Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 10/23/24

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss if Bedard was overhyped, plus the boys talk a dominant Canucks road win over Chicago with radio commentator Randip Janda. 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 the f***ing Canucks? You're listening to Halford & Brough.

Shocker traffic tip, they score! Danton Heinen to the side of the net. I think we're giving up too many opportunities in the middle of the ice, but overall, I mean, scoring six goals, I'm happy. There's a massive buck coming here, guys. Close to first, double play! Fernando Valenzuela has pitched a no-hitter. If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky. Good morning, Vancouver.

6-0-1 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. This is Halford and his brother, for the Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey, dawg, Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Hey, dog, good morning to you. Good morning. Lanny, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brougham of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts.

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powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sorfy, what are you waiting for? Kintec, poof, what a night. 16 games, 32 teams. The notes are expansive for today's show. So much to get into. A lot of goals in the Canucks game. A lot of goals in the Canucks game.

Very exciting night on the ice. We got a lot to get into in today's show. We have a lot of guests to speak to today. It begins at 630. David Amber, Sportsnet, Hockey Night in Canada, NHL host. All the Canadian teams were in action last night so we can get into what the Vancouver Canucks did in Chicago to end their road trip.

Very nice way to end the trip with a 6-3 victory against the Blackhawks. We can talk about what the Oilers and the Flames and the Jets and the Sens and the Leafs and the Habs all did last night as well. Sens are 4-2 under Greener. Sneaky. They're up to third place in the division.

They passed the Leafs last night, actually. No old mark either. First team to ever win a game on the road in Utah. Oh, wow. That's a feather in their cap. Way to go, Ottawa. They have to make the playoffs now if they've managed to beat Utah in Utah. Are we all forgetting they used to be Arizona?

What? No, Utah's this dominant home team. They have been for years. Yeah, they're crazy, man. They're a wagon. You know how the NHL just wiped Arizona from the record? Just canceled them? That's what I did in my brain. I don't believe that that team ever existed. It's a brand new team in Utah. We're better off for

it, really. Yeah. 730, Randy Janda, who was on the call last night for the Canucks and Blackhawks. We'll talk to him. Also, Randy is going to go to Game 1 of the World Series. What a lucky guy. Why? Why is he going? Because it's a big sporting event. I know. He's a big Yankees fan.

It's very exciting. He's a large Yankees fan. And there are two massive markets in it and two very storied baseball franchises. He's making more money than I thought he was. This won't be cheap. I see. Randy's got that truck money coming in. That's real good for him. So 7.30, Randy Jan is going to join us on the program.

8 o'clock, Vanni Sartini, the manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Whitecaps are in action tonight. 7.30 from Portland in a game that, as we all know, they're very well established, including the many people who listened to our show yesterday and called me and said,

wow, you were really harsh on BC Place. Vanni Sartini will join us ahead of tonight's match. If there is a silver lining, Jason, it may have happened last night because the lower seed in the Eastern Conference, Atlanta, had to go to Montreal, which is the way it's supposed to be. Anyway, bottom line, the road team won the wildcard game in the East yesterday.

Montreal's out? Montreal's out. Atlanta's on its way to take on one of the top seeds in the East. Sometimes I forget Montreal has an MLS team. They do. They were in the playoff yesterday. There's a very Canadian flair to this wildcard play. I walked by their stadium one time.

I'm like, oh, yeah. Stada Saputo. They do have a team. Yeah, they do. Not anymore, though, because they're out. But they did have one. They had an active MLS team. Also, we are giving away a $50, A-Dog,

a $50 gift card to White Spot for the third consecutive day. That'll go to caller number three. We're just going to announce it on a whim. Whatever we feel like in the show, whenever I have a moment to take callers, we will do it. If you're the third caller and you have not won anything from Sportsnet 650

in the last 90 days, you can win a $50 gift card to White Spot. So stay tuned. Don't touch the dial. Keep it on Halford & Brough the entire day. So that's the guest list. Vanny Sartini at 8, Randy Jand at 730, Dave and Amber at 630. 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. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that?

You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. J.T. Miller, a goal and two assists. Danton Heinen scored twice. Vancouver Canucks 6-3 victory over Conor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Tuesday.

Nice little way to end the road trip there. Three wins on the trot, including one in Chicago. Yeah, it's funny what a few games, what a difference they can make. The Canucks have gone from winless in their first three games, that's bad, to three straight wins and just one regulation loss in their first six games.

That's pretty good. It was a wild first period with six goals scored. The Canucks must have listened to Ray Ferraro's hit yesterday because they scored on the power play after Quinn Hughes ripped a shot wide and JT Miller pounced on the loose puck. Just shoot the puck.

What did I say? Shoot the puck. Sometimes you just get a broken play. You get a bounce. It's a fortuitous bounce. Just give it to Quinn. Wasn't how they drew it up, but it worked. But then the Canucks later in the game

also scored an absolutely beautiful power play goal. That was in the third period when Quinn Hughes, who has been incredible, absolutely no drop off from his Norris Trophy season last year. In fact, I don't know, he might be playing better. With the perfectly weighted drop pass for Miller at the blue line,

Miller feeds Besser for the redirect. That was, I think, was probably the nicest goal the Canucks have scored this season. I don't know, maybe there's a nicer one. It's in the conversation. It's high in that conversation. Credit to Petey for drawing the penalty as well. He tried to beat a guy. The guy tripped him.

