Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 11/8/24

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they do some Ask Us Anythings with radio commentator Bob "The Moj" Marjanovich, they talk an impressive Canucks road win over the Kings with Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal, plus the boys tell us what they learned. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Whoa, wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose the f***ing Canucks? You're listening to Halford & Brough. Halford & Brough. L.A. number 10 has been assessed a match probably for a legal check to the head. He tripped my boy! I demand vengeance! I want vengeance!

Good morning Vancouver, 6-0-1 on a Friday, sweet, sweet Friday. Happy Friday everybody, this is Alfred, it is Brought to you by Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Morning. Adog, good morning to you. Morning. Arash, good morning to you. Morning.

In for the ailing laddie on a Friday. Oh, poor laddie. Feel better, buddy. I'm excited to have Arash here, though. I've already forgotten about laddie. Alfred and Brother 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 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you

live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Raffi, what are you waiting for? Kintec, I's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sorfie, what are you waiting for? Kintec. I got a lot to get into on the show today. Guest list begins at 6.30.

Brady Henderson, our NFL Seahawks insider from ESPN, is going to join us. Now, you might be thinking, why are you talking to him? The Seahawks don't play this weekend.

Well, one, it's a regularly scheduled hit. Two, it is sort of the midway point. It's actually the very much the Seahawks don't play this weekend well one it's a regularly scheduled hit two it is sort of the midway point it's actually the very much definitive midway point for the Seahawks nine games into the season and a bye week so we can look back on this first half of the season where they started great three and oh to start the season and then they went and lost five of their next six yeah I want to talk about a couple of things specifically with Brady. That's the future of Geno Smith as quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks.

And will we see Sam Howell this season at all? And also DK Metcalf because they didn't trade him. Now what are they prepared to pay him? 7 o'clock, AJ from AJ's Pizza is going to join us. 705 Jack Michaels, play-by-play voice of the Edmonton Oilers is going to join us as we look ahead to Saturday's game. Big game, Hockey Night Canada, Rogers Arena, Canucks Oilers,

a Pacific Division clash after the Canucks swept California on their three-game road trip. 730, the Moj is going to join us. We'll put a final bow on the BC Lions season and look ahead to an offseason. Ask some questions about who's going to stay and who's going to go with Moj.

We'll also do some Canucks talk with Moj. Speaking of Canucks talk, 8 o'clock, Rick Dollywall from Donnie and Dolly is going to join the program. Again, I have no idea what we're going to talk about. That's Brough's department. He's the Dolly handler. I think we might talk a little bit about Lekaromaki,

about what he's doing in the AHL. And listen, if Brock Besser, hopefully he's not hurt and hopefully he can play against the Edmonton Oilers. But if he can't, is that an opportunity for Lekaromaki? You know, in these tough economic times, Jason, we're helping out today. We are giving away a $100 gift card to Mucho Burrito. Again, final one of the week. And we're giving away a $100 gift card to Mucho Burrito. Again, final one of the week.

And we're giving away a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Burritos, pizza, we're giving it all away. The gift card to Mucho Burrito. You got to call at 815 604-280-0650. Caller number 8

and caller number 8. We'll get the $100 gift card. If you 8 will get the $100 gift card if you want to win the $100 gift card to AJ's send it and ask us anything or what we learned it is ask us anything on the program it's a Friday hashtag it AUA or WWL importantly put a

pizza emoji into your text you'll be entered into the contest to win a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway okay I can't go in reverse. We got so much stuff we need to get into. So without further ado, Arash, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No.

No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? You missed that? What happened?

What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Quinn Hughes, just another night at the office. A goal and an assist. Vancouver Canucks win 4-2 at Crypto.com against the Los Angeles Kings to sweep, sweep California. The first time in 15 tries that they've ever gone down

and completed the trifecta of San Jose, Anaheim, and LA. First time in 15, according to Sportsnet Stats, a trusted account on Twitter. So the Canucks have now played 12 games, just two regulation losses. And I think you've got to hand it to them because you hand it to numerous people in the organization,

from the management to the players to the coaching staff, because this has not been easy to start the season. There were a bunch of new players. The first thing that comes to mind if you're praising management is way to go out and get Kevin Lankanen because I can't imagine how the season would have started if they didn't get him. Another win for the guy. What is he, 7-0-2 now?

He's been in there for all seven wins and the two overtime or shootout losses. And if you want to praise the coaching staff, they've found a new third line, which is incredible. And I would praise a guy like Connor Garland for helping out Elias Pettersson, who's been struggling a little bit. I think Garland has really helped him on that line.

And, you know, it's just, they are, it hasn't been perfect to start the season. And there have been some tough losses. The worst one being that New Jersey loss at home. But look how they responded to it. Yep. Look how they responded to that stinker against New Jersey. 6-0 at home. They were terrible.

They go down and they beat San Jose and Anaheim as expected, and then they beat a very good LA Kings team in a team where they lost one of their best players early on. Pretty impressive. Just to recap the game, it was an eventful first period that saw the Kings jump out to a quick 1-0 lead as the Canucks surrendered the first goal for a sixth straight time. Not a great moment for Vincent Darnay, whose stretch pass up the wall got picked off, leaving him in kind of a bad spot to defend Quinton Byfield. Now, Darnay should have backed up a little bit. You know, it wasn't great defending from Brandstrom and Byfield, you know, he's like, wait a minute,

I can beat Kiefer Sherwood. That guy's a forward. He goes to the net and he scores. But the most significant play of the first came halfway through when Tanner Jeannot, for whatever reason, decided to hit Brock Besser with a cheap shot to the chin, earning him a match penalty and sending Besser to the dressing room. And as we learned as the night wore on,

it would be for the rest of the night that Brock Besser would be leaving the game. I'll be shocked if Jeannot isn't suspended for the hit, which was really dumb and dirty and unnecessary. I think we can all agree with that. I don't think there's anyone that saw that hit and went, that has any part in today's game. Jeannot also gave the Canucks a five-minute power play, which did not look good for most of it.

