Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 11/21/25

Episode Date: November 21, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, including last night's Canucks home loss to the Stars, plus they get a 'Nucks update from Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Into the Vancouver Zone, Miko Ranton with a spin-around, a move, and a backhander, he scores. What a goal by Miko Rantantonin. A valiant effort from the Vancouver Canucks tonight. against one of the top teams in the NHL. But Jake Onger was tremendous between the pipes for Dallas and the stars outlast to Knox the final score tonight.

Dallas 4 and Vancouver, too. Yeah, I mean, it was probably our best game of the year. Good morning, Maker's 601 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody, sweet, sweet Friday. It is Halpert, it is brough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from Duick-on-Marine-400 Southeast Marine Drive in Vancouver. Live on location this morning. Listen, good morning.

Good morning. It's good to be here. Adog at Mission Control. Good morning to you. Good morning. And Laddie, right next to us at the table. Good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halford, inbrough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid.

Visit them at 1170 piles. Street in Vancouver. So we are not coming to you live from the Kintech studio, but Kintech, still good, still good. Footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Big show ahead on a Friday. Lots of guests to get into here. It is the Duick Morning Drive brought to you, of course, by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal since 1926. Visit Duick GM on Marine Drive. Visit them downtown, visit them in Richmond, and at duik Auto Group.com. Guest list today begins at 630. Nick Shook's going to join us. from NFL.com. Fun game last night in Houston as the Texans beat Josh Allen and the

Bills 23 to 19. We'll look back on that. We'll look ahead to an intriguing Sunday nighter, Rams Bucks and Joe Burroughs potential return this weekend. Nick Shook's going to join us from NFL.com at 6.30. 7 o'clock, it's A.A. from A.J.'s pizza on East Broadway. We're going to be live on location next week at AJ's. If you want to visit us then and win a $100 gift card to AJ's, send us and ask us anything. Dunbar Lumber text message in basket, 650, 650, hashtag it AUA and put a pizza emoji into the text. You'll be entered into the contest to win 100 bucks to AJ's on East Broadway. 705 James Sharman is going to join us from the Footy Prime podcast.

Around the soccer, the footballing world with James. World Cup qualifying Canada's efforts in the international window. Saturday's big match between the white caps and L.A.F.C. We'll get into all that with Sharman at 705. 730. Dan Rosen's going to join the program. NHL Senior Writer. Going to check in on several of the Eastern teams.

Rangers, Devils and Isles, all of whom were in action last night. 12 games last night, four more tonight. Lots to get into with Dan at 7.30. At 8 o'clock, it's your big chance here. Is the resident Dollywall handler? What are we going to talk about with Rick Dollywall at 8 a.m? I think we're going to talk about the game last night. Maybe what's going on down in the H.L.

Jonathan Larker Mackey is playing pretty well. And a couple of trade rumors. A couple of trade rumors. I heard there maybe scoops on the horizon. Yeah, some scoops. Yeah, some scoops. Tune in at 8 for that. Dollywell at 8, Dan Rosen at 7.30.

James Sharman at 705, AJ at 7 at Nick Shook at 6.30. That's what's happening on the program today. A-Dog back in Mission Control to tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was.

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Miss that? You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by, the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training.

Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. It was Colin Blackwell scoring the go-ahead goal for the stars midway through the third period. Dallas defeats Vancouver 4-2 at Rogers Arena on Thursday. I lead with two notes from the Dallas Stars, including Jake Ottinger's 34 saves because Dallas did the business in the clutch moments, but it was a good performance by the Vancouver Connects last night,

although they lose another game at home, 4-2 to the Dallas Stars. Yeah, so Halford and I were discussing this before the show, and he was Mr. Optimistic. He was like, he's like, they played really well last night. I really enjoyed watching them play, and he said to me, you know what, Pruff, it was another, you know, good, good home game. And I'm like, they are three, six, and one at Rogers Arena. But what a three six and one?

It's been. What? Is this? Okay. How many games have the Canucks play at 22? Are we in moral victory? season already? I don't want to call yesterday a moral victory because they still

need real victories. All I wanted to merely point out. It's a moral victory. That's what a moral victory is. It's a victory without the actual victory. All I wanted to merely point out was I thought the Canucks played very well, especially in a second period in which they scored a grand total of zero goals. And then what happened on that five on three? The five on three was

probably the turning point of the entire game. They went a minute 25 on three. Most people watching the game already know this, but we recap nonetheless. They also had an additional 40 seconds of five on four. Lots of chances, no finish. And it was interesting, speaking of Finns and finish, at the end of that game, the goal that Miko Ranton and scored, and the skill and individual talent that were on display,

it was something that connects lacked, especially in the five-on-three where they just couldn't get anything past Jake Ottinger. The winning goal by Colin Blackwell, given up on a breakaway in the third period. That did not look like a team that was, you know, is that when Adam Foote comes out? Just a couple of mistakes here and there? Is that Tom Villander out?

with Quinn Hughes? Yeah. He was... Against the Dallas Star's fourth line. That was not the best from Tom Vielander on that play. He got a little lost in the neutral zone, results in a two-on-one one. And, you know, I think Quinn Hughes overplayed that as well. And then, so that's the game, right?

