Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 10/20/25

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports, they discuss an impressive Sunday morning win by the Canucks that was not without it's share of controversy, they chat the Blue Jays forcing a game 7 versus the Mariners in what has been a fantastic ALCS thus far, plus they look ahead to tomorrow's Nucks matchup at Pittsburgh, as Canucks Central's Satiar Shah joins the show. 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. And Garland's got it right corner in front of early as Patterson. He scores. A hard wrist shot for the right circle. Off the stick of Elias, Patterson. Pop-up, Buckle-off, for game seven tomorrow and up. I'm born ready. I'm born ready.

And I won it all for the city. You know, I'd give up one of my child children's for a f***win, so you'd step over your own mother just to get one. Good morning, Vancouver, 6-1 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. It's Alfred. It is, bro. 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. Can I just tell you what I'm doing right now at 601 in the morning on October 20th, 2025? What's that?

Arguing with someone online about the Aaron Rome hit. All right. A decade and a half later. We are so back. Jason, good morning to you. Hey, dog, good morning to you. Good morning. And Laddie, good morning to you as well.

Hello, hello. Halford and Brub in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick. One, no more interest, two much lower payments and three financial peace of mind. Visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. It promises to be a very interesting show. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling.

Vancouver's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. you get paid, visit the Middle 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. We have so much to get into on the show today. Apparently the Aaron Rome hit in 2011 is going to be on the list of things to discuss. But maybe before we do any of that, we'll run through our guest list for today. First hour, all Halford and Brough, first half hour, all local.

We're going to do all three of our Vancouver-based teams that were. in action over the weekend. So we don't get to our first guest. There's no, seven, Mike Tanier, our NFL insider from the two deep zone is going to join the program. Another wild Sunday in the National Football League, including an all-time historic comeback by the Broncos against the Giants, if you missed it yesterday. And, and we've got a Monday night football doubleheader tonight.

And a good one of that, bucks lions at four, followed by Seahawks, Texans. At seven, Mike Tanier is going to join us at 7 o'clock to talk about all that. Then it's 7.30. SportsNet Associate Editor and Blue Jays writer Zach Worden is going to join us on the program and here it is folks it's game 7 the American League Championship Series

between Toronto and Seattle will be decided tonight and a one game winner takes all match to decide who's going to go to the World Series Laddie is resplendent Jay's gear head to toe jacket hat

I'm assuming there's some sort of Blue Jame jammy pants on. Underware. Didn't need to know that part, but the rest of it, very, very fitting for a day in which the Jays and or the Mariners will win the first game seven in franchise history. A reminder, you can hear that game seven right here on Sportsnet 650, beginning at 5 p.m. tonight. Zach Worden's going to join us at 7.30 for what should be a classic baseball game. 8 o'clock Satyar Shah is going to join the program. Canucks Central and Canucks postgame host here on SportsNet 650. Speaking of eventful games, it was a very, very eventful game for the Vancouver Canucks yesterday in Washington, a 4-3 win, their third win on this five-game road trip, which is great. But the team is also now very, very depleted at forward after a bunch of injuries and absences on Sunday.

There's two games left on the trip. Tuesday in Pittsburgh, Thursday in Nashville. We'll talk to Sad about all this stuff at 8 a.m. We've got a lot of Canucks talk on the show today, obviously, as well. There was a lot that happened over the weekend. Working in reverse on the guest list, 8 o'clock at Satyar Shah, 7.30, Zach Worden, 7 o'clock Mike Tanier. That's what's happening on the program today.

Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I'm losing. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Miss that?

You missed that? What happened is brought to you by? 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.com. We're doing Canucks, whitecaps, and lions in this first half hour, and we begin

with the Vancouver Canucks. Tyler Myers and Kiefer Sherwood scored 41 seconds apart in the first period. Elias Pedersen scored his first goal of the season and Thatcher Demko made 28 saves for the Canucks in a very wild, 4-3 win over the caps on Sunday.

let's start with the good news from the game and then we can get into the concerning news. Hazzah! So when the Canucks finished that first period in Dallas, what was the score? They were down to nothing. Were they playing well? No, they weren't.

They were playing horrifically. I would not have bet that they'd be 3 in 0 after the first three games of their road trip, including that game in Dallas. They came back to win that game over the Dallas stars. They went into Chicago, played a very entertaining game, a game against, I think it's got to be an improved Blackhawks team. And then yesterday they actually got off to a good start,

which has been kind of rare for this team. I've come back a lot in games, but they got off to a very good start against the Washington Capitals and hung on for a win. And a lot of guys deserve credit from the players to the coaching staff, but for me it starts with, Thatcher Dempco

who's been as good as he's ever been through four starts and I can just hear Rick Dollywell saying to me like you don't think the Americans are watching broth? You don't think the U.S. Olympic team is watching bruff? Then you're an idiot, bruff. I never said that, Dolly. No one said it ever said. I didn't think the Americans would be watching Thatcher Demko. I think

everyone around the league is watching Thatcher Demko right now. If you go to the advanced stats at a site like Money Puck, Money Puck. Now, Laddie, I don't know how much you think of Money Puck stats, but you've got Thatcher Demko with 6.6

