Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 12/09/25

Episode Date: December 9, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, plus they discuss a disappointing Canucks home loss to the Red Wings with analyst Landon Ferraro. 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 the best of Halford and Brough. And the horn sounds to bring it end to a forgettable night for the Vancouver Canucks. And here come the pretzel. That's beyond embarrassing. Furt's again to throw. Middle of the field. High intercepted.

Tam Hart has it. Ultimately, it's a play that I didn't make. Good morning, Vancouver, 6 o'clock on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It is Halford. It is Brough. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming here live from the Kintech Studios

and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Addo, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brought for the morning is brought to 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 them online at Sands-destrustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Hour 1 is brought to by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. 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 Kintech Studio. Now's the time to maximize the benefits of... of custom orthotics before the year runs out. Visit kintech.net. Time now for the morning drive. Brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out by nobody beats a Duick deal since 1926. Guestless today begins at 6.30.

Eric Engels is going to join the program. Montreal Canadian reporter for Sportsnet, but he's going to be joining us live on location from the NHL Board of Governors meetings in Colorado Springs. Colorado, lots happened on day one yesterday. I assume there'll be lots on the day. dock at day two. Today, we'll ask everything that's going on at the NHL BOG with Eric Engels from

SportsNet at 6.30. 7 o'clock, Greg Wasinski's going to join the program, our NHL insider from ESPN. Five games in the NHL last night, including the Canucks 4-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Rogers Arena. 10 games in the NHL tonight. We'll go around the league for all the latest with Greg at 7 o'clock. At 8.10, Landon Ferraro is going to join the program. Canucks analyst right here on SportsNet. It was another ugly loss for the Vancouver Canucks last night. This time, as mentioned, a 4-0-0 defeat to Detroit in front of the home crowd at Rogers Arena. We'll talk to Landon about what he saw or did not see last night. That's coming up at 8.10. Right before Landon this morning at 8 o'clock, we're going to do the latest iteration of Halford and

Bruff's 12 days of Christmas. Listen to us every day throughout December. The contest will run until December 16th for your chance to score an early Christmas present. We're giving away some very cool stuff. Tickets to sporting events, restaurant gift cards. Yesterday we gave away a pizza party to AJ's pizza on East Broadway. Caller number five at 8 a.m. this morning is going to win. Caller number 5, 604-280-650. That number again, 604-280-650.

That's what's happening on the show today. It's the Duick Morning Drive. Without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? because I'm...

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? 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.ca. It was John Gibson the hero last night. 37 saves for his first shutout as a Detroit Red Wing. And the Detroit Red Wing defeated your Vancouver Canucks 4-0. at Rogers Arena on Monday night. Well, you mentioned the shots, and the Canucks controlled that. Yes. On the night, and the game actually started out somewhat encouragingly for the home team.

I don't know if they were buzzing, but maybe humming. Maybe they're humming. Buzz it? There's a buzz, right? We're buzzing. Like a poo after he was up for too long at the Quickey Mart? Just buzzing. Yeah.

There you go. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no. That was buzzing. It was humming. Not humming. They were a mix of both. They were buzzing. They were like,

bumming is what you're saying, a buzz? They were buzzing and humming. I could go with bumming. I could go with bumming. You're the one who brought a poo into it, and so early in the morning. But a lack of finishing and maybe a bit of bad luck allowed the Red Wings to keep the game scoreless

before capitalizing on some poor puck management and shaky defending from the Kinnock's. Vancouver was without, Elias Pedersen for the second straight game and the ongoing nightmare down the middle was a big factor in the loss, both defensively and offensively. Halford, I know you'll have some comments about Lankton as well. I'm not particularly interested in going back and breaking down Detroit's goals for too long, but suffice to say there were some mistakes made. Drew O'Connor, who's not a center but his playing center. Yeah.

had a tough shift on Detroit's second goal and the Canucks didn't have a natural center out on their third goal either which is incredible their first three goals that they surrendered all at five on five the Canucks had a natural center out for one of those goals and that was Atu-Ratoo. I wonder if there's a correlation between the two.