And then Tom Vielander had made a mistake on the winning goal, I believe, in the Florida game when he didn't get underneath that Florida player stick. So, you know, I know they played better. I know they played better, Halford. Like, it's getting late early for the Canucks. They're now 9, 11, and 2. Are we already, like, I ask you, are we already in moral victory season? Are we already in, like, yeah, the playoffs aren't going to happen season?

It says 22 games in, and, you know, Quinn Hughes had said, you know, we need to get off to a good start. And he imagined 7 and 3. And he had an interview with IMAQ the other day where he's like, yeah, sometimes it's hard not to get negative, but I'm going to stay positive. You've got to stay positive, and it's like, ah, we're here, we're here. I think it can be instructive that we're saying this after a game, which didn't go their way, was on home ice. They outplayed the opponent and didn't get a result.

And it probably does lend a lot of credence to what you're talking about, is that this feels like hollow, empty victories for a team that needs real, tangible victories and points. There were a lot of things last night that you would like from a quote-unquote process standpoint, especially coming up a road trip where they got outshot. Like close to 50. And I had a practice at home, and I think that helped them. And I'm sure they were motivated after, you know, the coach yelled at them,

and they heard, like, you know, all the fans like, yeah, you can't defend like this. However, I mean, the reality is they didn't win the game. That's the problem with last night's game. And I'm trying to balance, and I don't want to be false positivity or harshly negative. I think that's kind of the bounce that I'm trying to draw here. But I think it is instructive that for as well as they played, they still got nothing from the game. in terms of points and wins. And that's problematic.

Also, if they were to, I would have been more concerned if they had come back home and had performances like the ones specifically in Tampa and Florida where they were woefully out shot and out chanced and shot it at what,

25, 30%, which is kind of unsustainable. That's not going to happen. They come back home and you saw the inverse of it. You saw them get goalied in the game that they probably deserved a better fate. At the end of the day,

it feels a little bit empty because they got nothing from that game. And this is a team that for now being two games under NHL 500 still needs to be close to that bar to try and stay alive until they get all their reinforcements back. And even when that happens, there's not 100% guarantee that the results are going to be a lot better than what we got last night. I just want to know where expectations should be because we've got, you know, some people texting in saying, you know, three-putch Shane texts in and says they're lucky to have nine wins. And then someone else texting, and you guys are so negative. And I don't even know if that person is being sarcastic. at this point because I don't know

where the expectations should be like are we happy that they played well? Yeah but again like it they need results and we're 22 games into the season right I don't know how many times do we have to say that but probably not many more times because I've said a hundred times already

but like we're a quarter of the way through the season and it's like oh are they done are they done like to make the playoffs to make the playoffs they're going to have to have to have a heck of a final 60 games, right? They're going to have to play at 100 plus point pace

or something close to it. And they don't look capable of that. I'm sorry. Even if they play well, they don't have, I'm sorry, they don't have the talent. Like,

it's great that PD scored another goal. He's not a five-game point streak. They're going to need, they're just going to need so much, so much more and so many things to go well for them. And the Thatcher Demko situation looms over all of it for me because what are they going to do?

Just keep playing Lankinen every game? You now bring up a good point in that Kevin Lankinen last night another game where I've come in with the same refrain. You're not going to hang the loss on him. He wasn't at fault, but it wasn't a terrific performance and he definitely got out dueled by the two goalies around the ice.

Ottinger was by far the better goalie. If you're going to go back to the first goal of the game, which was an incredibly awkward goal, and for those that missed it, Lankin had a knife save coming across on Maverick Bork, But then he kept sliding and sliding and sliding all the way to the point where he had exceeded the trapezoid and had to kind of pull the puck back to himself. One problem that goes back across the crease to Maverick Bork who's waiting there and it's by end to the back of the net. And that's a goal where if you're watching it in real time, it doesn't look great.

Lankinen ends up with conceding again four on the night, which has been a familiar refrain this season. And you bring up a good point with Demko's until they get him back, it's going to be a heavy dose of Lankan who has, I think, performed admirably in the amount of work that he's had to shoulder, but on several occasions he's been the second best goalie on the ice. And if you look at their overall record, still two games under 500. Okay. I dipped into the Dunbar Lumber text inbox during the postgame show last night, and there was one name that kept on coming up a lot.

I mean, a lot. And it was Evander Cain. And this guy came into Vancouver. I think you'll all remember my reaction. to that move. It was not positive. And since then, I've kind of just stayed quiet because I'm like, we'll see how this goes.