And, you know, the Canucks got a power play out of it. I just wanted to kind of go on a little bit more about Quinn Hughes, though. He is so, so good. The numbers, I know Drance has been talking about this a lot, and it is a worthwhile conversation. The numbers, I know Drance has been talking about this a lot and it is a worthwhile

conversation. The numbers when he's on the ice versus not on the ice are ridiculous in terms of what the Canucks are doing in terms of like expected goals and expected goals against. It's like when he's on the ice, cup contenders. When he's not on the ice, possible lottery team, right? Like it's, it is, it was, I mean, look, let's be honest.

It was a tough night at times for the Susie Myers pair. They were on the ice for the first two goals against and didn't look good doing it, right? There was a miscommunication on the first two goals against and didn't look good doing it, right? There was a miscommunication on the first goal against where Soucy just kind of shoveled the puck behind the net. Maybe he thought Myers was going to be there, but ultimately Brock Besser had to come down low into his zone. It didn't work out well.

It was in the Canucks net pretty quick. The second goal, Tyler Myers just over-skated a puck or the puck bounced over his stick. It was quickly on to the Blackhawks stick and they scored. So not a great night for that pair, but you know, that's House of Negativity stuff. Yeah.

Quinn Hughes, he is just, I hope everyone appreciates how good he is. Like in my mind, I have time for a lot of players on the Canucks. Quinn Hughes, head and shoulders, the best player on the Vancouver Canucks. Easily. Easily the best player. And that's with some pretty serious challengers.

Yeah. JT Miller is putting up a hell of a fight to try and be that guy with being the emotional heartbeat, as we've described him on the team. But Hey, I'll tell you what, don't just take Jason Brough's word for it. Let's hear now from the head coach, Rick Talkett and pay very close attention to the player comp at the end of

this clip, because Rick Talkett only breaks out the Sidney Crosby comp in very certain circumstances and only what it's called for. Here is Rick Talkett on Quinn Hughes, talking about it's called for here is rick talkett on quinn hughes talking about hughes's chase for perfection i think huggy's a type of kid or hughes's type of kid where he's chasing perfection right he you know i don't think he ever sits back and you know he's thinking of like okay like teams are in a game plan so what do i do if they do this like that's how he thinks that's know, we actually talk about that.

Like, if a team's going to be high on him, what's the next play? And that's why he's chasing perfection. And, yeah, I mean, he's always looking to get better. Is that common to other great players that you've seen? Well, I mean, 100%. They're never satisfied. You know, I come, like, the most recent guys, and it's like a Sidney Crosby, he's always trying satisfied. You know, I come, the most recent guys, and it's like a Sidney Crosby, he's always trying to,

you know, how do I, you know, he changes his workout, you know, he changes his patterns, he changes what he does at practice, and I think that he just would change to perfection, and Hughes is the same type of guy. They have that mindset. We're all very lucky to be able to watch Quinn Hughes on a nightly basis.

The Canucks have, you know, rather famously we're all very lucky to be able to watch Quinn Hughes on a nightly basis. The Canucks have, you know, rather famously never had a defenseman like Quinn Hughes and now they do. And you can see what happens when you have a guy out there who can essentially control a game for half a game. A couple of other guys deserve their kudos. Another win for Kevin Lankanen. You know, we talk up Quinn and we say he's clearly their best player, and yet I think Kevin Lankanen has a good case for being the MVP so far.

Given the circumstances, yes. Just given the circumstances, right? I shudder to think where the Canucks would be. I mean, last night, listen, the Canucks have not been great defensively overall. Compared to last season, if last season was what you're comparing them to, the Canucks have not been as good as last year in terms of defensive zone coverage,

moving the puck cleanly out of their zone, and boxing out in front of their net. It just hasn't been as good, and I don't know why exactly that is. Maybe they got some new players. Maybe they're trying to do some new things. Maybe they were focusing on other things at training camp, but there have been some rough moments for the Canucks defensively.

Kevin Lankanen has been there for the most part to help that. I mean, he's playing at a level that you would expect Thatcher Demko to play at. I don't know how long he's going to be able to do this. Maybe he's just a really good goalie and he's flown under the radar and he's finally found his stuff in Vancouver. But the Canucks don't play again until Saturday versus Pittsburgh. So there's another easily rest up.

