Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 1/14/26

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they chat the latest trade rumours with Victory+ NHL insider Frank Seravalli, plus they chat yesterday's Canucks road loss to Ottawa with analyst Randip Janda. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Hoover drops its eighth game in a row. What is the message to the team right now? Yeah, it sucks. Coming down the middle of a shot. A same rebound. They score. Picked over, listen, and the score.

The Predators of the new. Vancouver 6-1 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford. It is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you. Good morning. Good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Bruff in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Score a Debt Freedom Hatrick. One, no more interest.

Two much lower payments than three. Financial peace of mind. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Hour 1 is brought to by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Nor Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid. This is the Middle 11th, Stephanie Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to live from the Kintech Studio, make 2026 your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech custom orthotics.

To the guest list we go, it is the Duick Morning Drive, brought to you, of course, by the Duick Auto Group. Guest list today begins at 630. David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, SportsNet, NHL host is going to join the program. Wednesday night's Scotia Bank doubleheader tonight. The Senators, having just beaten the Canucks, are at the New York Rangers, the lowly, messy New York Rangers. That's followed by a Pacific Division clash between the Kings. And the Golden Knights, David Amber is going to join us at 630. First of NHL talk.

Speaking of NHL talk, it will continue at seven. Frank Sarah Valley, our NHL insider from Victory Plus, is going to join the program. Lots of trade chatter in recent days around the Vancouver Canucks. We'll ask Frank what he's hearing about that. also look around the NHL following a 10 game Tuesday night. Frank's going to join us at 7 o'clock. 8 o'clock, Randip Jand is going to join the program.

Canucks color analyst right here on SportsNet 650. As I mentioned, Randipe was on the call last night for the Canucks' eighth consecutive loss. This won a 2-1 defeat to the senators in Ottawa. Canucks are back in action tomorrow in Columbus to end this nightmarish road trip. Randiap will join us at 8 o'clock to break down all things Canucks. You thought the road trip was going to be a good one? I did. And it has turned out to be not as good as I thought it would be. We got Vancouver Giants tickets to give away as well.

Giants are in action. January 16th, that's Friday night against the Penticton V's at the Langley Events Center. Caller number 5 at 8 a.m. this morning is going to win a pair tickets to the Giants game. 604-280-650. That number again, 604-280-650, caller number five. At 8 a.m. is going to wear a pair tickets to see the Giants take on the V's game. on Friday. That's the program. That's all of it. That's what's happening today. Without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was...

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You miss that? 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. The Ottawa Senators ended a four-game losing streak with a 2-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. The Vancouver Canucks continued their eight-game losing streak with a 2-1 defeat against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Center on Tuesday night.

Yeah, you know, if Monday's loss in Montreal was at least fun and entertaining because we got to watch the Habs, Tuesday's loss in Ottawa was a bit of a chore to get through because we not only had to watch the Connought. We also had to watch the Ottawa. Senators. We did. Both Senators' goals came within 15 seconds of each other in the first period, and that was all they needed. Both goals, they looked identical. A lost face-off.

The puck finds itself to a wide-open defenseman on the right point. The shot beats Kevin and Lankin. Zubb got the first one. Jordan Spence got the second. And again, that was all the Sends would need. The Canucks did pull to within a goal in the third. Elias Pedersen moved into 10th place all time in Canucks' goals, and he should catch Bo Horvatt soon.

Then it'll be a ninth. That's right, Halford. So numbers work. That's now five goals in his last nine games, up to 13 on the season for Petey. He's turning it on. Just in time. Turn it on. It was a good forecheck by Jake DeBrus that forced to turn.

over to Linus Carlson, who found Pedersen wide open in the slot for the one-timer, but that would be it for goals on the night. For the second straight night, the Canucks were outshot badly. This time, it was 40 to 19. Against Montreal, it was 41 to 23. The Sends don't give up many shots as a team, which is why their goaltending issues have been especially frustrating this season. They're a good defensive group that hasn't gotten the saves. And I think we saw some of their team defense last night against the Canucks. So that's eight straight losses for the Canucks. Yep.

Who've yet to even notch a point through five games of this six-game road trip that wraps Thursday in Columbus. There's still a chance. They can turn it around. They can turn it around. One win will really turn the tide. Well, and they've got the Rick bonus bump too. Yep. Columbus beat Calgary last night.

Brock Bessor did not score a goal. 21 games, is it? He won games in a row now for him. He didn't look great defensively on the Sends first goal either. And it was the story of the Canucks in the defensive zone. That goal. And Adam Foote talked about it afterwards. He said, we should have done better there.