goals saved above expected, which is pretty good through four starts. That's really good. Yeah. I mean, there actually been some goalies that have played better, apparently, Spencer Knight. He's been good. For Chicago Shasturkin for the Rangers

and Jet Graves for Columbus? That's kind of out of nowhere but Thatcher Dempco is playing very very well right now and Halford you always bring up the start of last season and you're sure to tell everyone that CELOVs was

what? Unplayable Unplayable. Well Thatcher Demko is not unplayable right now. Other guys that deserve extra credit include Connor Garland, Kiefer Sherwood, Petterson, and I would say the Abbey line of Carlson, Sasson, and Baines, when they've been together, they've been very good. Hughes has been very good relative to most players in the NHL, but I'm not sure he's been

as good as he was last season. He's still been good, though. I'm not worried about him. You know, Garland has led this team. You know, you can just tell, right? and who's the guy that the coaching staff put with leas peterson to try and help him get going at five on five it was connor garland who's a guy that's made a number of great four checking plays picked off passes and either scored them himself or in the case of the washington game pass them to leas peterson for a goal

it's been connor garland who's playing in nearly every scenario for this team including five plus minutes on the power play and four plus minutes short-handed yeah Connor garland Kiefer Sherwood, you know, if Rick Dolly Woe was here, he would be relaying some sort of message through Kiefer Sherwood's agent that Chiching, Sherwood's going to get paid. Who cares about that stuff right now? Kiefer Sherwood is playing really well right now, you know, scoring goals, impacting the play physically as he always does. And Elias Pedersen, you know, was the own goal that he scored against Dallas in that first period. I know we've tried to try to identify rock bottom 2.0 before

like please let this be rock bottom 2.0 and the original rock bottom was in Carolina maybe it was I thought you know he made a really nice play on the power play later in that game against Dallas where he actually got his feet moving along the side boards with the puck

you know and that's the thing like it's all about Pedersen with the puck I know he made those great blocks against the capitals and that's awesome

like but he's been doing that yes like that he's been doing that forever you know that never stopped the hitting you know that never stopped he was never not like

physically engaged he was he was trying his best to be physically engaged the concern is 100% when he's got the puck on his stick. Does he want to make plays? Can he make plays? Is he going to move his feet to make plays? And I thought, you know, that play in the Dallas game was good. And then the Chicago game

was really good. I thought he gained confidence to the point where I thought he was going to score in overtime. Because he made a play with the puck, right? On his stick. He's moving his feet. He's attacking space. And then in the Washington game, you know, that line of Garland, Debrusk and Pedersen. Really good forecheck. All three of them contributed to that. Pedersen gets the puck on a stick. Boom, it's off a stick right away.

That was key, and that looks like a guy that is gaining some confidence. And I know if you want to listen to 32 thoughts today, I think, Friege and Kyle break down the Canucks' recent run of good play and also Elias Pedersen's return to form. Have we got PD joking about I think this is with

Who's the interview with Olivia He's got jokes He's got jokes He's feeling funny now He's even got confidence in his humor game He's got yeah That's returning as well Here's Pedersen

Speaking with Olivia after the win in Washington No it felt good I mean I scored on Demer against Dallas But it's good to score on the other side today Here's Adam Foote he played great. Now listen to this quote. He had more pace in his game going at guys,

had more confidence, going at guys. What does that mean? Well, he's not looking around to pass the puck. He's like, I've got the puck. I'm going to take it at you. And that's what he did in the Chicago game. Man, I thought he was going to score on that. Yep.

And then Footsett on the defensive side, we saw him with the two big blocks. So I really liked his game, especially in a not-a-friendly environment. it could have gotten really physical and he didn't seem to mind so let's talk about the physical nature I was going to say it didn't it couldn't have gotten really

physical it did get really physical out of foot and in a bad way for your hockey club yeah the other side of the coin is that the Canucks finished minus three forwards against the caps Heidel Leckermackie and Blugher we'll get into the heat in a sec

foot suggested that Brock Bess who missed the game for personal reasons should be back pretty soon but if Heidel and Blugher are out that means the connects down the middle are Pedersen, Sasson, Ratu and Nils Amon

who's down in Abbotsford right now that seems like what it could end up being they were no updates after the game by the way on the health of any of the players that exited against the capitals and those three of course as Jason mentioned were Heidel, Lechromackie, and Blugher. There are two games left on the trip.

The Canucks will play in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. They flew right after the game into Pittsburgh. So they got in last night. So they'll be there. I don't know what they're going to do in terms of practice. I haven't checked with their PR staff yet. But there is, I would assume, safely assume, that there's going to be some type of recall from Abbotsford.

Because there are still two games left on this trip and they don't play again until Tuesday. Yeah. Unless the guys magically reappears. I would say right now, although there's obvious concern with Lechromackie and Blugher because they exited. And I think Lechromackie was on a hit with Matt Roy. And then Bluger happened late in the game. I didn't see exactly what the incident was.

