Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 1/22/25

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, the boys tell us what they learned, they talk last night's Canucks loss to the Buffalo Sabres, they chat yesterday's Oilers statement on the suspension of Connor McDavid, plus they talk Elias Pettersson and try and come up with his biggest goals as a Canuck, and if he can ever reach the same heights again. 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-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Rasmus Donnelly cutting down the wall into the slot, Peturka scores! It's almost like it's too big for him sometimes. Ichiro Suzuki, Cici Savathia, and Billy Wagner are headed to Cooperstown. Ichiro goes back to the track, to the wall, and makes a leap, and makes the catch! Unbelievable! My, oh my, what a catch by Ichiro! What a week, huh? Lemon, it's Wednesday. Good morning Vancouver, 6-? Lemon, it's Wednesday. Good morning Vancouver! 6.01 on a Wednesday.

Happy Wednesday everybody. It is Halford, it is Brough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Oh.

Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler, while they pay the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. Big show, big show ahead on a Wednesday. Very excited to get into all of it. We have a big announcement as well. That's why it's a really big show, but I'll get into that in a second.

We have a very good guest list today. Begins at 6 30. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host is going to join us. He was working last night during the intermissions of the Connects 3-2 loss, another loss for the Vancouver Connects. This time to the Buffalo Sabres. I will talk to David about that. He's also hosting Wednesday Night Hockey tonight on Sportsnet. It is the Leafs. It is the Blue Jackets from Toronto. Talk to David about that. He's also hosting Wednesday Night Hockey tonight on Sportsnet. It is the Leafs, it is the Blue Jackets from Toronto. Talk to David about that at 6.30. Seven o'clock, Frank Saravalli from Daily Face Off. He has been doing a lot of writing,

a lot of reporting, and a lot of guest spots on what the landing spot might be for JT Miller once this saga finally comes to an end. We'll talk to Frank about that at seven. Can also ask about these reports out of Pittsburgh that Kyle Dubas is potentially holding a fire sale. Oh my God, he's having a fire sale. We'll talk to Frank about that at seven.

Now, programming alert. 8.30 this morning, Dan Murphy, Sportsnet's very own is gonna join the program. He too was working last night's game between the Canucks and the Sabres. Now you'll say, well, 8.30, that's usually what we learn time. You are correct.

What we learned are gonna go at eight o'clock this morning. That's eight o'clock. Get them in now, start sending them. Dumbart number text line is 650-650. Murph will join us at 8.30 to talk Canucks. What we learned are at eight. Finally, the big announcement that I was talking about, Jason, nine inch nails are returning to touring.

That's right. The peel it back world tour is gonna happen this summer. And on Sunday, August the 10th, nine inch nails are coming to Rogers Arena. And guess what? We got tickets. We are giving away tickets every day this week for the remainder of this week

and Monday and Tuesday of next week. Now befittingly because it's nine inch nails, caller number nine at 815 this morning is going to win the tickets. The number to win tickets to see nine inch nails on Sunday, August the 10th at Rogers Arena 604-280-0650. That number again 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, January 29th, but if you want tickets now, call it 815 this morning, 604-280-0650. Call it number nine, getting it nine inch nails tickets.

The band that lent itself to the greatest name in men's league sports. What's that? What was the name? What do you think? Nine Inch Nails. What's the greatest name in men's league sports connected to that? I mean, I can think of a couple of inappropriate names. Yeah.

Well, it's men's league sports. Yeah. Yeah. Nine Inch Nails. Oh. Oh, that's where I was going at all. That's actually way better. That's much more clever. Way better than oh I was going at all

Way better what I was thinking Yeah, a couple times intimidating team Big hands Cover a lot of ice Wow, yeah figured it out You should if you were watching the live stream all ten of you you would have seen my eyes get biggest saucers on that one Okay, we got a lot to get into on the program guest list in reverse Murphy 30 Frank Sarah Valley at 7 David Amber at 630 without further ado laddie. Let's tell everybody what happened Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was...

We know how missing your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training.

Visit them online at bccsa.ca. The Canucks lost another brutal one on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena. Yuri Kulich had a goal in to assist as the Buffalo Sabres, who had played the night before and lost the night before in Seattle, somehow managed to rally to beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena. Rick Tuck had called a microcosm of the season

and I think that was pretty appropriate because it was a boring start to the game. Or if you're trying to be positive, I guess, KG start, real chess match out there, nah, it was boring. Regardless, not much happened. And there wasn't much life in the building at Rogers Arena. There was even less life when Tage Thompson opened the scoring off a face off in the Canucks end.

