Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 1/17/25

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

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

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da Consistency is something that we're chasing. Fiala with a toe drag, he scores! Seems like every time he's on the ice something bad happens. Pock deflects to the far post. Fogel scores at the far side. Demko was looking over the wrong shoulder, didn't realize where the puck was. Shhh. Uh, yeah I don't know. I'll probably play a little better. They were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend.

Woo! Good morning, Vancouver. 6 o'clock on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Alfred. It is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adon, good morning to you. Good morning. Well, well, well. Laddie's back in the house. Good morning to you, Laddie. Hello, hello.. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Well, well, well. Laddie's back in the house.

Good morning to you, Laddie. Hello, hello, I am back. Was it tough being under house arrest? I didn't have to deal with all the Canucks nonsense over the last week or so. So that was the one perk. Could we offer you some congratulations? Thank you.

Congratulations, Laddie. I'm not getting much sleep these days. Is it because of the house arrest? Yes. you still have that ankle brace that I noticed. You're beeping in the background. Just ignore it. You can just hacksaw those off. Halford and Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Well, they pay the highest

prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. So we had a show ahead today. We got a show I Won't classify it by size. It's neither big nor small. I don't know if it's gonna be happy or sad It's gonna be a show I can guarantee you that we're here for the next three hours I already know that there's a lot of you listening and a lot of you texting in it quite frankly ungodly hours And I had a guy get it, I understand it. These are tough times for the Vancouver Canucks

and tough times for their fans. We will do our best to both commiserate yet entertain over the next three hours. Our guest list today begins, well it's seven o'clock. AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway is gonna join us. If there was ever a reprieve from these dark and tough times, it's always our favorite pizza shop on East Broadway. AJ's gonna join us at seven o'clock.

Right after AJ, Jason Greger is gonna join us for Edmonton. What better way to soothe the jangled nerves of Canucks fans than by bringing on Jason Greger from Edmonton. To talk about how well the Oilers are doing. They got behind three nothing yesterday in their game. Had a far better outcome than the Vancouver Canucks though. Well helps that they're getting away

with headshot after headshot. Two headshots in a row from the Edmonton Oilers. Two headshots? We'll talk to Jason Greger at 7.05 this morning. The Canucks obviously host the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow night, Saturday night, in the culmination of hockey day in Canada. So all the eyes of the country will be on the Canucks

and the Oilers. Nothing will possibly go wrong. 7.30, Bob the country will be on the Canucks and the Oilers. Nothing will possibly go wrong. 730, Bob the Moj Marjanovic is going to join the program. It is the divisional round of the NFL playoffs this weekend. We'll talk to Moj about the four games on tap. Eight o'clock, Rick Dollywall is going to join the program. Noted Canucks insider, agent to the agents to the stars. Rick is going to join us at eight. Jason Bruff is the official Rick Dollywell handler

on the show. What are we going to talk to Rick about today? Last night's debacle. Last night's debacle, okay. You know what? We thought, hey, it's tough times for the listeners. Teams not playing very well. What if we had a Friday show filled

with contests and giveaways? So we're giving away a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway today. That's gonna go to the best Ask Us Anything or What We Learned. Dunbar Lumber Text Line 650, 650, text in. A lot of you already have. If you wanna win, hashtag it A-U-A or W-W-L,

whichever one you choose, put a pizza emoji into the text, you'll be entered into the grand prize contest for a $100 gift card to AJ's pizza on East Broadway. We're also giving away final day this week, a $50 gift card and a pair of tickets to the big football party hosted by Sportsnet 650 at the Clayton Public House on Sunday, February the 9th. That one's going to be a call-in. You're going to call at 815 this morning caller number three

604 280 0 650 that number again 604 280 0 650 caller number three will win a pair of tickets now. Let's be clear about this Not to the Super Bowl To the Super Bowl party still had one guy yesterday Super Bowl tickets No, what a diss what you should tell him yes No, I didn't tell him that's only one responsible for this only one the Super Bowl is being held here at a pub in Surrey And you get to go they got some temporary stands put up just sit the back somewhere There's no assigned seating at this Super Bowl

Anyway, we got a big show ahead guest list real quick working in reverse 8 o'clock Dolly wall 730 Marjanovic 705 Gregor 7 AJ. That's what's happening on the program today laddie. Let's tell everybody what happened because our movement. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed that? You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety

simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Alex Turcotte scored twice and added an assist, all of it early in the game as the Los Angeles Kings thumped the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Thursday night at Rogers Arena. Quinn Hughes scored the lone goal for the Vancouver Canucks, but that was it as far as good news went for the Canucks. Darcy Kemper 20 saves, Thatcher Demko 16. Canucks lose 5-1 after losing 6-1 to end their five game road trip

in Winnipeg. What a disaster it was last night. That's the kind of game where you wonder when the other shoe will drop. Will it drop this morning? Will it drop soon? Someone's waiting for a shoe to drop. Maybe the Canucks are waiting for a shoe to drop.