For three and a half minutes, it looked pretty hopeless until Connor Garland, or rather Darcy Kemper, put one in with about a minute and a half minutes, it looked pretty hopeless until Connor Garland, or rather, Darcy Kemper, put one in with about a minute and a half left in the five-minute advantage. The goal was credited to Garland, but it was an own goal. Kemper clearly put it in when he attempted to clear it from the crease. He just cleared it

the wrong way. Normally, when you want to clear the puck from the crease, you should put it forward. Making notes, do not want to score in own net. And instead of going forward, he put it backwards. He shouldn't have done that? And the problem with putting it backwards when you're trying to clear it from the crease is that it goes in your own net.

Yeah, sometimes your goalie can save it, but if you're the goalie doing it, well, you're Darcy Kemper. The Canucks made it 2-1 in the second when Jake DeBruyne scored for a third straight game. They weren't kidding about this guy being streaky. Nine straight without one, three straight with one. Six more to go until his next nine-game slump. I can't wait for the next nine-game goal slump.

DeBrusque actually had a couple of chances to score on the shift, which was yet another, I'm going to call it an edge work master class from quinn hughes who was all over the place before feeding de brusque with a perfect cross ice pass then some great hands by de brusque to beat kemper to make it two to one um the kings made it interesting uh later on but that was after Quinn Hughes with another just incredible display of footwork at the blue line, made it 3-1. He's like a point guard. I was trying to decide a comparison. The post-game show was going down this road.

Someone compared him to Patrick Mahomes and his elusivity and ability to distribute. Yeah, I can see that being like a mobile quarterback for sure, but I was thinking about a point guard that brings the ball up the court and then just controls the game from there with his distribution. And this point guard, like Steph Curry, can now shoot the ball or shoot the puck, as it were.

Yes. So another multi-point game for Quinn Hughes. JT Miller screens on the play, but as I mentioned, the Kings didn't make it interesting after Gavikov scored with six minutes left. But after a bunch of Kings pressure, and I thought they might tie it, Miller scooped up a loose buck

and fired it all the way down the ice into an empty net. And as Shorty noted on the broadcast, that was something the Canucks actually practiced the other day. Now, in my day, you never went for the empty net from your own end because you didn't want to risk an icing. Do you remember that World Juniors game where Eberle scored? Because the Russians iced it. Because the Russians iced it.

Because the Russians iced it. But I guess now they've decided that the odds are better if you've got a clear shot to just go for it. Seriously, back in the day, you'd be like, what are you doing? Selfish. You were considered selfish. Selfish. Canucks practice, if you missed the net,

Taka was making them skate a lap. Is that what it was? Because I noted Myers missed the net a little bit later later so did he have to do a lap after the game like i was they made him stay in his full uniform where are you going yeah uh miller did give a wry smirk in the post game media availability and said that i'm not giving rick any more credit for this one because it was him that put the puck in the net not all the work that rick made them do but alas um a lot of talking points to come from this game. I think the most important one, for me anyway,

is that everyone was asking after that 6-0 loss to New Jersey at home, everyone, even the most optimistic Canucks fan, was how is the team going to respond to this? Because it wasn't just a loss. It was a blowout at home on Huesapalooza. It was not, there was no good to be taken from that 6-0 game. How do you respond?

Well, the Canucks responded like how a good, solid veteran team that knows not only how to win, but importantly, when to win. And that is a thing about when to win. They went out and swept California. They've now won all six of their road games this season. I believe that's the fourth longest stretch in franchise history. Six consecutive road wins, which is very impressive.

And suddenly, look at the standings. You want to talk about how things change in a week. With the fewest games played in the division, the Canucks are 7-2-3. They're two points behind the Kings. They're two points behind the Golden Knights. And they go into that game on Saturday against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, which a lot of people were circling at the beginning of the season with a lot more optimism

and good vibes than, let's say, last week when they lost to the Devils. So that's a very good thing for this team. I mean, one of the things that the team took pride in and Rick Tockett would constantly give them credit for last season was how they responded to bad performances and how they didn't let bad performances linger or snowball into even worse performances. And you remember the Canucks of old, under their old coaching staffs,

would start feeling sorry for themselves. And, you know, the woe was me and it was it was tough to watch frankly and i think rick tocket has just delivered accountability to that dressing room and the leadership group is doing a good job delivering uh accountability to the dressing room and and the other thing too is they're just a better team. Right? Like it's a lot easier to have a good response when you've got the ability to do it.

And right now you've got Quinn Hughes who frankly is giving a heart trophy level performance. You've got Kevin Lankanen, who is playing... Giving you a Mez the caliber performance. Honestly, if Demko was in there, and he was playing as well as Kevin Lankanen, we'd be like, yep, good. Lankanen was their best penalty killer last night.

Yeah, I was actually surprised. I didn't think their PK looked very good. They mentioned it. Sad and big, we're talking about. Yeah, the PK was... Scrambly. I think it was perfect. It didn't allow a goal, but I don't think it looked very good.