Who actually made a bit of a mistake on that goal. Yeah, Garland, Kane, and Sherwood were the forwards on the ice for the third goal and that was the backbreaker really. I guess it was the first goal considering they couldn't score, but it looked like Garland was kind of sort of playing the center role on that one, and he left Nate Danielson all alone in front of Lankin to tip at home. I know some people were blaming Marcus Pedersen on that play, and he did chase away from the front

of the net, but Garland was originally on Danielson. If you want to blame Garland, fine. If you want to blame, you know, Pederson, that's fine, too. Who cares, really? There was a, you know, all that you need to know is that there was a glaring mix-up. With two Canucks going to one guy and one guy being left alone. And then it was 3-0 and it was over because, you know, they couldn't score. And Lankanin was replaced by Tolo Pilo in the third.

And it sounds like Adam Foote regretted his decision to start Lankan over Tolo Pilo. But he's also wondering, we are at the point right now where he doesn't want to overplay Tolo Pilo because he's not sure if Demko will indeed be back on Thursday, although he thinks that's possible. Yeah, if you overplay Tolopilo, he might not be fresh, and you might not get the results you need to get out of 32nd place in the National Hockey League. One more thing of note about the game. There had been quite a bit of trade discussion involving,

well, at least speculative, at least, involving the Red Wings and the Canucks. A few of the names that have been kicked around They all had productive nights for Detroit The young defenseman Axel Sandine Pelica I think he had two points Marco Casper had a point And Nate Danielson we just talked about the goal that he scored In fact, each of them had a point on that goal

There has been talked that Casper might get sent down to the HL So I'm not sure his stock is super high right now I think we all understand now that Casper was the guy that Elliot Friedman was hinting about when he brought up a potential Quinn Hughes trade with Detroit. If we had been following the Red Wings on a day-to-day basis and there had been talk about like, what's going on with Casper?

You know, because he actually had a pretty encouraging second half of last season. Yep. And this season, he's been a disappointment. And they were even talking about sending him down to the H.L. For a reset because so I think that's obviously the guy because well he's not very good right now so they're they're fine with trading him and you know i i'm watching these games and uh sometimes i'm upset but sometimes i just kind of

start laughing maniacally because david comf is there one C in these games this is the guy that couldn't like he could not get a game for Toronto he's like uh i'm going to like cancel my contract in Toronto because can't they're going to I think they did send him down to the HL. They tried to. They tried to. I'm not doing this. Yeah. And now he's like he's the one C. He put himself out there saying. And by the way

he can't, he doesn't have points. He just can't he can't produce offensive. He put himself out there saying like I'm going to see if I can find an opportunity. And the Vancouver Connect said, David boy, do we have an opportunity for you. And it's the opportunity to be our one C at times. And right away, not down the road. You won't

have to wait very long. It's been it would be sad if it wasn't funny it would be funny if it wasn't sad it's one of those kind of situations where the Canucks are at right now So the centers last night Yep And they have been for the last two games

With Pedersen being out Ratu, KF, O'Connor And Sasson Yeah That's not it But it's also I don't know if those four Are gonna get it done

It's just one of the problems On the team So when you're trying to talk about you come in the morning and you try and figure out like what's going to be the talking point for the day. And as you go along in this season, I've noticed this with the postgame show as well, it becomes increasingly difficult to break down the game as intricately as you might if the results mattered. When the results don't matter, and let's be abundantly clear, they really don't right now. If the Canucks lose that game 1-0 or 6-5 or 4-0, it's all the same thing in the end.

It's another loss in what's become a lost season. So it's harder to break those things down. You start looking for some bigger picture things. One of the stories that I did notice in light of the fact that they got skunked 4-0 on home ice is that whatever they were going to write the wrongs of last year, which was a debacle at home, that's gone because they're as equally as poor this year at on-home ice

as they were last year. You sent me a text last night. They're now 4-9-1 at home. That's four home wins. And we're at December 9th. Four home wins. So the only team that has fewer homes, When home wins than the Canucks is the New York Rangers, who you'll remember started the season and I guess continue the season comically at home.

Yeah, that was a big story. Infamously bad home run. Yeah, infamously bad and they couldn't score at Madison Square Garden. That's the only team that has fewer home wins than the Canucks. Canucks have not won consecutive home games at home since March of last season, March 5th and 7. So it's been an awfully long time since you've seen the team take advantage consecutively at home. So that's an issue. I also want to say,

and I'm embarrassed to admit this on the air because I cover sports for a living and I cover the National Hockey League for a living to give you an idea of how checked out. I had no idea that James Van Rien-Zyke played for Detroit. He's on fire right now. I had no idea. No idea.

