Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 1/23/25

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, plus they set up tonight's Canucks road matchup in Edmonton with Canucks Talk host & The Athletic Vancouver's Thomas Drance. 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-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da Yeah, he held the guy, so was that wanted posters? I mean, I understand if he smashed him in the face or got in a fight or did something, it's a hole. Olivier lands a couple, now reads! Box the helmet up! Thrilling, rocket-sucking robots here as they go at it right at the blue line! With a pick out towards center-right, Neil Peon moving in, slapshot, score! Good morning, Vancouver 601 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. It is Halford, it is Brough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning. Hey dog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough in 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 pays 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, and we were just talking about scrolling through the long document we have for reads.

Kintec footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. Kintec, off to a good start. Got a big show ahead on a Thursday. I know I say this every day. Some say it's because I'm tired, monotonous, and I don't come up with anything original. Old predictable Halford.

I say it's because every show is a big show. None bigger than the other. All of them equally big. Guest list begins today at 630. Nick Schuch from NFL.com is going to join us. The NFC and AFC championships will be this Sunday. Sunday in the NFC. It's the sixth seeded those plucky upstart Washington commanders. They're going to go to Philadelphia at noon.

That's a Fox broadcast, by the way. And then at three thirty, a clash of the Titans in the AFC, the Buffalo Bills, the second seed going to Arrowhead to take on the number one seed, Kansas City Chiefs, 3.30 our time. We'll talk to Nick about those two games. We'll also talk to him about some big news in the world of NFL coaching. Detroit lost all their coordinators. They're all gone.

Ben Johnson's gone to Chicago. Aaron Glenn's gone to the Jets. What will Dan Campbell do? We'll talk to Nick Schuch about that at 6.30. 7.30, this is pretty cool. Zach Ross is gonna join us. The JCC committee co-chair ahead of the JCC Sports Dinner. It's 7.30 this morning.

Zach is gonna join us live to announce the winner of this year's Jack Diamond Sports Personality of the Year Award. We've done this before on the show. That award recognizes an individual who has consistently demonstrated a competitive and cooperative spirit all within the field of sport while making positive contributions to the community. And the winner this year is JT Miller.

Didn't see it coming. Weren't supposed to spoil it like that. No, it's not. No, it's not. Past recipients, not JT Miller, Trevor Linden, Wally Buono, Steve Nash, Rick Hansen. I believe we had Angus Reed on the show last year. So no spoilers, Thunder and Margot until 7.30, but we're gonna announce the winner right here

on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Eight o'clock, Thomas Drantz. The Drantz-er is gonna join the program from Canucks Talk, which you'll hear on Sportsnet 650 later today, ahead of another big clash, clash of the bitter rivals. Canucks, Oilers, 6 o'clock tonight from Edmonton. Canucks Central goes from 4 to 5, pregame show from 5 to 6. Batch and Randeeb have the broadcast from 6 onward.

And then, of course, the postgame show. It's all right here on Sportsnet 650. Drance will join us at 8 to break it all down We are still giving away tickets to see 9 inch nails This upcoming summer believe it's August the 10th the show will be rolling through Vancouver as 9 inch nails are back touring At 815 caller number 9 cuz of 9 inch nails, right? You guys all get that Caller number nine because of nine inch nails, right? You guys all get that. Caller number nine will win a pair of tickets

to see nine inch nails this summer. The phone number 604-280-650, that number again, 604-280-650. So we'll be doing that and we got a lot more else to get into. We got a lot to get into from yesterday. So without further ado, laddie, let's tell everybody what happened.

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how messy 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 them online at bccsa.ca for more. Yesterday the Vancouver Canucks returned to practice ahead of today's much anticipated, tonight's much anticipated game against the Edmonton Oilers. Now the practice itself, not a ton of takeaways from it. D pairings, same. Lines, the same. Kevin Lankenin came back after missing a game due to illness. I do think it's worth noting that you say the D pairs

are the same, but they're the same with Hughes and Hronik broken up. Correct. So Hughes is with Friedman, Susie's with Hronik, and it'll probably be the same as last game. And Hughes will play with multiple partners, including Hronik once in a while. Hopefully Hughes has a better game.

Yes. And it was a rare off game and Rick Taukett said yesterday that he just thinks Hughes tried to do too much and they had a talk about it. And if you're a coin Hughes, we've seen this with Canucks players. I remember Trevor Linden, that used to be one of the things that people would say about Trevor.

When the team wasn't going well, Trevor would try and do everything himself. And, you know, sometimes he had to use his teammates. Quince Hughes is probably feeling like, Hey, I seem to be the only top guy here who really has a jump in my step. So I guess I'm going to go do stuff and maybe he did too much stuff the other night.

