Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 12/17/25

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk the latest Canucks trade rumours with Victory+ NHL Insider Frank Seravalli, plus they chat yesterday's Canucks shutout win over the Rangers 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. Whoa, wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose a fucking Canucks? Da-na-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

You're listening to Halford and Brough. Here's Liam Mogrum with a burst of speed. Gray wing to the Ranger Lines. He shoots right on. He scores. Quick got a piece of it, but it trickled across the goal line. I think we feel good during the game, but right now, I think it sucks. Congratulations to Leon Dry South of 1,000 with a rear points.

Now McDavid, he'll walk in. The back hit. Scores! Incredible move! Good morning Vancouver, 6-1 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford. It is, bro.

It is SportsNet 650. We are coming here live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Hey, dog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halford in Bruff in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on. grab metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio. Now is the time to maximize the benefits of custom orthotics. Before the year runs out, visit kintech.net. We got a big show ahead on a Wednesday. Lots to get into from last night. And a big guest list ahead. The guest list, of course, is the Duick Morning Drive. Brought you by the Duick Auto Group.

It begins at 6.30. David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada. a sports net NHL host is going to join the program. Ten games in the NHL last night, lots to unpack the Scotia Bank Wednesday night doubleheader tonight, the Jets, the reeling, the struggling Winnipeg Jets, go to St. Louis to take on the blues at five, followed by Devil's Golden Knights at seven. David will join us at 6.30 to talk about all that. 7 o'clock Frank Sarah Valley, our NHL insider from Victory Plus.

What does Frank have for us in the aftermath of the Quinn Hughes blockbuster trade? We'll find out at 7 a.m. Frank's going to join the program. 7.30, Parker Burgess, Vancouver Giants General Manager, will join the program. Giants are back at home this Friday, December 19th, with a 7 p.m. puck drop against the visiting Victoria Royals. Parker will join us to preview that at 7.30. And then at 8, Randeep Janda, Sportsnet 650 Canucks analyst. Two wins in a row now for your Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks blanked the Rangers at MSG yesterday, 3-0. Randipe was on the call. We'll go through it all with him at 8 a.m.

Only one giveaway today. Only one. We're slipping as we get closer to holiday break. We are giving away a $250 gift card to Golf Town every day this week. Holidays are right around the corner. Golf Town, the perfect destination for the golfer in your life. Caller number five at 730 this morning. 604-280650.

That number again, 604-280-650. Golf Town $250 gift card at 7.30. That's what's happening on the program today. 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? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance? Making safety simpler by giving construction companies and tools, resources, and safety training.

Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. Thatcher and Emco made 23 saves for his first and the teams for. shutout of the season, and the Canucks won their second straight game in the post-Quin-Hughes era. Three-nothing against the lowly New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Yeah, Demko was making his third straight start, and I'll probably get another Friday or Saturday against the Islanders or Bruins, respectively, and that back-to-back, and maybe he'll get another one. Monday in Philly before the Canucks head home for the Christmas break. Thatcher Demko, do you not know that the Vancouver Canucks desperately need a top five pick in this draft?

The Canucks scored once in each period last night, and the first Kane got a nice pick from the official to go in alone on Jonathan Quick and beat him with a nice move. In the second, new guy, Liam Ogren. Don't call me Ogre. Got his first as a Canuck and first of the season on a shot that was almost stopped and maybe should have been stopped by Jonathan Quick and Connor Garland finished off the scoring with a beautiful empty netter. You don't hear that very often but it was backhanded it from

almost 200 feet away after the Rangers had pulled the goalie with over three minutes left because the Rangers were desperate to not get shut out again on home ice. Six times the Rangers have been shut out on home ice this season. We'll get to them. They weren't desperate.

They weren't desperate enough. The Canucks played a solid game. It was boring. But effective. The Rangers had, you know, a handful of good chances, especially on the power play. But in the end, they only got 23 shots on Demko. The Canucks, if you haven't noticed, have been much stingier lately in terms of shots allowed.

And they generally seem more composed in their own end. The penalty kill, remember that? It was killing them earlier in the year. It's been a lot better lately. And here's Adam Foote. talking about the improved defensive play and the improved P.K. Well, I like the way Dino's got to PK. I was a really good time until today.

The guys are running their routes properly. You know, Camphor was coming from a different system. And, you know, they call it a, well, they call it the toilet bowl system. They come down as a forward too much. They come down and they rotate like this. And we don't play that way. We like to cut the top off. And his routes are really good.

He's real solid. the penalty killer force right now. And, you know, the D are having more trust with what the forwards are doing, which is nice. So they're not early or late. They're not guessing. So we're more playing as a unit, which I like, and we're way better up ice. And I'd say overall defensively, we're not panicking as much as we were when things don't go our way. We know our structure.

There's going to be times they're going to hem us in. And we didn't get loose or run around. So that's good to see. Two wins in a row. Not bad. Not bad. I like the, I like to think they're like, Camp, we don't do the toilet bowl thing here.