I don't know if I can recall a player on social media receiving more negative reaction than Evander can. And I'm talking about a player like playing

for the Vancouver Canucks. And I know the Canucks as a team, if you look at their social media efforts, they are really trying to push evander kane coming home he's coming home and all the responses 90% of the responses are negative now i think things would be different if he was producing if he was playing well if he was making an impact out there i don't think i don't think he's played overall as badly as some people suggest. But last night, I think it hit peak Evander Cain criticism on social media and in the inbox.

There's problems here. There's problems with the player who takes too many penalties, makes too many mistakes, and is still getting deployed with great regularity by the head coach, especially in clutch moments like we saw last night, when they were down a goal and the goal he was pulled and they were looking to chase a tying goal. In a game where they were generating a lot of chances up and down the lineup, It wasn't like they necessarily needed to lean on Kane in that moment because he had had such a fantastic night.

I mean, he's got three goals in 22 games. It's not like he's proven anything over the course of 22 games. He's got a lot of shots. He takes a lot of empty shots, though. Empty calorie shots? Empty calorie shots. He does. That's not going in. He wings it from everywhere.

And I understand maybe at the end of the game why you want that. But I think your point here, again, so many instructive points this morning, this is a good one because people, 22 games in, are kind of tired of the routine unless something changes, which is routinely a lot of empty shots, a lot of penalties, and a lot of mistakes, especially we saw it on that, what led to the fourth goal by Randon last night, which was a couple of really lousy zone entries,

and people wondering why he's being deployed in those moments when there's other guys that are going that aren't getting those opportunities. I like people texting into the show right now, like, actually, this guy gets a lot of hate, right? Bobby from the docks. actually Pedy was hated on big time probably more than Cain I think the difference there is Pedersen always had his defenders like there were always a bunch of people that were like

I still believe in them look at you know these defensive metrics etc etc and they were willing to put the blame shift the blame away from Pedersen there don't seem to be many defenders of Evander Cain and that wasn't to say when the Canucks acquired him it was universally despised. Like, there were people that didn't like the move, but there were also a lot of people that are like,

I think he's going to begin. It's a contract year, and we all know Evander Cain loves money, right? So he's going to play well, and I was like, yeah, but eventually, you know, you get old. And even if it's a contract, your body can't really do it anymore.

There are all these people like, I've always, you know, the connects need a guy like this, you know, who's big, who can score, who's tough, who has some, swagger. And I didn't necessarily disagree with that element, but I just didn't know if this was the right guy to bring into the room. Okay, all those characteristics you just brought up. How often have you seen them on display through the first quarter of the season this year? Not a lot. The goal scoring has not been there. The physicality that he was thought to have brought,

I don't personally don't think it's been there with enough regularity to make an impact through the first quarter of the season it's a you know the the shot totals are fine i think it's maybe if there's one thing that you're going to give him credit for it's that he is putting pucks in the vicinity of the net right and the goalies are like thank you right in the chest here's the other part of this though this was for a team that needed to make pretty significant changes in the off season this was the number one marquee balli hood move that they made now part of it was due to the fact that they were unable to accomplish other things they wanted and they didn't want it to be the the one Bally Hood move, but it was. But that's what happened.

Evander Kane was supposed to be a significant difference maker in this forward group for this team for the reasons that you mentioned. And also, historically, we've seen him come through with pretty good performances during a contract year. And what you've got right now is a guy that, you look, Adam Foote has made some moves, and we saw it stylistically yesterday, and we saw it also in terms of deployment, who gets in and who gets out. Lucas Reichael was dropped from the lineup, right? He got it dropped in favor of McKenzie McKeckern. we've seen guys lower in the lineup be moved in and out and seen minutes

increase and decrease based on their performance Kane still averaging over 18 minutes a night with three goals through 22 games like there's a disconnect right now for me between the amount that he's playing and the opportunities that he's getting and then what he's produced with those opportunities, right? But then just to play devil's advocate

sure what else is Adam Foote supposed to do who else is going I mean it's a good question I did know Pete he played 24 minutes last night? Yeah, sure. Like, that's, that's got to be the most he's played in a long, long time. Yeah, there's a, I mean, you look at the bottom six forward group, and they're low minutes, right?

And I get it. You're looking at a bunch of guys where you're saying, are these guys going to be able to produce with regularity? Not what the opportunities they're getting, but it's also, what have you done in the NHL thing? I don't know if Kane partly is cruising on reputation right now or what he's done in the league, and they're hoping that it's just going to come around. I wonder if they've got to bring Lekker Mackey up.

That is something that. And we'll talk to Dollywall about this at 8, right? Like, he's got a note that Lecromack, he's playing pretty well in a short stint since his return from injury in Abbotsford. And this is kind of, it's funny because after the road trip, where they scored a ton of goals. That's true. That's very true. They did score goals. No one was complaining about the offense, but it's funny.

