Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 12/10/24

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

Jason and guest host Jamie Dodd look back at the previous day in sports, the boys set up tonight's Canucks home matchup versus the Blues, plus they go around the NHL with analyst Ray 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 Halford and Brough. Joe has the football. He'll look to throw. Fires a pass. Caught by Jamal Chase. Down the sideline. 20, 15, 10. Touchdown! Bengals! Toward the end zone. Touch diddly down. Burrows pass incomplete. Blown up by Moe Sislak. Oh, God. Choking on my own plate here. Good morning. Welcome to Halford and Brough here on Sportsnet 650. I'm Jamie Dodd filling in for Mike Halford.

One final day here on the program. Brough, what's going on, man? Good morning. How are you doing? I'm doing great. I actually, I have adjusted to this schedule just in time to go back to my normal schedule tomorrow. I feel vaguely human this morning. How are you doing? I'm doing great. I actually, I have adjusted to this schedule just in time to go back to my normal schedule tomorrow. I feel vaguely human this morning. So, Jamie and I live pretty close to each other, so he comes over to my place and waits outside.

Yes. I come down and, yeah, he's like a lost dog outside. Well, I'm not going to ring the doorbell at 5.30. No, it's fine. How frosted up was my car this morning? Very frosted. It was an icebox. Yes, it was. Why was my car, does my car sweat at night or something like that? Is that why, that's why it was way more frosted than any of the other cars on the street.

They say cars take after their owners. Yeah, it was like, it was just a sweaty mess. Sweaty mess of a car sitting there getting all wet and then frozen, I guess. Anyways, A-Dog, hello. Good morning. Laddie. Hello. Hello, hello hello hello wow good job all right so we're all here um lots to get into today first though of course health and abrupt brought to you by the delari family of honda dealers experience the delari difference today visit your nearest delari honda dealer today hour one of the show is brought to you by north star metal recycling van, Vancouver's premier metal recycler.

Pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling. They recycle. You get paid. 1170 Powell Street. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews.

So, Rafi, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. 650-650, of course, is the Dunbar Lumber text line. You can start sending your thoughts. And busy day on the show. At 6.30, Greg Wyshynski from ESPN is going to join us. Not a busy night in the NHL last night, but some interesting results that we can get into,

some interesting news out of the Board of Governors meetings, and just lots going on generally in the sport. We'll talk to Wish about that at can get into. Some interesting news out of the Board of Governors meetings. And just lots going on generally in the sport. We'll talk to Wish about that at 6.30. 7 o'clock, more NHL talk with Ray Ferraro. Maybe a little Canucks there, of course, around the league stuff as well with Ray. 7.30, Jeremy Rutherford. He covers the Canucks opponent, the St. Louis Blues, for the Athletic. They've made a coaching change recently.

So lots going on, lots to get into with Rutherford at 7.30, and then 8 o'clock, a second Ferraro on the show, Landon Ferraro, Canucks analyst, who you hear on this station, you see on TV on the game broadcasts as well, so we'll look ahead to tonight's

game, talk about recent results for the Canucks with Landon as well. So, working in reverse, 8 o'ucks with Landon as well so working in reverse eight o'clock Landon Ferraro 7 30 Jeremy Rutherford seven o'clock Ray Ferraro 6 30 Greg Wyshynski lots of hockey talk on the show before we do any of that let's tell everyone what happened hey did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened?

You missed that? What happened? What Happened 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 bccsa.ca. It's a Canucks game day. resources and safety training, visit bccsa.ca. It's a Canucks game day. They had the day off yesterday,

but still a little bit of news to get into with the Canucks, Jason. Yeah, they sent Max Sasson down to the AHL. Now, this is likely just a cap move, one of those cap accrual things we've gotten really into on the Halford & Brough show. Although I don't. We love cap accrual. It's a big big it's one of the themes of the season um i and given the canucks didn't have an extra forward in their last game mark friedman was the only healthy scratch it's possible i suppose that the canucks could call someone else up instead of sasson would they consider lecker mackie who's been scoring some goals down in the NHL?

We'll see. There is a media availability this morning. There's a game day skate at 10.30 a.m. followed by a media availability. So we'll see who's on the ice for the Canucks. Max Sasson could be back, or I suppose could be someone else. Did you want to add something on the Max Sasson thing?

Not really. Just that, you know, Taka's done this a lot with young players where he really likes their game in game one or two, but then when the media checks in on the player like a week later, Taka will say, well, it needs to be more consistent, right? And so I think Max Sasson, impressive performance in his first couple of games, but Taka, just like he is with Baines like he maybe was with lecker mackie waiting to see more from some of these young baines could get called up again i mean look i think that's

only natural too i don't think that's a rick talkett thing i think what happens when young players come in is they are like really dialed in and got the adrenaline going and they are super focused and then it gets to games four or five or six and I don't want to say they get comfortable but you don't have that same sort of adrenaline going through you and how many times do we hear the whole thing of like what it takes to be a regular everyday NHLer is just to have a routine that you go through and one where you are consistent and the coach knows what to expect of you in every game. I have a question for you.

