Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 1/31/25

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they preview tonight's Canucks road matchup versus Dallas, they dissect the latest 32 Thoughts Podcast audio on JT Miller & Elias Pettersson trade possibilities, plus the boys get a Canucks update from Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal. 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.

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Good morning, Vancouver. 6.01 on a Friday. Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Halford and it is Bruff. It is Sportsnet 650. And we are coming to you live from the Kintex studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Gladdy, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Bruff 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 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, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step.

So we got a lot to get into on today's show. We have multiple guests. It's the Canucks Game Day. We got giveaways galore. We have some big interesting audio from Elliot Friedman and the 32 Thoughts podcast as it pertains to your Vancouver Canucks. Guest list today begins at seven o'clock. AJ from AJ's Pizza's gonna join us. A reminder, it is a Vancouver hockey game night. Six dollar pints at AJ's at 325 on East Broadway. Also, we're giving away a $100 gift card to AJ's

for the best what we learned or ask us anything. Dunbar number text line is 650-650. Get them in your chance to win. Put a pizza emoji into your text. Uh, right after AJ at 705, Owen Newkirk is going to join the program. He is the Dallas Stars podcast host for DLLS Sports in Dallas. Reminder, Canucks Stars, five o'clock from Dallas tonight. Uh, Dallas team that's playing pretty well lately, but also dealing with a number of key injuries.

So we'll talk to Owen about all that at 7.05. 7.30, it's the Moge. Yes, it's the Moge, Bob the Moge Marjanovic. We are going to preview his big trip down to New Orleans for the Super Bowl. What can we expect from Moge on Super Bowl Medio Row next week? A reminder, all of his shows are going to be right here on Sportsnet 650 beginning Tuesday evening. So we'll talk to Moj about all that. Eight o'clock, it's Dolly Wall, Jason. Rick Dolly Wall is going to join the program. I have no idea

what to expect from Rick. Is the official show's Dolly Wall handler. Do you know what's coming? I think it's going to be the same old. We'll talk about Jim Rutherford's interview, Miller and Petey. And, uh, he says, best sir, if we have time, that is so, that's, that's perfect. Like, like, no, no, no, they like, better if we have time is basically like the story of the season. Do you know what I mean?

Like this is a major decision that the Canucks have to make. And I feel like we haven't really talked about it much. You know, it's better start the segment at eight then. When you hear the audio from 32 thoughts, it will further confirm what you just said about Besser. Besser if we have time. Also at the end might be a little Brock Besser. So, okay, we got a lot to get into on the show.

Guest list working in reverse, eight o'clock, Dolly Wall, 730 Moge, 705 Owen Newkirk, and then at seven o'clock it's AJ. In addition to our AJ's Pizza Contest, we're also giving away, final time this week, a pair of tickets and a $50 gift card to the Clayton Public House for the big football party. It's hosted by us, Sportsnet 650.

It's on Sunday, February the 9th. If you want the tickets and the gift card, be caller number, you know what we're gonna do today? Only the best. If you're not first, you're last. Caller number one. Caller number one at 815 this morning. The phone number is 604-280-0650.

That number again, 604-280-0650. Be caller number one at 815. You'll win a pair of tickets and a $50 gift card to the Clayton Public House for the big football game. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, 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? Missed it? You missed that?

What happened? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. We will get to some hot audio from 32 Thoughts

in just a moment here, but we also want to set the stage for a big game for the Vancouver Canucks tonight. Five o'clock in Dallas Canucks looking for their fourth straight victory in a row. They had the day off yesterday, which leads for a lot of questions going into tonight's game against the Stars. Yeah, the Canucks are on a three game winning streak and have a chance to sweep their three game road trip to make it a four game winning streak tonight against a rather depleted stars team. And we'll talk to our guest, Owen Newkirk about the injuries as Halford mentioned. Um, this is the first meeting of the season between the Canucks and the stars.

They'll play twice more once in Vancouver, two days after the trade deadline and the third back in Dallas in April with just a few games left in the regular season. Uh, the leading score for Dallas is believe it just a few games left in the regular season. The leading scorer for Dallas is, believe it or not here, Matt Duchenne. Yeah, I was doing a little digging, a little research. This is a Renaissance season. He has had a scoring season close to this before.

But don't you think good for Matt Duchenne, maybe not so good for the rest of them that should be up there or? Matt Duggan It's interesting because in the glass half full, they're a very balanced scoring team. They have seven guys that have scored at least 10 goals this season. But in the negative, you would say, well, if like 33 year old Matt Duchesne's your leading scorer, that might be an issue for the Robertsons and the Rope Hintzes and everyone else. Pete Slauson You know what? He just turned 34. Matt Duggan 34 year old Matthew Shane. Happy, happy belated birthday to Matthew Shane, who I was like,

Matthew Shane is on the stars. Yeah. Sometimes you forget about that. He's like one of those players that was, and still is, I guess, a very good player in the NHL, but just don't really think of very often. The strength of their star, of the stars is their depth and the ability to keep the puck out of their star, of the stars is their depth and the ability to keep the puck out of their net.