Drans and Dodd were talking about this on their show, and we put the video up on social. I sent it to you last night. They were shooting at a clip that if that comes back to Earth, all of a sudden you're looking at it where it's like, oh, are they going to struggle to score goals? because there was a lot of puck luck involved in those two games in Florida. Everyone said, like, the results were fine on the three-game road trip, one, one, and one against a pretty good team. The process was not. Hence, you come back and you have some practices

and you have some hard words from the head coach, and you play better. They were, you know, if you want to do, they were the better team on the ice last night. They were the better team in the second period. The third wasn't like a lights out performance or anything. When you texted me during the third, they were at four shots in the third period.

It was basically midway through. So it's not like the third was dominant. They were aided in the second a lot by the fact that they had a bunch of power play opportunities. But in their defense, they drew the penalties, right? They went out and they were moving their feet. I actually thought that they looked more organized defensively. Well, I hope so after a practice and a bunch of meetings.

I hope they were more organized defensively. And it would be hard to look less organized defensively after the Florida games. So I think a lot of their defensive issues on the road trip, especially in Florida, we're in zone. It wasn't necessarily off the rush. It was in zone where there'd be seam passes picking them apart and they seem to be running around a lot trying to do each other's jobs

or maybe not sure what their jobs were. The winning goal was not that, but it was still mistakes and maybe mistakes compounded by other mistakes. Common refrains from Adam Foote just to jump in. There was a young guy on the ice and he's bemoaned several times this season how young guys have been thrown into opportunities

where they're learning on the job. Fielander has played well, but he's made some key mistakes at the wrong times. And he probably shouldn't be playing as much as he has, quite honestly. I mean, not even playing in the NHL right now. That wasn't, I don't think when he was sent down, think about how he was in the preseason, and I think people were like,

I'm not worried about him because he's just coming from college hockey, but he doesn't look ready for the NFL. and then injuries happened you know the injury to forebort I think was a big deal and then all of a sudden he's in the lineup and he's playing okay

he looks comfortable because he skates well that's one of the big things about him but recently there have been some mistakes at key times and I wonder I wonder the connects next game is Sunday against Calgary I wonder if he's going to sit down Yeah, I mean, I again, I feel bad for the player in to a certain degree because he played 10 minutes last last time. Yeah, yeah, it wasn't a lot.

Brandon in Vancouver texts into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket at 650, 650. A reminder, get yours in throw the show and get your ask us anything's in as well. Hashtag him, AUA, and put a pizza emoji into your text. You'll be entered into the grand prize contest for a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on his Broadway. Brandon in Vancouver wrote, hey guys, got to go to the game. game yesterday. After Dallas made it 3-2, it felt like Dallas really locked it down and we couldn't generate anything. There was a gap in the third period where it was just a dead-on, low event, even hockey game, and the Canucks weren't dominating like they were in the second. The shot

totals in the third probably look a bit skewed because they got a bunch at the end of the game when they had the goalie pulled and they were down 4-2 and they were firing everything towards Ottinger. Under was very good yesterday. I mean, I will say that is that you look at that game and the amount of high dangers, I think Bick on the post-game show counted, Besser ended. the game with four shots, and he had down all four of them were high danger chances. Ottinger made two really great saves on Pedersen,

one in the second, and one in the third. And at times, you know, he was, for a guy that's kind of had an average season, probably his game of the year, the way that he played. So there is that to take into account as well. I mean, he's a good goalie that and the stars have invested in him.

But back to our original point off the top, I came in talking about how I thought it was the Canucks best performance of the year, and how there were maybe some positives to build on. And then you have to talk to me and you're like, but it's a valid point. The other side of the coin is that they didn't get a win in the game and there's no point in trying to sugarcoat it.

Here's the thing. If they had come into last night's game with a record like the Dallas Stars where they had 12 wins and they were second in their division, you wash your hands the last night's game and you say, you know what? You got goalied. You played well. A young guy made a mistake.

It happens. They're not in that position because they're trying to keep their heads above water. And we've seen what's at stake this year and how valuable Not just processed, but results are this season. So have you noticed that it is not going well for Canadian teams in the NHL? I noticed last night. Who is, which Canadian teams are feeling good about themselves right now? Maybe Ottawa and Winnipeg?

Is that it? Ottawa's on a nice little run right now. Winnipeg's fine. Winnipeg's fine, but I don't think they're playing all that. But they got Connor Hallibuck. But I think those two are the only ones that are, like, fine with things because it's not fine in Calgary. No. It's not fine in Edmonton.

They played well in Tampa Bay last night. I think they ran out of gas a little bit. It's 2-1 in overtime. Jake Gensel, who's on fire right now, scored the OT winner 2-1 for the Oilers loss in Tampa Bay last night. It's not going well for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They lost again in overtime to Columbus, a team that for some reason. owns them. Yeah, Adam Fantilly scored the O.T. winner,

three-two win for the jackets over the Leafs. And last but not least, the Montreal Canadians are in a bad, bad way. They got off to such a good start. But you know how last year you were like, C-Lovs is unplayable? Yes. One of the guys who is on Team Canada's Four Nations team,

Sam Montenbo, is unplayable at this point. Sam Mombo is the Canadian Seelovs. It is unbelievable how poor he has been. Their goaltending in general, the last week and a half, two weeks has been awful. So remember right before he went on vacation, we played that audio of Jakob Dobesh. And he was crying after they lost in overtime to New Jersey Devils. Something that you don't see very much in the NHL crying after a loss. In overtime, where you got it to overtime.