And he did according to his head coach. And that was the real story of yesterday's practice, not the practice itself, but that Rick Tauke had some old school, early days in Vancouver, Rick Tauke vibes where he spoke a lot. He spoke candidly and he was pretty critical of his team yesterday. I was glad to hear it.

I do want to start right there with what Jason was talking about Rick Tauke was asked about Quinn Hughes, specifically was his captain trying to do too much the other night against the Buffalo Sabres. Rick did not hold back. Here's Tauke on Hughes from yesterday's practice. I thought last night he did. I think for the most part, he's an unreal year.

He's been great at that last night was too much. I want to put the team on my back. And we had a talk today. He likes to talk about after games and stuff. We talked about that. That's the one thing he has to guard himself, is to be trying to take the team on by himself, you know, the other team. And I think that's when he gets in trouble. Now, there was an astute, salient follow up question here.

Could it be from the Canucks media, there was an astute salient follow up question? It might have been an Edmonton guy that infiltrated. I don't know. From an Edmonton guy? However, I don't know who asked it, but there was a question asked about, well, wait a minute here. Could this be not necessarily about Hughes trying to do too much, but Hughes' teammates constantly deferring to him because he's such a great player? Rick Tauke had had time for this line of questioning. Here's what he had to say. Good question. I mean, I've played some great players.

I mean, yeah, you just, you don't stop playing because you play with a great player. I mean, that's asinine. You know, you want to use that great player to your advantage. So I don't know if that theory, I don't know. I mean, you have a great player. You should embrace the fact that I get to play with this player.

How can I be better for this guy and the team? That's just about Huggy, but about the team. So yeah, no, you just utilize that best player as much as you can for your benefit. So I've noticed a lot of people texting into the Dunbar Lumber text line with a sense of worry or concern that number one, the Canucks are wasting some of the greatest years we've ever seen from a Canucks player. No one in Canucks history has really come close to winning a Norris trophy until Quint Hughes

won the Norris trophy last season. And there's a case to be made that he's playing even better this season. Meanwhile, the team is not winning. The team is in danger of missing the playoffs and the team is possibly going to trade away one or even two of its best forwards, not to mention possibly not bringing back a guy like Brock Besser. And we're thinking, okay, well, how are we going to of its best forwards, not to mention possibly not bringing back a guy like Brock Besser. And we're thinking, okay, well, how are we going to

keep Quinn Hughes happy because he's not signed forever. And I imagine that is a concern for Canucks management too. And a lot of the, the texts that come in suggest that, no, you can't trade these guys. You can't trade Miller or Pedersen because then you're essentially into a rebuild. Quinn Hughes isn't going to stand for that.

And then Quinn Hughes is going to want out. Maybe somebody should ask Quinn Hughes about that though. Obviously he's not going to answer that publicly. I'm sure I'd love to address this publicly. I'm talking about management, right? And I do wonder if Quinn Hughes is kept in the loop on certain major decisions, even asked for his opinion on certain major decisions.

Different organizations do it differently. Some organizations will give the players an ear, a voice, and others are like, you're the player, I don't care if you're the captain, we're making the decisions here. But Quinn Hughes looks tired of all the drama. So it's not like, it's not like, it's not like he's, it's not like if the Canucks,

I don't think, if the Canucks make some changes, he's going to be like, well, I'm out of here. I think right now his frustrations are twofold. One, they're not winning enough hockey games and they're outside the playoff picture looking in, which is not where they wanted to be after last season. So there's the very tangible, obvious, they're not playing good hockey. I think the other part of it is that as a captain,

he is responsible for speaking to the media incessantly, answering the questions on behalf of the team, having to explain away why the team's playing terribly, even though he's having another banner season. It was noted that after yesterday's practice, Quinn Hughes' media availability was pretty abrupt. He wasn't happy. You know who else wasn't happy?

His head coach. I think both of them probably have similar sentiments about the way the team has played this year. The captain and the coach are often in lockstep. In the case of Travis Green and Bo Horvat, they were almost the same person at times. So when you hear Hughes speak and you hear Tauke speak and you hear some of the familiar of her refrains,

like I bet, you know, if you were to get Hughes in a Quine 1, he'd probably be like, yeah, maybe I am trying to do too much out here because no one else is doing anything. I mean, it's all very valid, right? Now, frustration, I mentioned in that little diatribe there. Another thing I wanted to play some audio from Tauke yesterday.

He addressed and openly acknowledged that the frustration has crept into this group and it's starting to manifest itself. Listen to this clip carefully because Taukeet does say and alludes to the off ice noise and everything else that's going on around the team and openly ponders if that's the reason why the frustration is showing itself. All he knows is that it's there and it's happening and they need to get rid of it. Here's Rick Taukeet after practice yesterday.