The Kings also missed the net a lot. They had some chances. How many shots do you think went off Lankan and Stick? There was a few. There was a few that went off. There was definitely a few. Yeah. So, you know, Lankan and then you look up front

and you've got all these guys contributing that, you know, JT Miller, of course, scored that goal and that was good for him. And he also, you know, might have gotten assist on the cut. That was a great pass to Connor Garland on Garland's goal, but they ultimately didn't give JT Miller an assist because it was an own goal from Darcy Kemper. There were three unassisted goals yesterday. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish. Selfish hockey team. Selfish team.

Yeah. But then you look at the guys that are contributing up front. I think about Garland a lot, just how important he's become to this team. And I think about a guy like Kiefer Sherwood and frankly, that entire third line. The third line they had last year was one of the best third lines in the NHL and now they've got another one of the best third lines in the NHL with only Teddy Bluger remaining from it but they've got entirely new wingers and I think it was interesting that when Brock Besser went out of the game you know some of you

might have thought well maybe they'll throw up Sherwood into that spot, but he didn't want to break up that line. So it was actually Hoaglander went up there. I thought Hoaglander played quite well in that spot. He was noticeable. He had some opportunities. They were on for a goal against, but I don't think that was his fault necessarily. Yeah. So there are guys stepping up all over the Canucks, and I think it's good considering that, again, they're missing their starting goalie. They've got, I think, a deficiency on the back end in terms of the personnel in the bottom four. I thought Carson Soucy had a really good game last night. That was good for him to bounce back from kind of a wild night against Anaheim. And, you know, Elias Pettersson made some nice defensive plays last night. Offensively, still not getting it done, but defensively,

he was battling. And, you know, if you're going to struggle offensively, you know, and it's not working and it definitely isn't working for him right now. Contribute somewhere, and he did contribute. Yeah, the forward depth was the other thing that we needed to talk about after this road trip, not necessarily last night's game, but there's not a lot of teams that can go out and have a much-ballyhooed free agent signing like Jake DeBrus come in and do absolutely nothing offensively aside from a handful of assists to the first nine games and then just sort of wait and

still get results, still collect points, still get wins until he gets his game going. That's what the Canucks have been able to do. There's a lot of NHL teams that wouldn't be able to withstand their $11.6 million a year first line center to have five points through 12 games and still be within spitting distance of top spot in the division. But it's because the Canucks are getting contributions from Sherwood, Heinen, both of whom scored the previous game against Anaheim.

When those guys can keep you full and keep you happy, it allows the DeBrusques and, to a lesser degree, Pedersen, because he still hasn't found his game yet. But now DeBrusque is on a heater. He's got three and three. And this is all of a sudden a team where you're saying, this is what forward depth looks like. And this is why they can be so tough to game plan against because on any

given night, it's not a cliche. Any number of combinations can go out and do damage. Like there's a case you could be made several times this year where that third line is their first line. We used to make that joke last year. Like the third line is the first line. The first line is the third line.

Second line is still the second line. Brandon in Vancouver texts in, are they purposely using Petey in a defensive role? Riccio mentioned he's getting more D zone starts and I believe he's primarily playing with the Susie Myers pairing possibly um you know I know the Miller line gets a lot of time with the uh Hughes and Hronick pairing and that's a huge advantage for them but Petey is not being used in a defensive role

in one area and that's the power play right right He's out there on the power play. He's out there on the power play, and, you know, he just really isn't contributing. He had an opportunity for a one-timer, and he actually took the one-timer, and he put it about three feet wide. So he's just not feeling it right now offensively. And, you know, I know the power play did score last night, but I still think, you know, it's funny.

I would say the Kings power play looked better than the Canucks power play, but the Kings power play didn't score. The Canucks power play did score. So it's one of those, you know, they got, they got some luck. They got some luck on the power play when Kemper, you know, put it in his own net. It was one of those games where if you didn't watch and just looked at the box score, you would have said that the Canucks quote unquote won the special

teams battle. And you'd bepressed to argue it because you know statistically speaking they did but i'm with you like the and i think it's part of this is nitpicking a little bit like if the penalty kill is perfect you're not going to argue about it too much you're going to pack your bags and fly back to vancouver but garland was out there yeah yeah yeah and i i mentioned that their best penalty killer was lankan and before we go to break i mean we've said several times like we should not take for granted what quinn hughes is doing this year or at all i think the same rule should apply to lankan but maybe even more because it's so surprising to me like i expected based on some of the analysis that we got prior to his signing,

especially from Kevin Woodley, that he'd be a fine, solid goalie. Right now. But remember who got the start in the first game of the season. It wasn't him. No. I mean, part of that was because he was like brand new. I mean, they had pads at that point. So it would have been hard. That's true.

Hard to play without pads. But if you go and look right now, you could make a legitimate conversation that through the first eighth of the season, the first month of the season, the first 10, 12, 14 games of the season, Lankanen's been the second best goalie in the NHL. It's been Connor Hellebuck and then Kevin Lankanen. He's got a 923 save percentage.

I know goals against is an antiquated stat, but he's got 2.08 goals against. And here's the thing. Plus is plus minus. Plus minus is I don't.08 goals against. And here's the thing. Plus is plus minus. Plus minus is I don't have it at the ready. Here's the thing. He's a workhorse. He started eight of the last nine games.

He's playing all the time. And, I mean, now going into Saturday's game, do you even entertain the idea? You didn't even let me finish the question. No. I'm looking at Arash. I'm looking at Adog. Yes, but for humor's sake, it would be very funny if they put She Loves In. I mean.