I realize that Rick Taka will probably want to get Seelovs into a game sooner rather than later. But right now, I don't think you can go with any other goalie unless you've got an issue with maybe Lankanen getting worn down or you're worried about overplaying them you certainly don't want to overplay them but again the Canucks don't play again until Saturday versus Pittsburgh the Pens by the way will be the tired team yeah in that game they have to play in Edmonton on Friday so you know not to jinx anything but that's what you

would call a schedule loss for Pittsburgh that Saturday game in Vancouver I don't necessarily always believe that sort of thing because when you come into a Canadian market and you're Sidney Crosby and you're playing Saturday night like that's a big game and you get yourself up for it but it should be a game at the very least that the Canucks are favored in so good for Kevin Lankanen let talk about Conor Garland because I sent out a tweet last night that I think a lot of people responded to. I said, I've gone from worrying about how many years are left on Garland's contract to worrying about how many years are left on Garland's contract. Yeah, yeah. Like, you know, not too long ago, it was like, oh, my God. Like, Canucks can't move this guy. He doesn't seem to be a fit in Vancouver.

He just hasn't found his role. The Canucks want to clear cap space, and he's an obvious guy. But, you know, he's got three years left on his deal. This is going to be hard to move. And now he's been such, such a key player for the Canucks that I'm like, wait a minute,

he's only got one year after this one? What? Oh my God. Can they get him to sign to an extension this summer? Is it going to be too expensive? It just makes everything work out there. One of the more remarkable turnarounds

in recent memory for a player in Vancouver that, let's's be honest was not exactly widely loved by the fan base was not exactly unscrutinized by the media and a lot of people wondering what exactly were the connects targeting when they acquired him in the oel trade obviously a lot changed when rick talk it came in the door i think that goes without saying is he figured out a role and a spot and i think he really got garland to hone in on the things that make his game unique and make him an effective player and i think maybe some of that got lost in his early tenure in vancouver vancouver i wouldn't be surprised if some of it had to do with signing the biggest contract of his life like maybe he felt he needed to do something else.

But when he is at his best, not only is he incredibly effective, I go back to the word unique. There's just not a lot of players at his size with his motor, but with the ability to, he's nifty. He's very nifty when he does these things. There's guys with great motors in the NHL, but they don't have either the cerebral level or the skill set to pull off some of the things that Garland does. Well, here's something he's actually doing now,

actually scoring goals. Right. I mean, that was one of the things that when he came to Vancouver, you can maybe point at. We knew he worked hard. You could see that. And we knew he worked hard. You could see that. And we knew he won some puck battles. But when he first came to Vancouver,

he didn't have that chemistry with Dakota Joshua. That was one thing, right? Yeah, that's another good point. He didn't have that. And I think he gained a lot of confidence with that. So that carries on even while Dakota Joshua is out. But he wasn't really scoring either, and lately he's been scoring a lot of goals. He's already up to three goals on the season, and he finished last season strong,

and he scored some goals in the playoffs too. So remember last season, the Joshua, Garland line, and Bluger, they were playing well, but they weren't necessarily scoring. There wasn't necessarily a bottom line, and especially for Garland line and Bluger, they were playing well, but they weren't necessarily scoring. There wasn't necessarily a bottom line, and especially for Garland. But now he's starting to put the puck in the net. And, you know, I think he's been excellent for Elias Pettersson because, like I said, I think there's two main drivers of offense on the Canucks up front right now. There should be more. Petey should be

one of them, but I still don't think he is right now. I think Garland, if you're talking about who's driving play on that line, it's Connor Garland. And Petey's doing a good job of being a complimentary player, making some nice passes out there, but it's Garland driving that. And on the other line, it's JTT Miller that guy creates chances and he rushes the puck up the ice and you know sometimes he can be a little bit reckless with the puck we all know that but that guy is a guy that can drive a line now let's talk about another line because Heinen Bluger and Sherwood have been a great line and they got the Canucks off to a great start last night it's been impressive right like the way that they've been able to move things around

and figure out like can we put I mean to be honest like I did not see this trio of all the line combinations that we were doing preseason and even through the first few exhibition games that this would be a fit. Bluger has been such a good player for this team through the first six games of the year. He's had a rotating cast of wingers. They've tried him out with different guys. More offensive flair than I think they probably expected when he came over in the first place.

I know last year wasn't a huge offensive year in terms of counting stats, but been a good play driver. That was the, I mean, Dan Heinen's game, that's the best game he's had in his short 10 years of Vancouver Canuck, right? But Sherwood, steadily, I've noticed him more and more and more as the games have gone along,

which is a really good thing, right? Some of the other team's defensemen. Yeah. He had 12 hits last night. We thought he had a lot. It was like, wow, 10 hits the other game. 12 last night. What's he on?

7, 10, 12, I think, in his last three games. Yeah, next game's going to be like 30. Yeah, you can't keep going at this rate. You have to slow down. And I mentioned the other day, when Joshua comes back into the lineup, suddenly you're looking at it and you're like, wow, what an embarrassment of riches outside, especially if you could put him and Sherwin on a line together,

which would be a nightmare for opposing defensemen. Or if you want to put them on different lines and they're bringing the same thing to the table, then you've got two, you would assume bottom forward groups that are going to go out there with a very, very assertive four checker, which is going to be a nightmare as well.

So Kyle, the bus driver texts in, isn't what you're describing about Quinn Hughes essentially the argument for a heart trophy if he keeps it up? He makes such a difference to his team versus when he's off the ice. I mean, Kyle, you're preaching to the choir here, man.

