got the condensed schedule on the fact that Jordan Bittington's going to be at the Olympics. Probably he's going to get the first chance for Canada

because everything he did at the four nations. Frankly, deservedly so because of everything he's done the five seasons leading up to last year. He's like the only Canadian goaltender in the top 10 and adjusted goals save to expected expected save percentage. Like he's that guy. But those numbers fell off last.

year despite what he did in the Four Nations. And this is just one game, but it wasn't the start he wanted this year. So the fact you need to rest him because of the Olympics, because of the condensed schedule and get more starts for Hofer, you know, might be a bit of a blessing to sort of figure out what you've got in this kid because everything we've seen so far in terms of performance relative to environment checks all the right boxes for Joel Hofer. If you were deciding on your goalies for the Olympics, if you were the GM of Canada or the United States. How much would you look at reputation and how much would you look at the form that they're in at the deadline where I have to make the decision? Now, you're going to have to remind

me, rough, what is the deadline for the decision? I believe it's December 31st. Yeah. Or January 1st or whatever, the end of December. Right. Right. So you've got to keep that form for a full month to get to the, listen, like, I think Bennington, in Bennington's case, especially, like, it's not just reputation. It's a reputation. It's a reputation. well-earned, right? And I think that, as I said, like the five years leading up to last year, like his numbers were, everybody sort of points to since the cup, his numbers have fallen off, but the reality is what's fallen off is the defending in St. Louis. And he's actually been really good. Inconsistent at times, but that's what a bad defensive environment will do to you.

So he, like, the reputations well earned for him and what he did in the Four Nations means that's enough to get him there. He would have to fall off a cliff this season for him not to be a part of it. And it's, you know, kind of to take it back real quick to the Stanley Cup finals, like the Oilers, like things that if you're a great team get you through in a regular season, like just not giving up bad goals, like Stuart Skinner led the Stanley Cup playoffs in low danger and mid-danger save percentage. And he was dead last in high danger. Sergey Mabrovsky has been below average for two straight regular seasons, but as soon as the playoff hits, you can't beat him with a high danger chance. It's the momentum

changing tough stuff that he makes. And that's sort of the profile on Bennington a little bit and we saw that in the four nations right it was those moments down the stretch against the states where he goes you know outside the box and makes instinctual glove saves where he's lunging across or reaching back with the glove like those types of saves he has that level in him and so I think that reputation combined with showing he can deliver in those moments will be more than enough for him beyond that I'm going on form like I know Aiden Hill's got a cup but the form hasn't been there for a couple years now yeah and it's not there to start this season right like so after that i'm looking more at form and fit guys

fit do not ignore the fact that jordan binnington's puck handling was a massive part of how team canada play so if that's the system and that's the way we're operating if if i'm trying to decide between one guy and the other i'm not taking somebody who chucks the puck well and can't stop it but if all factors are somewhat similar and you've got a great handle and i know you're going to get out there and stop pucks and let us at least stop pucks and handle so our defensemen can skate onto it behind the net and start our transition game. Those are the

type of things like do you fit the system that canada is going to play? Are your strengths in terms of what you stop versus what you struggle with going to match with how they plan on defending and what they're going to give up? And I would go that deep and tie your form right up until December 31st

on those elements to that selection. Kev what about ability to handle the big moments like that comes well that's what I think with Jordan Bennington because he was so good in the playoffs and the Stanley Cup finals for the blues when they won the cup and he was so good I mean that's a pressure situation that he was put into the four nations and he did well and then you look at a guy like I don't know Connor Hellebuck and has he showed up in as many big moments as you'd want to to maybe I don't know just what what's you what's what's you're thinking on on looking at the ability to handle the pressure because the pressure is going to be immense here it matters right

it matters like Bennington and clearly we we saw it mattered and and yet at the same time like did anybody blame Connor Hellebuck I mean they got to the four I mean it's only the four nations not the Olympics but they got to the final yeah I'm more thinking the the the recent playoff performances right right and and I'm just saying like so in that pressure moment. I guess what I'm saying on Hellebuck is a lot of people point at the game's played and a lot of people point at the pressure and maybe there's a little bit there