Maybe he'll find his game against the Oilers. He played well against them. You do run the risk of him atrophying completely because he's going to go a long time without playing. Yeah, but I noted yesterday when we were talking to Drance, the part of the interview I was paying attention to, that Before the

Yeah, before he said something, I don't know. I don't know what it was. But Lankanen, if you look at total time on ice and compare it to other goalies, he's not up there in the top five or top ten because the Canucks haven't played as many games as certain teams and they haven't had any back-to-backs, hasn't been a compressed schedule.

So I'm not worried quite yet that they're running him into the ground. Hopefully Demko's back soon anyway, right? So I just wanted to add one more thing about Quinn Hughes and it's just that, this is so weird, but like appreciate this guy's skating. It is incredible. The, the dance moves that he made on his goal. He's a good little dancer. They had, they had a, like they had a camera

that was on him and just him, so they had a close-up of his footwork. And this was after the game. They showed this shift. I took my remote control, and I watched it, rewound it, I'm not kidding you, 10 times, just to see what he was doing with his feet. And it is incredible. Especially the Kings defenseman. I don't know who that was, but he was doing with his feet. And it is incredible.

Especially the Kings defenseman. I don't know who that was, but he looked like he was having the worst moment of his life. He's like, I have no idea how to defend this. And did you see how far off he was from Hughes? Oh, yeah. He could not keep pace with him. He's like, well, no, he just stood there. Yeah, he just gave up.

There was no keeping pace. It was just like, all right. I don't know what's going on here. He was just watching. It was like Fred Astaire out there with the tap dancing. Timely reference. It was incredible to watch and if you see the

edge work that he uses and how quickly his feet work and the deception that he puts into his game. Very few guys in the league that can do that. That's why I compare him to a point guard. You know, sometimes you get these point guards that can, I mean, he's not putting the puck between his leg or anything,

but like, it's just like. Not yet. Not yet. It's just the deception that he uses in order to open up passing lanes and shooting lanes. That pass he made to DeBrusque, everyone was like, what a great goal by DeBrusque. Sick pass, though.

And I'm like, what about Hughes' pass? It was right on the money. And at any rate, I'm going on and on, but I'm sure none of you really care that much. We're all happy to have a player like Quinn Hughes right now. It's incredible to watch. And frankly, I think Connor McDavid is the best player in the league, Like we're all happy to have a player like Quinn Hughes right now. It's incredible to watch. Just incredible. And frankly, you know,

I think Connor McDavid is the best player in the league, but I think right now, I don't know if there's anyone playing as well as Quinn Hughes. Well, I mean, if, yeah, if you want to put a tangible end point on that soliloquy there, it would be, this should all lead towards Hughes being a legitimate heart trophy candidate and finalist this year.

That should be the push. I know we're aiming high. Aim high, Willis. I know we're aiming high, but right now he's the leading scorer on this team. He's playing 25 minutes a night. If you want to look at something that gives you an idea of how valuable he is,

check the disparity between him and the next leading defenseman scorer in the Vancouver Canucks, who, for fun facts, is Philip Peronik with four points. And I don't think... Has another Canuck defenseman scored a goal this season yet? I still don't think they have. I'm not mistaken. So, you're talking

about a guy that is carrying a blue line, almost single-handedly, sometimes single-handedly, and is leading his team overall. All the forwards that they have, all these great forwards that are scoring at close to a point in the game. Besser, Miller, Garland, all close to a point in the game.

Hughes is outscoring them. And you know what? He's also a nice young man. And he's a nice guy. Good captain, good leader. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. We're going to do a special Ask Us Anything.

This one is from Bob M. It's actually Moj. You want to know, should we start a segment called The Dollywall Files on the Halford and Brough show? Hey, you know what? I'm thinking we can do this. There's plenty of material out there.

Like, we can talk about, like, when you get Dollywall on, I just want to hear his reaction. Ask him about the Molson Indy Vancouver. Ask him about his coverage of the Molson Indy Vancouver. Then we can talk about maybe

going to the ballet in Montreal. Okay. Wait, what? I feel like it was in the real ballet. We're going to dig up the secret Dollywall tapes for Christmas because that's a great Christmas present. Okay. Have you guys ever heard the secret Dollywall tapes?

I've never heard the secret Dollywall tapes. You guys have never heard the secret Dollywall tapes? Never heard the secret Dollywall tapes. So back in the day when Pratt and I were doing the show, Dollywall was doing the update. And Dollywall would come into the studio and just you know do his thing right just start screaming and this and that our operator at the time paul debra said why don't we just tape them and he did he taped them and then they we cut it all up

into this promo and it was the secret dolly wall tapes the best christmas present you can get and then you have like you know dolly wall ranting and raving about something and we actually aired it and it's out there somewhere i gotta see if i can dig it up we actually aired it dolly wall didn't talk to us for like three weeks until we actually gave him some crown and then he was our buddy again but um yeah so you can talk to him about the secret dolly wall tapes his coverage of the molson indie the ballet in montreal oh winnipeg great cup there's some great stories from there as well so there's tons of stuff we can do with the dolly wall file i want to hear you tell tell us what happened at the molson indie no i'm not until we start the segment and i i want dolly wall to squirm a little bit

right i think we should i think we'd all Dolly Wall to squirm a little bit, right? I think we'd all like to see him squirm a little bit. Just, you know, when you get him on at 8 o'clock, ask him about, you know, hey, Rick, what do you think about doing, like, the Dolly Wall file? Okay. All right. I don't think he's going to like this idea, and sometimes he gets a little upset. Yeah, but, Moe, you know he's got some stories on you too, right, though?

