Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 1/13/25
Episode Date: January 13, 2025Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports, they talk Friday and Saturday's Canucks action with Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre, plus the boys tell us what they learned. 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.
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You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.
Whoa. Wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose a f***ing Canucks?
You're listening to Halford and Brough.
Just when I think you couldn't possibly be any dumber.
Dustin Zotarczyk.
His fourth win with the Cades.
You go and do something like this.
The Vancouver Canucks go into Toronto.
Kevin Lankinon stops all 20 shots that the Maple Leafs threw at him.
And it's a 3-0 win.
And totally redeem yourself!
Ha ha!
Good morning Vancouver 601 on a Monday.
Happy Monday everybody.
It is Halpert, it is Braff, it is Worthnet 650.
We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful
Fairview slopes in Vancouver Jason. Good morning morning a dog. Good morning to you. Good morning a rash
Good morning to you as well morning
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Yeah, dumb and dumber reference right off the bat
in the intro,
six o'clock in the morning on a Monday. How befitting of the Halford and Brough show.
Yeah, that's perfect. We got a big show ahead on a Monday. Guestless.
You're Dumber. Okay. I'm dumb, but you're Dumber.
We have a big show ahead on a Monday. Guestless begins at seven o'clock. Mike Tanier, our NFL
insider, our Monday morning quarterback courtesy of the Clayton Public House We'll be joining us after five of the six wild card games
From the NFL wild card rounder in the books
Congrats to the Texans the Ravens the Bills the Eagles and the commanders they all punch our tickets to the next round
Tonight the last of the wild card games goes from Arizona as the Rams host the Vikings
To see who will get the final spot moving on from
the wild card. Randall taught to Mike about all that at seven o'clock. 730
Kevin Woodley, NHL.com and Ingold Magazine. Lots of Canucks talk today on
the program in the wake of Saturday's impressive three-nothing shutout victory
over the Leafs in Toronto. We can also get into some goalie stuff with Kev, head
of Vancouver's game in Winnipeg on Tuesday, where they will face the NHL's top goalie and Connor Hallebuck. That's at seven
30, eight o'clock. IMAX going to join the program fresh off traveling with the
Canucks, where at times over that recent road trip,
he was the entirety of the media on the road.
So we'll talk to him about everything that he took in over his journeys back
East. He also most recently wrote about alias Patterson and his great effort against the Leafs on Saturday a
Selkie worthy performance as I Mack instead of him of a peterson's teammates were calling it. So well, that's at 8 o'clock
730s Kevin Woodley 7 o'clock is Mike Tannier. I have two real quick announcements here
The first is that Sportsnet 650 is hosting
the big football game at the Clayton Public House
on Sunday, February the 9th.
Which game is that?
The big football game.
Which, yeah, but what game is that?
The big football game.
It's a local game.
It's a local game.
Look, we're involving two football squadrons.
We are giving away a pair of tickets every day this week
and a $50 gift card to the Clayton Public House for the big football game. We're gonna give them away
to caller number 5 at 815 this morning. Again, caller number 5 at 815, phone
number 604-280-650. 604-280-650 is the phone number. The Clayton Public House,
good food, good people, good times. If you have nowhere to go for the big football
game on Sunday, February the 9th,
and you want to go give us a call at 815-B-Caller number five.
Finally, also need to announce that Sportsnet 650 is one of the presenting sponsors of this year's
RBC JCC Sports Dinner three days after the big football game on Wednesday, February the 12th
at the higher Regency. You know who the prize guest speaker is for this year's JCC sports
dinner Richard Sherman yeah pretty impressive that you knew that and that
they got Richard Sherman I'm gonna go on there so you're like tell stories about
Ross why does he suck don't lose or was he if you actually know what if you
spend that much money for a table you can yell whatever you want
you're free to say stuff anyway Anyway, those are our announcements. We'll mention those again throughout the show
We got a big guest list ahead. We got a lot to get into so without further ado a rash
Let's tell everybody what happened
I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be.
What happened? Missed that?
What happened?
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Visit them online at bccsa.ca Saturday night in Toronto.
Kevin Lankton made 20 saves for his fourth shutout of the season.
Quinn Hughes, goal and an assist Vancouver
Canucks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs three
nothing in Toronto on Saturday night.
Yeah.
Say what you will about the Canucks, but these
guys are hanging on despite dealing with a ton of
adversity and noise this season, a bunch of
injuries, a bunch of soap opera
stuff that the damn media keeps fanning the flames of it. They have not really
sustained a long losing streak and they've gained at least a point in 29 of
their 42 games. Just 13 regulation losses for the Canucks, which is up there with the
fewest in the league.
Not very many times they lost in regulation.
Now, one of those regulations losses came Friday in Carolina where the Canucks
were shut out two nothing and had just 14 shots on goal.
Then the adversity, more adversity.
