Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 1/7/26

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk the latest hockey news with Victory+ NHL insider Frank Seravalli, plus they discuss yesterday's Canucks road loss to the Sabres with analyst Randip Janda. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. But time runs out. And the Buffalo Sabres win their 11th in their last 12. These go to 11. We were coming, and they were sitting back. It happens. Ouka Peckalookin and picked a peck of pickled peppers.

How many pecks of pickled peppers did Oka-Pekalookin didn't pick? A team that might have given up on you, Trevor, and you come in here, you've pot to in that first period. How good did that feel? F***in amazing. F***ing amazing. Oh, yeah. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a day, Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody.

It is Halford. It is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintech 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 Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour 1 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 Kintex, Studio Meg, 2026, your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech, custom orthotics. We've got a lot to get into on the program today. We begin with the Duick Morning Drive, brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. That's our guest list rundown and news for the day. Guestless today begins at 630.

David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, SportsNet, NHL host. We'll join the program. 10 games in the NHL last night, including the Canucks 5-3 loss in Buffalo. Five games tonight, including the Wednesday night. Scotia Bank double header on Sportsnet, Calgary, Montreal and an all-Canadian matchup. Battle of California later on between San Jose and L.A. David's going to join us to talk about all that at 6.30. 7 o'clock, Frank Sarvalley is going to join the program, our NHL insider from Victory Plus.

We'll ask about the latest news, notes and trade rumblings from around the NHL with Frank at 7. 8 o'clock Randy Jand is going to join the program. Canucks color analyst right here on Sportsnet 650, as mentioned. Canucks open their six-game roadie with a 5-3 loss in Buffalo last night. We'll break it all down with Randeep at 8 a.m. We have a concert announcement right now, live on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Chris Stapleton and the All-American Road Show. I don't know if the name of that tour is going to dear him to many Canadians,

but the Chris Stapleton All-American Road Show. Stephen Miller's opening for him. The Stephen Miller Wow, what a lineup. What's he doing? They're coming through July 22nd, 2026. The tour opens in Greenland. It's going to be a Rogers Arena.

Tickets are on sale Friday, January 16th, but we're giving away tickets to the annexation. Tomorrow, Friday, and Mondays. The All-American Road Show rolls through Rogers Arena later this summer. Chris Stapleton. Concert announcement right here. on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. Running through the guestless in reverse,

Randy Janda at 8, Frank Cerr Valley at 7, David Amber at 630. That's what's happening on the program today. Greg, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I'm moving. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Miss that? You miss 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.ca.ca. Vancouver Canucks lost in Buffalo last night. It was a goal and an assist from Alex Tuck. Jake DeBraske, Julius Pedersen, and Liam Ogren scored for the Canucks, who have now lost four straight and six of their last seven. So, Halford, do you remember earlier in the season the Canucks play in their own end was either clueless or lazy? or, well, it was just bad. It was bad.

And then, I don't know, there was a stretch of five or six games where it looked like they were actually figuring things out in their own end and they kept the shot totals down and they weren't running around and they actually picked up their men and that sort of thing. Yeah, we were back to the early season stuff yesterday. Not a good start for the Canucks who lost a bunch of races to the.

The puck on a foray led by Josh Dohn, and as a result, surrendered an early goal to Tage Thompson. Now, the Canucks did get a couple power plays after that, but their first power play featured a bunch of shots, but no goals. And their second produced a problem, a goal against when Kiefer Sherwood had a puck get by him and the Sabre scored on a two-on-one. The Canucks finished the first with 14 shots, but no goals. The Sabres scored twice on their nine shots on Thatcher Demko. In the second, more bad defensive zone coverage, although it was a nice passing play between Bowen Byram and Alex Tuck that made it 3-0, and that left the Canucks in a big hole with only half the game gone.

The hole got deeper in the third when Zach Metza scored his first NHL goal at the tender age of 27. Good for Zach Metsa. Bad for Evander Cain who let Metsa walk right by him to get the shot. A couple other guys on that shift. Didn't look too good defensively. It was 4-0 and surely this one was over. Surely!

At least I'll call me Shirley. But the Canucks finally got on the board halfway through the third after Tage Thompson got a double minor for high-sticking Jake DeBrusk who got his revenge by scoring on the resulting power play. It was a classic DeBrusk power play goal where he showed off his quick hands in front of the net. It was DeBresk's 11th goal of the season, second most on the team behind Sherwood's 17.

Hey, are they going to trade Sherwood soon? Has that been discussed at all? This nonsense about potentially resigning him. It needs to stop. Anyway, Elias Pedersen joined DeBrusk with 11 goals. With about five minutes left, that's when Pedersen spun and ripped a shot high past Ukepeka-Lukinen.