Did you know he was still in the league? He scored last time. I'm like, was that his brother? And then I looked, I'm like, nope, that's James. Does he play for the Flyers? He does not. I think he's not. I thought he played for the Flyers.

And then, so I dug into it, he has six goals in his last seven games. He went like 17 games without scoring, which is maybe why I didn't know he was in the NHL anymore, let alone a member of the Detroit Red Wings. But it kind of underscores a lot of different things. I do want to focus back on what's going on at home, though, unless you've got a text you want to read.

Well, this is, I'm going to read a text. Okay. Unsigned text. How seriously do you think ownership is considering making a change? Have you heard anything interesting? Okay. I'll tell you that as a media guy, right now I am hearing all sorts of rumors and I don't know if any of them are true. And I think if there's one thing I'm pretty confident about is that all sorts of options are getting disgust at Rogers Arena.

Now, is there a major move before Christmas? there are only six games until the break, five of them on the road. Thursday's game against Buffalo is their last home game before the Christmas break. At this point, nothing would surprise me.

Obviously, the Quinn Hughes situation has been top of mind amidst all the various reports. And the message from a guy like Elliot Freeman is he's like, look, I don't know if they're going to pull the trigger on a move here, but this is going

potentially quicker than I thought it might and potentially quicker than Quinn Hughes thought it might so it's possible that he could be traded sooner rather than later but here's the but then you have to wonder if ownership might call an audible on that play

like I could see a situation where management goes to ownership and says we've got a Quinn Hewold. use trade. And I think you're really going to like it. And then ownership goes, well, here's the thing. We've gotten to the point where you are bringing me a Quinn Hughes trade. And that means you have failed. Yeah. So maybe they move to replace the management team whose guidance helped bring us here. I suppose they could fire the coach. But at this point, why even bother? And is there a situation where Jim Rutherford fires out?

Alveen and gets to hire a new GM. Maybe. But the things that I'm hearing, if you want to ask what I'm hearing, I'm hearing, I get like a lot of cryptic texts from people that are like, I can't say too much. Yeah. But, you know, this is maybe happening, which is not helpful at all. It's just kind of like, just tell me what, tell me what you're thinking. Well, I would not be.

Could all of those things happen then, maybe? I don't know. Like new coach, new GM. Well, here, okay. Well, I don't think that it's possible for Rutherford to fire Alvin and hire a new GM if Rutherford has already been fired. That's tough. So I don't think that's possible. That's extremely difficult to do.

So when you ask if all those things happen, no. It would be funny if you tried, though. They just let you go before I go. I just have one thing I have to do. I would, it's very obvious that they are in the mission critical part of the movie where, someone stands up and there's like there's no bad ideas here guys like all ideas on the table we're not necessarily in fresh start territory but we're close so anything that you've got let's just get it out there and no discussion is off limits and inevitably

anytime you put that out there everything's going to lead back to one thing and that's hughes because he's the best player he's the captain he's the biggest prize and he's going to fetch you the most in any sort of deal looking back on the memo that rutherford and company sent it was almost comical because it's you can understand the you know they're trying to stop the bleeding or stem the title of it like okay we'll make a concession that this year isn't going very well and we'll open open up our coffers to move some of our unrestricted for agents and maybe some veteran players and then all the other teams in the nchel just bypassed right right over top of that glossed over that and they're like let's get to the huge part of this

because that was the inevitable end to this conversation was well if you're entertaining the idea of potentially moving Sherwood and potentially moving Cain, that means you're blowing up this season. If you're blowing up this season, who else are you willing to move? And if you're willing to move anybody, let's talk about Quinn Hughes.

And that's where it's going to be. Again, I look at the calendar. It's December 9th. I don't know how many real or artificial deadlines are on the horizon, but every game that goes by, especially for an organization that I will remind you,

has two, count them two, eight game homes, homestands on the docket for 2026. That's a lot of games at home against a lot of checked out fans against a lot of empty seats where you can really... You sound like Trump. Really a lot of empty seats out there. I mean, I saw some last night. Yeah.

What do you think Thursday against Buffalo is going to be like, man? I looked at ticket master. You know how they got the blue dots and the red dots and the red dots are resale tickets. So those tickets have already been sold. Right. There's a lot of blue dots. A lot of blue dots, right? It's blue dots central.

And that's not good. And you've got a lot of home games. Like, I keep looking at those two eight game homestands in the year. I'm like, what are those going to look like? Yeah. If this is what it looks like now, what do those look like? I don't foresee this team, even like kind of fluking their way into, like, have you even paid attention to Calgary the last little bit?