Cause they got snowed in, in Carolina and had to fly to Toronto on the. Then the adversity, more adversity because they got snowed in in
Carolina and had to fly to Toronto on the day of the game suffice to say it
did not look promising but they got off to a great start against the Leafs with
Brock Besser redirecting a Tyler Myers point shot. Love those point shots we
say it on the show every time you know keep shooting from the point only point
shots really. Tyler Myers, point shot, pass from Elias Pettersson by the way.
And Brock Besser, tip to pass.
Dennis Hildeby, which sounds like an old man.
You know old man Dennis Hildeby?
He's a good guy.
Old man Hildeby.
Old man Hildeby lives in that house on the hill.
31 seconds into the game.
That's all the offense they'd actually need,
but just for fun,
Quinn Hughes scored a goal on a point shot
that Leafs defenseman Simone Benoit
actually whacked in himself.
It looked for a while,
I think Garland might've scored,
but it was actually Benoit that put it in.
Past old Ben Hildeby. Yeah, past old Ben Hildeby's.
Dennis Hildeby.
Simon Benoit.
Then early in the third, the Canucks snuffed out any chance of a Leafs comeback.
When Hughes danced around, he did his thing.
He danced all around the Leafs end before dropping Tekeifer Sherwood in the high slot.
They're like, let's try a different way of shooting.
And Sherwood ripped one home in the high slot off a one timer.
Quinn Hughes, brilliant as always.
And I hope the people back East got a look at what I'm calling Hart Hughes.
Oh, that's a nice one.
Hart Hughes.
It's got a certain ring to it.
Certain je ne sais quoi.
The Canucks did finish with only 18 shots on goal. So like four more against Carolina.
So that remains a thing.
But the Leafs themselves only had 20 and there's something to be said for that.
You know, most of these games, even if the Canucks aren't getting many shots,
their opponents aren't getting many shots either.
Elias Pettersson had a terrific game.
Yep. Only one secondary assist on Besser's opener,
but his defensive performance was a big reason the Canucks kept the Leafs at bay. It was
one of those noticeable defensive performances to the point that the broadcasters were saying
things like, Pettersson has been a defensive monster tonight and his teammates, some quotes, and we'll
talk to IMAC who gathered these quotes.
Quinn Hughes said he was amazing.
Couple guys on the bench were yelling selkie
after one of the shifts in the third.
Uh, Kiefer Sherwood said it and he said,
him, said it himself to Petey.
He said that's a selkie kind of game.
That one shift in the third, he's blocking
shots and defending stuff that doesn't show up on the stat sheet.
Actually does block shots Kiefer.
It's not just hits and goals Kiefer.
Uh, but just sure what's it that leads to winning hockey and you know, great
players, this is me talking now, not Kiefer Sherwood, great, great players
find a way to make a positive impact on a game and they do it consistently.
Pedersen did it Saturday with defense.
Yes, he's been reliable defensively for most of the season,
but that game felt different.
That one felt different.
There, there was an aggression and a relentlessness to his
play in his own end.
That was good to see.
He wasn't kind of just like in the right spots.
We all know he has great anticipation.
He added some, again, aggressiveness
to that great anticipation.
He always plays his position well.
And it was good to see and hopefully he can build off this.
Hopefully the Canucks can build off this.
You know, in the back of my mind, I've got
Drance's sleeping giant theory.
I'm keeping track of it either to say Drance,
great job, or Drance, you're an idiot.
You thought this team was a sleeping giant?
You got to, you got to keep receipts in this
business and Drance has this theory in case you
haven't heard it, that the Canucks are a bit of a
sleeping giant than that.
When they get everyone back and everyone starts to perform at their level,
this is a team that could be much better than their current record.
So yeah, I was thinking about that.
Um, truth time, I didn't watch the game in real time on Saturday night.
I was down in Seattle, very difficult to find any sort of broadcast outside of the Kraken in
Seattle. Not the greatest hockey market on the planet, but I managed to do my
research. I listened to the post game show. I watched a 30 minute abridged version
of the game. The, now one of the takeaways, it was funny from Bic and Satz
specifically on the post game show was that, you know, if you look at a lot of
the metrics, it wasn't entirely different from the game that preceded it against Carolina.
No, they got some tips. They got some tips. They got some luck. I mean, their first two goals,
both point shots was like, Oh God, okay. Now they're going to keep doing them because
they, it's working because they worked against Toronto. You know, a bit of a lucky tip, I would say, by Brock Besser.
And you know, the Quinn Hughes goal was an own goal.
Yeah.
So that's lucky.
Right.
And I would say, and not that Pedersen was bad by any stretch
of the imagination on Friday against Carolina,
but Saturday was a pretty inspired performance,
especially defensively.
That is pretty much how they're going to have to play it.
And some of the breaks that they're going to have to play it and some of the breaks
that they're going to need to get with the current style and that being very low event
hockey that they're playing. The key now is going to be, can they do that with some level
of consistency? Because I go back to that interview that Patrick Elvin had with Ian
McIntyre on December 31st of last year in which he said, what are we as a team?
Why do we have these good efforts one night
and a bad effort the other night?
