Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 10/21/25

Episode Date: October 21, 2025

Mike & Jason discuss the Toronto Blue Jays going to the World Series for the first time in thirty two years with Sportsnet television commentator Dan Shulman, they preview tonight's Canucks matchup at Pittsburgh with radio commentator Brendan Batchelor, plus the boys look elsewhere around the NHL, and also chat last night's big Seahawks win. 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. To the phone lines we go. Our next guest, as you heard in the intro, on the call for an unforgettable night for the Toronto Blue Jays last night. Play-by-play voice of those Blue Jays, Dan Shulman, here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Dan. How are you? I'm well. How about that?

How much fun was that? Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I can only imagine, one, you must be a little tired this morning, but rightfully so. and two, still trying to really make sense of everything that happened because that was as dramatic, I would say, as you're going to get in a game seven in the American League Championship series. Yeah, I was a little bit of a late night. I will admit to that a little bit hoarse, so forgive me for that.

But, you know, it was a fascinating game. I mean, the Mariners get won in the first inning and could have had more, and all of a sudden there's kind of a bit of a feeling of dread. But the Blue Jays get one back. but then Julio Homers and then Raleigh Homers and it's 3-1 and it's the fifth and it's the sixth and it's the seventh and it's starting to get late and it just felt in the bottom of the seventh

like that was the moment and I assume you guys were watching and Buck and I were talking about it like they get a couple of guys on and here comes the top of the order and Andres Munoz isn't in the game yet probably being saved I guess for the last two innings of the game and it just felt like that was the season that whole the bottom of the seventh that they were going to live or die with what happened in the bottom of the seventh inning.

And I thought it was fitting and actually saw George Springer on the field about an hour after the game. And I told him this as incredible as Guerrero was and won the ALCS MVP, and deservedly so and all that. I thought it was fitting that Springer had this hit because he was their most important, most valuable player during the regular season in my estimation. And to do it on a bad me and just an incredible moment. And, you know, I've been lucky I was at what was on the Skydome. for the Joe Carter home run. I was there for the Jose Batista home run and I can't tell you which one of the three was the loudest but I can tell you that building was absolutely shaking last night

like it was just an insane scene and I'll never forget it. Can you tell us a little bit more about the feeling inside Rogers Center before the bottom of the 7th? Was it one of kind of like hey the innings are kind of ticking away here? How many more do we have here? Because this game is getting by pretty quickly. Yeah, absolutely. That's what I felt. And, you know, so I'm wearing a headset, obviously, as we're doing the game, right?

So sometimes I don't pick up as much as you would pick up in terms of energy or noise or vibe or whatever if you were sitting in the seats. But there's no question each time they were retired in the fifth, in the sixth. You know, as Yogi Berry used to say or whoever said it, you know, it gets late early around here. It was getting late. And with Munoz being so good, that's why that bottom of the seven felt huge. And it started with a barger walk. And then I think the single most important

overlooked play of the game, not the most important play, but the most important overlooked play of the game, is Isaiah Kiner Folefa comes up with a base hit on an O2 pitch against Brian Wu, who's a terrific pitcher, and now it's first and second, nobody out. And now with two men on,

they can think about bunting Jimenez and he gets the bunk down. But before that, it almost felt like people were, oh man, I can't believe it's going to end. And, you know, they've had such a great year, but it just doesn't look like it's in the cards. It felt like there was an error of resignation in the ballpark until Barger walked and kinder for Leffas singled. And then from then on, obviously, everything changed. What were you thinking when it was Bizarro who came out of the pen? Well, I thought Munoz would pitch two innings. So I assume Dan Wilson was thinking eight, nine.

I guess in hindsight, I'm a little surprised he didn't have both Bizarro and Munoz up. And if nothing's going on, but Wu runs out of pitches, you bring Bizarro. But if something's going on with Springer and Guerrero coming around the bend, then you bring in Munoz. So I do admit to having gone on Twitter today and just typing in Dan. Wilson to see what came up. He did too. And I know, I'm sure a lot of your listeners are Mariners fans, too, out there, right? Because of where you are.

But I was surprised. I don't think he was, you know, and if you think about it, too, like Springer and Guerrero probably would have come around again in the ninth inning because this was just the seventh and there was one out when he came in. But I think, and I don't want to say we were out in front of it because we just said, man, the Blue Jays got to score before Munoz comes in. They've got to get the lead before Munoz comes in. And so obviously, if you look at it, again,

I think you can make a great case that he should have come in for the seventh inning. So, you know, Wu was obvious, if Wu had just gotten out, maybe he just finishes off the seventh inning. Maybe Bizarro doesn't even come into the game. And Bizarro is good, right? A 252 ERA and 73 appearances, but he's not Munoz. But I guess in hindsight, I'm surprised maybe he didn't have both of them up and then made his decision based on how many guys were on base at the time he made the change.