Yeah, they won a few. Calgary seven, two and one in their last 10. They've won three or four. They won last. They'd be Buffalo. Buffalo is going to be in here. on Thursday. I have a hard time

seeing the Kinex even put in together kind of one of those fluke runs like that where you get a goalie that goes on a heater or all of a sudden the goals start going in

you get a lot of bounces and you get on a win streak they have shown a complete inability to win more than one game in a row. I always pull up the ESPN is great for the graphics because they have the big red L's

when you lose and the fun little green Ws when you win. Not a lot of green Ws. There's a lot of red L's. I was thinking yesterday about how our immediate response to anyone that says, you know, like, we need to rebuild is, yes, they do, but also ownership has never indicated

that they are willing to entertain a change in philosophy, you know, just a general change in like, you know, how we have that conversation. I was like, is it, is it us? Like, are we making some mistakes? Are we asking the wrong things of the people that we. higher in management positions or are we being too impatient and giving them marching orders to get back into contention asap even if the right way to get back into it in contention is to be a little more patient um eventually something gets to the point where that question gets asked

though right like because i've obviously been following this team a long time and i've been doing professionally for a while now, I have never seen, never, never in my life, seen the push for the rebuild like it is right now. Because you have to imagine or you have to remember that even though some of the Jim Benning teams were worse than this one, I think in my mind, they were. They weren't outshooting anyone like they could have stood last night. They were there. They were They were some bad teams. They were horrible. It was closer to the successful years.

Yeah, it was on the heels of the happy times. It wasn't that far removed from almost winning the Stanley Cup. Now we are very, very far removed. And with the Buffalo Sabres coming in on Thursday, you know, you just got two really bad teams that have gone about things the wrong way. Um, and, and I think Buffalo, I mean, Buffalo has tried to rebuild, but I think it's really unfair to look at what Buffalo has done and gone, look, these tear down rebuilds don't work. Like they're one of the, they've got a terrible culture in Buffalo. They got a general manager who shouldn't be the general manager, an owner that's way more interested in the Buffalo bills. Like that, that, that, you seem like you want to say something.

Yeah, I want to place, you're, well, you're setting it up perfectly. I don't know whether you're doing this intentionally or now, but that's a great chemistry, Halford and Bruff have. So yesterday, Buffalo's in Calgary. They lose 7-4. And Eric Francis, during the intermission, went down the road you're talking about. I'll just let the audio speak for itself. It's about 35 seconds of this is the home Calgary Flames broadcast, absolutely suering. The visiting Buffalo Sabres and their continuously failed rebuild.

Here's Eric Francis, Sportsnet Flames reporter from last night's game. Flames beat Buffalo 7-4. Here's what he had to say at the intermission. You guys have been the poster boy for why you can't tear something down. That debate's been going on in this city for the last, well, a couple years now. And the point is always towards the Buffalo Sabres. You want to tear something down to the studs? Be careful because you could end up being the Buffalo Sabres.

And for 20 years, you're the worst team in hockey or they're about. So that's part of the ongoing argument. And we're seeing it firsthand tonight. This team's give a crap meter is almost shut off. They've got some talent. They've got some good pieces. So even though you go out and win a draft pick, Like a Tatech Thompson is a great player, but without the, you know, the team effort and the culture that's getting built, it means nothing.

As long as Buffalo exists, unfortunately, they're always going to be the poster children for why you shouldn't do it. And of course, they're having that debate in Calgary right now. And I think that's why Eric brought it up yesterday. Yeah, do you think? While they were being, while the sabers were being torched by the flames. Are they not the exception to the rule, though? Yes, they are 100%, which is why I wanted to play it. And I understand that they exist and I understand that they're real and that you could end up being them.

I like to think of the Sabres as an example of a warning of a different thing. Not about the rebuild. Like they tore it down and they built poorly and they made a bunch of mistakes. But that shouldn't really take away from the genesis of why you tear something down. Or you need to tear something down because it's not working. You have to start anew and you have to try something fresh. And you have to have the right crew there to build it back up, which clearly they have not done in Buffalo.

