Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 12/05/25

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

Guest hosts Jamie Dodd & Israel Fehr look back at the previous day in sports, they preview the MLS Cup Final featuring the Vancouver Whitecaps at Inter Miami CF, plus they boys chat tonight's Canucks matchup versus the Mammoth, as well as other 'Nucks news, 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. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Looking to right side, Walker in front of the 10. Gibbs skipping to the five and into the end zone for a touchdown. He holds down nice, is in a goal. Scores! Holy McAdoe! What a play by Matthew Nice! Bantanthus over the line and Noback. Back to Malkin. Scores!

Gino! Machino throws on the Cape and rescues the Penguins late. Ladies and general, the weekend. Good morning. What's going on, everybody? It is Halford and Brough here. on SportsNet 650. However, no Halford, no broth. I'm Jamie Dodd. Joining me today for the show is Izzy Fair.

What's going on, Izzy? Good to be here, Jamie. I'm good, you? I'm doing great. A one-off on the morning show? Fantastic. No problem getting up out of bed. I'm not dreading the rest of the week.

I'm so close to the weekend starting. I love it. It's championship Eve, too, in this city. A one-off Friday on the morning show is, is what I'm all about. We do have A-Dog here. A-Dog, what's going on? Good morning.

Good morning. And Lattie, good morning. Hello, hello. Yes, very good. You got it in. Well done. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Now's the time to maximize the benefits of custom orthotics before the year runs out.

Visit kintech. com. Halfen Brough brought you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit Sands-Dash-3. trustee.com. First hour of the show, it's brought 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 1170 Powell Street. All right. There is a lot going on on

the show today. So I'm going to go through the guest list. I'm going to go through the prize situation as well. It might take me a while, but don't worry. It'll be worth it. And the morning drive, the lineup is brought you by the duick auto group find out why nobody beats a duick deal uh since 1926 visit duick gm on marine drive downtown in richmond and at duick auto group dot com guest lineup begins six 30 nick shook of nfl dot com will join us we'll look back at the thursday night game a very entertaining thursday night game last night between the lions and the cowboys will look ahead to the slate this weekend as well as the playoff picture maybe who's feeling the heat right now in the NFL with Nick Shook.

Seven, AJ of AJ's pizza. We'll join the show. We'll check in on what's going on at the shop this weekend. At 705, Dax McCarty, former MLS player, now an Apple TV, MLS analyst. As you mentioned, Izzy, it is championship eve. Big match, a big footy match on the schedule tomorrow. We'll chat with Dax about that. At 7.30, we will talk all things NHL with Arda O'Call from ESPN.

And at 8 o'clock, always looking forward to this. Rick Dollywall, Canucks Insider from Donnie and Dolly on Check TV. And as you well know, Izzy, there is no shortage of insidery things to talk to Rick right now about the Canucks with everything going on. All right. So Rick Dollywall at 8, Ardo Cal at 730, Dax McCarty at 7.05, AJ of AJ's Pizza at 7. Nick shook from NFL.com at 630. That's the guest list, but I'm not done explaining everything that's going to happen on the show today because we are giving away not one, not two, but three separate prizes on the show today. At 7.30, we're giving away a $50 white spot gift card to caller number five.

That's 7.30, caller number five, $50 white spot gift card. at 8. Now, I was not aware of this promotion until, like, this morning, basically. But I understand you guys are doing something called the 12 days of Halbro. Is that correct? All right. It's a secret prize. We don't tell people what it is until after I've awarded it.

It's all birds. It's all birds. Yeah, I was going to say, what day are we up to? But it is day five. So this is the golden rings. Yesterday was a peregrine falcon. The day before it was an African elephant. But if we're all animals, if we're following the song, though, we're on the golden rings.

That's true. So this is the one you want to win. This is like cash prize. $50,000 coming up right here. Yeah. No, no, it's not. It's not. I don't even know what the prize is yet.

No, you don't. It's a surprise to me. You tell people after we awarded at the 8 o'clock hour. There's a specific formula. It's like Christmas. Yeah. But probably not as good a present. No.

Actually, all the prizes are pretty good. All right. Good. One of them's throwing out the first pitch of the Seas game. That is pretty sick, actually. You're wearing your C's hat. Yeah. Why didn't I win that?

Yeah. I'm not allowed, unfortunately. So 8, it's day 5 of 12 days of Halbro. A secret prize goes to caller 5. Is that correct? What's the number? I don't know. 604, 280, 060.

604, 280, 0650, there we go. And at 830, we're giving away $100 A.J's gift card for the best Ask Us Anything. It is an Ask Us Anything Friday. So you can start sending those in as well. 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. Don't worry. I'll give you the phone number again as well when it's 7.30 for the White Spot gift card. And eight for the secret gift, both of those going to caller five. Definitely not turtle doves.

Definitely not turtle doves. What about lords a leaping? Yeah, that might be interesting. Tough to come by. I never really understood how you could give people. Not a lot of lords hanging around these days. No. Much of random dudes that's going to show up your house and just leap around. Tumbling. Can I call the cops pretty quickly probably?