In that way, not in the, not the P.K. way. Some other ways. No toilet bowl. We cut the top off here. Yeah, they're playing, they're playing better defensively. Less panic, less running around. Now granted, it was the Rangers. Yeah.

The loss dropped the Rangers to, Four, ten, and three at home. And again, the sixth time they've been shut out at home this season in 17 games. It's terrible. You knew if the Cucks were going to get a shutout, it was going to come at MSG, of course. But it just seems ridiculous. Like each new shutout, you're like, I can't believe this keeps happening. At the beginning of the season, I thought, okay, well, this is just going to be a crazy blip, right?

You know, they got, they were shut out three times. They were like, whoa, you won't see that. They've had to have been shut out three more times after that. I cannot, I'm watching them last night and Panarin looks like the only dangerous guy out there. Yeah, that's fair. He had eight of their 23 shots and he's the pending UFA.

I cannot imagine how bereft of offense they're going to be without Panarin and Miller will be one year older and Zabana Jed will be one year older and Lafranier will be whatever the hell he is Well, he'll be a year older. They'll all be a year older.

No, no, no, no, but he's still young. My point with Lafranier, he's still young, but he's just, he's not a player. Like, I can't believe it. I'm actually really surprised that he's been, I mean, is he a bust? Is he a bust? Is he a bust? He got paid, so it's not a bus for him, but their offense right now is just, it's just not happening for them, especially at home, and here's J.T. Miller trying to make the most of it.

Mentally, how frustrating is it in the moment when you're going through it and you're looking up at this board maybe in the third period and it feels like, okay, here we go again? To be honest with you, in the moment, we feel like we were dominating the game. I mean, quite literally felt like we were, that could have been five, two, or they? I don't know. In the moment, you just think it has to come, it has to come, and then you get down to three minutes and you look up, it's 2-0. You can't believe you're pulling your goalie again.

I think we feel good during the game, but right now it sucks. Yeah, there's more. like I have more. This can't be the standard we expect to play to and just leave that, go home tonight and be like, oh, we play well again, I'll play the other team. We didn't score. So a lot of good things, the last two games.

But to come out, 0 and 2 at home this week, or these two games, it just sucks. Like, I don't know, it's the same thing every game I feel like. Yeah, the night before they lost 4-1 at home to the Anaheim Ducks. And JT, you guys were not dominant. He said it felt like they were dominant. Okay, well, that means he, felt like they were dominating the Canucks

but they weren't I mean they had a bunch of power plays so I hope you're kind of dominating on the power play but they had a bunch of zone time but you're not but you're not scoring and you only got you got 23 shots on goal and that was with a lot of power play time so credit

to the Vancouver Canucks credit to Thatcher Demko again only 23 shots but there were some decent chances especially from Panera and I think Miller himself had a tip shot that Demko made a made a nice save on. But I do want to discuss that guy, Thatcher Dempco.

And since we've been talking about the future of pretty much everyone on the team, here's a question. I don't know how to exactly phrase this. How about this? Will the Canucks keep their goalie tandem intact for next season? It's a good question. I think the interesting thing with Demko right now, now is that everything, everything is predicated on his health, not some things, everything.

Can we all agree that when Demko's healthy, there's never been any question about his ability. You've never, never really worried about. He's, yeah, he's solid. You know what I mean? Like, you know, Garland keeps calling him the best goalie in the world. I'm like, you might want to dial that back a little bit. But if you think about it, well, he's probably in the conversation, he's a top five, top eight goalie when he's on his game. And when he's healthy and on his game, For sure, I think. And then when he's healthy, he's not his game, you can make the case that he's a Vezna caliber guy,

which means he's his top three goalie in the world. So there's that part of it. Everything's predicated on health. And I, you know, IMAQ was talking about this on the postgame show yesterday. The organization knows it. Demko knows it. And he actually hates talking about it. If you notice, anytime he gets asked about his health.

Really? He gets a real defensive right away. I thought he's usually pretty open about it. Yeah, just loves talking about his medical history. I'm glad you asked that question. It has been an issue for me. And I think the important thing is the rest of the league knows about it too. Would someone take a gamble on acquiring Thatcher Demko, which is part of this question.

Would the Kinex keep their goalie tandem for next season? Because if you're talking about a difference maker when healthy, right now, he's the biggest asset the Kinnock's would have to move with the asterisk of when healthy, right? He'd make more of an impact, I would say, than any other guy on the roster to a team that would acquire him. And that's like, whatever you think of what Pedersen has left in the tank to give to another team, I would put him ahead of like if you were to offer a guy like Hironic and then the UFAs are going to go. Garland. Yeah, like all of them. Like, you know, when Demko is on his game, just look at the last two.

Last night was not a banner evening where he stopped 50 shots and stole a game for the Vancouver Canucks. He never looked like he was going to get beat. Then that's 100% what I'm getting at here. You never got that feeling over that stretch where Lankan and Petera and Tolapila were in that. Imagine if he was healthy and the Oilers had gotten him instead of Tristan Jari how different we'd be thinking about the Oilers.