Nice. Less than a minute later, it was Liam Ogrin attacking the net from the left side, and hey, what do you know? The Canucks had made it a one goal game. It was at that point that Sabres coach, Lindy Ruff, wisely called the timeout and told his guys, pull it together. We've got to keep our composure out there. And you know what?

Alfred, they did pull it together. They sure did. The Canucks pulled Demco. Elias Pedersen turned it over and Josh Dohn found the empty net from about, I don't I don't know, 190 feet away, 200 feet away. For the Sabres, it was their 11th win in 12 games, with two of those wins coming over Vancouver. For the Canucks, it was their fourth straight loss

with five games to go on this six-game road trip. Next up are the Red Wings on Thursday. A couple of notes from the game, Brock Besser was having another tough night until I guess he earned a couple of late assists, but he still finished minus three, and he still hasn't scored a goal. since November 28th.

That's no goals in 17 games now. None in 17 and... Bessers lost. Yeah. Bessers lost. It's been a pretty tough go for Thatcher Demko lately as well. He allowed four goals

on just 19 shots. Some of them the defensive play in front of him was bad, but he's now surrendered at least four goals in four of his last five starts. All of those starts were losses, so he's lost five in a row. The line of Pedersen with DeBrusk and Carlson, yeah, they failed to match their strong performance

from Saturday against Boston. In fact, Pedersen was out there with Kane and Besser for the third, so I guess Foot already went back to the drawing board there. P.O. Joseph drew back into the lineup, and he will probably draw right back out in Detroit. He was not good. D.P.D. was the scratch that gave Joseph the spot. And finally, a very quiet night for Nils Holglander,

who is still looking for his first. point of the season. He's played, I think, eight or nine games. He is just not a very useful hockey player right now. But at least for him, he's making a nice salary because he got that extension about a year and a half ago. I do want to play some audio from last night's post game media availability, specifically a quote from Jake Debrusk, followed by a quote from his head coach, Adam Foote. There may be a disconnect, folks. There may be a disconnect between the players and the coach on occasion. And maybe, maybe I'm reading too much into this, but we'll play what Debrusk had to say first, followed by his head coach.

Here's Jake DeBrusk saying that the Canucks, we're ready to play and we're ready to start last night in Buffalo. Jake, I'm sure that's not the final score you wanted to see in the first game of this road trip, but would you see from your team out there tonight? Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously we knew how Buffalo is one of the highest teams, if not in the league. And, you know, we weren't ready to play. That's on us.

And, you know, Denver kept us in it. And I like the fight that we had in the third period. But in saying that, you know, there's a fine line between winning and losing. And, you know, little plays at the beginning of the game, we'll play as the end of the game. Can make the difference. Okay, so Jake DeBress said they weren't ready to play the game, suggesting that they weren't ready to start.

And I would agree with that assessment because on the first goal, again, I mentioned it, like Josh Stone flips the puck in, easily wins the race to the puck that he flipped in, got behind the defense, and then, you know, Tatee Thompson is not all alone in front of the net, but he managed to get a puck right in the slot. and made it 1-0. So that's, in my mind, when it's a couple of minutes in, in my mind, that's not a good start.

And that's not ready to play. Why weren't they ready? Let's ask the head coach and see what he has to say about how the Kinect started the game. We started okay. And then when the two went in, I'd like to see us calm down a little bit. I'd like to see our leadership group grab that a little quicker rather than let it linger like it did. And, you know, usually we're better about that. but we'll talk about that.

What leadership group is he talking about? Who are the leaders on this team? Because I thought they- Tyler Myers. So Tyler Myers are going to calm it down? Tyler is looking around the room like Will Smith, an empty room. I'd like to see our leadership group.

It was like they're gone. Is there on anymore? Are you talking about fate over there? What are you talking about? No, but what are they doing before the games? Why aren't you ready to start? What's going on? What are you doing?

I don't think anyone's really in charge. Like, foot's the head coach. He's got the designation. He wears the suit. Yeah, you're professional athletes. Yeah. And then, well, and then Jake DeBrusk has become at times a healthy scratch. So a guy who's underperforming and also like the de facto spokesperson because he seems to talk more than anybody else.

And part of it is because he'll go up there and say the things that you're supposed to say. I mean, this is no disrespect to DeBusk, but DeBusk often sounds like a guy who. says the things he thinks a responsible NHL leader is supposed to say without actually being that guy. All due respect to him, they're not counting on him to do anything other than score on a power play at this point. Because of his 11 goals that you mentioned, 10 are on the man advantage.

Yeah. So he's a very one-dimensional player at this point to suggest that he's the one that's going to pull this team up by the bootstraps and either say something to get them ready or go out and make that difference. It's kind of comical because he's not that guy. Now, the phrase... Guys, let's go get him.