You know, it didn't help that David Camp fell down on the face off while P.O. Joseph, I don't know, spun around in circles. I think he got picked by the linesmen. Anyway, Besser chased after Shane Pinto, who happily passed it to Zub, who would have been Bessor's man if he hadn't, well, chased after Pinto. And we've seen a lot of that from the Canucks this season, chasing guys, not getting to them in time. And when you chase someone else's guy, you leave your guy open. You know, I do think that if Besser is going to sit a game, it might as well. be Thursday in Columbus, but I also think that sitting Besser is different than sitting Jake

DeBrusk. It would be a bigger deal to sit a guy who's considered part of your leadership group, who's been on the team a long time. Whether you agree with that notion or not, I just do think it would be a slightly bigger deal. I don't know if anyone heard Adam Foote rattling off his leaders. He was asked about his leaders. I think while Bessor and Garland up front, and then he named the three veteran defensemen on the back end, Heronick, Marcus Pederson, and Tyler Myers. No, he did not name Elise Pedersen in case you're wondering. So, you know, that's a guy that he just name-checked as part of his leadership group.

Jake DeBrasse was not named-checked. Is he going to sit him? I don't know. Maybe. It's getting pretty grim. but I don't think this is a case of Brock Besser not caring that he's not playing well but I don't know maybe at some point you just have to do it

you couldn't accuse DeBrask of not caring either when he got healthy scratch so I don't think that should enter into the equation I mean I know you want him sad you know I think everyone should take a turn if they're this bad you're the worst team in the NHL and if you are on a 21 game goal of streak and you're minus 25 on the worst team in the NHL What do you think it does? Sorry?

What do you think it does? What does it accomplish? It would send a message to everybody that that level of play and that caliber of play is unacceptable. Yeah, but don't you think Brock already knows that? I think Brock knows, but I'm not talking about Brock. I thought what the rest of the guys on the team. Because right now, if I was a young player that maybe say Jess came into the organization, I'd be like, oh, that's interesting.

Oh, okay. Yeah. They sat down Jake DeBrusk, who is a veteran NHL player and went a bunch of games without scoring. and didn't have the greatest defensive play, why would that same logic not apply to Brock? And you probably have to explain it to them. And they're like, well, he's a veteran guy and he's been around a lot longer.

And everyone likes Brock. And then you're like, does that mean everyone doesn't like DeBrusk? And then they're like, this conversation's over. And then I think, I think the point being is that you, if you either have a standard or you don't, you know, you're healthy scratching young defensemen all the time, right? Who was it last night? Yolander got a night off, right?

So there's a standard there that the young guys are going to get their time off to sit and watch. There's always that hierarchy, though, in the NHL where if you're a veteran, you get a longer leash. A much longer leash. I would say 21 games without a goal is a long, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, long leash. It's been plenty long. It's a loon leash. Like at this point, what are we doing here? What are you saving face?

Put it this way. if that stat line applied to any Vancouver Canucks forward, 21 games without a goal, and minus 25, I would say, regardless of the number on the back and the nameplate, hey, maybe you should consider sitting down for a game. I don't know. Yeah, you mentioned Tom Vlander spent a night in the press box as the Canucks continued to give their young defensemen opportunities

to watch from up high and reset a little bit. Makes sense, especially on a back-to-back. Zeev Bouillon returned to the lineup and I don't know He did pretty well for himself Almost 22 minutes of ice time He wasn't out there for a goal against You know he was

He was fine But I also wonder where he's at Mentally and confidence wise And just What have I gotten myself into wise? Yeah I'm going to ask Frank Sarah Valley About this when we have him on at 7 o'clock Because I was watching frankly hockey

with him and John Bucci Gras on Victory Plus this morning actually before the show started and they made a point of cherry picking that Z. Bouillon Healthy Scratch and talking about it a little bit more. Here locally, I did notice that we all sort of gave it a collective makes sense. He wasn't really doing much of anything

in the most recent games prior to getting sad and he had made a couple of defensive mistakes including the one in Toronto, I think, that you highlighted the other day that was fairly egregious. Yeah, put it up against the wall and... So I, from a hockey group... I don't know. I had turned up the game.

Yeah, I was watching the football. So at that point, I was like, okay, you know, you sit them down, not a big deal. Young defensemen gets sat a lot. And it seems like there's some consistency there because DPD got sat, VLander got sat, and then Bouillon got scratched as well. But we'll ask Frank about it at 7. I do want to play some audio following last night's game. So there's a commonality always now between the Rangers and the Canucks.