But we all know how Philippeal got hurt. And it was on a very big, very loud, very late and very controversial hit from Tom Wilson. Under normal circumstances where the Jays and the Mariners weren't going into a decisive game 7 to see. you could go to the World Series and we didn't have a million other things to talk about, the entire three hours of this show would be dedicated to the Tom Wilson

on Philip Heedal hit. That's just, I mean, part nature of this market. And the other part of it is a league in which Tom Wilson's been able to get away from this stuff for a long time. Let's turn our attention first to more audio from Adam Foote.

A bit of a longer clip Laddie, if you want to grab it. Adam Foote talking in the aftermath about the hit on Heedel and his club's response or lack thereof to it, because that was another talking point as well. Here is Adam Foote following a 4-3 win over Washington in which Philip Heel exited after taking a very big, very late hit

from Washington Capitals forward, Tom Wilson. Well, I saw it once after on the bench and looking at an intermission. I mean, it looked like from my first view that it was a clean hit. Like, I'm going to look at it again. I mean, he's a big guy. You know, so. I like the way I like the way our players

and you get caught in of the lead like that getting caught in the trap of a hit like that running after them and trying to get them and we have to get the two points first and then you know that other stuff takes care of stuff later down the road

if it needs to be taken care of which we'll view it and I don't know it was a clean hit or it was just a bad timing for a heat sir but I really like the way you know they're smart they're trying to get us off our game and we held it

together we didn't want to go four and four with a team like that um you know and get in the box with being down guys feel for heat although that's right you feel for heat old to him leave that fashion oh yeah yeah it's an awful feeling right um i think we're all human and whether it's a guy on their team our team i think everyone feels that and uh you know we'll he's being evaluated and we'll see where he's at yeah so you already kind of touched on this that we could probably spend an entire show arguing about the Tom Wilson hit on Heedle, all the different angles, whether it was a legal hit. We can drag up Aaron Roams hit on Horton from a decade a half ago, as many people have,

and I got sucked into the argument online at six in the morning. Not you. Yeah, I know. I know. I haven't been arguing much online, and now I'm back for something. The hit was body-to-body. It was just late. We're not doing this.

We're not doing this. Well, that's the issue, right? debating whether Evander Kane should have challenged Tom Wilson or, you know, talking about Heedel's responsibility in keeping your head up in a game that was, you know, a 3-0 score line and Tom Wilson was on the ice. Tom Wilson nearly already took out Connor Garland, so you know he's looking to try to do stuff.

But, like, I'm not saying those discussions shouldn't be had, but I want the focus in this segment to start with Heidel because I don't think you could drop a worse possible scenario for him than getting caught with a massive open-ice hit by Tom Wilson. Legal or not? Like remember we went into the season and we were like, if Heedel can stay healthy. Could we have imagined a world,

possible scenario than what was it game seven is it game seven or eight or whatever game six like him him getting hit not looking by tom wilson going as hard as he can into a hit like i just i could not i could not imagine a worse thing to imagine for heidel no but this has been the recurring storyline throughout his career maybe the circumstances were different in other scenarios, but it's always been. Yeah. And for a multitude of reasons. Who hit him before he came to Vancouver? Is it a Dallas player? I'd have to go. I'd have to go back. Yeah. I don't have it at the

ready. But I think the, the overriding sentiment is this is a player that due to his style of play, on occasion, his situational awareness or lack thereof, his history with head injuries, which, as you know, can have a cumulative effect. And after you saw, suffer one, you're more prone to suffer others. All of it adds up to a guy that was balancing that very fine line between being healthy and not being healthy. Now, we have absolutely no update on the player right now. Adam Foote did not issue any sort of medical update in the aftermath of the game.

We don't know what the injury suffered was at the time. It should be pointed out that it wasn't a clean pick headshot from Wilson. He did hit him through the body. So maybe there's some hope that this isn't necessarily. a head injury or something related to a concussion. But the facts remain that a player who came into this season, with the number one narrative surrounding him about his health and his ability to stay healthy, as you said, six games in, is facing those questions again.

And that sucks. Because you saw flashes this year, and I think we talked about it a lot through the first six games of the year, what Heedl could be and could mean to this team if he's healthy and if he's contributing as a 2C. Okay, I kind of feel bad that the Lions and White. caps are being overshadowed by the return of the Canucks obviously

in the NHL and by the baseball you know it just it is what it is like we're not even going to we're going to talk to Mike Tannier today about the NFL but we're not really going to talk about

the NFL I don't even know if we're going to talk about like Shohay Otani's incredible incredible night like where they're putting up the latest postseason performance of all times yeah it's like yeah it's like yeah it's like yeah that it's like Don Larson's perfect game Reggie's three home run game

and it's like yeah we might not have time for that the lions are on fire and will host a playoff game if they beat a Saskatchewan team that has nothing to play for on Saturday and Regina and the white caps are

heading into the MLS Cup playoffs with their best chance of winning a title ever despite a tough loss on Saturday at home to Dallas Yeah, so they needed a single point from Saturday's game to finish tops in the West. And if they got the full three points, it might have done wonders for them if they were to advance far into these playoffs and maybe even have a chance of hosting the MLS Cup final if they were to get there.