I think it's ridiculous that defensemen don't get more attention for the Norris trophy, or sorry, for the heart trophy. It's like, yeah, you got your, your award defenseman. You got a guy out there that's playing. I mean, last night he, they were able to keep his minutes down again. Yeah.

Cause the Canucks had that game, um, in the bag in the third period. Um, so I, I think he played like 20 minutes. I think Tyler Myers was the high minute guy again. Um, but here's a guy that you can put out there if you need to for 28, 29, 30 minutes, and he's going to give you his best game.

Now, I think Quinn Hughes is such a driven guy and such a confident guy right now that he looked at what happened in the playoffs and said i may have won the norris trophy but my season wasn't perfect i still got some things to learn and i've still got some ways that i need to adjust to the way that other teams are playing me and um i don't want to say that the playoffs last season was a wake-up call for him but i think he learned a few things. And he learned – you know what you learn?

You're like, I'm the best player on the ice. Yeah. And obviously, I'm going to be a huge part of the other team's game plan. And it is different when you're playing a series, right? Because if it's a one-off, you know, Chicago's not going to be like, man, what are we going to do about Quinn Hughes the next game? They're like, whatever, he's gone now. Thank God.

It's over with. Thank God. He's done. So it does change with the playoff dynamic, and obviously we're a long way from the playoffs. But assuming the Canucks get there, I'll be curious to see how he adjusts because I think Nashville and Edmonton did a really good job not totally shutting him out of the series but limiting him. Just trying to wear him down. Yeah, that's what happens.

Targeting, that's all it is. That's what happens, right? That's what happens to these puck-moving defensemen, and especially if they're undersized guys. They'll send in two, and they'll just say, for the first few games of the series, they're like, guys, they'll send in two. And they'll just say, for the first few games of the series, they're like, we're blitzing you, basically.

And we're going to hope to wear you down. And I think he did get a little bit worn down. And I think, you know, listen, he's just going to have to make some adjustments into the playoffs. But I have every confidence that he's going to be able to do it because he doesn't look like it,

but he's such a student of the game. Yeah. He really is. On the subject of the blue line, as we work through some other things from last night, I do want to carve out a couple minutes before we go to break. Eric Bronstrom, on two fronts. One, the player himself.

And I think I might have been – maybe I talked to the wrong people or I was a tad erroneous in my assessment of their assessments, but I was not assuming that he was going to be a functional member of the Vancouver Canucks in the early parts of the season. I thought the plan was to keep him in Abbotsford and then break in case of emergency. Maybe that's what the plan was. And Derek Forbert had to leave for personal reasons. Right. I thought maybe it would be another defenseman that would go into the mix.

I just wasn't sure. That being said, I was cognizant of the fact that he played close to 300 games in the NHL, so he had the experience. I want to throw very quickly to Rick Tockett because Rick Tockett was complimentary of Branstrom's play last night, in fact, calling it the best game he's had in his short tenure as a Vancouver Canuck. Here, Rick Tockett on Eric Branstrom after the 6-3 win in Chicago. I thought it was his best game.

I thought he distributed the puck well. He was really good. He skated the puck out. A couple of nice passes. I was pleased with his game tonight, especially on the breakouts. Gurp from Surrey writes into the Dunbar-Lumber text message in basket at 650-650. Brandstrom has been a pleasant addition to that bottom D pairing. Got to see more from him.

Got to see more from him against tougher competition. All I'll say is this. If, and it's with an asterisk and a big but, as Laddy likes to use that clip, there's a big but on this. If and but this works out,

they're going to have Lankanen and Brandstrom on completely like low-end cheap come in late deals and be very important additions to this team there's a massive butt coming here guys at a time where they need them because i do wonder if brandstrom can play his way into that void in the bottom pairing that we've talked about where you need a puck moving guy and you need a guy i just don't know if he's going to replace forbert and then i don't know if you can go if forbert comes back when he comes back

um you know are you going to go forbert and branstrom are we going to go left lefty lefty on there maybe but talk it you know talk it doesn't talk it doesn't like to do that i know he doesn't like to do it yeah but he might be forced to do it because you know who else has had a real tough start to the season you mentioned this already briefly carson susie it has been yeah but then you're not going to take him out of the lineup you can sit down anyone for a game yeah at this point i don't think anyone outside of h and Hronik who are, I mean, you said it yourself. When Hughes is on the ice, Stanley Cup contender. Listen, I understand the appeal of Branstrom.

I do. I mean, we're just lauding Quinn Hughes, who's one of the best puck movers, might be the best puck mover in the world. And to have another guy that has those types of characteristics and it's talking about moving the puck up the ice and skating well, that's great. But I just don't know if that's how they pictured their blue line. No, they didn't. They didn't. That's why I'm assuming, because that's why I said, like,

he started right in Abbotsford. It wasn't like, come hang out with the team for a bit and practice. It was go to the American League. I don't want to take anything away from him. I think he's played well. And it is, like, he made some really nice plays, moving the puck up the ice, using his skating, getting his head up, making nice passes out there.