Both teams are tire fires. Of course, the Rangers employ former Vancouver Canucks. J.T. Miller and the Ottawa senators, having played the Canucks last night, are going to play the New York Rangers tonight. So I want to play some audio from Elias Pedersen last night. And J.T. Miller a few nights ago where they're both asked about sort of what's going wrong. Why the huge lapse in energy? Why such a string of consecutive losses? We're going to play PDE's first. This is Petey following last night's 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators in which, yes, he did score, his fifth goal in the last nine games, but the Kinnock still ended on the losing side of

things. Here's Alias Pedersen being asked the questions about what's going on, what's going wrong with your team during this losing streak following last night's loss to the Ottawa senators. As a leader in this group, what is the message to the team right now? Yeah, this sucks. I hate losing. I don't know. It's a, I don't know. Let's hear now from J.T. Miller a couple nights ago when he was asked a very similar question about his team's struggles. Did you feel like anything you get from that point forward? I don't know.

I think these two guys are a lot more alike than they even knew. How did they not get along? They're just both two guys that are out of answers. I don't know. they could look at each other across the room like do you know do you know I don't know

maybe they would have gotten better along if they both had that shared thing rumor has it that EP40 is still giving a very heavy sigh right now that was a big sigh can we hear that sigh again let's hear it up laddie let's hear the sigh like because we're all sighing along with you

Olias Pedersen that's a big sigh that's lung capacity yeah like a second part to it at the end listening. Oh, a double. Yeah, it's like a double side. Double side.

The sigh within the side. Ah, the rare double sigh. You know it's bad. He went on to say in that clip that he hates losing, and he was very cognizant of the fact that they've lost eight in a row. These are the little moments. Everyone's like, this is what a rebuild looks like.

This is what a tank looks like. This is what a team who sinks to the bottom to get the first round pick looks like. And I don't disagree. this is what it looks like. But when you talk about building a culture and keeping people accountable, and I think most importantly, making sure that guys are learning something along the way,

you do have to combat this element of it, which is where guys get really frustrated and despondent and dejected. You have to kind of balance the, hey, guys, we're going to lose more games than we're going to win, but there has to be some positives taken from this along the way. And for this team, it's learning.

Now, the issue that I have is that we're at game 44 of the season, and there's still a lot of the same mistakes happening that Foot talked about earlier in the year. It doesn't seem like they're really picking up the nuances of those mistakes. They're right there, as far as I understand. That's fine, though. How much does this have to do with this system of swarming and this philosophy of swarming the puck that Adam Foote brought in? And I'm not asking you, as if you know, I'm just throwing it out there.

Well, it's a great, it is a good question to bring up. Because the idea of swarming the puck in your own end, I mean, the reason you do it is so you can recover pucks quicker. Sure. Right? So, I mean, if you stay in your static structure, then a lot of the times the teams can just move it around and you're just kind of standing in shooting lanes or standing in passing lanes. If you swarm the puck, if you sense that a guy is vulnerable or whatever and you swarm the puck, then you can dispossess him of the puck and not going the other way. I don't know if that first goal had anything to do with swarming.

I think that was more like camp fell and then there was a little bit of confusion. Then all of a sudden Shane Pinto had the puck at the top of the circle. And Bessor's like, I guess I should go get him. but then he went and Pinto was like, thank you for charging at me because now you're a guy, Zub, which is a great name. The Zub.

He's wide open. But that play did look like a lot of Canucks goals against in their defensive zone where they're running around. They're like, oh, you don't have that guy? I'll go get that guy. Yeah. And then that guy's like, thank you.

again, for charging me because I'm a really good hockey player. I'm in the NHL. And what I can do is if it looks like I'm going to shoot, I change my mind instantly and then I pass it to an open guy. And then oftentimes someone will charge

at that guy. They're like, oh my God, that guy's wide open. We better charge at him. And then he goes, I'm really good because I'm in the NHL. And I'm going to find an even wider open guy. Wider opener. Wide or opener guy

And then he's like, I'll actually just score Well, an interesting follow-up question I think would be, is it even worth The guys trying to master this swarm technique Because will it even be in play next season? Is this going to be around? Are they even listening to him anymore? I don't think anything matters as far as coaching and structure

And none of that matters this year. It's run out the clock mode now. Yeah, but just do whatever. There is an inherent problem with that. And again, I go back it works pretty well for a tanking season. But I go back to culture and habits, is that if you come up in a system where the head coach's message

doesn't really matter because you're going to lose anyway, there is the possibility that that bleeds over to the next regime change. That's when the veterans... We don't have to listen to the coaches in this organization. If I've learned one thing as a Vancouver Canaq, it's that. That's when the veterans come in and say to the young guys, like you're discussing yesterday, like look like this is just the reality of the situation, get through the year, next year will be better.

Granted, a lot of those veterans may not be there. might not be here. But nevertheless, they have to pass that message along. Then they're like, I can't even trust the veterans. They said it was going to be better next year and they all got to escape.