I mean, I can't speak for some guys. Maybe some guys are. I don't know. I can't tell you that. I go day to day, game to game, like I tell you guys. And obviously last game was not, you know, being up two to one and, you know, I don't know, the shots were 18, 11. I thought we were coming all of a sudden,

but 19 minutes later it flipped. And why is that? Because we got to stop skating, guys started doing fancy plays, body language came back for whatever reason. You just can't do that. Winners don't do that. You don't slam gates.

We're up two to one, somebody misses an empty net. Okay, who cares? Why slam a gate? This is the stuff I've been preaching, so I've been here, and every once in a while it creeps in, the frustration. Now I don't know if it's because of the noise or not, I don't know, but we have to stop that stuff.

You thought what? Yeah, Tog and thought they were coming and then they weren't and that's very frustrating. It is frustrating. Happens to everyone. Yep, to the best of us. And then they started slamming gates. Doesn't like that either.

All of a sudden, I thought we were coming all of a sudden. And then you didn't, someone knocked on the door. Doesn't like that either. I thought we were coming all of a sudden. And then, and then you didn't. Someone knocked on the door, slammed the gate, slammed the gate. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Um, it's distracting. It is.

Distracting. Why is there a gate in your room? It is very distracting. Look, as far as the actual, uh, frustration levels go, I think that the head coach is pointing this out. Um, this is a very obvious and very direct shot at his team. Who slammed the gate? Well, he said it was after you missed the tap-in

on the open net, so I want to say Hronik. That was the first one that jumped to mind for me. Yeah. JT, no! Sorry, force of habit. But okay. Hronik, no! Right, right, but you wanna talk about

the loud, demonstrative, emotional gestures, that's part of Miller's game, or it has been part of Miller's game. And obviously talking to said, I've spoken about this in the past, we don't want it, right? And I think that's part of the reason that they identified Quinn Hughes as a guy

they wanted to be captain. And what Quinn Hughes has said on a number of occasions being the captain is he doesn't let the highs get too high and the lows get too low. He's got a very calm, dare I say, stoic personality, right? He's, and that's by design because that is what the coach wants.

If they wanted to go another direction and have a fiery emotional leader, they could have done that. Yeah. But you know, Taukett doesn't want. Taukett wants composure, man. He does. He wants, they could have done that. Yeah. But, you know, Tauke doesn't want- Tauke wants composure, man. He does. He wants teams to be smart. He wants it low event everywhere.

In your emotional life, low event, right? No highs and lows, just keep it mellow. But a bench has to be composed. It does. It's actually a really tough balance. It's a tough balance because you don't want guys composed so composed that they're decomposing on the bench, right?

Like you want them into the game focused. And I guess maybe that's the better word for it, focused as opposed to composed. Just things happen in games. Things happen. Not all of them go well. You know, one of the worst things that a coach can say is we got to score first because then if you

don't score first, you're like, well, are we screwed now? Just play the game and maybe 30 seconds in, you surrender a goal. Okay. Keep playing. There are two teams on the ice. Things are going to happen. Stay in the game.

Way easier said than done. Way easier said than done. But when you're slamming gates and slamming sticks and swearing, it makes it harder for you. And it makes it harder for your teammates to focus on what's going on in the ice. It does really, even if it's a tiny little minor thing, also it gives the opponent the understanding, the thought, the belief that on what's going on in the ice. It does really, even if it's a tiny little minor thing.

Also, it gives the opponent the understanding, the thought, the belief that they're either in your heads or have knocked you off your game or that you are rattled. And there's no point in giving anybody an edge like that. Now I also think that Tauke brought up this line of thought yesterday, ahead of what promises to be a powder keg game tonight in Edmonton. In case you missed it,

there's a lot of drama going into this game. Tyler Myers is not going to play because of a three-game suspension for a cross-check to the head of Evan Bouchard. Connor McDavid is not going to play because of a three-game suspension for a cross-check to the head of Connor Garland. Now, Rick Taukett addressed this part of the song and dance and the drama yesterday as well. Speaking about not really understanding why it was such a big deal what Garland did and why there's been such a big blowback about it. Here is Rick Tauke and ahead of tonight's game speaking about Connor Garland. Yeah, I mean, I mean, I don't know. Yeah, he held the guy. So was that wanted posters? I mean, I understand if he smashed him in the

face or got in a fight or did something, it's a hold, so yeah, I don't really care what they think. I was hoping that Tocket was going to do something like, you know, I thought Albertans were supposed to be tough. I thought they were, you know, the province where they talk about individuality and, you know, toughness and accountability and you don't go whining to someone else if something else happens.