But all these NHL talking heads are missing the point with Buffalo. The point with Buffalo is you cannot take your market for granted. And you cannot take that the fans are always going to show up. Like the rebuild wasn't the problem. The inability to build it back up was the problem, right? And making clinical and catastrophic mistake after mistake after mistake, not having patience, not holding on to the right guys. all of that stuff

is the reason that it's the most apathetic hockey market going right now and I mean that like from the heights from which you fell and that should be the warning call to Vancouver and every other team that starts to take its passionate fan base

and a like a zealous hockey market for granted that everyone's not going to keep showing up and everyone's not going to keep caring is that some people aren't going to show up to the rink to boo they're not going to show up to the rink at all, right? And the

Buffalo Sabers, where they're at right now, is not the shining light to never tear it down and rebuild. It's going through a funk so long and making catastrophic mistakes, but then never really acknowledging that you've messed it up. And just assuming that this passion and hockey base is going to stick around forever.

That's what the Buffalo Sabers are a warning of. A few people texted in and said, can you at least give us some clues about some of the cryptic text that you're getting? So you want me to give you clues about text that I'm not 100% sure. I understand. Okay, fine, let's do it. One of them suggested that they are suggesting. They are looking at a philosophical overhaul. A change in direction. But that requires investment. It requires investment in new management.

and it requires an investment in maybe having a bunch of nights where you got empty seats. And, you know, I think we might have that anyway on Thursday. But the one thing that this Connects team has been successful in doing, and maybe it's some of you that's the problem, because you're so gullible and you're so optimistic and you want the best for, your team is that every year a large majority of the fan base talks themselves into the team

and look at what people were talking themselves into this season Adam foot Quinn loves him he does or he did change that vibe that that that talk it had you know Petey you know he's there's no more JT

he's gonna be back and Petey's been better but Like, if he was, if Petey was a 10 out of 10 at his best level that we've seen in Vancouver and he fell to like a 3 out of 10, he's like a 7 out of 10 now. He's not, it's not back. He's not, in my mind, he's not an elite 1C. You know, the goaltending, it's going to be great. They got Dempco and Lankinen together. How many times did we hear best goalie tandem in the NHL?

And everyone was like, we'll just ignore. or the blatant injury risks that Demko comes with. And maybe the fact that Lankan came in, he was desperate, he played well, and he got the contract, but could you have been maybe fooled a little bit on a short sample size? Incredible defensive depth, too. Because it's not like this guy had been dominating in the NHL ever. He'd had a few good stints here and there, and he was a good signing on a bargain contract, but was he a guy who wanted to commit, what, 22 minutes?

million dollars to just think about all the things that you've talked yourselves into and we've done it a little bit too like we've been like I don't know maybe right maybe I know I don't have a crystal ball but that is one thing that this Canucks team has been good at you create that hope at the beginning of the season you sell enough tickets in the off season that the building is full for them to go like actually we are almost certainly going to be bad next season is a risk but I do wonder if it's a risk that they're getting closer and closer to being willing to take you're listening to the best of halford and brough you're listening to the best of halford and brough the connects you're going to practice this morning at rogers arena media availability after that

11 a.m. practice for the Canucks again they've got Buffalo coming to town on Thursday. Buffalo just lost in Calgary I guess the things to watch for today at practice are, is that your Demko going to be there? We saw the return of Nils Hoaglunder yesterday and he looked a little rusty. Yep, he played hockey. I thought he had some energy

early in the game but didn't know so much at the end of the game. I think Adam Foote actually suggested that it might be Demko on Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres and that would be a welcome return for me the goal tending has been a real problem

There's a lot of people that want the Canucks to not win I don't call that the Sad Club Bowl Is that the Sad Club? It's a sad club showdown Sad Club Showdown I like that. I've coined it on the marquee yeah it's like

you got to promote these things right showdown sounds cool yeah right the sad club showdown. I wonder where Sabres fans are right now because they've done they've done all the things that we as a fan base

seem to be clamming for and it didn't work. Seriously, what do you think Buffalo fans want them to do? Because there is an overwhelming I would say consensus in Vancouver about what the Kinnock should do. You know, Rebuild, rebuild, rebuild, rebuild.

What? I know. They want to rebuild, but good this time. Yeah. But better. Is that what they have to put, like, rebuild? But, you know, do it right this time. Well, if you want to go into like a very quick because we will have landing coming up,

but thorough deep dive is that they lacked the patience on a lot of fronts to follow through with a plan. Like the tearing down part was easy and they did it quite effective. and dramatically, I might add, but there were major, major regime changes along the way, right? From Murray to Botterill to Adams, like those are architects of plans. Now, when you take something over, which we might see here in short order, part of your overhaul is having to undo all the stuff the previous regime did, right? That's a big part of it. I can come in and I can make changes. Well, how are you going to do it?