Yeah. These are all real things, by the way, within a rebuild. Okay, I want to read a couple texts here. We played the Pedersen and JT. Audio and someone texts in. Wondering what you expect PD to say or for that matter, JT,

do you think it'd be great if he called out the coach or other players on the team? The question is never going to get answered. I don't think we're expecting them to do anything differently. I think we're playing that audio to just show the tough situation that they're in. Oh, I don't think it was that. Who's this?

Dean and Twasson. Did you even hear the question? It wasn't like the most, what's it, like, instigating type question. Like, it wasn't, I mean, can you play the clip again? I actually want to hear this. As a leader, what do you say to the guys in this situation? As a leader in this group, what is the message to the team right now? That's not that hard.

Keep it going to what he says. Yeah, this sucks. I hate losing. I don't know. It's a, I don't know. He does go on to say, like, he just got it. I think this is an inflammatory text from Dean, to be perfectly honest. Yeah.

Okay. Do you think it would be great if he called out the coach or other players on the team? They didn't even ask him that. They didn't ask, what would you say to the coach in this instance? Or take the moment to call out your teammates? All she asked was, as a leader, what's the message to the team when you're in an eight-game losing streak? That's a really straightforward question.

Petey took offense to be called a leader. He's like, how dare you? He's like, nothing. Yeah, they never ask me. I'm a leader of this. And answer the first part of the question, what are you expecting Pete to say, I don't care what he says.

We play what he's going to say. You get asked the question, you answer it, you play it. That's how this whole thing works, right? And if he has a long sigh and says, I don't know, yeah, I'm going to have a laugh at it. There's nothing inflammatory about any of them. that, any of that whatsoever.

Can I, do you have a, do you have a history with Dean and Tuasson? Rachel just said the Halford and Dean feud is back. Dean, I keep my eye on you from a distance. Nice. I never liked you. Can I just add one positive? If there has been a positive from the last 10 games, it is Elias Pedersen. Yes.

He's scoring goals and the more goals he scores, the easier it is to me to trade them. Honestly, that's where I'm at right. now. There is increasing talk about the possibility of the Canucks trading Elias Pedersen. That's why he's scoring goals. And yeah,

I don't know, that was a nice shot yesterday. It was a nice passed by Carlson. And it was an effective forecheck from them and he buried it. And I think he is looking more decisive when he's shooting. He's actually pulling the trigger and I think that's good. you know I we're hearing a lot of the insiders

regardless of the network they're on saying yeah the connects are listening on lias peterson and I don't know if that's something that happens before the trade deadline but sometimes these things can you know all of a sudden it's like wait a minute did you just get traded I mean that's kind of how the Quinn Hughes thing happened right it was like he had a couple of games where he looked

kind of disinterested and had those shifts. And I think the Canucks realized then, it's like, we got to make a move. I wonder if they're in a situation right now, they're like, you know, we know that sometimes Elias can fall down into a bit of a dark hole. If we get the offer that we need to move this guy, let's move on it.

Now, it's not as easy as just pulling the trigger because PD does have a no move clause. And I think it's also been reported that the Canucks have not been in touch with Alias Pedersen's camp. So all that sort of thing would have to happen. But I guess, I guess this is one of, this is going to be one of the main things that we're going to talk about. Who's going to get traded among the veterans? And then how are they going to go about doing that?

Not just which team is going to take them, but how are they going to figure this out when so many of these players have control over the situation through no move clauses or no trade clause. I saw that Canucks Twitter picked up on Brough's L.A. King take. I got a kick out of that. Yeah. He was like a week ahead of everyone else. They're like, wait a second. The Kings might be a good fit. It's making the rounds. Kings play tonight, by the way, against the Vegas

Golden Knights. Yeah, I think, also we talked about this yesterday in terms of the three dare I say most onerous contracts. There's other candidates, but the three most onerous ones that we talked about were Besser, Peterson, and Demko, right? Yesterday. You set up the three.

For the purpose of this conversation Of those three, but that was mostly just for Because those guys have been the long-term Canucks. So of those three, Pedersen has made himself the most viable trade candidate and attractive acquisition To other teams of the three

By far. By far. Besser right now, I would say is virtually untradable if you're going to go on current form. There's nobody that's interested in taking that on. The 40-goal season seems like so long. long ago. And Demko can't stay healthy. So kudos to Petey, huge kudos to Petey for being able to step

up in a completely lost season where there's not a great offensive options around him. It's not like he's playing with world beaters out there and he's managed to find the back of the net and play consistent hockey and quite frankly do what some of the other veteran skaters on this team are unable to do. And that's generate offense with some sense of regularity. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and It's Frank Saravalee here on the Halford & Bruff Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Frank. How are you?