It was a horrific performance and you wonder after watching it, if the Canucks are broken beyond repair, this group at least. It started off with a JT Miller giveaway in the first minute of the game, soft pass back to the point that didn't get to Hronik. Hronik probably should have recognized and started skidding backwards, but he went for it and the Kings poked it past him. And they went off on a two on one and they score.

So that's one strike against JT Miller. The second strike came about eight minutes later when Miller got beaten way too easily by Kevin Fiala and then didn't do much to make up for it. Fiala shot it, Miller turned away from it, and the Kings scored on the rebound. Now Miller didn't have anything to do with the Kings third goal. That was Pedersen's turn to look bad. He got beat through the neutral zone and the Kings scored on a 3 on 2. The first period ended with the Canucks down 3-0 and the vibe was spicy at Rogers Arena.

But Quinn Hughes is still on the Canucks and you can always count on Quinn Hughes who did his thing at the blue line where he skates around and creates a shooting lane and scored with a long shot. So the Canucks had life. Ah, but then came strike three for JT Miller who flung it away and the Kings in then decided to dive in as Rick Tauke likes to say and help the Kings create another odd man rush. Fiala kept it on the two on one and beat Demko

and it was four to one Kings. At that point, JT Miller was told to take a seat at the end of the bench. He still played a few shifts the rest of the game and it was four to one Kings. At that point, JT Miller was told to take a seat at the end of the bench. He still played a few shifts the rest of the game, but didn't get any better for him or the Canucks, who allowed a sloppy fifth goal and lost five to one. Not great, not great, Bob.

Did I, did I, oh, there was some two terrible power plays earlier in the game. If I, that's, that's what I missed. Did I miss anything else? Yeah, they did exact a very slight measure of revenge on Tanner Janot. No, they did not. If you can call it that. No, they did not.

That was the, that was another disappointing part of the night. Neyherney did what he had to do. Neyherney stepped up and I don't know, hung on to Geno's jersey the whole time. And then eventually I guess- You made a good business decision because I think he was going to get tuned up. Well, I guess he got the tackle.

He tackled him at the end. He did get the tackle. Yeah. Okay. Yep. That's, I mean, let's, do you want to play some audio and then we'll talk about JT Miller? Well, let's let Rick Tuckett talk about JT Miller first because he was asked about number nine's

performance in the aftermath of the 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night. And it was a pretty frank answer. Patrick Johnson, I believe, was the one that asked the question in the scrum and it was just straightforward. What does JT need to do to get things right or to get his game back on track Rick Tuckett didn't mince a lot of words here's Tuckett on JT Miller following a 5-1 loss

to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night at Roger Serena. Yeah he's struggling he's caught in between you know he's seems like every time he's on the ice something bad happens I think he's got some bad luck, but he's also got some reads that he's got a He's got a look at himself right now focus on some of these reads I mean you can't dive in on the forum for late things like that. I think I think he's trying Sometimes I think the focus level has to get a little higher It was kind of shocking to see how little effort he put into checking Fiala on the second goal and he is quite clearly not mentally in the games right now and it's tough to play

in a league like the NHL. It's so fast out there when you're not dialed in. I don't want to make any assumptions about why he's not mentally invested. I think we need to remember and try and be sensitive to the fact that he took a leave of absence earlier in the season. Still don't know much about that leave of absence, but it was taken and at the time it was reported

that he needed a mental reset. We need to remember that these guys are human. All that being said, this is not good for the Canucks and it's not good for JT Miller. You can't play hockey like the Canucks played last night. Miller was a distraction, not to mention a liability on the ice. It just, it just really sucks that it's all playing out like this. It was another night with no points for Elias Pedersen.

He was better than Miller Miller last night, but that really doesn't say much. Um, you know, I, I really, I really, I don't have the bandwidth to hear about any of the other issues with this team right now. They're meaningless until they figure out what's going on with their two top forwards. Now it might be a relationship with the coach.

Um, so I think coaching you can bring into this. This is one of the most bizarre developments in Canucks history, this whole thing. And it started honestly, back at the allStar break in February with Pedersen. And you'll remember how flummoxed I was, flummoxed with what's going on with Alias Pedersen and that continues. It's almost a year now. And, um, you know, again, this is one of the most

bizarre developments in Connect's history. And this is a team that's had some pretty bizarre episodes in Canucks history. And this is a team that's had some pretty bizarre episodes in its history. Like, you know, it's hilarious that there's just the what abouting, the what about this? What about that? I'm like, no, like you're two top forwards.