If you look at individual performances
that the Canucks have put up in games this year,
you could put that Toronto victory right up there
with the four nothing victory
over the defending Stanley Cup champion, Florida Panthers.
Yeah. Right?
The three one win against Colorado.
But here's the thing.
Do you remember the game that was sandwiched between the Florida game and the Colorado game?
it was a 5-1 loss to Boston maybe one of the worst games of the year and
That up-down up-down peak Valley peak Valley style that the Canucks have had
Has made it tough to buy into the sleeping giant thing because there needs to be more regularity with these performances.
I need to see, talking about me personally, them to be able to deploy the style of play
and be successful over a stretch where it's like, okay, they could rip off five, six,
seven wins in a row.
The players want to see it too.
Kiefer Sherwood said after the game, we needed this, we needed a, a, a kind of a
statement win to get our mojo back and kind of
turn our season around.
And like you've said, and you're right, they've
had some statement wins, but the statements
haven't meant anything ultimately.
They've been followed up with an equally bad
statement.
Yeah.
And there is that potential, I suppose, because Tuesday
they're in Winnipeg to complete this very
tough five game road trip.
Now the Canucks are one, one and two on the trip.
They're in single points in Montreal and Washington.
The single point in Montreal was probably
disappointing, the one in Washington, well, maybe
a bit disappointing too, because they outplayed
the Capitals, no points in Carolina and none, I
don't think were deserved and two in Toronto.
The Jets have been stumbling a tiny bit lately.
Not much, but they've lost a few games in the last little while, but they didn't
earn a solid three, nothing win over Colorado on Saturday.
And you look at their lineup and they don't have many weaknesses.
They score a lot with help from the best power play in the league.
I was surprised to learn that actually.
Their power play is clicking in the 30%.
And they don't give up much with help from the
best goalie in the world.
So they're going to be decided underdogs Tuesday in
Winnipeg and we'll see how they end this trip.
One, one and two so far on this trip, considering
everything they're going through, not terrible, not
terrible points in three of the four games.
We said five. Considering the quality of opponents too opponents to write we said at the beginning of the trip
I remember we both said five of ten points would be
Not good against this gauntlet of a road trip. You could deal with it
And then we kind of joke like they should all be loser points five straight loser points
And they didn't held it held up there into the bargain which is too bad losers
Yeah
But now they've got an opportunity in Winnipeg to get the six, which that would be,
I mean, I know it's only one point difference between five and six, but getting six
points, given how tough things felt at least felt after the Carolina game, where not
only did they get stifled offensively, they really couldn't muster a lot of shots
on Dustin Tukarski, um, to rebound the way they did in Toronto, I would also add that that was
one of the more unexpectedly dominant performances that I can remember this
group putting forth in the last couple of seasons, if you had put in front of me,
here's options A, B, C, and D for what's going to happen on Saturday.
Uh, under none of those would I have, you know, had, oh, I think the Canucks are gonna go in
and absolutely stifle the Leafs, shut them out,
and force them into playing a no-event game.
There were no high danger scoring chances
in the third period of that game,
according to what Sat and Vic were saying
on the last game show.
Toronto had four high danger chances the entire game.
So they, I mean, the Canucks went in again day of the game.
You know, your schedule is all kind of up in the air.
Obviously, no one was happy with the performance in Carolina.
And they don't just go in and sort of squeak out a victory or rely on,
you know, the goalie to post 30 or 40 plus saves.
They went in and dictated how they wanted to play.
That's what the style that Taukit has,
allows you to do, is you can dictate
how the game's gonna be played, brackets, boring.
But, but, if you don't, if you don't play it
to as high a level as possible,
you end up with Friday's game.
Which is where you walk off the ice
and it's like, oh, it was close, and we hung around, but you also put up 14 shots against a 35 year old American
league goal.
And we put our fans to sleep.
Which is nothing to hang your hat on.
Right?
So just to poke fun a little bit at the Leafs, did you see the difference in
opinions between the players and coach and some of the, the top stars there?
So this is from the Sportsnet article.
Chris Tanev says they outworked us, out
competed us, and that's why the Canucks won.
We need to play our game better.
That's why we lost.
Uh, Craig Berube had a similar quote.
Um, he said, I don't think we won any of the rebound battles said more than they need to more energy.
And then there was Mitch Marner.
I liked it.
I mean, I thought we played well.
I really did.
I think just the last couple of games we've given up plays to teams that aren't missing on them.
And Morgan Riley said, if you look at the score afterwards, it doesn't look that good.
But, you know, it doesn't look that good.
But you know, it's a close game.
Austin Matthews, I thought we had chances, just couldn't capitalize such a
disconnect there and the Leafs top stars in their, in their last game before the
Canucks game, they lost to Carolina, and I think the top line
was something like minus 17 combined.
Yeah, that's right.
There was two guys that were minus six,
and one that was minus five.
I didn't even know you could have
that big of minus in a game.
It's funny, I was tripping Sam McKee,
the Kipper & Bourne producer, back and forth on Twitter,
and he hates that team.