Pedersen said after the game that he tried to block it, but ended up making it harder for Demko. Let's never speak of that first period again because things did get better in the second when Phil DiGiuseppe pounced on a loose puck and put it behind Ukka Pakkalukkonen for his first goal of the season. It was a good shift for the Canucks with Carson Sousi and JT Miller drawing assists. Hronik was also out there doing good things paired with Sousi. Hironik was with a bunch of different guys. Sousi looked good with Hughes, not so much. A few minutes later the Canucks had another good shift that ended in a

goal. This one by Elias Pedersen who took a pass from Quinn Hughes and smoothly wristed one home. Brock Besser also picked up an assist on one of the more entertaining shifts the Canucks have had, well, all season at Rogers Arena. That was the hope part of the game. Remember, this is the microcosm of the season. First period? Boring. Second period? Oh, there's some hope. Third period. You'd think the Canucks would have the advantage against a bad Buffalo team that had played the night before in Seattle. Well, you'd be wrong. Because the Sabres were the ones with the energy and around the 9 minute mark, Yuri

Kulich found himself all alone in front of Demko and put it past him. Hironic, who couldn't quite get to Kulich in time, was out there with Hughes for that goal. So Hironic was plus one with Susie and he was actually minus two with Hughes. Cause that pair was also out there for Tage Thompson's opener. Anyway, things got worse for the Canucks when they iced it with about six and a half minutes left. The Sabres won the draw cleanly back to Dallin who skated in and fed JJ Peturka right in the slot. Some call that the guts of the ice for the one-timer past Demko. I have no idea what the Canucks were doing defensively on that goal other than,

Hey, remember that goal that Tade Thompson scored in the first period off the face-off? Let's make sure that doesn't happen. It's so Mark Friedman fully focused on Tage Thompson. Dallin was able to skate freely and leaving three Canucks, three Friedman, Sherwood and Heinen in complete no man's land. Perturka wide open in the slot. Some people call that the guts of the ice. Another dash for Hughes who got caught in a

different no man's land than the other guys. It was a different one. There was one no man's land over here and that had three guys and then Hughes was in one by himself and in front of the net. So it was kind of generally more acceptable no man's land. I kind of blame Sherwood a little bit on that

goal because he didn't get to Dallin at the point. I think that was his guy and Dallin's able to scare him. It was a disaster. It was a disaster. Look, not a coach, not the NHL level at least, but I know there was a defensive breakdown somewhere on that goal for a team that hangs its hat on being good defensively. That's what Patrick Alveen said the other day, even at the expense of offense and entertainment. Patrick Alveen said the other day, well, I think the fans want to see wins even if it's

boring. Oh, what if it's a loss and it's kind of boring? That's a bad luck. That's a bad, bad look. That's your Demko. We knew this was going to be tough. Coming back from his injury, he said after the game that he's kind of lost touch with his game a little bit, which makes sense. Ian Clark, not there anymore. Just throwing it out there. Thatcher Demko's save percentage is like what?

Mid 800s? Yep. I don't know what it is. It's not good right now. Something's got to change. We've been saying all season, someone's got to give. Come on, give. Demco's save percentage for the record is 873.

The focus last night for Rick Tauke in the aftermath was coming up small in the big moments for his team. Now, Sat and Bic were talking about that, yes, the head coach is dealing with an illness and that might've played a role in it, but they also pointed out that that was maybe the most dejected and maybe the flattest that Rick Tauke has sounded about his team throughout the season, which we are now honing in on the 50 game mark of the regular season.

I do want to play some audio because Rick Tauke mentioned on a couple of occasions last night, very specifically how they needed to be bigger in the big moments and how they continually come up small in those big moments. First clip, the first one on our list laddie, Rick Tauket, we need more big moments to get out of it this year. Here's Tauket following a very disappointing 3-2 loss

to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night at Roger's Arena. Oh yeah, I mean this is a, obviously this was a win we wanted. Could've get some confidence for the team. Now we gotta go back to the drawing board again. Two-one lead, I thought, like you said, we had a bunch of chances there in the second, and then we didn't have any, we dried up.

So we're gonna have to look at it, the reasons why. But in hockey, there's key moments. Most of the games played, 78% kind of neutral. It's that 30% you need big moments where the tide turns, whether it's a big face off win or a block or a back door play to score in there. These are big plays that you gotta make. And we're not having enough this year, we know that.

We need more big play moments to get ourselves out of this. So a lot of people are waiting for Mount Bruff to erupt. Kind of got there a little bit during that game recap. I don't know, man. Like, you just like, you got to do something. But at the same time, it's like, I know they're trying to trade Miller. They're trying to do something. But at the same time, it's like, I know they're trying to trade Miller. Like they're trying to do something and, um, and it's not like I'm willing to say,

well, take whatever you can get, you know, they're in talks with a few teams, but you know, they, they need this to end. They need this to end for the sake of this season. If they still hope to make the playoffs, I don't even know for a lot of listeners, if they even care about making the playoffs at this point with this team. But I mean, I would like to see them make the playoffs. I don't even know for a lot of listeners, if they even care about making the playoffs at this point with this team. But I mean, I would like to see them make the playoffs. So, uh, I mean, you know, what, what's the Mount Bruff, how's you going to erupt because I'm just kind of like waiting for the other other shooter drop.

This is a management group that, you know that almost hangs its hat on, especially the president of Hockey Ops, Jim Rutherford. I do things. I'm active. I like to make trades. I'm going to do it. Well, then do them. Let's go. Come on. I think- You're a deal maker, make some deals. I think the do something mantra is very befitting because in a very weird way, this has worked out.

