Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 1/21/26

Episode Date: January 21, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk the latest hockey trade rumours with Victory+ NHL insider Frank Seravalli, plus they set up tonight's Canucks game versus the Capitals with analyst Randip Janda.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Da-na-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Here's quickly. Ties his career high. He's got a 40-piece. I love you guys. God, let's go!

You dropped a curse word there at the end, something you don't do very often. We're at that card. It's overwhelmed by emotion and it's the pinnacle peak. Good morning, Vancouver, 6-1 on a new Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Alfred at his Brough. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios

in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you. Good morning. And Ladi, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Alfred and Bruff in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Got CRA debt. Sands and Associates could cut that debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands-Trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid. Visit them in 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

We are coming live from the Kintech Studio, make 2026 year-year to move better and step stronger with Kintech custom orthotics. This is for the first time in 2026. We have a five-guester on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet. Five guests. Do we even have to talk? Did no research last night. Just raw dog in the show.

Nice. Nice. It's got to be a better way to say that. We'll figure it out later in the show. Five guests today on the Duick Morning Drive. That's our morning guest list here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 6.30. David Amber, Hockey Night and Canada, SportsNet, NHL host.

We'll join the program. Scotia, Wednesday night, hockey at night. Wings at Leifes, followed by Penns at Flames. And don't forget the Canucks hosting the Capitals. David is going to join us at 630 to preview that. 7 o'clock, Frank Sarah Valley, our NHL insider from Victory Plus, eight games last night

and the NHL, six more tonight as the condensed schedule heats up ahead of the Olympic break. With all of the trade rumblings going on, I'll remind you, we're just a little over two weeks away from that break. Frank's going to join us at 7 to talk all things, NHL.

At 7.30, our NHL insider from ESPN, Greg Wischinski is going to join the program. Much like Frank, we'll go around the biggest news, notes, stories, and rumors from across the NHL with WISH. That's going to be at 730. I know Wish was quite taken with the interview that Linus Almark did, so we'll probably talk about that with him. At 8 o'clock, Randy Janda is going to join the program.

Canucks color analyst from SportsNet 650, as I mentioned. Canucks are back in action tonight. They have the 11 game losing streak. 7 o'clock versus Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Maybe the last time Ovi ever plays in Vancouver. How will the Canucks veterans respond to Adam Foote's remarks following Monday's loss to the Islanders? We'll talk to Randipe about that at 8. Finally. finally, 8.30. Sarah Nurse is going to join the program.

She, of course, of the Vancouver Golden Eyes and Team Canada at the upcoming Olympics in Italy. Golden Eyes are going to play her former team, the Toronto Scepters tomorrow at 7 o'clock at the Pacific Coliseum. We'll talk to Sarah about that. Talk to her about the Olympics and a whole bunch more at 8.30 this morning. What a rundown. What a guess list. I'm not even going to go in reverse. Without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No.

What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler to give construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety

training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca. We do begin yesterday, or today's show, Jason, with the Vancouver Canucks, who had a day off yesterday to sit and think about what their head coach had to say, following Monday's loss to the New York Islanders. Yeah, Adam Foote's comments were still the talk of the fan base. As the Canucks did receive a day off, a few of them will have to speak to the media this morning after the morning skate ahead of tonight's game against Washington.

So I will say, it's not like I care whether the Canucks win or lose tonight. night, but I'm curious to see how they respond to Foote's comments. Everyone yesterday pointed out how Foot has held his tongue this season. Yep. And maybe even, maybe even taking a few bullets for the veterans. Um, yet his comments suggested that he's had significant concerns about the culture of the team and the mindset of the veteran leaders on the team.

team for the last few years. Now, some of those leaders aren't with the team anymore, but those concerns remain. And those concerns include his time, remember, as an assistant under Rick Tocket. He's not new to this team. He's just the newest head coach. Now, curious to see how they respond tonight, but I don't think it's, if they, let me put it this way. Okay.

If they do respond, it won't change how I feel about this core. Nor should it. What would probably be more interesting and more meaningful is if they don't respond after that call out. What if you don't do anything? And then you're like, okay, who wants to be here and who doesn't? I have a follow up question for you. Sure. What would responding?

look like for this team. Would it just be a win? Would it be a good effort? Because they had a good effort against the islanders, all things considered. It wasn't a bad effort. The things that Adam Foote were calling out wasn't actually effort-based. It was the attitudes about when things go bad. And I'll remind you. Yeah, it's a good question. Like, what do we look for tonight? Yeah. Very quiet gates. Right? Just opening it and closing it very carefully. Guys just being super polite to each other after you, sir. I'm keeping my composure. Literally never putting their head down once the entire night.

