Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 1/2/26

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

In the Best of H&B, guest hosts Josh Elliott-Wolfe and Israel Fehr get into the biggest sporting news, starting with Team USA releasing their controversial Men's Olympic Hockey roster. After, Scott Laughlin joins to break down the Olympics, how the teams are expecting to stack up against each other, and the news happening in the NHL. 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 Halford and Bruff. There's the kick, and it's on his way, and it's got the distance, and it's through the upright. The rebels have taken the league. Played at the shine of the goal in front of the next door. Holy back on it. Matthews with the hat-tracks on a horrible giveaway by Eric Havlin. That's terrible. Ladies and gentlemen.

The weekend. Welcome to Hufford and Brough. No Mike Halford, no Jason Brough. Israel Fair is back with me. Good morning, Izzy. How are you? Good morning, Josh. Good to be here.

Happy to have you. Zach filling in for A-Dog, who is also not here. Zach, good morning. Good morning. Laddie, you're here. You're holding down the fort. Good morning. I'm the only regular.

Hello, hello. You are. And I am Josh Elliott Wolf, happy to be here. Happy New Year. Happy 2026. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Make 2026 your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech footwear and orthotics. 650, 650 is the Dunbar alarm.

Text line you can text in there. Howford and Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being indebted. free in just two weeks visit sands dash trustee.com and the duik auto group find out why nobody beats a duick deal since 1926 visit do it gm on marine drive downtown in richmond and at duick auto group dot com a lot to get into today on the show including breaking news which we don't generally get at six a m but it actually happened like half an hour ago On the Today Show, the U.S. Olympic team announced their roster, so we'll get into that shortly.

We'll also talk to a couple of guests about that. But at 6.30, Nick Shook from NFL.com will join us. We'll get into a huge game for the Seattle Seahawks tomorrow night and also the rest of week 18 around the NFL. At 7 o'clock, Tony Ferrari covers prospects and the NHL draft for the hockey news. We'll talk about the world juniors, Canada, in the quarters today. And his thoughts on the tournament so far. 730, Scott Loughlin, Sirius XM, NHL Network Radio. He will help us break down the American side of the Olympics

because they announced their team. Some people are upset. Not a lot of changes from the four nations, but we'll get into what those changes are. 8 o'clock, Mike Kelly, analyst for the NHL Network, will continue to break down some of the Olympic storyline. but also go around the NHL including the

red hot buffalo sabers and the ice cold Winnipeg Jets so working in reverse 8 o'clock Mike Kelly 7.30 Scott Loughlin 7 o'clock Tony Ferrari 630 Nick Shook that's what's happening on the show

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 busy your life can be. What happened? 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 BCCSA.ca.c, and we just mentioned it. Bill Garon and the Olympic squad, namely Jack Hughes, who was on the Today Show in his little, like, Hand cast announcing the American roster

for the Olympic team and here are the note we're not going to go through all the the whole roster but the notable changes from the Four Nations tournament four players in when you factor in the two extra spots you get for the Olympics.

So it's Quinn Hughes who would have been at Four Nations but was injured. Tage Thompson who was not at the Four Nations Clayton Keller wasn't there and Seth Jones is also in so those four are

in the two players out. Chris Kreider, not a surprise, Adam Fox, who is a surprise. And then there are a lot of notable players that were left off the list that weren't there or aren't going to be there at the Olympics and also weren't there at the Four Nations, namely players like Jason Robertson, Cole Caulfield, Lane Hudson. Those are some of the key names left off by the American. So when you hear the news as a Canadian, are you excited about that? Yeah, actually. Yeah, good call. Interesting that the Americans doubled down on that roster.

And, you know, the names, obviously, there's, you got to have the flip side of the snubs. So someone like Brock Nelson still being on the U.S. team who is a good NHL player, obviously has had a really good career, but you look back at the Four Nations was, someone that didn't necessarily fit the style of play of like a really high level hockey at this at this point with with the speed in particular and that they're they're doubling down on that they're going to be big and tough and they've got the kachucks and that that's that's going to be their identity and the canadian team is you know yeah they brought in tom wilson he he clearly fits that mold but you feel i think pretty good about canada's skill and in the conversation over

the years about the Canadian team having to be concerned about the American team long term, it was, well, the Americans finally are going to have the skill to compete with Canada. And the Americans certainly still have a lot of top-end skill. But going head to head, I'd feel pretty comfortable putting Canada's skill ahead of the U.S. skill. Yeah, it's tough because, I mean, we've talked about it so much with the Canadian roster. It's still going to come down to the goaltending and the defense. I think I do give the defense edge to.

the Americans, especially with if Quinn Hughes is healthy. And Quinn Hughes could have, like the way he was playing last year could have made the difference at Four Nations. Yeah. It went to overtime, right? It was a one goal game. It was a very tight game and yeah, he definitely could have been that guy. But again,

it comes down to, it comes down to goaltending and the Americans while we can question some of their decisions, they do still like clearly have the edge in that unless Logan Thompson just continues kind of what he's been doing throughout the