We're speaking to Dan Shillman, the play-by-play voice of the Toronto Blue Jays here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Let's jump ahead to the 9th here. And Jason and I were talking, and I think it was ahead of game 5. We said, you know what? We both kind of came to the realization there had not been a Jeff Hoffman moment in this postseason, good, bad, or otherwise. I don't until that point because none of the games had really required. that high leverage clutch moment

and then we were texting back and forth I'm like it's happening now in game seven it's going to happen now in the biggest moment of the year this is incredible theater and I don't even know if you can say enough about the job that Hoffman did to close that thing out after 35 pitches

the night before right two innings for strikeouts the night before I am among he's among the players I am happiest for there's a handful that for whatever reason I'm even happier for them and just all of the you know some of the other guys um i'm really happy for him because a he's an awesome guy he's a team player he wants to take the ball it doesn't always work out

um but he wants to help his team any way he can and i don't know how you got how long you guys stuck around with the broadcast last night i think i said it after the game ended because i didn't want to jinx anything in the moment i did hear this yes oh you did hear this yeah if i'd been braver i would have said it two days ago then it would have been really good but so i walked up to him in the clubhouse on Sunday before game six. And I'm really lucky. I've got a really good relationship with him and stuff like that. And I can just kind of walk up to him and joke with him.

And I just walked up to him and I said, you got six outs in you tonight. And he just smiled and said, and three more tomorrow. And that's exactly what happened. And I give him a lot of credit. I talked to him again before game seven. And I said, how are you feeling? He goes, I'm good to go. Whatever they want, I'm good to go.

And I think we all knew we wouldn't get two innings after going. two innings. That's just asking a little bit too much. But yeah, that was a Jeff Hoffman moment. And you know, the drama, firstly, it's Julio at the plate. Secondly, Cal Raleigh's in the on deck circle. I mean, by October

standards, this is, this game is like a nine and a half out of ten on the tension and drama scale. It really is. It had, you know, so many different things. And I wanted just for two seconds, I want to say, and Kevin Gosman walked a couple of guys, but Gosman and the seventh, and especially

Chris Bassett and the 8th. Fantastic stuff, right? From guys who have never been in a World Series before, neither one of them, nor has Hoffman. Fantastic stuff from them. And I want to give John Schneider a lot of credit. Obviously, game five, it didn't work. Whatever the, all the reasons behind it are,

we may never hear all of them, but it didn't work. But the buttons he pushed in game six and seven were great. And he could have gone, you know, Braden Fisher, Mason Flew Hardy. And maybe that would have worked. but he you know those guys as good as they have been this year they're both rookies and he went with a 34 year old and a 36 year old and you guys have watched them for years I mean these are two legit veterans and guys who have been waiting their whole lives

for a moment like this and especially Bassett because he wants to be starting he's a starter but he wound up on the IL and he's not stretched out and the only other appearance he had was in a mop-up situation it didn't really mean much so for him to come in and get those three outs in the eighth inning I thought was awesome. Hey Dan, as a broadcaster, how do you approach big home runs? Because I'm thinking back on the postseason already

and we're not even into the World Series and I mean, you've got to call some incredible home runs. Vladdy's Grand Slam will pick any of the Vladdy home runs. There's been like six of them. Aaron Judge's home run. I mean, that was, it could have been a turning point in that series.

Suarez's home run in Seattle and then last night, the biggest of the mall so far, Springers? It's hard to approach them. It's like saying, how do you approach a goal in hockey, I guess, right? You don't know what's coming until it comes. So I've never scripted anything in my life, nor will I,

and you can't script them. I mean, usually my calls are kind of, you know, it's gone is usually a part of my call, although for some reason last night on the Springer home run, I said she's gone, which I've never said before in my life, and I didn't even know I'd said it until I said. And I was like, you know, I'm thinking to myself as I'm still talking, boy, where did that come from?

But, you know, it's all about the moment. A first inning home run in June is different than a three-run shot in game seven of the ALCS. That goes without saying. So I just say what I see, just kind of call what I feel, you know, and it's not always perfect and I'm not always happy with them. And actually, as a broadcaster, I like my RBI single and two-run double calls better than I like my home run calls, but the home runs are the ones that everybody remembers. And home runs are such a big part of baseball right now. You know, they can turn a game around on one swing.

But, you know, it was clear that that bottom of the seventh inning probably was going to make or break their season. So, you know, you're totally locked in on the moment, but he could have hit a groundball of short. Like, we have no idea. So I just kind of say what I'm feeling in the moment, you know, just trying to make people at home feel like they're sitting in the ballpark. I mean, not to get

too personal here, but this must this run and this must be kind of a dream come true for you. It is actually, yeah. And it's, you know, you go back until a few years ago, like if this was happening, you would just be watching it on Fox. You wouldn't be watching it on Sportsnet.

This is relatively recently where we have been able to do this. Fox or TBS, if they had had the series, those are U.S. you know, domestic broadcast partners of Major League Baseball. They don't have Canadian rights. So we're the only team, and I'm sure you guys know this,

but we're the only team in baseball where we can do this. You know, the Mariners who are watching Fox, they weren't watching their local guys on, I guess it's still root sports. It may have changed this year, but you know what I mean. So we're incredibly lucky. And listen, I'm born in Toronto, raised in Toronto, was at the first game, April 7th, 1977, the whole thing.