Okay. Tonight against St. Louis, because JT Miller isn't expected back tonight, and we'll get into the latest JT Miller news after this, should the Canucks keep DeBrusque, Petey, and Besser together as a trio? Yes, I think so. I know their play has

tailed off over the last couple of games, but those are your three most skilled forwards. That's your best bet right now to have a line that's really dangerous on a consistent shift-to-shift basis. I think we saw when besser came back and he was playing farther down the lineup there's no really other good spot

to put him yeah you kind of need to put him with petterson that's where i'm at right it's it's about besser and where you put him because right now as currently constructed with jt miller out the second line with Garland and Joshua, that's the second line. Yeah. Typically that would be the third line. And I know there are some people, by the way, that are like, okay, we got to see something from Dakota Joshua soon.

My whole thing with Joshua when he came back, this isn't because of what he had or anything like that. He's a big guy. He's going to need to find his legs. Remember, was it even last season where he came into camp and Rick Taka wasn't very impressed with his fitness? And that was on Dak, right?

And it took a while for him to find his legs. He needed to get into better shape. This season, through no fault of his own, I'm sure he lost his fitness. He's a big guy that needs to find His skating legs I said Before he came back I'm going to give him 10 to 15 Games to find his and he's not

There yet so hopefully He comes around a little bit I don't Think he's been awful by any Means no I agree but he hasn't been He hasn't been making the same impact that I think a lot of people expected and he Did get that big contract extension so He's a guy that people i think are just starting to watch right now um but you know getting back to whether or not they should split up that trio and kind of

spread the wealth and have brock besser drop down the lineup do you want Brock Besser with Teddy Bluger as a center no right no we saw it Besser was invisible yeah so I think we'll probably see those three together again and this is by no means either us saying they were fine no they were not fine against Tampa Bay and I hope that Besser and Pedersen and DeBrusque all heard what Rick Tockett said afterwards. He said, well, Tampa's top players were there. Braden Point, Kucherov, Gensel. And by the way, Ray Farrar really wants to talk about Braden Point today. All right. I love Braden Point.

He loves Braden Point. Braden Point's awesome. Braden Point is a very good player. Those guys all showed up for Tampa Bay, and the only top player that really showed up for the Canucks was Hughes. Remember when Braden Point was one of the first guys named to Team Canada in the first six, and there were some people like, what, Braden Point?

That was a bad take. Braden Point's awesome. He is... I always forget how good he is. Whenever I watch him play, I'm like, oh yeah, he's awesome. He's one of my favorite players to watch in the league. He's so good. He was a third round pick, so he didn't get a lot of buzz out of Junior,

although he was on Team Canada, wasn't he? Yeah, probably. He was one of the last guys. I don't know why we're going off on a big Braden point digression here, but he was one of the last guys where his stats were outrageous in Junior, and he fell way out of the first round just Because he's like slightly under six feet yeah And then that kind of stopped happening With players like that

Partly because of Braden point people are like oh we Shouldn't do that anymore trivia question for you Who did the Canucks take in the Third round oh man that Year that Braden point Was drafted 2014 So they went That would if you know this i'll be very impressed by tannin and

mccann in the first round and i think they had demko in the second round was it nikita trampkin oh my god that's very very impressive it's the gustav forsling draft as well yes yeah he was wait was he a fifth or something? Fourth, I want to say. Fourth or fifth, yeah. So let's talk about JT Miller a little bit because there was a report that, I think it was Drager,

that Miller is expected to return to practice on Wednesday. Now, the Canucks have already said that they have a plan with JT Miller, but they didn't exactly share what that plan was. They just said, we've got a plan with JT Miller, but they didn't exactly share what that plan was. They just said, we got a plan with this guy. So if he practices tomorrow, he's not going to play against the Blues. If he practices tomorrow, do you think he would be available for the game against Florida on Thursday? Because that's the type of team that you would really

like to have JT Miller available for. Obviously, they're defending Stanley Cup champs, but just the fact that they're big and they're heavy and the Canucks without JT Miller, the Canucks with JT Miller, you might say that their forward group is light. Without JT Miller, it's pretty light it's interesting because so often when a player is returning to the team right you probably earmark more than one practice before they're ready to get back into the game right but we've heard that JT Miller has been skating on his own even though he hasn't rejoined the team practice and that's recent but I mean