Try and draw penalty. The phrase he's not that guy could apply to so many players on this team right now. Like, you watch them go out and you can tell that it's a group of individuals that aren't really sure

who's the alpha, aren't really sure who's the leader, and also are kind of waiting for shoes to drop still. You really get that vibe with this team. They're not horrible. They're not nine nothing to the islanders,

which is we can talk about the devils. That was horrible. last night but they're also not good they're a team that's in transition and waiting for something to happen and just kind of playing like it did they claw their way back into the game last night yep do they deserve some credit for getting back into it yeah no i don't think so well they deserve some could have been four the game could have ended four nothing instead it ended five three yeah right i think buffalo was just like yeah whatever the case yeah does it make a big difference in the end no Well, because at the end of it, it was still a loss on the board,

and this team is still kind of rudderless when it comes to what are you doing out there? What's the end game? I still have no real idea what the end game is for this season. Get a good pick. Although the coach was just talking about the playoffs recently. You know what I mean? But get a good pick. These are all the disconnect things that I'm talking about.

Yeah. Right? The disconnect between players and coach, the disconnect between message, The idea that you're going to restock and rebuild and all of a sudden you might try and expedite that and do it in a hybrid fashion. It just seems like it's a very, very identity-less team. Well, I tell you, if they plan on coming back

and trying to be competitive next season, I don't know how that works. I don't know unless, you know, if they're counting on Pedersen and Rossi and He, Heal down the middle and those guys stay healthy and Pedersen ups his game even more than he has this season and gets back even closer to the player he used to be. The goalies stay healthy, you know, the young defensemen come along. I still don't see it.

I don't see it. That conversation sounds like- How are they counting on Heedle to play more than like 10 games next season? Like, did they really think he's going to stay healthy? That conversation you just had to yourself, that little internal monologue was external. that sounds exactly like what we did prior to this season where it was well if this goes right and that goes right and this goes right we can talk ourselves into this

although your heart was never in it in the preseason either and you can tell right now that was game 41 last night by the way right that was the midway point of the season I think it was 42 game 42 there's still a lot of them to go there's the first game of the second half of the season right game 42 that's right

the first game of the rest of your life the rest of our lives You know, three-putt chain texted in, isn't Foot the leader. When this year is all said and done, I do think there's going to be a really interesting look back in what Adam Foote did and how he went about this season. Because I have to give him credit for being as unflinchingly positive and optimistic in the face of everything else that he's been like, I've looked around at some of the other teams

that are languishing near the bottom of the standings. I looked at comments that Andrew Burnett's made in Nashville at times this year crazy man why doesn't he come out and rip the team I've looked at comments that they were down 4-0 halfway through the game I looked at comments how do you not rip the team I looked at comments that Scott Arneill has made throughout the year because the Winnipeg Jets have lost 10th straight and they're dead last in the national hockey league right now I don't recall unless I missed it either of those coaches talking about being near the playoff chase talking about how they're always right in it and you know last night when a

player is suggesting that your start isn't good and Foote's saying that the issue wasn't the start but it was how you responded to being two nothing down. There's a disconnect there. I think part of this part of this is self survival for him is that if he is going to get a job somewhere else, it might

be on the strength of being a guy that players like because I do think the players like Adam Foote. Who knows what's going on behind the scenes? He's even hinted that the things that he says to the media are very different than the things that he says behind the scenes. Maybe he's just one of those guys

that came up as a player and said I never really appreciated it when the coach went out and ripped the team to the media and maybe there's a bit of a disdain for the media that he's not going to give the good stuff to the media. I think the players do appreciate that though. Yeah, I think so too. And I think

that curry's favor with players. I think so too. Yeah. I understand what you're saying about not liking the media part of it, but I also think there's an element of it that I'll rip you behind closed doors, but if we have an understanding that I'm not going to throw your name out there to reporters, players will appreciate that. Especially after, I think, Talket,

he didn't so much rip the players, but he gave a pretty honest assessment. Like, how many times do we hear you've got to move your feet, Peter? Oh, sure. Right? Yep. You know, and maybe, I don't know,

maybe they felt that, you know, we're going to do something different this season and they are really sticking to it. Here's a question for you. Okay. Are you happy for the Sabres and their fans. And should we, the Halford & Brough show,

should we adopt the sad club, our sad club brethren in Buffalo as our team, or is that just too risky? Like, back in 2011, I had a bit of a regular season affair with the Boston Bruins. And I never thought it would come to what it was, but I remember our old show,

what was probably on it, like three in the morning or whatever. Pretty close. And I'd be like, you know what team I really like? I like the Bruins. I like the way they play. And Luchich was on that team, right? And we liked Luchich at that time.

Sure. There wasn't all the water under the bridge. Things changed. And yeah, things changed a little bit. But is there any risk in that? Like, what if Buffalo gets so red hot that, well, they're not going to win the cup, though, right? Like, I don't want to be the only sad club team.