And it's hilarious because they were, at least at the time of that game, first in their division.
So they have this great record and they look on paper like they are terrific.
But I was talking to Sam about it and he's like, no man, it's just like their
goalie wins them games, they don't score, they don't hit.
It's just, he does not like them at all.
I reached out to a couple of Toronto writers before the game and I was like,
could this be the year for the Leafs?
And they're all like, no, I don't think they're that good.
And I was a little bit surprised.
Yeah.
I was surprised to hear that.
But you know, with Craig Barube behind the bench, I think they're playing a much
different style than we're used to with the Leafs.
So maybe they'll be kind of unimpressive through the regular season,
uh, and not the high flying Leafs that are scoring a ton of goals.
Maybe there'll be a better playoff team.
I don't know.
Is anyone all that impressive in the East right now?
Is anyone, is anyone in the league?
Yeah, that's the-
Super, super like-
Winnipeg sucks.
Winnipeg.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. It super like Winnipeg.
It is probably what I know.
But like you're like, yeah, yeah, but
you know, it is a weird year.
It's it's a it's a weird year.
It's I was having a conversation
with someone the other day and it's
and they said it was like four years
of the flat cap has come home to
roost and everyone is the same.
Yeah, you know, like everyone can
adjust afford pretty much the same team. I know that's exaggerating but you know I you know I
think Vegas is good in the West. I still think Florida is very good. Yeah I think
Florida but they have been all that good. Well they haven't. I mean there's no team
that is just... There's no team that is second, there's second division,
but there's no team that's running away
with anything.
No, that's what I'm saying.
That's what I'm saying.
There's no team that you're just like,
whoa, these guys are an absolute no one
is beating these guys.
Yeah.
I mean, I think the one thing that we've
seen the last couple of years is the teams
that have staked themselves out and have
done that.
And I go back to the Boston team of two
years ago that had that unbelievable regular season.
And then we're bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
I mean, there is, I know, I know people don't like the notion of, well, just
get into the dance and see what happens.
There's a facet of that approach that does make sense because, um, when
there's parody among the top teams.
You do kind of look around and you're like, well, why not us?
You know what I mean?
Like if you're in a group of let's say six or eight teams.
Yeah, but one of the top teams is still
very likely to come out with it.
Yeah, but right now, the way that you're looking
at the table or the standings or whatever,
if you just do the league wide version.
Yeah, I'm looking at Columbus and going,
even if they make the play, they know,
no, no, no, no, not them. But I'm saying if you're in that group of top six or eight teams,
like you would consider yourself a contender. And I think there's a lot of teams that could
right now because I don't think as you to your point almost that there's any one particular team
that's established itself as like the alpha, maybe Winnipeg, maybe Winnipeg because they're
so balanced and they're so that they mean what they've done this year is pretty impressive. We're going to get to see a little bit of it on Tuesday when the Canucks go to Winnipeg, maybe Winnipeg because they're so balanced and they're so, I mean, what they've done this year is pretty impressive.
We're going to get to see a little bit of it on Tuesday when the Canucks go to Winnipeg.
By the way, a couple other news and notes we need to pass along about the Vancouver
Canucks.
On Sunday, Canucks General Manager Patrick Alveen announced that the club has placed
Eric Branstrom on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Abbotsford in the American
League.
In case you have not noticed, Br Bradstrom hasn't played a lot recently.
I believe his last game was the New Year's Eve game against the Calgary Flames.
He's been out of the lineup despite a lot of consternation
from various media outlets who really wanted to see him back in the lineup.
And a lot of fans.
To me, this one was pretty cut and dry.
Coaching staff doesn't like him and doesn't trust him.
That's it.
They know who they're playing instead of they've got a
classroom.
They've got a game plan.
It's a low event game plan and Eric Branstrom kind of does his
own thing.
You can absolutely disagree with the tactical and
strategical approach.
That's, but here's the thing.
If you don't have the trust of your coaching staff,
it's very hard to make an argument for you
because even if he, let's say he does get into a game,
let's say prior to getting waived, they decide,
okay, Branson, we're going to give you another look.
How many opportunities do you think they're going to give
him within the 60 minutes of that game?
Probably not a lot because they just don't trust him
defensively in a lot of situations.
The Canucks still have an extra defenseman on the road
with Day R&A as the healthy scratch on Saturday.
Brisebois played almost 17 minutes on Saturday.
As his great story continues, the great story of a
lot of people in this fan base were like, he's still
in the organization.
Did not think I'd see Guillaume Brisebois playing
this year, but here we are.
The Philip Peronac watch is on too.
He's been on the ice with the Abbotsford Canucks.
I have no idea how far away he is.
I know he's skating and practicing with the
Abbotsford Canucks and the reports are good on his rehab,
but I'm certainly not anticipating him in the lineup
anytime soon just because he's still got to get back and start
practicing with his teammates and the Canucks have
to make sure that he's a hundred percent before he
returns and there's still the ongoing watch for a
trade for defensive help.