who knows I mean maybe he never stopped skating, right? Like, we don't know. We have no idea what he's been up to since he's taken the leave of absence. So I guess it's possible that from a fitness standpoint, having his leg standpoint, he is ready to go after one practice. If I had to bet, I would bet on the next game right now, right? You get your practice in because especially that game against florida it'll probably like just an optional morning skate in the morning so do that and then have maybe one

more practice and then you're good to go for the game on saturday that seems more likely to me it would seem pretty quick to go first practice back i'm back with the team now i'm in the lineup playing you know a top top six role for the team on the next day. But who knows? Maybe he's really excited to get back. They would never admit this, but I wonder if it depends how things go tonight. Yeah, how much they need to win. How much they miss him because, let's be honest, their first two games back from the road trip at home, yeah, they got the win against Columbus, but I can't.

The first period was crazy. I actually, I didn't, I was out and about, and I didn't get to watch the first period, and I had to do a double take when I saw the shot totals and the score. I'm like, what has happened here? Were they drinking before the game or something? They're getting outshot 17-2 and down 2-0 to Columbus. Anyway, credit to them.

They came back and won that game. But then they didn't win against Tampa Bay, right? And I'm curious, semi-curious, to see the St. Louis Blues tonight under their new coach. Let's talk about some other NHL stories. We were chatting on the way into the show that I didn't mean like, I wish Halford was here because I don't. I'm glad you're here.

So Halford has had this thing for the last few months where he is expecting Brady Kachuk to ask out of the Ottawa Senators. He has these hot takes that never, never happen. Never happen. I know. When I saw that, I was like, oh my God, is Halford's hot take going to hit? Is that going to happen?

In The Simpsons where Homer predicts that the asteroid will burn up, and they're like, oh no, he was right. Oh my God, that'd be terrifying. I'm scared too. Yeah, I'm scared too. Yeah, Halford up there twiddling his thumbs. So, the SENS new owner, Michael Andlauer,

I guess, was down at the Board of Governors meeting, and he was saying, like, he's getting tired of all the, quote-unquote, soft tampering out there. So what did he mean by soft tampering? So after the Rangers traded Jacob Truba, there was the story, I believe it was Brooksy, Larry Brooks, in the New York Post putting out there that, okay, hey, they've opened up $8 million in cap space.

Their target is Brady Kachuk. That was the report from the New York Post, which may be a little more specific than we sometimes hear, but not completely out of the ordinary for the world of NHL rumor mongering and reporting that hey team is interested in player x now i know and i know it's like a lesser scale but how often have we heard the pittsburgh penguins directly interested and connected to neil's hoaglander right is that tampering with neil's hoaglander is that just guys reporting what they're hearing and i guess that's the what that's the specific report that amlauer is taking issue with here. Not so much Halford, actually, as it is the New York Post. So they're basically saying like, okay, the Rangers are telling Larry Brooks that we're interested in Brady Kachuk and we're going to call on Brady Kachuk.

And so Michael Amlauer came out and said this was his reason. And it's up on Sportsnet.ca. Frege wrote the piece. This is about protecting our fans, our players, and their families. Brady and his wife just on sportsnet.ca. Frege wrote the piece. This is about protecting our fans, our players, and their families. Brady and his wife just had a baby. They don't need that in their lives. Okay.

But I think it must also be that the Sens are worried that Brady Kachuk might say, you know what? If people are calling me on a trade, listen, because here's the thing with the Sens. might say, you know what? If people are calling me on a trade, listen. Because here's the thing with the Sens. Don't you think the easiest thing for them to do is, we're not trading Brady Kachuk.

That's it. Absolutely. We're not trading him. Well, that's the thing. He's under contract. We're not trading him. Tampering is usually free agency. Yeah, free agency.

Like, hey, this guy's about to be a ufa but we're going to get the jump on it and we're going to talk to him and we're going to frustrate the current team's efforts to sign him to a new deal brady kachuk's under contract until 2028 like it doesn't matter he has no control all they have to do is not trade him and yeah he can ask out but any player can ask out can demand a trade at any time so and then that's on that's on you yeah the Ottawa Senators that's not on any team that's gonna call on him I think any team that is scuffling often would get calls you're like would you guys want to shake it up how many times listen I watched Buffalo and Detroit last night and it was hilarious because each team's fan base was furious at their team.