Well, I'm going to do it differently than the previous guy. going to do it with different staff, going to do it with different executives, going to do it with different coaches. And that is a sort of starting from the ground up. The problem of it is that you have to inherit the other person's mess. It's not always easy. And you have to inherit the other person's culture.

I think one of the toughest things, if you want to go down a rebuild, is to set any sort of culture when there is an expectation of not being very good. And players look around the room and they're like, we're not as good as the other team and you have to try and maintain that culture because everyone points

and they try and simplify and I get it and they're like well the relationship with Jack Eichle got broken and they had to trade Jack Eichael and that's why they are still in this position and I'm not saying that that's 100% wrong

but when Eichael was there there were issues with that team like he didn't look happy you remember when Ryan O'Reilly was just like I think I think I hate hockey. Yeah. You know,

and that is, that is the challenge of, you know, and I think Montreal has done a relatively good job of having a, of building a good culture. And I think a lot of it

starts with a guy like Nick Suzuki. You have to have the right leader. Sure. I know, I know Landon's waiting, but I just want to throw this out there. Okay. When it comes to the Canucks three centers

and, you know, that they've had, that they were popular in this market and they all had their fan bases. You got Horvatt, who's the captain, you got J.T. and Elias Pedersen. And Alias Pedersen is the last guy

of the three. And people are always like, should they have kept Horvatt over Miller or maybe they should have traded Pedersen instead of Miller and all that? My response is maybe none of them were good enough to set

the culture that you need because the bar is so damn high. I have time for that argument. The way, you know, I think Horvatt, he was kind of like a paint-by-numbers captain. Like, there was nothing you were like, yeah, I guess he's saying all the right things. But did he inspire his teammates?

No, no, he read the how to be a captain's manual and called it to a team. Yes, well, let's bring Landon into this conversation now. Sure. And talk about building a culture when you're losing and how difficult that is. Landon Ferraro, Canucks Analyst, joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650.

Good morning, Landon. How are you? I'm doing good. How are you guys doing? We're good. We're throwing you right into the middle of several conversations here, but one talking about building a culture and what it starts with. You played on a bunch of different teams, both here and overseas. So I imagine there's been a lot of different ways to cut up the pie or build the process or whatever. Feel free to take this answer in any way you want to go,

what are some of the important building blocks and staples of building a team culture? Well, you got to make sure that first off that you have the right leader, leading the group in the sense of the coaching staff. You need to make sure that they're dialed into what the plan and idea of trying to work through a group that, you know, isn't as good. Then it gets to your veterans that, you know, coach is relaying his message, and it's, you know, it's really up to the veterans in a lot of ways to kind of set that tone and make sure that the rest of the young guys are following in line as

well, but then it trickles down another step, and it's about drafting and bringing in the right young guys that are hungry and can handle the losing, but still be pushing to be better, right? Like, you know, I played on one championship team in the American League, and a lot of the rest of my time from junior all the way through my pro career, I was on a lot of bad teams. So, like, I know this side pretty well. And, you know, you have to be able to separate, you know, to fans in some media, I'm guessing this might sound, like,

not the best way to go about it, but you have to separate yourself from the results. like you have to look at like what am I trying to accomplish in this practice or this game and really kind of start giving yourself and you know the coach will do this too

but giving yourself something smaller to focus on you don't need to or not even need you can't look at the big picture of you know trying to correct a bunch of different things and worrying about if I'm the third line right wing

worrying about what's happening down the middle of the ice and, you know, are they going to get a different centerman? Like all of those things, like you just have to really focus on yourself. You have to make sure that your group has that inner drive that can be frustrated with losses, but not get put on their heels and just kind of accept it. Right? Like we've, you know, I heard you guys, uh, as I clicked on, uh, talking about Buffalo, like that's a group that, for the longest time now like they've just been stuck in that

as much as they say they're trying to fight and get out of out of the bottom of the league like they have they need a full reset and they've tried doing it a few times and it just hasn't happened like they haven't got the right mix of guys

to be able to push past everything that's happened in the past and Vancouver's on that cosporate now of needing to really, I'd say make a decision, but more so, like, have to really focus on what's happening right now, not the big picture, focus on the next practice, the next shift, the next game, like breaking it up as much as you can.