We did not plan this, but this is exactly what the head coach is saying to his team as well. That in these moments, in these games, when you're trying to find consistency and you're trying to stack together wins and you're trying to get out of it, certain players need to do certain things

in certain moments. Now, I will say this. I feel as though that there might be some mixed messages coming through from this coaching step. I've been very loathe to criticize anything Rick Tauke had done this year because one, I think he's a good coach. And two, if you're going to stack up the list of issues that this team has had, I would put whatever rift is going on close to the top.

I put a very poor blue line in terms of roster construction at the top. I throw injuries, maybe third or fourth in that list. You know, at times I understand that people are saying, how for the bruff you need to criticize the head coach more. Rick talk, it seems to say that last night in his, in his audio, he said, you know, we need guys to step up and chase big moments, but at the same time, they also need to know their roles and make sure that they're not chasing too much offense when it isn't there. But when the big moments arise, they definitely need to go after it.

But they also need to understand where it fits within the game. It feels as though that sometimes the approach that this team needs to take has to be so precise and so certain and play so perfect that there's no margin for error anywhere. And that's a tough thing to do on a nightly basis when, let's be honest, you've got different guys coming into the lineup, for example, and I feel bad for Mark Friedman, but Mark Friedman got called up in the wake of the Tyler Meyer suspension and played 15 minutes kind of on short notice and got hung out there because he made a bad read on, you pointed out it was the third goal, right? It was a game winning goal where. Well, I don't know. Yeah. I

mean, he, he definitely had laser focus on Tage Thompson and. Right. Probably trying to. Maybe you should have looked out somewhere else, you know? Probably trying to do the right thing. Definitely wanted to do the right thing. I mean, he wants to play and he wants to make the plays that are gonna help his team win a hockey game. It just went in the inverse because as Taka pointed out, 70 to 80% of the games that they play are kind of stuck in neutral.

And the entire first period for that matter was kind of stuck in neutral. And then when it's time for these big moments to happen, this connects. And the one thing, time for these big moments to happen, this connects, and the one thing unfortunately that they've done consistently this year has come up small in those big moments. I want to play another piece of audio.

Tauke had harped on it again last night when asked about what's going on with his team and why they can't find the consistency to win games. He said, and this is the third clip we got here, laddie, it's our lack of ability to deliver in key moments. That's just been a microcosm of our season just key times key moments we're not getting them. Two face-off goals you're up two to one we iced the puck there you know like a should have you know connected on that play we're just There's just key moments. Protecting the middle of the ice. Sometimes

the key moment, we hate to use the word, but we go kind of numb for whatever reason in a key situation. We got to turn that around. So, Bill from Buffalo, I apologize to you. You're a loyal listener and you tuned in and you wanted to hear Mount Bruff and I haven't really delivered today. Dalvier texts in, I fully understand if some apathy is creeping in to dampen Mount Bruff's eruptions. It's certainly happening with me. Mount Bruff... He's not a clown, people. He can't just explode whenever you wanted to. Here's the thing.

I've also kind of said my piece with this team. The Mount Bruff would be nothing new. I know Pedersen scored last night, but if you're talking about guys coming up in big moments, where was he in the third period? No, seriously, where was he? Where were the key players in the third player? In the third period?

Did you hear him talk it when he was asked? No. Can you pull that up real quick? Jump into teams. And it's... So, Pedersen had a good second period. I actually thought he showed some life. He scored a goal.

Of course he did. It was a nice goal. But there was an earlier question where... Hughes was doing the work on it, but it was a nice shot. And he showed some life. He scored a goal. Of course he did. It was a nice goal. But there was an earlier question where- Hughes was doing the work on it, but there was a nice shot and he showed some composure on the shot. And then he made a nice little move at the blue line where he spun around someone. And then Talk It spoke earlier in his presser about players deferring too much. And I was like, that's Petey. Cause I was trying to come up with a Trump nickname. It was like deferential Petey, but it was too big a word. It didn't work, right? Anyway, can you find it?

It's talk it on Pedersen. Yeah, Pedersen was okay. Anyway, he was later asked, like, what about the line? What about Pedersen's group that scored a goal in the second period? And this was Rick Tauke's response. I don't know. They got the goal.

I thought they were okay, yeah. That was it. Oh, Yeah. That was it. Oh, wow. That was it. Right? He knows when you're talking, talk it smart enough to know that you can put enough stuff out there. I don't even want to call it subliminally, but subtly where you can, you don't even have

to talk about Pedersen like that. That was actually pretty upfront. When he's talking about, we don't get enough plays in the big moments. He's talking about his best players, right? When he's talking about, we miss a backdoor chance. He's talking about his second best defenseman, Philip Horonik, who had a chance to, as easy as it's going to get. And he was really frustrated after he missed up that chance in the third period. I'm talking about Horonik, not Rick Tauke.

Although I bet Tauke was really frustrated after he missed up that chance in the third period. I'm talking about Horonik, not Rick Tauke. And although I bet Tauke was very frustrated as well. Like, he knows right now that he's got an incomplete roster, especially on the back end. And he knows that right now his best players are not giving him enough in the big moments in a game where you're up by one or it's tied in the third period. Who are the two guys that you're going to look to in a game where you're up by one or it's tied in the third period,

who are the two guys that you're gonna look to score a game winning goal or make a big play to push you over the top or to get that very elusive second win in a row, which is like this team hasn't had since I think December 1st, it's crazy. Pederson and Miller mostly, and they weren't getting it done in the third period. So on that note, Jeff from Black Creek, Texas.