So this could totally backfire. Or maybe it'll be amazing. It probably does, but I would say it's probably like five to one. Literally. He'll run out of material soon enough. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to ask Dolly Wall about it at eight and then we're going to talk to you next Friday. And next Friday, it could very well be the debut

of the Dolly Wall Files here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I'm in. Thanks, Moj. Have a great weekend, fellas. You too. See you, buddy. Bob, the Moj Marjanovic here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I'm just picturing Dolly at the ballet with his little bear in the car

spinning around in circles. This is awesome. It's literally just mutually assured destruction on both sides. For sure. Let's just finish each other off here, okay? All right. That's got to be a better way to say that. No, that's a perfect way to say it.

Clip it. Nope. It's Ask Us Anything. Now I've got something in my mind that I'll never get out. Going nowhere. Ask Us Anything Friday on the Halford & Brough Show. Mr. PG, the septic tank statue, Texan. Nice.

Ask Us anything. With Demko still out with injury, what are your thoughts on the injury that has had the greatest effect on the Canucks' performance over the history of the team? Oh, man. For me, I'm sure I'm forgetting some major injury, but for me, it was Ham Hoos in the Stanley Cup final. Nazzy's broken leg right before the

playoffs i think he broke it against buffalo yeah yeah daniel's injury in uh 2012 the duncan keith elbow but i think for me it was ham he was trying to hip check milan lucic and lucic going i'm pretty big if they had had him in that series i feel like it could have been different different. Yeah. There are some other ones that are going to jump to mind. The Nazlin one always jumps to mind for me. Cause I think if someone actually wrote a really ghoulish article about this, like the worst injuries, not in terms of like the physical pain that the player went through,

but like the most devastating to the team. And Nazlin's was always up there because you know, you, when you go back and you look at the West coast express and all the bites that they had at the apple and how they all fell short, that one always kind of falls back. How many bites of the Apple did they really get? Not enough.

Yeah. But the one that- 2003. Right. That was a big bite. That really stands out. Right, because the road was wide open. Yeah.

But that one, the nazzy broken leg was a big one as well. Tyler with Anaska's Anything. My son is going through his hockey cards and he asked me if EP is a really good player. I always tell him everyone in the NHL is amazing, but he is asking based on relative to that standard, how do I respond to him? Thanks in advance. I think you say, yes, he is a very good hockey player right now.

But you know what? He's going through some struggles right now. We all go through slumps. Sometimes we all, sometimes players go through struggles. The boy heard yesterday that Mbappe was not picked for the French team that is playing in Nations League or something like that.

He's like, what? He's having a tough go of it. Will he ever get back on the team? I'm like, I'm pretty sure he will, but the French team is a pretty deep team. And, uh, you know, it's, it's, it's funny, like, cause kids I've noticed always want to like, is he good?

Yep. How good? Is he the best? Yeah. Sometimes. Yeah. It's not linear. And that's the thing.

That's the, that's the tough thing to explain to them. The boy always wants to know who's the best goalie in the NHL. It changes. And it, and it and it changes right like i'll be you know i remember telling him like probably vasilevsky but now i'd say hellebuck yes and then he'd be like did the vasilevsky guy retire well he's still there

yeah he's still pretty good but uh yeah these things change a little bit you're like and then you got to consider kevin lankanen no okay um Gumstick James. Hashtag WWL. What we learned Quinn Hughes gooning it up at the end of the game was an unexpected treat last night against Los Angeles

as he continues to evolve his superhuman abilities. I'd love to see more of a chip on his shoulder. What was going on with Brant Clark? What was going on there?

All I kept saying I was like, calm down, Brant. No one's ever been scared of a Brant in their life. Just calm down.

Quinn was definitely ignoring him in the penalty box. He was yelling away. But why was he so upset? It was a nothing play on a zone entry. And to be honest, when they did the replay and they showed both guys from the front. Don't stick your glove in someone's face. I just didn't. Of all the things to set somebody off, Brandt.

I was surprised. Ain't nobody ever scared of a Brant, ever. I was just surprised by it. It was awesome. And then the penalty box, he kept going. Yeah, he was chirping, and then he was eventually just like, okay, that's enough. Yeah.

I've had enough out of you. Yeah, it was like a Drance segment. Did you ask some sort of rhetorical question at the end there, Brant Clark? Was this a quiz? Yeah. Sorry, I wasn't listening. Matt, not on the island, ask us anything.

If you ever got the bag, would you prefer your money came by the boatload or that they back the trucks up? I want it as quietly as possible. I want it dropped in a big sack out of a helicopter. I have thought about this before. Would you want everyone to know, though? Well, I would first buy a giant mansion away from everyone.

Hold on. I think the question inherently is about how you have to show off the money. There's no option to hide it secretly. So it's like, which way would you want to show it off? Ever since I saw the pallet of money in bad yeah like that's that's how i want it i want a big palette you just want to be able to lay on it yeah a perfect square of money it's it's the palette of money yeah and then in uh patch adams the pool full of noodles it's like what what inanimate objects would you like to rest yourself that would be pretty good

doing a scrooge mcduck thing like diving into the big pool. Yeah, but the pallet. That would hurt. It can't be coins. I've never understood the Scrooge McDuck thing. Family Guy did that. Family Guy did that. Yeah, you would kill yourself. Yeah, I would.

You know Scrooge McDuck? He dives in a giant thing of coins and swims around in it? No, that would be very dangerous. You don't want to do that. We could allow it. I mean, I know it's a cartoon, but. For this highly fictional conversation we're having here. Would you guys really want people to know, though?