Yeah. Now, the follow-up question would be if the Oilers in this hypothetical world acquired him was, is he going to be able to play enough games for you to make it matter? Of course. And that's the worst part about all of this. Look, I'm not saying that this was a season

that could have been salvaged in any stretch because I think the team played way, too poorly in front of its goalie, but you do have to acknowledge that if Demko had played that really big stretch, when he got hurt, they were seven and seven. And now that he's back, they've won two of three since he's returned. There would be a different team. I don't know if it would have changed too many of the outcomes because they don't generate enough offense. They don't generate enough shots. You know, they had 17 last night. Well, defensively, they were dreadful. Yeah. Like, there was too many issues. But that's coming together now. Yeah.

If the Canucks were in a rebuild that they expected to last for a couple of seasons, I'm not sure it would make sense to keep two goalies with a combined cap hit of $13 million. But that's the thing with the Canucks. It doesn't sound like they're in a rebuild that they do expect to last for a couple of seasons. You know, Sat was talking about it yesterday. it's just this isn't how they operate and it sounds like well it almost sounds like this

this season right here this is the only season where they're somewhat okay and they've had to be convinced of that with finishing in a position where they're going to get a top draft pick or selling off pending UFAs of the caliber of Kiefer Sherwood with that in mind what if Demko gets super hot

and starts winning a bunch of games this season will the Canucks be okay with that because they've already said like all right I know Jim Rutherford has talked about the importance of this year in terms of the draft he's like we have to do well at this draft and there is the possibility that the Canucks could have four picks in say the top 40 or whatever right

because you would have your first pick, you would have Minnesota's first pick, you would have your second round pick, which could be a top 40 pick, and you're probably going to, well, you're maybe going to have a first round pick from trading Kiefer Sherwood. Yeah.

It's probably going to be a late round first round pick, but you might be able to add four pretty good prospects in what's considered a pretty good draft. I could see the Canucks. You know, we talked about this yesterday, right they are a team that sometimes they're like

we got these guys they all got a hit we can maybe have one bust yeah you know where other teams are like we don't worry about it we got like

50 and first rounders in the last few years it's okay if if a few of them bust I could see the Canucks being like all right this is the year

this is our this is our rebuild year yeah and then next season next season we got Petey down the middle Rossi down the middle

who knows knows about Heedel. He could be back. You never know. Sure. Heedle could be back. And then you're keeping your goalies. You got a pretty solid defense with, you know, Bouillon with Heronick and the young guys, DPD and VLander will be, have a little more experience. Like you could see themselves. Again, what the Canucks do

is they talk themselves into the team each year. Yeah. And you know what else they do is they never really have a long-term plan. It just seems like a series of short-term. plans that can change on a dime. So here's the thing. With this season, always remember, executives and general managers tank.

Players don't tank. They don't. You can't ask a player to go out and lose games. If Dempco is playing, Demko's going to give you a shot of winning every game that he's in. I mean, I'm pretty confident in saying that. He has so few off nights,

and he's so confident, and he gives the guys in front of him so much confidence, you're going to have a hard time losing more games than you're winning when Demko is in net. That is how they built the team at the beginning of the season. That's why they have a combo of Demko and Lankinen. It was because the plan going into the season was to be competitive, not to be the 32nd place team in the NHL. Just because you're that now,

it doesn't mean it's going to continue on because you didn't plan for it. You gave yourself a puncher's chance by having an elite goalie locked up long term. If you wanted to tank, you would have gone into this season with Lankanen or Tola Pilo or God forbid, Tola Pilo and Patera. Like that's how you lose games, right? So now you, and here's another thing with the improved defensive play and the more low event hockey, quite frankly, they should have been playing from the beginning of the year. What do you say to the guys that are orchestrating this plan? You can't do anything. You have to let it play itself out.

This team was not built to be. Well, you can say, you can say. you don't play Demko as much. And that's a good point. And you can just, even if you're just lying, although it would be true, you'd just say, uh, he gets hurt a lot.

The one way you can manage this is by showing the rare bit of restraint from an organization that loves to fall over itself when things go good for a little bit. Remember when Rick Taco was here and they had that great start to the 20, 23, 2024 season, it was very clear that they overplay Demko. and on some nights they were putting Demko in net when it was like that should be a Casey to Smith night

but they wanted to prove a point. They wanted to prove that they were good and it wasn't just a PDO bender that they were a good team and they were going to stay good and they overplayed Demko and he got hurt. Now, will they be able to flip the script on that this year? Like for example, this upcoming stretch

where they go Friday, Saturday, Monday? Friday, Saturday, Monday, yes. A conservative approach would be to only play Demko in one of those three games. because he's played a lot. He just came back from injury. But they got a few days off here before that Islanders came. But I bet they don't do it.

Yeah. I bet he plays two and three. I might play three of three at this point. I don't know. A few other things I wanted to mention. Baines was put on waivers yesterday with the expectation that Ilius Peders will return to the lineup Friday against the Islanders. Who comes out to make way for PD if he does indeed return?