Right, like everybody I know is a Blue Jays fan. So it was really cool when I came back to start doing Jays games again in 2016. This wasn't on my radar because this didn't exist them. But I, you know, just came back to do Blue Jays games because that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be in Toronto more. But, you know, when this happened, I'm not going to lie. Like the chance to call a World Series on national TV for your hometown team. I think I'm the luckiest guy.

around. There aren't many of these play-by-play jobs. They're precious. And to do it for your hometown team makes it more special and to be able to do it in the postseason makes it more special and for them to make the World Series makes it as special as it can be. So yeah, I thought about a lot of people after the game last night and I'll remember this for the rest of my life. Well, I'm happy for you and Blue Jays fans are lucky to have you doing the call because you do a great job now. Thank you. The World Series hasn't even started yet. It felt like the kind of felt like the Jay's won the World Series last year, last night. And I was kind of like, is this a good thing or a bad thing? But I know they're going to gather themselves and I know that they've got a big job ahead of

them. How can they, how can they beat this Dodgers team? Right. So the Dodgers are overwhelming favorites and deservedly sell. And I know the Blue Jays 194 games and the Dodgers 193, but the Dodgers are favorites and deservedly so. They are peaking right now, or certainly were in the first two rounds. They've got four stud starting pitchers, some great hitters in the top half of their lineup. Everybody knows how powerful the Dodgers are. I think if the Blue Jays are to have a chance, then they're going to have to be at their

best in terms of running up the pitch counts of the starting pitchers, which we've seen them do, right? They make more contact than any team in baseball. we all know how their offense works, but can they get a snail out of the game? Can they get a glass snail out of the game? Two guys they know very well, by the way, from their years in the American League East with Tampa.

So can they do it to Yamamoto? Can they do it to Otani? I have no idea, but I think that's the game plan. Can they foul off a million pitches, get some guys on base, get those guys out of there after five to six innings? You know, you can't have Snell completing a game like, he did, Yamamoto going eight like he did,

you've got to get him out of the game. Because the bullpen is the, potentially the soft underbelly of the Dodgers. So I think if the Blue Jays are to have a chance, that's where it starts. Well, we were just talking about, like, okay, what have been some massive World Series upsets? And I guess the one that sprung to mind both of us,

maybe for just the ages we were at the time and how we went to baseball at that time. The Oakland A's were in 80s. were just, I mean, they were incredible and they were upset by the Los Angeles Dodgers. You know, what, what, you know, is a lot of

this as fair as we wanted to make, is a lot of this on Vladdy? I mean, a lot of it is on Vladdy, but this isn't basketball where Michael Jordan or LeBron James can take over. Like, you know, if you want Michael to have the ball to take the last shot, you can do that. You can't make

Vladdy come up with the bases loaded. Like if, you know, if it's Isaiah Kynar Philef's turn, it's Isaiah Kinear for Leff's turn. So a lot of this is on Vlad. He obviously, we're all unbelievably curious whether Boba Chet can come back. And in what role? And again, the clock is ticking. It's only three days away now. And he hasn't run the bases yet.

So maybe he's on. I don't think he's playing short. But if he's de-hching, can Springer play the outfield? how is Springer's knee. And if Springer plays the outfield, you know, now you've got to move guys around and you've got to do what you've got to do. But it would be great if Bo can be a part of this.

So Vladdy is huge, but I think they need to get the Clement. You know, Ernie Clement's been phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal in October. Lucas has been very good too. That has to continue. Kirk's got a hit. And a guy I think would be really important is Addison Barger.

Barger, to me, when he's hot, he is as dangerous as just about anybody. But he's got some cold streaks in him, too. The last four or five games, he was great. He took the walk that led off that seventh inning last night. And then at the bottom of the eighth, remember, he smoked the ball to first. I mean, it was a missile, but Naylor caught it for a double play. He homered the game before. He doubled the game before that.

I think Barger's a big part of it. And then the bullpen will have to be good. It's a team sport. Baseball is more of a team sport than most others, I think, because, again, you need so many guys to help you win a game. So, you know, if they're up a run or two, can Flew Hardy to Sir Anthony to Hoffman get the last nine outs, that sort of thing?

A lot of things are going to have to go right, but stranger things have happened. There are upsets, and we'll see. It's fun to have home field advantage. Yeah. And, you know, just put a scare into them, right? And the Blue Jays believe in them. We all know how much the Blue Jays believe in themselves.

They lost the first two games at home in this round and came back to win the series. So I think no matter what happens, they're always going to believe in themselves. Yeah, well, we talked about that in the intro segment as well. This series was kind of a microcosm of what the Jays have done all year. And they kind of refused to go down. They never believe that they're out of anything. down 2-0-0 in the series, two elimination games after the Mariners went up

3-2 in the series. And again, I don't know what the odds of likelihood of winning yesterday would have been going into that bottom of the 7th, but they would have been stacked against the Jays. But it's not just lip service from Schneider, I think, when he says, like, we take it, we want to go on like a one-game winning streak or we just want to win this. And then

if you break it down, it goes to each individual inning, each individual at bat. And they do a really good job of just fighting and fighting and fighting. Maybe that'll be the recipe to pull an upset against the Dodgers. Yeah, I think that's part of it. It's the, if you can just get a guy on, somebody at the bottom of the order, get on base.