But ignore all that now because the White Caps lost on Saturday, as you mentioned. And it was an 11th minute red card to centerback Matthias Laborta that threw the whole game into complete disarrures. MLS had camped out a couple of their national writers in Vancouver as they did their Decision Day thing. It was supposed to be a big big thing because Dallas, the team that they were playing, was fighting for their playoff lives and needed a win to get into the playoffs.

Well, guess what happened? Whitecaps get red-carded. They fight valiantly but ultimately lose 2-1 to Dallas. Dallas, at the final whistle, explodes into celebration that they not only snuck into the playoffs, but snuck in as the number seven. seed in the West. And guess what that means? Dallas booked a first round matchup with your Vancouver White Cap. So as it sits right now, Dallas and Vancouver will

again do battle next Sunday. It's a 4 o'clock kickoff from BC Place, a best of three series to decide who will go on to the next round of the playoffs. And it's a Dallas team that at one point this season was sitting 13th in the Western Conference. Do we know when that series is? Like, do we know when the games are? Yes. Okay. Did they just announce that? Because of yesterday, I was, like, looking at the schedule.

I couldn't find it. Sunday, October 26, 4.30. The first game is going to be at BC Place. Okay. Then the second game will be Saturday, November 1st at Toyota Stadium in Dallas. So there's going to be six days between games. And it's a best of three. There's no aggregate.

There's no home goals. There's no away goals. Every match has a winner. So if you're tied at the end of regulation, you go to a shootout. If a third game is required necessary, It will be back at BC Place Friday, November 7th. No motocross, nothing. Nothing.

Okay. BC Place has the dates available. They are ready to go. Ooh, we got Monster Truck. Sorry, guys. So I will see a lot of things with this White Caps team in the coming week. Weeks, sorry. We will find out the health of all these players that have been out for an extended period of time if they'll be ready for the playoffs.

Laborta is obviously going to miss the first match now because of his red card and they needed him at centerback. But it was kind of an unfortunate end of the season, if we're being honest, because they sold out the lower bowl at BC Place. People were expecting this team to have an opportunity to finish tops in the West. It was kind of ripped away from them. What did you think of the red card? I didn't think it was a red card at all. I thought the referee who gave it a yellow on the field clearly had the opportunity to give a red and then rescind it,

but he started with a yellow. I thought that was the right decision to begin with. The VAR took over two and a half minutes, and it felt like one of those video reviews where they were looking for a reason. to make a call as opposed to it being clear and obvious. And then what happens? He gets called over to the replay screen, and then he makes,

does he make the call? But he's kind of under pressure, right? If he's called over there, bingo, right? Then he's like got the hint that, oh, someone thinks that this deserves an extra luck. The fourth official thought it was more serious than the yellow card.

That's what happens. So the ruling wasn't necessarily like the viciousness of the hit, because it wasn't a vicious hit. It was that an obvious, scoring chance was taken away. Dogscoe, denying obviously goal, denying obvious goal scoring opportunity.

Okay, he still, didn't he, it wasn't like he had a breakaway there. There was going to be white caps that were going to cut, that were going to run in there and cut it off. The debate was that Laborta technically could have been considered the last man and that he was past Laborta. He could have been considered the last man if the assumption was that the white caps would

give up. Well, if you look at, look, the forward was behind Laborta, for sure. Like, I'll give him that. Like, Laborna made a tackle from behind. I thought it was reckless because, as you mentioned, if you were to look at the match unfold, there would have been players in cover.

They were tracking back furiously to get there. But it didn't feel like a tackle he needed to make in the 11th minute of a match that, I mean, even if you don't think it was yellow, and I don't think it was, it was risky. It was risky because he knew that he was one of the last defenders. And you put yourself in a situation where you leave it up to the official. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.

You're listening to the best. best of Halford and Brough. The Heedle thing just looms over everything because, you know, this, again, we said in the first hour, like this worst case scenario for Heedle to be, to not only get hit, get hit by Tom Wilson like that. And it wasn't a direct head hit, but, you know, just even the whiplash of something like that can cause a concussion. We don't even know for sure if he does have a concussion.

So we... It's true. There was no medical update given after the concussion. There's nothing, so we do have to wait on that. I imagine we're going to get some news from the Canucks today just in terms of, you know, if they're going to bring anyone up, I don't know if they're going to give an injury update on any of the players. But, you know, Pittsburgh came into the season, and everyone was like, oh, they're going to finish

last and probably get Gavin McKinnon. It's going to go Lemieux to Crosby to McKinnett. Well, the Penguins don't seem to be following the script because they have the same record as the Canucks. They've been good to start the season. At 4, 2 and 0, they just went to. California they lost Anaheim 4 to 3 but they beat the

Kings 4 to 2 and they of course beat the San Jose Sharks because everyone beats the San Jose Sharks and they beat them 3-0 yeah they have two shutouts on the season one by C-Lovs famously in the first game against the New York Rangers and they have 6 the next game

yeah also famously so I mean it looks like the penguins are just alternating their goalies we're probably going to see C-Labs right like that revenge game for sure that would would be the game and the new head coach there is Dan. Revenge is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, but I digress.

Yeah, we gave you an opportunity and then traded you to a team to give you a chance to be a starting goalie. Even more opportunity. Revenge. I'm sure you'll want revenge on us. By the way, Bruff, the Abby Canucks back home on Friday, that no good Abby Canucks roster, it's the banner, called her cup banner raising night on Friday. So they change quickly. So they've got the entire week off, essentially.