NHL regular season, but even then it's like they have Connor Hellebeck, they have Jake Onger, like even if one of those guys has a bad game, they have the other guy. Yeah, and you feel pretty confident in either of those goalies plus Jeremy Swayman as their third option. Like, they have a lot of depth

in that. They have a decent amount on the back end, but again, the forward group is where the questions come in and you mentioned someone like Brock Nelson. I see Vinnie Trocheck getting some heat online too for for being named to the roster and the U.S. maybe being too committed

to like him being part of the team. J.T. Miller also getting some heat. But I think it's mainly just because of the guys they left off, right? And Cole Cawfield is one of them, but the big one is Jason Robertson who the stars tweeted out a graphic a few days ago and if you're just looking at points and goals

and like just production, he's tied for first in points for American skating, this season. Goals, he's second for American skaters. He's putting up points on the power play, too, so he could factor him in there. And then he also leads all American skaters in scoring since the start of the 22, 23 season. And so you look at all that and you're like, why, what did he do to not make the team? And I know he kind of has a reputation of not being a playoff performer. And so that that probably plays a part. But to me, it's just, I feel like the US, they always find ways to overthink things

and they always find ways to be like okay we got to craft the perfect roster to beat Canada specifically and every time it is not worked out for them yeah which it's good for us bad for them though well especially now that

it does feel like those decisions on the American side are coming down to kind of one or two players that you could flip and if you flip those players you'd feel a lot better about Team USA's skill overall, whereas you look back at those teams in the 2000s and it was a pretty heavy split between high-end skill at the top, and then you start getting into the Patrick Kane era of Team USA

and that skill really jumping off since then. Whereas in Canada, like obviously there are, you know, the memes of, you know, Chris Draper and so on getting picked for Canada, but it feels like with the Canadian team, it was like one or two specialists in the U.S. is closer to that. The difference I guess now, and obviously you look back at the 2010 team, the 2014 team, the 2002 team, those teams were stacked with Hall of Famers for Canada. Those teams had incredible high-end skill.

The way that Canada's top players are playing right now, so you look at McKinnon and McDavid, you still look at Sidney Crosby, you look at one of the young players added to the roster, Macklin Celebrini as a 19-year-old who's been unbelievable this year, you build out that top six, that top nine for Canada, and it's absolutely loaded. Yeah, but Brough had kind of been talking about this earlier in the week. There's a pretty good argument to be made that this is the best Canadian forward group put together. Yeah, ever. The depth is unbelievable. Yeah. And the Americans up front, especially, I mean, Matthews put up a hat trick over the weekend or over the past couple days that feels like a weekend but it wasn't a weekend um so maybe you feel better about his

form right now but as of late he'd been hurt too and and he had can he's he's not had a great season and that was supposed to be one of their key pieces right so there is some concern about the the forward group for the u.s what i will say though is that like especially again when you factor in the defense and the goal tending the gap isn't huge no and so it's it's going to be it's going to be fun to watch. We'll see how tight this tournament is compared to the Four Nations one again because it should be

less physical. It's not going to be the same type of hockey but I don't know. I think that lends itself more to favor in Canada but we'll see if that actually comes through. So of note, because his name had kind of come up and especially

here in Vancouver as a potential to be named to the team. Thatcher Demco does not make Team USA. It's going to be, again, Connor Hallibuck, Jake Ottinger, Jeremy Swayman as the three goalies. One Kodok's goalie did make a team, though. Team Finland just announced their roster. Kevin Lankinen, one of the three goalies for Team Finland. Ukapakalukinen, also making the squad and UC Soros, who I would expect to be the starter for them, but hey, if there's a shootout, call him in. Kevin Lankinan, 17 for 17.

bring him in he's got a specialty role for the tournament he's obviously been incredible in the shootout of late but his overall play has been a little bit better for the Canucks too

so maybe he's put himself in a conversation to play if Soros isn't there but yeah I totally expect Soros to be the main guy for them to at least start the tournament definitely 650 650 is the Dunbar Lumbertex line

I failed to mention it isn't ask us anything Friday we're doing it on the proper day this time And because it is the proper day, we are giving away a $100 A.J's pizza gift card. So if you want to be in that entry, text in 650, 650 on the Dunbar Lumber text line with an AUA, throw a pizza emoji on it, and we will pick the best. Ask us anything by the end of the show to win the $100 AJ's pizza gift card. So send those in 650, 650.