Actually, no. Well, no. I would try and not tell anybody. No. But let's be honest. If we're answering the question, you can't be like, I would hide it from everyone. Oh, I would.

However, I would do the Homer Simpson to make a giant body of gold for myself and walk around like that. You're like, I would- Look closer, Lenny. It's like mutual funds for me all the way. Have you ever thought that it might be easier to win $3 million

versus $50 million? Because at $3 million, you could easily just be like, yeah, I bought a house in Vancouver. There's nothing for anyone else. At $50 million, you get a lot of people with their hands out. I know. And it would cause tension, right?

Because you'd probably be like, oh. You'd have to become a philanthropist. Yeah. Start caring about people. Right? Right? Can you imagine all the galas you'd have to attend? That's true.

And you'd have to get a driver. You know when you go to these galas and they have a, not that I go to a lot of galas, but you know, even like a charity dinner or something like that and they have the silent auction at the end not the silent auction the actual yeah the loud auction i don't know what they call the auction and they're like will anyone give one thousand dollars and it's so uncomfortable it's like no it's funny that i won't charity dinner in our world is a totally different meaning it's like when you take someone for out for dinner. Yeah, like the charity dinner when I take you and Ladi out for Christmas. Oh, my favorite dinner of the year.

Wow, they got napkins here. On the phone lines we go. Rick Dollywall joins us now on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Rick? Gentlemen, how's it going? Great. Real great. Lovely. What'd you think of the game last night? Well, first of all, the Canucks sweep California for the first time ever.

You know, I didn't know that. That's their 15th try, and they finally did it. So they sweep the road trip, 7-2-3 on the season, six straight wins on the road, Lankanen 7-0-2, points in every game he's played. The Canucks are now one point out of top ten overall in the standings. And this is with no Demko, no Joshua, and Pettersson's only got five points in 12 games. Remember the sky was falling when the Canucks lost at home to the Hurricanes and the Devils?

I think last week, our text line was saying, fire everybody. And I still say this, the most important next big contract the Canucks sign will be Rick Tockett like he continues to show his importance to the franchise I mean he just never lets them get complacent they're always learning they're always getting better I think this guy like I know Besser's contract's up and that's going to be a big one but I I really think you know extending Rick Tockett is going to be a big one but I I really think you know extending Rick Tockett is going to be a big one as well and I I can't wait to see what the term is going to be with Tockett obviously the sad news last night uh was Besser you know the cheap head shot from

Tanner Janot in the first period he never returned returned. Cheap shot to the head, late, blindside. Why not take the body? His defense is going to be that I was just finishing my check. But you don't finish a check to a guy's chin. You know, just a bad decision by Janot. All Besser was doing in the neutral zone was making a pass. So this morning I've been told Department of Player Safety continues to review the Janot head shot, and I don't get the feeling Janot is going to have pass. So this morning I've been told Department of Player Safety continues to review the Genoa

headshot and I don't get the feeling Genoa is going to have an in-person hearing. So what that means is the only time you get an in-person hearing is when it's going to be six or more games. So if it was, he would have got an in-person hearing. I'm hearing that's not going to be the case. So expect, like my gut tells me, expect a suspension in the two to four game range for Janot. So the Canucks start a six-game homestand Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers. Do you think we'll see Demko on this homestand? What a great question. It's been a really good week for Demko.

Good progress being made the last two and a half weeks. He is in the last stage of hurdles that need to be cleared before he can return to full practice. Now, my understanding is that one to two things still have to be cleared before he can go full out of practice. We are at the end in terms of ramping it up. We are getting close, barring anything unforeseen. This rehab for Demko has not been a straight line.

It's gone left. It's straight line. It's gone left. It's gone right. It's gone backwards. There's been a lot of unpredictability. That's why it's best. The Canucks don't want to put, this is why you never hear a timeline from the Vancouver Canucks, because this rehab has not been a straight line. All the timelines you're getting are from reporters nationally, locally. The Vancouver Canucks don't put a timeline on Demko simply because this has not been

a straight line. It's gone all over the place in the last six, seven, eight months. Okay? That's why the Canucks never put a timeline on it. He did join his teammates in practice this week briefly. He's taken more shots. He's taken harder shots, all positive signs. When he takes part in his first full Canucks practice with pace, that'll be the big day. I also want to shoot down

this silly notion that was brought up in Toronto that the Canucks are forcing Demko to play through an injury. That couldn't be farther from the truth. No one is forcing Demko to do anything like that. Demko is not being rushed back. The team is being very patient for a lot of reasons, and the play of Lankanen has made everyone at ease more. He is bridging the gap. Lankanen is bridging the gap very nicely as to when Demko returns. Still no timetable.

I'm not putting anything on it. It's been two up and down, but I can report very good progress being made with Demko in the last couple of weeks. Tell us about Lekaromaki down in Abbotsford, because when Besser went down in yesterday's game and was forced to leave, you know, it did enter my mind. Oh, yeah. Maybe he gets the call up. I don't know if that's going to happen. I feel like it's a long shot, but what are you hearing about it? Yeah, actually, you know what? You're right, Jason, to have those thoughts. Up till last night, forget about Besser getting hurt last night. There were two guys that Canucks really felt were close, and that was Ratu. And Ratu obviously got called up when Suter went to left wing with Pettersson, and there's the need at center

because Amon was sent down. But the other guy they're watching closely and they think is not too far away is LaCarimacchi. Seven games, five goals, 39 shots, four power play goals in Abbey. I talked to a pro scout who saw LaCarimacchi in California on that road trip this week. This is what he had to say. He said, this kid's hockey sense is off the charts.