Thanks in large part to goalie Jake Ottinger, not sure who's going to start tonight. Uh, so we'll see about that. The stars also have Casey DeSmith. Yeah, it's probably Ottinger cause DeSmith played on Saturday against St. Louis and shut them out. Well, speaking of goaltending, do the Canucks

go back to Demko after his great performance Wednesday in Nashville? I'm a little confused about what the Canucks go back to Demko after his great performance Wednesday in Nashville? I'm a little confused about what the Canucks are doing with their goal-tending right now. I couldn't guess right now. I would have given it a very small percentage chance that Demko would have played in Nashville. They're alternating periods. That's not a bad idea. And then in the third period, they're alternating shifts.

That's right. Roll them. Every stoppage, change them. Pucks in deep. Yeah. Change're alternating shifts. That's right. Roll them. Every stoppage, change them. Pucks in deep. Change the goalies. Ask Laddie. Laddie's a goalie expert. Who do you think they should go with tonight?

Or who do you think they will go with tonight? Demko. Yeah? I'm going with Demko. Just after the performance, you want to like, string some stuff together? Yeah, I want to see if he's got his mojo working. I will say this.

Him going in Nashville, to me, was a signal that they are not going to do this thing that everyone else thought, which is ride the hot hand. They still believe that at the end of the day, and you pointed this out a couple of times, and I think I agree with it, when it comes to what goalie has the highest ceiling and you can go the furthest with, it's still Demko. So they're still not really in that immediacy point and they're there more in that well Let's look big picture still when it comes to our goal and the blanket is former team, too There's a lot of reasons they could have started lankton against him a video tribute

And they yes, I'm waving at the jumbo try it was a brief they gave you have an Lankton a video tribute They loved a blanket. It was really funny cuz it's like you're out of control. They are in control It was just a distance camera shot of him just waving and he's like, hey guys, thanks. Okay, so we'll wait and see who's gonna start tonight in goal for the Canucks. This is gonna lead us nicely into the audio that we're gonna play by Elliot Freeman.

The Canucks are back home Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings. They could be on a four game winning streak. They could be, but they also are a team that while they were on the road, had a lot of news break, which didn't reflect all that well on some of the key players on the team, Whatever do you mean? So how does the crowd welcome them back to Vancouver? That's a great question. What do you think the atmosphere is going to be

like in Roger's arena on Sunday when the Red Wings are in town? Um, what's it going to be like when everyone gets back and they have to face, you know, the scary Vancouver media, Jeff Patterson and Farhand Lology and Farhand, just the most intimidating group you could ever imagine. Like what, what, what's that, that going to be like? And I guess this leads us perfectly into this next segment of audio. Um, if you're the Canucks, when do you start, when do you pull the trigger on

a deal if you're going to pull the trigger on a deal? Because like, you know, it was awkward enough with JT Miller when they, um, you know, had a Nashville reporter talking to him. Now the Canucks could easily just be like, yeah, we're going to not going to make these guys available and they're not gonna talk. Right. But Ritaka's gonna have to talk about it.

And here's the thing, like, all the other guys are gonna have to talk about it. Whoever they put up there's probably gonna have to talk about it. Quinn's gonna have to talk about it. Yeah. You know, they're gonna have to put up someone. They can't just be like, we're making no one available.

Well, I guess they could. This one actually wouldn't surprise me if they did. Yeah, Phil DiGiuseppe, you're back. I do, okay, we'll get to the audio now. So overnight, late night Thursday night, early Friday morning, back East, Elliot Freeman, Kyle Bukowsky has put together the latest version of 32 Thoughts, the podcast.

And there was a lot obviously about the Vancouver Canucks, about Elias Pettersson, about JT Miller, and about the Jim Rutherford interview in the Globe and Mail with Gary Mason. Now, we're gonna play three separate clips. The first is about what Freage thinks and is hearing what Rutherford's MO was in conducting that interview. Then there's some audio on potential landing spots for Petey.

Then some for Miller, including a really interesting nugget about a JT Miller deal that might already ready to be go-ing, sorry, ready to be going. That was very awkward English. Ready to be go? Ready to be go? Question mark? Here now, we'll play the Fridge first audio clip. This is Fridge talking about the Rutherford interview in the Globe and Mail and what his

MO might have been telling Gary Mason all that stuff about his hockey team here. Elliott Friedman from 32 Thoughts. I think Buffalo is still working its way on what it wants to do with Pedersen from Vancouver. I still think they're in it. I still think they're weighing what they want to do and whether it'll happen or not. But Columbus is another team. If they want to do and whether it'll happen or not. But, you know, Columbus is another team. If they want to make that deal, they can. And it's very difficult to turn away from super talented players. But I could see them looking at what they're building this year

and what they've kind of got and saying. You know, how much do we want to tamper with this? And again, Pedersen is at his best. He's a higher level and I think there's going to be some teams betting here that it is next stop. If it comes, he'll be better off but you know, I look at teams like Columbus and I say, you've got something that could be magical this year. How much do you want to tamper with that? Also in most recent piece on TSN,

Pierre Lebrun had something about Columbus as well. So put Leas Pettersson and Columbus firmly in your sights and in your focus because that's very much out there. Credit to Rick Dollywell for, he brought that up weeks ago. Yeah. That he thinks that Columbus is a match for Lecanox and Pettersson. And this is three outlets now, three different media fronts where Columbus appears to be kind of coming to the forefront as a Leas Pettersson suitor.