What the hell happened to this leadership group being lauded as a mature tight group, taking responsibility for the team's play? There are lots of times I heard some of the players touting how close the team was. Certainly doesn't feel like that this year. Such a stunning fall from Grace last year, which was such a planet, pleasant, unexpected break from all this. I can't believe we are back here. Yeah.

The leadership group is in tatters right now, outside of, uh, Quinn Hughes, who did have a pretty dreadful game last night by Quinn Hughes' levels, but I know no one's going to blame Quinn Hughes at all for anything this season. Um, Pedersen and Miller are the two other big parts of that leadership group. The Canucks are actively shopping those guys right now, and you're not seeing the level that they can play at. You're not seeing their full potential right now. We haven't seen it from Miller or from Pedersen for a full year now.

And we see it in such varying degrees from JT Miller, who some nights looks super engaged and he's one of the best players on the ice and other nights. Like I think back to that, God, who do they play? Wasn't after, what was the game after Winnipeg? The Kings game. The Kings game. Where he was like, what's going on here?

Yeah. I was like, is that the last draw game? You know, and that's your leadership group. That, so that's who the other guys on the team, in theory, are looking to lead them. Mm-hmm. I mean, we spoke about this numerous times over the course of the last week, where the results have been peak valley, peak valley,

and it's been win-loss, win-loss, but more importantly, it's been solid performance followed by flat performance. And I think it is sort of becoming crystal clear that the leadership group, their identity, which has also been very erratic and very inconsistent, has permeated the rest of the group or is at the very least is what this group identifies as now. One night we can go out and we can have a tremendous effort and we can lock it down and we can play this style to a T

and we can come up big in those big moments. And then the very next night we don't. That game against Buffalo last night, I was stunned when I heard Bick and Sad talking about this in the post game show. I got to double check it at the break to make sure it's a hundred percent accurate, but I'm pretty sure it is. The Buffalo, you know how many offensive zone draws Buffalo one last night? Oh, two. Two.

Both in the big moments. They both led to goals. He scored on both. Yeah. Blugr lost that one cleanly on the winning goal. And then there was just so much confusion. I watched the play over and over. Friedman is just following Tage Thompson. Sherwood, who I imagine was the guy that was supposed to get out to Dahlien, gets caught up in, didn't really get there that well.

Dallin gets caught up in, didn't really get there that well. And then Bluger, because Friedman had kind of gone high to take care of T.H. Thompson, Bluger was kind of playing defense. Like he was the right defenseman. Yeah. And then Heinen was out at the left point, so he was not really part of the play anyway. And like, and then, so Dallin skated by himself down the wall, right?

Did anyone check him? No, no. And then he passed it to Paterka for the one timer. Did anyone check him? Did you see blue? So who the hell? So what the hell were the guys doing? Like, they're not they're not they're not going to the puck carrier. They're not going to the guy who's wide open in the slot. Some people call it the guts of the ice.

Yeah. And then, you know, Demko didn't make the save and it was a great, it was a good shot. It was a good opportunity. And you're kind of like, well, yeah, I mean, if you're going to give a guy an open one-timer from the slot, he's going to score a lot, but Thatcher Demko is supposed to be an elite goalie and we knew it was going to be tough for him to come back. And I thought it was very interesting what he said after the game. There's a little, little party at a long, in a long session with the media.

And he said, uh, I kind of lost touch with the game. Um, and I think he means like his game. And he was talking about just reads on plays, just the feel for the game. Yeah. And that's totally understandable, but it's not the best timing. It's not. And you know what?

You could throw that on the pile of things that Tauke is speaking about where he's like, we need guys stepping up in the big moments and we're not getting it. I think Demko totally fits that category. Jay texted in earlier and he said, I don't think you were right, Mike. I think Tauke is telling his team to score

when you have the open net. Score if you have multiple shots from the slot. How many opportunities does Besser have to make this a three-one game? Jay, that's exactly what I'm saying. I cherry picked Hronik, and now we're kind of cherry picking Demko, but take your pick.

Tauke is saying that within his framework of how the game should work, there's enough big moments that are up for grabs that the connects don't grab. Sure. Bester is one of them, but there's a handful of other guys as well. The overriding theme isn't necessarily who the guys are, but that it's always his guys that aren't doing it. Like, does that make sense? This has been this consistent theme throughout this season and I don't know if this is maybe getting into the

territory of PDO or bounces and chances evening out throughout the course of a year that you can't always grab the big moments and you're not always gonna come up big in the big moments. That there needs to be another strategy other than play 70% or 80% of the game in neutral. And then in those 20% moments, you need to be the dominant team. Maybe that's too much to ask, but that is exactly what he's saying.

It's exactly what he's saying. And what he's also saying is that our guys consistently aren't grabbing those moments. Now I would say- And the Pedersen line was okay. And the Pedersen line was okay. It was just okay, right? And that tells you everything you need to know.