Okay, so I like, but I mean, it would be very funny. I like Buffalo's company. Now, I want to read this early what we learned. Okay. From Tyler the Pepper guy. And he text in and he said, the best thing for the Canucks would be for Buffalo to win the Stanley Cup, would change the rebuild narrative fast. That's a great point. That's a really good point.

and not even they don't even have to win the Stanley Cup I think just make the playoffs with the talent that they've assembled mostly through the draft and then you go well wait a minute actually you know like Buffalo that example that you would always bring up as how rebuilds don't work

they're doing all right right now it is a good point by the Pepper guy I think I think we can get on board and I'll work in reverse verse on the logic here. But I think ultimately we can get on board. When I, when you first pose this question, I thought, I don't have any great affinity or feeling towards the actual group of players that currently make up the Buffalo Sabres. I don't know. No. No. Right. And then I

thought about it. I'm like, there's no real sentimental story among the players that's super hard done by. Like the longest serving guy that they have is Ross Ms. Dahlene. He's 25 years old now. He's played over 500 NHL games. So he has gone through some pretty tough times. But I would not consider him. I just think about the fan base. I don't think about the players. I think about the fan base.

And them being finally given something to, you know, wrap their arms around. I think that this year being the end of this awful, awful playoff drought, 14 plus seasons, which is so tough to do in the National Hockey League. Every now and again, a bad team backs their way in and gets one appearance. And the bills win the Super Bowl. Right. Could you imagine? the city of Buffalo

it would be amazing I think I'm ready Unless they beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl Yeah then we got to screw them But until then You know what That's how it comes back

To bite me I cheer for a Buffalo team And then the bills beat The Seahawks in the Super Bowl But to focus on the same For a second I think I'm willing To get on board

And adopt them as the team For the sole purpose of It's worth it to see them Break this playoff drought It is painful When you think about it Like there are bad teams in the National Football League that have gone in very long time without making the playoffs. The New York Jets are one of them, for example.

But this streak in Buffalo, it's almost, it's hard to believe. It's almost unfathomable that they haven't one year just kind of lucked their way into 93 points in the second wild card with all the talent that they've had and all the first round picks and all the regime changes. He thought something would have clicked. So I think it's worth it for one year. Can you imagine that arena? in their first playoff game, whether it's this year or 10 years from now? It'd be great. Yeah.

So are we adopting them? Yes, we are. I'm willing to take the risk. Okay. I regret it already. All right. Come on, Sabers. They are definitely losing 12 in a row now.

I don't think there's a risk, though. I don't think there is a risk. You don't think there's a risk in betting on the Buffalo Sabres? No. I think, no, I'm saying like there's no risk. Like the outcome, like if the Sabres were to have a really successful year or go deep into the playoffs or even win a cup someday and the Canucks were the last side. club team. That would be very funny.

So there's no downside. It would also be sad, but that's kind of appropriate with the sad club. The sad club eventually has to get down to one saddest year. I don't think it would be I don't think it would be that bad. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Frank Serr Alley on Sportsnet 650. Frank, you follow the Flyers situation closer than us. It seems to me that there's a segment of the Flyers fan base that is pretty happy with what's going on this season. They're in a playoff position. Trevor Zegris has been successful. They're winning hockey games, but there also seems to be, and I don't know what percentage of fan base this is, that still

doesn't love the direction of the team. They didn't like the Rick Tockett hire. They don't like his style of hockey. They don't like, for example, how Mitchcoff has been handled at times. What's your take on the Flyers market right now and some of the opinions going out there? And what is your opinion? It's pretty divided, as you mentioned. There's some part of the

fan base that's just clinging to and dying for some relevancy, meaning like they're thrilled that their team is in the mix. And then there's the other part that I think sees a little bit of the bigger picture, part of which I have spoken to

at times this season. Like, they work hard. They compete. Zegris has been eye-opening. Dan Vlodar has been unquestionably one of the great free agent signings. Christian Dvorak has been fine, but then they sort of dip their toe into the other end of the pool with, okay, like, we like what Dvorak has done this season, but five years, really? Like, that's too long.

And so it's been this weird dichotomy, and the Mischoff is like the ultimate third rail discussion point because they're bothered by the fact that this is a guy who's really struggled of late. His ice time and deployment has been diminished. He came to camp out of shape. There's been some immaturity clearly on display for a guy who just turned 21. And so this is coming fits and starts.