Guys, you've given really big contracts and financial commitments to in a hard cap league where those financial commitments don't go away easily look like shells of themselves. Like both of them. Both of them now. And like you've got your Miller, it seems to be in the fan base, like you've got your Miller camp and your Petey camp. So whenever Miller's criticized well what about Petterson

whenever petersons criticized what about Miller's like guys what about both of them what the hell is going on with this team yeah their productions I mean way way way way way too low and then there's one guy who's gonna be like like they can't move the puck right like but that't, that shouldn't be part of it. No, cause it's obviously way more than that. I mean, anyone that is trying to pin this on anything other than a fractured room and a disjointed team,

because of the distractions that are going on, is being disingenuous. You can point to the defense right now, but last night, their defense was their defense. It had everybody there. Everyone that they had, you know, when they were ready to roll this season, this is it. I think there's a lot of people right now. I saw this sentiment popping up a lot among the fan base yesterday. And look, trying to gauge the fan base's reactions right now is very difficult because people are on tilt and they're emotional and they're firing stuff off

left and right. But, part of our gig is pay attention to the people that are listening to the show and consuming your content. There's a lot of people out there right now with the sentiment that you can blame roster construction and injuries and everything else as much as you want. But this is 100% on the organization collectively for letting things spiral out of control,

not nipping some of this stuff in the butt. And I went back and I remember, and I know that we've gone back historically and looked at moments in certain Canucks teams and other teams' history where things were spiraling out of control and management stepped in and made a big move. So this is one outside of the Canucks realm, but the Red Sox team that famously came back against the Yankees and broke the curse of the Bambino, won the World Series in

04. One of the most famous teams of all time. In that season, they were mired, mired under a cloud and the clouds name was Nomar Garcia Parra because they had pursued Alex Rodriguez in free agency to play shortstop and they thought they had him and then they didn't and Nomar's feelings were hurt and everyone in the room was like it's super awkward and uneasy because this guy's obviously not happy and it's weighing on us every day. Every day that we come in, there's this cloud hanging over us like, when is something going to happen?

When is something going to change? When is this distraction going to go away? Because until it doesn't go away, it means it's here. Then at the trade deadline, they send them to LA, they go to Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mankiewicz and they went and won the World Series. And it's funny, you listen to all those guys that were in that room and they said, it's nothing statistical or analytical. You could just feel that a cloud was lifted out of the room and we don't have to talk

about it anymore. And it was in the past and we could move forward. And I do wonder how close this management group is to making that move. Do you think there were still some fans that were like, I still believe in Noma. I'm sure, you know what? And the aftermath probably not.

But. Fire the manager. In the moment. And he went, and look, I know for those youths out there that don't remember this, cause it was 21 years ago. No, my was a big deal. He was the franchise. Yeah.

He was the guy. Although there were diminishing returns on him because he was getting a little bit older. It was a big, bold, profound move to shake a team out of a slump. And you reach your breaking point because at a certain time in the season, you know that it's gonna go one of two ways.

You're either going to get through this and come out the other side, or it's gonna sink you. Now, I'm not saying that that was last night. I'm not saying it could be on Saturday and regardless of whatever happens against the others. It might not come until the trade deadline. But if they wait that long, there's a very good chance

that this season has sunk. Cause you know what I had to do last night? I had to pay attention again to a St. Louis Calgary game. For out of town scoreboard watching. Watch out for the blues man, the blues are coming. The blues have the exact same amount of points as the Canucks right now. I'm like, this shouldn't be what I'm doing right now. This shouldn't same amount of points as the Canucks right now. I'm like, I don't, this shouldn't be what

I'm doing right now. This shouldn't be what the collective fan base is doing right now. It's trying to scratch and claw loser points to barely make the playoffs and probably be fodder for whatever first round opponent you get. This is supposed to be the step forward season. I actually thought last night, I tweeted it out.

Are we watching the last game of JT Miller's tenure as a Canuck? And listen, I don't know. You know, the thing, the thing with the NHL is it's so hard to, so hard to make trades. And I was also thinking last night, jeez, if any team that wants JT Miller is really interested in JT Miller, you hear about the

Rangers interest in JT Miller is really interested in JT Miller, you hear about the Rangers' interest in JT Miller, if they're watching that, are they like, actually, maybe not. I get what you're saying. The only reason I could see it happening is because the Rangers are in as equal a funk and they might need to just shake things up. But I was curious to hear, I think it was about a week ago, Elliott Freeman was saying that, you know, other teams are trying to do their due diligence and they're essentially trying to find out what the hell is going on with the Canucks. What is the story with Pedersen and Miller? And I think that's, that's like the frustrating thing as, as a fan of this

team, you know, I know there's a lot of people that out there that are super confident they know what's going on. No, you don't. Well, unless you're in the room, like you really don't know what's going on. I've been watching Pedersen for a year now. I don't know what happened to him. I don't know why JT Miller had to take a leave of absence and I can't explain his play

last night. I don't know what's going on, but I know it can't continue. That's pretty much the only thing I can tell you. Well, talk it. It can't continue. The more talk it rolls, um, JT Miller out for less than 10 minutes of ice time at five on five.