All right, that's what's coming up on the show. Laddie, 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? What happened? What happened brought you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit BCCS. dot

CA and Izzy, don't worry. We will talk about the almost last place

Vancouver Canucks and by some measures last place, by some other measures, not. If you just

depends the way you want to look at it. The way you want to look at it, yeah. Half empty or half full? They're first place in our hearts.

We both work very closely with Thomas Grant. So we all know the perils of not citing points percentage. We will talk

Canucks, but as we alluded to and we're going to talk more about it throughout the show. We're going to talk to Dax McCarty later on, just after 7 at 705. The White Caps have their biggest game in decades, arguably their biggest game ever. And I know they won championships in their prior life before MLS. But this is a massive game playing Leo Messi and Inter Miami in the MLS Cup final tomorrow.

The White Caps trained in Miami. They spoke to the media yesterday, again, ahead of their biggest game. in decades and yes first of all it's on traditional TV but this is a massive game for the white caps and it has really turned into I think a massive game for Vancouver sports and Vancouver sports fans as well yeah we've seen we've seen the interest really rise for this white caps team and it's it's been there sort of slowly evolving all season but no surprise once the playoffs are at stake one that there's their stakes attached to these games the interest has gone through the roof here.

And they've, they're not a team, like they're not just a pure underdog team in the traditional sense. They will be underdogs in this game. They will be underdogs against Messi. But they've faced this team before and had a lot of success against them earlier this season before Thomas Mueller arrived. And this is what they've been building toward all season.

It has been really a spectacular story. They've really been, you know, this story in MLS this year. We know what Messi can do. When he came over a couple of years ago, that was a massive story. He's still trying to win MLS Cup. So that is the big broad narrative. But the White Caps have been just an incredible, incredible story, not just in this market, but across the soccer world.

Yeah. And the layers to this, as you said, I mean, the game is in Miami, first of all, because they finished just ahead of the White Caps. And, I mean, it would have been absolutely incredible to be able to have this game here. We saw how the crowd turned out for the LAAFC match. I'm not a you know an MLS handicapper I get the sense that probably the white caps are only underdogs because the game is in Miami I suspect if it was here it would be either a pickum or it would be much closer for sure or maybe they'd be even be slight favorites but having said that okay the game's in Miami you got to go to their house and beat messy they've done that this year in an elimination scenario now I know it was the second leg of a of an aggregate tie there in the Champions Cup but They've gone to Miami and beat Leo Messi in his building already this season. They have that to draw on.

That was before Thomas Mueller joined the team. So they have that extra bit of experience. And, you know, I know Mueller was very quick yesterday when he was talking to kind of say, look, I know the headline is Mueller versus Messi and that's cool. But I'm not the story here. I'm not the only story. And that's true. And we get into some of the other key players and the key matchups for the white caps.

on the other hand this is exactly the moment on the pitch you get Thomas Mueller for hey we've got this guy with all the weight and all the winning he's done he can be our leader

going into the crucial match the biggest moment where we have a chance to do something we haven't done before they've never won MLS Cup they never been an MLS Cup and so far the Thomas Mueller experience

has been absolutely everything they could have hoped for on and off the pitch this is this has the potential to be the crowning achievement. If he can be instrumental in leading them to a championship, I mean, people were joking because, you know, somebody asked him kind of where does this rank on the trophies you're going for?

And look, he's won the World Cup. He's won the UAV a Champions League. But he came here to win. I don't think he's looking at this as, oh, it's just MLS. He's like, no, I'm a winner. I came here to win, and that's what I intend to do tomorrow. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, the pride is still very much there.

And what the white caps accomplished in the first half of the season is what attracted him to Vancouver, the way that they play, how he's fit into that. A lot of times I would say that that idea is slightly overrated, that you have a player that comes in and has the experience and the composure. But at a level that MLS, which is certainly higher than it was in recent years, the quality has elevated year over year in the league. But it's still, I think, for, it's not the UEFA Champions League, right? Like this is still a league and a game where things could go awry.

To have a player like Thomas Mueller. I mean, like, there's still the Conca Calf element that comes to play in MLS. I mean, the White Caps won a playoff game against L.A. That was completely bonkers down to nine men, you know, having the ball hitting crossbar and post three times in about eight seconds. like there is some madness that can come into play here and obviously having Thomas Mueller there as the stabilizing force is a huge plus but what he has done is fed seamlessly into a team

that was already operating at this level and then you add Brian Gould who's come in as a substitute for most of the games here lately and to me has been phenomenal whether he's been playing with Mueller or in the last game where he comes in for Mueller where there might be some minor Injury concerns with Mueller, how much can he actually play? But we know he'll be starting.

We know that the game will be run through him to begin the game. And if Gould is the one to come off the bench, you feel really good about that. Well, and what a luxury to have if you do have to take Mueller off to be able to bring Ryan Gould in. And they've got on looking at the on the pitch situation, of course, Brian White returned from injury, scored a couple goals against San Diego in the Western Conference Championship. Now, it is worth noting Miami has been on fire in the postseason. I think they're outscoring opponents 17 to 4 in the five games they've played in the postseason. Messy has been in on 13 of those goals.