Since then, they have gone one in five. They've lost five in a row. They have lost games by scores of 5-1, 7-0, and 8-4 last night to Ovi in the Capitals. Ovi scored a hat-trick. They have been a nightmare. Montepo's been pulled from multiple games, including last night. There was a pretty short hook on him, too. It was three goals, and Marty was like, nope.

Yeah. And then Dobish came in and allowed five. Yeah, it's not been great for them. And you look at the amount of goals that they are. bleeding right now, and you really wonder where this is going to end up, especially since Montaubo is now entering, can't play territory. You're listening to the best

of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall

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Happy Friday, sweet, sweet Friday Bester Friday here on the Halverd-Imbraub show On 4th 10th and Sydney Halverd-imbrough of the morning is brought to by Stans and Associates learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are in our three of the program.

Rick Dollywell is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three. Hour three of this program is brought to by Campbell & Pound, real estate appraisers. Trusty expertise of Campbell and Pound, visit them on the internet at Campbell-Dashpound.com today. Normally we are coming to you live from the Kintech studio, but not today. We will be back on Monday. Kintech, footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. We are coming to you live today from Duick-on-Marine 400 Southeast Marine Drive in Vancouver. Here for another hour if you want to drop on by.

We've been here since 6 a.m. But we are now in the 8 o'clock hour. And the 8 o'clock hour on a Friday means nothing other. Then Rick Dollywell from Donnie and Dolly. Check TV joins us now on the Halford & Brough show on Sports Night 650. What up, Ricky D? So you guys are on location. Yeah, buddy.

The last live on location I did in the morning was in front. Vegas. And I think you guys know how that turned out. Oh, how'd that go? That was it good? B-MAC had to wake me up. It was B-MAC waking me up at 605. And he said, get your ass down here. We're on the air. I didn't even know where I was, what country I was in. When did you get into your hotel room? Do you ever remember? 604. 445. Did you know at that point, I'm in trouble? Or were you like, just a quick sleep and I'll be fine? Because I'm usually so smooth. but I didn't know where the remote was, so I had to go to the lobby and say, hey, is there a radio station from Vancouver here? Where are they?

And they said fourth floor. And so I went in there, and BMack and Rick Ball and Whittingham were looking at me going, oh boy, we're in trouble. Where you're in pants? I've never been back to Vegas. I'll never go there again. It's an evil city. Evil, evil, evil.

And I just, I made a consciousness. effort to say to myself, never again. Do you think when Rick walked into Vegas, they were like, here's a Rube. We're taking this guy, Dale. Never again. All right. Okay. What did you think of the game last night?

Well, first of all, remember we talked about that six hard game segment for the Canucks? Okay, so it ended last night. Remember Colorado, Winnipeg, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Florida, and Carolina. So out of 14 points against six very good teams, The Canucks ended up with a record of one, three, and two, and four points. But you can't complain about their effort last night.

Really good game by the Canucks. Outplayed the stars, especially in the first two periods. Outshot them 35-24. So now do you guys know why Jake Ottinger is going to be on the U.S. Olympic team? I mean, he showed you why last night, but you got to score on that 80-second five-on-three in the second period. The Canucks didn't score there. You know, they had what, two or three power plays early in the second? Bang, bang, bang, bang, right, one after the other.

It's 2-2 in the 3rd, and then Wollander gets caught pinching. I heard you guys talking about Wollander this morning. Stars go up the ice and they score. Look, this is where they miss Derek Forbert, right? They don't have a veteran presence in the third pair. They got two young guys in the third pair. Young guys are going to make mistakes. They don't have a lot of NHL games under their belts.

Elias Pedersen, the defenseman, and Tom Wollander, the defenseman. They don't have a ton of NHL games under the team. their belt, and it would be nice for a veteran to play with them. This is where they really, really miss Derek Forbert. I believe in that third pair. It's a young third pair. And then Rantanin scores the world-class goal. And what is it about third periods?

Canucks have allowed 35 goals in third periods. That's the most in the NHL. And the other thing they got to fix, and they got to fix ASAP, is their home record. It's 3-6-and-1. They've got one win at home. their last six home games. It was an issue last season as well with some real, real stinkers last season. Absolutely. And here's the reality as they wake up this morning. There are two games under 500. They're in 13th place in the Western Conference standing four points out of a

playoff spot. That's reality. All the good they did last night is, you know, water in the face, cold water in the face reality is their 13th in the West. I want to get this in. Lucas Reichol was a healthy scratch last night. Okay. 1.13 games. No shots on going in the last six. With Hoaglander and Bluger, not far away, a La Caramackie call-up is not far away. Reichel's now available.