We'll throw now to some more audio. Again, it all sort of runs in a circular fashion here. Pedersen, Miller, Rutherford Zamo was speaking to the Globe and Mail. This is the second clip from the most recent 32 Thoughts podcast with Elliott Friedman. First of all, he knows what he's doing, right? Like this is not his first rodeo. He knows exactly what he's doing. So whenever I see something like that, I see that to me is a message to the market. Get ready. This is what we're doing. Okay. And that is what that is.

He's, he's warning everybody. This is what be prepared for the possibility of this and he's also laying out why and he's also saying that it might not be as good a return as you would like or think to me that was the that was when like HR calls a meeting and says, we hate to tell you this, but layoffs are about to happen. Like that's what that is like, okay? So I mentioned this to Adog before he heard the clip

and Adog got very upset. He's very concerned about diminished returns for maybe last JT Miller, but more so for- Yeah, Miller, I'm- Well, it's also this- I get it with Miller, but Pedersen, I'm like, oh, but more so for the... Yeah, Miller, I'm... Well, it's also this... I get it with Miller, but Pederson, I'm like, oh, come on, he's still like... He could be a very good player. The three game winning streak too, a lot of people are like, well, maybe they

scared them into playing better. You know? Maybe... It's like that Simpsons clip with the pig, like it's still good. It's still good. It's just a little wet. It's just a little wet. It's just a little wet. It's just, you know, and, uh, people are just hoping that there's like a last

minute reprieve, you know, it's like you're on death row and the governor calls and it's like, actually, you know, no, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna do it next month or something. You have to live. Now, go back to solitary confinement. You know, no, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to do it next month or something. You need to live. Now. Go back to solitary confinement. So the interesting thing here is that a lot of people thought that about Rutherford's remarks

in the sense of maybe this is the final warning. Maybe all the other warnings. Gary Mason left out a quote. Yeah, maybe. It was misleading. But maybe really for real this time, this is the last warning. We know there's been other warnings. We know that Patrick Alveen issued one right before new year, but maybe this is the real final warning. You know how your parents,

you get in trouble as a kid, like, this is your last chance. You know, there's one more chance lurking in the background there. Maybe this is it. Yeah. The connects are like, maybe we can't keep this or the connects fans are like, maybe we can't keep this. Or the Canucks fans are like, maybe we can't keep this iPad for the weekend. So here's for each thing, no iPad, it's gone. It's not gonna happen. So brace yourselves, I suppose, for whatever trade or trades might be coming. And the final clip from 32 Thoughts,

we've already discussed Elias Pedersen to Columbus, Buffalo's in there as well. There's some more information here on a potential landing spot for JT Miller and then circling back on potential landing spots for Elias Pedersen. This is a lengthier one, about two and a half, three minutes. Final clip from 32 Thoughts, Elliot Friedman, Cal Bukaskis on the state of the Vancouver Canucks.

Both those players have nearly been traded once each. Miller to the Rangers, Pederson to the Hurricanes. I do think in Miller's case, I think for a long time it was Eastern United States. I think that's opened up a bit. I think that's more like now give me a good situation or a contender. Like there's been some rumors about Miller in Colorado. I think if that was real, I think even though last I checked on a map, Colorado was not eastern United States. I don't think he would.

That's right. I don't think he would reject it for geographical reasons. So I think it's opened up a bit. I think in Miller's case, you know, the Canucks have something there that they could do if they wanted to right now. That is my feeling. And you know, obviously, as we recorded this podcast, it's late night Thursday slash Friday morning. They haven't done it.

You know, Patterson, you know, I think I think in Patterson's case, they were close once. I, you know, I think I think Buffalo is still there. I'm sure there's others. You know, I think there's I think there's a lot going on in Buffalo. I really do. I think that they've got some big decisions to make. Some really big decisions to make about their makeup and who they are and

who they're gonna fly with and who they aren't gonna fly with. I think they have some big choices to make there. So I think that this is all part of that, but I think with the with the Canucks and Rutherford, that was the warning. And, you know, we really haven't talked a lot about Besser whose contract is up too. And it didn't sound optimistic. Nothing is done until it's done, but it didn't sound optimistic. So we're getting lots of texts into the Dunbar

Lumber text line. And if you have anything to say about this or anything else on the show, you can text in at 650-650 Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental-a-war areas for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. Fish Dancer, one of my favorite texters, texts in and says, if they trade Petey for scraps,

I'm out. It will be an indictment on management that Petey has cratered under them. He will rebound wherever he goes and haunt us. I have that same concern. As much as I've been critical of Pedersen, I do have that concern because he is only 26 years old and we have seen him play at a very high level. So I'm with everyone that shares the concern. Now I have not reached the level that

I've seen from a lot of people that if they trade Pettersson I'm out. You know Fish Dancer saying I'm out. I know, fish dancer saying I'm out. I've seen that from a lot of people. I'm no longer a Canucks fan if they trade Peterson, I'm not there quite yet because I also think that Elias Peterson deserves a lot of the blame in all this. Okay.