Because late in the third period, the Sabres were winning 5-3 over Detroit. And I noticed on social media, Iserman is trending. Lalonde is trending. He's their head coach. A lot of people want them fired. Then the Red Wings tie it. And this game is in Buffalo. And the fans in Buffalo, the ones that showed up,

there were quite a few Detroit fans there and quite a few blue seats, a lot of empty seats in Buffalo. Then it was Buffalo's fan base's turn to get upset at the team. And eventually Detroit won in a shootout, despite the fact that Buffalo had some chances in overtime and probably should have won. So how many times have we heard, you know, for example, in the case of Buffalo, like, do they want to make a big shakeup trade, right? And it's even, it seems to have even like emanated from Buffalo. Like we want to do something, we need to shake up this team. We might be willing

to trade away some of our young players for some guys that are more able to help us now so everyone groups those three teams in the same category Ottawa Buffalo and Detroit they're in that division with teams that have constantly made the playoffs for years Tampa Bay Toronto Boston, and everyone's been waiting for the changing of the guard there. So Ottawa, Buffalo, and Detroit have all gotten off to, I would say, so-so or even disappointing starts to

the season. So why wouldn't other teams be calling these teams? We've heard, oh, I hope the Canucks call Buffalo on Bowen Byram for example, or something like that. And I just, I don't really understand from the Ottawa perspective, are they worried that he's going to be like, they called on me? But this is what happens when you're a mediocre team, right? People wonder, people speculate about your players.

People talk, their names get out there in trade rumors. The easiest way to avoid that is not by throwing a temper tantrum and stamping your foot. Every time one of your guys is out there in a big rumor, it's to be a good team, right? Be easily, comfortably in the playoffs, and then guess what? Probably Randy Kachuk's not going to ask out if that's the case. So I guess we should talk about the fact that tonight,

maybe we're burying the lead here, tonight could be the return of Thatcher Demko. Yes. As we said on the show yesterday, like, probably should be. It's going to be weird if it's not. Is it going to be? Okay, so here's how it is. There's been no confirmation.

No. Okay? But we wondered Friday if it might be the return of Thatcher Demko, but then it was kind of like, eh, he didn't get a lot of practice time on the road. Not tonight. And then Sunday was a 1 o'clock start. Eh, he'd be out of his routine then. Not Sunday.

It is Tuesday night. Even had a day off yesterday. some practice time comfortably back at home now st louis blues i don't think there's anyone on that team where you're like oh i don't really want thatcher dump go you know against tampa bay you could view and said like wow do you want him playing against you know look at those cross scene passes guys. Rob Thomas. Very good, guys. Rob Thomas. It's like you're going to have to wait for the worst team in the NHL to come into Vancouver. There's been plenty of practice time.

We've been home for a while. Biddington might try to fight him. Yeah, that's true. That's a concern. That's true. Tonight, I suppose, could be the return of Thatcher Demko. So watching this game as a fan, how are we going to be feeling about this?

Obviously hopeful that Demko is playing well, but are we going to be holding our breath a little bit? Are we going to be able to do this for the rest of the season where we can hold our breath every time Thatcher Demko is out there? See, I think you can't live your life in fear, right? Well, I do, though. I'm a Canucks fan. But there's risk in every situation.

You know what I mean? Like, you get in the car to drive to the store, you could get T-boned. It could all be over right then. That's my message today. I thought you were going to say, you could injure your popliteus. You could absolutely injure your popliteus. But you know what I mean? It's like, yeah, there's risk.

Of course there is. But that's no way to go through life. You just got to try to put it out of your mind as best you can and enjoy it and hope that he like i'm much more interested to see his performance and how quickly he gets back to peak thatcher demko and looking like peak thatcher demko because the injury risk is just kind of baked in it is what it is i have no idea of judging like what movements are more dangerous for the popliteus or what what types of saves you should be nervous about all of those things so i think just put it out of your mind try to relax as best you can which i know is asking a

lot the much more interesting thing to me is just like he hasn't played a game yeah in forever how is he is he good does he look good or if he doesn't look good tonight, how soon is it before he looks good? Yeah. Do you think the fact that is another factor in all this? The fact that he doesn't have his old goalie coach, Ian Clark, putting him through the paces? We'll see. I mean, I know Laddie is out there stirring it up,

that there's a big rift between the two. Insider Laddie reporting that, you know, Thatcher Demko taking shots that's clearly what i said laddie what did you tweet out because it's kind of interesting i'm not trying to put you on the spot but i know you got a big response to it yeah ian clark for years has had this rule where there's no black gear allowed and he thought it was uh he always made them have a piece of white on the pad just to help blend in with the ice a little bit better. Oh, okay. His idea was that black pads are a negative thing because players can see where the five hole is, I guess,

and they shoot for the black. Okay. It was like a delineate against the netting of the goal. Yeah, which kind of not everyone agrees with. Some people agree that the ref loses sight of the puck more often when you have black gear, so you get more bonus whistles that you wouldn't normally get. So there's a huge debate