You take care of business for yourself. It was a holding penalty guys. Yep. It was a holding penalty, guys. Yep. It was a holding penalty that you guys are freaking out over. Holding. I wanted, okay, so because- And then you go on further. Do you need to be held, Alberta fans?

Do you need to be held? Because you seem so upset. I was, because Taka was cooking yesterday. He dropped a lot of good lines. There was a lot of audio to parse through. I was wondering, and the back of my mind, I'm like, I wonder if he'll poke the bear just a little bit here, just a little bit.

And you know, go, not necessarily that route where you're calling the province a gigantic baby, non-Calgary division, cause they don't really, Calgary's like, we didn't do anything, but. We never do anything. Yeah, we're just happy to be here I do one I did wonder if it was gonna go that way it did not as a matter of fact the final clip We'll play was talk it once again reiterating how it's all about composure

And we can't have anybody freaking out no vengeance tonight in Edmonton this game is all about getting the two points Yeah, no, he's he It's not gonna deter him to go in the corners in front of that. And he needs his teammates to be there right behind him. Yeah, and you heard Leon Tricell, I mean, one of the best players in the league, he said he didn't know, they were just talking about this big war. He didn't understand why is there a war. It was about a hold and a couple things that happened at the end.

So, you know, we need two points. We don't need, there's no vengeance. I mean, it's just two points for us. I'm glad Tauket did all this, by the way, held court yesterday and addressed the team as critically. And as thoroughly as he did, I was, I'm not gonna lie. I was getting a little worried about Tauket this season. And he lost his fire or?

Not his fire, but that he was almost too concerned with what the blowback would be. And that, that kind of outweighed the fact that his team needed, I mean, they needed to be called to the carpet. He needed to be honest and forthright and be like, I'm disappointed. We've been lousy.

This hasn't been good enough. But I do wonder how much that happens when he just doesn't tell us. That's fine. There's a difference though, when you say happens when he just doesn't tell us. That's fine. There's a difference though when you say it privately and when you say it publicly. That's true, yeah. And whether you think it's calculated or not

or whether you're like, what the hell, I'm just gonna speak off the cuff today. I do think that it matters. Talking to slowly separating himself from the group. Yeah. He's just like, I've been mad at them, I don't know what you want. These guys are a bunch of losers.

Did I say losers? I didn't mean losers. I've been mad at them. I don't know what you want. These guys are a bunch of losers. Did I say losers? I didn't mean losers. But like, without calling him. Although he did say he was pretty, he was like, he was talking about the slamming of gates and stuff. He's like, winners don't do that. Yeah.

That's not what winners do. The follow-up question would be like, what's the opposite of a winner? And then he'd have to say it. And if we're slamming gates, that makes us. Yeah, right? Oh no. He's hanging out there in the ether.

I'm glad that he did this. I really am. I hope, for the love of God, I hope that something will trigger this group into putting forth more consistent efforts. Now, I know that the next two games are both sort of powder keggy games. Tonight, I actually wanted to do a poll question

because we haven't done one in forever. How many power plays are the Edmonton Oilers going to get tonight in this game? You think zero? I'm just joking. I thought, I put a one in front of the zero. Like I could see them going double digits. Like there's a reason that you do this.

There's a reason that you publicly embarrass yourself like the oilers have and it's to get everybody's attention specifically The NHL and those that officiate NHL games specials don't like being shown up though. So it's a delicate public with that It's a delicate dance, right? I know Freed wrote about this in 32 thoughts and, and we can get into 32 Thoughts, talking about the aftermath of the Dennis Weidman incident from a few years ago. Remember when he high-sticked an official? When he was playing for Calgary?

Yeah, and Calgary went from being one of the least penalized teams in the NHL to the most penalized teams in the NHL. Look, for all the bluster that came out of Edmonton, the essence of the entire argument was McDavid is Not drawing as many penalties as he should by the letter of the law if you call the game like you're supposed to call it He should have way more penalties called and way more penalties drawn right that was pretty cut and dry

That was the the essence of the entire thing. And then Edmund took aim at the NHL. For some reason, the four nations face off anything else. Right. In the scrum yesterday, when McDavid first spoke the first time after getting suspended, he actually said, I have noticed, like maybe not necessarily looked at the stats, but I've noticed that we've gone on the man advantage less than we ever have before, right? And he just talked about it very openly and very plainly. So I really wonder what the

knock-on effect is gonna be from that. I don't think it's great that the Canucks are going into Edmonton tonight to take on an Oilers team that is one fizzed off. Like I'm anticipating like a lot of, I'm not going to lie, a lot of power plays for the Oilers tonight. I'm just throwing it out there right now. I don't think it's fair. I don't think it's right. I also think I know how this league works.