Good. How are you guys? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this as always. We appreciate it. So since the calendar is turned from 2025 to 2026, Lees Pedersen's been putting up some points for the Vancouver Canucks. No wins for the Canucks as a team.

But Pedersen, four goals, five points in the games that have been played in January. I scored another one last night in Ottawa. another one the night prior to that in Montreal. I say all this, this lengthy preamble, to ask about where things are out with regards to trade chatter around Elias Pedersen. I know Darren Drager had a report the other day that teams might be showing renewed interest

or more interest as we get closer and closer to the deadline. What are you hearing on this front, Frank? Yeah, I'm hearing that there's definitely an uptick and interest and I guess you'd call it calls being made to the Canucks to inquire about Pedersen's availability. Now, I've gotten mixed returns on what exactly his availability is. Now, some of the teams that I've talked to have said that they do not believe the Canucks are at this point in time interested in moving him.

but I think what's really changed is in this marketplace, everyone's looking around and seeing what these centers are going for now with new contracts, and they're saying, hmm, 11.6 really isn't as big of a risk as it seems. Now, the other part of that, which is really important to point out, is Pedersen holds all the cards now. and it's going to be up to him to determine if, where, and when. And so if the Canucks want to do this, they'd have to engage him at some point, which you mentioned the Dregor report yesterday.

They have not approached his camp. But the intriguing part is that the calls are definitely coming in. Is there a team in your mind that makes the most sense for him? The most sense? I don't know about the most sense. There's a couple of teams that seem like better fits than others. And one that stands out that I don't think has been talked about enough is the Detroit Red Wings. I think he sort of more fits their age scheme and where they're heading.

I think they're a team that is slowly but surely getting their act together. and he could provide that high-end skill that I think they're missing at the center position. And I imagine the connection, the Red Wings have already had some chats as related to Quinn Hughes. Right. And they have a previous deal history as well going back to Phil Horonick. Yeah. I guess that brings it all the way back to the original question of Wood Pedersen, welcome going to Detroit?

Well, that part I can't answer, but what I'm more curious about than that is what is his overall state and feel of things around the Canucks? Is he looking for a change of scenery? Is he happy in Vancouver? Does he want to be there? Does he feel like he's part of the solution in terms of helping get this team back on track? Does he feel like that the competitive window has passed this team by

and now it's going to be a while. I don't know what is appetite for all those things are, and that's the interesting truth to find out. In terms of timing, and this is more of a league-wide thing, how much impetus is there to try and get something done prior to the Olympic break, or is it over that Olympic break that a lot of general managers might further sink their teeth

into trying to make some moves, take stock, reevaluate things, and get another gauge of the market? Well, there's a push and pull, really, because the teams that have players that are participating in the Olympics, absolutely, and no, they're moving them. Like, the best example is Rasmus Anderson playing in Sweden is they want to make, the flames want to make that trade before he goes there to play more high leverage hockey. Sure. But the pull is those teams that want to acquire him, unless they're signing him right away, which might be part of it, to be honest,

or unless they have designs on signing that player to a long-term deal and what happens over, you know, the following couple months after the trade isn't necessarily as big of a deal. The poll is they want to also wait till the other side to see if he's able to come through injury-free. So there's a lot of risk and not just are we in hold your breath season for players that are on Olympic rosters trying to just get to the tournament in Milan

but also for teams that are trying to move these players like I mean the latest one was Blake Coleman who's banged up in Calgary now look they just went through it with Chris Tanna they'd prefer to not wait if possible but you need teams to materialize with authentic true offers and a lot of teams are

pulling back because they're not ready yet One other Canucks one before we move on on on some other NHL news. Zibuyam, now I was watching your hit with Bucci on Victory Plus this morning prior to the show starting. And I noticed that both of you brought this up that he was made a healthy scratch at previous night. He was back in last night. I think he played 22 minutes last night. And so there's a rotating door of young defensemen in Vancouver that are getting parked as healthy scratches.

But I did notice that both you and Bucci mentioned it. did it raise eyebrows when you saw that Boolean was a healthy scratch, a grand total of 13 games into his NHL, or sorry, his Vancouver Canucks career? It did for me because I just look at him in a little bit of a different light since the trade and maybe in a different light than the other players that are going through that revolving door. I mean, this guy is expected to be, you know,

really the next blue chip player on your blue line, the next rising star. No one's saying that he's going to be Quinn Hughes. That's an incredibly tall task and shoes that are unenviable to try and fill. And so the pressure that's associated with that, I'm sure, isn't easy. And have there been mistakes? Have there been turnovers? Have there been glaring errors?