And this hasn't been confirmed, but we're just reading the tea leaves here. I wonder, I wonder if it's Max Sasson. The newly signed Max Sasson? Even though that would leave Drew O'Connor at center. The Kane, Drew O'Connor-Shirwood line, has actually been pretty good lately. And if I was Adam Foote, I might not want to break that lineup. So we'll see about that. Nils Hoaglander has made a very quiet return to the lineup.

And that's not a good thing for him. to be fair, it's hard to produce when your center is David Kompf. If Foote wants to keep things simple in terms of not making many changes even though Elias Pedersen is coming back, it's possible we could see Hoaglander on a line

with Pedersen and Garland on Friday, which would leave Rossi between Bessor and DeBrusk in the top six. And then you keep the third line, new third line, the third line. Kane O'Connor and Sherwood. Yeah. Ratu was scratched again, and that's

not great for him. No. This, you know, it's not a good situation for Ratu. It's not an

emergency or anything. It's only been a couple of games, but ideally, that guy needs to be playing some games. It is funny that they have the 30 second place team

in the NHL is a log jam at four. Well, they just, I mean, a little bit, a little bit. But, yeah,

but they just acquired, they acquired, two forwards. Two forwards, right? Yeah, but I'm just saying. But they acquired two forwards out of nowhere.

It's like no forwards going, going out the door. Yeah, the assassin thing, he comes, kind of seems like the most logical candidate, not just to drop out of the lineup, but go back to Abbotsford. And I know that sounds weird saying because he's played a pretty

integral role. Integroal air quotes around Integro. Well, I don't think he needs to go back to Abbotsford if Baines is going down there. So I think they'd be fine with numbers because Baines was a healthy scratch yesterday. See, I think when Pedersen comes back, I also think Ratu should be back in over Sassin. And I know it's kind of like we're splitting hairs here. It doesn't really matter. But in the long term, I think Ratu's got more upside and more potential than Sassan should be playing. I think they like Sassin's speed. That's fine. You know, that's fine.

I mean, it's just a coach's decision. Yeah, that's it. But like to what end? Like, it's not like Ratu was underperforming. I thought he had been one of their better forwards when he was in the lineup. He was like leaving the team in five on five points. And he was taking a bunch of key faceoffs for them. And he was growing into a role where he could play it projected maybe more long term.

So why is he scratched? It's a coaching thing. It's a numbers game. Yeah. It's a numbers game. And I can't get too worked up about it because it's the 4C spot on the 32nd ranked team in the NHL. Like, I'm not going to get too fantastic shape about it.

Well, I mean, it's like it's a guy that, you know, last season they were apparently, they were reportedly hesitant to trade. Remember his name came up in a potential Rossi trade? And they're like, nah, we're not going to trade Ratu. So they obviously see something in him. And that's, it's not ideal that he's a healthy scratch. I don't think we need to, you know, bang our heads against the wall

trying to figure out how to fix it. That's not our job, but, you know, I do think that he needs to get back into the lineup. And I actually keep wondering, you know, are there going to be any more trades? Or are they just going to keep rolling with this wagon of a team right now? You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Our next guest is a presentation of Angry Otter Liquor. Frank Sarvalley joins us now on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650.

Morning, Frank. How are you? Pretty good. How are you guys doing? We're well. There's been a lot going on in Vancouver over the last four or five days going all the way back to Friday's blockbuster deal. Quinn Hughes going to Minnesota. Frank, were you surprised that the speed in which this deal got done and Quinn Hughes was traded to the wild? Very. On a number of different fronts, I mean, let's rewind back to three weeks ago when we really kind of first started having the conversation of, and the premise was, was, should the Canucks try and get an answer from Quinn Hughes before the trade deadline? And that's really when this first started to percolate.

And first off, the Canucks did an amazing job, and the Quinn Hughes camp did as well, keeping a lid on this. Some of his closest friends and teammates were shocked, like Jaws on the floor, shocked about this trade. and the speed with which it moved to go from, A, we're kind of collecting some information and engaging to getting it done. I mean, we're talking a series of days. So it's, in a lot of ways, for the magnitude of this transaction, it's incredible how quickly things moved.

How surprised were you when it was unveiled that Minnesota was going to be the one that won the sweeps takes because everyone was talking about New Jersey, Detroit, Washington, all the other deals that were out there and then lo and behold, it's Bill Guerin and Minnesota. Yeah, team not mentioned once, except for that guy on Twitter back in May. Yeah, right.