They don't call them points in soccer. They call them goal contributions. That's right. Yeah, he has 13 goal contributions in the postseason already. So, I mean, no surprise, Leo Messi, incredibly dangerous, incredibly talented. And I know in past meetings, it has fallen on defensive midfielder Andre Kubis to kind of be the guy tasked with shadowing, trying to shut down Leo Messi. He's done a pretty good job of it.

He's one of the best defensive midfielders in MLS. So that's going to be a matchup, I think, to really keep an eye on. The white caps also getting Tristan Blackman back. He missed the San Diego match because he got the red card late against L.A.F.C. I was at that game. Now, he was returning from injury in that. I thought he looked really shaky even before the red card. That was his second yellow, to be fair.

But I thought he looked really shaky. I'm very curious to see what level he's at. that. He's the MLS defender of the year. He was so important for them. They've made it work with this kind of makeshift like Ralph Prezo. Hey, you're a centerback now. Get back there. We'll figure it out. They've made it work. But against Messi, against a team with this level of star power, I think you need Tristan Blackman at the closest to the peak version of himself you can get. Yeah. Yeah. The margin for error is very, very thin. And he'd been very good for this team. As you said, MLS defender of the year, coming back.

off an injury. I watched the Miami Eastern Final and they were running rampant, right? They were they scored five, they could have scored more, they're gonna really put pressure on the white caps defensively and you're right Kuboss in the game certainly the first leg here in Vancouver in that Champions Cup tie

he had Messi in the pocket to the point that Messi who is famously stoic who doesn't emote very much was very frustrated by the end of that game. And that continued into the second leg. In fact, you could probably argue the white caps played a better team game in the second leg of that tie in Miami, moving the ball, scoring the ball really dominating,

whereas the game here took advantage of a couple of opportunities to score and really frustrated messy. So I'd imagine that the final, well, if, you know, the white caps are game planning for this, a combination of those two games where they're going to have to be, you know, I imagine Kubas will be man marking messy and that will be, as you said, the matchup to watch because he was certainly up to the task

the last time that they played against. Yeah, and I know I was reading some of what Dax McCarty has written about this match before we're going to chat to him in just about an hour here and he said the other guy obviously and, you know, fans of European footy will know the name very well, Sergio Buscats. If you're not closing him down, look, he's older, this is going to be his last professional game, he's retiring after this.

But if you're not closing him down and putting pressure on him when he has the ball in midfield, he's going to break your lines. He's going to find a way to spring one of the attackers. So you got to have Kubis locked up on messy, but you need to find a way to be putting that pressure on the deeper lying playmaker in Bousquet's as well. And anyways, as you said, like both of these teams like to have possession, like to attack. I mean, the white caps are extremely disciplined about playing out from the back. They don't like, you know, the Route 1 football.

I don't think they're going to go away from that. It's going to be a challenge in this match, but they're going to have to stick to that identity that's been so. successful. And look, I think it's also from a bigger picture point of view here, worth mentioning, important to mention whatever happens tomorrow. And everyone, I mean, it would be phenomenal to see them take home beat Messi win their first MLS Cup. I think you have to acknowledge that this season and the Mueller acquisition, but the season as a whole has already been a huge, huge success for the White Caps. And I mean, they delivered a legendary Vancouver sports moment against LAFC as you said just a bonkers win down to nine men defending as if

their lives were on the line managing to do it managing to win in penalties that was in front of more than 50,000 at BC place Mueller has been everything they could have hoped for he's been an incredible ambassador for the team for the city it will always mean more if you can cap it off with the championship but I think they've already changed how this city looks at them and look if they fall flat on their faces next year, a lot of that goodwill goes away. But they have built something that they have a chance to use as a stepping stone to being a higher profile team here. I think they've done a phenomenal job. It will carry over to future season. I mean, just look at the watch party tickets sold to BC place. Like I never would have imagined them selling that many just to go watch

the match on the big screen. And yet that's what they've done so far this season. It always comes down to winning, right? People will come if you have a winning product. You know, We see that across sports, and it's certainly true in this market. And the white caps have won consistently this year. And it goes to the next level that if you watch them, even if you don't have a huge degree of expertise in soccer, you watch them play this season, and you can tell that something changed with their approach to the game. And, you know, what Yesper Sorensen has brought in, the philosophies, the principles, the way that he wants this team to play. it's a very similar team

you know throw Mueller out it's a very similar team to the team that they had last season and even the season before and there were some good additions some young players that have been brought in in key positions that have allowed the White Caps to further take that step but it has a lot to do

with as you said as you said Jamie they're on the front foot they're attacking they're not afraid a lot of times in the White Caps recent history at MLS level there has been that trepidation to put themselves on the line. And this team has changed that.

So obviously, number one, winning and winning consistently and having these big wins to Champions Cup games against Miami, these wins in the playoffs here, that they'd never been able to break through in the playoffs. They'd had playoff teams, you know, over the last decade, not able to break through, always losing to a team like Seattle. This season, that has changed. And, of course, we have no idea if that is going to be able to continue. you, but the foundation being laid here is very important.