Um, you know, he was warned, Jim Rutherford said, you know, like he was warned when he signed the contract, listen man, you're going to have to dig in even more now, it's going to get even harder. And according to management at least, maybe Pedersen has his own side of things. He doesn't like to talk. I don't know if you've heard that, but maybe he

feels that, I had knee tendonitis and you guys are yelling at me for not being in shape at camp. That is, by the way, something that's never really been fully explored because Pedersen doesn't talk, right? He doesn't come out and say much. He said that knee tendonitis thing and like, we all know that the Canucks and I'm talking

about the coach and management, they kind of downplayed it. They're like, and then you had this whole narrative of Pedersen's got to toughen up. That might've played into it. So I'll be, you know, if they do trade Pedersen, you know, it'll be actually really interesting. And if these trades do happen, what comes out?

What, what, what? What stories get leaked? What comes out because I could easily see this being one of those situations where, let's say they trade Peterson, then all sorts of information comes out from the Canucks side, but maybe also Peterson side too. Oh, possibly. Of what was happening.

Yeah, yeah. And then the same goes for JT Miller, I suppose. But I just, yeah, it feels to me, agree or disagree. The Canucks are more frustrated with Pedersen than they are with JT. Hmm. I might disagree because Elias Peterson didn't get a mysterious 10 game

leave of absence for personal reasons. That's true. Yeah. But it does feel always like there's more. Could it be that you're possibly projecting? No, I think there's more support publicly for JT Miller. Support publicly, sure.

No, but Rick Tocket, when he talks, he always like, what do you think about JT is like, love JT. I love, I love what he brings to the group. He's the emotional leader, he's a talented player. He's always coming up to me and asking me questions. And then what do you think about PT of, of, of Elias Pettersson? It's like, uh-huh.

Yep. I don't that sentiment absolutely exists, but in trying to just like the hierarchy of frustration internally, I don't know. Cause again, the one tangible thing, and it's not even really that tangible cause we have no idea what the leave represented, what the root cause of it was, what the reasoning for it was. That's the only thing we really have to point to where it was like, this is a definitive thing

that happened as opposed to whispers or rumors or innuendo or what, cause he interesting. It's not innuendo. It's like, it's like. It's like, you can't say that like, well, he never says anything about the player. Yes you can. He's never, they're rarely, talking is rarely

positive about Pedersen. He's also rarely negative about him. He's very, he's rarely, Taukett is rarely positive about Pedersen. He's also rarely negative about him. He's very, he's, I, don't get me wrong. You infer what's not being said about the player. When he talks about the Swedish house mafia line and he's like, Carlson was good and Hoaglander was good. End of sentence.

You, you can infer. You could figure things out. Well, I'll throw it out to the listeners. Who do you think is Tuckett's favorite between those two? Which child, which problem shop does he like the most? I bet it is going to be 100% people texting in, Tuckett is more of a Miller guy than a Pedersen guy. Yeah, I think that's a pretty fair assumption.

I'd be shocked if people went the other way on that one. And that means a lot within the context of the room. He's the head coach. He understands the dynamic of his team, and he understands who's probably not necessarily more important for victories because Pedersen is obviously hugely important to win games. But if you're talking about guys that I want, guys that are my archetypes, guys that have the characteristics that I as my archetypes, guys that have the

characteristics that I as a coach want, like it's Miller, 100%. Yeah, I'm sure Miller plays a more talkity game, right? Yeah. With the stuff about things coming out in the aftermath, everything would theoretically come out in the aftermath if one of these two players were to talk because they have said nothing. If you want to talk about the only thing that Elias Pedersen has said in addressing the rift with JT Miller, the only thing he said is that the media was making bleep up. That's it. And then he walked away. That's it. So there's a lot that's been unsaid about the relationship and about what's gone on.

So if there was a trade, and again, we're stacking hypothetical on hypothetical here, but if there's a trade, the stuff that'll come out in the aftermath, I imagine it'll be lengthy, voluminous, if you will. Like there'll be plenty to parse through. And you know that we'll do it here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Brandon in Vancouver texts in, it's neither. It's Pugh Souter.

He is a smart player. Pugh Souter, the top sig might be the one C soon. Yeah, seriously. Vancouver. Not the fastest one C, but still. You're listening to the best of Halford and brough You're listening to the best of Halford and brough Rick Dollywall Rick Dollywall, it's time for Rick Dollywall Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. 802 on a Friday. Happy Friday 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. Oh! So knowledgeable. They can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour three of the program. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell and Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. To the phone lines we go, Rick Dollywall joins us now on the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up Ricky D? Gentlemen, how you doing, how you doing?