And that's the amazing thing is if you were to size up some of the teams that had the right assets to do it, I think they would have been in that category. There's a couple other teams, that actually didn't engage that I think would have had the goods to get it done or even present a more compelling offer like Chicago is one that comes to mind there's a handful of those teams that would be in that that mix and when it comes to

Minnesota now that it's you know it's happened and you can sort of see the board more clearly it makes a lot of sense and I can for sure see now a path forward that includes the wild as a potential long-term and future home for Quinn Hughes. How quickly are the Canucks going to try and turn this thing around? It's a good question. I don't know the answer to that. I think they'd like to try and snap their fingers and this team becomes competitive

once again. I don't think they have an appetite for a drawn-out five-year rebuild since they finally use the word. I, in their, it's rooted in their DNA to want to be as competitive as possible every year. That's their mission and mandate. And so to think that there's going to be this long drawn out process I think it's probably even though it might be the right thing it's probably not

what they're thinking and this trade is the jump start of that it is look there's a lot essentially to take a step back

how I think about this deal is if you traded Quinn Hughes that's a dollar you got back a 50-cent piece and three dimes. And the 50-cent piece is Z. Vuil, but with the proper investment, if he can become 75 cents of that dollar, if his game can grow and if he can give you 75% of what Quinn Hughes was, which is a really tall task in and of itself, given the magnitude and impact that he had on the organization,

but if you can get that first round pick to become something, if Marco Rossi can be an authentic second line center in the NHL, maybe there's the chance that in totality you end up with more than a dollar. And it's going to take some growth and investment and sound patience and financial wherewithal to have it invested in all the right places. But with that, I think the payoff on the other, their end can be pretty big.

So having said all you've said, is it more likely than not than all the players that the Canucks have signed long term, whether it's Pedersen or Bessor or Garland or DeBrasch, Cronach, Demko, Lankan, the list goes on. Those guys are more likely than not to stay. Could you see any of them moved out? I'm sure some of them will be moved out. I'm sure if someone in that group is going to raise their hand and say, I don't have the patience or stomach for this in my career.

I want an opportunity to win sooner. Those, whether it's one or two of those players, which I don't think you could fault, given the premise and pretense with which they signed their long-term deals, was under a different set of circumstances. I don't think you could blame anyone. Those will be the first ones out the door. and those will become apparent in relatively short order.

I'm not saying I know of any. I'm just saying that part is going to become obvious. The next part will be what kind of value is created on the market by teams engaging on some of the other groups of those players. And my guess is when it's all said and done and the Canucks get to the other end of this based on how competitive they want to be and their future plan. There's probably half of that group that's four players,

three players that are part of that next team that can get back to the playoffs and be really competitive. It's Randiith Janda. It is Randipe, Reddy Janda. It is Randy talking hockey now. Oh! 8.02 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody.

Halford Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. To learn how, visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are now in our three of the program. Randy Janda, a presentation of bells and whistles. is going to join us in just a moment here for some Canucks talk. Hour three of this program is brought to by Campbell and Pound

real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-Dashpound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio. Now is the time to maximize the benefits of custom orthotics before the year runs out. Visit kintech.com. As mentioned, our next guest,

the presentation of bells and whistles, Canucks analyst on SportsNet 650, Randy Bjanda here on the Halford and Brough Show, also on SportsNet 650. What up, Brandy? Good morning, boys. How's it going? We're good.

So I want to start this off by taking you behind the scenes of the Halford and Brough show. A couple days ago on our show text thread, I asked our goalie guru, Laddie, when's the last time? Or has there been a year recently in which an NHL team went all 82 games and did not post a shutout? I said, because I feel like Vancouver Canucks might be in that conversation. Well, lo and behold, I forgot that they were going to play the New York Rangers at MSG, where there's shutouts a plenty, and the Canucks delivered with a 3-0-0 win. Thatcher Demko's

first shout-out of the year. Obviously, the Canucks first shout-out of the year. And I know there's a lot of talking points from yesterday, but Demko's right at the top of that list, because it really does show not just the level of goalkeeping that he provides, but I also think the confidence that he gives the guys in front

of him meant as no disrespect to the other goalies that have played this year, but it's really evident when Demko's in that. Yeah, a couple of things on that front, and I think your last point there about giving your team confidence. This is a team that was, as we know, lacking confidence in their play. And when you have a good goaltender, you just play with a little bit more swagger or a little bit more, you know, just having belief in yourself. And that's what Thatcher Demko brings, right? Like, yesterday's game was a classic example of making it look

relatively easy. Like, there were, I'm not saying those saves were easy. I'm just saying Thatcher Demko was able to play that way. He looked comfortable. He looked comfortable. He looked big. There's some deflections in the middle of a slot. Went off of Philip Ronick, his own teammate, that he made a save. There was no rebound, and it just felt like he was completely locked in. There's other saves on

Panarin, Trochek, Miller with the deflection in the middle of the ice. He does give this team another element altogether. Obviously, there's going to be questions about, you know, at this time of the season and where this team is headed, is that what you need? But I think long term, having Thatcher Demko

healthy, having him play his game, in the long term is something that is going to be, you know, beneficial for him, whether he's on this team or elsewhere. So I think, guys, you know, this is a player that he's had a rough go with injuries. So it's actually nice to see him have a little bit of a stretch here to say, okay, he still got it. And he hasn't, you know, lost that. And at this point, after that Quinn Hughes trade, like this team needed some good vibes.