Just keeping their head upright the entire evening. I don't know what it looks like, honestly. I think that... I think a win would help. Yeah, but there's a lot of different ways that you can get a victory in the National Hockey League that doesn't necessarily... There's statement wins and then there's wins that you didn't deserve. I think that the ship has sailed for message sending and message receiving with this group.

I'm just going to put that out there. But let's just say, look, if they get blown out tonight, then you're like, okay, what's going on? Because the Washington Capitals, I know they made the playoffs last season, and everyone still considers them a good team. They are not rolling. Very average hockey team, I'm saying. Heading into tonight's game. They're missing some key guys. They're missing Tom Wilson.

They're missing Pierre-Luc Dubois. They've missed Pierre-Luc Dubois for pretty much the entire season. and I think the expectation is that he might be back in April. Yeah. There's got to be some sense of worry in Washington that they could miss the playoffs in a much more competitive Eastern Conference. I think they've lost three in a row.

If you look at their stats, they're still led by a trio of pretty old guys, Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, who is out right now. So there will be no revenge for him on behalf of Philip Heel, not that there would be anyway. Right. Carlson on the back end.

They do have some nice young players like Ryan Leonard and Justin sort of. Our guy. But they've, you know, they've been making a lot of mistakes according to their coach. And in particular, the young guys have been making some mistakes because they're just learning the league. And they're kind of being thrown in there with some of the injuries to the Washington Capitals veterans. Does that sound familiar? Yeah. So the caps will be, we'll see how they play.

And will we see Logan Thompson in goal tonight? Because I think we're all hoping some Canadian goalie gets hot. Yeah. I wanted to circle back on the Vancouver thing. I know we're previewing the entirety of the game. But just the notion of what to expect from tonight, I think it is telling that this is the first time in a lost season where we're really curious to see what the response is going to be from a post game.

I don't want to call it a tongue lashing because it wasn't that severe. No. But game 49 of the season, Adam Foote finally, finally decided that the dam had broken. And, you know, that was the straw for the camel's back and all those other cliches that he was finally going to say something. And I think that although it wasn't like addressing down, it was still really significant. If only because it told everyone. everyone that the issues that have plagued this group for the last three years are still very much there, right? And that's with J.T. Miller being traded away and Quinn Hughes being traded away.

And, you know, Adam Foote having the Gulf Summit over the summer where everything was apparently squared away. And the vibes, remember, the vibes were supposed to be pristine going into this year. Who was that good? The golf, the golf getaway was with Demko, Pedersen and Quinn, right? Yeah. There might have been a fourth. I think that was maybe just the three. Yeah, well, Adam Foot was the fourth. Yeah, of course. Oh, yes, the coach. All I think about is the golf.

Yeah. I wonder where they played. Yeah, but I mean, there was a lot of talk from the top of the organization down, how they had righted that ship. And that ship here, I mean, is the attitude, the culture, the approach. And now it just feels like a lot of lip service going into the year. And it really makes you wonder, really makes you wonder what Adam Foote had to have either seen or felt to get to his version of a breaking point.

Yeah. I was thinking about this a lot last thing. Like what would have happened that forced foot to say, all right, after 49 games in charge of largely saying, you know, we got young players making mistakes. We were right there. And occasionally our goalies need to make us safe. What did I finally decide that I'm going to change? Because you're right.

There wasn't any feeling during that Canucks Islanders game like the Canucks are melting down or anything. They had... They melted the previous game. I mean, if there was ever a moment, Hockey Night in Canada, six goals and 13 minutes in the second period. Maybe he just didn't want to say it after that game. Maybe. You know? Maybe. So he waited for

a Monday night against the Islanders. I mean, there were look, were there breakdowns in that game? Yeah, in the second period, the Islander scored a couple of really quick goals to take the lead. But it's also possible that we're not watching

these games as closely as we used to, maybe not seeing the things that we would normally be looking for? Well, I know Drans and Dodd were talking, I mean, everyone talked about this at length on the station district because it's a pretty big deal. And I think Drans pointed out that this might be an important moment in what's been a lost season and quite frankly, a forgettable one where you're just playing out the string. A lot of these games, there haven't been any notable benchmarks along the way.

Like losing to Edmonton 6-0 was only noteworthy because of the score. And it was their 10th straight loss. another home loss. But there was no stakes to it. Everyone finished the game. Nikita Tolopilo got sent down. They're like, we need to get you away from this. And they just, then they suit it up and they played again on Monday.