Of course. But my point would be in your market where everything is under a magnifying glass, give this kid a chance to get comfortable in play. He's barely been there over a calendar month. Just play through it. This team isn't going anywhere this season. They're not making the playoffs. And I understand the idea of setting a standard and trying to reinforce that

and accountability. I just think what it does is instead of allowing a player to play free, it ratchets up the pressure on them that much more to try and play perfect hockey when that's not what's needed. He's the type of player with his gifts that I just think needs to be celebrated for what he can do as opposed to really harping on the things that he can't. And again, not to say that he can't be better or can't be cleaned up, but I just thought it was a little quick to go to the healthy scratch.

Brandeim Janda here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. What up, Brandeep? Good morning, guys. How's it going? We're well. Eighth consecutive loss for the... Vancouver Canucks last night in Ottawa. Fellow 650 co-worker here, Joey Kenwood just texted me that we are now just two losses away from the Canucks tying

the longest losing streak in franchise history. Ten. They did it twice in one season. That must have been a fun year. What's it been like over the last little bit? I know that you've got to try and find some positives and you've got to try and treat every game as if it's its own thing. But mired in an eight-game losing streak,

There must be some commonalities going on here as the Canucks wrap up their trip on Thursday in Columbus. Yeah, it's obviously, you know, a challenging stretch for the team here when you lose eight in a row. I know we talked about this, what, last week about what kind of road trip this would be? Would it be positive? Where could they pick up the victories? But it kind of happens this way, guys, where, you know, you're in a certain way. You don't have confidence as a team, and it turns to spirals and it turns into a, you know, just a, kind of a ball of negativity in a lot of ways, right?

Where you can't, it feels like at certain points, this team just can't stop that, that sequence where one goal turns into two real quick. And the last two games, that's what we've seen, right? There was the multiple goals allowed in quick succession. They gave up two goals in 38 seconds against Montreal. They gave up two goals in 15 seconds against Ottawa in the same style of play. And that's what happens when you're a confident team when, you know, you feel like, unfortunately, when you're on the ice,

if something can get a wrong, it probably will. And unfortunately for Vancouver, we know that there was originally a skill deficit through the middle of the ice. There was a lot of questions at the center position. And now it just feels like after the Quincew's trade, that initial bump of four or five games, you've got a team that's just lacking confidence.

And it's more than that as well. I think there's a real lack of structure over the last little bit as well. The stats bear that out as well. So, you know, both of those things go together. Nope. You start to lose shape. We lost you for a bit there, but we got you back, Randy.

Okay. Yeah, it seems to me that a lot of goals that the Canucks have surrendered this year, and maybe this is just hockey, but the Canucks start running around, trying to do everyone else's job. And then the one who scores is, you know, the last guy who was kind of, like, abandoned by whoever was supposed to be checking him. And, you know, the first goal, Ottawa scored last night, certainly looked like that.

And I know both those goals looked the same, but I think Adam Foote especially took issue with the first goal. And that did have Brock Besser on the ice kind of running around out there. And I do have to wonder when, and I know Alford is especially wondering about this, when it might be time to put Brock Besser in. in the press box and whether you think that would be different than putting Jake Debrusk in the press box? It certainly would be different because Brock is seen as a leader on this team, whether,

you know, people feel that. I think Adam Foote certainly feels that. I think there's people in the room that feel that, you know, Adam Foote has mentioned that he's seen certainly a change in Brock this season compared to last season taking more of a leadership role, but the stats are the stats guys. zero goals in 21 games, a minus 20 during that stretch for a guy that's noted to shoot and score goals. He's got 37 shots on goals in 21 games when, you know, it's one thing not to get the offensive production, but, you know, the mistake on the one-nothing goal.

And yeah, a couple of things happened on that play. But Zub is his guy, right? For, you know, other mistakes that happened, and we were talking about Evander Kane's mistakes last week, you know, if it's a mistake, it's a mistake if you miss your assignment. And, you know, that happens after a Montreal game where he took a penalty, where he wasn't skating, and that ends up being Noah Dobbson's power play goal. So there are, you know, moments not only are you not scoring, but are you making that potential defensive mistake, or are you taking that penalty at a costly time?

And I think with Brock, he is getting more looks now, which, you know, one shot on goal, nobody's going to be, you know, applauding that in the last game against Ottawa. but there's a couple other half chances where, you know, he fanned on a shot in tight as he got body position on Ridley Greg. But those are things where right now you need that production. You need him to, if there is a negative play that's going on in defensive side, you need that canceled out or you need some progress on the offensive side. So I still think personally, I think it's still maybe not immediately a scratch is coming.