I don't know how long it's going to last because, you know, the trade bump can sometimes. last a couple of games you've got some new players in the lineup but obviously having Thatcher Demko in the crease just makes you a better team and they've no doubt been missing that this season. When the trade with

Minnesota was consummated, the guy I knew the least about and the guy I saw play the least was Liam Ogren. I'm curious to get your thoughts on what you've seen from him through two games. Of course he scored his first goals at connect last night. Yeah, I think with Liam Ogren, I remember going back to the draft year and there's a lot of talk about him,

Noah Ossland and Leckermackie obviously the kind of actually end up getting lecker-macky, but just the Juror-Garden trio. And there's a lot of, you know, high-end skill talked about at that point. From what I understand, he was more of a playmaker in Sweden. We've seen that shot as well.

But in the NHL, it just hasn't worked for him. He didn't have finish in Minnesota. But as, you know, he's played two games here, he's clearly still a player trying to find his way in the NHL. But what I like about his game is that he brings speed, right? like this is a player, whether it's on the four check, there was a play yesterday on Morrow, and it felt like Morrow thought he had some time,

and then immediately Ogren was on him behind the net, and he rushed to play after that, and Morrow did, and that closing speed I've been impressed with the first two games. He showed in New Jersey as well, played about 11 minutes there, and then he's also fast with the puck on his stick. We saw the little chip play by Linus Carlson to get him the puck, and he makes a move.

He ends up scoring that goal on quick, but there's a move later on. where I believe he took on Robertson or one of the New York Rangers defensemen, they tumble and they kind of lose their footing and he takes advantage. So to me, you know, whether that finishes

their long term, whether he can be that player who can score goals consistently enough, that was the big knock on him in Minnesota. Even saw some Minnesota reporters like Michael Russo and others talking about, hey, good for him. He didn't have any of that luck in Minnesota.

But I've really liked the speed that he injects into this lineup and he's really upgraded on that front at least here in the short term. I'm glad you mentioned the speed thing because there haven't been a lot of nights this year where the Canucks looked like they were the faster of the two teams on the ice, but last night was definitely one of them, at least from my

perspective. Did you feel like they were faster and I think part of that had to do with the fact that the Rangers did look pretty slow? Yeah, I think there's a couple of things here. I think Vancouver adding a couple of players that can process the game quicker certainly helps. And Marco Rossi is one of those guys too. He makes quick decisions, right?

There's a difference between skating fast and there's also, you know, being a straight line burner up and down the ice, but also processing the game quickly matters too. If you're delaying on decisions, if you're, you know, potentially sometimes rushing the play or sometimes hanging on to the puck, you're making easy to play against. And I think where you have players that are a faster to begin with, because Ogren certainly is that. But I think with Rossi as well, like he might not be going up and down the ice really, fast, but the fact is he's able to make quick decisions, and I think that

matters too. So the new additions certainly have that. Now, on the other side, guys, I think we do need to have a conversation about the Rangers. Like, they look old. They are an old team. They are toothless. They've been shut out six times on home ice. They're averaging 1.76 goals for her game

at home at Madison Square Garden, which is one of the most critical arenas of their own team in the NHL. So part of this is Vancouver adding some speed Sassone playing more direct game this year certainly made them tougher to play games in certain situations and Ogren adds to that as well

but I think a lot of this also has to do with the New York Rangers and just they're in one right now and they're not a very good team despite having a wage bill or a salary cap that's loaded with talent Elias Pedersen is widely expected to return to the lineup Friday against the Islanders so you'll have Rossi and Pedersen down the middle

in the top six almost like an actual NHL team how do you how do you expect that to change the outlook of this roster yeah I think with that

the top six is kind of feels like it would be set where you just put David Camps maybe down the lineup you've got a whole lineer in Garland already there it seems like a ready made lineup in the top six

and keep Rossi with Bester and DeBrusk now the decision would be who do you take out right and it feels weird saying this because he just signed the contract he's been scoring goals but Drew O'Connor's not going anywhere it feels like anything they you know are okay to swap in a center when he needs some face off help but they like that line like that line's been good

that line drew O'Connor keever Sherwood or Vander Canaan it's been pretty good yeah and you know what there's something about O'Connor like his battle level is so high where you put that trio together but there's just second efforts all over the ice and I think the just the length of Drew O'Connor, his ability to cover a lot of ice. If you got to sub him, maybe sub in a center every now and then to help him out, you're willing to do that in the defensive zone. So I think, unfortunately, I think Max Sassone is the guy that you look at, at least in the short term, to say, all right, if we're going to, Pedersen's coming back, Sassone,

you've got to probably move your way out. But is that something that's going to be permanent? I don't think so. And here's the good thing about Sassone. He can play on the wing, too, right? You're not limited to having him play down the middle. He is somebody that probably, when we were talking about this in three-season guys, he was a guy that was featured on the wing.

And I like his long-term projection in the NHL or, in the NHL, excuse me, as a, you know, as a as a winger. So to me, this is probably a natural fit, at least for one game where you say, Sassone, have a seat, you know, you've been playing well, but we got a lot of players here. And then, guys, you just gauge it. You gauge it based on availability, but you also gauge it on who's playing well, who's not. And Sassone gets a look, of course. But all of a sudden, you went from a team that had very few forwards and you had half of Abbotsford at the Vancouver Canucks level.