about it in the goalie community, as you can tell. He had a rule, though, a hard and fast rule, that you cannot wear all black equipment. So, day one, he's out there on the ice for his return as a backup goaltender, and he has fully black gear,

decked out, head head to toe all black gear on the first day without ian clark right so that would lead me to believe that he wanted to he's like we've known for a while he's wanted to wear black gear he's he wanted to have a kirk mclean tribute he ended up doing it anyway for the one game he was allowed to wear it um and he's wanted other just normal equipment sets with full black gear and he hasn't been allowed to wear it um and he's wanted other just normal equipment sets with full black gear and he hasn't been allowed to wear them so now that he has his chance he took it and he was wearing fully black gear in that first game that he backed up so laddie what if if demko starts tonight if you're a fan watching this what should your expectations be for demko we just finished a

few minutes talking about how dakota joshua missed some time in the off season because he had that unfortunate cancer diagnosis and he comes back um and some people are starting to ask questions like oh is that gonna start producing soon um and i said okay've got to give this guy 10 to 15 games. I mean, not only the physical aspect of it, but also the mental aspect of it. Just give him some time. How patient should we be with Thatcher Demko considering he's coming back,

not quite right in the middle of the season, but quite a ways in and he didn't have a training camp, he didn't have preseason games. What should our expectations be? Well, I think it's like with any goalie that goes from the AHL to the NHL, they tell you it's the pace of play. That's the heart. Nothing really replicates NHL speed.

So the only way to get that is through game action. And unfortunately for goalies, it takes a bit of time to get up to speed. You're going to get beat and look pretty bad on some goals. So if he does look like he's behind the play a little bit, that's to be expected. He hasn't even played a rehab stint. He's just practiced. So for me, it's the pace of play that he has to keep up with. He might be a step behind, which to me is totally fine.

It's totally expected that his first week or so back in the lineup, he's going to be a step behind. That's just how it's going to be because he's not getting any rehab starts down in the AHL. But for me, the concern comes when he moves in and out of his posts. With the knee injury that he has, that to me will cause

the most strain on him because when the puck was worked low below the goal line, you got to get into your post, knee down on the ice. That movement where you need to push off your post, to me that would cause

the most stress on his knee. So that would be what I'm looking for in the game, is just how he's moving in and out of his posts when the puck is worked down low. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. From Sportsnet, from ESPN, former NHL player, NHL analyst, he is Ray Ferraro. Ray, thanks as always for joining us. How are you?

I'm doing good. I just did our podcast, so I'm actually awake this week. That's good. Thanks for waking up for us, Ray. What does your week look like in terms of your broadcast schedule? I've got the game tonight. I fly to Minnesota tomorrow

for Oilers Minnesota on Thursday. I'm looking forward to watching Capri's off. I mean, I always love watching McDavid, but I haven't seen him this year, and he's had an amazing start. And then I'm back here Saturday for Bruins. So good week, busy week. You worked the Lightning-Canucks game.

What was your takeaway from that? Because Rick Tockett's takeaway was that the Lightning-Canucks game. What was your takeaway from that? Because Rick Tockett's takeaway was that the Lightning's top players got it done, and he didn't say the Canucks' top players didn't get it done, but I feel like that's what he meant. I thought it was a really good game, actually. I thought I was really quite entertained by it.

Like, the pace was good. You know, I mean, the special teams clearly were the difference. It's pretty easy to see. Kucherov scored, Point got four points. They're best guys that played Vancouver's best. Kevin Lankanen's had an amazing start. Amazing. You know, like, look, Kevin Lankanen's had an amazing start, right? Like, amazing. I didn't know that the level of play was there for Lankanen,

not on a short basis, but this is a few months here. He's been amazing. But the game's 3-2. Carson Soucy makes a great pass to Juleson. I'm not real sure what Juleson's doing down where he was, but he hammers a one-timer. And there's not a whole bunch of goalies that stop that. And Vasilevsky gets across and stops it. So when I'm looking at the

Canucks' losses this year, not the wins, because goalies are allowed to play well. When you look at the wins and you think, now now had demko been in never mind anybody else in or out of the lineup would they have one or two or three more wins probably and like just think of opening night they win that game yeah yeah like that's that's bank and so the when when you have the ability to to have a a top half dozen or top eight goalie in the league whatever wherever you want to rank demko when you have a chance to put him in that's a difference maker so i thought in the game it was the power play and really that safe and i and i don't really there i mean there's nothing to blame lincoln and on i

mean what was he going to do two of the goals were into an open net and one of them you know banked in off gensel's chest like what's he going to do there nothing those they probably would have lost that game if demko was in that they would have lost it 4-2 with an empty netter right but when he's back things change yeah it does make you wonder and optimistically wonder what the Canucks goaltending tandem is going to be like when Demko is back but here's a question we were we were thrown around in the first hour how how patient let's say Demko starts tonight let's say he makes his return some people expect it to happen but we'll wait and see um how patient should fans be with Demko to find his game

well they can be as patient or impatient as they want but I'm almost certain none of them have stood in there and tried to stop a puck and so um what what I would say is he might come out of the gate and be great, and he might come out of the gate and be great early and then fatigue a little bit. He can do all the workout that he wants. It's like any player. You skate and you train when you're rehabbing, and you feel great. Then you get into a game, and you're like, oh, my gosh.