on the pressure. He's admitted to at times maybe trying to do too much and that's the thing about goaltending. It's like getting on the first tee to play around the golf. You can't swinging harder usually doesn't work despite the fact most of us try. You can't just try harder as a goal. You really do have to sort of accept what

comes at you and let the game come to you and so you can't just go throw a big hit to get out of a funk. And so it's a different type of pressure. And Hellebucks admitted at times, maybe he's tried to do things or do too much or do things differently in the playoffs. But I think for him, the biggest thing that switched, you know, in the playoffs is the

way the Jets defend, right? Like, and this is not taking anything away from his season last year, but, I mean, like, he wasn't number one and goal saved above expected last year by ClearSight or an adjusted save percentage. Like, that was the best defensive team in hockey in the regular season. and that played a role in the heart. And they weren't, not even close, come the playoffs. And that's not the first time it's happened.

So the atmosphere or the environment he thrives in in the regular season, it's not just the pressure. It's the whole environment seems to change in Winnipeg. Like the things they defend well in the regular season evaporated, especially when it comes to sort of traffic and managing those things. I do think it matters, though, and maybe that's why Naden Hill makes your team, because he's shown he can deliver a Stanley Cup playoff.

but I would probably trend more towards form even if there aren't a lot of other guys on this Canadian list that have that type of experience. I guess Kemper has a cup although again like that cup for the abs and it was probably his eye injury is one of the few times we've seen a team win a cup

with below expected goaltending and Hill has a cup for which he was full value. So there's three of them right there but if their form isn't you know, and Darcy's coming off of as a trophy finalist season, and he wasn't at the Four Nations. But if their form isn't there in December,

like if they've fallen off a cliff and they're struggling this year in terms of their numbers, I'd still be tempted to look elsewhere and look at young guys. And, you know, it can be experienced at other levels. You can show that you're ready for the spotlight at world championships, college championships. Like, there's opportunities. You can look for those sort of signs along the roadway

to see how they handle those moments, even if you'd prefer a guy who's been on the biggest stage with the brightest lights there's just not that many to choose from and the chances of them being at the top of their game when you need them let's see if those things add up for Canada Kev happy Thanksgiving

enjoy the Mariners game I'm agnostic on this series so if the Mariners win I'll be happy for you and if they lose I'll be happy for Dodd thank you and Laddie because I'm just

just that type of guy. I'm just happy for everyone, right? What's that? Even as a non-agnostic fan, as a guy who's got Mariners jersey hanging in the closet, I'd be happy too. I love, like, I love Vladie. I cheered for his old man in Montreal. Like, they're a fun team, right? Like, like some of the, and I've been guilty of it in the past to throw in the digs about BC team. I get it. You guys grew up with the Vancouver Canadians actually being a Jay's affiliate. Some of us didn't. like tray is savage today that's an incredible story I kind of go back to how I treat hockey I don't you don't cheer for teams as writers we cheer for great stories and good people and so

I'll be happy for Jamie and laddie too but I'll be happier for me if the Mariners pull this is me it's a good point though Woodley because I like I'm my dad was a huge Jays fan so that's how I became a Jays fan but like I was a kid and Craig's from Hamilton for yeah like I was a kid in the 90s I had a griffie poster next to my Jay's poster on the wall. You know what I mean? It's like, yeah, crankrophy was amazing. So I don't know. I'm going to find it hard to be like too bent out of shape about the Mariners going to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.

Yeah, it was a different era. Like I said, like back then, it was the Mariners single A team that was playing out of Bellingham. And it was the Chicago White Hawks trip or sorry, White Sox AAA team at, you know, at Nat Bailey. And we used to watch Mariners games at seven o'clock we're on TV like clockwork on on on one of the Seattle stations like every night much in the same way we get jays broadcast followed by jays and 30 jays and 30 jason 30 jays and 30 um every night here now on all the sports net channels during the baseball season which great program it's a great program it's amazing all right we got it we got to we got to go i'm so old that uh the brewers were the farm team for this season when i was a kid so i'm actually cheering

for the brewers. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.