Yeah, they got the goal and they're okay. Yeah. I understand the coach's frustration on this. I really do. This is how they're going to play hockey. How often do you think, trade them both, honestly? How often do you think? I mean, it's great if you're in a fantasy league or you're playing on Xbox. It's so hard to, you can say it, but I know that it's like virtually impossible to do right now. I mean, you could walk in.

You could trade them both over the next six months. You could, but you could also royally screw things up. Well, they're royally screwed right now. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Let's move on to something I teased prior to going on a break. And that was Edmonton crashing out yesterday. In real life, IRL, on the internet,

whatever social media platform that you subscribe to, you could probably see either a media member or an Oilers fan or someone running their social media account crashing out. Crashing out means when something's not going your way, you don't handle it very well, you don't keep your composure and you just have a big old meltdown, crashing out. That's what Edmonton did yesterday. It's the opposite of cooking.

Yes, they were not cooking. They were like mojed with the jambalaya. They just spilled it everywhere, right? That's what happened. So we played a bit of this audio. We can play it again. Actual like fully employed media members in Edmonton were throwing out the idea that Connor McDavid

as a sort of silent protest to a three game suspension for cross checking another human in the head should start scaling back whatever he had obligations wise with the NHL, be it media appearances, the Four Nations face off, take your pick. Can we play the audio? This is from Bob Stauffer, I think, yesterday, who was on an all-time heater. Bob Stauffer yesterday about what Connor McDavid should be doing in the aftermath of his three-game suspension. Connor McDavid should immediately withdraw from the Four Nations tournament. I'm not

joking. Now, you might think he was joking, but he said he's not. But that's sometimes what someone who was joking would say. Not often, but sometimes Ryan Rashad of TSN then took to Twitter. And had a series of tweets. In which he kind of suggested that this might be a real thing.

And then McDavid wasn't entertaining it. You know, those tweets that are out there where you're like, I didn't think that needed saying, I didn't think that needed doing. I thought that was one of them. Yeah. Ryan tweeted out, I mean, this isn't on Ryan. He's just doing some work.

He's doing some work. He said some suggestions out there that McDavid could or should scale back his involvement in league activities, media as protest over this suspension. My understanding is that's not his headspace at all. He'll continue to conduct himself the same as he always has. Ryan should have said, my understanding is that that's not his headspace at all because he's not an idiot. Yeah.

He's not in an idiot head space. He's a hockey player that just wants to play hockey and even if he's upset at the suspension and maybe upset at some of the calls that aren't going away, going his way, he's not going to pull out of the four nations tournament. He's not going to pull out of the four nations tournament. He's not going to do that to team Canada because he got a three game suspension for cross-checking a guy in the head.

He's probably happy he gets to leave Edmonton for a week. So at this stage of the game, I'm thinking we've reached peak idiocracy, peak stupidity. Like it can't get any worse than this. Every opinion does not need to be addressed, I'm sorry. Like, there's certain suggestions and opinions that we can just look past.

However, we weren't dumb there, laddie. Well, at least the team didn't release a statement. Oh, Andy. Dear sweet Andy. I love this statement, can I read it? Yep, so, okay, hold on. This is after the idea was floated, that Conor McGavie, I'm not joking,

a silent protest. He was going to quite quit work. Hunger strike. And then the reporter's like, should we dig into this? And they did. And then they found there was nothing to it. The Oilers were like, hold on,

we're not done with the news cycle quite yet. Okay. Tell me what the funniest part of this is. The Oilers organization is disappointed and we share in our fans frustration over the three game suspension of our captain, Connor McDavid. We support him through this process and the organization and our fans look forward to having him back in the lineup versus Seattle next week.

I might've given it away through that, but we support him through this process. Like what was the, was he like, through the process of sitting three games? Are you, are you okay? That's kind of what I press box. We support him through lying on a beach. Yeah. We support him through this process. The process is he doesn't play the next three games.

That's it. That's the process. There's no other process. That's it. We support him. Support him. OK, Connor, now this is going to be difficult because we're going to announce the lineup for the game.

And unfortunately, you are not part of it. Who is this? You know, when. Connor pick up. We have counselors standing at the ready for you in case you need it. You know, when you, uh, something bad happens to your kid or a little kid and you feel genuinely

upset for them and all you want, especially as a parent, all you want to do is make it better. So you ask them, you're like, what can I do to make it better? And usually it involves like ice cream or a treat or whatever. Edmonton did that with Connor McDavid, but then their version of ice cream was releasing a sad statement. But do you know what, you know, my take out was this. If I was McDavid, I'd be like, please shut up everyone, because this is making me look bad. Look terrible.

Right? Because I, I had a response to Ryan Rashad's tweet that he, you know, people are saying maybe he, uh, he would pull back on his media duties or something like that. Right? I said, that's not my head space. And then some people replied, like just goes to

show how big a baby McDavid is. And the whole point of the tweet was to say, like, no, he's not going to do that. It's the people suggesting that he should do that, but he's not going to do that. Right? Because he's not crazy. Do you remember when I floated this a few, I think it was about a month ago, where I said, if I had a PR firm like Halford PR, we will handle your crisis.