And look, there's no denying the exclamation point that a championship would bring. You want, again, no one's going to rip them. I mean, it always results depending, right? If it's 5-0 again, like it was against Cruz and Zool, that might be a different story. But I don't think it's going to be, but you're right. You want the exclamation point here to wrap up the season. I think it is worth just noting again about Yesper Sorensen. I was reading at the MLS website, their analyst Matt Doyle, just kind of breaking down the match.

And he said, like, forget coach of the year, manager of the year. What Sorensen's done is his opinion, like, arguably the best coaching job in MLS history. It's like, unfathomable. Yeah. I had friends who follow the white caps go to games and were just puzzled. But like, they didn't understand what they were watching because you got so used to the way that the white caps played. And under Vanney Sartini, who was a really great character and personality and helped rebuild the white caps. you know, from a confidence perspective, because they were really slipping.

You know, post-Alfonso Davies, they had really slipped, their results weren't there. Then Vanny comes in is a great personality, a great character, and they were able to get results. You know, they're able to win Canadian championships and so on. But the job that Sorensen has done here is, it's magnificent. It really is. And that they haven't a single time this year given up those principles. Even coming off that Champions Cup, they lose 5-0, they've got a ton of injuries, they've got players gone to international, they're bringing players in from, you know,

white caps too, from the lower levels, and they're still, they still weren't sacrificing their principles. He's been so consistent on that. And I think that that's fueled the veteran players that have been here, and we heard Thomas Mueller talk about it when he came here, that his call with Sorensen was strictly about tactics and football and principles and philosophies and that was what attracted to him there. So if you're swaying a guy

who, as you said, Jamie, won the World Cup, won the Champions League with that. Imagine the impact that that had on the players that were already here, right? So that absolutely massive. All right, it's Whitecaps, Inter Miami, and Leo Messi tomorrow for MLS Cup at 1130.

We will talk more about this throughout the show and with Dax McCarty at 7.05. There's a stadium angle too here. that we might get into at some point in the show. But we do have to spend just a couple minutes here before we go to break on the Vancouver Canucks. And we've already had a ton of texts in about this. And if you're not up to speed, we're not going to talk about the practice yesterday because

other stuff has happened since then, kind of. But if you're not up to speed, Nashville beat Florida 2-1 in overtime last night, Calgary beat Minnesota. And all of that means the Canucks wake up this morning in 31st place in the NHL by point. points percentage, dead last, dead last in the NHL by points. And they are in points percentage, they are still slightly ahead of Calgary because Calgary has played two more games than them. However, the Canucks play the Utah Mammoth tonight.

If they lose in regulation, they will also be, by my math, dead last by points percentage. Not where they wanted to be on December 5th, Izzy. and by the way they also have the fewest regulation wins in the league not even tied with anyone they were tied with ebenton both teams had six evinton destroyed seattle to get their seventh last night so 31st points percentage dead last by points fewest regulation wins in the league uh here on december 5th

and look the standings are very tight even at the bottom things could change a parody you go three win three of four on home and all of a sudden oh you're not dead last I just ran the draft lottery simulator The Canucks won Well, yeah They got one of the best odds I do think though

And I know this has been a topic On the station on my show Going into these weekend games Could the fans Make their displeasure known In some forceful way here On these next couple of games I think the symbolism here matters

And especially depending on what happens tonight But if you lose in regulation tonight And you're going into a hockey night in Canada game on December 6, dead last in the NHL. That is a very combustible situation, a very difficult situation. And Izzy, we've seen moments like that turn into large scale organizational change before with this team. Yep.

The last place is a massive symbol, right? That is just, that is one that no one can spin. No. You can't spin last place. There's no way out of it. And fans are going to notice that. And it's like, no, you're in last place. There's no way around it.

It means something. It's a big headline item and it's, I think it is going to change how fans approach these weekend games. I was saying to you before the show, I mean, especially if the white caps win, like, and I know they love this word, the juxtaposition between the two teams on Saturday could be very, very stark. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Jay Texan, ask us anything. If the Canucks persistently stay at the bottom of the.

the league. Does the trade value of the pending UFAs diminish? I don't think so just by virtue of being at the bottom of the standings. Now, I know there's been some concern recently about like, hey, Kiefer Sherwood, he's stopped scoring. He's moving down the line. I'm not getting as many minutes. Is that going to hurt his trade value? Sure. Dranth made the point on our show yesterday. Like, teams probably weren't valuing him as a 30 goal score anyways. They know he was going to slow down. And he's still Kiefer Sherwood and that he brings the energy and the physicality. So it probably doesn't hurt things too much. Then you look at, you know, when they're back, guys like

Bluger and Forbort, those are known commodities. Teams know what they're getting if they're trading, you know, low value picks for those types of players. I think the only thing it does potentially is increase the urgency, right? It's one thing to be considering selling and if you're in

25th place in the league and oh, hey, maybe if we get hot, we'll go in a run. If you're just kind of bouncing around 31st, 30th, 30th, 301st, like why are you holding your players and do you almost need to do something at that point make a trade expedite the process a little bit to change the conversation in the market

and we know that Jim Rutherford historically has never been afraid to be the one to set the market I would also add that being that low in the standings and I know you know we've spent a couple of weeks talking about the memo and the report that's out there for teams that the Canucks are open for business if the Canucks are indeed in 30 second or 30, and not in that 25th, 26, 24th range that you mentioned, Jamie,