The more JT Miller is held to like 13 or 14 minutes a night, the more people are going to be asking questions in the aftermath, like what's going on here? Cause it's not like he's getting 20 plus to try and get his game back on track. And Tauke said himself, he's struggling. Now Tauke did say, he felt like he was, Miller was trying.

And I don't know if that's a coach trying to protect a guy or whether he genuinely believes it. And at this point, I don't think it matters. At this stage of the game, with how little he's given over the last little bit, that aforementioned Zabinajad for Miller swap, you might want to reconsider it just for the change of scenery aspect. I know everyone in the modern NHL is terrified of, uh, asset management

and asset return and whatever else. But you need to ask yourself at this point, like what is the asset? And that's why I asked Frank this week earlier. I said, Hey, look, Frank, based on what you've heard has the first 40 plus games of this season tarnished JT Miller as an asset league wide. And he pushed back, he said, no. Said, look at him making that four nations face-off roster over a lot of highly qualified guys

is the answer to your question. I was like, okay, I'll take that for what it's worth. If you're gonna make a move and I don't look, quite frankly, I don't know if Canucks brass, I hate putting it this way, but has the stones to do it because it's a huge move. It's a massive move and it is an acknowledgement that things have gotten so sour that you are putting the short term health of your franchise over maybe even like losing a trade full stop. Like we're gonna lose this trade, we're gonna get the inferior player, we're gonna get the inferior package, but we are in such a state that we have to

do this. Well, you say, do they have the stones to do it? Do they have the stones to continue on like this? You think it's gonna to get better Saturday against Edmonton? I mean, it might. It's actually hard to get worse than it was last night against the Kings. And we have seen this group every once in a while, pull themselves together and have a good effort.

Um, you know, recently the Washington Capitals game was a good effort. The Toronto Maple Leafs game was a good effort, but man, like it, it felt like, you know, the Winnipeg game was bad. And then you're waiting for the, for the bounce back, the one game bounce back. The connection I've had all season, the one game bounce back and then back to the old, and like it didn't come up, it didn't come last night and it didn't come, I would say in spectacular fashion. I just, I really want to reiterate though, how rare this is.

Like what we're seeing right now, we'll go down and you know, Canucks history is like a major chapter in the franchise. Like what happened to Pedersen and Miller. Sure. You follow the book. Like we're seeing this, you know, and I'm like, I want everyone to realize, because I still feel like some people are kind of like, you know, they're focused on other stuff.

But this is a mystery, what is happening right here. And I only hope that Canucks Management, the organization, the people in charge actually understand what's going on because that's the only way it gets fixed, right? Well, I think they're fully cognizant of what's going on. I don't think it's a matter of identifying if

there's a problem or not. I think the question is, and the reason I said stones was the easiest thing to do is nothing. The easiest thing to do is to let it play out and say, you know what, we're gonna get to the off season. Well, we're gonna figure it out then because it's easier to make a deal in the summer, in the off season.

The difficult thing is trying to do this right now. The easy thing is to say the season's sunk. We might scratch and claw our way in or we might just get in because the bottom half of the West is so bad. How bad is it for business though? If you're the owner and you look at the home record and some of the performances that the Canucks have given. If I had paid 200 bucks for my seat and maybe brought my family to last night's game. Barrett's just family. Student rush, $179.

I saw that. That's the text. It's like, you're not selling it very well, guys. Like it's not much of a deal at the moment. Yeah. I don't know if you're watching the team play. It's also like. $179. All right.. Like it's not much of a deal at the moment. I don't know if you're watching the team play. It's also like.

$179 a use. I guess I'll hit up my student loan again. You know, you're at that game. I was texting some friends of mine at the game and they brought their kids and the kids were fine. They were like, whatever, we'll go to popcorn. But they were like, what am I watching here? What am I watching?

You know, they were like, what am I watching here? What, what am I watching? Uh, you know, the Miller effort on the second goal was shocking to watch. He gets beaten so badly on a one-on-one by Kevin Fiala, and then he just kind of straight legged skates to the middle of the ice. And actually. The controller gets unplugged meme.

He literally just like stops moving. No, he didn't stop moving because he turned away from the shot. Oh yes, he did turn away. Turned away from the shot. And that, that, that was shocking. Um, we're at the end of the first segment. Um, we do have another open segment on the other

side, so we'll dare to dip into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 6.50. 6.50. I know a lot of you wanted to hear Mount Bruff this morning. I don't, I'm too confused. Too confused. Like there was a bit of Mount Bruff this morning,

you know, and I was like, what the hell is going on with this team? But I, last night was man, that was just, it was, this whole thing is just bizarre. What is happening with this team? You're listening to the best of Halford and Bruff. You're listening to the best of Halford and Bruff. Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall.

It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dolly wall. It's time for Rick Dolly wall. Rick Dolly wall. It's time for Rick Dolly wall. Rick Dolly wall. It's time for Rick Dolly wall. Rick Dolly wall. It's time for Dolly. Rick Dolly wall.