I said, my overriding advice for everyone would be say less. Don't say so much. You don't need to address everything. As you astutely pointed out earlier, Ladi, you don't need to honor and take everyone's opinion. You don't need to address them. You don't need to honor and take everyone's opinion. You don't need to address them. You don't need to answer them.

Sometimes, sometimes you can go through life saying less and doing less. It's sometimes silence is golden. I don't understand at any level of an organization how this got through the layers to where it got published for public consumption. There can't be this many people working in a professional sports organization that was like, did you see my memo about the Connor McDavid statement? And they're like, yes, first off, I loved it. Can we put this out quickly? Oh, somebody was probably like, oh, you were serious? Yeah.

You weren't joking. You want me to actually do this? Can we put this out quickly? Oh, somebody was probably like, oh, you were serious? Yeah. You weren't joking? You want me to actually do this? Can we get- We support him through this process after he cross-checked a guy in the head. Pretty hard. How quickly can we get this on the internet? Can we get it before we go and play the Washington Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin in what's going

to be a highly publicized game? I bet you when McDavid saw that statement, he was probably like, oh my God, are you kidding me? I'm sure he's upset. This is so dumb. I'm sure he's pissed at the decision to get suspended for three games. But I also don't think he probably needs all these people saying what he should do, which are these ridiculous suggestions. And then they somehow get attached to him.

He's like, I didn't suggest them. I wasn't, I wasn't going to stay out of the foreign Englishians, I mean, unless I'm missing something here. Who's, it was just Bob Stauffer and then people ran with it. There was a, okay, he wasn't alone. I don't want to single out Bob in particular. There was a lot of, some of your favorites, they

were playing the hits in some of your favorite pundits. We're all throwing out this thing and the general driving sentiment behind it was the NHL profits and capitalizes off Connor McDavid, but won't give him the superstar treatment despite the fact that he's a superstar. That's it in a nutshell. Mm-hmm. You cross checked a guy in the head though. There are- Is my constant retort to everything.

Everyone- He cross checked a guy in the head. Yeah, he took a stick and hit another human in the head with it, you can't do that. You can't, it's so cut and dry. I tell my kids at the park. In that, let's stick down. In that same game, another human took a stick

and hit another human in the head with it and got the exact same suspension. Almost as if there was a bar or a standard being set. And everyone seemed to ignore that. Edmonton had a day yesterday. By the way, they also lost that game three, two to the Washington capital. So now there's nachos on the ice. Did you see this?

How dare they? Uh, Oilers are down three, one in the third period. Uh, dry silent Perry are on a line together. They come into the offensive zone, Dry Cytlin dishes to Perry. Perry nice shot, scores, makes it three two. All of a sudden, caps goalie Logan Thompson starts gesticulating to around the area where Perry shot the puck.

And he was very demonstrative in doing it. And then the camera panned over to where he was pointing. And on the ice, laid a $13.75 platter of nachos. So it was a celebratory nachos? No, the nachos hit the ice before the goal was scored. The nachos got an assist. Yeah, it was an assist. Oh, so why did they go on the ice?

That's a great question. No one really has the answer to it. Do I always sign them to a one? Was it just two guys just whizzing, like, I'll give you a hundred bucks if you throw these nachos on the ice? I think, yeah, probably. Do Eulers sign the nachos to a one-year deal, by the way?

On a day where everyone was coming up with horrible ways to protest Conor McDavid's suspension, maybe throwing your $13.75 nachos on the ice was the way to go. It might have fooled Thompson, too. I just saw the replay now like it was Right where the puck was she was legitimately saying you need to call this yeah, and then why cuz nachos Was debris all over the ice and there's a puck coming out of the debris that makes it a little harder

He just loves nachos so much Just can't stand watching them go to waste. Seriously, they were expensive. It was heartbroken. Concession prices at Roger's place are, they're high. I'm just picturing. Nachos, nachos. It was on the ice.

And here come the nachos. Okay, enough. No. Nope. So tomorrow the Canucks are playing in Edmonton, and I think it's going to be interesting. Connor Garland is going to get the most booing he's ever had. And here come more nachos. With 10 seconds to go in that game,

he should do the thing again where he ties the guy. Yeah, just find somebody else. White Glock. He better be out there. But it's like. What are you gonna do? It's like a 6-1 lead for the Oilers. Just don't let that happen.

What are you gonna do, cross check me? This is very funny. Garland should wear a full on neck brace in the warm up tomorrow night in Edmonton. Yes. Would be 100%. That would be amazing. Like when Vince McMahon went to court and he was full on personal injury.

Like comes out in a wheelchair, body, body mass, body, uh, suit. Okay. Cast. All right. Body cast. We're done with the oilers until tomorrow. Let's get back to making fun of our own team. Yeah.

The Vancouver Canucks. I want to read some texts into the Dunbar Lumber text line and unfortunately if you're just joining us, Frank Zervalli's under the weather, like everyone seems to be these days. So won't be able to join us. So it's just us in the studio and the listeners texting in for the next little while.