I heard last night that you can get Reichel out of Vancouver. But you know what? I think they're okay with trying to move him, is what I was told last night. That's not a good look for this team. you remember the summer of Day Arna Hayne and Sprong they signed all three and got rid of them in a few weeks what is this telling you about their pro scouting

when you get these players identify them and then you sour on them so quickly you know is it pro scouting or is it desperation though it's pro scouting I'll tell you why because Elvine doesn't have time to go look at every third fourth line guy in the national hockey league, but their pro scouts sure do. And, you know, I just, I just, I don't get it. Like when they first got Lucas Reichel, I was like, okay, fine. That's not your solution at second line center. And now, you know, you're basically, if you call around the

league, Lucas Reichel is available after 13 games in Vancouver, you know? Yeah, it's not a good look, but I mean, watching Lucas Reichel, Halfer and I were laughing. the other day is because I asked him like how many games do you think Lucas Reichael has played and I think you guessed like 10 and I was like 13 13 games I don't I think I have one memory of Lucas Reichael and that was a risky pass he made during a game after which he got hit pretty hard in the middle of the ice that's the only memory I have him I mean you think you think a guy with the opportunity that he was grinding like he it's it's like the checks are taking guys off the scrap heap and making them the second line center. They're making them the second line center.

They're not like, try and fight for a spot. It's second line center. You're going to play with okay players. Here's an opportunity. And Lucas Reichael did nothing with it. And it might not be that it's like he didn't want to. It might be he's just not capable. Okay. So I'm a great segue to what I want to say now. It seems like the Connox name is tied to any player that becomes available. Black Rocks didn't want Reichael. Canucks got him. Maple Leafs didn't want David Camp. Canucks got them. Bruins put John Beecher on waivers.

Canucks had interest. Now the Jets are okay with moving young center Brad Lambert and will the Connuck show interest. And so Lambert's got one goal in 10 career NHL games, but fans will think in this city easy answer. Three out of the four guys I just mentioned are underachieving first-round picks who are struggling. Teams are giving up on these players.

And the Canucks are either taking them or showing interest. They're all Band-Aid fixes. They're not long-term plays. You can't build a team of waiver-wire pickups and other teams first-round mistakes. And, you know, nothing against Reichel or Kav for Lambert or Beecher, but these are guys' teams are giving up on. You can't have 10 guys on your hockey club that other guys,

and I'll get 50 DMs or are the Canucks after Lambert? Great. Go get Brad Lambert. One goal in 10 games and see how long he lasts in Vancouver. and if he fixes the issues that you want in Vancouver. But that shows me it's not pro scouting and it's just management going anyone. Anyone who has ever played center in the NHL before,

we are interested. Brad Lambert is not going to fix one problem in Vancouver. Not one. But people in this city, go get Brad Lambert. Like if Winnipeg, who's a really good organization, it thinks it's time for this guy to move on, there's a reason why they think this guy's going to move on. Look, we know the only way they fix second line center is a significant trade.

Not a waiver-wire pickup, not a first-round pick, another team's trying to get rid of. It's got to be a significant player. And a significant player is going to cost you a ton. It's going to cost you high draft picks. It's going to cost you a top prospect or two. That's the only way they're going to fix it. They're not going to fix it with the Reichels and the camp. and the beechers and the lamberts or lamberts dolly this isn't even hindsight but i mean in hindsight

now the gamble that they took going with philippeel as their two-see heading into this season was so enormous and i cannot think of a gamble that was lost in a worse fashion since the last time you were in Vegas look on the heedle front I'm going to give, I'm going to say this, they did their research. Now, you guys can, you can have an issue with Heedle all you want, but they checked the medical records. They did everything. That was the only center available in the trade for Miller. The only center available coming back was Heel.

Yes, you took a gamble, and now it's a seventh, or eighth, or ninth, or whatever concussion. He's at two in Vancouver. I think he had four or five in New York. Someone told me he had some in junior. it's a gamble, but it was the only center coming back. They couldn't trade Miller without getting a centerman back. They traded Horvath. They did get a centerman back in Ratu.

You can't trade Miller and then turn around to look to your fan base in the media in Vancouver say, we didn't get a center back. You know, you can't do it. Like, Brough, they were stuck. This was what was offered, Heedle. He was the only center offered. And they did their due diligence. They checked all the records like you have to.

when it's a situation with a guy with concussions, just bad luck, just bad luck. Hey, Rick, what do you think? Rick, you talk to the Americans all the time, the American Olympic team. What did they think of the Beer League impression by J.T. Miller the other day? Well, I think J.T.'s got to pick it up. I think the Americans, like, you look at Canada. You know, three young kids have absolutely blown away Canada. Schaefer, Bedard, Macklin, Celebrini.

the Americans got the same thing. They've got guys that weren't on their four nations team that are going, holy smokes. These guys are good. They're having a good year. J.T.'s got to pick it up. But the thing that might save J.T. with the Olympic team, he's not going there as a top point getter. He's going

there as a role guy, right, in the bottom six. J.T. doesn't need to put up 40 points to make the U.S. Olympic team, but he's not off to a good start. And I think the Americans are probably going hey, you know, you've got to pick it up because there's some guys that didn't go to Four Nations. Every team's dealing with this, by the way.