So Branstrom is on waivers and he'll get a chance to
go down and play with the Abbotsford Canucks,
assuming he clears.
Uh, the other tiny bit of news and notes, and we, we saved this for last.
We didn't want to start with this.
We barely want to mention this thing.
The Petey Miller thing was pretty quiet all weekend, except for Elliot
Freeman reporting that the Canucks are willing to entertain trade talks with
teams in the Western Conference.
I would still be surprised if there's a trade
and it involves like a division rival.
I would be shocked.
Right.
I would be shocked if we saw, you know,
Elias Pedersen has been traded to Calgary.
Didn't see that coming.
I'd be shocked if they trade them.
Yeah.
But, you know, going to a division. Didn't see that coming. I'd be shocked if they trade them. Yeah.
But, um, you know, going to a division rival,
I don't know, but I think, you know, the management
group wants it to get out there.
Like all options are very much on the table.
You're listening to the best of Halford and
Brough.
You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. 802 on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. Halford Brough Sportsnet 650.
Halford and Brough Sportsnet 650.
802 on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. Halford Brough Sportsnet 650.
802 on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. Halford Brough Sportsnet 650.
Halford and Brough Sportsnet 650.
802 on a Monday.
Happy Monday everybody.
Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650.
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To the phone lines we go.
Our next guest joins us now.
It's Ian McIntyre from sports net here on the health and rough show on sports net
six 50. Good morning. I'm at, how are you?
I'm doing well. And I have to say, I'm quite happy to be home.
I'm not in Winnipeg. I I've come home from the road. I saw something.
I never thought I'd see three, nothing on Saturday night against the Leafs and
and decided to come home. No, this home. Now this was always the plan, but I'm kind of glad.
It was an eventful eight days that I was on the road.
Those four games were kind of, to me, it was almost like the Canucks
season in a nutshell.
And now I'm home because it's minus 15 in Winnipeg and plus there was an extra day.
So it didn't seem efficient to go there there but we saw a lot in these first four games but the bottom
line is we've also seen four points so it looks like the Canucks are gonna
survive this trip just like they've survived the first half of the season
tell us about the feel that you had for the Canucks during the road trip? Like how things, the vibe essentially?
Well, like so often the vibe changes with the Canucks and I'll say at the start of the trip
going to Montreal and I went there early because they went early to practice and get used to the time zone. And after that, pretty
disappointing homestand and really a disappointing December.
I think there was I think there was optimism. Quinn and Elias
were on the verge of coming back.
They felt their defensive game,
even though they'd lost a bunch,
was coming together that they weren't giving up as much.
And I think there was some real optimism,
even though everybody knew this was a murderer's row
of opponents that they had.
And then they go into Montreal,
row of opponents that they had. And then they go into Montreal, they build a 3-1 lead, blow it and lose another game in overtime. And then the vibe was a lot like you'd expect
it to be, that this has happened so often and players are frustrated. They go to Washington,
play what I think was one of their best games of this
season against a very good team, not just that they competed, but they actually outplayed
the Capitals for the final two periods of regulation time and then had another terrible
overtime lose again. But, you know, they knew that they had beaten what JT Miller told me. That was a really
good team we just outplayed. So that kind of still, they get a point, they move on to Raleigh.
And, you know, looking at the back to back, that was the game that I think was far more winnable.
And especially when you look at what the Carolines,
or sorry, what the Carolines,
what their hurricane schedule had been.
Fifth game in seven nights.
And I thought it was actually
a really disappointing performance.
I know that Rick Tauket talked about the shot attempts
and how much offensive zone they had. They just didn't get enough pucks on target and they needed to
to be more aggressive in the offensive zone. But the bottom line is they only had 15 shots.
And once they gave up a goal late in the first and then another one early in the second, there really wasn't any great push from the team. And so they leave Raleigh, they get iced in, they
go to Toronto and that game just seems unwinnable. And that game's always been hard for Vancouver
so many times. You know, the Saturday night game, I mean, they've had some great Saturday
nights, especially back in the Sedin's era in Toronto, but they've had some really poor Saturday nights. Toronto's
waiting for them. They've had a crappy night, a tough travel day, and they go in and shut
out the Maple Leafs 3-0. And our value for it. It wasn't like Kevin Lankton had to perform
a miracle. And so now they go to Winnipeg and I can't tell you how they're gonna play in Winnipeg.
But to get back to your question, the vibe, I'll say this.
This team has maintained a lot of confidence in themselves.
I think it helps that,
that they have been much better defensively the last little bit, that they're not giving
up the number of grade A chances that they were. And now they're just waiting for their
offense to come around because offense has been the problem. And what they really need
for that offense is for their top players to drive it and be better.
They're top forwards.
And again, very positive on Saturday that Patterson had probably his best game this
season, even though he only had a second assist on the score sheet.
He played like a number one center that you would be willing to pay $92.8 million
for, for the next eight years.
So they need Miller, they need Pedersen,
they need Besser, and they need to keep playing
the way they are team wise.
And they'll, they think they can win a lot more
games in the second half than they did in the
first half.