I think it then also probably puts a little bit more emphasis on what they're getting back. You're not selling, you know, not like they gave up the farm to get Lucas Reichel, but you're not getting, you're not going to get that kind of, you know, excitement about a player of that ilk, of that age group coming back if your team is, you know, very much stuck near the bottom. So put those two things.

things together. I don't think it affects, as you said, the individual value of the player, but how you get to a trade, so as you said, you know, the urgency. And then the packaging of what you're looking for is always, you know, a possible thing that gets changed here. And look, it's rare to see a lot of trades happen at this point. At this point of the calendar. Yeah, for sure. Justin and East Van has one. Ask us anything. Is lemonade an acceptable breakfast beverage? No. Way too sweet. now I guess people will say like well what about orange juice that's got lots of sugar it just feels different though lemonade is there's no way I need to know what else is with lemonade there's no way

you're drinking lemonade before lunch that's crazy yeah what does lemonade pair with for breakfast yeah like what would you have with lemonade cereal obviously yeah like having sitting down with like a plate of eggs and lemonade yeah that's that's that's where my hang up is that feels wrong Yeah, I couldn't do it I've had I've been out for brunch and had a Coke with breakfast though So maybe I'm a huge hypocrite Were you hung over? No comment

Let me tell you my friend When I'm hung over it doesn't matter what time it is A large Coca-Cola is maybe the greatest thing in the world It goes a long way That's for sure 650 650 Qualicum golf guy texts in Ask us anything Do you decorate for Christmas

The outside of your home with the mindset of being the Christmas house in your neighborhood is there another house or houses that you compete with and is it friendly or truly competitive

when do you decorate the outside of your home so I have like a town home so it's not really ideal for decorating outside so I don't get involved in that even if I had a house I would be a lights only guy

I'm not doing the inflatable now I don't have a problem no Santa's on the roof no I enjoy walking around and seeing them in the neighborhood but I'm going to leave that to other people a nice lights display simple classy that's good for me i'm going to let everyone else go crazy and i will

reap the benefit of their hard work would that be also like your halloween opinion yes although halloween i feel like because you don't do the lights so you're not you're just you're not going to be that that front yard that's no but it's like crazy i mean some of the tombstones some of the some of the Halloween displays in my neighborhood right now are completely like over the top and again i appreciate it it's cool but i'm just like i have i do not have the energy. You tip your cap. I tip my cap. I do not have the energy or the wherewithal to put that together, though. I like the lights. I'm with you. Yeah, lights only. A bunch of textures are saying lemonade does pair very nicely with lights, a light meal of fish and chips, which you're obviously

known for. Oh, I forgot about that. I mean, fish and chips and lemonade sounds great to be honest. For breakfast, especially. Izzy, are you aware of his eating habits? How every meal to Dodd is like a light meal. I can eat like a full pot roast and be like, oh, that's my appetite. I was like oh fish and chips so heavy it's like whatever not really he's built different you guys he is him we must have discussed that on this show at least four or five times after you admitted it on the air it's come up a lot how for it really stuck with people rough was stunned got a steel over here that's right look I know what I like I mean you did you you you you make it with the the Coca-Cola's in the morning like after that everything's

everything's a light meal listen I've got a I've been given food with a nice metabolism. We'll see how long it lasts. I probably am going to have to shape up at some point, but I've been very lucky up to this point. It is now time for Rick Dollywall from Donnie and Dolly. He's brought you by Bassant Motors. Get big holiday savings this month at Basant Motors. Plus, when buying a new vehicle, get up to $1,500 worth of Visa gift cards. For more info, visit basaunt motors.com. Rick, what's going on, man? Gentlemen, gentlemen, it's Friday. Big weekend ahead with the white caps, but I got a feeling we're going to start with the Canucks first. Yeah, we sure are because, as you well know, Canucks wake up today.

Fewest points in the NHL, Rick. And, man, I just look at these next couple of games coming up. They're going into them in last place. This feels like a situation that it gets a little dicey for some of those in power, maybe. Let's put it that way. December 5th and the Canucks wake up looking up at 31 teams. they're 32nd, dead last, because of the flames and the Predators won last night. You know, it's okay to be 30-second if you announced in the summer you're going to do a rebuild. It's okay to be 32nd if you announced in the summer, you're going to go for Gavin McKenna. But that never happened. I mean, the plan was this year, and you guys know this, when to keep Quinn.

But being in 32nd place, it's not going to help keep the captain. It's just not. All their moves have been to make the playoffs. None have shown any desire their moves to miss the postseason. They got here by mistake. It wasn't planned. Like, you can call it what you want. But nowhere, anywhere this year, did they say, you know, we're going to be 32nd at some point.

The predators and the flames and the Canucks. So right now, look at those three teams. They're the worst teams in the NHL. None of them are in a rebuild. Nashville spent a ton of money. Remember that July 1st, I think it was a year and a half ago? none of those free agents worked out. Flames thought they were close to making the playoffs last year.