So it's an important moment. And I think what it does is casts further doubt on everything that this fan base, and I don't want to say sold, because that implies that there's been a buying there. How about told? Told. Very well done. Over the last six or seven months. And any, there's a certain justification.

and a certain, like, receipt keeping and gatekeeping that comes with this, where everyone's like, I told you so, like you asking the question in the aftermath of the Quinn Hughes trade about a culture problem. And it being like sluffed off. Laft off, really. On our team? Yeah.

And then when you spell it on your team. Yeah. And then after you spelled it out with a mouthful of cotton, it was like, no, it still didn't either it didn't sink in or there was a dismissive attitude towards it. Yeah. And that's bothersome, right? Because when the coach, says something, it's supposed to mean something.

And the coach very much said, hey, we got a problem here. We had a problem. We thought it had gone away. Clearly it hasn't. And then the party didn't say is, how do you fix it? I think I know the answer. And that's, start moving guys out.

I hope Alvin has a follow-up press conference. So, Brough's going to ask him again. Hey, it's me again. Remember the cult of Pultor Plixton? First of all, it was the Zoom. If he's not on a Zoom, he's going to. going to sound crystal clear. Second of all, did you hear what John Harbaugh said

in his introduction to the New York Giants? I should have put it in the notes. It was pretty funny. He used the word football approximately a thousand times, but his message was

if you don't love hockey, if you don't, I'm sorry, if you don't love football, if you don't love everything about football, And he talked about, you know, playing the game, practicing, watching tape, being around your teammates. Lifting weights. He mentioned all of them. Yeah. Then you're going to go play for someone else.

Yeah. He said that's what we're going to be doing. Football. Yeah. All the time. Every day. And it sounded, it was hilarious. It was funny.

And I think he was trying to be a bit funny. Yeah. Saying football all the time and football, football, football. But his message was like, you need to be obsessed about. the game and you need to love the game. Yeah. And I, and look, we, we don't know what's going through these minds on the Canucks, but many people have come up to me and said, you know, I've heard you talking about, you know, the Canucks looking miserable and pouty and, you have a culture problem that needs to be fixed.

Okay. That was the Zoom. I've heard people talk about, you know, like how, you know, they've said like, I've heard you talk about how miserable the Canucks. And I agree. Like they look like they'd want to be anywhere else. And again, it's hard when you're losing. It's really difficult. But, you know, when you have a management group questioning the work habits, the practice habits of the group of some of the top players,

and then the coach comes out and says, like, you know, we got culture issues. and then for that question to get asked like do you have a culture problem and then you're right you know I'm not you know I was the one that asked the question and I was just kind of

and when he said like on our team I'm like and then laid out all the issues right they had a big fight between two of their leaders and one of them had to be traded and then look at some of the things that Quinn Hughes is saying in Minnesota, you know?

I mean, he just laid it out. He's like, yeah, we're a better team here in Minnesota. And he just looks so much happier. And he's using his teammates, too. Like that was a major thing. Like, people can deny it all they want, but the way Quinn was playing in Vancouver was weird. You do not see that.

You do not see puck hogs in the, the NHL. And he essentially said like, I'm not really going to pass it to many of my teammates anymore because I don't trust them. And I'm going to try and do it all myself. Was it the right thing to do? No, it wasn't. It was bad leadership on behalf of Quinn too, but it said something. And he got out. I will say that. He got out, whether he forced it or not, he got out. By the way, you mentioned the Harbaugh quote. And the interesting thing was when he talked about loving football, he started it out and saying it in a positive way, like this is going to be a place for guys that love football,

guys that want to do it all the time. There was a follow-up part about the guys that don't necessarily love it as much as the coach requires. And he said, there's guys around here that don't love football, we're probably going to let those guys play somewhere else. If you don't love football, you're not going to love it here. I think that's an interesting part of this as well because when the coach sets a standard or more,

specifically in the case of the Canucks, the coach tells you what to do and what not to do. Like, don't slam the gate when you come to the bench and don't hang your head when things are bad. Yeah. And you continue to directly defy that. It's crazy to me that you keep getting opportunities to openly defy your coach. Which brings us, I think, to, you know, some of the guys that might get shipped out of here. And at the top of the list is Elias Pedersen. And I will just, I'll just throw it out there.

I think PD's playing a lot better this season. I think he's had moments where he showed just how smart a player is. He's one of the best positional players that I've ever seen. He just knows where to be. He looks a little more comfortable with the puck on his stick. There were times last season where you could tell he did not want the puck on his stick and he just quickly got rid of it. He is trying to create more.