This is nothing like what I've been doing. There was a stretch there the other day. I mentioned in the Tampa game, Tampa had the Canucks hemmed in. It might've been on the power play even, but they were in the zone for about, I don't know, 75 or 80 seconds. And so in that time, I don't think many people think about the conditioning of the goalie he's got to be in his crouch in you know in the ready for about 85 or 90 percent of that time very rarely does he get to stand up you remember those stupid wall sits we used to do in gym class yes like like that's what he's doing and you're like

so like when demko gets back he's gonna it's gonna take him a little time i would assume to get to that point because he is healthy enough to play and the reason i know that is because he's backing up like they're not going to put him there if like what if lankan and got hurt yeah and you're like demko's not ready to play of there if like what if lankan and got hurt yeah and you're like the imp goes out ready to play of course he's ready it's just another practice conditioning wise do you think he can get through the whole night you know i so like people can be patient or impatient you've got one of the game's best goalies here and the only way he's going to get to his a game is to play.

And so there's probably going to be a few goals here and there that you go, eee, that's not normal. And people are going to say right away, I wonder if that has anything to do with his, whatever you call that thing, popliteus. Is that how you say it? Popliteus, yeah. Yeah, that one. Like, is it that, or did he just let in a lousy goal?

And he's not getting in the net unless he's ready to play. The fine-tuning, that comes from playing. What did you think of the Lightning? My first thought when I've been watching them play this year is that Julian Breesbaugh, their general manager, made a very gutsy but probably correct move by choosing essentially Jake Gensel over Stephen Stamkos. Well, you save four years of health.

It's gutsy because you change the complete dynamic of just about everything you do. You lose a right-handed shooter on the power play. You add a left-handed guy to it. Gensel is, I love players like Gensel because it doesn't really particularly matter what type of centerman they play with. He's just, he's a really, he's a good compliment player, better than good.

A really good compliment player to any style of centerman. Like he can, he plays with Crosby who's straight line, right? Fast. He plays with points who can kind of meander around a little bit. He's a give and go type player. I don't think there's any question that when you, as you get older and, you know, your game starts to slide, like it, everybody's done. Like everybody's does. Stamkos can't do what he used to do and that's not a knock on him like that's just that's just the way it is and so

they had to make that decision um you they probably weren't willing to go four years with him and um so he goes to Nashville and um it looks like they haven't missed a beat. I will say this about Tampa. They're fast, and they're aggressive. You know, when you get past the top of their lineup, they're not super skillful. I think if I were, you know, if you're playing them in a series, I'm dedicating every bit of my top

defensive posture to shutting down point Kucharov and Gensel. Like I, all of it, I'm selling all of it out because I think my three lines will be whatever, whatever three lines they're going to put out next. I mean, that's, that's how you have to look at those guys are elite, elite. Do enough people appreciate what the lightning do have down the middle on their top two lines i mean they've got braden point incredible center i know you're a big fan of him but they've also got anthony sorelli he's hurt right now but he's in the selkie conversation so braden point and a guy in the selkie conversation that's not bad one two down the middle.

No, pretty good, isn't it? I'll just think Point was a third-round player. They were worried at the time, I guess, in his draft year that he wasn't going to skate well enough. And I'm like, man, he must have got new skates. I've got rockets put on them. My goodness. You used the term when we were texting there, you said maybe the most unappreciated player,

not underrated, but just unappreciated. Yeah. And I think that's true. I mean, like you just watch this guy play and there's just nothing he doesn't do. He competes hard. He's a tremendous skater. He's got great hands. I don't know if he still does it, but he used to, on his way home from the rink, always stop at this gas station that had a Subway in it and get the same Subway sandwich.

Like, that's what he would eat for lunch. It wasn't even a standalone Subway. He was in a gas station. And so when I heard that story, I'm like, I just love this guy. Like, how could you not? He's just like a beer leaguer that happens to be really great. Anthony Sorelli is like every winger wants to play with him because he does all the hard stuff. Like he, he goes and gets the puck and he gives it to you.