I would not be surprised if there's just an endless amount of power plays for the Oilers tonight. And I think even without Connor McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers are going to be real motivated. Right. Because, I don't know if you mentioned, they lost to the Canucks and they lost to the Capitals. So. They have not had a three game losing streak

this year, by the way. They're on a two game losing streak. Yeah. So this is going to be a tough one for the Canucks and knowing the pattern, the Canucks are going to win this one and then lay an egg Saturday against Washington Capitals. Huzzah.

Yeah, we're back. Yeah. We're so back. I mean, this team has heart. This team has a lot of heart. And then Saturday, people will spend $3,000 to take their family to Rogers Arena to see Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

And Alex Ovechkin will actually break Winn Gretzky's record on that night with 18 goals, which would actually be worth the money I suppose, but not good for the Canucks. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Thomas Dranzerotica Thomas Dranzerotica Corsi Thomas Dranzerotica Expected Goals Thomas Dranzerotica Todd's Model Thomas Dranzerotica Thomas Dranzerotica

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Todd's model. Thomas Drance Erotica. Regression. Thomas Drance Erotica. P.D.O. Thomas Drance Erotica. 803 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody.

Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of 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 three of the program.

As the music suggests, Thomas Drance is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell & Pound, real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-Pound. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step.com. I forgot the dot com part.

Go to Campbell dash pound on the Internet, see what I punch it in. See what happens. Brough's got his serenity now face going. See what happens. Try it out. I'm sorry for the blasphemy. It's Alfred's fault. All right. To the phone lines, we go Thomas Transterns is now in the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet fault. All right, to the phone lines we go Thomas Drance turns it's now in the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. What up Drance?

Gentlemen, good morning. Drance, I have a question for you. How dare you? Does the sleeping giant not have an alarm clock? This guy has been asleep for a while now. They keep hitting snooze, right? Like they'll get that win. They hit snooze again. It's one of those mornings. So it's an interesting thing about the last 10 games. So the connects are 3, 5, and 2 across their last 10 games.

It's 8 points. It's not good enough. It's, you know, I think the 26 26th or seventh best point percentage over that span and it's been brutal to watch I mean 12 five-on-five goals in those 10 games and honestly I feel like they've been full value for that and yet you know when you do check what's underlying they've also outshot their opposition by 12 across that time. It's, you know, 90 to 78 and a big part of what's going on. I mean, there's a lot going on.

One of the things that's going on is nothing's happening on the ice, either way when they're playing, right? Like this, on the one hand, they're not surrendering many chances or shots, but there's a difference between what I would consider to be like really good defense, right? And really good defense. So it's a product of removing all oxygen and events from the game both ways, right? Like the connects are robbing from Peter to pay Paul to create a quality defensive

environment. It's, it's an environment where it's a coin flip, frankly, whether or not they're going to outscore their opponents, as opposed to one where they're, you know, reliably creating an environment where they're more likely than the opposition to score the next goal. And that's not great. Uh, so I don't want to, I don't want to sort of overly oversell this, but one thing that has

happened across the last 10 games is they've had the worst goal-tending in the league, eight, eight, seven at five on five and the third worst shooting percentage in the league, 6.3%. And look, you put that together, like they're coming out roughly even in the run of play, they're getting out-chance slightly, but they're out shooting the opposition. They're not finishing at all and their goaltending has been putrid. And we think that Lankton and even Demko, although I think there's extra context there given what he's working his way back from and shaking the rest off from. I think when you put that together, like in a conventional hockey season, I'd be on the

line with you guys saying, Hey, you know, the Canucks are very likely to do much better over their next 10 games than they have this last 10 games. And I think where I'm reluctant to do that is I'm watching this team play and that lack of offensive juice is first and foremost in my mind. I don't want to use a word like appalling, but it's certainly top of mind for me. And, and, you know, not something that I find particularly entertaining from the perspective of just a guy who watch likes to watch hockey and then, you know, the, the other side of this is the vibes are off, right?

The, I mean, I thought that game against Buffalo, I thought the vibes were off from the jump. And they were able to sustain 20 good minutes in the second. And, you know, I guess they pushed decently in the last seven minutes of the game after they surrendered a 3-2 lead to the worst team in the Eastern Conference that was also playing the second leg of a back-to-back and missing their top goal scorer from the lineup. So all of this said, yeah, I think the Sleeping Giant is very much comatose, but even across this most dispiriting 10-game stretch, you're still seeing a team with a decently high baseline.