So recalling someone should be that difficult. They played in LaValle on Saturday and they went back home. So getting a recall won't, like, throw their season into arrears because they don't play again until Friday. I don't know what's going to happen there. We haven't spent a ton of time discussing the actual hit. The mechanics of it, the legality of it, whether we thought that the overrule or the ruling on the eyes. It should have been an interference. Like, it was way, way late.

It was like three seconds late, but after he gave up the puck. I don't know how there was not a penalty on the play. The hit itself was fine. Yeah, I didn't have a problem with, oh, the hit was like, he leveled him. I mean, Hita was able to take two strides. Yeah. And then he got hit. Yeah, but I mean, like, how do you not call a penalty on that?

That's ridiculous. It's a great question. It's not even, it's not a major necessarily, but like. Well, they did call a penalty on it. But I'm saying how you revert that. And then they reviewed it and they figured it was a good hit because they figured it didn't didn't pick his head. Wasn't late.

No, and it was nothing to do with that. But it was late. But it was late. But they didn't, but if it was late, if they deemed it late, if they deemed it late, it would have been an interference call. But maybe what they reviewed was whether it was a check to the head or not. No, no, no. They review everything. They reviewed it for.

Can you do that? Yeah, they called it a five-minute major for interference. Okay. Wasn't for sure called a five-minute for interference? Yes. Okay. Initially. Yeah.

Five minutes for interference. Yeah. Because you can do a game for a check-to-the-head. What should have happened is they should have reviewed it and been like, it's not a five, but it is still a two. Yeah. In my opinion, they should have, but they obviously saw it differently. And then this is why, you know.

It was like three Mississippies. Like, it was so long. It wasn't that much. Now, secondly, there was the response or lack there of to the hit. And that's come up as well. I will. Isn't that what we got Kane for? Like, why is he not stepping up there?

I think it was always. I mean, I get that Tom Wilson is a monster. I understand he's huge. He's huge, but nevertheless. Listen just a little bit. It was clearly a message from the coaching staff. I think I was instructed not to go after him. Oh, I thought it was because he had a big dinner after the game.

He didn't want to hurt his hand. I think. Good one lady. So we played the audio. We played the audio. He was cash money in that game. Oh. Hey!

Those are both good jokes. I will acknowledge as such. Satyar Shah joins us here now on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. What up, Sat. How are you? I'm doing well, man, you know, chilling. And actually impressed that the Canucks have won three games in a row on this road trip. You know, I'm still not sure how it all happened, but here we are. Yeah, what were the odds when they were down 2-0 to Dallas after the first period?

They would actually be 3-0 to start this road trip. Honestly, he would have told me after that first period. period in Dallas that they would, you know, win that game in the next two games, I would laugh. And I'm like, there's no way. I mean, because that first period against Dallas, that would then made it, what, one good period out of the first 10 that they played to begin the season. And nobody would have expected them to come back and win that game. And since then, they've had what, maybe one poor, like one and a half, two poor periods. So, I mean, they've turned around quite a bit in these last three games.

I know there are a bunch of guys that deserve credit and extra credit for their performance this season, but for me, it starts with Thatcher Demko. What about you? Oh, I mean, Demko looks as good as he's ever looked. He looks absolute prime Demko. The only guy, I think, is close as Karner Garland with how he's impacted the game and just an overall motor, which we always expected, but production has been there too,

and he's been great defensively, played on the PK. I think he's the only player that I can look at and say he's playing at almost full capability right now. We talk a lot about Hughes, of course. I think we've seen 85 to 90% of Hughes. I think there's a lot more he can give, despite still being good. We all know the PD discussion, but I think Garland's pretty much maxed out. And I don't know how Demk was going to play better than he's played already.

And if he does, I mean, we're talking about a Vesma caliber season. Yeah, Garland's been good. Surewood's been good. You know, I think credit to the, if you want to call it, the HL line with, I think Max Sasson has added a lot to this roster, even though he is not playing a He's added some speed Putting Baines Sasson and Carlson together has been a good

decision by the head coach Adam Foote. So all this is good Now let's talk about not necessarily the bad but the concerning What are the Kinecks going to do going forward with the injuries they've got to Heidel who's probably going to be out a while

We don't know about Bluger Although he's battled injuries already this season and he had to leave the Washington game early Lecker-Mackie can probably be replaced by Brock Besser and Adam Foote suggested that Besser will be back soon enough, but down the middle man, like I don't know if you could

create a worst-case scenario for the Canucks like, you know, Heedl being out on that hit to Wilson plus Bluger. I mean, what are they looking like down the middle right now, Sat? Well, I mean, that's a huge concern and I've been trying to check in since yesterday and this morning and, you know, with them traveling, it's been hard to get any definitive info, but, they're still trying to figure out the extent of the issue with Heidel and with Teddy Blugher.