But, you know, it's like daniel sprong right you can see what he brings but then sometimes you also see where he falls short yeah and why he's bounced around so many times i think the point the larger point for me wasn't again necessarily the player more the acquisition and the job that this management group has done is that yeah i'm just not willing to put him up on lankan's level right now i mean lankan was it and considering like it might be the team mvp just an incredible addition and a great piece of negotiating by the canucks to get him at at that salary when lankan was asking for two million and he essentially signed for like less than one million you're listening to the best of halford and brough you're listening to the best of Halford & Brough.

You're listening to the best of Halford & Brough. We wanted to have this conversation in a fair and non-inflammatory way, which is very counterintuitive to pretty much everything we do here on the show with the hot takehorns and me trying to come up with crazy— Speaking of hot takehorns, before you start, there's another Mike in Willoughby getting mad at you thinking that you're blaming this Mike in Willoughby. So we have competing Mike in Willoughby's now.

I apologize to all the Mikes in Willoughby right now. Except that one guy. Except that one guy who texted it. Mike in Willoughby, it's all your fault. Bedard's a very good player. Very talented offensive player. I didn't notice him much last night. You do notice him because you look for him, right?

There are some warts on the game. Remember when he went and played with Team Canada in the Worlds? He came getting benched by Andre Tournier, and everyone was like, what's happening here? What's going on here? Defensively, he has a long way to go. Which is understandable of a guy that's very young. Yeah.

Doesn't have man strength yet. I think the problem that, you know, I think he's a very, very good player. I think the hype in hindsight was a little much. And maybe a little unfair to Bedard because the hype put him up there with Sid and McDavid. Unless I'm mistaken

there. But the hype, do you remember the beginning of last season? Like it was like the Bedard, everything Bedard, everything. He's doing interviews in the car with Pat McAfee. The level was up there and because he went to Chicago, you know, he's going to get more attention,

especially down in the States. But it's almost an unfair level to ask someone to play to. Sid, when he was Bedard's age, was incredible. And I don't know if I've ever seen a better player than McDavid, so I don't know if that's fair to hold him to that level, but to me, I watch him play and he doesn't scream to me generational. That's all I'm saying. Prove me wrong, Connor. You could, hopefully, you know, you become that. But to me, like, I'm just like, yeah, he's a very, very good player. He's incredible, but everyone's got different tiers in their mind.

For me, Sid and McDavid are just – they're up there with Gretzky and Lemieux and Bobby Orr. And then there's a huge drop-off after that to even a guy like Steve Iserman or Joe Sackick. Those guys aren't in the same conversation for me as Sid or McDavid. They're great, great, for sure, Hall of Famer's first ballot guys, but not quite that level. And I feel like the hype for Bedard was just so, so much that I'm like, I don't know if he's going to be able to live up to this.

So this is an interesting dive into the hype machine with prospects and how the draft is viewed now. There's a lot that goes into this, and we probably don't have time to break it all down, but we can go a little bit long in this segment. It's fine. First off, the importance and magnitude placed upon draft picks in the evolution of a hockey team, it's never been more prevalent, right?

It's understood now that so much of your team's success is on, one, draft and develop, but two, bottoming out to get these, and we say it all the time, generational talents. It's way overused way overused conor bedard might end up being the best player in a 10-year window and that's great well someone takes in bedard is patrick kane with a better shot if he's patrick kane with a better shot then he's generational he's right because that would be incredible but patrick kane and in my opinion before austin matthews was the greatest american player to ever play but let's stop because that would be incredible. But Patrick Kane, in my opinion, before Austin Matthews, was the greatest American player to ever play. But let's stop making this about Bedard

and start making it more about the hype that he came in with. The second part of it was a lot of people, quite unfairly, put him in the lineage of Sid passed the torch to McDavid, McDavid passed the torch to Bedard, because they were Canadian. They played the center position and everyone kind of wanted it to be that thing. When really maybe you should be more in like the Eichel comp. Crosby went to the,

Crosby went to the world juniors and blew the tournament apart. McDavid went to the world juniors and blew the tournament apart. Bedard did the same thing. Yeah. So there was that lineage there and And fairly or unfairly, that happened. The third thing that I think a lot of us underestimated was when TNT and ESPN got in the game, they very quickly did a very American thing,

which was, what's this NHL draft and why do so many of these guys not become superstars right away? What's this? You draft a guy in the first round. He doesn't play for your team right away. NFL doesn't work like that. NBA. It doesn't work like that.

He has got guys come and play right away. So all of a sudden, Conor Bernard became a guy. And don't forget, you brought it up a major American market. And he was with the face ESPN. He was broadcasting everywhere. And like like this is the next McDavid this is the next Crosby have you heard about Conor Bernard have you heard about this kid that's why he's doing interviews with like Pat McAfee and that's why he was put on that plane

because he has really unbelievable talents. But those that know, they know Crosby and McDavid are going to go down in that pantheon. And it's not to say that... But Dart still could. But Dart still could. He's just got a long, long way to go. But maybe he's more like a Stamkos or something. And we're

saying it like... Which isn't bad at all. Maybe he's more like a Hall of Famer. Exactly. It's not like it's like, oh, he's like Stamkos or Eichel. It's like, I thought that was bad. It's Patrick Kane with a good shot. Yeah. The greatest player ever. I don't know.