And that part, I think, has been frustrating. I think where I come out on it is it really and this actually kind of comes back to Vancouver too because there's a more holistic discussion to be had here is the goal to like to have a fun competitive year where the games are entertaining and exciting and if that's the goal then like the flyers have accomplished that and the Canucks at varying points like could accomplish that

and have done that or is the goal goal to compete and build to win a Stanley Cup. And is everything else just details? I don't know what the right answer to that is because I don't buy tickets and I'm not a fan and I don't consume the game in that way. But I tend to lean toward really what you're shooting for here is to win a Stanley Cup. and each year that you sort of dither in this middle where you're just happy to be in the playoff mix it takes you one year further away from ultimately trying to compete

and that's the part that I struggle with with the flyers like is this year exciting yes but Trevor Zegris and Matt Veit Meechkov are wingers Jet Luchenko is trending toward being a third line center if he's even a center at all in the NHL Dan Vladar has been a great story but probably by all likelihood isn't a franchise goalie

and Travis Sanheim is a Canadian Olympian but I don't Is he a number one defenseman in the NHL? No, no, no. So you don't have the franchise goalie, you don't have the number one defenseman and you don't have anything close to resembling

a number one center which is why you just signed Christian Dvorak to a five-year deal are the flyers really any closer to competing and is this season just window dressing or do you just sit back and enjoy the ride? I don't know how to answer that. Yeah, I think it probably just depends on the type of fan that you are. Some fans just want to watch their team

and hopefully they win a game and others do take more of a big picture. I mean, in Vancouver it's kind of existential. We just want to see the team win the Stanley Cup once. I want to... Any answer is, okay, by the way. No, no, no, no, for sure.

Those same questions all apply, just switch the jersey and talk about the Canucks. Well, let's talk about the Canucks a little bit here, because I think it was actually your appearance with Sat, where they asked about Elias Pedersen and whether any teams could be in on him, and when we were talking about that, we threw out a team, and that is the Los Angeles King. who are going to lose Anzay Kopitar at the end of this season. He's not going to play in the NHL anymore. And we wondered, could L.A. be a potential landing spot for Elias Pedersen?

So that's my question to you. And I guess the follow would be, if it's not, Elias Pedersen, what are they planning to do to replace Anzay Kopitar? Yeah, that's a great question. As the Kings are kind of more than some other teams in terms of posture, are really more slanted toward trying to win now, which is interesting because they're on the back end of what I think you could fairly call a failed rebuild.

I mean, they tried to tear it down a little bit, got high draft picks, and tried to take this methodical approach, but they really missed out on, it's not the development part which I think has been fine it's been the scouting part that they didn't nail and perhaps maybe timing it plays a big role in this like it's great to have high-end picks

but if the draft crop isn't that good that's one of the pitfalls or risks of the rebuild and you can go back and chart and find the places that the king's missed on but as they're passing this torch Philip DeNoe is gone. Quentin Byfield is a really intriguing player with his size, but seems to kind of be topping out at that 50 to 55 point range. And so you're looking for who's that next piece down the middle. And so I think what we've had here in the last couple weeks as we've gotten on the back of the holidays, specifically with regards to Pedersen, is just look at the deal signed. I mentioned Dvorak. but also Alex Wendberg. Yeah.

And Wendberg's a guy who had one point in time, 59-point season. Christian Dvorak, these are like 40-point players, and they're signing for 5.15 and 6 million a year. All of a sudden, you turn around to Pedersen, who has a 40-goal, 100-point season on his resume, and although he hasn't looked anything close to that of late, and there's certainly risk in that contract, though like comparing six to 11.6 doesn't really feel like that big of a gulf given how big the talent disparity is.

And so I do think that in my conversations with teams that they have, I believe, open their eyes to, hey, maybe this isn't as tough of a contract as the market would present. And what opportunities do we have to try and find someone who could potentially be, a difference maker, even if they're not right now. I mean, is there anything coming down the pipe, either in the trade market or upcoming free agency in terms of centers? Nick Schmaltz is going to make a lot of money. That's the only, I've heard his name so much.

I'm like, I can't, he must be it, right? I can't think that there's anybody else out there. I mean, that's why I think these guys are seeing paydays incoming. I mean, here's the rundown of pending. UFA centers. Malkin, Charlie Coil, and that's Malkin if he wants to continue playing, and who knows if it's outside of Pittsburgh.

Right, 39-year-old. J-G., yeah, J-G. Peugeot, Scott Lawton, Jason Dickinson, Adam Henry, Kevin Hayes, and Eric Holla. Right. Well, that says it all right there. I think we're speaking to Frank Serra Valley from Victory Plus here on the Halford and Breff Show

on SportsNet 650. Before we let you go, I just wanted to end on the New Jersey Devil's situation. I think it's pretty critical. They've reached a critical point here now after the 9-0-0-0 lost to the Islanders last night. So without looking too far back, I kind of wanted to look forward.

How dire is the situation there? What do you think is going to happen next in New Jersey? That's anyone's guess. I mean, there's a lot of traction on social media with Devils fans that are on fire looking for a management change for a front office that has backed itself into a few corners here. on one hand, you know, trading and acquiring players on difficult contracts that are not difference makers.