And maybe that's something they figured out by now or are going to know pretty soon. And that's going to really truly inform how aggressive you have to be. Because if you have both those guys out for any extended period of time, and as much as they might say, they're confident in their depth, they like what they have in Abbotsford, if you're sitting there looking at weeks without having Belugur and Heedle for a roster that's already thinned down the middle, you're going to have to look for some outside help,

even if you're going to have to pay more than you want to. And I still think the priority has been to find a more impactful player, but now you're getting to a point where you just have to find ways to survive and not follow up to a hole. And down the middle, there's a big issue. Now, I think in the short term, what we're going to see here, if those guys are going to be missing a little bit of time even, if Neil's Oman gets the first call up, maybe Joe LaBate,

but I think Oman comes in and you kind of just deal with it for the next game or two, and you've been able to bang the three wins on his road trip. but I know they were looking for even death options before the season started. I don't think that search has stopped. And as much as they're really wanting to spend their assets on a more impactful player, do you get to a point where you're looking at it and saying, you know what, we just have to go and make this deal for this third, fourth line guy, that, hey, maybe we were paying a pick we didn't want to pay,

but what's the choice? Like, do we rather try to survive with what we currently have? And perhaps in a month we're sitting there four, five, six points out of a playoff spot when we're looking at the American Thanksgiving point and that's where you don't want to be. And I'm not sure they're there quite yet, but I don't know if they can just rely on the depth they currently have in Abbotsford.

I mean, you know, Neil Zolman, I think, helps defensively. He helps on the TK, but he doesn't win face-offs. He doesn't bring any real offensive contributions. Max Sasson, you like him with how he's played. Is you ready to play 16 minutes a night? Maybe you don't have a choice. Maybe you have to try it. And Ratu, obviously, is a player they like,

but his start to the season has been somewhat uneven. I think they're expecting a bit more from him. He's been okay defensively. Offensively, there hasn't been a lot there. But I think in the short term, you give those guys minutes and see what happens. But I think if they're looking at a few weeks without these guys, I don't see how you can survive without bringing somebody in who's not in the organization.

Do you think they're looking at stopgaps right now, or do you think there are some names out there that they know of that would be more permanent additions? that they've just been like, yeah, we're not willing to pay the price on that? I do think they've had options where they probably could have acquired somebody if they would have paid a bigger price for it, but they just haven't been comfortable with doing so. Now, that may change.

Like, for instance, let's just hypothetically bring up a player like Pavel Zaka with the Boston Bruins, who even Frank said is available for the right price, but the right price has been steep. But the Bruins have gone off to a decent start. He's played okay so far. Is the price even higher now all of a sudden? and now you're kind of stuck between the price was this high. Now this team wants even more. Now we're desperate in a poor leverage situation.

How do we navigate this? And they've been very firm to not be held over a barrel to make a deal. And that's going to be something that the resolve is going to be tested on. But I do think they'd rather just wait and pay the bigger price, the price that are willing to pay for a good, impactful player. But I'm just not sure you can wait that long. And when we look at what other teams are doing and look at the team like a boss, sorry, the Buffalo Sabres, for instance.

Well, we can look at Taze Thompson of some of their talented guys, but those are bigger deals, and the Sabers are in a really tough spot with their owner as well. They're all terrified at making a bad deal. So even the team you look at that struggling, they're not in a situation where they're willing to trade one of their key

players unless they're getting so much above value that they feel good about it. They're so terrified to make a bad deal and look even worse after bad starts of the season. So I don't know if the market is where it needs to be, and sometimes if that's the case, even if you didn't want to say pay a third round pick to acquire, you know, a borderline, third line center, what's better?

You waiting for the perfect deal to come into place? And what you don't want to do is be in a situation you were last year where the connects needed a defenseman so badly and they were trying their hardest to find somebody. And ultimately, the only way they were able to make that deal was trading J.T. Miller. But at that point, yes, to short up defensively, yes, they were a little bit better, but it was too late to truly salvage your season and make the postseason, despite a little bit of a push towards the end. can you afford to wait to fall into that same situation again this season

and I think that's something they're going to have to navigate and it worked out in their estimation to get the defense that they wanted ultimately just like trading JT but can you wait that long this year when you have so much at stake sat the timing here is impeccable while you were speaking the Canucks did announce a flurry of roster moves so okay everyone pay attention turn up your radios pay close attention I'm going to run through them all Philip Heidel and Jonathan Lechromacky have been placed on injured reserve. Victor Mancini has been assigned to Abbotsford.

They've recalled Joseph Labate, Joe the Body Labate, back in the NHL where he belongs. And in place of Mancini, defenseman Jimmy Schultt has also been recalled from Abbotsford. Finally, Nils Huglander has been placed on LTIR, and that's retroactive to the beginning of the month. So there's a lot to unpack there I don't know what to make of Mancini down and Schult up Shult is a If I remember correctly He was a highly touted undrafted free agent

Out of St. Cloud State as a defenseman But hasn't really made much of an impact Left shot guy Hasn't made much of an impact in the NHL at all I think he got a cup of coffee with San Jose last year Yeah what do you make of the Mancini down And Labate up Well Labate's a center that makes sense

Yeah I mean Or he can play center And, hey, as one of the Labate truthers, there are dozens of us. I do think that it's nice that he's getting rewarded for what was a good preseason. Jimmy Schultz. Yeah, so you got anything here, sad? I know we're throwing you completely on the spot in doing this. So, you know what?