And that to me is sort of the genesis of the sleeping giant theory, which is that, you know, hey, like this, this should be a team with playoff caliber talent. Clearly they're not able to unlock it at the moment. And I think that's a lack of offensive talent, lack of offensive talent, truly up and down the lineup I think is key to that. And then the second part of it, I do think there's something off with the vibes. I don't think that's a secret at this point. I think management feels that way.

I think that's why we're here in terms of the conversations that we and the entire hockey world are having about what comes next for the Canucks. And so, you know, you sort of put that together and it's pretty difficult to be forgiving. I think the theory has mostly failed at this point though, given that they got Horonic back from injury and, you know, have their stars back in the lineup now. And, you know, we're still seeing hockey that we might describe as, you know, direct. Do they have the personnel to get to the hard areas of the ice? I'm talking offensively. Like high danger, slot shots, do they have the personnel to do it up front?

That's an interesting question. I mean, I do think there is a lack of size upfront in Dakota Joshua's absence. Right? So I do think that they're, while they have a ton of size on the back end and are by no means like quote unquote small, I do think when you subtract Dakota Joshua from the lineup, you know, team size and team speed are delicate things. It doesn't take a lot, right?

You don't have to add a lot of like Milan Luchic to your top nine to feel the impact in terms of team speed, right? You had two guys, one on your first line, one on your fourth line, one on your second line, one on your third line, whatever. And you can feel it throughout a roster, right? Like team speed is a delicate thing.

And I think team size can be similar. And I do think without Dakota Joshua, they don't really have like just sort of a, a more beastly type player to be functioning as a backboard in the, in the tricky areas of the ice offensively. So. I just want to read some stats for you.

You love stats, right? Do you like natural stat trick? I do. Okay. But, but if it's location data stuff, I'm going to roll my eyes. So be careful. So high danger chances for, you know, you

don't like that stuff? Yeah, don't love that. Well. Does it say anything though, that the Canucks last year were six in the NHL, 12, around 12 high danger chances per 60. So if they, any game they would play on average, they would have 12.

And this year they are third worst, third lowest. And the number is nine. That says something, Drancer. Yeah. And look, the location database stuff is just too unreliably collected. I mean, just look at shots, just look at shots, get the bigger sample. Do you have it in front of you?

Can you give me raw shots? Cause you'll hear the same story from raw shots. Shots, let's do five on five per 60. The Canucks are second worst in the NHL, barely ahead of the Red Wings, 24. And they were 26 last year. Right. Yeah. So, I mean, the truth is, is that the, if you're looking at the high danger

shot things, I think it paints a rosier picture of their offensive production last year than, than it should, right? Like this team's lack of- I test for me is like, they're not getting slot shots. Well, for sure. But I don't think they were getting shot slot shots last year either. To be totally honest with you, they were scoring a lot more off the rebound. They were getting a lot more greasers off like players, you know, body parts that weren't

their sticks, stuff like that. Like they, they're the run of bounces last year was exceptional, but the truth is, is that the high danger metrics are, yeah, too unreliably co collected by, um, you know, the, the NHL scorekeepers, um, over time, you know, it, it doesn't matter as much. Once you're talking about shot attempts or shots, because then you're talking about 50 attempts per game when it comes to shots or closer to 80 attempts per game. But when you're talking about high danger, you're talking about 20, right? It's

just a small sample and I find that one or two that are a little bit off. Um, and the fact that it doesn't account for pre shot movement. Right. Um, I don't think that helps you. Right. Like the, the Canucks, one thing that Canucks did a lot last year, for example, was score through layered traffic. Right. Yeah.

Uh, we're, we're seeing fewer of those. Uh, you're not going to get a high danger shot. At like four being in front of the net, being a screener. Have teams started to realize that that's how the Canucks get goals though? Like they throw it back to the point and then it's layered, layered traffic. So my whole point is like, Hey, work it down

low a little bit more. Yeah. I mean, look, I think, I think what you're saying is fair. What you're saying is fair. I don't disagree that like the price has not been paid at, with the same level of discipline, right? I would say though that the lack of rush offense is really where you're seeing things change

for this team. And it's not a volume thing. It's a conversion rate thing. The Canucks had the highest finishing clip in the league last year off the rush and it gave them a top five rush goal scoring rate even though they weren't generating anything off the rush and this year their rush conversion rate is closer to their sort of volume rating which is second worst in the league and that's a huge gap.