Like, Timo Meyer has again, they gave up a ton to get him, and he's turned out to basically be a 23 to 25 goal score. And Dougie Hamilton spending $9.5 million a year on the back end, like those two guys contractually really prevented this team from, going after Quinn Hughes. And so that part looms large and then spin it forward. I don't really think Sheldon Keefe is at fault here, but when you leave your goaltender in for nine consecutive goals, even at the point where he appeared to be skating toward the bench and had to turn back to his crease because even he thought he was being yanked,

it's created a really unpleasant situation for a team that is floundering. and looking for answers that don't appear to be readily available. To the phone lines we go. Randy Jandah, presentation of bells and whistles joins us now on the Halford and Breff Show on SportsNet 650. Good morning, Randy. How are you? Good morning, gentlemen. That's an ambitious take. I like it, Mike. It wasn't borne out of positivity or optimism. I just felt like this is probably when it's going to happen.

I feel at some point this year, because the NHL is so average, all these teams, whether they're at the top of the standings or the bottom of the standings are going to go on some kind of run. This is such a mid-road trip for the Canucks? Like the opponents are not great. Everyone's mid. Right. The opponents are not great.

We've seen other teams. I think Nashville's gone on a run this year. The only thing that really hasn't is the Winnipeg Jets, although they had one earlier in the year. So yeah, maybe now, but it didn't start great last night, did it ran deep? No, it didn't. And Buffalo is a good home team. Detroit's a good home team.

And Toronto is too. I won't get into Montreal. they're more of a 500 home team but in the first three games all of these teams like Vancouver is a good road team all of these teams can play well and take care of home ice so I don't know I know they're battling for playoff spots

I know some of these teams are out of it but you know that also gives them a reason to play hard on certain nights they've got something to play for so yes in theory they're mid but they've got they've got you know they've got skin in the game right the issues

for the Canucks defensively last night it seemed like a lot of games early in the season where they were either losing races to pucks or just generally confused or maybe even a little sleepy in their own end. Yeah, I look at yesterday's game and I think there's one thing that stood out to me, especially 40 minutes through the game, was just the amount of battles that were lost. You look at that game and it felt like Buffalo was first. to Pucks. It felt like every 50-50 battle, especially in that second period, was won by the

Buffalo Sabres. And I will give Buffalo credit because they are not the same team we saw in early December in Vancouver. They're playing a much more confidence. I think there's elements of a real relentless and connected team, which is something that wasn't the case at the beginning of last month. But I think that at the same time, when we say that guys, you have to look at Vancouver in the way that they didn't play and to me you know for 40 minutes you need to be first to fucks you need to get there you need to battle you need to win those battles and for Vancouver they went able to do that and later on in the plays uh yeah there's there's just a number of breakdowns and you can have fantastic goaltending and you know your goaltender can potentially steal your games

but that's not going to happen every night and i look at that you know three nothing goal by alex tuck which is a great pass by bow and byrum but the van Vancouver Canucks sliced through the middle of the ice. They were chasing on that play. Didn't protect the middle. The 4-0 goal by Metsa, another play where they lose the middle of the ice. You know, that's the Vander Cain, just losing his guy and not following him through the middle of the slot. And even that Tage Thompson goal, I know it's a great shot by, you know, one of the best shooters in the NHL.

But, you know, that's another play where he's got a look right from the middle of the ice. So, yeah, defensively, not a night you can look back and say, hey, that was a strict. wrong effort. And to me, it came down to good fight back in maybe the final 10 minutes of the game, but you fall down, you know, four zip to a team and you lose the middle of the ice like that. It's going to be tough to win on any given

night when you're doing that. Hey, we spend a lot of time talking about Elias Pedersen. What about Elias Pedersen, who was a healthy scratch yesterday? P.O. Joseph came in and I joked earlier in the show. He'll probably be coming right back out in Detroit because he wasn't very good. But I'd rather

focus on Elias Pedersen. Where is his game right now? Yeah, he, you know, there's some volatility in his game, which you would expect as a young defenseman. I think there's just, you know, he's an individual, obviously 21 years of age where it feels like certain times, you know, he gets a little, I wouldn't say antsy, but like, you know, there's, is he maybe, you know,

pressing too hard in certain moments? Is he making the right decisions, you know, when you're talking about diving in certain elements, you can lose the middle of the ice as well. Those are things that are going to come with experience. Nobody's going to say a 20-year-old defenseman or a 21-year-old defenseman is a finished product. Now, here's the challenge.