And, you know, if you're a video game guy, like almost little side quests, right? Like, as you start going into a game, like, we're going to really focus on these parts. and you know like you can look at the game last night you can look at the game against Utah against Colorado like yes they lose but can you guys like you guys have to admit right like they played pretty good they just made some mistakes and the other teams are good and they end up winning but there's really good

pieces out of that and I know it it does get old hearing you know like we didn't get the win but I'm really happy with these two parts of our game all of our four check and how we handled extended zone time in our own end. We're able to keep them to the outside. Like, those are good building blocks. And you have to make sure the guys hear that you're happy with what is going on. And, like, in those instances.

And, like, you know, be positive with that while still talking about, like, yes, that's a good building block, but we still have another one to go after. We have another step to take and just keep building and keep trying to, add little piece by piece as you're handling young guys and old guys at the same time. What do you think it's like for the teammates of Quinn Hughes that know that he might not be long for the team? It's, you know, that's a trickier situation for sure. You know, I can't say that I've, I've been on a team where not even just an all-star, but one of the best players in the game and your captain and leader. you don't know what's going to happen with them. And as much as, you know, and that's, you know, I would say like that's where it's so good

that they have got some younger guys on the team where, like, they're fighting for their NHL careers right now. Regardless of the team was in first in the league or last in the league. There's young guys in the group that are constantly pushing to themselves get better, try and find their place in the league but on the team as well and trying to grab more minutes and opportunity

like those are good things but at the end of the day you're looking at your captain and you don't know what's going to happen and like it is a tough spot to be in but that's NHL hockey and you know some some young guys get to kind of

slowly learn that it's a business and some guys find out really fast that you can be doing everything you can and trying to win and it just it isn't working and all of a sudden now there's now there's all these trade talks and your captain's you know kind of front center in that and it's a it's a it's a different place to be but just like quince has said multiple times like no none of those guys can control any of that yeah so that's what's another learning curve for for the young guys to you know just start trying to learn how to block some

noise out. You have some good veterans, especially a guy like Tyler Myers that has been through pretty much everything and can help those guys kind of move along and not get pulled into the buck really. I like the perspective you bring Landon because it's different from ours because you look at as a guy who's been a player before and a player that's tried to carve out his role on a team. And you've been in situations where You're like, oh, man, I'm fighting for my NHL life here. I got to play well, and I want the opportunity. So I would understand, you know, the way you put it, I now look at it a little bit differently.

You know, Atu, Ratu, probably excited that he's going to get a really big role with all the injuries that have occurred to the Canucks. But, you know, I'll always be a fan first. And the way that I look at it now is kind of like, I'm really having trouble. you know, getting invested in Max Sasson's development or anything like that because I just look at the team in big picture you know,

what does it matter? And I'm wondering if, you know, you've, I'm wondering, you know, is your perspective as a player, how much of the fans, like how much empathy do you have for the fans as a player? Like, do you think any of the Canucks

are actually thinking right now, this must be really hard for the fans. Like, I'm not just saying this to try and be on the guy's side, but I, like, I honestly think fans and media would be surprised with how much guys care about that, right? Like, no one wants to sign in Vancouver, move, okay, we'll use Connor Garland as an example. He's from the opposite side of North America. he's chosen to sign a long-term extension here in Vancouver

because he likes Vancouver and he wants to be a Canuck and he's sitting here like he doesn't want to walk around with his wife and baby and know that people know who he is and they're not happy right like it feels good to go out and play good on home ice and you go grab a bite to eat after or you're out for lunch after practice the next day with your family and some random person walks up to you

and you can see the excitement in them of how happy they are from the wind the night before. Like as dumb as that sounds, it kind of warms your heart. You're like, yeah, like I help do that. And my hard work and the time that I've spent away from my family, you know,

going on the road or even in the summers when they want to take another trip or something and go do something fun. And no, I got to go to the gym. I got to go skate and prepare for the next season. Like all those things, it's not that it's sitting in the forefront of all their brains, but definitely they feel that. I wish we'd hear that.