I was looking at the Kep-Kinux Kaff situation, and just making a regular call-up was never going to be easy. They would have to always send somebody down because of their cap situation, and that's why it makes sense for them to put Niels-Hoglander on LTIR. I would imagine the reason they're getting Schult up here instead of somebody else in Mancini isn't that they think he's better but it could simply be cap related so just Schult is at a league minimum $775,000 salary

and Mancini is 100K more which seems insignificant but when you're up against the cap all those things matter and even for a guy like Neil's Olman he makes above league minimum and Joe Labate makes league minimum just be cap related

anything else and that does doesn't mean that, you know, those guys haven't earned a look here. But if you look at why Mancini went down, I think he went down simply because of the cast situation. And if you look at some of the other guys that Canucks have down there, an Abbottor, Tom Blander, because he's on an ELC, his number is actually a couple hundred thousand dollars higher than what Schultz is and even $100K more.

Kudriaziv even is 50K more than what Jimmy Schult is. And if P.O. Joseph is getting into the lineup anyways, you may as well just call it the cheapest guy possible, save a little bit on the cap. and make the numbers work. So I would say Jimmy Schult, and they might say he's earned it, and maybe he has with how he's looked at, I can't profess to say I've been watching a lot of Abbey Canucks,

the last little bit here with the Canucks season starting. But to me, this looks like strictly cap management numbers-wise. And, you know, like I said, even a guy like Neil's Olman is at 825K versus Labeta 775. So I think this is very much a numbers game. However, Labate did impress them during the preseason. And so far in Abbey, not that I've watched them a lot, but his name has come up in terms of a guy

who's been playing physical and a guy they like. Three points in four games. Three points and four games. Maybe they want that bra. Maybe he's played well. And we know Oman has his shortcomings. So it may make sense with that. But the Schultz one, I would probably chalk up to mostly cap savings.

You know what I do like about LeBade? And I think I've followed the story a little bit closer than most because I'm kind of enamored by the way that he plays is, for a team right now that seems to be thriving with vibes, I do wonder, he's a feel-good story. For those that don't know the story, he got drafted all the way back in 2011. He's been a HL lifer.

He went to the KHL and actually he talked about it. I think it was an interview with Patrick Johnson saying that he played an entirely different role in Russia and started to figure out more things in the game than just sort of banging and crashing. And then he got six games with Columbus last year, kind of out of nowhere. I wonder, you know, and this kind of pivots to what I want to talk about with the vibes on this team sat because we had a really interesting dynamic on Sunday in the aftermath of the heedle hit and the no pushback.

I know a lot of people were angry about it, but I was reading IMAX interview and listening to some of the audio that came out of there. That team feels really galvanized in what it's been able to do, not just in that game being so short-handed, but over the first three games of this road trip that they felt like they needed to go out and get wins and grind and find ways to get results in the. done that. So in a weird way where people might be questioning the vibes the vibes seem really high for a group right now where we had so much talk about chemistry and camaraderie going into the season. Yeah,

no, for sure. And I think that's the thing that for this group does matter a lot. I mean, and sometimes it sounds like they're convincing themselves and I think that's a good thing for these guys because we've seen in the past where that belief kind of fall falters and the next thing you know it kind of snowballs on them. And

as far as that goes over the road trip. Now, the guys will say, you know, how poor they look at the first three games. And when I've asked around about, hey, you know, I've had the vibes gone away, they've always said to them, man, no, everything's fine. It's early in the season. We're not panicking. We're going to be okay.

Like, we feel like we're going to be fine. And they were saying all those things. Now, I'm not sure how much they believed it based on some of the performances early in the season, but with how it's gone now on the road, it certainly has come back to them. And I do think as far as them trying to, you know, make it a tighter room. I do think there is a bigger effort for it. Like even on the road one of the things I heard was they want to make sure

that they do a lot more as a group that make sure all the guys come out together, make sure they're all trying to ensure that they're all feeling part of one big group instead of having a few different clicks that kind of hang around. They're making a bigger effort towards those things. And I do think those things do matter over a long season, especially

for a team where if you look at it they don't have a ton of vocal leaders in some of the guys who are their biggest vocal leaders are guys that you wouldn't quite expect. Like Marcus Pedersen, for instance, as one of those guys. And so I think if vibes matter for any team, I think this is the team that matter the most. And bringing a guy like Labade in, he does protect teammates. He does stand up for guys again, too, and especially based on, you know, what's happened here

with the game against the Capitals. I do wonder if wanting to have some guys around that can, you know, push forward and protect one another is part of the plan, too. Okay. So now with all that said, and you brought it up at the end. there, what did you think about what happened in the aftermath of the Wilson hit on Heedle? So, I mean, obviously, I would have liked to see Evander Kane get after Wilson at some point. But, you know, I was wondering if the coach had said something to the guys because you saw the reaction,

and you saw some of the jawing going on, and then it kind of got really quiet in terms of the pushback and the focus you could tell was just on trying to win the game. And Fitt admitted that he told the guys after the game between periods that don't go running around, don't focus on chasing Tom Wilson. Don't get distracted. We have to win this hockey game. That's the most important thing. And even the Mancini fight,