All three of these teams had gone backwards. All three of these teams were not thinking rebuilt. They were thinking to get better. Early next week, I think it's Tuesday, is going to mark the four-year anniversary to the day where Jim Rutherford was hired. Now, in defense of Jim, he spent the first year and a half,

untangling the mess that was created by the Jim Benning regime. So the first year and a half was all just untangling, especially the salary cap mess. But the mishandling of the Bull Horvatt and J.T. Miller trades, it's haunting the team right now. Not

getting a top six centerback for both those guys was a massive mistake. Horvatt scored as, did you guys see his 17th last night? He's third in the NHL. Should make the Canadian Olympic team. Picking Miller over Horvatt may have been Jim

biggest mistake. The Canucks are in this mess because the center ice position is a disaster. They're the weakest team in the NHL up the middle of the ice. Pedersen, Camp, Sasan, and Rattoe. I know that Blugersert and so is Heald, but that center ice position has been gutted. I don't think anybody saw this coming before this season began, or maybe Rick Tocket did. Maybe it's one of the reasons why Tuckett bolted. Tuckett leaving and saying no to that huge contract offer in Vancouver. He could have seen this coming guys. Nobody knows the heartbeat of a team better than the coach.

He knows those guys in that dressing room inside out. Coaches just don't get up and leave the way Tuckett did. He did like Vancouver. He had a really good relationship with the GM in Vancouver and he still left. Right now, Tockeets got the Flyers in fourth place in the east. there are three points out of first place in the east. He's done a great job in Philly. That team in Philly's got a ton of prospects coming.

They've got a ton of cap space coming. He's in a really good spot, Rick Tocket, and in the coming years as well. His old team is not so much in a great spot. And by the way, you know, the Canucks are in 32nd. I think Abbotspard's in 29th in the American Hockey League standings. So it's a tough time for the team. And the injuries, look, we have.

to say injuries have played a role. They have. They've gutted Abbotspard. They've gutted Vancouver. There's no question. Injuries have played a role, but I don't think they're the most injured team in the National Hockey League right now. Every team's going. Every day you hear of a team losing a player due to injuries and significant injuries as well. So we do have to say that, but I don't think anybody thought, was thinking 32nd overall on December 5th. Even before dropping into the 32nd, Rick, we've been talking trades and what the Canucks might move off over the last few weeks anyway. I still think top of the list, Kiefer Sherwood, because of the – he's a rental.

He started the season so well-scoring goals. What's the latest on his market right now? What's the league looking at with Kiefer Sherwood? So the memo was sent two weeks ago, right? Still no trades. Not surprised. So I don't think there would have been a flurry of trades when the memo was sent out. That was a fact-finding mission for the Canucks.

They now know what teams think of their players. So the Canucks put out the memo. They're testing the market. They're getting calls and not just their UFAs, all their veterans. Sherwood's getting the most attention. There's no question. And it sure sounds like the Canucks would like to get a first round pick in return if they could. but there is so much parity in the NHL right now.

There's so much parity in the NHL right now, and no team is willing to overpay. No team is willing to overpay right now for Kiefer-Shirwood. There's no one's willing to overpay from. Teams are just exploring. They're getting info. They're getting prepared. I do not believe the Knox will rush into a Sherwood trade.

They will take their time, get the best deal possible. When I checked in last night, I was told pretty quiet on Sherwood, nothing imminent. But then, you know, we can say that, and then one phone call changes everything. One of the teams in on Sherwood told me this morning things have slowed down. Now, if the Canucks won a first rounder for Sherwood, they should play him more. He had 15 minutes in Colorado. He's now playing with Kemp, who's got no points in seven games. You need a centerman to get you the puck.

Besser playing with Kemp has one goal in five games. Kemp is not a playmaking top six centers. Sherwood has not scored in seven games. They need to get this guy going to boost his trade value, but cutting his minutes and dropping him in the lineup isn't going to help. And clearly he's holding on to the stick too tight right now because he hasn't scored in seven games. No team has permission to talk with Sherwood's agent, Judd Maldaver, yet,

about a contract extension. if a team extends him, obviously the Canucks would get more. Some teams are okay with Sherwood being a rental. Some teams will want that extension with the trade coming with it. But right now, as of last night and this morning, it sounds like things are pretty quiet on Sherwood. So, Rick, it's fine to ask for a first-round pick, and I understand he's in demand, but this is also a guy who slots in as a bottom six player on a contending playoff team, especially if his scoring doesn't pick back up, which makes sense.

I mean, he was shooting at an incredible rate early in the season. Like, at what point do the Canucks have to lower the asking price a little bit with a pending UFA here? Yeah, but they got time. There's no deadline that they got to move Sherwood next week. They don't have to move them in the next two weeks. They got time. There's no need to rush into a Sherwood deal.

And, you know, let's take the goals away. Like I told you guys last week, one team told me they want Sherwood because they want the guy in the player. playoffs that played the way Sherwood played against the Canucks in the Nashville series, right? Right. There's a lot of value. He's a good playoff player. He drives teams nuts.