I think his skating is still a bit of an issue. You know, on rushes, he's not creating any separation if he hits the blue line with speed. But like, I still think he's a good hockey player. But the argument that some people have to keep Pedersen and hope his value comes back either so the Canucks can keep him and have a good play. or so they can trade them for something more. I understand that. And I sometimes agree with the points being made.

But if you're coming back to like we need to change how this team thinks, the team's mindset and the team's culture, which is where that gets overused a lot, but is still relevant. and if we need to move on from all the baggage and all the negativity and the toxicity, like you've got to do it. Yes. And maybe Pedersen thrives on another team where he doesn't have to be part of the leadership group

and he can just go play hockey and maybe in a more quiet market. And maybe he's got some better linemates and maybe everything is better. for him. But I don't think it's in Vancouver anymore. So Santino and Coquillum just texted in an interesting question. So this team went through the trenches for 10 plus years. I don't understand how this team does not hate to lose. It's an interesting question.

You know, IMAQ had a bit from the, I guess, trails from the road, you know, between Twitter and his articles that he wrote for Sportsnet.com. and he talked about how much the losing is eating up Brock Besser, who's been here for some pretty good times in Vancouver. He's had some great highs throughout his career, 40 goals season, you know, being a menace in the playoffs, scoring goals as they went to the second round against Edmonton. And he said, like, there was almost times where it looked like Brock was, like,

ready to, like, cry, essentially. Yeah. That's fun, like, that it's his response. But what the organization, or at the very least, what the coaching staff doesn't want is guys riding the highs and lows of emotion like they used to. Well, like what Rick Tocott saw when he inherited the team, and then what Adam Footh saw when he inherited the team from Tockeet is that they think, and I think there's some validity to it,

that this group rides the highs too high and the lows, two lows, and they get off track when things aren't going their way. And they want them to stomp that out of their game and out of their mindset. Now, here's the thing. You can agree or disagree with that. There's a lot of people that will push back and say, you need people to be able to express themselves or show emotion or show frustration. It's a good thing.

I don't disagree with that. What I do disagree with is when two different bosses come in and tell the guys, this is the way we're doing things. And the guys don't do it. Because then you're shot as an organization. If you don't have anybody at the top who can call the shots and set the room and set the culture, which is exactly what Harbaugh was doing. yesterday. And that's exactly what all NFL coaches do. Here's how we do things here. Here's how

you do your job. If you don't like it, you can go do your job somewhere else. Maybe your attitude or your style will be a better employment fit elsewhere. But here, it doesn't work. Think of some of the guys the Seahawks have shipped out. But the problem is that that bar hasn't been maintained. It's all like just noise. It's all been talk. It's all been talk. There's no action. Yeah. Right. the biggest most demonstrative things that Foote's done through 49 games this year is what? Healthy Scratch Jake DeBrusk once and then after game 49

and an 11th consecutive loss finally call out some veteran players And nobody's been shipped out unless it was either obvious in the case of Kiefer Sherwood or in the case of Quinn Hughes He was like he didn't want to be on the team anymore I mean if you want to look back on it

Hughes kicked the door down with his style attitude behavior where they were like, we can't, part of it was we can't have this. Can't have it around anymore. It's too big a distraction. It's too big of an elephant in the room. We can't eat this elephant. But the rest of the guys, I mean, I thought it was telling when Sherwood got shipped out that they were lauding all of the things that he brought that he did really well.

Attributes that they wanted, they liked, and, I mean, I mentioned this on the show yesterday. Foot talking about how when Sherwood came to the team, he did all those things they don't like. He was outwardly demonstrative when things didn't go great. He was a gate slammer and a stick smasher. But he listened to the coaching staff. He got that stuff out of his game. And he flourished as a result. And his reward is he gets to leave and he gets to go to San Jose now.

So maybe that last chapter will work. I doubt it though. Because I think there's too much complacency from top down. And this veteran group, regardless of what happens tonight. I think I'm glad that it took, I'm glad that it happened. fact that it took 49 games into Adam Foote's tenure, it kind of sucks. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. It's Frank Zare Valley for Victory Plus here on the Halford and Brough show on Sports 9650. Morning, Frank. How are you? Good morning, boys. I'm pretty good. How are you guys?

We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this as always. We're going to start with none other than Elias Pedersen. And we are sitting here waiting and looking at a lot of dates on the calendar. We've got the Olympic break coming up in two weeks time. after the Olympics are done, you've got the trade deadline not long after. So there's a lot of good benchmarks here about when a deal might get done. Give us the current gauge of the temperature on Elias Pedersen talks as we look at this on a day-to-day basis.