How you doing? We're doing pretty well. Um, there was some more, uh, Elliot Friedman audio from the 32 Thoughts podcast. Um, you know, and I gave credit to you Rick, because a couple of weeks ago, you mentioned Columbus as a possible, uh, trade partner, uh, when it comes to Elias Pedersen.

But let's start with where the Canucks are right now because they're out on the road, they haven't come Vancouver, come back to Vancouver yet, although I'll be very curious to see what the reception is for this team. They've got a chance to make it four in a row tonight in Dallas. Is that kind of like background to the bigger

picture now, or is this something that, you know, like could play a role in the Miller and Pedersen situation? The fact that they are putting some wins together. Yeah, I'm pretty impressed with what they've done this week. They're two and old by the way, Jason, after the article came out by the president.

It is not easy going on a winning streak with so much outside noise about two star players getting traded because they don't get along. Give these guys credit for blocking that out, all the distractions, coaching staff as well. Incredibly hard to get this team up for games when trade rumours concerning some of your best players, they never end, you just mentioned Friedman this morning, other shows are talking about Vancouver non-stop 24-7, seven days a week. That's not easy on the coaching staff as well.

They've done a tremendous job. I think we're in week seven since the club decided to move either Millers and Pedersen or possibly both and To be on this winning streak. They've been playing while there's been some great Individual performances as well, you know Myers Well, we'll talk about Hughes in a second, but they fell out of the playoffs again last night Because you knew the Flames were going to be fed up. They did so Vancouver Trails Calgary by one point and Calgary got better guys last night adding Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost from Philadelphia for Kuzmenko and Palacios. Anyways that's two young

former first-round picks that the Flames get. What has happened to Kuzmenko? 39 goals 74 points in his rookie season with the Canucks. He is nothing but downhill since that season in Vancouver when we were raving about this guy and raving about what a great signing by the Canucks. They beat out like 20 teams to get him, but now this guy's got to go and have fun with Tortorella in Philadelphia. But please keep in mind, I know everyone's talking about Kuzmanko and Tortorellalla but keep in mind Philly only did this for his cap space right so they're going to turn around use Kuzmenko's money on July 1st is what or unless they got a big trade they're working on also everybody keeps writing

Calgary off and off and all these guys gonna fold like a cheap tent well guess what guys they're hanging in we're in february and go tell me who predicted calgary would be in the second wild card spot and they got a rookie of the year candidate dustin wolf he played on down the highway there in everton the western oculus kids been unreal so they got a great goalie of the future as well now the only reason the connoisseur a playoff spot is because a quinn hughes he's put the team on his back, 11 points, last seven games.

You don't think that the Americans at the Four Nations, and forget about him not getting a letter at the Four Nations, who cares? Like really, is that a big deal, him not getting a letter? They are so impressed, the americans with his all-world season a source with the american team told me this morning he is at another level controls the game every shift so dangerous with a park on his stick excited to see him best-on-best when he is arguably the best defenseman in the game right now

um... this guy is unbelievable. The Americans can't wait. Uh, you know, I don't care if he's got a letter or not, he's going to be a massive part of that American team at the four nations. Hey Rick, I've got, I've got a question for you. Yep. At the four nations, what are you looking forward to the most watching Quinn Hughes play for the Americans?

Yep. Um, watching all the Canadian forwards playing together, McDavid and Crosby and McKinnon or Sweden versus USA. Yeah, well, Sweden, USA is going to be interesting, but do we really expect Miller to line up Patterson? I mean, are they going to be facing each other? Are their lines going to be matched up? It's just a whole lot of things.

That's the intrigue. But for me, it's going to be able to watch Quinn Hughes in a position where he's up against best of the best of the best. I know the Russians aren't there and all that stuff, Jason, but it's a great question because I, that is one of the big things I'm looking for. And like, when I talked to my American source with the American team at the four nations, they just, they just can't believe how good this kid is.

And he's going to play a big part on that team. That's one of the biggest things that I'm looking for. But I want to get this in. The single biggest thing the Canucks have to do in the next two years is make sure they keep this guy happy so he doesn't leave. Nothing else matters. No other player in Vancouver matters. Nothing matters other than keeping Hughes happy. So he doesn't walk when his contract's out. Because if he walks, it's not going to be good. Um, how much chatter is there about that potential? Because I would say I was kind of joking.

I, I should say I was kind of joking in, in preparing myself that Quinn Hughes is going to leave because right now the team is so dysfunctional that I'm trying to put myself in his shoes. I'm like, I'm sure he does feel loyalty to the Canucks fan base and the organization, but he's the captain and I'm sure there's something to be said for the possibility of succeeding

winning the Stanley Cup in Canada versus New Jersey. But there's also the opportunity for him to kind of go and make history with his brothers in New Jersey. And right now I just feel like, you know, I'm kind of mentally preparing myself for him to leave because I think a lot of people will be like, yeah, I don't really blame you. Well, you mentioned a word dysfunction and no player wants to be around dysfunction. You know, you want to play for a well run organization.