We're going to have what we learned at eight o'clock, so the start of hour three, because Murph is going to join us at eight thirty. So Danny in Brookswood texts in and says, Morning boys, one of the hardest parts of being a fan is that no matter what my head says, my heart still holds out hope that this team is about to turn it around. Up to one after two last night, coming off a win over Edmonton, I couldn't help but think, what if this is the turning point? Yeah, maybe they can actually string some wins together.

I keep just waiting for the turning point. My head tells me it's not coming, but my heart tells me it's right around the corner. Being a sports fan is so stupid. I'm with them. I'm with them. You see, you heard my excitement when I came in on Monday. I was fired up. I was like, Hey, can I just figured it out?

This is that was the Sunday, Saturday was supposed to be the turning point. Cause not only was it a big win and an emotional win, it had all the fireworks at the end of that. If anything is going to snap the team out of its malaise and its funk, it's going to be, you know, cross check a Palooza, how exciting it was. Yeah. Right. Rallying behind the suspension,

the unfair suspension, Tyler Myers. No one talked about how unfair that was. I, and then in the back of my mind, the recesses of my mind, I knew, kind of knew what was gonna happen last night. Like, as you said earlier in the show, it wasn't really surprising that there was a dud, especially in the third period. The Canucks failed to follow up a win with, you know,

another win. But I, you know what, I'll hold out hope again. Like when they go in on Thursday, I'll be like, well, the watch says that it's time for a good performance because that's what they do. I have 1% hope for this remaining core. I have more than that. I just want to maintain that 1%. You're going with the puncher's chance

like approach theory here. That if you're in the ring, you got a chance. Whereas there's always a chance that you can land that blow and you can knock the guy out. Right? Who was the, you remember the movie The Fighter? What was the name of the real fighter? Mickey Ward.

Mickey Ward. So one of Mickey Ward's most famous fights, it wasn't against Gotti, he had three fights against Gotti, but one of the most famous fights and the one they showed in the movie was when he took a fight against some guy, I can't remember his name. Some guy. But it looked like he wasn't fighting for seven or eight rounds and all the famous commentators were like, you know, this is a disgrace to boxing. What Mickey Ward is doing right now is

unprofessional. He's not prepared for this fight. And then all of a sudden, bam, bam, he hit him with a body shot and dropped the guy. And that was a big part of the movie. And then, you know, Mickey Ward goes on to bigger, better things. hit him with a body shot and dropped the guy. And that was a big part of the movie. And then, you know, Mickey Ward goes on to bigger, better things, right?

Is that kind of what you're holding out for with the Canucks? Yeah. They're going to kind of dance around all season. It was a- Not really looking, not really knowing what they're doing and then all of a sudden, bam, bam, body shot and the other guy goes down. Kind of. The fight was against Alfonso Sanchez, by the way, who was undefeated at the time.

Some guy. Yeah. So the interesting thing with that analogy is that some thought that Ward was playing rope-a-dope and others thought that he was just- Got lucky. Right. He was getting profoundly beaten. It wasn. Right, like he was getting profoundly beaten. It wasn't. Well he was getting profoundly beaten. Right, but it wasn't intentional.

But it wasn't a strategy. Like I'm gonna take these blows, tire the guy out, and then I'm gonna knock him out. It's like I'm gonna take these blows, end of sentence. That's just what I'm doing today. Yeah. Because he's better than me. Yeah. Yeah.

You came up against a better fighter, and he's working you for seven rounds and you're gonna lose. The puncher's theory chance is that if you're in the ring and you're not knocked out, you've always got a chance, like Mickey Ward. The interesting thing with this Canucks team is it's not so much do they have the ability

because I absolutely think they have the ability. I think they've got enough high end talent and game breaking players that they can do this. It's not that part of it. It's that, do you ignore what's becoming an increasingly large sample size? Right, because what game are we at now? 46, 47?

Yeah, we're into round six or seven. We're getting pretty deep in the fight here. And you're like, I think maybe what we've seen might be the team. Not that they're going to break out of this funk, but that they are the funk. Okay. That was deep, wasn't it? So, um, the reason I asked this is, is there a

chance, and I think Sat was mentioning this very possibility, that this JT Miller thing could drag all the way into the off season. It seems unlikely because of all the attention around JT Miller right now and all the way into the off season. It seems unlikely because of all the attention around JT Miller right now and all the talks, but you know, we've seen things drag out before in Vancouver. Yes.

Right? We were like, this can't possibly go on forever. It's going on, isn't it? Yep. Um, I wonder if the Canucks might be tempted to kick the can down the road with a spot in the playoffs, still very much a possibility. They could talk themselves into there being more

interested teams in the summer when it's generally easier to make moves. Then what if the Canucks go on a deep run in the playoffs and a couple of body shots. Yep. And. One lucky uppercut. Could that, could that change everything?