Also a Hall of Famer. Maybe he's not going to be McDavid or Crosby, but there's plenty of other amazing players. So I think it's a very interesting case study in the hype machine, and we're all guilty of it. With that said, three years from now, what if he's just, like, insane? And comes back to Vancouver? He usually could.

Right? Like, so, like, it's still so early. On the phone lines we go. Randy Bjanda joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Randy. How are you? Gentlemen, good morning. How are you?

We're well. We are full of praise for the Vancouver Canucks right now. If you go back and listen, everyone in the audience right now, listen to hour one of the podcast. First half hour of that podcast, we're talking about high praise for Quinn Hughes, high praise for Kevin Lankanen, high praise for Connor Garland. There was some praise for Petey sprinkled in there as well. So it's been a very optimistic morning here.

Let's start, though, with Quinn Hughes, kind of running out of superlatives to throw at him. But my word, what a performance last night, especially that drop pass to Miller on the power play goal in the third period. Just another scintillating performance from Hughes. Feel free to add on any other superlatives you want to add. Yeah, no negatives coming from this direction. When you start looking at what this guy has been able to offer to this team,

remember, let's go back four or five years when the Vancouver Canucks were looking for that defenseman, looking for that guy that would change the back end and be that number one defenseman. And Quinn Hughes, I think we've gotten so used to it, it's pretty unbelievable, guys. So, you know, even looking at last night's game, he outscored the opposition

not himself but when he was on the ice it was three zip five on five and then you go you know controlling 72 percent of the shot attempts when he's on the ice scoring chances are nine to three and then you've got high danger chances five one the only high danger chance Chicago got was late in the game that was when everything was done and dusted. So it speaks to his ability to, A, do that every single night. And then on top of that, consider the fact that he played a lot less than he usually did. Yeah, it does. And that's something that, you know, is great for the Canucks to get that lead.

But I think, you know, it's pretty wild to think that he is the best defenseman that this franchise has ever had. And I love Alex Edler, but we know those stats. And Alex Edler said it himself. It was more cumulative over a bunch of years. What Quinn is doing is exceptional. And we're used to it. That's the crazy part.

It feels like this market is like, oh, yeah, that's what Quinn Hughes does. That's how exceptional he is. The power play went two for three. And you've got to like the mix of the types of goals that they scored. We already mentioned they're really beautiful. It might have been the goal of the season for the Canucks that power play laid in the game. But their first power play goal just came when Quinn Hughes ripped it,

ripped it wide, it bounced off the end boards, and JT Miller was there to pick up the rebound off the end boards and put it into an open net. The power play needed a game like that, correct? For sure it did, and it needed some confidence. I think when you start looking at the zone entries, they were better at the zone entries and were able to set up, and that's really been a deficiency for this team.

I know we focus on the mechanical aspect of the power play where guys are in their set position but it even starts before that if you're able to get a clean zone entry if you're able to fight for the puck a little bit more and I think Connor Garland certainly helps in that regard whether he stays there or not we'll have to wait and see but you know with just having a little bit more of a a comfortable setup allowed them to build confidence in their game and then when you go beyond that um there's a lot more switching it was more fluid last night and having that movement even on that first goal uh jt's down low on that play he cleans up the garbage on that

tight angle but the fact that chicago gave the middle of the ice to quinn hughes and allowed him to inch forward and a little bit closer to the net to get that shot off even though if it goes wide you know there's there's players that are collapsing in front of JT and allows them to have that room down low and the 5-2 goal goal guys come on that one was just a great pass by Hughes as you mentioned previously Mike but having the ability to switch it felt like Foligno and Seth Jones they just kind of froze in their spot not sure what to do there a little bit of confusion and and that's what jt's really good at where he's that shot and pass threat freezes both of them out and brock vesser stick on the ice so just from a you know being comfortable being more fluid switching i thought they looked a lot better in that game and that's a huge boost of confidence coming back where, remember,

this power play was, I don't want to use the word struggling, but they weren't looking right. They weren't, you know, there wasn't much chemistry there, and that game will help them. Is there anything Connor Garland can't do? You put him on PP1 and it goes two for three, and he helps out with entries. He helps out with settling the puck down, keeping pucks alive. I would also argue that he is the play driver on the Pedersen line with Hoaglander.