Like how many times have we seen big innings start with like, whether it's Clement or Tyner Folefa or Miles Straw or anybody, just get on base, open the door, crack, and see what happens. And, you know, it's guys doing whatever is asked for them. This guy gets hurt, that guy fills in. This guy gets sent down. That guy gets called up. You know, move Barger from the infield to the outfield.

But whoever would have thought Isaiah Kiner Folefa starts the last five games of this series and comes up with some big kids. This is who they are. And I think John Schneider and the rest of the coaching staff have done a great job creating this culture of it's all 26 of them. On every single day, it's all 26 of them. And they all believe in each other, no matter who is on the mound or who is in the box, they all believe in each other and have faith that they can help them win games. Dan, you're the best.

go get some rest. Got a few days now we'll let you go and take some time to enjoy this but also get ready for the World Series which begins on Friday. It's going to be a lot of fun. Guys, thanks. Appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate you. Dan Shulman, play-by-play voice

of the Toronto Blue Jays here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet, 6.50. Do you think having the first two games at Rogers Center could be potentially huge for the Jays? Yeah, they lose them. Then they win four or five. Yeah. I mean, the playbook is there. The blueprint is there.

is there. The Dodgers aren't the Mariners, though. And the reason I say this is because the Kirk Gibson walk off home run. Game one. Game one. Hey, buddy. Like, it was over in five. That series was over in five. No, no, no. It was over in one. Well, that's, and that's why I bring up the, that's why I bring up the, you know, I know baseball. He's like, we set the tone in game one. But like Dan says, you got to put a scare into the Dodgers. And what better way to do that than Take advantage of your first two games at home where Rogers Center is going to be absolutely crazy. I just wanted to read this one. This is a nice text into the Dunbar Lumber text line.

It comes from Steve in Prince George. He said, I kept my son up last night who has never watched baseball, eight years old, and Springer's home run had him losing his mind because even he could feel the electricity of this sports moment. Couldn't be happy for Laddie. and thanks to Brough for the reverse jinks. I'm just trying to do my best here. Steve, I'm glad you were able to have that moment with your son. I think there were a lot of moments like that across the country.

I'm not trying to get into the argument of who you're cheering for, who you should be cheering for. This was me personally witnessing many of these moments. The boy had a hockey practice late last night, and they stayed and found a TV, to watch together and they watched it as a team and the celebration when they got the final out, they were pumped.

And this is a hockey team. Like they like baseball. But now I think they love baseball. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. It is a Canucks game day here on Sportsnet 650. Our next guest is the play-by-play voice of those of Vancouver Canucks. He will be calling tonight's game 4 o'clock.

Pittsburgh, Vancouver. From Pittsburgh. Brandon Batchler here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Batch? Good morning. How are you guys? We're good. Here's the first question.

Do you have any idea who's going to be playing for the Vancouver Canucks tonight? No, is the short answer. I guess we'll wait and see, obviously, there were those flurry of moves yesterday. So, you know, is Brock Besser back or not? We'll have to wait to find out. Is Teddy Bueger able to play? We'll have to wait to find out. Could there be more shuffling from absentee?

Abbotsford in Vancouver officially on paper, I guess we'll wait to find out, although I think they probably have done everything that they're going to do with, you know, Neil Zohman coming up and Tom Veylander as well. So I guess there's a chance that Tom Villander plays his first NHL game tonight. So, you know, there'll be a lot to watch for in the Vancouver lineup. Let's put it that way. Are you having trouble like I am knowing how to feel about these connects? Because, I mean, it's incredible that they won the first three games of the road trip, especially. how they looked in the first period against Dallas. And I think a lot of people deserve a lot of credit for that. But at the same time, the Heedle situation, I don't know if you could have drawn up a worse case scenario, like getting blasted by Tom Wilson, you know, in the middle of the ice like Heedle was and leaving the game.

I mean, this is the situation that we all worried would happen, and it's happened six games into the season. Yeah, you're really. feel for Philip Heel, first of all, and that's where my mind went first was, oh, no, another one of these for this guy that can't seem to catch a break in terms of health, and especially because he had, you know, played pretty well to start the year. I know he had a couple of untimely penalties, and there was the one giveaway, I believe it was against the Oilers that, you know, he would like back, but he scored a few goals, you know, was playing on the line

with DeBruscan Besser before Besser, you know, didn't play last game due to personal leave. So, you know, it was all looking up for Philippeitel, and now you just hope that, you know, this isn't long, long term for him. And ultimately, I guess we'll have to wait and see if they provide any sort of timeline on the injured guys in the next day or two. But, you know, not only is it sort of your greatest fear for Philippaedal and his help personally, and hopefully he's all right. But it was also your greatest fear in terms of the stuff we talked about all summer, which was, you know, depth down the middle and you know even jim rutherford said it could be more costly to not find a center well maybe we're about to find out exactly how costly it was to not get a center or maybe they're going to go get a center and and help shore up the middle of the ice but you know there's a very

real scenario where you're looking at um alias peterson max sassin atu ratu and niels oman as your four centers for the game today and that's not the way that anybody would have have drawn this up, including Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alvin. So, you know, hopefully for Heald's sake, it's not long term, but if it is, I'll be very interested to see how the organization operates in terms of trying to help those guys down the middle. Well, here's another conundrum for Adam Foote. You know, I remember the beginning of the season going like, you know,

like I don't know if Pedersen and Garland should be on the same line because ideally I'd like Pedersen to drive one of the lines on the top six and Garland to drive the other. but, you know, the way the season started for whatever reasons, Garland was elevated to that spot with Pedersen, and they look really good together. So are you going to break that duo up, or are you going to risk, all right, we'll keep DeBress, Pedersen and Garland together? You might have a second line of, I don't know, rotu between Kane and Sherwood, and how is that going to fare?