It's time for Rick Dolly wall. Rick Dolly wall. It's time for Dolly. Rick Dolly wall. It's time for Rick Dolly wall. Rick Dolly wall. In 04 time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. 804 on the nose. You're listening to the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650.

804. Dollywall's not going to like that. It's not going to like a one bit. I will now read the phone book. Starting from the A's. A. Aaron Aronson. I'd like to continue that chat we had about third and short in the CFL. We'll get Rick on in a bit.

We can ask him about leftovers. How long is too long? Just kidding, Rick. You are listening to Halford and Bref in the morning. Halford and Bref in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service or parts. We are in hour three of the program. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell and Pound, real estate appraisers. Trust the

expertise of Campbell and Pound. Join them or visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. Joining us now at 8.05 in the morning, which is the perfect time to join the Halford and Brough show. Rick Dollywall here on Sportsnet 650. What up Ricky D? Halford, you are a veteran. There are kids that look up to you and that you're driving the bus. It's Brough's 50% job. Hey, hey, get off the air. We got to get eight o'clock. Dolly Wall's coming up. This is, I got a meeting with Henderson and Taylor. Rick, enough time wasting. Come on.

You're wasting time here. I'm coming on at 8.05. Hopper's got to do a better job. Drive the bus better. Drive the bus. It's nearly 8.06 now. What happened last night, buddy? Well, first of all, you're coming off a 6-1

beating in Winnipeg and I really expected a great start to the game. You know, a fired Well, first of all, you're coming off a 6-1 beating in Winnipeg and I really expected a great start to the game. You know, a fired up bunch, home crowd, get the crowd into the game early. And so what happens? The Kings score 51 seconds into the game, but the frustrating part was they got two power

plays right after that. No shots on goal, three nothing LA midway through the first, three goals on four shots. It's just not the start anybody expected. They're not good enough to come back from three-nothing deficits. That's two games in a row, right? Cough up the first three goals. And for those people out there asking for a major shakeup, so tell me who wants Vancouver players right now? Pederson, three goals in his last 16 games. Two of those, by the way, were against San Jose at home, one of the worst teams in the league.

Debruska's got three in 16, Besser one in eight. Miller's got two goals in 18 games. Hoaglander's got three all, all season long. So you tell me right now what teams are knocking pound in the door to get Vancouver players. We've seen teams in the past take chances on guys, whether it's Jeff Carter back in the day, he was sulking in Columbus and he went to LA,

you know, Pierre-Luc Dubois has been traded twice. So there is a possibility. You name single guys. I'm talking about like this offense as just, you know, from last year, ninth overall in the NHL in offense, I think they're right now 19th or 20th. So what I'm trying to say as a group collectively, they got all their stars, all their, you know, difference-maker guys who are struggling. They don't have one, they have two underachieving top six enters. And

Jason, for the crowd that's asking for pocket to be fired so this core really needs a fourth coach in four years quinn-hughes called that pocket i i think was earlier this year in one of those uh... prime things uh... the best coaches ever had this guy's contracts up in two years if this doesn't get better uh... that that could be gone and i and another one for you guys this regime complained about bruce boudreau's structure,

did they not? They then had to talk at a horrible blue line and the structure issues are right back there. Look at the Kempe goal last night. I think I went back five times to see him untouched in the Vancouver zone in the middle of the ice. How many times have you heard talk of say, protect the guts of the ice that the ice in front of your goaltender should be the toughest place for opposing players. Not a single soul touch campaign right down the middle of the ice as he entered the Vancouver zone. Nobody, no nobody. I had to go back five

times to see if that was true. It was. Wave after wave of adversity this year this club looks like it's just beaten up emotionally. It just looks like that. And Tuckett saying last night, he's looking for guys with character and leadership to step up. That was game 43. No coach should be saying that after game 43. And they miss guys like Chris Tann of Luke Shen and Ian Cole. Remember last year Miller said that when Ian Cole talks we listen they don't have that type of veteran in the dressing room anymore they just don't so they wake up this morning again out of the playoffs they've lost six of their last seven

they have a whopping seven wins at home in 22 home games. Now they got to face a team, the orders who were down three, nothing in Colorado last night came back to win. There's six and one in their past seven. And by the way, five of those six wins on the road. I, and Donnie tweeted this morning. And how good was this team last year and how bad is it this year? That's the thing that nobody can figure out is how do you flip flop from good to bad? It's that bad. It is just amazing to see.

Yeah. And I don't think it's just like PDO or that high shooting. Ah, the PDO crowd. Oh. Well, there's something to it, but like, I don't think it's all that. There's the, you know, there's something to be said for the spirit of the team. And right now, how many times have we heard JT Miller being called the emotional leader of the

team? What did you see from him yesterday at the morning skate and then last night in the game? Well, very telling. Like when I saw the video, okay, so that was a quick media session with Miller after the game day skate yesterday. He almost left the interview after three questions. I still don't think he's a hundred percent healthy.