I already see a few, but we'll welcome a lot more as well. Okay, so that's the US notes. Finland again also announced their roster. Sweden will be soon. Canada announced theirs post show on Wednesday, so we haven't really had a chance to talk about it. I'm sure you've heard a lot of takes, so we won't get into it too much, but Maclin Celebrini, Bo Horvatt, Nick Suzuki, and Tom Wilson are the skaters that will be there that were not at the Four Nations tournament. Seth Jarvis, Travis Kineckney, and Sam Bennett, the surprise. advising one left off. So three not going that were there at the Four Nations,

four new additions in the forward group. There's no change on the fence and then in between the pipes, Jordan Pennington making his return. Logan Thompson, who I hope is the starter, especially with Jordan Bennington's play

this season. And Darcy Kemper are the three goalies for team Canada. You talked a bit about Celebrini and it's just like he got to the point where it was just undeniable for him to be on the team. And he's, he's completely deserving of a spot. Nick Suzuki, I think, is in that category as well. There was some relative surprise about Tom Wilson for some people. To me, I, like, I know his reputation is like, oh, is he's this

physical guy and maybe that style doesn't translate as well to an Olympic tournament. I just think based on merit as well, based on production, I think he deserves to be there. And Bo Harvatt, One thing to note, he was injured yesterday, he left the game early, so we'll see, I think they're supposed to give an update today. But those two are kind of the surprising ones. But if you look at their production and what they've done, I think they're pretty deserving of a spot. Yeah, I mean, Wilson has produced.

I mean, even going back to last year, some of the debate about Four Nations, he was in the discussion. So it's not like he's completely come out of nowhere. It's not like his game is entirely predicated on just being a headhunter, being a really physical player. There has been that production there. And with Bo Horvatt, you've got the goal scoring.

And so if you're looking at that kind of player to be lower down in the lineup, he can be a one-shot scorer and he's been very strong as a face-off guy. And so when those teams are, when you're looking at, hey, he's not going to be the first line center or the second line center, but he's going to have a role at the bottom of the lineup. if you have a couple of those standout traits and Bo Horvatt does for this with this team. And he was even kind of, he's been in conversations about Team Canada's before. Even dating back to his time with the Canucks people were talking about him as,

hey, if he really takes a step or if he's playing the, if he's playing in, you know, playing well, then he's going to have a chance to play for a team Canada. And so he's been on, you know, a pretty good role and gets, gets on to this team. And when you look at the players coming off the roster from Four Nations, Seth Jarvis, Travis Kineckney, and Sam Bennett, I think you can look at those players in Kinekenegne and Bennett in particular as bringing maybe more of that skill set that you were talking about, Josh, that was maybe more suited for Four Nations than it would be for an Olympics.

Yeah, I am still so I'm very surprised Sam Bennett didn't make it just because I, to me, I don't know if I would have brought him, to be fair, but he just felt like a guy that if I were a GM and I looked at what he did at the Four Nations I looked at what he did in the playoffs wins the cons might I'd be like I just don't want to be the one to leave him off and so while I appreciate the boldness

from Doug Armstrong I also I wonder how quickly like an injury happens if he's going to be the one immediately that gets back onto the team that feels right I know he had this long explanation Armstrong did about how they're not just having an ordered list for player replacements, it's going to depend on which player. So obviously, if Tom Wilson is out, then you'd have to imagine the Bennett comes in.

If Sidney Crosby is out, maybe it's a different conversation. At least that's the way that he laid it out. But I think what you're saying makes sense that he has to be pretty high up on the list because while, yeah, he's not a like-for-like replacement with any of the really top-end players on the team. I don't think the Canadian team would feel too bad about itself if it added him even at the expense of one of the top players being unavailable for the tournament. And the big notable player left off that wasn't at Four Nations either.

Connor Bedard, who Doug Armstrong did talk about after was asked about him. And he was asked if the injury played a part and he said no. I still can't help but feel that at least it would have been a much more difficult decision. if he wasn't it. He would have had a few more games and he was on such a role to really make it undeniable for him to go.

The injury gives them a little bit of an out. It's interesting in that going into the year it felt like, oh, he's got very little chance and then he did play about as well as you could expect

to put himself in that conversation. But that Celebrini has been at such an equal level and also I think probably went into the year with more juice because of the versatility, because there's a feeling about his two-way game that maybe isn't quite there with Bader just yet. But he, I think he would have made it really, really, really tight if he had still been healthy. I'm glad you bring up the two-way game part of that because Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blasheel was asked about

Connor Bader not making the team and he brought up the two-way side of things. Here's what got to say. You know, first off, I have a ton of respect for how hard these decisions are. And whether honestly, Canada, the U.S., Sweden, like, you have a lot of really good players that you're going to ultimately leave off these teams. The one thing I would say is I don't think the rest of the league knows how good of a two-way winning hockey player Connor has become. And that's the one think probably and I don't know why you know maybe it's based on previous years but I don't think they have a full understanding of how good a winning hockey player he is today as we sit here today you know I've read some things about defensive metrics and things like that I would tell you