So for me, it's not about volume. It's about conversion and where we're really seeing a difference between last year's team and this year's team in my mind is what they're getting off the rush. Um, but, but again, so much of what this team did from a goal scoring perspective was the product of conversion rate and finishing and To their credit like I don't think it was all luck I think this team was so dialed in and so reliable from a work-right perspective that they look what there were bounces Don't get me wrong, but they were also working to manufacture those bounces

It's a hard thing to do and a hard thing to sustain over 82 games like you have to be cult-like in your, you know, like one to 18 skaters just all agreeing to play the same way and all bring, you know, that level of fire that sustained what the Canucks did last season. I don't think they've had it this year. I don't think they've been able to play with that level of buy-in, frankly, up and down the lineup. And I think that's what we're sort of seeing. There's some bounces that have come into play, I think, especially off the rush last year. But truly, like we were, I mean, we were doing these hits all last year and I was saying,

man, this team, this team's going to have trouble scoring when it counts. This team's going to have trouble scoring when it counts. And increasingly, I seemed like a loony person when the Canucks were fifth or sixth in the NHL and goals scored after 50, 60 games. But like it was true then it was true then. And so they have fallen off offensively a bit, but it's not nearly as dramatic as it feels because frankly, the, the, the bounces hit it, the bounces hit it, the conversion rate hit it.

I, you know, I do think there's a bit of a lack of size upfront, especially if you want to play this type of game. But I think the fundamental is that like the fundamental thing that's happened in my mind anyway, is that this, the, the stress, the consistency with which the Canucks executed a system that requires a lot of discipline on a team level. That discipline has been absent this year relative to the consistency with which it was brought last season.

It is quite telling when a coach multiple times throughout the season says things like, I got to get some guys emotionally invested. And he said the other, I think he said yesterday, he was watching the game against Buffalo and he was thinking, these guys aren't into it right now. Like that's. Yeah, I was watching it and thinking the same thing. That is, that is, uh, you know, that's not

singling out anyone. So it's not going to get the headlines, but that is damning. Yeah. Well, think about the moment we're in, right? Like if the team thought this could be fixed by overpaying for a second pair of defensemen, right? They would have fixed it by overpaying for a second pair of defensemen. Like? They would have fixed it by overpaying for a second pair of defensemen.

Like if they thought a coaching change would solve it, right? They would have changed coaches, right? Like they pretty clearly, from what we've seen happen, what transpired last weekend, the volume of reports, the fact that multiple teams, Carolina and the New York Rangers per Elliott Friedman have permission to talk to JT Miller, I mean, clearly they've determined that their issues are a little bit higher up the lineup, a little bit frankly trickier to fix without major surgery and that's, that's where

we're at, right? Like the, I guess it's a relevant question to say, do you agree with that? But I mean, I kind of do. So, uh, yeah, it kind of do so yeah it's it's wildly disappointing and a massive shame frankly that a pretty talented group has sort of found itself at this juncture. We're speaking to Thomas Strantz from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks talk right here on Sportsnet 650 a reminder it is the Canucks and it is the Oilers 6 o'clock tonight from

Edmonton you can hear it all right here pregame postgame and the actual game on Sportsnet 650 for tonight's game Thomas who will start in goal for the Vancouver Canucks who should start in goal for the Vancouver Canucks I'll be curious to know if both those answers are the same yeah I mean I think it's got to be Demko again Lankton and obviously as we know, had a, an illness that caused him to not even back up the other day. She loves his back down after being recalled to back up that night, uh, under emergency conditions. Uh, but you know, I think it makes sense to give Demko a run of games, both small picture

and big picture. Um, and I think it makes sense to buy Lanken in as much time as required to put, you know, whatever was ailing him. And I'd imagine it was food poisoning or, or what have you, because a lot of Canucks players and personnel have gone down sick across the last week. So you'd think it was what was going around. But I think it makes sense to give him an, an extra couple of days, you know, get, get his weight back up. If that's in fact at issue, at issue often is in these cases. So, you know, I think for those reasons, Demco makes, it makes sense to start Demco again. Um, and I think, yeah, I think Demco should start. I think Demco needs to run here. Like, I mean, it's been poor,

right? He's been an eight 60 goaltender in his last five starts across this team's last 10 games. Like it hasn't been there for him. He knows it. He obviously took accountability for it. I don't look at those three Buffalo goals and look at any of them necessarily as like bad goals. Even the first one, the Thompson ones through a mass amount of layer traffic. So there weren't like easy ones that he necessarily, they weren't softies by any means, but you know, they're, he probably gets one or two of those last year, right? With when he's in form

and given that he's extension eligible on July 1, sort of given where you're at, given the stakes for the player and for the team and determining just how durable he can be as an option for you going forward. I mean you got to gather that information. You got to gather that information. You got to give Demko a chance to get on a run here. This team's ceiling case requires it but also you know this team's long-term sort of outlook requires it so I think you give Demko the run I think you give Demko a run provided that it's reasonable at this point give him you know a month six weeks as a starter you kind of know what Lankanen is you're you've already engaged in preliminary contract talks you want to keep them and then I think

that's right too by the way but I do think you got to figure out what you've got in your Vezna caliber starter, who struggled after being off for 10 months as a result of an unprecedented injury. Yeah, because prior to having you on, I openly wondered if it's going to be Demko tonight, Demko Saturday against Washington. Bruffs also wondered if there might be some,