He is an NHL thinker, very smart. You can tell he's played pro hockey before, which he did in Sweden, right? I'm going to tell you, the move by his agents to stay and play pro in Sweden is paying off. When he was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks, the Vancouver Giants were ready to make room for him. They literally said, hey, we don't even have a problem with the city. Rutherford's on the phone. Huh? Rutherford's on the phone. Huh? Rutherford's on the phone.

Who is? Rutherford. Are you serious? Yeah. Get out of here, Taylor. Unbelievable. Anyways, the move by his agents to stay and play in Sweden was absolutely great. The Giants were going to make room for LeKarimaki, and the Canucks said, no, he's going to go

back. Staying in Sweden was the right move. Another person told me that LeKarimaki is a very serious guy. His focus is 100% on hockey and making the NHL. That's all he cares about. He's here to play in the NHL. He's not one of these guys that plays video games and does this or that. Very focused, very career-oriented, pretty serious guy.

One thing the coach won't like is Laquero Mackey's minus eight, but this team is leaking goals. Abbotsford has given up 39 goals in 11 games. Tolopilo has given up eight goals in his last 18 shots, yanked in two straight games. Here's a problem I see. Seelov's is struggling. Tolopilo is struggling, and the Canucks made Ian Clark a scout.

He's not based out of Vancouver. You've got the best goalie coach in the NHL, and you can't utilize him daily because you made him a scout and he lives in another city. That, to me, is not ideal. We were talking a lot this week about Kiefer Sherwood and at the same time appreciating how much he's brought to the Vancouver Canucks, wondering why he didn't resign in Nashville

and whether or not the Preds might be missing a guy like Kiefer Sherwood the way their season has started. What happened there anyway? Yeah, fascinating what happened. So Nashville signed two fourth line guys last year at around $900,000. Okay. They were hoping the Sherwood would take around the same money, but he had put himself in a position to get a really nice raise. So Nashville couldn't get the Sherwood's asking price. He wasn't looking to leave Nashville, but he was just playing in simple economics. They couldn't do what he got in Vancouver. And they were hoping that Sherwood would stay for around $900,000. Now, fast forward to July 1st, and Sherwood's got six to seven

legitimate teams that wanted to sign him. His playoff against the Canucks last year got him noticed around the NHL big time. His agent, Alain Roy, knew that Sherwood would be a Rick Tuckett-type player. Waugh's got six other Canucks. He knows Vancouver very, very well, guys. He knows Vancouver very, very well. So it's down to three teams, and the Canucks are on the short list. Now the money, when you get down to three teams, the money's around the same.

Now it's the details. Where's the best fit? Who's the coaching staff? What Where's the best fit, right? Who's the coaching staff? What kind of city am I moving to? So now you get into the details, and it was Sherwood who said, I think Vancouver is the best fit, and he picked the Canucks. Sherwood, after signing, told his agent, boy, I'm really worried about walking into that dressing room on day one

because of all the chirping he did with the Canucks. But right after he signed, he got a text from JT Miller saying, welcome aboard. And that made him feel at ease. And I also do believe Patrick Alvin went to a lot of the veterans and said, look, I'm thinking of signing Sherwood. Are you guys okay with this? And the veteran said, absolutely. We hate playing against the guy, but that's a guy you want on your team. So really good. It was really interesting how he started out wanting to sign in Nashville, ended up in Vancouver. And now, and you know, people talk about his goals, you know, the quick shot off the draw in Philly, the goal in Anaheim, this guy scored 36 goals in the American League one year. And, you know, he's got the potential to score.

And he leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin. And when Joshua comes back, the Canucks potentially could have two guys in the top ten in hits. Last year, that was Dakota Joshua. This year, Joshua's going to have help with Sherwood. And to me, I know DeBrus is on a heater right now. He's got three goals in three games. But two very important signings that never got credit that they should have

have been Lankanen and Sherwood. They're absolutely great signings. Did you hear why Dakota Joshua mispracticed this week? No setback. No setback. I can confirm there's no setback. They have a plan. And a part of the plan is certain days off. There was a rumor going around that he wasn't even supposed to go on the California trip,

and he ended up going. There's also something on the table, I believe. Who knows? He might play tomorrow against the Oilers. The problem here, Jason, is getting in NHL shape. What people don't realize is when he had his surgery, he couldn't do anything for three weeks, two to three weeks. He's a big dude, too.

Yeah. If you're getting surgery in September and you're supposed to play in the NHL in October and you can't be active for three weeks, NHL game shape is something very, very tough to get. I'm not hearing anything sinister going on with Joshua. Look, if it takes a little bit longer and he plays somewhere on this road trip, you know, God bless him. But to come back for a hockey player who didn't play for two or three weeks

and just sit on a couch and recover from, you know, obviously a surgery and then expect to be in game shape, I'm not hearing setback, but I'm also hearing, you know, it could be me somewhere on this road trip. But Canucks are doing something really smart. They're not rushing Demko, and they're not rushing Dakota Joshua. And why rush them? Look at the Canucks. They're 7-2-3.

You know, they're 7-2-3 without those two guys. You know, Lankan is bridging the gap. Sherwood's taking the role Joshua would have had with Hitz. They're doing quite fine without both. Why rush them? I do want to circle back to something you said about Rick Tockett's contract and said you'll be curious to see what it looks like. What is the status of Tockett's contract right now?