I don't think he's checked out and I don't think he's quit on this team. But watching that interview, it seemed to me he would rather be in a million other places than that interview. When you hate doing media in a Canadian market like that and make it visibly obvious like he did, it usually means you are at the end in terms of

patience with the market. I would shut Miller down from media till the after the trade deadline. I mean he clearly did not want to do that interview. Clearly he doesn't look happy. This year obviously has been a drain on him. The club sees it. They realize change is needed with Miller. That's why his name is out there. They probably now need to move Miller quicker than originally thought.

Just changing the dynamic and feel of that dressing room would be a whole lot better. I checked in last night and was told that Miller has not been asked to wave his no trade clause yet. That would tell me that there is nothing close asked to waive his no trade clause yet. There, there, there is that would, that would tell me that there is nothing close on the Miller

trade front, but people around the league still feel Miller's the one, not Pedersen that is most likely to get moved out of Vancouver. Rick, I have a question for you. Yep. You know, you talked about Miller, um, looking like he's done with the market. Yeah. Let's take the media and the fans out of it. Yep.

What do you think his relationship is with management right now? What do you think his relationship with the coaches right now? Because, you know, the media and the fans are always going to be there. Yeah. Um, but you don't often see management let the players

take as much criticism and in fact, whipping up some criticism of the players so publicly. Yeah. Maybe it's just like, I get the motivational ploy. Maybe they're the management was at the end of the ropes with these guys, especially Pedersen. And they were like, okay, well, let's, let's throw it out there that we're not very happy

with them and see how they respond. The risk is that they respond like they've responded. Yeah. Nobody likes, uh, being publicly humiliated, um, especially in the Canadian market. And I'll, and I'll tell you something right now. There are still people in the league that are baffled that the GM of this club would blast Pettersson in an article threaten to trade him three

months into an eight-year deal they did that to get him going and scare him didn't work. Pettersson hasn't played better since the article minus the 91 the Selke in Toronto that article that article backfired on them. And how these players react to public criticism, that's up to them. Talked at saying Miller's not hurt, while Miller in Washington took the hit and then went to the bench and you clearly saw something wrong with his neck. It looked like in Winnipeg at the beginning of the third period, he was talking to the trainer for a lengthy time.

So the team is saying he's not hurt, others are saying he's not 100%. It's Jason, it's about the individual player and how he handles criticism. And Pedersen, you know what, wasn't asked about the article. He basically said, yeah, okay, I got criticized. I got to be better. He owned up to it. And Miller said yesterday as well, I got to be better. He owned up to it. And, uh, and, and Miller said yesterday as well. I got to be better as well.

Maybe that's why my ice time is down. Now I want to say this despite his off year and leaf of absence, there's no shortage teams that like Miller and what he brings to the table as a player. You would be surprised how many management teams around the NHL still love Miller. Teams looking for a player that can add size, skill and toughness to their lineup. Despite his struggles teams love the profile of that type of player that Miller is. Some teams maybe could use him on the wing maybe not a centre. You can like a player all you want but making a deal is another story. I still don't believe the Rangers are out on

Miller and with the word that the Devils like Miller, that's the last place the Rangers want him ending up, is New Jersey. There's also teams out there that are calling that we don't know about. But more and more people you talk with will not be surprised if the Canucks move Miller. But the Canucks are trying to trade two top six centers

who have combined for five goals in their last 35 games. They both underachieved this season and that doesn't help, you would think, with the return. I wanna get one more thing in here on Miller. Miller's play, I see people saying, Miller's play is gonna affect his spot on the Four Nations team. That's not true.

I talked to a source this morning with the USA team. They love this player. Okay, he'll be a big part of the US team and they just want him to play his game. And he was an early pick by the way, by the Americans. He didn't have to prove anything. He was on that team for the US very, very early. Despite his struggles in Vancouver, that's not gonna affect his spot. As of today, when I talk to a source,

that's not gonna affect his situation with the Four Nations. And I wanna say one more thing. There were people in the organization that wanted Orvat signed over Miller, but the decision was made to sign Miller. If you signed Bull at the time, the dressing room issues would have been eliminated.

Pederson isn't playing well either, but the team had the chance to have Orvat and Pederson as the top two six-centers and that was on the verge of having none of them. Um, let's talk a little bit about Brock Besser because, um, you know, well, it's kind of getting, uh, knocked down the depth chart in terms of problems, but you know problems, but the trade deadline

isn't that far away. They got to make a decision on this guy. And right now, I would kind of chuckle if they came out with a big contract extension for Brock Besser in the next few days, because people are like, what are you doing? You're locking into this core even further. What do you think is going to happen here?

Yeah, Noah, you make some really good valid points. By the way, Brock sees a little 13 minutes last night, minus three, no shots on goal. He didn't have a good game last night. But look, I checked in on Besser last night and was told it's still quiet on the Besser contract front. So we're six weeks away from the trade deadline, still no deal.