He seems to have settled down Petey's game a little bit. What can you say about Connor Garland that hasn't already been said? Yeah, I think with Connor Garland, he's a spark plug, right? He's the guy that anytime rick talkett needs a line to wake up he'll try them with connor garland at some point and now i think that's a credit but also it's kind of been something that's used sparingly as he's a third line player over the last year on this team now he's in the top six and you know your point about the play driver it's true right with elias petterson when he's going the puck is on his stick a lot when he is confident uh the puck kind of sticks

to him but if he's not in that position if he's not there mentally if he's not there physically in terms of playing that style um conor garland being more on the puck is what you need for that line and that's exactly what's going on right now, where sure, when Elias Pettersson's at his full power, there might be not enough puck for those two guys on the line, but the way that this line is going right now, Conor Garland needs to be puck dominant. He needs to be somebody that

is carrying the puck a lot more. And until Pettersson gets to that point, I think this is exactly what you do with this line. We'll see if Pettersson is a little bit more comfortable in a couple of weeks and you want the puck more on his stick and maybe there is a conversation

to be had there and then. But as of right now, the way he's playing, and I don't think you can see, you know, you can make a case to say, hey, that line had to be broken up. No, not at all. This is an individual that is scoring goals in greasy areas. he's engaged in

scrums he's giving a very very good forecheck to to leah petterson him and hoaglander for that matter where they're able to do the dirty work and able to find petterson to either shoot or you know set up goals like hoaglander had in philadelphia where you know that's what petterson needs right now so i think with garland a credit to Philadelphia, where that's what Pettersson needs right now. So I think with Garland, a credit to him is, yeah, he's driving that line. The puck's on his stick and he's making things happen. Yeah, Petey had one assist last night.

He could have had another, but Mrazek made a really nice save on Nils Hoaglander. So I think there's progress there, but we know he's got a lot more to go. The third line, Bluger, Sherwood, and Heinen, the Canucks seem to have stumbled onto something there. Yeah, five points in the last game, and the last two games, I think Dantz and Heinen's play in the last two games

kind of signifies what kind of chemistry that they've had, guys. You look at Heinen previously being moved onto this line, previously being moved onto this line, he previously being moved on to this line. He had zero shots on goal. He just kind of felt like he wasn't getting to a spot quick enough where maybe a disconnected or disjointed game with his line mates, whether it was Pettersson or JT Miller, you didn't really see that chemistry.

And all of a sudden he goes to this line with Sherwood and Teddy Bluger and his production is ticked up. We saw the two goals. He had three shots on goal against Philadelphia, had another three last night against Chicago, and we're seeing bottom-line production, right? Whether it's Sherwood and his three assists in the last three games. You have 33 hits from Kiefer Sherwood in the last three games.

He's treating the last three games of the season as a playoff game, just hitting everything in sight. And Bluger, of course, four points in six games. They're playing a connected style and establishing the four check and working off that. And I like the fact that they're all kind of interconnected where of course, Sherwood's the lead four checker, but the support is there from all three of those guys. And they're playing very close to each other, and they're playing a tight game down low.

And that's how you create opportunities for players that are on a third line. You're not going to be relying on one guy to do the dirty work. They're all doing the dirty work and benefiting. And I think we're seeing that in Danton Heinen's game, where he's throwing on the line with these two guys, understands how they play, and the bottom line production is there immediately. All right, that's enough praise for the Canucks.

This is making me feel uncomfortable. What's up with Carson Soucy? Yeah, I think that was the one probably, the one part of the night you're looking at and saying, okay, that wasn't the cleanest. He hasn't looked the most confident in the last two games. And I think part of that is just the timing of moving the puck up the ice and just trying to rim it out has been an issue.

No doubt there's been the last two games where him and Tyler Myers have gotten 20-plus minutes. Tyler Myers led the Canucks in ice time again, which is a good thing for the Canucks because they've got a lead and they can use some of their other defensemen. But the clears, the passes, even the chemistry, some of their switches. I saw, you know, Soucy was helping out Myers on the right-hand side, moves over to the right-hand side, and Myers goes to the right-hand side

and leaves the left completely unoccupied, which gave Chicago a bit of a half chance. It's little things like that. Just the timing seems to be off. The communication maybe seems to be off. You'd expect both of these guys to figure it out in the next couple of games. I thought Tyler Myers against Philadelphia was great, but Soucy is not maybe up to his speed right now.

And I think that's kind of been the case since game one of the season. It takes some players to just ramp up a little bit more he's playing a little bit more high event than we're used to seeing from susie the other element of his game that i haven't really noticed this uh thus far guys is usually susie is central to the canucks denying the blue line yeah using that stick you don't really notice that so much it seems like he's chasing the play a little bit more, but this is a veteran guy. He's not quite there right now,

but I expect him to figure it out. We got to remember, it's just game six that wrapped up. Some of these guys need about that 10-game mark to really ramp up. There's a lot of people texting into the show that want to see more of Eric Brandstrom. Do you think we will? I think he's definitely got his name in the running.

He's able to, A, play a quiet game, which is something that I really doubted. I know he had a couple of giveaways against Chicago, but really late in that game when the Canucks were eating pressure, you know, some of those giveaways are not equal. And it was still a very quiet game from him playing around 14 minutes. And so, Yes, I like what I see, but at the same time, Derek Forbort is a veteran defenseman who Rick Talkett loves. He loves the style he plays. Very similar to Ian