I have studied those things tons I've never seen a defensive metrics that I trust to say to me whether or not a guy's a good defensive player I don't think they judge what they're supposed to judge yet I don't think we're there yet we're all working to try to get there we're not there. The metric that I trust is your impact on winning and the reason why I know he's a big time winning hockey player when he was in our lineup, we were one point out of

the wild card and since then we're one, six and one. That's the impact he's had. That's the type of two-way player. You don't have that impact if you're just a point-getter. You only have that impact if you're a true two-way kind of winning player and that's what he's become. So there's Jeff Blasheel talking to media

about Connor Bader not making the team and I think it's a very fair defense that we, I think I would include myself and you kind of mentioned that he had this reputation before the season that he wasn't a two-way player and that Sellebrini was kind of ahead of him. And I still think that's true. Like Sellebrini has shown that he is. He's in a special class. He's in a very, very, yeah, he's exceeded expectations that were already very high.

But Connor Bedard, like, I think. if he hadn't been injured again it would be a bigger discussion and the bigger the big thing that Blasheel mentions too is like look at the Blackhawks with him without Conor Bedouca. And they are a mess without him

and I'm sure the sharks would be too without Celebrini. In my eyes, both of them should have been there. Like I think Bedard should be at the Olympics. I think when we're just talking about trying to take as much talent as possible. I think Padard fits in that and

especially when we're talking about the 14th forward that might just make it into a game or two I don't mind bringing a young player that's going to get some experience and I know that maybe doesn't factor into their decisions too much but to me if you plan on this guy

being part of your program for the next 10, 15 years on the international stage why not give them some experience while you still have Sydney Crosby going to these things and try to get as much experience at the Olympic level as possible.

Yeah, I would have loved to see it. And his play through the first half of the season was at that level. It wasn't just, oh, projecting this guy's super hype, let's bring him in. Like, his numbers speak for themselves. But what tends to happen when they're picking the bottom of the rosters, they are looking for those couple of things. And so in their mind, probably Bo Horvatt is a more experienced center. He also has the one-shot scoring ability.

Now you would say Bedard's is more special, but Horvatt has that tool, and that is probably what tilts the scales in his favor. And they do have a weird thing overall about not wanting to take young players. Now, obviously, this is a different management team than 2006, but the Sydney Crosby one gets brought up. The difference between this with Bidard and Crosby was that that 06 team was low on talent, right? That was like an ebb in talent across the NHL at the time. and he was clearly an ascending player and the decision not to put him on that team led to a disaster for Team Canada at the Olympics

so I don't think we're going to look back at whatever happens at this tournament and go if only the Canadians had picked Connor Bedard he would have been the difference but to your point Josh about just overall could you put this guy on as the 14th forward we know that what he can do at a high level see what that looks like if he gets the opportunity

otherwise he's he's along for the ride yeah I totally buy that they obviously have gone in a different direction okay so that's the Olympic notes we'll talk more to Scott Laughlin and my Kelly later in the show about everything going on with these roster decisions before we hit the break I did want to pass along some Canucks notes Marco Rossi

Connor Garland both miss practice yesterday Adam Foote says they will both miss at least a week, which is hopefully accurate because we've seen a maintenance day turned into a almost potentially season ending injury for Derek Forward. So hopefully it's not to that extent. Hopefully it is just around a week for those two. The Canucks take on the Cracken tonight.

Note the start time, a later start time, 7.30 at Rogers Arena against the Seattle Cracken. First of a back-to-back tomorrow, the Bruins are in town. one is at a normal time 7 o'clock 650 650 is the dumb bar lumber text line keep the text coming in there get it get your ask us anything's in we'll hit them as the show goes on it is a canucks game day and conucks game day is brought to you by panago game day the panago way get any large pizza plus cheesy bread for only 2499 use code canucks at panago dot com panico for it restrictions may apply it is howford and brough Josh elli wolf is real fair

filling in, talking to Nick Shook next on Sportsnet, 650. I questioned the choice at the beginning, and I hit the drop, and it was great song. 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumbertack. I'm back on Alfred and Brough. Josh, all they will face through. You don't doubt Fiesta Friday. Never doubt Fiesta Friday. That was my mistake.

Rookie mistake, someone's say. I apologize for him. Alford & Brough 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 sands dash trustee.com. This hour of Alford &Bruff is for Jason. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

That's Jason. dot mortgage. We go to the phone lines now and we welcome in Scott Loughlin, Sirius XM, NHL Network Radio. Appreciate you taking time, Scott. How are you?