Well, there's definite interest, and it's heated up in a relatively big way in terms of the number of teams calling and their interest. and the real question at the end of this is, and it goes back to really last summer and how this situation and dynamic changed, is does Elias Pedersen want to move? And where would he want to go, if anywhere? So as this market develops and as the Canucks are given options and opportunities to consider, in the end it's not their call as to whether or not a trade is made. So is there interest in a change of scenery? Is Elias Pedersen in for the long haul?

Do the Canucks believe that he can be the player to help drag them out of their rebuild whenever that time it comes? Those are all questions that need to be asked. And those are all questions that right at this exact juncture or moment in time, we really don't have a sense of that internal feel one way or the other. Is Pedersen stock price up compared to? Yes. Yeah.

And is that his play, which has been better, I think, compared to last season. Is it because of that or is it more because of the desperate need for centers around the NHL? it's way more market dynamics i mean peterson's play has been i think probably fair to say in relation to his contract mediocre i mean there have been some stretches that he's looked really good there's some stretches where he's looked at times disinterested um and so i think what everyone's wondering is because of the incredible need not just it's not just the position and centers. It's how can you find a difference maker?

Who has that potential? Who has that ceiling in their game that so few have that that's what they're really looking at saying, can we unlock this? Because if we can, the contract is going to take care of itself. It's

so incredible what these guys are getting paid. The fact that Alex Wendberg is on track to be the NHL's most anonymous $73 million career player, It's, I mean, it tells you everything you need to know. Yeah. I mean, this is a one-time 59-point score that is now signed for another three years at $6 million

that is kind of like he's looking at Keyfer's short word production, essentially, is what you're talking about. And so then all of a sudden you switch the conversation and you say, okay, but Pedersen at 11.6, and he could be that true difference maker and legit number one center if we can pry him out of there, that's really where the interest comes from. Why or how do they think Elias Pedersen can be unlocked? Is there a theory out there? Maybe it's an obvious theory, but is there a theory out there about how to get back prime Elias Pedersen?

I mean, the theory is the obvious one. it's just change of scenery. Maybe things have gone in the wrong direction for a while now. So it's not marketplace or coach as the coach has changed over

but sometimes when you're in a rut and you can't find your way out in your game now add in the idea that the roster is thinning or will thin around him, it places even more pressure and onus on him to produce.

And that's a tough spot to be in. So does he want that, I think, is the question. Does he want to be the guy that drags this team out? And I'm not saying he does or doesn't. I don't know. But what if he could go somewhere and play in tandem with another really talented center and be the number two guy. What if he could go to a team where he doesn't have to be the guy but a supporting piece?

I think that's where it starts to get really interesting. It always comes back to, but what does he really think? And it's really hard sometimes to figure out what's going on in Pedersen's head. I'll admit it. because he says, he says, if you read transcripts, he says all the right things. Like he's always said, like, I want the pressure. I want to be the man. I want to be in Vancouver.

But the way he says it, and then sometimes the way he goes out and plays, in the way he's reluctant, he's reluctant to speak, you know, people are like, really? It's a very, very odd dynamic. Yeah, the transcript, sometimes you see, something that's quoted on social media and you read it and then you listen to it and it doesn't sound at all like it reads. And I'm with you in that I think it's one thing to say and it's another thing to do. And this isn't, no one's digging at him or faulting him.

But sometimes in the end it doesn't matter how you say it or what you say it, that it's your play that does a lot of the talking for you. and that part I can't I mean I couldn't hazard a guess like I really couldn't and because of his relative introverted nature I think that's part of why this whole situation is a bit tough to discern because I believe and I'm not speaking or quoting anyone inside the Canucks front office but I believe if they were to get the right deal, that they would want to move it. That when you start to line up all these timelines plus the contract and the risk, the biggest risk for the Canucks is if this relative mediocre play continues on for another

18 months, then what? The whole specter and dynamic of, you know, can this change of scenery reinvigorate the player. At some point that diminishes, right? Well, he's going to play at the Olympics, too. Right, but remember the conversation we had one year ago at this time surrounding Four Nations, it was like,

can he just go and play with the top players in Four Nations and with Sweden, and will that reinvigorate his game? Yeah, and it didn't. And he didn't look very good at the tournament. And actually, my worry is that he goes over to the Olympics, and it's the same story as the Four Nations

and then anyone who might be interested in giving a good offer for him is like, oh, maybe not. Well, maybe the opposite. Maybe that is what convinces him from an internal perspective that he really does need change

or maybe the buy low aspect nature of it for teams reaches a level where they're comfortable with the risk profile of the trade. We're speaking to Frank Serr Valley from Victory Plus, our NHL insider here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Alias Patterson's head coach, Adam Foote.