They're obviously busy taking calls on Miller and Pedersen right now, but you would have to figure the Canucks have, they got to have some internal deadline as to when to get the deal done or do they move him. You know teams are probably calling Vancouver and probably saying, hey, what are you going to do with Besser? But in eight years, this guy, I think on the weekend became the Canucks 10th all-time goal scorer 194 goals he's averaging 24 a season it's pretty good for a guy who gets criticized in this market for his skating Besser is going to turn 28 next month a little surprise we're still here of course everything can change with one phone call if they

really believed in him Jason you would you would think they would assign them by now they believe the Miller they gave him seven years they believe in Patterson they gave me years if Miller can fetch you a center maybe Besser can get your defensemen if they move them but it's just like when I checked in last night it's just very quiet on Besser which you know what, goal scoring wingers, and he'll do fine by the way on July 1st. Like Brock Besser, if he hits July 1st, 40 goals last year, he's on pace I think for high 20s right now, he'll do fine.

Goal scoring wingers always get paid on July 1st because some team is always going to over pay. get paid on July 1st because some team is always going to overpay. Some teams always going to give term and some teams always, you know, like Brian Burke says, July 1st, there's a lot of teams that act like drunken soldiers or sailors. And you know that some teams going to always overpay on July 1st. He'll be fine.

He'll be fine if he goes to July 1st. Do they have to do something soon though, Rick? I know you kind of mentioned this earlier. Well, we're six weeks. Well, no, I'm not even talking about the trade deadline. I'm not talking about Besser. I'm not talking about Besser.

I'm talking about like earlier in the show, I was saying like Saturday against Edmonton, you can't roll JT Miller out there if he's going to play like he did last night. You can't do it. Yeah. It was a distraction and he was a liability on the ice.

I can't stop watching the second goal where he got beaten so easily by Fiala and a one on one at the point and then did nothing about it. In fact, he turned away from Fiala's shot. I was shocked at it. I was, I was, I'm watching it. The first goal was a soft pass up the wall. That was, it was a bad pass. You know, it put Hronik in a tough spot, but that happens.

The second goal is where I'm watching it. I'm like, what is happening here? Yeah. He's not only struggling offensively, struggling defensively. And in Vancouver right now, every mistake that Miller makes is magnified. It's like, I would look, just like, I would struggling defensively and in Vancouver right now every mistake that Miller

makes is magnified. It's like I would look Jim Rutherford is he doesn't have a lot of patience on good days. I don't even want to know where his mindset is right now but if there is one silver lining for the Canucks right now it is that Rutherford is there and you have a guy that's won three Stanley Cups. And I, hey, look, and I know your guy's text line is the same as ours. You know, people, you know, fire Rutherford, fire Alveen, fire Tuckett, get rid of Pedersen,

get rid of Miller. Look, and you know, I get it. I mean, a lot of people are frustrated. A lot of people are mad, especially coming off last year. You thought, boy, oh oh boy the future looks bright and you know this core did you know this core almost made it to the western conference final last year in your expecting the same this year and it's just

there's just been too many tire fires this year there's just been too much uh... adversity waves of it they've been in the news for the wrong reasons too many times this year they've been the top story in the n.h.l. for the wrong reasons too many times this year They've been the top story in the NHL for the wrong reasons too many times this year but I Do like the fact that you do have a veteran guy like Rutherford there who will figure it out like he's not Like one of the reasons they can't make a trade right now Watch him make a big one today. One of the reasons is there's too many teams,

Jason, in the playoff hunt. Yeah. Look at the Eastern Conference wild card. Do you want the Columbus Blue Jackets to give up on Provov right now? What did they win their sixth in a role last night? Like if Provov's the top defenseman for UFAs and could be a top defenseman at the trade

lead, why would you trade Provov if you're Columbus, you've won six in a row, you're in the defensemen for UFAs and could be a top defenseman at the trade line. Why would you trade ProVroP if you're Columbus? You've won six in a row, you're in the playoffs now, you're just just, and there's too many teams not in the West, but in the East, there's too many teams that are in that wild card second race that don't want to make a trade right now and they might want to add instead of delete. And the other thing is, last year Rutherford gave up his first round pick cause he thought the Canucks were going to win the Stanley Cup.

You can't tell me today that they got a shot at the cup at the way they're playing. So the first, you can't move the first. Why would you move the first when you're basically the only way I see this club making the playoffs is that second wild card and you know, that's going to be tough in the first round for them. But if you're asking why they haven't made a shakeup, a lot of their players are struggling. You don't want to give up a first round pick.

You don't want to give up Will Landry. You don't want to give up LaKara Mackie. That's the three pieces that teams want for, if you want a top four defenseman. They are in quite a pickle, aren't they Rick? They are in a pickle and I'm a little bit surprised we are where we are. I'm very surprised.

I didn't see this. I don't think, you know what? You know what's funny? Last year no one saw them, the great year and no one this year saw this. I don't think anybody could say they would have regressed as badly as they have and yet they're only one point out of the second wild card. They're lucky that Calgary lost back to back to St. Louis.