The one thing that Canucks have is Quinn Hughes has come out and said that Rick Tocket's the best coach he's ever had. So that is on their side. But although the Canucks still haven't resigned Tocket, you always want to be in a good environment. And is be in a good environment. And is he in a good environment right now? You know, the Canucks are trying to trade

two top six centers, right? Besser might be gone. Like this team might look completely different after the trade deadline. A lot of guys he grew up in Vancouver with, a lot of the core guys are being talked about in trades right now. Think about it. He grew up in this organization with the Demcos, the Pettersons, the Bessers, all those guys and some of those guys are on the trade block right now. So how does he feel about that? It's too early to think about if he's thinking about leaving, but it's also not very far away. That's why I said the Canucks gotta watch what they do here They got to be a good model franchise do the right things

Keep the players happy because that guy is the single biggest asset they have he's not only the best of the player in Vancouver He's one of the best players in the entire world You watch what he does on a nightly basis and you sit there and you go. Oh my god Did he just do that? Did he just do that? Every game we're running out of words to describe this guy and if the Canucks don't watch it, this guy might walk. He's got the power, he's got the powerful agents, he's got all everything is the leverages on his side. The Canucks basically have two years to say, you know what, let's not, you know, let's not screw this up. Because if that kid walks, oh boy, it could get

nasty here in a real quick time. I wonder what Quinn wants from all this. Like we sort of. He wants to play on a winner. That's it. Every guy wants to play. But specifically, I mean, that's the general thing. But like, you know, we hadn't asked us anything

that came in and said, you know, what would you guys do in this situation? Would you trade Miller? Would you trade Pedersen? Would you trade both or would you trade neither? And Alfred and I both said, trade both. And then a bunch of people texted in and was like, well, what do you think Quinn would think about that? I wonder what he would think of it because

if we're frustrated with Miller and Pedersen, don't you think Quinn might be frustrated with Miller and Pedersen, don't you think Quinn might be frustrated with Miller and Pedersen? Absolutely. To get that guy's thoughts on just everything that's happened this year. Last year was so good. Like even the media, everybody was on board and you know, look at these guys, game seven Edmonton and this year has been exactly the opposite. It's been just, it's been a whore show.

They're the top story in the NHL for all the wrong reasons all the opposite. It's been just, it's been a horror show. They're the top story in the NHL for all the wrong reasons, all the time. There's been a tire fire every week this, excuse me, this year. And you know what, what's he thinking about all these tire fires and all this stuff? It's not been good. It just hasn't. But the Canucks have plenty of time here to turn this around and make it a good environment where Quinn says, you know what? I want to resign in Vancouver. But boy, they're going down a slippery slope here because they're trying to trade some core players here and guys that Quinn grew up with. And you and I both know they're not going to get equal value on the guys leaving town. We know that for a fact. Um, I know you want us to talk a little bit more about, uh, Jim Rutherford's interview with Gary

Mason and the Globe and Mail. I, I hadn't talked to you guys about it all week, but I just wanted to say around the league, some thought it was a bold interview. Some were surprised, some gave marks for honesty, but you kind of want to bring the temperature down and he ramped it up in a red hot Canadian market.

You can do this privately. You know what, guys? Have you noticed the agent for Miller, Brian Bartlett, zero interviews? The agents for Patterson, Pat and JP Barry, zero interviews. I've asked all three of those guys to come on

our show. All three said thanks, Rick, but no thanks. If I was those agents, I wouldn't be impressed with Rutherford for throwing gas on the fire and I just mentioned to you, Brasson and Berry also represent Quinn Hughes. You can't blame the media on this one. When Canucks management are feeding the media a king-size meal with content for days and days and days, national media is loving this. They're making calls on the Canucks every single day of the week. So I want you to look at the Colorado. I want you to look at how quietly they move Mika Ranthaman, a top 10 NHL player. No one saw that coming. Did anyone hear he was even available?

Teams like the Avalanche conduct their business quietly. Carolina too. The Canucks, they're the opposite. The story never ends. It probably needs to end sooner than later for everybody involved. So why do you think Rutherford did it? He's got a history of doing it. When he wants to get a message out, he gets his message out, he got his message out.

And the message was that these two guys don't get along. We've tried, we've had meetings, we've sat them down, nothing's working. I might not get a good return. Like the scariest part of that interview Mike was when he said I might not get a second-line centre back. Look, the Miller return is not going to be good. The Pedersen return is going to be better because he's younger and he scored close to 200 points in his last two seasons and people are still going to think he

is the next Reinhardt or Eichel that gets traded and goes and wins a cup elsewhere and does really well What's Reinhardt done since he left Buffalo is 50 goals 50 goals won a cup. Eichel top 10 scoring this year He's won a cup. That's the fear with Pedersen. That's the fear is if you trade that guy He's going to do what Reinhardt and Eichel are doing elsewhere And but he warned everybody about the return on Miller the Miller, he's going to do what Reinhardt and Eichel are doing elsewhere. But he warned everybody about the return on Miller. The Miller return is not going to be