He leads the league and hits. Everyone's going to look at the goals. It's really nice that he's leading Vancouver with 12 goals, but teams aren't necessarily saying, let's go get Sherwood because he's scoring a ton of goals. There are other parts of his game that impress teams, right? The goal scoring is great. Nobody thought he would be leading this team. goals, you know, especially at the rapid pace he was.

But there's other teams, there's other things, Jamie, that teams look at when they look at Kiefer Sherwood, you know, he plays with a pretty good mortar, he's got passion, he's got enthusiasm, he hits, like I said, in the playoffs, he drove the nuts, Kinnock's nuts. That's the reason the Canucks went after him, you know, and so it's just not about goals when it comes to Sherwood and the interest. And, you know, there's 8 to 10 teams right now that would love to get this guy and pluck him into the lineup. And with the salary cap going up and up and up and up, some teams don't have an issue with, you know,

what his potential future contract could look like. You talked about the Canucks putting out that memo and getting, you know, some facts about what teams around the league think about their players. I think from the reporting that's played out over the last couple of weeks, there's been questions at least about Quinn Hughes. and the Canucks have made it pretty clear on their end. You talk about no deadline, no rush to trade Sherwood,

even less rush to trade a player like Quinn Hughes. He's not even extension eligible until the summer. But I do imagine that there have been conversations or at least people reaching out to the Canucks to check in on the Hughes situation. Yeah, I thought Hughes was great in his post-practice interview yesterday. He admitted, look, the losing's not fun. He wants to win.

elite athletes are wired to win. They don't sit there and go, we want to lose. He talked about being tired, playing 29 minutes every night. That's a factor. Adam Foote said he talked to him about being a captain in Canadian market and the pressures that come with it. You know, Bo Horvatt realized that. You know, Trevor Lyndon, Stan Smeil,

Henrik Sudeen, we've had great captains that have had all deal with the media and the outside noise and all that. It's not fun sometimes being a captain in the Canadian market. so I like the fact that Adam Foote has talked to him about that. Hughes knows right now that every move of his is being scrutinized, the body language, the effort, the compete. There's a microscope on this kid, no question. He and his agent also know that the outside noise is, you know, it's going to get worse.

He did meet with his representative in Los Angeles last week. I will say this. His agents do get a kick out of all the crazy trade scenarios being thrown around when the player isn't even a bit. Like, he's not even available. And we do have people, we have stories being written on who's going to get Quinn Hughes. When Quinn Hughes, that trade might not happen for weeks and months away. And yet we have articles being written on who's going to get Quinn Hughes.

I think they get a chuckle. I know they do. They get a chuckle on all the weird, crazy, stupid reporting. Some of the reporting has been crazy. Everybody knows what Hughes and his agent. Look, everybody seems to know what Hughes. And Hughes and his agent are thinking, yet Hughes and his agent haven't said a word about his future, right? But we apparently know that the decisions coming in the summer, according to media.

We know it's coming in December or the summer, but no one's ever said anything. His agent Papperson just dealt with the craziness of Elias Petterson and his contract not long ago in this market, right? So they know the market well. They know Vancouver very, very well. Paperson and J.P. Perry have been dealing with players in Vancouver for the past 30 years. They know the market. They monitor, keep an eye on things, because that's what good agents do. The only thing that can make this better is if the Kinnock somehow go on a heater, like they need to go 9 and 1 in their next 10 games to help change the narrative.

But what's the likelihood of that guys? Like, I mean, it's not good. I mean, Utah just absolutely destroyed. Anaheim the other night. I'm not going to, I'm not saying they're going to do the same tonight, but they just walked in Anahe and beat them 7-0. That's a good young team, fast killed. You got Minnesota a top-five team. I know they lost in Calgary last night, but they're a top-five team in the NHL. Look, you know, as one guy told me in the league this morning, you know, winning cures a lot of things, and the Canucks just haven't done a lot of winning. And with winning comes losing narratives. And, you know,

you get the, you know, you get the negativity, you get all that stuff. I mean, there is one thing that could fix a lot of their problems, and that's just going out and winning. And if they could get on some sort of a winning streak, that would help push a lot of these stories to the back, but a lot of these stories are at the front, and they're not at the back. So we've talked a lot about the players the Canucks might want to move or don't want to move right now. We have started to hear a little bit about some of the players they're targeting.

I know the name Owen Tippett came up this week. What else can you tell us about some of the players the Canucks might be looking to acquire in the trade market? Boy, Friedman really started the Canucks Red Wing stuff. He just, you know, he just called me. I just pushed the, what's the button you push to get rid of the call or whatever? I cut them off. Listen, Detroit does have some very attractive centers.

I don't think Larkin's the guy for Vancouver. I said yesterday on the show, the one center that Canucks have liked for a long, time in Detroit. Going back to his draft year is Marco Casper. Markle Casper was drafted eighth overall in 2022. The Canucks had Casper rank higher than eight that year. That's a player that makes a lot of sense for the Canucks, if down the road, you know, Detroit and Vancouver ever talk about centers. Casper's 21. Canucks keep looking for players in that 20 to 25 year range. They keep saying we like players 20, 25, right? Well, here's the reality. And that's great.