Speaking of things being said in the media this week, had some pretty pointed comments about the play and response to adversity from his veteran players. The first time he's done it all year. And I'm curious in your conversations with people around the league, not necessarily from a job security front. I know there's only been the one coach dismissal. I'm not sure that Adam Foots in line for dismissal right now. He is the guy behind the bench for a team that's mired in an 11 game losing streak. It's obviously been a difficult season and situation for him.

I'm just curious what some of the conversations, if any, are about Foot around the league as it pertains to maybe job security, maybe the job that he has to do, anything pertaining to the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. Honestly, there hasn't been a ton of conversation about Adam Foote or his job that I've heard or, even the comments, there seemed to be some thought process of, well, it's about time. Someone said this out loud. Yeah. That this has been something that has body language, attention to detail, compete. All those things have kind of bubbled to the surface, and that, you know, it seemed to be only a of time before that was addressed in a public way.

Now, that said, you know, I've seen some of the commentary. Does this put him on thin ice or does this change the dynamic? And I don't know how it would because think about what the Canucks are embarking on here. Like this is the beginning of the descent, not the bottom. and I know that's a scary phrase for Koducks fans to hear, but there's still like the pain point hasn't even really happened yet. Sure. Like there's like they're still pairing down of the roster that needs to be done,

which will continue on here before the deadline. So what you want in the end is a coach that is able to set a standard and establish accountability for, the younger impressionable players that are about to be added to this group or that are there now. And the fact that a lot of times these guys arrive with excitement, they're just happy to be there. You know, even when things turn in a negative way, they don't have a lot of the same negative energy or habits that some of the vets do. that essentially it was almost to me a message to the guys that are teetering on this edge of

and Connor Garland I don't view as part of this group but I think is a prime example his contract extension didn't kick in yet yeah so do you want to be part of this in setting the right example or do you want to go play elsewhere where the circumstance and situation not what you signed up for is just different. And so it was almost like this warning shot to the rest of the group. Like, this is how it's going to be moving forward. You can either get on or get off, but the bus is moving. It's a good point to bring up because prior to Foote's remarks,

we had Jim Rutherford speaking publicly talking about how he felt that they have several good veteran presences in the room already under contract that could serve as appropriate mentors for the young players that you're talking about. I don't know if one remark post game from a coach changes all that, but it certainly casts doubt on Rutherford's assessment that there's a lot of guys that are doing the right things. And I think more importantly, following the messaging that the coaches have put forth, like, Foote also mentioned that this goes back to the Rick Tocket era,

where Tocket said the same things and had the same criticisms of the veteran players who slammed gates when they were coming off the ice. smash their sticks when things weren't going right. And they wanted to eradicate it. It didn't get eradicated under talk. It hasn't been eradicated underfoot. So suddenly you've got to start looking at the players themselves and saying, are you ever going to listen to the coach's message?

Are you going to be an appropriate mentor for these young guys that we're going to bring in during a rebuild? Well, and some guys, like, and this isn't a knock, like some guys just don't want that. Fair. And I don't mean to be a good mentor or good teammate or anything like that. It's just that they don't want to play on a team that's lost 11 in a row. They don't want to be in 32nd place, and they'd rather play on a team that is in the mix,

fighting for a championship or a playoff spot or whatever it might be to even end a playoff drought. There's lots of different circumstances that you find yourself in, sometimes by happenstance, and you decide to sign or play in a city based on one set of circumstances, and in 18 months, it's flipped on its head. I mean, I can't believe that we're talking about a couple years ago when, you know, the Canucks are in the second round, game seven of the playoffs, and now are in a totally different situation.

I can't really blame a player that signed on for the crazy, infectious energy that existed in the city to where this team is about to get to now. if you don't want to be part of that, like I think that's perfectly okay. Hey, I just threw this out on social media. You did? If Leo Carlson can't play for Sweden at the Olympics,

who is their number one center? Leas Pedersen. You think it is? Yeah. Joel Erickson Eck. He's an option. He's more of a 3C guy. You watch Petterson?

By trade. Like this is Olympus, the Olympics. Could they put Nylander there? Yeah. Mika Zabana. And Jad was the first one that jumped to mind? Yeah. Do you remember the Sochi Olympics?