He wins face-offs. He kills penalties. He's, I've joked with John Cooper. Like when they got Ryan McDonough back, one of Cooper's all-time favorite players, I said, geez, it's going to be crowded in the family picture because you're going to have your family plus McDonough and Sorelli. Because he just, anytime things are scrambling and wobbly,

Sorelli's out there. Like he's just a no- uh a no nonsense no frill uh just a just a terrific player and so you know like they got these two guys in the top of their lineup they got nick paul in the three hole you know they trade for him from from uh ottawa and then sign him to a seven-year contract and like now you don't you don't have to worry about your center ice position you know like that's it's a great luxury they have um I guess the challenge for the Canucks now going forward is for their top players to do what the Lightning did uh to them on Sunday um what did you think of that line of Pedersen, DeBrusque and Besser

because earlier in the show we were talking you know like uh do you think of that line of Pedersen, DeBrusque and Besser because earlier in the show we were talking you know like do you consider breaking that line up and spreading it out a bit but then we kind of came back to well you don't really want Besser playing with Teddy Bluger No I don't think you do anything until

JT's back I mean that line had a really good run just because you had one night where they went sideways, I thought they didn't play with any pace. And when I think of both Patterson and Besser, neither of them are blazers, right? They're not super fast players. But the key to their game, like a lot of players, I guess, is their feet.

And for Besser, I've constantly, for years, talked about his ability to separate one stride from the defender. That's when I think Besser's skating because he doesn't need two strides to get rid of his shot. He just needs one. And I thought the other day he was a little bit clunky, like he just didn't have his legs. And the pucks that Pedersen gets to when he's playing well, he didn't get to. And if you don't get to the puck, it doesn't matter if you have good hands. You just kind of skate around.

And I don't think he had a shot, and I think Besser had one. So that's, you know what, like as they're rating that game, that wouldn't have been good enough for them. Ray, one of the big storylines of this canucks season so far has been the difference between their road record and their home record and you know we're still early enough that maybe that evens out over the course of the year and it could just be a little bit of noise but what are some of the things from a player's perspective that could actually make it more difficult for you to consistently perform at your best at home? Honestly, I have no idea.

Like, honestly, like, why would it matter? Yeah. You know, like, when I played, when I first started, it was way harder to play on the road than it is now. And the reason was none of the rinks were the same size. And so like you know i was in the adams division we played in buffalo in boston it was like a closet and those guys were enormous and they beat the crap out of you and you're like geez i really want to go on the road

there you go to chicago stadium you had to walk up and down those stairs and the dressing room was right next to the boiler room it stunk like a boiler room like i can't even describe to you how gross it was in some of those rinks and they didn't even try like they wanted it that way there was a true home ice advantage so when when i see a team with a good record on the road i go yeah yeah they're you know they get they get through what they have to get through which is the start and that they don't have a last change. And after that, I think the game's kind of like just the game when you're at home. Conversely, I don't, I can't even, I can't even come up with a reason. Like, what would it be? Like, is it, I don't know. It's not traffic. It's not. Well, it could be in Vancouver. It could be traffic.

Well, yeah, but they're there earlier across the game. I mean, you know, Taylor's not there. Just the stress of it, getting to the rink. You know, like, when you think of it, like, everything that you need is at home. You have fans that want to cheer for you. You have last change. You know, you've got all the comforts of being at home and then you come out you have this type of record and again like it it's probably you know

there's probably a couple of games that could have gone a little differently um that maybe changed the record however i don't believe in looking back and saying, well, that game we didn't get this, and this game we got a lousy call or whatever. The record's the record. It is what it is. And it's not good enough at home. And I guess I would say, as I'm thinking and talking through this,

they don't quite seem as aggressive at home and that often is reversed and i don't mean like uh aggressive like running around and getting 5 000 hits i mean like just all of their play like just aggressive like um the puck comes out of the zone you chip it up the wall if you don't have a clean breakout, but then you're on it. And it just doesn't seem to be that pursuit, that intensity, that like a collective grit. It doesn't seem to be the same at home. I have no idea why it wouldn't be.

I mean, that's just a thought because their record at home should, if they can be that good on the road, their record at home should be better. It is weird. It's been a bit of a weird season for the Canucks in a number of respects. You know, you were just talking about some of the old rinks that you used to play in. Do you miss, like, is there a rink right now that has a ton of character in the NHL? I feel like what they did in baseball was the right thing.