You like guys 20 to 25, but the cost is going to be very high. You know, despite the fact Casper's only got three points in 27 games this year. I think he had 19 goals last year, the year before he's a young kid still. The reality is no one is giving them a center via trade. And if they do, the price is going to be massive. The Canucks could have 40 names on a piece of paper that they're looking at for center. They've been looking since August, right? So July, we are in month six of their hunt for a.

a second line center. Do you understand why they don't have a second line center via trade? They cost an arm in a leg. They don't grow on trees. And if other teams have one, they're not giving them one to you. So I know what Friedman was saying with Detroit. What he was saying was saying was that they have a lot of good centers. But one guy I do know that the Canucks have liked in the past is Marco Casper. They really, really thought high of him in his draft year. Now, I mentioned earlier this week that the Canucks like Owen Tippett in Philadelphia. Well, guess who drafted Owen Tippett in Florida? That would be the Canucks consultant, Dale Tallon, right?

I don't see the Flyers moving Tippett. Philadelphia has called Vancouver to check in on some players, but, I mean, obviously, Talk, it knows all the players inside out. I've been told Philly Vancouver Talks pretty quiet right now. But, I mean, you know what? You're allowed to check in on all players, and you can be easily told, no, that guy's not available. But a lot of people just linked Vancouver and Philly because of Rick Tockeet.

And obviously, Tockeet does know everybody else. I don't think the Connecticut, Philly was looking for forwards on Vancouver. I think a week ago they were looking at a defenseman on Vancouver. I don't know where that is now. But I just do know that Philly and Vancouver, it's quietened up a bit here. All right. Do you have some injury updates? for us, Rick? Just that Thatcher Dempco, I said yesterday on the show he's getting closer. He

skated for a long time before yesterday's practice. Like before yesterday's practice, he was on the ice for quite some time, very active in drills, taking a lot of shots. Before practice, he was doing drills in tight post-to-post. He's getting closer. He's not far away. And Foote said maybe next Thursday against Buffalo, he left early at practice, not because he got injured. And, of course, single a frickin' negative nanny on Twitter thinks, oh, he left practice early, that was planned. When he first got hurt, I heard four to five weeks. That's what it's going to be, is going to be four to five weeks if he comes back next Thursday. When he comes back, he needs to stay healthy if he wants to play for the Americans at the Olympics or be a part of

that team. I've been told that he has not been ruled out for the Americans. They're obviously hopefully he gets back, but time's running out. You want to make an impression with them. You've got to get back playing. The Americans are so loaded at the goaltending position. It's not even funny. They're going to be the best team at the Olympics in that. You know, it's not even close.

And, you know, for Dempco to make that, he's got to get back, he's got to play well. They're obviously going to be keeping an eye on them. They haven't ruled them out. So that's going to be interesting to see how that unfolds. Philip Heedle skated this week. He was on the ice with Dempco on Monday. I can report

progress with Heidel. Let's see where he is at the end of the month. There's no date for his return yet. But the fact that he's skating, has skated quite a bit in the past a little bit. He obviously doesn't want to retire. He wants to give it another shot.

And the fact that I can report progress there, I don't know if it's major progress, but I do want to see where he is at the end of the month. Rick, don't let the negative nannies get to you. This was fantastic. And hey, the white caps on traditional TV tomorrow. Very excited. Hey, hey, listen, I just hate the start time. I think 11.30 in the morning is ludicrous, but why they're doing it is for the European market. So the Europeans, you know, England,

everybody over there overseas can see it. I get it. It's just not a good championship time for me. I didn't like the fact these stories came out yesterday about six cities are willing to move Vancouver for the White Caps out of Vancouver. I thought that was very bad timing. And, you know, Don Garber, the commissioner, saying yesterday the BC Place, the White Caps don't have a good deal.

They don't have a good deal. But I will say this, if B.C. Place doesn't get going and the city and the province don't get going, there's a real possibility, you know, despite this great season that the white caps could leave. Like some people in this city and this province have to get going. And they really do.

And BC Place, obviously, it's not better. The deal is not good. The BC Lions fought this, BC Place as well, when David Braley was trying to get a better deal as well. The only difference between the White Caps and the Lions, the Lions only have 9-10 home dates. The White Caps home dates are way more. And that's a bigger deal because you're talking about so many dates when you're doing a schedule. you would like help from BC Place to do your schedule. You don't need them to just give you three or four dates.

You need many, many, many more. So anyways, I didn't like that fact because the white caps have captured the imagination of the market. Everybody's hoping and wishing for them to win the MLS Cup. But I thought yesterday all these stories about moving them out of town and the fact that BC Place deal is not good. I thought, you know, you could have saved those for after the MLS final, but whatever.

You know what? We're wishing them the best tomorrow. It's like I told you guys, the 79 soccer bowl, obviously I watched it, and it was a big deal in Vancouver, and we want to see a championship tomorrow for sure. Absolutely. Dollywell, thank you, as always, man.

Enjoy the game tomorrow. All right. There we go. All right. That is Rick Dollywall. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.