Sweden made it all the way to the gold medal game, but they had a bunch of injuries down the middle, Henrik. Yeah. And then Baxteram. He took allergy medicine. Took like an Edville, Cold and sinus. You're out. He was out of the game.

They had no chance in the final, really, with that center depth. Yeah, they didn't have much of a chance going in. Canada was steamrolling that tournament. But I do remember that being a fairly significant. blow when Nicholas Baxter was deemed ineligible to play. It was a prescription allergy medicine, I want to say. Was it? Yeah. I know the team doctor came under fire. Yeah, he, but he like it wasn't just like taking a Claritin or something. Like I think he, I think it was a prescription medicine. But it was something in, it was something like you would take

to clear your sinus. Sure. Yeah. Bad allergies. Yeah. The sea, the few, the seasonal, the affected. Um, yeah, I, I know that it was an issue. But. But back to your original point, Sam Halam, the Sweden's head coach, has addressed both the injuries to Carlson and Jonas Brodeen. And it seems very unclear to Sam Halam if they're going to be available for the Olympics. He was very guarded his remarks.

Oh, Black Betty. They're in trouble. Shamillam. Shamillam. It's amazing we have that at the ready for the few times. Oh, you got a bad at the ready. To the phone lines we go, Randy Janna joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sports Night 650.

Good morning, Randy. How are you? Good morning, guys. I don't know how I could follow up Sam Palam. It's a losing cause for me already, boys. Is PD the 1C for Sweden if Leo Carlson can't play? Yeah, I think so. If you start looking at a lot of these mock lineups that they have,

he's supposed to be up there in that top six. You can bump up Joel Erickson-neck, but he's more of a checking center. Elias Lindholm would probably be their fourth. fourth line center right now. You know, you've talked about Zabandibh. He's a winger right now. A Willie Nielander playing winger. So unless you make a move to bump one of those guys inside, I think Pedy would be number one center if Leo Carlson can't play. I mean, you say Joel Erick is more of a checking center. What is what is PD right now?

Well, yeah. You know what? Maybe it's time to update my profile of players with Elias Pedersen. But I think one area that he can play is still facilitator, right? based on his, I guess the start of the Four Nations, he was playing with scores. I wonder if they go back with that with Philip Forsberg. Because I remember talking to Philip Forsberg before the Four Nations, and he said he wanted to play with Elias Pedersen and his past first mentality would be a good combination with them.

Obviously, we didn't see that play out to the Four Nations. But you're right. Elias Pedersen is more of a checker these days. But I still think he's got that rep of being a pass-first center that would probably elevate him. Yeah, you're right. I mean, I do wonder if his numbers would be significantly better offensively if he had better wingers to play with. Because I do think he's playing better this season. Last season, I wasn't having any of that. But this season, I really do wonder. What did you think of Adam Foote's

comments after the Islander's game about the veterans? Yeah, it was something that, you know, we haven't heard from Adam Foote. And even it felt like in certain games where maybe you could question the effort, you know, the coach had taken, I guess, the high road or didn't really necessarily want to talk about that in media. What he's saying behind the scenes, we don't know, right? And this is, I think, a key factor is that this is the first time that Adam Foote has chosen to say this in front of media,

what the conversation behind the scenes, like for all we know, this has been a conversation behind the scenes all season long. But I thought it was something that came at the right time for a lot of Canucks fans because this is something coming off that 6-0-0 game, maybe you don't want to pile on. But if this is something that's popping up with the veterans and it's been there for the last couple of years and it's starting to rear its ugly head again,

you need to find out who is in this. And I mean that in terms of who is going to be taking leadership roles and bringing efforts the right type of demeanor, focusing on the details if you're going through a rebuild, which the Vancouver Canucks obviously are. So, you know, I thought his comments were, you know, was I expecting them? No, you know, driving home from the rink that night, listening to the audio with the postgame show with the guys. It was pretty telling from the coach. But, you know, I think that's also a, okay, I've seen enough of this.

You know, there's been moments in the game where he's kind of hinted at it in the past, Jason, where the inability to grab games or kill momentum or make plays that will help their team get back into it. Like he's talking about we need our veterans to make those types of plays. And I think it just kind of got to a point where he's saying, all right, if we know where this season is going, I got to find out who's in this for the long term and who's a part of this team moving forward. We're speaking to Randy, Jan,

to connect's color analyst here on the Alford & Bruff Show on SportsNet 650. Were you surprised that it took all the way until game 49 for Adam Foote to say these things? Yeah, I think a little bit in the sense that I think, you know, some of the ways that these games have gone down, you'd maybe expect it earlier on, right? I looked even a couple of weeks ago or a week ago where they give up two goals in 38 seconds against Montreal, two goals and 15 seconds against Ottawa.