And now you actually have some options. How do you think Pedersen responds once he gets back into the lineup? Or at the very least, I won't ask you to predict. But what will you be looking for? Well, I'll be looking for, you know, he's been in a very engaged player this year. And a couple of things I'm going to be looking for. So, you know, that added responsibility of you have to be the guy

that puts up points. And you have to take the toughest matchups. You know, you get a little bit of relief in that. With Marco Rossi, a legit top six player, a legit NHL that can put up 60 points in this league, you've got an individual that you're not going to be feeling like it's all down to you to score points. And if there was that additional stress, you know, I think he can play a little freer to say, all right, I got some backup right now. The other thing is, Jason, the power play, right?

Yeah. I know last game, maybe he didn't have that success that we saw in that first game with the Rossi and Booiam, but this is a completely different power play where against New Jersey they were moving the puck quickly. So if you're in the mindset of all right, this is going to be a different power play. Previously,

Quinn Hughes hung on to the puck fair bit. He was making his moves down to the middle of the ice. You're looking for that deflection play. Now you have the opportunity to play a little different and utilize your shot, utilize your passing. And what I want to see from Elias Pedersen, I think,

on the power play is quick decision. And I want to see that five-on-five too, but I think for him, coming back and understanding he's got some backup at the center position, five-on-five, all right, and now work with those school players you have to make quick decisions. I think that's going to be the biggest tell for me is if he comes back confident and he's making quick decisions, and that puck is moving, his legs are moving, you know, that's a good sign and he's coming back confident. Who are your five guys on the top unit? Last night it was Zev Bouillon, and I think the four forwards were Besser Garland, Rossi, and DeBresk. Yeah, that's going to be, you know, one that you look at. I guess it feels like Debrusk is, you know, he's the guy that's been scoring on the powerplay.

He's got eight power play goals. I'm not moving him just because he's able to basically score out. I wouldn't say out will, but he's very effective. in the slot. That's where he scores his goals in this league. Now, the one player I'm probably looking at, I think Garland's been a very good, you know, playing playmaker the last few games. Probably looking at Rossi right now, which seems kind of, you know, harsh considering he's this high-skilled player, but I'd give Garland that runway, William, you're giving that runway, Brock Bessor, I think has been playing a lot better. Now that he's able to take

that mantle with that shot again, he's been lining up for that one time or a little bit more. need that threat on the opposite side. So if Garland's playing, you know, whether Bessors, especially if they're moving around, if they're mobile, I think having Besser on that power play is needed. So I'm probably looking at Rossi right now just to get PD in there. And, you know, probably the second name I'd say is if it doesn't work or if there's any staleness at any point, you're probably moving Connor Garland just because he's got that versatility to play power play too as well.

Doesn't have the biggest shot. But I'd probably move Rossi off that unit when Petter's. and gets back. What does Rossi, how would you describe his style of play? So I would say, you know, as I referenced before, you know, a player that is a very smart player. Like he's very, a player that generally, I think, is, you know, quick, offensively, he makes quick decisions. And then on top of that, he doesn't shy away from contact. And I think that's one of the things going back to his OHL experience and learning the game. game in Canada, like there's a similar to a North American style of hockey that he is willing

to play. He's getting to the dirty areas. He's not a soft player by any stretch of the imagination. So I think he's going to be dangerous off the rush. As we saw against New Jersey, there's going to be moments where he's able to make those quick decisions. If you get him in the puck, he can create his own shots too, but you hit him in stride. He's going to be dangerous going downhill guys off the rush. And that adds something that this team really hasn't had. essentially going back to the philip heel injury but where he's different from a heel is he's able to get inside he's able to use his frame which is not a big one but you know a lot of those goals that he scored a few years ago in 24 goals Minnesota 21 goals and 23 24 he's a guy that is able to get inside he's able to sometimes take a bit of a beating and that's why I think for this team he's he's a much needed piece so like not necessarily you know, often when we think of high school players

that maybe made the trip over from Europe, you generally think perimeter players. Marco Rossi's not that guy, right? He played in Europe, but he's got that OHL experience at a young age. So I think for Vancouver, you know, this is a type of player you need and he is able to carry the puck a little bit as well,

which is maybe he's not super elite at either one of those things, but he gives you enough as a 60-point guy. Randy, how are you looking at the next year or so of the Canucks. You're projecting out, and I realize it's a very tough question, but

do you expect them to put together a roster that they can say, well, maybe next season they can make the playoffs, or do you think they'll head into next season with lesser expectations? Yeah, it feels like

even though there's a lot of conversation about, you know, rebuild and retool and all, like it feels like all the words have been used already. So you're not really entirely sure. Action speak louder than words. So to me, until we see, you know, them taking a July 1st off a little bit where they're taking it easy and they're saying, actually, you know, we're not going to, we're not going to heavily invest in this season. We're not going to try to upgrade this lineups. I'll believe it when I see it because it hasn't been.