like we all loved it. I saw you guys' reaction on social media. I thought it was fantastic. The players loved it. And not to say foot didn't like it because he said he liked him standing up more, but he did kind of mention like, you know,

we have to be careful to not fall into that trap and all of a sudden we're taking a penalty and all of a sudden, you know, we're doing something to fire the other team up. So he was kind of of two minds based on Mancini fighting back. So I don't know if there's a situation where we can look at the team and saying,

oh, these guys, they don't want to stand up for each other. I think they listened to what the coach had to say, and his focus was winning the hockey game. And honestly, when we talk about results at the early part of the season and we criticize the first three games, we're wondering what's put up to, does the deployment make a lot of sense,

I can understand a coach saying, let's just win this hockey game guys, and we can focus on these things down the road. And ultimately, this is a team that needs wins, not punching other people in the face, but I think we all would have liked to see Evander Cain get after. Wilson at some point, but I wouldn't chalk this up

to the team not wanting to do it. I would chalk it up to the coach wanting them to be more disciplined. The Invander Cain topic is a complicated one to discuss because there is his history, there is his politics, which a lot of people are just learning about. You know, if you've been paying attention,

you'd known them, and I can already anticipate, They're like, it doesn't matter what his politics are. He's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But for some people, it does matter what his politics are. And there's also, if you want to just boil it down to his play on the ice, I think that's complicated. Because he's done some good things, which he always does. Like, he always does some good things. He's delivered the body a few times.

He's drawn a ton of penalties. I think he's drawn like four or five penalties already this season. He's made some smart plays here in. here and there he made a nice pass to Bluger on the winning goal. But there are also plays where you're like, you know, where's your hockey IQ on this? And you just, and you, I don't know, you just wonder about the fit. You wonder if he's got the legs anymore to play the style of game that he needs to play on a consistent basis.

So I know we're throwing a lot at you on this hit, but like, what of your early impressions have been of Evander Kane? Of course, some listeners might remember when the Evander Cain News broke, you were on the show with me, and I kind of went ballistic. Yeah. Well, you know, and it's funny because I, there was somebody in Edmonton, we did a whole article on our hit and what everybody else in Baker was saying that day. So we all got it that day based on our opinions on the signing. And I think in terms of how he's played on ice, the last few games, like so last night there were moments, of course, that you've made a great play on the forecheck on the Teddy Bluger goal. The Dallas game, I thought he was one of the players early, especially late in the first and in the second,

that helped the snuck to get back in the game with his forechecking, throwing some hits, drawing penalties, getting to net a little bit. So I think he's brought some real value on ice in games. Now, he's had moments, too, of course, but there are tangible moments where he's actually helped the team have successful with these last three games, and I think he deserves credit for it.

But he looks like a guy who's taking time to get up to speed. And as far as the off-ice stuff goes, listen, I know people all have different political opinions and the reason why I think a lot of hockey players don't talk about politics or don't share their opinions is because it ends up being polarizing. You end up, you know, you get half the people

or whatever the percentages agree with you and the other half can't believe that you're affiliated with whatever political party you're after and that's why most players don't do it publicly because they don't want to deal with the smoke, so to speak. But, you know, Cain doesn't care about that sort of stuff. That's just part of who Evander is, whether you like it or don't like him, he's going to express himself.

But that's what you should know when you acquire a player like that. If you're okay with that, then you're okay with that as an organization. You can't sit there and, you know, be upset about the reaction or be upset about the player behaving that way because that's how he behaves. I will say, when I've asked about what has he been like as a teammate, well, I've only heard good things. Now, it's very early in his tenure, of course, but he's been good with the young guys, they say.

He's been good in the room. he's been a guy who's held himself accountable, others accountable with some of the things I've heard. So it seems like it's positive on that end. But on the ice, I think it's a mixed bag. And I think I thought with how he played in Dallas and partly in Chicago that, okay, maybe he should play off the lineup.

And then he goes off the lineup and he struggles for a few shifts. So I don't think we've seen the best of him yet. I think he's one of those power guys that takes some time to get going. But so far it's kind of been the Evander Kane experience. There's some good. There's some bad. There's some questionable things going on. And people have very.

polarizing opinions on who he is. All right, Sat. It's going to get even more interesting for the Vancouver Canucks. Sure, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So on these moves, they're essentially, like I was alluding to, LTIR-related moves. They're trying to capture as much as the Hoaglander the money as possible because they put them on LTIR over $3 million.

You're trying to capture as much of that for as long as possible. So that's why the moves are the way they are. Don't be surprised the moves are different tomorrow. They may be calling some different people up after making these moves. So like I was alluding to, it looks like cap-related as far as the moves are concerned. Mancini went down simply for the money, not because they don't think he's played well. Now, we'll see what happens tomorrow with who comes up, but expect from different moves tomorrow. Sat, that's why you're the best, buddy.

Thanks for doing this again. We appreciate it. Anytime, boys. Chat soon. Yeah, have a good one. Satyar Shah here on the Halford & Bruff show on SportsNet 650. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Thank you.