I think this is the last year, and I think Alvin said at some point, and Tockett said at some point, they'll discuss it. He's coming off Coach of the Year. It's a no-brainer. If this is the culture of, you know, work hard, be a great teammate, and teaching and learning, the Canucks obviously have a great coaching staff, and then you throw in the Sedin twins and what they do with all the youngsters,

and they help the youngsters out. They've got a good thing going right now. You know, culture's great. There's accountability. Everyone's expected to work hard in practice. You've got to remember where these guys came from, Pittsburgh. You know, they won Stanley Cups, and, you know, Sidney Crosby. They saw every day of practice in every game how Crosby, you know, was the hardest working guy in practice and the

hardest working guy in games. So these guys are coming from Pittsburgh. There's a certain standard these three guys have, Rutherford, Elvin, and Tockett. And they're trying to get that standard in Vancouver. And it's on the right track. Like, I mean, if I'm the Canucks, I would lock up, you know, talk it long-term. I don't know what the holdup is. I don't know what else you have to do. I was going to ask you, like, why haven't they? Is this just maybe how Rutherford and Alvin operate?

Or do you think talk it is probably being like, hey, listen, I'm the coach of the year. I've not single-handedly, but I've, you know, one of the big reasons your team has turned around. That's a reason. And I want to be rewarded for it. Yeah. I mean, I don't think he's going to be mid-range in NHL salaries anymore.

I think he's going to be up there and maybe, you know, I don't know the specifics. I haven't looked into his contract situation in terms of are they talking or not yet. But I just think his signing is going to be big because he's changed the culture. You know, you look at this young core. You know, they weren't winning under previous coaches, but they're winning under Tuckett. Something's there. This young core is, you know, enjoying success for the first time. And I think he's a big reason why. I's there. This young core is enjoying success for the first

time, and I think he's a big reason why. I really do. Are you going to watch the Whitecaps tonight? No, I'm not going to watch the Whitecaps. First, let me tell you this. I'm going to have to rely on Holford's Twitter account tonight. Huge game. Whitecaps don't have anything to lose

because no one expects them to win this series. Credit to the Caps. They played LAFC strong in their last three meetings. First goal is massive tonight. We know that. Whitecaps are 13-2-3 when they score first. You know LA is going to be paying extra attention to Ryan Gould. I mean, he's going to get extra attention.

Keep an eye on Stuart Armstrong. When he first got here, remember the criticism he was out of shape? He played 80 minutes last game. Could be a big factor tonight. Andres Kubis, causing teams fits. Last few weeks, so hard to play against. Love that guy. I have not been this pumped about a soccer game in this city.

I don't know. I don't know when last time I was this pumped, but I'm not going to be watching. I'll have to keep an eye on Holford's Twitter account. It's kind of a problem, though, right? The broadcaster. I'm going to go on a rant here. I'm going to to be watching. I'll have to keep an eye on Holford's Twitter account. It's kind of a problem though, right? The broadcast. I'm going to go on a rant here. I'm going to go on an old man.

I'm going to go on an old man yelling at the clouds or whatever they call old men yelling at the clouds, whatever. The biggest shame tonight is this game is not on cable. It's on Apple TV. I know that every MLS team gets $5 million a year from Apple rights, but how do you grow the game in this province when it's not on cable? From what I'm told, the Whitecaps' Apple ratings are not great. The young kids, no problem.

They'll go over to Apple. The Whitecaps are losing their older demographic like me who won't pay for the extra money. I pay for cable. I'm not going to pay extra. Fans have endured season after season or below average white cap teams on cable. And now you finally got a good product and it's on Apple monthly television subscriptions are high enough that they're too high. What's the hardest thing to do with humans? Break habits. When families and businesses cut the fat in lean times,

the first stuff to go is stuff like that Apple stuff. Steve Miller Band said it best, take the money and run. That's what the Whitecaps did. But they sure pissed off a lot of people in the process. You need to end that with a phone slam. No. And I'm going to tell you something else, Alfred. You better be giving five-minute Twitter account every five minutes with me in mind,

and you better be giving updates tonight because I'm going to be relying on you. For you, Rick, it's a definite maybe. That would be amazing to do Dollywall-specific Twitter updates. There's a handball in the box now in soccer. You're not allowed to use your hands. No hands. Once you're the goalie. One last thing. It's not about to use your hands. No hands. Once you're the goalie. One last thing.

It's not about being cheap. It's about habits. I grew up in the 80s with the Canucks game of the week every Wednesday with John McKeechie. We only had one game per week. But we didn't have to pay for this streaming crap. And I know the Canucks, if this is the future, streaming, you know, ratings are going to hurt everywhere. Because we live in a pretty expensive city and a pretty expensive country

and people are having a tough time making ends meet and now you're throwing this streaming crap at us. I don't care. Yeah, I'm an old man, but I'm not going to change and it's not about the $9.99. If I pay for my cable, I should do what I do with the Canucks

and the Lions is watch them on cable. I'm not going to pay the extra. You can call me cheap what you want, and you can call me an old man, but that's the way it is. I would never do that, Rick. I respect you too much. I'll leave your rant as is. All I will say is that it is on Apple tonight,

and if you want to go to a watch party, the Whitecaps are hosting one at Good Co. on Granville. We'll leave it at that. Thank you for doing this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the weekend. We'll do this again next Friday Thank you for doing this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the weekend. We'll do this again next Friday. All right, big dog. See you, buddy. Rick Dollywall,

Canucks reporter, Whitecaps enthusiast, Apple TV critic here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. You're listening to the best of Halford & Brough.