the mode of operation, right? So to me, yes, as somebody who sees how Stanley Cups are won, as somebody who sees you need solid depth, you need cheap depth in the NHL, and you need internal improvement over the long term, that's probably going to be the way that this team is a contender for five or six years over the next decade, right? So that is certainly the path that we've seen,

and yes, it requires a bit of pain as well. but until that actually happens until there's a July that we're talking about maybe depth signings or you know one year deals that they're you know developing internally rather than using first round picks in trades to me like I

I feel good that they're talking about a potential rebuild here but until it's actually followed upon I think it's fair to question that if you're a conduct span as well you're saying hey we might have you've never heard this before but like I think there is some scar tissue there in terms of it hasn't happened so therefore until it happens

you're still somewhat skeptical so you know I think this year has showed the organization that it requires a lot a lot more and injuries happen to every single team some teams can live with them and work through them others cannot when you don't have depth it's very difficult so you need more

than you know two or three special players you need a full lineup that you're comfortable with and I think you know heading out of this year we're still in December here this is a big learning lesson for the organization now I hope it's fallen upon on July and you know around the drop

where you're making those picks and you're maybe taking it easy this year in the off season rather than investing heavily we were talking about the the cracking earlier in the show and saying man they need some star power there they just they have some good players but they don't have any real

studs real elite players is that the Canucks now, too? Yeah, you know, with Alquin Hughes, you've got a gap there. And Seattle is one of those teams I look at. Calgary is another one. Calgary's got some good players in Osam, Codry, and Dustin Wolfe. But do they have a game-breaking talent?

Do they have, you know, somebody that you can say, this is somebody who's going to change the game and a game-breaker. Vancouver right now, until, you know, we either see somebody that they draft in the next draft. If at the top three-picked, you know, that'll be great. or if somehow, you know, Elias Pedersen finds his 100-point forum again, Vancouver doesn't have that game breaker right now. So they are in that.

There are some good pieces there. But as we know in this league, if you want to win the Stanley Cup, if you want to contend for a Stanley Cup, if you want to make it deep into the playoffs, you need players that are going to be over 82, the game-breaking players, but also once you get to the playoffs, and we've covered a lot of playoffs series, guys.

There are certain individuals, maybe it's for one series, maybe it's for the entire playoffs, that just take over the playoffs that are unstoppable. And yes, you need that. Quinn Hughes had certainly had elements of that. We hadn't necessarily seen that in the playoffs. And fair to Quinn, he never got that much playoff time anyways because this team didn't make the playoffs.

But yes, you need those types of players. You need at least one or two of those guys that can drive the bus. So, you know, it does require a long-term approach where you need depth. I think Star Power is really, really important. You need those one or two guys. And then on top of that, once you have those one or two guys, you need to build out solid depth if you want to be a contender in this league. So Vancouver's got a lot of work to do, no doubt about that.

Can I finish this with a present day, Vancouver Canucks question? Explain to me what you think the thinking is with what they're doing with Atu Ratu right now. Yeah, that's a great question. With Atu Ratu, you know, if you go back to what Adam putt is talked about, It's about resets watching the game from a distance. And for one or two games, I can understand that just because, you know, you're a young player. And let me be honest, Aki Rock who's actually outscoring some of his teammates, right, during that stretch of four or five games. He was the only guy that put up points.

But there are no doubt questions about, A, his skating and B, at times, his defensive awareness, which is something that's a work in progress. He's still a young player. Now, given that this is December, are you, you're essentially trying to get a look at what Drew O'Connor can do for you, at what some of these other players can do for you, while you're doing a bit of an assessment here on your roster, and you're trying to get basically to the Olympic break.

I think with Ratsu, I think long-term, you need him to play, right? Long-term, if this is a development season at some point for the Vancouver Canucks, which really it started after the Quinn Hughes trade, he needs to find games. but this is a game that's based on trust, especially at the center position, and it just feels like as of right now, Ratu is lacking a little bit of trust in Adam Foote defensively, and therefore that's why you've got a winger playing in the middle of the ice.

And like we talked about earlier, right? Drew O'Connor's playing well, but it certainly speaks to the level of trust that Adam Foote hasn't in Ratu right now, which is kind of weird because, you know, when you start talking about faceoffs, he's very trusted near 60%. but when it comes to the rest of his game, you can see that the coach is not maybe quite there with him. Okay, Randy, that was great.

Before we let you go, though, tell us about your good buddies at Bells and Whistles. Bells and Whistles is the place to watch live sports in the city boys, watch hockey, football, soccer, and more with the sound on. I was there last night to watch my New York Knicks win the prestigious NBA Cup, a trophy that I all of a sudden care about. But it was great vibes.

32-96 Brazier Street right in the Fraser Hood. there was also the goldenized game on double screening it at the bar it was a fantastic vibe so go check it out very soon. Cool. Thanks buddy appreciate you doing this. Have a good one. Take care guys. Randy Jand on Sportsnet 650 as mentioned

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