I mean, look, after last night, this scenario seems rather unlikely verging on impossible, but there is still that hope that the Canucks just pull it together and play consistently like they did against Edmonton. Yeah. On Saturday, right? Cause here's the thing, if they, like, let's say hypothetically speaking,

Detroit Brian just texted this in. Let's say hypothetically that they say, okay, fine, Miller, you're gone. We're getting Hedl and a first back. You've lost that trade. You've lost that trade. I would struggle to find someone out there who's like, that was a win for the Canucks

where they got Phillip Hedl in a first for JT Miller. You lose that trade. If you could get a better trade in the summer, can you kick the can down the road that far? I would say based on the history of this management group, yeah, that's a possibility. They let Bruce Boudreaux twist in the wind for, felt like years, but it was months,

but that's what it felt like because they needed time to get the ideal result, which was Rick Tocket. They also are collectively, I have found that this management group is very defiant when you tell them that this can't either drag on or go on or go the way you think it's going to. The Miller 10 game leave of absence, they just kind of went like, we're going to

explain it this way. And if there's questions and if people try to poke holes in it, or if they think there's going to be, there's not going to be, we're just going to go about our business. They actually go to the Halford PR school of not saying, say less, say less. My tip, my cap to you. PR school of not saying anything. Say less. Say less. My tip, my cap to you.

Miller left, was gone for 10 games, came back, said upon his return, I'm not going to talk about the 10 games, I just missed that absence. And everyone's like, okay. And then he went back in the lineup and kept playing hockey again. And that's how that was dealt with. That was the biggest elephant in the room ever during that 10 game stretch.

Yep. It's like, Hey, you know, that Miller is one of their stars. He's just, just left. Yeah. And then he came back and everyone was like, you know, when you left, he's like, not going to talk about it. It was like, all right. All right then.

Who's starting in that tonight? Uh, Graham from Hardy. I want to read, uh, this is, this is, we get a lot of texts like this. Okay. Morning guys, I have never been to this point before. Trade Besser, Miller and Petey. Oh man, that's a lot of trades. I don't believe in Petey.

I don't believe he will be a first line player. He will be a good player, but I don't think he will ever reach the heights we expect from him. If Miller were younger, I would want to keep him, but he is getting sports old. Besser is awesome, but it isn't working. The core has had way too many years and chances to do something and they haven't. Tauke it is not the problem. This is a great coaching staff.

It is clear. This group of core players is not the right mix. There have been three coaching staffs trying to get them to be something good and they are not. Trayd Miller, PD and Besser, thank you for listening to my TED Talk. I have moments where I am absolutely on board with Graham from Hardy, but then it's kind of like if you've got a stock that's gone down a lot, it's really hard to take a loss on it.

It's really tough because you're like, you're admitting, you're admitting that that was a bad decision to buy that stock and you don't want to sell it and you don't want to lock it in and then watch it go up, right? As soon as you sell it, oh god look where it is now, could have been rich, right? But, but you also don't want to hold onto it and see it get further down, right? It's a very, very tough decision for this management group to make and it's why I always go back and this is something that someone else texted in. You have to have a good theory on what has happened to Pedersen. I just, I mean, when you talked about the

money part of it, I went back and I looked at it and Alveen has committed $148 million dollars combined to Miller and Pedersen. $148 million dollars, 92 Miller and Pederson. 148 million dollars, 92.8 to Pederson, and 56 to Miller. You wanna talk about a lot of money sunk into two players. There's not many other teams in the NHL that have that much money committed to two guys.

There's not, there's a handful of them, but the Canucks are in rarefied air when it comes to that big of financial commitment to two guys. There's not, there's a handful of them, but the Canucks are in rarefied air when it comes to that big a financial commitment to two guys. So while I appreciate Graham and Hardy being like, trade them all, it is, it's a bit of a mark on the old resume when you hand two guys 150 million bucks and then you're like, about that contract. We're going to have to move it somewhere else. It's a lot. Here's a question for the listeners. And this may feel like I'm piling on because I am.

What's the biggest goal Pedersen has ever scored for the Canucks? One that just pops to mind. One that just pops to mind. And you remember he, he, he scored it and you're like, yeah, yes. Like I can't believe it. They won, they won, he scored a goal. The first goal that pops to mind, Hofford is what? While this exercise, this exercise is what?

The first massive goal that Peterson ever scored is what? This exercise is wildly unfair. However, I for one am very offended by this exercise. And will not answer as it might incriminate me further. It's so unfair that I actually appreciate how unfair that it is Biggest goal that Elias Pettersson ever scored. Well, there was that one against the Buffalo Sabres on January 21st to 2025 Giving them a 2-1 lead now ultimately they blew that game 3-2. No, come on, man You're setting me up to answer a question

Like I mean, what are you gonna say? I should be in politics What it had been in the bubble? Like did he score a big goal? The game as Rick talk it said yesterday it's all about the big moments and owning the big moments So these goals like the borough's goal is just like in it's it's it's in our brains and it will never come out of our brains. The borough. Oh, oh, oh. He hasn't had one of those big goals.

Oh, oh, okay. The answer is the fact that you can't come up with one right away answers the question. Yeah. You should be in politics. It's a very- You could get that stadium built. It's a very rude exercise. You could get that stadium built in Surrey.

You could do it. By the way, I was actually, this is the Canucks advertising slogan of like, you know how they, it's like all about creating memories and moments. Maybe not appropriate for this season, but that's very smart because that is why we watch sports. It's for the moments.