good. I'll get into that in a bit. But I think he was telling everybody that, look, guys, the return might not be good. We're not going to get the quality of the player back that we are sending out of town. But it's a great question, Mike, and I think the only guy that can answer that question

is Rutherford, but he has done stories like, hey, look, go back, and he did it on your station, go back to when he ripped Boudreau about no structure. What did he do? He used a media outlet to get his voice. What was the point there? Well, the point was to tell Boudreau that, guess what? The structure of the team isn't

good. He used your radio station. Well, he used the newspaper guy to get his message out. That's what teams do. And he got his message out, but it's a great question. I think the only person that knows that answer is Rutherford. Elliot Friedman just tweeted out the salary cap estimates for the next three seasons and boy, is the cap going to go up a lot. So it's currently at 88. Next season, 95.5.

Season after that, 104. Wow. And the season after that, 113.5. Sweet. After all these years of the flat cap, now the salary gap is like hyperinflated. It's like, you know, you're going to be able to 113.5. Sweet. After all these years of the flat cap, now the salary gap is like hyperinflation. What's your initial reaction to that? And does it include, oh my god, what

is Quinn Hughes going to get paid when he's an unreserved free agent? Well, it's great news for the Canucks if when Hughes contracts up, they'll have the flexibility to sign him and give him whatever he wants 13 14 or whatever it could be higher look what this guy you do you see you stopping like i don't he's on pace for 100 points do you see him stopping he is showing no signs of stopping his production so that means that the money goes up this is interesting numbers because i'll tell you uh lankin's agent was

waiting for the numbers he'll have a a better idea about what Kevin Lankton is going to get. This is great. It's great for those agents who got UFAs. I talked to a lot of agents. I'm so happy for the agents. That's the one I'm most happy for. Yes, Ruff, Ruff, listen to me. I just hope Milstein is happy. Who the hell do you think signs these guys?

It's the agents. They need the cap to go up to the cap. I'm telling you, I'm happy for them. Signed players. Anyways, the agents are going to love this. Especially the guys that got UFAs this July 1st as well. But listen, I do know a lot of agents who are waiting for the cap numbers and this is great for hockey in general. They lag behind other pro leagues in salaries. You know, it's disgusting that there's baseball players and NFL players and NBA players making $45, $50,

$55 million a year in hockey. You know, if you get to $13 million, it's a big deal. Well, look at the other sports. This is good. This is good for the players. You know, making the NHL is not easy. It's a damn hard hard thing to do and when you're as skillful as some of the NHL guys are sure you should be making more money and good for them this is great for them. So this is going to affect I think the Canucks thinking when it comes to obviously Lankenen, Besser as well I'll get into Besser in a bit here but it's good news for all the players for sure, Jason. Have you got anything on the trade status of JT Miller and Elias Pedersen? Yeah, I just want to say this.

Look, both are still in play. Teams are being told both are available. Canucks are taking calls on both players. If the offers were better, a deal would have been done by now, especially with Miller. Does the Canucks ask need to come down? Teams are trying to get Miller cheap. Teams want Vancouver to take a bad contract on Miller.

Carolina was pushing a cock-kicking the Emmy on, oh my God, I said it. Anyway, they were pushing that guy for Miller. The Devils would probably try and move a guy like Andre Pallat to Vancouver. Six million per year, three more years left. Canucks would want Mercer, but they're not moving Mercer from Miller. Something called, I said this yesterday, something Colorado's poking around Miller. Two years ago, Vancouver and Avalanche, they talked about Miller, New Hook and Byrom was supposed to come to Vancouver. I don't know what happened at the end of that deal. I wouldn't be surprised if Miller would go to Colorado, although he has made it clear he wants a team in the Eastern USA,

but sometimes you got to change to make things move quicker. Maybe the Miller camp is saying, look, we can't handcuff the Canucks and just say Eastern USA, and maybe we got to open up some more avenues to make this trade happen. The Canucks could have some offers on I'm guessing the Canucks could have some offers on Miller that make them think. A third team may be required to move Miller because the salary and the term left. Now, Patterson you'll get you a better return but the risk is higher. We talked about Eichel and Reinhardt.

The fact that Pederson told the Canucks a couple of weeks ago, I want to stay and they're still shopping them is very telling to me. Columbus, I've been saying for a while, they've got the cap space, they got the young players and the draft pick capital to get a deal done for Pederson. Local kid, Kent Johnson, sitting right there, he's a center. People would be very surprised if the Canucks could get Fantilly. They have a good young defenseman there in Denton-Machuk. So let's see if any Columbus scouts are in Dallas tonight. We'll keep an eye on that. Buffalo on Cousins, I will say one thing about Cousins. He's making

7.1 million. He's got 10 goals, 26 points. Is that something right now you guys would be doing cartwheels about? Like, I mean, he's not having a great year. He's got a high, high cap number and he's sitting at 10 goals. Like, I mean, his numbers are lower than Pedersen's numbers right now. So anyways, we'll see where this all goes. But definitely both guys are in play and the team has taken calls on both guys. Um, I liked how you put this in your text to me. Um, when we were prepping what we're going to talk

about, you said, Besser if we have time. Is it, doesn't that kind of like represent the whole situation? Like this is a big deal for the Canucks and this is their best winger. Yep. And we're kind of like, yeah, if we have time to talk about Brock Besser, who might get traded at

the deadline or walk away for nothing in free agency, or, you know, you got a big decision about whether or not you want to commit to. What are you hearing about Brock Besser? Because this story has been backburnered, but it's, it's big enough that it doesn't deserve to be there. It shouldn't be, you nailed it. Brock Besser should never be a side story in this city.