There's some guys that are going to play their way off from Four Nations, and there's going to be some guys that didn't go to Four Nations that are going to make their Olympic teams. And JT's got to pick it up. The Beer League thing the other night in Las Vegas was not a good look on in any fashion or form at all. At all. Rick, Pavell Minchikov. There's a name.

Are the Canucks interested? Okay, so listen, I googled his name, and I listened to play-by-play in Ontario when he played New H.L and the NHL, so you nailed it, Pavel Michikov. Anyways, Pavl Michikov represented by Dan Milstein. Danny Millions. Danny Millions. Dan Milstein, he's going to get traded if his ice time doesn't approve. 21-year-old, former 10th overall draft pick.

The Canucks loved Mitchiecoff in his draft year. Sources say they would be interested in him if he becomes available, but now here's something else. The Canucks sent Abbisper, GM, Ryan Johnson, to scout the Ducks Bruins game in California on Wednesday. I thought that was interesting. Before you say, why the Canucks going after a young defenseman, not a center, the Canucks spent a ton of time last year,

and in the summer trying to get Bowen Byron. Just like Byram, Mitchikov is a young left-shot defenseman. Again, the acquisition price here is going to be high. No one gives away a 10th overall pick, a 21-year-old. He's got 50 points in 150 games. It's not like this guy's chump cheese. Anyways, we're going to chump change or whatever.

Let's see where that goes. But Mitchikov is... Was that Hendo in the background there? That's Henderson. It's because he called him chump cheese. Listen. He called him chump cheese. Alford, are you really going to rip me?

Listen. No, no, it's funny. Chump cheese. It's the worst kind of cheese. Chump cheese, whatever. Listen, Henderson, for the first time, shows up early today. You see Taylor and I get here at 7.30? This guy shows up early for the first time in like 10 years, and now he's laughing at me.

He's sitting right next to me. But anyways, this is about to. I'll tell you that. Alford, usually his broth causes me headaches, not you. Anyways, Mitchikoff, I found it really interesting that Ron. Johnson would scout that Ducks Bruins game in California. Oh, and by the way, we had Jim Nill on yesterday, and kind of, there's no trades. And people in Vancouver, oh, there's no trades.

Only five teams under 500. Trades are tough right now. Parity is crazy. The NHL is experiencing more games than a usual that are going in overtime. So all teams are collecting points every night. And the rebuilding teams are getting better. the ducks, the sharks, the Blackhawks, and the mammoth, it's resulting in less trades. Nobody, everybody thinks they're still in it.

You know, everybody still thinks, you know, hey, a couple more weeks, can we move up by five or six points? There's too many teams getting points every night. There's too many teams going in overtime. And it's making it a tough, tough environment to make trades right now. Yeah, I'm glad you brought this up. It's been like this for a while. Yeah, like, it's very strange that. with the rise in salary cap and the amount of teams that seemingly want to do deals,

it's like inertia. Everyone's stuck right now. And I wonder if it's because... And no one's getting cap squeezed. Right. That was the huge thing for the off season. Yeah, there's nothing forcing anyone, Rick. Like, everyone's just kind of sitting there and they're airing on the side of being conservative.

And it's, I mean, I think that also plays into what we were talking about earlier with the Canucks. Like, why are they making these deals? Partly it's because it's the only deals that they can make, and it's... Bingo. These guys off the scrap heap. Cheap. It's cheap.

Mike, you know, what do they give up for Kev? Nothing. They gave up a fourth for Reichel, right? And, you know, Beecher would have been on waivers. Nothing, again. Brad Lambert, I'm going to guess, is, you know, basically going to cost you nothing. You know, that's Winnipeg saying, hey, take them. Yeah, but at the end of the day you get what you pay for, right?

I mean, that's... Bingo. And now all of a sudden, they're okay with moving Lucas Reichel after 13 games. well, what did you think you were getting when you got them? Like, the Chicago Blackhawks were, you know, they made it very aware around the league that Reichel was available. They probably threw away a fourth for nothing then, because I don't think they're getting a fourth back

or even a fifth, sixth, or a seventh. No, no, no, no, not now, not now. Not now, because his window of work in Vancouver, you know, people can obviously see what's happening, right? one more thing rick i watch uh hoping you're going to talk about jonathan lecromacki and the situation down in abbotsford because uh the way of ander kane is playing i think some people might be wanting jonathan leckeramacki called up and there's good news in abbey uh jonathan le caramacki last weekend in california their best player one goal one is this

nine shots on goal and that's what and think about what lecaramacki's doing in abbey with all the guys in Vancouver, you know, it's not a star-studded forward group in Abbey, right? And for him to go down there, do what he did. He was on the power play. He was skating with the puck with confidence. I don't know how long he's going to be in Abbey. He's with him in California this weekend as well, right?