The Blues are now tied with Vancouver, but it's just, this one's a hard one to figure out. Yeah. I think some people might've seen some regression, but not. Not this. Not this. But.

Not this. That's not also, you have to say this, it's not the same team that played Edmonton game seven. They added, you know, six, seven new players and when you do that you know it's not the team but the core is the same. I think the management must be wondering why isn't the core as good as they were last year and that's one of the problems is Pettersson and Miller are on pace for 58 points and their combined salary cap hit is 20 million and they're on pace for 58 points. That's not good enough.

It all starts there. It all starts there. That's not good enough for you two top six centers who by the way, are available in trade in the National Hockey League. All right buddy, enjoy the weekend and I'm sure you're going to have an interesting show today and we'll see what happens Saturday.

And I'll see you guys next week at 8.04. 8.04 Rick, I can make it happen. 8.04, yeah. I can make it happen for sure. Alfred, Alfred, I had a bus driver in the 80s going to school, 8 o'clock. There wasn't snow, it wasn't rain, but that bus driver made it 8 o'clock. We went to the bus stop at 7.55 knowing he was gonna be there at eight.

That guy never ever showed up at 8.01, 8.02, 8.03, or 8.04. Hoffman, you gotta be better. I promise Rick, it'll never happen again. See ya buddy. Okay. Bye. Did that bus driver have two reads going to break before the last segment?

You know. I don't think so. Did that bus driver have to tell everybody about new Food Network programming, Channel 410 on Rogers Xfinity TV? The bus driver showed up at eight o'clock every day and was like, oh god, here comes that loud kid. Little Ricky coming on again.

Hey, you're a minute late! All right, we got one final segment to go on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. JT Miller did conduct a scrum prior to the Canucks 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. And it didn't make the Canucks social media channels for one reason or another, but this is how it went. You can decide and infer and read into whatever you want.

We're just gonna play the audio as it sounded. It's a multiple series of back and forth question and answer. There's a couple from Farhan in there. You'll probably recognize the voice. Here is JT Miller's media availability prior to a five one loss to the Los Angeles Kings last night at Roger's Arena. JT, your ice time on the trip as it progressed

decreased a little bit. In your mind what do you think has led to that? Yeah, I don't know. I could probably play a little better. I don't know what you want me to say. Over your time here there's been a lot of success on the ice. You've been praised, at, you've been criticized, but you've always kind of been the emotional heartbeat of this team.

That emotional side we've seen less of just from the outside. Do you see it that way? Like, do you feel that part might be a little bit missing or how do you see where you're at? I don't know. I don't know. It's probably for you guys to interpret, right? I don't know. Not really conscious of it. J interpret, right? I'm not really conscious of it. What's the key to creating those opportunities against them? You have to be willing to play an ugly game. Get inside, get cross-checked, be physical,

stuff like that. If you're committed there, you have success. There's been a bit of time, I think before the third period of the last game, talking to the trainer. There's been some suggestion that maybe you're dealing with an injury. I know you're not gonna get into specifics, but how healthy are you? You just answer your question Okay You can say that he sounded standoffish and pissy and not interested and You know disenchanted with the whole thing that's fine. You could also say he doesn't owe the media anything and he

doesn't have to answer he's tired of answering the same questions and he just wants to play hockey. Whatever side of the ledge you're on that's fine let the audio speak for itself. Accountability when you're in these positions comes in a variety of ways right. Accountability looks like five or six different things and it can be five or six different ways you can show it or you can actually just physically do it without showing it. If you want to blow off all of the public facing stuff, talking to the media, answering reporters pre and post game, stepping up and taking personal responsibility for a loss. If you wanna push all that to the side, that's fine.

The usual course of action is, I let my play speak for itself. You hear that a lot, right? He leads by example. He's not a talker. He doesn't have to go out there and say what he's gonna do. He's just gonna go out there and do what he's gonna do. When you don't do either one,

you don't answer for anything publicly, and you don't take the accountability publicly, and then you play on the ice fall short, then I think it's fair game where people start asking questions like, what's going on here? Right? Where's the leadership part of this? Because you're not leading by example, you're not pulling the team out of a funk on the ice, and then when you're asked questions about it, which I think is justifiable, you're punting on those too. And then if that's the dynamic in the room, and that's the dynamic with the guys on the ice and the players, I think it's very difficult for the room to correct and police itself.

I don't think you can have JT Miller dressed for games if he's gonna perform like he did yesterday. Well, I mean, look. Like you can't. I mean, he got demoted to the end of the bench and then took a few, and I'm assuming those cursory shifts in the third period were just so they didn't sit there the whole time.

If I'm the head coach, I'm like, the game's over. It doesn't matter anyway. Let's give them a couple spins and a couple twirls so it doesn't look like I've bolted them to the pie in the end time. Because then there's more questions to answer. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.