I'm doing well, guys, yourselves. We are doing very well. And just looking at all these rosters coming out for the Olympics. We just got Team Sweden. We got Finland, U.S. earlier today. And the U.S. is kind of the one

making the most headlines with some of the decisions they made. Are you surprised by any the calls that Bill Garon made? Yeah, I think I am. I mean, we found out yesterday that Adam Fox would not be on the team, and that ostensibly he lost his spot to Seth Jones. And, well, I really do like the way Seth Jones has played since going from Chicago

down to Florida, and certainly the Stanley Cup success plays into it. I still had Adam Fox on my team as a third-peering defenseman. I know he's not had the best season of his career. He's not necessarily a Norris trophy candidate this season, like he had been a few years ago when he broke through to win it. But I still thought that he had done enough being a part of four nations and knowing about the loyalty

that he would have no doubt in the support he'd have from his said coach and from the general manager as well with USA hockey or at least one of the guys in the conversations with Bill Garen and Chris Rurie, I thought that Adam Fox would be on this team. So to me that's surprising.

J.T. Miller's not had the best season either and yet he makes it the captain of the New York Rangers. He's not the same player as we know that he was in Vancouver. Hoover, and yet J.T. Miller's done enough to be a fourth-line player, presumably for this team. And, you know, the fact that Brock Nelson made the team to me, too, guys, is a little bit surprising. I know Colorado's in a fantastic season. He's been really, really good. I just thought perhaps he would get replaced by a guy like a Jason Robertson or somebody

like that. I even had Alex Tuck on my roster as a fourth-line winger with the speed and skill. He can bring the ability to contribute on the penalty kill and things of that nature, too. So, in the end, I mean, as I've often said when it comes to Canada, and now when we talk about the U.S. roster, they can only criticize you if you don't bring back the gold medal, right? At this point, we're all just debating all these snubs and omissions with the guys who made it and talking about, yeah, they made the right move or, yeah, they made the wrong move. And inevitably, this will we decided on the ice, of course,

and come the third, fourth week of February, we'll have the knives out or we'll have the chest pounding begin on behalf of these respective countries. You mentioned Fox having been part of the Four Nations roster and one of the standout things for both the Canadian team and the American team is not a ton of turnover from the Four Nations group, some nibbling around the edges because of the circumstances of that tournament taking place a year before the Olympics, it's kind of an unusual one

to have the best-on-best have those rosters there. The conversation last year was that this was essentially for a lot of the players an Olympic audition. do you think that the Four Nations and the way that the tournament played out for Canada and the U.S. did have an outsized role in selecting the teams

for this year? Yeah, there seemed to be some sort of loyalty, and I think that's to be expected for some of the players that were a part of it for Four Nations in February for both Canada and the U.S. And, you know, I would warn not to just bring back the same team. You do have to make some adjustments, right?

We see this every year when it comes to the Stanley Cup champions as well. You don't necessarily just roll it over and run it back and say, hey, this team was good enough to win now, we're going to be good enough to win next season, or this team was good enough to win four nations in the case of Canada, this team will be in February just exactly what it was in Montreal and Boston. It doesn't necessarily work that way. I think there's got to be, you know, with any championship team, whether it be international

or whether it be in the National Hockey League, I think there's got to be a significant amount of turnover, a little bit of fine-tuning to the roster, just to keep it fresh to look at your situation and go, yes, we did this right, but we did this right. could be better in this area, and as such, we could be a little bit stronger. So I think that, by comparison towards loyalty and how much you want to be loyal to guys that played well for you before, has to be considered. And I'm sure that that's where a lot of the debates behind closed doors were going on for both Doug Armstrong and for Bill Garron, with the respective committees, is, hey, how much of

this do we want to bring back? And when I pick my rosters, too, guys, for what it's worth, I mean, that's where I started. I threw up the four nations' rosters for Canada and the U.S., and I said, okay, this guy, deserves to come back. This guy, to me, is a bubble guy. This guy here that didn't play at four nations has had a real good first couple of months. I'm going to put him on the team. And for the most part, I think like Bill Garon and Doug Armstrong alike, I came to the realization that most of the team was going to be coming back, but there were certain areas where I thought the team could maybe get a little bit younger and a little bit quicker for both

countries. So from the U.S. perspective, how do you think, and maybe it's very similar to the four nations, but how do you think it stacks up compared to Canada this? time around. Well, a lot of people have wondered, hey, is Bill Guerin picking his team as a team that he just thinks can be Canada? And let's face it, guys. I mean, if not for Bennington and overtime, going back to that February 20th game in Boston, you know, we're talking about a different result. I mean, the three stops that he made, two of which came against Austin Matthews were highlight real variety types stops, right? And that's ostensibly why Jordan Bittington has been brought back here, because he's proven to be a money goaltender. And, you know, I think there's probably

some of it where Bill Garon says, okay, well, you know, we want to be better than Canada in this area. But there wasn't much to pick and choose between the two countries and the two teams, obviously, going back to four nations. And it was a one-shot game. It was a one-goal game. So I'm sure that Bill Garon probably foresaw something like, hey, how do we now combat of Tom Wilson? You know, is Seth Jones in his size going to be a little bit easier combat a guy like Tom Wilson and maybe Adam Fox would be? And, you know, maybe that comes into play as well. So I think there's no doubt that Bill Garen made note of what Doug Armstrong did, and obviously Doug Armstrong are going forward here in the next four or five weeks