Halfway through the season, when you are still a team that is full of veterans, when you are still, you know, as a coach, trying to win games because you have these veterans in your lineup, you're going to try to occasionally have the young guy, have a reset. I have no problem with resets. think you just give at this point of the season young players ice time when maybe they're not the most confident and Elias played 10 minutes against the Boston Bruins that was down from

the 15 to 16 minutes he usually played so clearly you know not the most confident in that game but I think as the season goes on as it becomes clear and eventually as veterans are moved off you have to get him time you have to live with the mistakes you have to see how he grows but teaching is a part of this guys where you know you do have to take that reset but you know P.O. Joseph didn't play a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination. He had veterans making mistakes as well. So to me you know as this goes I understand with any coach you want to say hey

we want to pull you out and show you what you did wrong because your development matters here and we want to make sure that we're able to reset but at the same time I think he needs to get his minute. So as the season goes here yeah his game's not perfect you got to You've got to clean it up a little bit, but I'd like to see them on the ice more often than not. There's no doubt about that. Forgive me if I've asked you this question already before, but why is it Tom Vielander running the first unit power play and not Philopronic? What is their thinking there?

Yeah, I think with this one, you know, Philipronic is getting the points. We know he's fully capable of running power play one. I do think this is an opportunity for Tom Vlander essentially to show what you could do. You can get him a little bit more ice this way and at the same time see how he handles the situation. And I think from a power play perspective, I know yesterday is probably not the

hallmark night because early on in that game they weren't able to score and I felt like the power play really, the lack of goals dented their confidence and they fell behind. But this is another way to get him more ice time. And you know, for the last, what, three, four

games, you can see his numbers have uptick, right? He's 17 minutes, 18 minutes, 21 minutes against Boston. So, A, I like, you know, a couple of things I like about his game on the power play. I like that, you know, he's got poise on the puck. He's moving. I like the ability to stay fluid. Like the puck doesn't, he doesn't stop skating, which is a good thing.

I think obviously there's some ways to go for his shot to develop more on the power play. And, you know, that's where Horonix got a beat no doubt about that. He makes me a little bit nervous sometimes with his decisions around the blue line. Yeah, and you know what? That's going to come, I think. Yeah. And, you know, the decision, going back to your question, I think this is an experience thing, right?

Like, let's see how we can get him ice. Let's see how he does. And it's not going to be necessarily a permanent thing because you're right. You know, there will be a moment where there's going to be maybe a questionable pass or maybe not the best puck management because he's going to potentially rush some plays or he's going to take a chance that's not there.

I think this is about giving a player that's got some skill who's, you know, whose ability to go downhill, which I have, like, you know, he's able to attack down that right-hand side and at the very least show something different, but this is an experience play to me. I think Philip Roneck at some point gets back there, but just changing up that look to see what Yelander can do.

And, you know, I think there's been a mix, right? Yes, it's a little bit maybe high stress at times, but he does add a little bit of mobility. That's some defensemen, I just don't think they have the same ability to move around and make that power play fluid. So, you know, I've been kind of, I know there's some high stress moments,

but I do like certain elements that he does bring to the power play. Don't get me wrong. I think they should be telling a young player like Tom Villander, go push the limits and see what you can do. It's almost like a rookie quarterback in the NFL. Don't play too conservative. Go out there and make mistakes.

Know how far you can push things because that's the whole point of this. I really like that they're putting Vielander in this position. Why not? to me it's the one decision really that the coaching staff is making that shows that wins and losses aren't the most important thing is there anything else that you see they're doing that that's showing that it's not just about wins and losses that they're trying to develop young players I know a lot of people earlier were wondering why is it notu-ratu in the lineup every night

so it hasn't always been that way yeah and I think with the forward group What's changed, obviously, is the injuries guys. But, you know, you start looking at some of the way that this lineup has been deployed. And I think the elevation of Linus Carlson is a part of that, too. And I know Carlson is not a young player in the sense that he's a 20 or 21-year-old. But, you know, being a 25-year-old playing on that top line, some of it's obviously based on merit because he's been successful and some of those other wingers haven't. But, you know, that's another player where you're looking at saying, okay, you just sign him to a new deal for a couple of years.

let's see what he can do in an elevated role. I'd be lying if I said I thought Lee and Ms. Carlson would be playing in the top six this season. I know we've been having these discussions at the beginning of the year with Sat and Vic in the post game show. You know, we had him kind of like I had him at his ceiling at the third line.

So there is a look to, okay, what else can we bring out of this kid? Beyond that, though, like, you know, I think it goes down to the defense at this point in time because you do have some interchangeable parts there. You do have V-Lander who can, you know, you know, essentially play with a veteran on the, you know, the second pair, if you want to call that, with Marcus Patterson.

Dave William, I think as the season goes on, he's going to get more and more responsibility. But we see, you know, there's a lot of good with Buoyim, but there's a lot of youth there where you still have to see him get used to the NHL game. And, you know, so, you know, I'd like to see as this goes on, more responsibility there. But this is kind of the tricky thing for any coaching staff, right? If you have players that are of the NHL caliber, which Adam Putt has, and I know if you look at the roster, people are going to say, wait a second, what are you talking about?