Hey, I'm Mike.
I haven't spoken to you since that interview
with Patrick Alveen was published and made such
big waves here in Vancouver.
I'm curious when you were doing that interview,
did you get the sense that Alveen came into the
interview and said, I'm going to rip this team and
I'm going to rip the top players because I had a
bit of a chuckle because there was at one point
during the interview where
you brought up some of the positives like Kiefer Sherwood and Pew Suitors production.
And it seemed like Alveen was like, yep, that's good, but let's get back to ripping the top
players. Did you get that sense too? Yeah, I wouldn't put it in that context. I wouldn't
say that he intended to rip the top players, but I think this management regime
with Jim Rutherford, who of course has mentored Patrick Alveen, I don't think much they do
is reckless.
I don't think much they do is just spur the moment, off the cuff.
I don't think Patrick Alveen is a loose cannon.
And so I think he understood what he was saying. And I think it was a message he wanted to get out
there. And, you know, I actually talked to Pat Bresson on this road trip, I spoke to him briefly,
and we were just off the record, and I wasn't, you know, going to do a story on this road trip. I spoke to him briefly and we were just off the record and I wasn't going to do a story
on it, but I just wanted to get his temperature on it because of what Alvin said about Pedersen.
He said basically, he's talked a lot, Brisson, he's talked a lot to Alvin.
He understands the Canucks concerns and sometimes a GM has to do what the GM thinks he has to
do.
And so this was a case, I think this, you know, what we were almost halfway through
the season when I spoke with Patrick and I think this was a time that he thought to, to try to raise, raise the pressure,
raise the intensity a little bit and see if it would get a desired response from Pedersen.
And of course, Pedersen was hurt. So he had to, he had to simmer on it a little while.
And he came back in his first game and wasn't
very effective.
But then we saw his second game on Saturday and it was his best game of the year.
So maybe it's going to turn out it was some sort of spark, some sort of turning point.
We've got a lot of games to go here and we'll see with the inconsistency of this team.
I don't think anyone wants to count on anything or anyone should count
on anything at the moment, but that was, that was a great game.
Saturday night from Pedersen.
Those are the kinds of games this team needs from him.
They need him to make an impact every night.
Have you got a theory on why we haven't seen that as much from Pedersen this season?
I don't, I don't.
And, uh, he, he's a very difficult book to read.
Uh, he keeps a lot of things to himself.
Uh, he's very sensitive to criticism, at least from
us in the media.
He is one of those players and he's not the first to do this.
Often when you ask Ilias a question, you can see that his brain is already racing ahead
to see what it is you're planning to write, where you're going with this question.
And so he's a very difficult guy to know. And very different in that way,
until recently, at least, than JT Miller. And these, you know, we've talked about these two
guys so much this year, and I think we're going to continue to. But Miller's personality is so
different than Elias's. And whatever you think of JT Miller,
you generally know where he stands. Happy, angry, frustrated,
exasperated, whatever, you usually have a pretty good idea what JT Miller
thinks and how he's feeling. And it's very difficult to get that same sense
from from Elias Pettersson.
So that's a that's a very long-winded way to say no I don't know why I don't and I don't I don't
you know I I was really surprised that after the season that Pettersson had last year in the second half and as poor as his playoff was and then
getting this franchise record contract that makes him the fifth highest paid player in
the NHL and I believe on money alone, I think he's third highest this season, but the fifth
highest paid player in the NHL. I was shocked that he didn't come roaring out of the start this season
and trying to show that last season was an outlier and that he's going to be the guy
to lead this team for the next eight years. And, you know, I can't say why that didn't happen, but I will say, I've been spoken briefly to Ilias
on this road trip.
And this is one of the reasons that Sportsnet still invests money to cover this team in
print because when you go on the road, the media player dynamic is entirely different
than what it is at home.
And you get a chance to actually talk to guys and have a conversation.
If, if there's enough trust that the player will speak to you in an honest way.
And I was very impressed in Montreal that Pederson said, he knows he
hasn't been good enough and that there's a whole bunch of games he wishes.
He had played better, but he can't play in the
past he has to he has to play for now and worry about the future and then that
was that was just before he returned and then like I say the one the one
ineffective game upon his comeback which maybe isn't unusual and certainly you
would you would give a guy a benefit of the doubt when he's coming back from injury
and then his best game of the season in game two.
So we'll see what game three holds for him since his injury.
Well, it's a good segue to what I wanted to ask
about consistency.
And I know you mentioned earlier in the hit,
we're speaking to Ian McIntyre,
Sportsnet's Connuck reporter here on the Healthroom
Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650.
The interview that you did with Alveen
just prior to the new year, I know
that everyone was pointing to what he said about Miller and Pedersen, but the one that
always stuck with me or the two lines that always stuck with me were where he said that
Rick Tocket needed to try and find solutions to get a more consistent game that he hadn't
found yet.
And then there was the line where he said, quote, we played tremendous games against Florida and Colorado.
And then in between, it's just like, what happened here?