Naturally, the Edmonton game, because it felt like every goal, every shot was going in in the second period. Six in 13 minutes. But, you know, when we talk about the beginning of the season, and I honestly think that the coach, with all the injuries, was looking at the young guys and saying, hey, you know what, I don't want to probably talk too much about this team

or put it out in the media too early because there were a number of young players in this lineup, right? Maybe you're just trying to say, okay, let's see, let's see we can get out of this team, let's see if we can keep the vibes good enough, and maybe we can make something out of it. Now those trades have been made, right? Quinn Hughes has been traded.

We saw the key for Sherwood trade. I feel like this was Adam Foote essentially saying, all right, I've given you a long enough leash year, excuse me, that you know, you've got, just but this is a problem that continues. And whether it's demeanor, whether it's not focusing on the details, whether it's, you know, just overall, I think zooming out and trying to see which veterans are really made for, you know, nobody wants to be in a rebuild.

But if you are in the situation that you are, you got to, you know, you got to just basically, you got to step up in those spots and you have to lead by example, everybody can say it in media. Hey, I'm a leader. I have to set an example for the young guys, but your actions speak louder than the words that you say. And I think with this coach,

yes, and maybe it took a little long for a lot of the fan base here and a lot of folks like us in the media. But I think he had to be fair to the young guys and he had to actually, you know,

pick his spot kind of importantly. Or once you go to the media with comments like that, guys, you know it. It's going to open up a can of worms. I'm sure a couple of players will have to address it today at morning skate. And, you know, so you have to be very careful when you make that move.

So I am a little surprised that he held on this long, given how the season's gone. But I also understand when you're trying to get these young guys going, the last thing you want is, you know, this kind of grenade thrown. Did it look to you like Evander Kane was trying to up his trade value or his ability to be traded in that game against the Islanders? Yeah, he was playing like it was the playoffs, right? That was a game where he was throwing hits. He was making Matthew Schaefer's life miserable for the most part,

but Schaefer still had a pretty good game. But, you know, bone crunching hits, getting to the middle of the ice, that is what Evander Cain, when he is playing well, when he is a playoff player, when he is engaged. And then that was the word that I would use for not only him, I think most of the team, at least halfway through that game, that engagement level was high. And that's why he could.

be, right? Like this is a player that, you know, just looking at that first period specifically where he had opportunities to score, he eventually does score on that deflection from the DPD shot, like, yeah, that felt like a van der saying, all right, you know what? This is my best game of the season, and it isn't particularly close, but I can be a physical presence as well. And you saw later on in that game after the second hit on Matthew Schaefer, Mayfield stepped up to him and was trying to, you know, that's what Evander can do when he's playing well. Now, the question is, at his age,

how much can he do that over 82? But you still want to see more of that. I know it's, you know, we talked to Yannick Hansen a few years ago and he's like, hey, you know, everybody wants that style of play over 82 games. Everybody wants that, you know, physical brand of hockey, fast brand of hockey. It's impossible for guys in the NHL to play every single game like that. Well, more often than not, then you have to show spurts of that.

And I think finally, we saw what Evander can do. Now, the question is, who's watching, right? We know he's a UFA. How long until a team says, ah, yes, he can do that for us. Or does he still need to step more of a, you know, more in the showcase window, so to speak, because it's been a pretty underwhelming season for Avander Cain,

and he's going to have to show more of that if the Canucks want to, I think, get something back in a trade. To me, I think he's got to show a little bit more. What did you think of Matthew Schaefer? my point has been that he should be on Team Canada. Yeah, so when I did my mock lineup for the Olympic team, Matthew Schaefer wasn't on for me. I went for the older players and the experience,

but I will tell you one thing. I'm kind of doubting that right now. I'm kind of re-assetting that as we get closer to the Olympics. I've watched him before, and it was, you know, the Vancouver game was great, and I thought he'd had a, the first time they played, he didn't have the greatest of games. that was the one where he for sure would, excuse me,

stripped him of the pocket and ended up scoring. I called a Toronto New York Islanders game in studio for Hockey Night and Canada in Jambi a couple of weeks ago. And he absolutely took that game over. And this is a player that it feels like once the moment gets bigger, he can match it. And that's the question I had for him early on in the season

of when is he going to hit the rookie wall. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Thank you.