is going to make note of what Bill Garen's done. And look, if it comes to Canada versus the U.S., like it did back in 2002, like it did back in 2010, as you guys know in Vancouver, then I think everybody would sign up for that. And certainly Bill Garon and Doug Armstrong would be there at the top of the list. Stacking up the rosters next to each other, got to feel good about the U.S. in goal and on the first. and then one of the defensemen who certainly would have been at Four Nations had he not been injured is Quinn Hughes,

a guy that we know here, certainly in Vancouver, can change the game unlike many players in the league. What kind of boost Quinn Hughes gives this U.S. team that they didn't have when they took on Canada at the Four Nations? Well, this is huge. And, I mean, being Boston towards the end of the tournament, too, I mean, remember all the speculation? Like, you know, Clint Hughes is in New Jersey and then Quinn Hughes is back in Vancouver, always on the ice with the Canucks and, you know, is he going to be flown at the last minute and such? And once we found out that he'd left New Jersey

and gone back to Vancouver, we thought there was no chance that that was going to happen, and rightly so, so. Look, I mean, when you get a guy, and look, in this tournament, he doesn't have to play 30 minutes a night, of course, like he's, you know, done for Vancouver at many points in time and now with Minnesota.

But he's that type of guy that can help you in every different type of situation. And, you know, you look at the U.S. Blue Line, and like Canada, it's stacked. It's very deep, and there was no surprise in the fact that Quinn Hughes was going to be added to this roster. The Seth Jones over Adam Fox is maybe the biggest surprise here, but when you talk about McAvoy, who as I remember got banged up at Four Nations with that serious injury, and when you talk about Slavin, who has been banged up himself for a great deal of this season so far for Carolina, and Faber and Werenski and Sanderson and Hannafin coming back as well,

maybe a little bit mildly surprising the fact that Hennifin's back, but again, this speaks to the loyalty that we talked about on behalf of Bill Guerin going back to that tournament in February. It's a significant blue line, guys that can pretty much do everything that you want them to do, guys that are front-line players for the respective teams. And as we know, Canada pretty much brought back the entire contingent of that defensive corps that made up their Four Nations efforts as well, too. So very, very deep blue lines on both sides of the ledger

and guys that obviously have a little bit of the puck moving, ability to admit it much, ability to play physical in some situations as well when you look at a guy like Pareko for Team Canada and Noah Hanifin for Team USA and those sorts of things too. So I think that these two teams, there's not much to pick and choose between the two rosters that on paper at least look like they'll be competing for a gold medal once again. Across this country, there's almost nothing that we like more than debating what these rosters will look like, obviously the Canadian roster, but to a certain degree the American roster as well. And then once the rosters are named, we do tend to turn to, well, what's the taxi squad look like?

Who could be the players that get the call if someone gets injured? Is there someone on both sides, the Canadian side and the American side, that you look at it being the next man up for those teams? And, of course, it's a big day, too, to find that it will bore Hobrat's injury, too, right? So if Horvatt is going to be gone for a significant period of time, that obviously his Olympic status will come into play. How about the Von Taves, too, right, guys? He's already come out and said, like, my wife's expecting sometime in February, and if the baby's not born by the time the Olympics start, I'm not going. So, I mean, stay by your phone.

If you're some of these guys, of course, that are on the back end for Canada, like a Jacob Chikrin or somebody like that, you know, that might get that call from hockey Canada. But the Horvatt thing is big today, and if Horvatt can't go, Doug Armstrong's already intimidated that he's going to try to replace a skilled guy with a skilled guy, or a banger, a grit grinder with a banger and a grit grinder, that sort of thing, too. So no one with Bull Horvatt is in terms of a skilled player who can score, I would say if you're a guy like Mark Schifley, and boy, was he disappointed last night after the loss and Toronto way.

I mean, they've lost eight straight games that Jets have. He had two goals and three points last night. He said he felt like he did everything he could in his power to make this team. I mean, beyond McDavid and McKinnon and Sillabrini, I believe, is the fourth highest scoring Canadian in the league right now. And still Shifley, who got bypassed in February, gets bypassed this time as well. So I would say Shifley, to me, if Horvatt can't go up front, would be the guy that would get the nod. I was banging the drum for a guy like Jacob Chikrin for Team Canada.

Maybe if there's an injury on the back end that maybe he gets that call as well. So we'll have to wait and see. As for the U.S., I think, look, and first of all, we hope everybody stays healthy, right? We don't want to see anybody get hurt and lose this opportunity because they're all looking forward to it. But I had Jason Robertson on my team USA. I think he said a dynamite season for the Dallas Stars. I liked, as I said earlier, too, Alex Tuck is a penalty killer and a fourth-line winger with skill and some speed as well.