What are we?
And that's where I'm like, I look at this game
against Winnipeg coming up,
and I have no idea what to expect,
because I would not have predicted that on Saturday,
given what happened on Friday,
the Canucks would come up with one of their most dominant
performances of the year, probably the their most dominant performances of the year,
probably the most unexpectedly dominant performances of the year.
But I do know this, they need to find some level of consistency here because every time that they put a good performance forward,
it almost seems like they're keen to follow it up with a dud.
And that has to stop happening because if this team is going to take off, they need to string together some victories and victories against good
opponents. Yeah. Yeah. And, and I thought that,
I thought that was a very revealing line as well. He said, he,
he doesn't like driving to the game,
the home games and not knowing what he's going to get. Right. Yeah.
And so I think that's been, frustrating and a massive red flag to management
because say what you will about times,
well, times have been pretty good since Tauke got here,
let's face it, but the one thing you never wondered about
until this season was what kind of effort you were going to
get from the team. They might lose, but you knew that they were going to be all in and
fully invested. And when you're not playing to your identity, generally it means you're
not investing, right? You're not fully committed to doing what you need to do.
I think that has been a huge frustration, but I also think that's partly why internally,
you know, the coaching staff and I would think management as well because
even, you know, despite what Albin said about talk its responsibility and everything is on the table here, like who knows what Rick talk its future is, but they have an excellent relationship.
And they talk a ton. And, and so there's there's alignment there. And I think internally, they're pretty pleased that they've got their defensive game under
control and they're just waiting for the scoring to get going in.
And they're especially waiting for Pedersen and Miller to try to make an impact.
But of course, they can only wait so long.
That's another story which you guys have spent hours and hours talking about.
Yeah.
But I think, I think to your point about consistency on this trip, they played
well in Montreal, but had, you know, another letdown where they should have won
a game in regulation, they lost an overtime.
They played really well in Washington, really well in Toronto.
I told you what I thought of their game in Raleigh, but Rick Tauk had also thought they played
well there, that they just needed to be better with the puck in the offensive zone. So if
they come out against Winnipeg and regardless of the score, but they play well, they're
engaged, they're competing, they're getting that intensity
from players like Pedersen, they're getting goaltending, they're giving up 20-something
shots and not 18 grade A scoring chances. Then I think it's going to be heartening to
them that they are starting to string together more of these performances that look like the
identity of the team that we saw last season.
I'm Mac, you mentioned Rick Taukett's future there.
Is it a little surprising that we don't know the
future of Rick Taukett in Vancouver, given that
relationship that he has with management and given
the fact that he won, you know, the coach of
the year last season?
Yeah, I would say a little bit, but I think that's a little bit of a surprise to me. given that relationship that he has with management and given the fact that he won, you know, the coach of the year last season?
Yeah, I would say, I would say a little bit, but
I think this is also, this is also how Jim
Rutherford, uh, you know, does business with
his coaches and, and Rutherford, but you know,
I asked him, I reached out to him and it was, I
believe right after the, right after the awards last year when
when Tauke won to get a quote from Rutherford and I asked him about it and
he said, you know, as you're aware their position is because there's a club
option that they feel he's under contract another year so they're
not concerned about it and they'll deal with it after the season. But I mean, he's been phenomenally successful in a very short
period of time. So yeah, it is a little surprising to me, but not so much so when you just think of
So much so when you just think of how, uh, how management does business and also where the team is right now, you know, if, if, if they don't, let's say they don't make the
playoffs this year, does it, does it change your view?
Do they think that they have to go in a different direction?
And we don't even know what the team yet is going to look like on March 9th, the day after
the trade deadline.
A huge story that's kind of just been simmering because of all the drama that's eclipsed it
is Brock Besser and his contract and is he going to be a Canuck?
So there's so many things that could change between now and the end of this season.
I think it's very unlikely now that we're going to see a deal.
I think were we to see it, it would have been before the year or early in the year.
And I think the two sides are going to ride it out.
And I saw Sportsnet just posted my mid-season, my halfway report this morning and I talked
to Tauke it on the road and he took responsibility.
He says he always feels responsible.
He was out way as a player and he's out way as a coach.
And absolutely he has to, he has to own what he has to own.
Personally, I think he's been about the least of their problems.
In fact, I think he could probably argue if, if you knew everything that had gone
on behind the scenes, which I don't,
and I don't think anybody in the media does, I suspect that his coaching this
year has maybe been even more critical to keeping the Canucks in it than what
he did last year when everything was easy, everything just was smooth sailing
to that 109-point season. But I think he's quite comfortable with this idea that, you know, he'll be judged later
on and that how this season, what happens
between now and the end of the season is
critically important to that.
Well, Tauke has a say in whether he's staying too.
Right?
I mean, that's just the Canucks making the call on that.
It's the head coach as well.
Yeah.
Well, that's, I don't know that, but yes,
that's been reported.
That's not what Jim Rutherford told me last year,
but looking at it this way with the amount of respect
and what has been invested in this relationship
between Rutherford and LB and talk it.