I don't want to cut you off, but I wish we'd hear that from them. I don't, I don't, in my opinion, I feel like a lot of the time you want, not a lot of the time. But like, I remember a few times wanting to say that. and you're like, you feel like it's going to come across his fake, right? Like, he's just saying the things that, you know, they know we want to hear. And so, like, that's why guys are guarded sometimes. Like, even when they want to show real emotion, like, we've seen it a few times this year. Like, I forget which goalie was a young goalie celebrating after a shootout win,

and he gets roasted for it. He's a young goalie that got a win against a, a really good team, right? So now he wins his next one and he didn't really want to celebrate as much. And it's the same for speaking to media and talking in public. Like, you want to say something sometimes, especially when things aren't good. Like, you want to speak your mind sometimes. And whether that's speak your mind good or bad.

And you just, you have those thoughts going through your head as the reporters. asking the question, you know what your answer is and then you've got to quickly figure out am I actually going to say that or do I need to give something else? Like I, there's a lot, you know, they're all ultra competitors. They have, they have a fire in them and every once and a while it's something will come out the wrong way because they're amped up from the game. It's just like Quinn Hughes doing all the postgame press conferences, media scrums. And, you know, and he's caught some flack over the past bit here of body language or just his answers. Like, that guy has been answering our questions for 18 months.

And none of them have been fun questions for the most part, right? Like, it doesn't matter how good of a leader he is. Like, that's going to wear on you eventually. And he might want to say something, but if he says something good and he talks about how much he loves the fans and all this, they're like, oh, he's just kind of saying it. I don't know. I don't know.

I think if Quinn came out and said, listen, because so much has been about when he asked about Quinn, it's about him. It's like, I want to win. You know, like I want to win. And I, and I, that's fine. I'm not saying that that's the wrong thing to say. But I think if you were to just have an aside and just be like,

listen, I just want to say, I know how hard this is for the fans. And have something prepared or maybe it just comes straight from the heart. I think, you know, whether it changes anything. Here's my opinion, and it's from, I get a lot of people, I don't think the fans feel particularly connected to this team. Well, I could, I sense that too, for sure. But at the same time, you know, like I finish the second intermission panel, and I'm done for the night.

So I kind of generally decide what I'm going to do. am I going to stay at the desk up top and watch? Am I going to go find a seat if I know someone that's at the game? Or do I go to look? Yeah, you just kind of go watch from different areas. And the amount of people that stop me and are so excited to talk about the team. And, you know, like last night someone stopped me and at that time it was 3-0. And like you can see that they want their team to win.

But at the same time, like they got a smile on and they're like, they're working hard. like they're doing a lot of good things right like it's i don't think it's that they're not connected to it i think it's more like my feel of it is that you don't want to admit that you're connected to it because then it feels stronger and you know where the season is right like they're guarding themselves a bit because just think of two years ago halfway or not even half not halfway through the year because that was a good year that they win win the division but at the same time like until playoffs or that kind of final stretch hit, like people knew they were a good team,

but they didn't want to fully admit it still. It's no different than I'm watching the MLS final the other day. And it's funny, I go over my dad and little brothers are watching it, and I come down and I see they're down to one. And the first thought I had, and it made me laugh. I'm like, I think I'm a Vancouver right through and through now. Because the first thing I thought was, that makes sense. Right? Like it's, there's, but that goes back to your culture talk and, and a shift and a different mindset, you know, like, it's sitting in the fan base and the media for sure. And it's kind of at that tipping point with the team. And, and I think that they're, you know, they've found some real good positive, you know, momentum forward, even though there is losses. Like, there's parts of their game that are. You know, you know, they've found some real good positive, you know, you know, momentum forward. Even though there's parts of their game that are. Like, you know, you know, like, you know, there's parts of their

so much better than they were a month ago. And that's still, like, looking at the last game or the last two, they have, like, two legit NHL centers. And I say legit is in, like, proven and Atu-Ratu, who is an NHL center? Like, he's proving that. The four centers they rolled out yesterday, it was incredible that it's come to that.

With no disrespect to those guys. no but you have a true winger that's playing fourth line center and to be honest Drew O'Connor did a pretty good job too like he's decent on draws but like guys are doing the best they possibly can you can see the effort is there frustration in the game at time of course there is because it's not fun to lose a bunch and you know that your team's put in the same amount of work as the other team like the the thought of of all that team, that team works way harder. No, like

everyone's pushing and you just don't have the right arsenal. You don't have the right guys healthy and even if they all were you know, like at best you're probably a middle of the pack team. Landon, this was great buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do

this. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week. We'll do this again next week. Yeah, have a good one guys. You too. Thanks on Landon-Farrow connects analyst here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. You're listening to The Best of Halford and Brough.