I had as a dark horse on the back end for Team USA, a guy like John Carlson, who broke our hearts as Canadians, right, going back to the world juniors about 14 years ago, 15 years ago now, in Saskatoon like he did. So I would say that those are the players that you might want to just keep doing what you're doing, go through the protocols and all the testing that it'll take to make you eligible to play in February and again, there are going to be injuries. We all know that to be true. This is not

the final roster for either the U.S., Canada, or Finland, or Sweden. There will be some injuries and for some obvious players you don't want to go too far from the phone. If there is an area of concern on the Canadian roster, it's a net. Jordan Bennington comes back from the Four Nations, but Darcy Kemper comes in, Logan Thompson comes in. They weren't on that Four Nations roster. What do you think is the right,

approach for Team Canada when it comes to goal-tending? Well, I think what's going to happen, and probably what should happen. I know he's been so maligned, and that's Jordan Bennington. The 870 save percentage is absolutely horrible for him. Let's, you know, not mince words

when it comes to Bennington and it's ineffective first couple of months of the season. I think I would start Bennington. I think Canada's first games on February the 12th. I would start Bennington in game number one. Now, the benefit guys of going through this tournament, the Olympics, as we all know, is that it's a 12-team tournament. It's not a four nations where you've got

potentially just four games to play like Canada did, like the U.S. did, before deciding who's the best when it's all said and done. So I would start Bennington in game one. I would probably give Logan Thompson game two at this point, and then I'd see where I'm at after that. And again, for all

that Bennington did when he was clutch in Montreal and Boston, you know, I was the same guy and maybe you guys were thinking the same way going back to February after you let in a couple of greasy, leaky goals in the first couple games of the tournament. I said, maybe we need to give Aden Hill a look here. Somebody else has got to do it. But when you combine his clutch play and with the game on

the line, specifically on February the 20th in Boston when they beat Team USA with the three big overtime saves, I think that just solidified his spot in goal for Team Canada. John Cooper spoke with me right afterwards and said, look, as long as I'm going to battle, I want Jordan Biddington to be a part of it. And from all we've heard, Doug Armstrong said that, you know, even though he knows his goaltender better than most, of course, being in St. Louis and all, he said that he was surprised at the amount of traction that a guy like Bainton got from the outside looking in, and there were others banging the drum, guys like John Cooper for Jordan Bittington. So to answer your question in a long-winded way, I would say

start Jordan Bittington in game one, give Logan Thompson game two, and let's figure it out from there. Whoever might be playing better, perhaps whoever lets in the fewest soft, leaky, greasy type goals. Maybe that's the guy in the end that, of course, starts to wave the banner for Team Canada as they push for gold. The interesting names coming into the season were, for Canada, were the young guys in Macklin, Celebrini, and

Connor Bred. And then as the season went on, Matthew Schaefer kind of put himself into that conversation as well. Obviously Celebrini had such a good start to the season and dating back to last season that it kind of made it undeniable for him to be on the team. Connor Bred has the injury.

Matthew Schaefer maybe doesn't have enough experience to make the team yet, but what do you think of those two specifically being left off? I had Connor Bedard on my team guys for what it's worth, and at the time of the injury, that freak injury with less

than a second to go in St. Louis and the face off at Braden- At the time of the injury, I believe he was the fourth leading score in the NHL. And I had seen enough from him. I mean, we've seen, although Chicago came back and beat Dallas last night, you know, we've seen from the Hawks in the last, you know, eight, nine,

games or so, just exactly how far they free fall in without number 98 in their lineup. So I thought that if he was healthy, and I guess we'll find out more here in the coming days with regards to his status and how long he might miss, given the fact that he would likely be healthy, or were led to

assume by February in the Olympics, I thought playing with experienced skilled players who've been around the block a little bit would bring up the best in Connor Bedard. So Doug Armstrong's already admitted that Bedard and Schaefer are reach still an option for Team Canada should they have an injury or two along

the way. So we'll have to wait and see if that factors into it. As for Schaefer, boy, that's a tough call isn't it? When you talk about an 18-year-old defenseman who's making history before a very eyes, well, at the same time you wonder, you know, is that stage too big for him for a guy that played 17 games

of junior hockey last season? At some point, does he hit a wall? Does he start to slow down here in his rookie season? It's such a tough call. They elected to run it back with the guy that they took to four nations. But again, Doug Armstrong's admitted, Matthew Schaefer's still on the radar for Team Canada. Everybody harkens back right to 2010 in Vancouver as well

when a young Drew Dowdy stepped in and really as a young defenseman made his mark for Team Canada too. So it's been done before where a youngster can play effectively at the Olympics. And, you know, I don't know at the end of the day if the inexperience of a guy like Schaefer would be all and end all, just because you've got so much pedigree around him on the back end. and up front with the leadership that Canada is going to bring to the table too. So we'll wait and see.