Cole. Now, the question I have for that third pair is, what's that balance? What Brandstrom has been able to do is make Vincent Desjardins' life a little easier as well. he doesn't have to carry the puck a little bit more it's more of a Brandstrom's good with the puck he releases it quickly sometimes he tries to force the issue there's one play in the third period where

there's not really a play down ice but Brandstrom just kind of forces it into the neutral zone causes a giveaway and you know a team with skill and speed coming back the other way might make your life a little bit more difficult so I think there's certain moments where he's got to pick his spots a little bit better but guys day harney probably the last two games has played a pretty solid game and that's playing next to brandstrom so having a guy that's playing next to you that's more puck dominant that is a little bit more comfortable with the puck and day harney at least in the short term has to do less is actually worked out for him that being said i think I think Branstrom is in a better position to solidify the seventh role,

and he's probably put his hand up to say, hey, I can fill in here when needed, but I feel like this coaching staff and the style of play that they want, Derek Frohberg is still the answer on that left-hand side. Do you think the defense is the obvious thing that management would be looking at? And I know the trade deadline's a long way away,

but they did bring in Zdorov earlier than the trade deadline last season. I believe there was an injury that happened. It was Asusi got injured and they wanted to bring in someone else. But I just look at this defense right now, and you're obviously happy anytime that Hughes and Hronik are on the ice, but you're a little bit worried when the other four are on the ice. Is that fair enough? That is fair, and I think that was a concern for a lot of folks

heading into the season. And for all those stats I gave about Quinn Hughes being so great in in that last game in this season the numbers don't quite match up with the rest of the pairings which is what you'd expect but there's a pretty significant drop off um with how much the canucks can control play when hughes is on the ice and when he's not on the ice now the question is do you have to force a move right now no because, because the Vancouver Canucks, I know it looked dire for some fans, maybe in the first couple of games of the season, but you've been able to right the ship and you've got some matchups now with Pittsburgh and Carolina coming up here that we'll see how the Canucks

compete in those games. But, you know, coming off this road trip three and one, you put yourself in a position where you're saying, hey, we've got some options here. We don't have to force a move because, you know, Alvin and Rutherford have shown that they don't like the way something's going on. They're willing to make a move immediately. You don't necessarily have to do that.

But, guys, with this regime, December and January is when they act, not only in Vancouver with the Zdorov move, but even going back further to R Rutherford days in Pittsburgh, whether it was, you know, trading for players in to get well ahead of the trade deadline and identifying what they need. So the back end is no doubt the place you look at probably that right-hand side. I would argue, you know, with Horbert, it seems like a little bit more from what I read from the coaching staff. They're comfortable with his game.

They like his game. They understand what he brings. The right-hand side with Vinny Deharney is probably what you want, another option to add to your second pair or third pair. But if this team can play well, it doesn't really force them to make a move. But that area is no doubt the side you're looking at. And, you know, Teddy Bluger and his game has maybe quieted some of the third line center discussion of course with Elias Lindholm they made a big move last year

I still think this team if they really want to go all in this year there's a move to be made for a third line center and you can just bump down Bluger and and Oman can fit in a little bit more naturally on the wing at this point in time in his career. But yeah, defense is the priority at this point in time. Bluger's going to feel so disrespected if they bring in another center after last year. He's like, I was on fire with Garland and Joshua and you bring in Lindholm. Come on.

If you're going for the cup, boys, you know how it is. You got to load up. I know. So Pittsburgh on Saturday, Carolina on Monday, in New Jersey on Wednesday, and then they hit the road. They go down to California to play San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles. Do you think it's possible that Lankanento-back there. You've got a pretty decent rest here before the Pittsburgh game. You've got, you know, two other teams that are high quality teams right now. And let's give credit to Kevin Lankan. And this was kind of the discussion we were having,

Batch and I, of like if you come back from this trip and you've been able to solidify who your 1A is, one guy has been able to grab this job. That's exactly what you want and to lankanen's credit he did exactly that you know heading into last night's game he had a 953 save percentage and now he's sitting at 941 which is a uh telling you how well he's been able to play so to me i think it's kevin lankanen's job until he shows otherwise and if there's a stumble in a game, maybe he has a bad game.

Sure, we can have that discussion. But the next Archer-Shylov start I see is on the road against the San Jose Sharks on a Saturday night. You've got maybe a couple of games there. Out of the three in California, Shylov definitely gets one. But yeah, this is Lankanen and the way he played last night, guys. There's a couple of things I like about his game especially, is that he's aggressive when he needs to be. He's at the top of the blue paint.

But, you know, when there's shooting threats on the flanks, he's deep. He's moving really quick in that crease, and he's being active, but in a good way. And there's a couple of saves in tight on Bertuzzi. I know Bertuzzi scores late, but he denied him so many times. There was a blocker save on Craig Smith. He's aggressive and a little bit further out on the net. Those are two very different types of saves.

One a little bit more deeper protecting the post and sealing the post, the other one being aggressive. But I think that speaks to Kevin Lankan and how confident he is right now that he's really doing everything for this team. And to their credit as well, aggressive but I think that speaks to Kevin Lankanen and how confident he is right now that he's really doing everything for this team and to be to their credit as well the Canucks have played better as this trip has gone on defensively five on five last two games they haven't given up much especially early on in the game I know it was loose yesterday in the first period but if you start looking at high dangers you know through the 60 minutes five on five Vancouver's done a

pretty good job you're listening to the best of Halford and Brough