He has been here nine years, 10th all time goal score, model teammate, great on and off the ice. Have you ever, have you ever heard of a negative story about Besser? Like, have you ever heard he did something off the ice or on the ice or nothing? This guy has been nothing but a model uh just a model teammate, model draft pick. You wish all your draft picks were like Brock Besser but we have to ask is he gone? Five weeks

to the deadline, very quiet on contract front. When I ask about contract talks, all I get is zip, nothing, zero, nothing. All the energy right now is on Miller and Pettersen. Teams are calling on Besser. Carolina is not done. I wonder about them. Would Besser be on their radar? 40 goals last year. He's one behind Dubruss.

He would be ahead of Dubruss if he didn't miss seven games because of a concussion. It's not looking good though. I always say one phone call changes everything. This guy led this team in goals last year in the regular season in the playoffs. Nothing from the team in the summer. Nothing. And now you're taking this down to the trade deadline. Is there not a belief in the player? So Miller was signed in, what was it August or September? I can't remember of his UFA year, right? Why are we going down to the deadline? Do you not believe in the guy skating?

Why are we there? Why are we at five weeks for a guy who led your team in goals last year in the regular season of playoffs and should be leading them this year? Rick, could it be this, could it be this that they have to figure out what they're doing with Miller and Pedersen before they figure out what to do with Brock Besser?

Well, hold it a second. Miller and Pedersen only popped up as six, seven weeks ago. That's when they said, we got to move one of these guys. But up till six, seven weeks ago, they had ample time to get this done with Besser early in the season. You know, he started out strong and then he got the concussion. I always feel like the respect level is in there for this. I agree with you. For whatever reason. I agree with you on that.

For what, what does he have to do? 47 goals last year. Like what does a guy have to do for the team to say, Hey, you let our team in goals with 47, I'm counting the playoffs in the regular season, but we're going to take it right to the deadline. We're going to, we're five weeks away.

And you know what? I think Vancouver has to brace themselves for Brock Besser leaving. I know one phone call can change. They could still do a long-term deal if it's, if it's, if it's doable. But, um, but here's the other dynamic that nobody's thinking about. Will the owner let the Canucks trade better if they're in the playoff mix? Like, so you know for better,

your team that is gonna go to the things that are going deep in the playoffs is the team that's gonna get better. So you're gonna get prospects in a pick. But if you're in the playoffs, do you move them? Like, is the owner gonna, the owner's probably thinking of playoff gates, do you move them? Like is the owner going to, the owner is probably thinking of playoff gates. And do you move them if you're in the second or first wild card spot?

It's a good question, Rick. There are a lot of questions out there about this, this Canucks team. Um, again, I think it's going to be real interesting to see what kind of, uh, reception this team gets from the fans on Sunday at Rogers Arena when they host the Detroit Red Wings, but also if there are going to be any testy moments, media player interactions when the Canucks get back, because if I was on the Canucks, I wouldn't

want to face the media, but man, there are some big questions that a lot of us have for this team right now. Just a warning, buckle up. The next five weeks in Vancouver are going to be incredible. Patterson, Miller, Besser might have to make a decision on Lankton. By the way, quickly, the Lindgren-Golie contract 3.5 to 4 in Washington that might get done here, keep an eye on that one. goalie uh... contract three point five before in washington that might get down here

uh... keep an eye on that one that might be the connects comparable for lincoln uh... you know i was told this morning keep an eye uh... because i don't think they can get a mother for uh... but keep an eye on that lincoln and or sorry the lingering contract washington today that might be the contract the contracts wrote lincoln and if they can't they're far apart enough at the trade deadline, what do you do there as well? So it's just gonna be for me,

fascinating next five weeks. Rick, thanks for this buddy. Appreciate it. Enjoy the weekend. Last thing, you guys were ripping me Wednesday. What the hell's going on? You know, I tell everybody I love you guys and you guys making fun of me.

Come on, we weren't ripping you. See that is perfect me. Oh, come on. We weren't See that is perfect. It's just dead on and Peter North movie well, you know what come on Peter North yeah Peter North. Hey, he's a Canadian by the way. Did you know that didn't know that I asked now I asked him to not say a lot of Peter North in the 80s. He was big in the 80s. Probably still is now. Thanks, Rick. Appreciate it, buddy.

Rick Dollywell here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Oscar winner, I believe. Multiple. Multiple award winner. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.