So, Le Caramacki going down there, doing everything they want him to do. And I don't know when he's... Look, guys, Lecaramacki is probably close. Blugers and Hoaglander, one or two weeks away. There's decisions. R. Steve Baines hasn't played in four games. Like, there's some decisions coming up when all these guys get healthy and get called up.

Like the forward group, there's going to have to be some movement. You know, there's going to be guys going out of there. And for McCackran to be playing ahead of Baines is not a good look. That guy was hired, you know, assigned to play in the American League, right? So there's decisions coming up. But if Karamaki has another good weekend in California like he did last weekend, I'm going to tell you guys, like his call-up is not far away. And by the way, if you're trying to wonder how long Thatcher Dempco is going to be out with his groin injury,

Abbisford goalie Nakeda Tolapilo is going to return this weekend. He was out four weeks with a groin injury, right? So Dempco is getting daily treatment. He was not on the ice this week. In four days, it's going to be two weeks with no ice. Even when you get on the ice, then you go, okay, well, great, you're on the, the ice, but when are you taking shots? Right? Most players take three weeks

with an injured groin for goal tenors. You can add one to two weeks, okay? So, Abby needs total appeal, real bad. Because Ty Young, 04-6, his record, 5.7 goals against average 835% and he's having a tough time.

One last thing. There's a great story in Abbotsford no one's talking about. A 20-year-old Sawyer Minial. If everyone's healthy in Abbisford, that kid's defenseman six or seven. Instead, he's playing 27 minutes a night. He's on the power play. Really good shot.

Very, very bright play this year. He's taken advantage of the situation. He could be back in Calgary, the Western Oculee. This bodes well for the Canucks Blue Line future. Sometimes when you're young and you get that opportunity, like this guy's not physically matured right, right? But for him to go down in Abbey and Jet Woo is not there, Breezeball is not there,

and for this kid to, as a 20-year-old, to play in the American League. That's a huge jump for a kid to junior pro. I'm hearing a lot of good things about Minio down in Abbey, and that's going to be really good for his development. Rick, this was great, buddy. You got anything else you want to do before we let you go? Hold on a show.

Yeah, hold on. White Caps, the Halford, $53,000. I'm really, this is the biggest soccer game, and Broff's going to rip me for saying it, and I don't care. I'm going to say, Brough. I don't care. This is the biggest soccer game since the Soccer Bowl in 79, $53,000.

Hey, Buff, go ahead, laugh. You know, laugh. I love the 79 team, and my good friend Bob Leonarduzzi is on, hey, my good friend Bob Leonarduzzi is on the show today. This is a big game. They're taken on a team that's knocked them out last two years. This team's got championship pedigree. But guess what? They got two superstars.

Vancouver's got one in Thomas Mueller, who's won 35. career trophies. I think he knows how to win big games, right? So I'm really excited about this game tomorrow. It's the game of the year in the market. I don't care what anyone says. And also, don't forget about the Golden Ice, sold out Pacific Coliseum tomorrow night, or sorry, tonight. Last time they sold out the Coliseum 207, helped me out here, Memorial Cup, Medicine Hat, Vancouver, Don Hay, Willie Dee. You know, Milan Luchette shift. The shift. Oh, my God. Yeah. That was awesome. You know, that was awesome.

That was like the 79 soccer bowl in my memory. And Brock, here's another 80s reference, sitting up in the blue seats in the 80s watching the Canucks. That was a highlight for Little Ricky. So I'm just so happy the Coliseum. They dumped a bunch of $6 million into it, new scoreboard. And I'm just really happy for the Golden Eyes. Another team in Vancouver. And the Canucks are not the only game in town.

And if you think they are, you're nuts. But anyways, White Caps go, Golden Eyes go, and let's go. That's it. I'm out of here. We were a mid-blue family. Not the Reds. And not the high-blues, not the high blues, but we were the mid-blood. You were high-blues?

Eight-dollar seats. Eight-dollar seats. Yeah. And a little Ricky was high blues, and Brian Burke was walking above because you could see, you know, and Brian Burke walked up, and we yelled high at him. But I was high-blues. We yelled high at him. But we just, there was the buddies we said, hey, Berkey.

And, you know, we did that. Why is that funny, brough? These are memories of Little Ricky. You're not much younger than Berkey. But still, what are you talking about, bro? That would have been late 80s. Not the early 80s, 82, and Little Ricky was 12 or 14 or something like that. Anyway.

Big Ricky. We're up against your time. Adios, buddy. See you later. That's a little big Rick Dollywall here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. A reminder. golden eyes tonight white cap saturday canucks sunday it's a great weekend for local sports here in the lower mainland it's not like this guy's chump cheese anyways we want to jump change or whatever

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