yeah and these are the the challenges that adam foot is going to face now you know the way i sort of looked at it was that they were trying to draw up a matchup line and because peterson had sort of a slow start offensively he put him with garland you know peterson's going to be reliable defensively that can be your matchup line and then moving heel off that line created sort of the offense line right that you know at one point was with de bruska investor and those guys can generate offense. Now, you know, it kind of does feel like you have to load up one line with all the injuries, but then you've got three other lines that have to find a way to keep their head above water and, you know,

that Abbott'sford line, I think, has been really good and they're essentially going to have to be your third line potentially in this scenario where you're looking at like a Neil Zomon and Joe LaBate anchoring your fourth line potentially, depending on who is or isn't back with the team.

and in the lineup for the game today. So, I mean, these are problems for Adam Foots, certainly, and I'd be very interested to see whether Pedersen and Garland stay together or whether they're split up just so you have a couple of lines that you can hopefully rely on because Pedersen has looked better the last couple of games. I think it's fair to say. All I would say for Adam Foote's sake is that hopefully this is short-term

that he has to worry about this, where you get through the final two games of the road trip, you're incredibly thankful that you've already banked six points. And if you can get some more here, great. But, you know, get through the last couple of games of the trip. You've guaranteed yourself a winning trip. And then hopefully guys are getting healthy or reinforcements are brought in one way or another by the time you get home for pretty big back-to-back this weekend, too.

Like, this schedule does not relent. We already talked about the first three games of the trip being in whatever it was, 67 hours or something like that. And now you've got another stretch this week. week where it's four games in six nights, including a home back-to-back against two Canadian opponents. So, you know, the games keep coming thick and fast, and they're going to have to figure out a way to get through the week. I was actually looking at the schedule last night, and, you know, those three home games where, you know, it ends with the Tuesday game against

the New York Rangers. I wonder if they're kind of reverse engineering it to make sure that Dempco's the goalie for that Rangers game. How do you think they're going to roll out the goalies? Because Lankinen has been fine, but Demko has been incredible. Yeah, well, and what I look at more with the goaltending is less about the Ranger game and more about the Euler game on Sunday in terms of divisional matchup, underman team, like that might be a game where you really want to have Thatcher Demko in the crease. So part of me wonders if this week goes Lanken and Demko, Lankin and Demko,

and then maybe you could go back to Demko on Tuesday against the Rangers if you wanted to. But with the three and four, you would expect that Demko would play two of those on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, which means maybe you go to Lankin and tonight, or maybe not, right? Maybe Demko separating himself to get some of those extra games. but that said, this is what they talked about coming into the year, the congested schedule, and we sign both of these guys for a reason and we don't want to write Thatcher Demko early. And the fact that you've won games gives you a little bit of cushion.

And, you know, I know it's very early, right? Three wins in a row in October is not like a playoff spot confirmed and locked up or anything like that. But the fact that you've won some of these games does give you a little bit of that cushion to say, okay, we don't need to feel. feel like we absolutely have to roll Thatcher Demko out, you know, most nights here, although he's still going to be the starter of most nights, but do they need to force him into this game tonight?

Maybe, maybe not. If they do or they don't, then what do they do Thursday and how do they, you know, figure out the back-to-back of the weekend and then what does next week look like? These are going to be questions that we're going to talk about all season long because, as I said, this schedule just keeps coming and the games are coming thick and fast and they're back home and then they're out on the road again. And so they're going to need to use both guys. And if they want to make sure that Thatcher stays healthy,

then I think it would be, you know, in their best interest to make sure that Kevin Lankin plays a couple of games this week probably. Let's talk about Elias Pedersen because I've been encouraged by his play, certainly over the last two games. I would say over the last two and a half games, I thought the game he played in Chicago

was the closest he's been to back. if you want to call that in a long, long time. I'm not willing to go there yet, but what have you seen from Petey? Yeah, I think more decisive with the puck, and that's what he is when he's at his best. And the first moment I sort of thought, oh, okay, that's Elias Pedersen,

was that move he made to the front of the net in overtime against the Blackhawks, where Spencer Knight made a great save on him, but I think it was Lucas Reichel that he danced around and got right to the front of the net. and that's a confidence that he's had with the puck that we haven't seen from him in a while. I think Adam Foote, you know, kind of characterized it as taking on guys.

And when Elias Pedersen is confident and playing it his best, he is taking on guys and he is dancing around them and he is forcing them to commit and creating opportunities by doing that, by moving his feet as well, which is something that has been talked about a lot. So I agree, I'm not going to like have some grand declaration that he's back, but I think the last couple of games at the very least have been the best sign that there is a trend in the right direction there.