I don't think so. I think his situation is different from Jake DeBras. But, no, he's very much in that conversation. When you have those types of numbers and you're making mistakes on the defensive side, I think it's worthy of a conversation, but I don't think he's there yet. I think he's got a longer leash than some of the other players. How do you bring along these young defensemen and allow them to make young defensemen mistakes while also not ruining their confidence and ruining their willingness to take the odd risk,

which you need to do in the game of hockey. Yeah, I think with the Canucks approach of giving these players resets, like there's an, it's not a punishment to take them out of the lineup. And I know a lot of fans and I know a lot of folks that cover the game may see it that way, but understanding that if William is going to be out of the game, you know, out of the lineup for one game, it's not like he's being put back in and playing 12 minutes. No, he got nearly 22 minutes last night. guys. So, you know, I think there's

an understanding of, if you're a young defenseman, given the way that this team is currently made up with veteran players back there, that you're going to get your reps, you're going to get your minutes. Even a player like Tom Villander, who is playing 18, 19 minutes, you're going to be doing some heavy lifting. And this heavy

lifting is something that you've never done before, right? Veyloners played, what, 35 games, which is more than he's ever played. Zeev William is playing heavy minutes in the NHL and the occasional reset, and maybe the reset coming often in the second half of the season is okay because, you know, as long as it's teaching moments,

you know, when you get older, I think you're a veteran player, sometimes those scratches, and if we're talking to Jake Debrusker or Brock Besser, you know, that might be coming from a position of, hey, you're not good enough. This is a punishment. I think managing these young defensemen is it's more of a, we understand you haven't played very often. We understand we're throwing in the deep end. and some of those things are going to be fine

and some games like the Toronto game for Booiam they're going to be challenges but we need to make sure that you learn from it so I don't really necessarily have a problem with the way that Vancouver is dealing with the young defensemen right now I think that you need to give them reps you need to give them a decent amount of minutes but also understanding that there's a lot of teaching going on and we saw that in that Toronto game whether it was

Elias Pedersen you know talking to Kevin Dean whether it was Tom Veylon or talking to Kevin Dean And so, you know, that is the approach that needs to be taken here because, you know, these guys, it is a long game here, right? And sometimes the NHL as a 20, 21-year-old can be overwhelming. You need that reset. And I think it makes everyone wonder, okay, what are expectations for next season? Because we've heard from management and they say this is the year to play the young guys to get some draft picks. but the obvious follow-up

that I still haven't heard answered is well what about next season you know we've spoken with SAT on this show before and he suggested like I think they're going to you know they don't want to they don't want to have a repeat of this season but it just makes me wonder about

a bunch of things and that includes if Adam Foote is no longer the head coach what kind of coach are you going to hire are you going to hire a guy that's known as a teacher for the young players or are you going to hire a coach who is trying to win? Any thoughts on that? Yeah, that's a huge question for this organization because you will have a significant

number of younger players, whether the team wants to call it a retool or rebuild, whatever. The fact is you're going to have, you know, what, three defensemen at least under the age of, what, 21, 22 next year, you're going to have other inexperienced defensemen fighting for jobs. You look at the forward group. You're going to add some youth there, Braden Coots, and others working their way up the lineup. So I think there has to be a teaching element here. Now, part of this is also who's off the roster, Jason, right?

We often think about, you know, what will this roster look like? And it does come down to, I know there's been a lot of conversation in the market. There's been interviews done. but, you know, actions speak louder than words. So over the next little bit here in the lead-up to the deadline, and heading into the off-season and working through the off-season, what kind of team do you want? Yes, you want veterans a part of the group next year,

but, you know, are they going to be the drivers of the team? Are they more there to insulate? So I think based on the makeup of the team, how many veterans do you keep? Do you move off of players of the term? you're going to have to make an organizational, I think, decision based on that direction. I think teaching is going to have to be a part of it,

regardless of who the coaches, because you're going to have an influx of younger players, whether that's through the draft, whether that's graduating through the Abbotsford program, or just looking at what this team currently has. So it is interesting. Like, we'll see what happens with the future of Adam. But we'll see what happens with, you know,

overall, you know, what does this season mean in terms of the makeup of the roster and and the coaching staff for that matter? But I think there's got to be a teaching element here because, A, you need to get these guys up to speed and you need to teach them at their speed, which, in my opinion, will still take some time. We're seeing, you know, the growing pains from William, Elias Pedersen, Tom Veylander, all these guys are figuring out how to play the NHL game and it's not an easy game to play and Victor Mancini for that matter too a little bit older but there's got to be that teaching

element because some of these guys are not ready that doesn't mean they won't be ready but you're going to have to teach them how to get ready isn't manny mahalcher just the obvious candidate if they are going to move on from adam foot i think manny is obviously the guy you look at internally you know calder cup champion i'm sure there's interest around the league as well he's a hot commodity in the NHL ranks. So I think Manny, if you decide to make that move, Mani's got to be at the top of your list, right? This is a player, excuse me, a former player,

but a current coach that work with a lot of these guys in Abbotsford. And having talked to a number of them, you know, over the last year. And you're in a big, even when he got that job, they're, you know, they like the way he communicates. They like the way that he's able to communicate what he needs from the player. So having that connective tissue for some of these young guys, particularly that may have worked with them in the Abbotsford system, I think you would have to be at the top of the list.