Nobody is going to stand in anybody's way.
If anyone's unhappy, no one's holding the other side
to account though.
They'll they have enough respect for each other.
That if it, if it's decided if one or the other sides
to move on, that'll be, that'll be it.
I Mac, this was great. Thanks for taking, that'll be it. I'm back.
This was great.
Thanks for taking the time to do it.
We appreciate it.
Enjoy the game tomorrow night.
It should be a good one and welcome home.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I hope it will be a good one and it is nice to be home.
I'll tell you when you've been in the East for eight days and it hasn't been above zero
and there's been a lot of cloud and snow and it's it's actually icing over in Raleigh
We've had snow in three years to come home flying to Vancouver yesterday afternoon on a beautiful sunny
West Coast winter day was pretty special. We live in a fantastic place. Yeah, we do. Thanks. I'm I appreciate it
See you guys. Ian McIntyre Canucks reporter right here on Sportsnet 650. JD Bunkus, Sam McKee, they got a Leafs post-game show.
We met talking about it earlier.
On Sportsnet.
On Sportsnet.
Fan 590.
Yeah, man.
My sister station over there in Toronto.
And they had some really kind things to say about you guys and our show, and here's some
audio for it.
Yeah, the Leafs turned on the Canucks season.
Now they're going to go on a run and all their fans, like, I don't know whether the guys out there, the producer, Hufford and Brough, or Andy. Yeah, the Leafs turned on the Canucks season Now I'm gonna go on a run and all their fans like I don't whether guys out there the producer
Helford and bra for Andy. He's already
Good game tonight. I'm like, thanks Andy. Thank you. I never asked me to do the show
I was going bad with that it twice when they're in desert, but here's the thing
I only call them on the Canucks aircraft the better. So it's a sure a street
Yeah, I'd have them on all the time because I love that show.
Yeah, we just have the when I'm on my winter hours,
I've got like the right across from them.
And so it's just like it doesn't work out.
But God, I do love those guys.
And they are like that's that radio show.
That's honestly one of the best shows that there is.
If you're a Canucks fan, I'm jealous that you have that show.
Oh, is it nice?
So nice. Yeah, they do.
They're so they have it. You know what? I don't think they're very good. Aww. Is it nice? It's so nice. Yeah.
They do, they're, so they have, you know what?
I don't think they're very good.
No.
Actually, I was going to say, like, every once in a while I will tune in because I'm
just curious about, you know, our sister station's postgame shows, what they're like.
It is a legitimately great postgame show.
Like they are very funny, both those guys.
And it's so funny too that they just hate that team so much.
They don't like them at all.
Especially concerning, like, as I said earlier, statistically how impressive they look and
they're just not fans whatsoever.
Are they just tired of the same old same old?
Well from my understanding it's just they know that the team has been getting great
goaltending.
So it's just like a mirage I guess.
The season's kind of a mirage in a sense.
Well you're allowed to get great goaltending.
Of course, but I guess maybe they feel like, oh God, is this going to be another one
of those playoff runs.
It's kind of like the Rangers.
Where it ends the first round, right?
Yeah, it's kind of like the Rangers, right?
They were like 12 and four, but Rangers fans are
like, Igor's standing on his head.
This is not, once this dips down to 905,
this stuff is not going to look good.
And then what happened?
I wonder what they're going to do with Marner.
That's going to be fascinating.
And I guess Tavares.
Yep.
To a lesser but still significant sense,
both those guys are unrestricted free agents. At any rate, thank you very kindly for those
kind words.
Nice words.
Moocow those.
Arash, you're up.
Okay, really quick. I was at the shop with my mom on Sunday. She taught me a very interesting
trick in the kitchen, where if you have limp lettuce I hate oh yeah oh yeah it happens everyone it
happens to everyone listen it's a perishable if you have lip lit a limp
lettuce you can blanch it in cold water for like a minute
rehydrates and you do with carrots too yeah I didn't I didn't know that what it
was blanching mean
It just like blanching it was like dunking in cold water. Yeah lunch. So dunking if your lettuce blanching it
Blanching if you're having class if your lettuce is limp you blanch it and then it gets I mean
That's what I've been told many many times. I thought Blanche was one of the golden girls. So take
it is
So there's two different ways that you can blanch so you're gonna cook cooking technique you can do it in boiling water
Right right where you land should in was it was it mean dunking it just put it in well
You have to we put you put it in boiling water, and you don't just dunk it right
Yeah, what's the difference between dunking and putting it in because you have to briefly boil it
You can't just dip it in it won't the technique won't work
Okay, but with cold water and like lettuce. It can't just dip it in. The technique won't work. But with cold water and lettuce,
it's literally just submerge and pull out.
So why do you have to call it blanching?
Because that's the technique.
It's a cooking technique.
I think it's the French.
Isn't it the French, just the French way of just saying?
What's it French for?
Also blanching.
Yeah.
All right.
Mukau all that.
Thank you for that.
Ah!
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