I don't want to say ill will, but maybe like Mift or maybe a snit that he didn't get to start in Winnipeg. I thought that too though. I thought when they didn't play him in Winnipeg, I thought it was an interesting decision. Yeah, I did too. I expected him to start in Winnipeg. I don't know if there was,

I like, I haven't heard anything about No, no, no, no, no, no, neither. How anyone felt about it, but you know, We're just making things up, Drantz. That's what we do on this show. Toxic media. Toxic media. Toxic media.

You know what's amazing is it's like, there's never been less reason to make anything up. The reality is incredible enough, right? The garden is bountiful. The toxic garden is so much to pluck from. Yeah, so anyway, yeah, I mean, I've shared your side-eyeing of that Winnipeg start, but I just do think it makes sense to give Demco games. Like I think you need to gather information here because you're going to face a really, a really significant decision. And the stakes

for Demco are huge, you know, just like flat out a goalie that everyone knows is starting 60 games a year is a, and has Demco's talent level and track record. I mean, that's a $9 million player. Um, a player who's going to be a 40 game a year guy with, you know what I mean? Like a one a, well, that's a, that's a $6 million player or $5.5 million dollar player with Demco's track record. Um, you know, I think you have to, like, if you're the player, obviously you want the chance to prove that you're the $9 million guy, but also if you're the Knax and considering

either investment, like you need to know what you've got. And so I think it makes sense. Like this is one where shared interests, I think, require Demko to plan off a lot, to play a number one workload here for the next few weeks. Unless he really struggles and outright, you get to a point where you're like, hey, Lankanin is our better bet to win games. And then Matt's going too. I thought it was really interesting when Demko said in his scrum, I kind of lost touch with the game or his game.

Now that's how I took it. I lost touch with my game, just being part of the action and reads. I mean, and for him to miss training camp, miss any exhibition games, and then just be dropped into, let's be honest, a fairly volatile situation with this team and be like, okay, find your game. Where, come on, Elite Demco, it's a huge challenge. So yeah, you laid it up pretty well there. It's like you want to get them going,

but you're also fighting for the second wild card spot. So you need wins. And how many times have we said the connects need to string some wins together? They can't even win two games in a row, let alone three, four or five. And that's hard when you've got a goalie that isn't feeling it.

It's wildly difficult, especially when you're playing coin flip hockey, right? Like if you're playing this low variance, I mean, on the, on the one hand, like the way that the connects are playing is so low event that the impact of variance is more significant. And the logic of this team, I think requires them to be the better finishers

and to have the better goal tending most nights. Like that's what they had last year. And the problem with both of those things, right? Is there a little bit of ephemeral? They're not things you can necessarily dine out on. what they had last year. And the problem with both of those things, right, is they're a little bit ephemeral. They're not things you can necessarily dine out on. And so, you know, the Connex haven't had it. They haven't had that. And then you're playing this low event coin flip hockey and, you know, over the last 10 games anyway, the Connex have lost seven of 10 coin flips. So that's going to happen on any run of 10. I guess the good news is I still do think that this team's better than we've

seen of late. I worry that that's, that that's not something we're going to notice while everyone's waiting for the other shoe to drop while there's like a patina of dysfunction that sort of hangs over the group. But you know, frankly, while there's a group waiting for the other shoe to drop, right? I mean, I do think that's part of what we're seeing too. But look, I mean, I still think this is a playoff caliber roster. And I'll be honest with you, I still think this is a playoff caliber roster, even if they end up subtracting JT Miller and replacing him with a Heedle or a

Cockney-Emi type piece. I still think that's a team that should be able to hang with the Calgary Flames given what else they have. I mean the Flames don't have point use. Honestly the Flames don't even have Elias Pedersen. So you know I still look at all this and think the Canucks should make the playoffs, but man, it's been, my faith has been tested. I think the faith of Canucks fans has been tested. I think the faith of Rick Taukett has been tested pretty severely with how the club has played

since Christmas. For sure. Well, Jancer, thanks for joining us. It was an ephemeral conversation, but still an enjoyable one. Yeah, a vaporous chat to start your day. Thanks boys. Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver here

on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Ephemeral, lasting for a very short time. For example, fashions are ephemeral. I would not have known that. Oh, so that was sarcasm because it wasn't ephemeral. It was a long conversation. No, it was a short chat. With Thomas?

By his standards. I mean, it felt long. It's only half an hour. Oh, come on. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.