Part of this is also going back to direction, right? Your list of coaches, if you are looking for one, is going to change based on what your direction is. If you want to be a team that tries to get back into the playoffs and you're really aggressive in making deals and restocking the cupboards, so to speak, you might have a different coach in mind, but if you're taking a slightly more,

I think long-term approach or a mid-term approach to say we need to build out an organization with younger players and you've got to teach it. I think many certainly would be at the top of the list. We're speaking to Randib Janda Kinnock's caller analyst here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Randy, what have you thought of Alias Pedersen's game over the course of this road trip specifically? Yeah, I think with Elias, obviously we're seeing the production from him, you know, scoring what, five goals in the last nine games. I thought there have been some good moments from him. And yesterday's game is a classic example. It's not a great game for the Vancouver Canucks,

but when he's on the ice, the staff bear that his line was doing a pretty good job. They were the ones that are generating. I like the fact that in the third period, you know, when this team, let's be honest, it was the opposite of the Montreal game, where the first 40 minutes of the Montreal game, it was a high event and they were creating, even though Montreal had most of the possession and most of the chances, at least it was, you know, three goals heading into the third period.

It was the opposite in the Ottawa game. They were flat for 40 minutes and it was pretty one-sided when it came to territorial, you know, the possession and the territorial game. Elias Pedersen's line kind of woke them up in the third period with that early shift. He brings the four check, DeBrusco goes on on the F2, and eventually they work as a pretty good three-man unit to score that goal for Pedersen. And so I think there has been positive in his game. I think there's been some moments where he's trying to get his team back into it.

He's trying to force things. Unfortunately right now, the Canucks just can't generate much, right? We're talking about what, 11 games of three goals are less. That's 11 straight games, excuse me. So, you know, that is, that's a challenge for him. I think he's doing his best. Is he a game breaker right now? I think we all know the answer.

No, he's not. But there has been progress. I will say one thing, guys. whether you're Elias Pedersen, whether you're, you know, it's difficult for any team, especially that can't score right now. Once you are outscored 10-1 in the first period on this road trip, for a team that's offensively challenged, it's difficult to get back in the game.

And for Vancouver, you know, Elias Pedersen is the closest thing that they have to a game breaker right now. That's a lot of pressure to get back in the game. And in third period, I thought he did his best. I thought he was certainly, you know, playing better. One of the better players for the Vancouver Canucks last night, but it just feels like they need more. And right now, I don't know if Alias or the team has that like horsepower right now to get those goals.

It strikes me that I know there wasn't a lot of special teams time last night, but Pedersen only played, he played less than 16 minutes. He played 1528. So he actually played less than David Kempf, who was on a line with Connor Garland and Brock Besser. And maybe the coaching staff thinks that Connor Garland is the guy that needs to play the most among the forward group. But 1528 does stand out to me in a game where the Canucks were trailing for most of it. And then especially in the third period, they made it close. Yeah, when you're chasing the game, not having Elias Pedersen on the ice as much is a little strange.

And you know, you talked about, you know, power play time, even strength time. Elias Pedersen was out there for 1407 and Neal's Hoaglander was out there for 1427. So Hoaglander got more ice time. David Camps got more ice time. We talked about that a bit on the post game show as well. And it's just it's a number that's a little weird because you are chasing the game. He's got the goal. I do wonder though

and you know he had that piece with Ian McIntyre on this road trip just understanding about you know that injury that he's dealt with there's going to be an element of that for the rest of the season I do wonder if you're trying to maybe manage the minutes a little bit is that something that's

potentially going on obviously coaches in today's day and age in the NHL probably won't disclose that very much but that number certainly stood out to me and you know he had three shots on goal he was you know looking dangerous as dangerous as a Vancouver Conucks player could look last night.

I don't think they tested Maryland really as much as they needed to when you've got, what, 20 shots on goal? But of the players that most likely to score guys, yeah, Leas Pedersen, that number of ice time for me, you know, 14-07 even strength. And just under 1530,

certainly raise my eyebrows after the game because I felt like he was out there a little bit more, but it certainly, you know, you look at the ice time, you're saying, okay, there's a couple of guys that are further down the lineup that played more than him as well. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.