And then, of course, all the great defensive stuff, too, like the shot blocks and, you know, plays that he's come back to break up in his own zone. And, you know, you often see him below his own goal line helping out his defense to try and transition the puck. So we always knew that the defensive side of things and the two-way ability is there. But ultimately, especially with the issues they have down the middle of the moment, with Heidel and potentially Bluger out, you need this guy to be an offensive driver.

And I think we've seen signs of him getting back to being that player, but he can't rest on his laurels now just because we've seen signs of in a couple of games. He has to continue to build on that, continue to gain confidence, continue to gain momentum and continue to grow his game. And, you know, hopefully he can have another strong game against the Penguins today because they're going to need him with the bodies they have out of the lineup. I'm not asking you to start trade rumors or anything, but he, you know, I know you follow,

I know you follow the league pretty closely as well as the connects. Are there any names out there that you think could be, you know, interesting for the connects to pursue? You know, I know sat throughout the name, Pavel Zaka. A lot of people texting into the Dunbar Lumber text line about Nazim Qadry out of Calgary. I don't know about that one. Like, he's, he's getting old and he's got four years left on that contract. maybe? I don't know. I mean, the picking seem to be pretty slim out there. Yeah, and with Cadre, you know, you'd have to give up a pretty penny to get him here.

I think he has some sort of, maybe it's not a full no movement clause, but he has some sort of trade protection. And, you know, you've already made some trades with the flames in recent years and sent one of your high-ed defensive prospects in Hunter Bershevich to a division rival. Do you want to do that with another one of your young defenseman? in a trade like that. He does have a full no move too. So, I mean. Yeah, exactly. So he would fully control that situation.

And you know what? Maybe he would want to come here if things aren't looking great in Calgary. But for a team like that to give up on one of their top guys this early in the year would be quite surprising, I think, in terms of being willing to be a seller this early. So I don't think that is likely. Another name that Randy Epe and I were talking about the other day is J.G. Pazzo with the New York Islanders. Obviously, the islanders are going through a transition period right now, and Pazzo

could be available. He's not like the bona fide number two center that Cadre would be, but, you know, if you're looking around the league for guys that could potentially be on the market or could potentially be got, that's another name that I've sort of flagged here in the last few days. But ultimately, this is a really hard spot for them to be in because teams don't generally like to make trades this early in the year, right? They're still trying to find out what they have. You know, even though the schedule has been so congested and in some ways it feels like

it's been 20 games, it has only been five or six games for most teams. So, you know, maybe they can get a guy that, you know, either isn't getting the right opportunity with his organization or, you know, there's a young guy that they'd like to get more ice time and they want to move out a depth center. but ultimately we know that this organization wanted to acquire center ice help all summer and they weren't able to do it so i don't see how the landscape will have shifted drastically enough with five or six games played in the year that suddenly there's going to be a sentiment available that makes a lot of sense for them and that they can get at a reasonable price if they're going

to get a centerman in the next week or two they're going to have to pay a premium to do it and that's not a spot that anybody wanted to be in, but ultimately that's the spot you are in at the moment, assuming that, you know, at least one of these centermen missed significant time. And, you know, I can understand with Heedel's injury history, why people might be preparing themselves for that. And even if, you know, Teddy Blugher is able to come back, I don't think anybody was drawing up second line center Teddy Bluger in their plans coming into the year either. So it would help a lot as opposed to, you know, potentially having to roll. rollout Ratu Sassan and Oman down the middle,

but it probably still isn't what they need for the season that they want to have and for the start to the year that they want to have as well. Well, the top two centers in Pittsburgh, the Canucks opponent tonight, are fairly recognizable names in Sidney Crosby and have Jenny Malkin. I wonder if they could get one of those guys.

Maybe. That would help. Maybe Sid would help for sure. It might cost a little bit. How much learning do you have to do when it comes to this Pittsburgh roster? There are some names on here that I am not familiar with. Yeah, they are incorporating some young guys into their lineup a little bit more. And I think they've had a surprisingly good start to the year for, you know,

looking at the roster and seeing that there are some, you know, pretty unfamiliar names and guys that don't have a ton of NHL track record there. But, you know, that's probably, you know, as much as this is a tough period for Penguins fans to go through after all the success they've had organizationally and you know not being a playoff team here of late you know you get some young talent in and you know for those guys to be around the likes of crosbie and Malkin and letang while they're still there you hope that has a big impact on them and you know from a penguin's perspective you hope they're refreshing their roster and having some young talent and that potentially being bad this year and getting a high

pick, even if it's not the top pick that everybody's going to be going for this year, you hope from a penguin's perspective that this is sort of the start of an upward trend for them where they can turn things around. But, yeah, there are a few names there that I've done a little bit of prep on that I'll be doing some more prep on between now and the drop of the puck to make sure we've got it all locked in and ready to go. The connects are going to skate this morning. They're going to skate in a couple hours, so we might know about it.

lines, line combinations as well. Sorry, Helfer, go ahead. I think they hit the ice before the end of your show, actually. So you might get that use on the air before 9 o'clock. Yeah, they're practicing it 8.30 this morning and then media availability afterwards. Are you expecting to see RDC Loves tonight? That is my expectation at this point. Yes, I don't think the Penguins have officially announced anything, but based on the way the games have gone, it looks like it could be a She-Lov's game. And you understand why he might want that game and why the Penguins might align things up to make sure he can play his former team.