They started building stadiums that were unique and had character, but they realized like, okay, well, we can't have them being dumps also. So they had the luxury parts of the stadium and they were very comfortable to go to but you know Ray I know you're you're a big Red Sox fan and I've been to Fenway before and it's so awesome it's just like such an experience to go to Fenway I can't really think of a rink in the NHL as a fan outside of maybe Montreal and New York where I'm like wow this is going to be a special night just because of the rink that we're going to. Really bothers me that those are the two rinks that I would say that really

bothers me to, to somewhat agree with you. It's almost like agreeing with Pratt back in the day. It really pisses me off. How about that? You know, like, I don't know. I don't know. But those are, those are it. I mean, when they started building the new, the new range,

you know what I thought would have been pretty cool is that instead of everything being standardized, you should have been able to have, um, like a eight foot. If you, if you want to pick that number, but I always thought eight feet, eight feet variance to the length and width of the rink. And so each rink would be a little bit different. If you want it to have a smaller rink, cause you,

you've envisioned your team being bigger. Yeah. Well, why not do that? And then you can change it, not in the middle of the season, but you could change it. Like teams move the outfield wall around and

things like why does everything had i didn't realize or didn't agree that everything had to be of conformity and if you think about the rinks with character they were all the small rings they were all different you know chicago boston buffalo those were all different yeah and you'd go in there and you know know, like, it was a completely different game. I will say this about baseball. If they go to the Golden Hitter, I will never watch another game. I don't think they will.

There's no, I think that's a bridge too far. Pitch clock, fine. Golden Hitter, no, we're not doing that. First game I went to with a pitch clock, I'm like, oh my God, it's the top of the seventh. This is fantastic. Golden hitter, ridiculous. Maybe next they could put in like a clown nose right on the pitcher's mound, and if an outfielder throws the ball and hits the clown nose,

they get two outs. No, I kind of like that. You actually just got A-Dog's attention. You're talking Rob Manfred's language there, Ray. His ear's perked up. He might watch baseball now. Hey, Ray, I did want to ask you about what Michael and Lauer had to say about Brady Kachuk and the whole soft tampering thing.

What did you think about that? Does that seem to you like a team that's kind of worried that Brady Kachuk might be tempted to ask out like his brother asked out of Calgary? I think in this story I think several things are likely to be true Larry Brooks that has been around this game way too long to make stuff up so I don't I don't believe he made that up not not even for a heartbeat somebody somewhere somewhere connected to the rangers said geez you know what we could probably use a guy like brady kachuk man we would love that guy and so larry

because that you know it would be it's not like a fan and you know some upper section right like it's like he got it from somewhere so he writes the story and the senators are like, are you kidding me? Like this is a joke because we're not trading Brady Kachuk. And so when Michael Andlauer sat down to do that interview, there's zero chance that term just came into his head. Like he, he went there to send that message, buzz off. Because now they go to the rink and Kachuk has to answer questions about it.

They go to a press conference about Ottawa against Pittsburgh. They got to answer a question about the Rangers. And so like I totally get why he did that. I totally get where the Rangers are in turmoil, and a player like Kachuk would be of great interest. I understand why they offered up the term soft tampering, which was a complete buzz-off to the Rangers, and I totally get why Chris Drury called the league and said,

we are not tampering with anybody. Like it's a pretty serious charge. Yeah, it is. And so I think it was thought out about the rumor that was out there. I think it was thought out, the response. And I thought the Rangers' response to that was appropriate. The Rangers sure do need some sort of kickstart. So it's probably not a surprise that we're hearing words,

hearing names like Kachok and JT Miller even. Right. But, but, but again, like it just, it, wherever it comes from, I mean, like it's like me saying, I want to be six foot two. Like just cause you say it doesn't mean it's true. And so the, the one thing i'll say about the rangers and i think this is instructive when we look at teams and uh you know even in in the market here and they're like they just have to do something if we know about it chances are they

their management team has noticed yeah like i think the rangers have noticed they're in free fall the problem becomes how do you do it like you you can't just make a trade you have we saw with truba you have all these roadblocks to making a deal whether it's a no move a no trade a guy making eight million dollars like who's got salary for that and so so you can, we can all identify. Yeah. The Canucks would like to shore up their blue line and do what? Trade who to get who? Like you can't just Ken Holland used to always say,

there's not a store that you can just go buy a new defenseman. I wish there was though. That'd be so nice. Wouldn't that be great? Just go down there. and what if you had reward points? Yeah. All right, Ray, we're out of time and I'm

still upset at you for calling me Pratt. So maybe we'll talk next week. I don't know. Oh, I can hardly wait. And you know what? If you were 6'2", I'd still be taller than you. And you would still blade your wedge.

I would. I would. I would do that. Yeah, that's probably why I blade them, because I'm so tall. All right, Ray. And also a lack of talent. See you, buddy. That's why I chunk my wedge, because I'm short and a lack of talent.

Enjoy the game tonight, pal. Thank you, Ray. See you, buddy. Thanks. See you, Ray. See you, buddy. Thanks. See you guys. Have a good morning. That is Ray Ferraro, NHL analyst, of course, former NHL player as well. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.