Right now they're on the outside looking in, but like a lot of players, as we're saying here, don't go too far from your telephone. What do you think of the element of, so celebrating Bedard Schaefer, I think we can all assume that over the next 15-ish years, whenever an international tournament comes out, whether it be the Olympics or World Cup of hockey,

if that's coming back. And all of these big stages, do you factor in getting experience for those people? players on the international level maybe before they're fully ready for it or is it just hey once you're ready you'll be able to handle it yeah i i think once you're ready you'll be able to handle it and and to me i mean look when they're putting these teams together too uh it's not like an NHL team where you say okay we're going to retool or we're going to rebuild here we're going to look towards the future when it comes to what Doug armstrong and bill garren have done for the

respective teams and their their federations essentially you're saying look i have to put the best team on ice to win a tournament that's about a week and a half long. And we can look towards the future when the future is upon us, but right now we're dealing with the present. And we need somebody who can go out there and win for us and produce for us

right now in order to try to win a gold medal in 2026. So I think there's a difference in a tournament like this you want to win and build for the present. There will be time to build for the future. These guys getting an HL experience, some of them will come up short and will be available to play for Canada

at the World Championship in the next couple of years as well. And as we know, and Bo Horvatt experienced it, right? Just going back a couple of months ago, Bull Horvatt figured out that, hey, if I pick up the phone and go over and play for Canada at the world, that might better my opportunities to make team Canada as well. We saw it on the same side, too, didn't we, with Clayton Keller, who captained Team USA to their first gold medal at the world in more than 90 years, and wouldn't you know, Clayton Keller's on Team USA now with Bill Guerrins.

So I think it bodes well for those guys to do those sorts of things. and I think that right now you're building for the present not necessarily the future and if Bedard and Schaefer in the end get the call as injury replacements it'll be because they've earned it not just because they're looking towards 2030 hey Scott really appreciate you to taking the time

thank you for this thank you guys thanks for having me there's Scott Loughlin Sirius XM NHL Network Radio joining us to talk about the American roster for the Olympics and then also some of the decisions Canada made as well we did get a

ask us anything from Tassiana and Langley if you had to build a team to go against Canada and you had to pick the forward defense and goalies from three different countries which would you pick and so I think so I think we're

unless you have a weird underdog you want to take Petey Hughes Lankan no I'm joking I mean why not so I think it's three forward groups and then so of the

goalie groups I think you have to take the U.S. Yeah for sure but then you're not taking the forward group from the U.S. You have to take one

of Sweden or Finland or another one if you want I think I would maybe go Finland defense and Swedish forward group from the from the big four

yeah because I don't know if I'm going with like Czechia in anything unless you want to just go Sweden goalies and like you're getting Markstrom

and like you just hope you're fine with it and then you go America defense but then you got to go Finland forward group like I don't know or you just go Finland goalie and you get Soros and you just roll with that

I think that's the move I don't know if you look to Finland's defense it falls off pretty quickly yeah non-NHL or yeah on their defense score yeah it'll work out I believe in it

mainly I just want the upside of like Connor Hallibuck but you might just have to go So, like, the only forward group that can kind of compete with Canada is the U.S. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And the U.S. blue line is loaded. Yeah.

So not, you know, putting that aside and having that blue line with Quinn Hughes on it. And not taking that is tough. I think that's probably the group. If you're lining up Sweden, Finland, and the Americans that has, like, the American depth in goal is great. Obviously, only one guy's playing. That's always the thing with goalies is only one of the group can play at once. So you're going in, you want the depth in case something happens, but you're taking the eight American D-Men.

Almost all of them are going to play. So we are actually going P.D. Hughes, Lankinen. It all works out. What did I tell you? Sweden Forward Group, U.S. defense, Finland goaltending, bring Lankan in for the shootout. If you had to choose from three different countries, that's the way. If I just had to choose the forward defense and goalie group,

I'm just taking all of U.S. Because I just, I don't know, I don't think there's another group from any other team that's, that has an edge over what the U.S. has. No, I mean, if it plays out anything like Four Nations did, that is what, what we saw. But, you know, we've seen Sweden step up on the world stage. Chequia has had this great run, you know, at the world.

And, and, you know, David Posernox, an amazing player. But he's, he's one guy. You look at the depth of these rosters in Canada and the U.S. They're absolutely loaded. All right, 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumber Text Line. Keep the text coming in there. Get your what we learns in. Get your Ask Us Anything's in as well.

We'll hit them as the show goes on. Put a pizza emoji on them and we will award a $100 A.J.'s pizza gift card to the best. Ask Us Anything of the day. It is the Halperdin Brough Show. Josh Elliott Wolf is real fair filling in. On the other side, going to talk to Mike Kelly about everything going on around the NHL on SportsNet 650.