Batch, this was great, buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do it, as always. We appreciate it. Have a good call tonight. We'll do this again next week. Thanks, boys. Have a good one. Thank you. Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Let's talk about Elias Pedersen. I thought the game he played in Chicago was

the closest he's been to back, if you want to call that, in a long, long time. I'm not willing to go there yet. People keep asking if I'm back, and I haven't really had an answer. But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm making progress. Did anybody actually watch the football games?

Plural games last night. Put my hand up, I did. Watch both. Monday night football. First game. Eh, second game. The Lions did beat the box. Every time I turned to that game,

there was a Tampa Bay Buccaneers player getting carted off the field. I was like, this is not good for that. I think you jinx Baker Mayfield yesterday when you were like, he should be MVP. I think we are grossly overstating our jinxing abilities, both mine and yours, because you were at the forefront of a possible Mariners jinx yesterday online. Yeah, elite jinx. I don't believe in jinxes, but still it's worth pointing out. The second of the Monday Night Football Doubleheader last night,

the Seattle Seahawks won, 27 and 19 at home over the visiting Houston Texans. Despite that win, I feel like their head coach, Mike McDonald, who is going into a buy at 5 and 2 and theoretically should be happy will not be happy with the way his team played football yesterday. Lost the turnover battle. The defense was very good. Yeah, lost the turnover battle.

Sloppy play. Defense played well, absolutely, but they can't be happy with losing the turnover battle 4 to 1. Winning the game, 27 to 19, but that game was so sloppy in the second half. The whole thing was weird. Vibes were off.

the vibe vibes were off at Lumenfield you knew someone that went down to the game and how did that person describe the atmosphere there

everyone was on their phone watching the Mariners game yeah so and then when the Springer home run happened and then the Hoffman closed happened

there was two huge deflation moments not one but two and it really kind of suck the air out of Lumen Field yeah I understand it

Sam Darnold fumbled in the end We're dominating this game. We're winning, but it feels, doesn't feel fun. There was like terrible clock management and bizarre play calling. And I don't understand near the end of the game why they kept dropping Darnold back to pass instead of just running the ball and chewing up the clock. It was bizarre the way the game was going. I think they were just testing the Texans to see if they could do anything.

I don't know. They couldn't. It was a sloppy game. If I woke up this morning and the Texan's offensive coordinator had been fired, I would not be surprised at all. Well, we're not yet. I'm keeping an eye. I'm keeping an eye out for a couple of firings, right? And I've been checking the ticker, better known as Twitter.

But that team is, that team is a mess given where they were a couple of years ago when C.J. Stroud burst onto the scene. Offensive rookie of the year, playoff team in his first year. Like, they looked like they were a team on the rise. It's been a disaster this year. the season's not over, but that was not a good performance yesterday. A couple of you were texting in explaining the reason that they can't dunk on the goalposts in the NFL.

You are correct. The reason why is because Jimmy Graham used to dunk, but Jimmy Graham used to hang on the goalpost. Yeah, that's a technical in the NBA. Right. And he used to, and he would knock them askew off kilter. If you watch JSN yesterday, he threw that down with ferocity, a windmill. No hanging around. You just slam that thing through.

I think if you hang on the goalposts, flag it. If you just hammer it down like JSN did, let it go. It's good times. Okay, NHL scores last night. A few interesting ones. Let's start at MSG where the Rangers finally scored a goal in front of their home fans. Just one goal. They lost 3 to 1 to the Minnesota Wild, and by all accounts were pretty badly out.

played by the wild so that's is that four home games for the rangers one goal scored no wins oh four and oh at home with one goal shocking they've done okay on the road they're three four and one so they're not a complete disaster but that is a disastrous start at home for a team that really needed to get its fans back kind of the same way the connects needed to get their fans back they didn't obviously have a very good season last year and they were not very good at home talking about the Canucks, you know, I watched some Rangers games last season where they were terrible at home. And, you know, this is a team that can't really afford to be a disaster. A lot of problems for them right now. Obviously, the inability to put the puck in the net is

one. But Mike Sullivan in the aftermath wasn't even focused on the finishing. He talked about how yet again, they got outworked, they didn't win enough puck battles. They didn't have enough energy in their game. Where are they without Shisterkin? Winless? It's possible. Shastirken's been one of the best goalies in the NHL this season

and the Rangers are still three, four, and one. The quote from Sullivan was quote, this wasn't nearly the game that we've been putting on the ice game in and game out. We knew we were going to play a team that was going to come in with urgency based on circumstance and we didn't match the urgency. That was the challenge

and we got outplayed tonight. Now, The circumstance is that Minnesota came in almost as depleted at Forward as the Vancouver Canucks right now. Marco Rossi's hurt. I don't know if you saw that, so he didn't play. Matt Zuccarello's already on the shelf. Whoever they plugged into the lineup last night got his first ever NHL goal. And it's been a team that hasn't really been all that great to start the season either, the Minnesota Wild. And they went in and sort of dictated how the game was going to go to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden,

which has happened way too many times already this season. Sullivan doesn't like his team. That's my read on the situation. Is Sullivan took this job? I don't quite want to compare it to when Torts left the Rangers and then, as we've kind of pointed out, half-heartedly took the Canucks job. He's like, that's a lot of money, yes.

I feel like there might be some similarities here with Sullivan. I think so too. I think there might be. He's inherited a team that's older. The core is stale But they've had some success Torts said that They haven't won

But they've been deep in playoff runs before There's a lot of guys that have been entrenched there for a long time If you want to make that Torts Vancouver comparison Don't forget Sullivan also good buddies with Tordorale They coached together That has really great Trainwreck potential

Because of the guy orchestrating it, Chris Drury We have seen his pension for action When things aren't going well He wasn't afraid to blow up a lot of the core Last year, right? Truba gone Crider, gone

I wonder When does Drury's relationship with Dolan Start to fray though because of results? I mean I think that's part of the reason why he's Feeling that pressure constantly To turn things over and get them back on Like James Dolan It'd be a lot right

Dolan's very hands off until he's hands on And then when he's hands on it's like, uh-oh, someone's getting fired. Well, he's always hands-on with the Knicks. Yeah. Especially with, like, security cameras and everything. But with the Rangers, yeah. With the Rangers, I think it's a lot different.

Maybe it's because it's not, hockey isn't necessarily his thing. I think he feels like he's more of a basketball guy as an owner. But Glenn say there was always the buffer there, right? That's right, and he's gone. Okay, the Calgary Flames. We talked about them yesterday. Yeah, they lost again. There are 1-6-0 now.

They lost to the Jets who are 5-1-0, 2-1, but the story in that game really wasn't about the teams. It was about the player. Jonathan Taves, first goal in over 900 days as he scored his first goal as a member of the Winnipeg Jets. And yeah, that was the big takeaway from a Jets team that's gotten off to a very good start. But man alive, if you're Calgary right now, it is tough sledding because you can't score enough goals to win tight, low-scoring one-goal games. And your goal tending, although it was fine last night, that was the strength in the backbone of your team last year. It just hasn't been there this year and it was crazy in hindsight that the flames started dust and wolf in a back-to-back

scenario to start the season was very good like i know it's like he's fresh but it's also i mean it's it's it's it's gonna be a crazy condensed schedule i'm just looking at the connect schedule and i know we talked about this a little bit with batch but thank god the connects have two capable goalies because look at how it goes they've just played three of four on the road and they won them all which is and i did not see that coming now they play so they played sunday now they play tonight so one day off in pittsburg one day off then they go to nashville then they have to come all the way back from nashville which is one day off on friday play saturday against the habs Sunday against the Oilers

and Tuesday against the Rangers oh yeah and then they're just like oh you know don't get comfortable after that Rangers game because you got one day off and then we start a three game road trip to St. Louis Minnesota and Nashville I kind of wanted to have

this is the Olympic season I think the Florida Panthers have played like 11 games already they have they play they played a lot they play in Boston tonight oh yeah yeah yeah it's mass shot yeah it's his emotional return to Boston. Anyway, but we'll park that for a second. I wanted to have the conversation. Mashmont. Remember when they were calling them that for some reason? Because they're from Massachusetts.

Mashmont. I wanted to have this conversation a little longer with that, but we were jumping around topics. But when you're talking about the current play to the Vancouver Canucks, it's easy to focus on who's not there and how depleted they are at Forward. But that does provide an opportunity for guys to step up, right? Next Man Up, Philosophobic. and all that stuff. And, you know, when we're under siege, who's going to step up and provide good performances for this team?

We've talked about Connor Garland. We've talked about Kiefer Sherwood. Elias Pedersen had a very nice game in Washington. Tyler Myers, I think he's played exceptionally well to start the year. Yeah. And I would like to suggest that this is an opportunity for both goalies to further prove

that they're the top tandem in the National Hockey League. We didn't talk about this at all when we came in on Monday. in part because the game happened on Friday, and there were so many things that happened on Saturday and Sunday. But I thought Lankin's performance in Chicago in that game, pretty impressive given what the Canucks are dealing with on this road trip, 31 to 33, 933 save percentage.

Like, if you look at this team right now, they're going to be, as they like to say in football parlance, under the cost. And it's inevitable with how thin they are at forward. But when you've got good goaltending and you've got healthy goaltending and you can flip back and forth between guys, guys, you're going to stay in a lot of games that you otherwise probably wouldn't be in. And you look at a three-game win streak to start this road trip. I don't know what percentage you would credit the goaltending for that,

but it would be a large percentage right now. They are playing very, very well. Jay texts in with a question into the Dunbar Lumber text line. If PD finishes with 70 points but finishes top three in Selke votes, do you consider this a successful season? I responded, yes. You responded, oh, God, yes. Yeah.

Yeah, that's a no brain. If you finish top three in Selky voting, having a hell of a year. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.