They've got Maxisone playing second-line center. But there are still NHLers on this roster. They're still impending UFAs. You're going to play them. You're going to play them quite consistently. And for the young guys, especially in the Ford group further down the lineup, like I play like Atu Ra 2 or Liam Ogrin, who's been playing fantastic, They're going to get an elevated role, I would say,

closer to the trade deadline, when you get a little bit more clarity in what's happening with a VanderCain, what's happening with Kiefer-Schruitt, what's happening with a Teddy Blugher or David Camp. So, you know, we're not necessarily seeing those young guys get that same level of responsibility

outside of Vee Launder and Booiam, but I can kind of understand that. If you have a coach that is essentially directed to play who's got in the lineup, and if you've got vets, you're going to lean on those vets a little bit more. But that being said, you know, we look at Booium,

and how much he's playing. He played nearly 23 minutes last night, right? Young player getting minutes. This is a few games removed from him playing 24 minutes. So the young guys are getting their looks. It's just not happening maybe in the volume of a number of players getting it. It seems like it's William and Vlander at this point. Randy, Brock Besser did pick up a couple assists late in the game.

He actually made a nice pass to Elias Pedersen on his goal. But, you know, Brock Bester is a goal scorer, and he's not scoring goals. He's also an NHL worse now, minus 22, and I realize plus minus is a flawed stat. But sometimes it says something, right? And it says that when Brock Besser is out on the I see other team is scoring a lot more than the Vancouver Canucks are. Also, and I think this is a key stat, one power play goal for Brock Besser this season, despite a lot of time with the man advantage. what's going on with Brock?

He doesn't look engaged in these games. Yeah, Brock, what, no goals in the last 17 games? And you mentioned the two assists, which is fine, but we know Brock best there's a goal score in the NHL. He came into this league with 29 goals in his rookie year. He had 40. This is a player that when he is confident, when he is going, and really his calling card in the NHL,

is being a goal score, and he just hasn't found the opportunities. Jason, I know he had six shot attempts yesterday, three shots on goal, but how often do you notice Brock Besser in dangerous areas? I believe, you know, there was a game a couple of weeks ago, and I mentioned during the game, you know, as we were broadcasting with Batch, it was just, man, it looks like Brock could have scored four or five goals in this game. And that was a game where I remember that one because we haven't seen anything like that since. With Brock, he's just kind of been in and out of games, and you're right, plus minus is not. a stat that is, you know, maybe not the most current stat in the NHL, but it also implies that you

probably don't have the puck very much when you're on the ice. You don't, you know, you're not in the offensive zone. It means you're eating pressure. And I do feel like Brock Besser, a couple of things are going on with Brock. He hasn't been the same since the J.T. Miller trade. This is a player that needs a center of a certain quality and a certain style to play with them. And it's, you know, this was one of the questions we had before the contract was signed. what is Brock Besser

and what does he need to play next to? Is that duo there? And I think it's fair to say that duo is not there. But now that you are on this team for a long term, you have to find your B game as well. Your A game is right now lost for Brock Besser. The fact that he's not able to score on the power play is a big warning sign

because that tells you that he's not even getting his looks with the man advantage. But five on five, yeah, he's struggling, right? The dash three last night. He had a dash two a couple of nights ago against Seattle. This is a player right now offensively that he does look lost. They've tried him with Elias Patterson. They've tried him with David Camp.

They tried him with Max Sassone. But that duo just doesn't seem to be there. And I'll be honest, I don't like a line that has both Brock Besser and Evander Kane on it. To me that, you know, you might have some size on it, guys, but you don't necessarily have speed. And Sassone being on that line certainly helps. But, you know, who's going to get there on the Fortress? The Canucks forecheck was non-existent yesterday for good chunks of that game. So, Sassone, get in on the forecheck, but also back-check.

You're going to have to back-check, too. Well, exactly. And, you know, that line to me, when you have those two wingers, like, that's not a line that's going to really do either of those things very well, especially the fore-check. So, yeah, I think Brock is right now lost in the lineup. He doesn't seem to be finding any chemistry. And the problem is, when you're low in confidence five-on-five, that does trickle into the power play as well, where it looked like he had to be.

bit of an open net on that backhand when Luca Pekyllukinan was out of it and he shot the puck wide on the backhand. So yeah, it's trickling over to the power play too. We're speaking to Randy Janda here on the Alford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, after the game last night Randeeb, coach Adam Foote was talking about when the connects fell behind 2-0, he said quote, when the two went in, I'd like to see us calm

down a bit. I'd like to see our leadership group grab that a little quicker rather than let it linger like it did. When he's talking about the leadership group grabbing it a little quicker, who's he talking about? Yeah, in this lineup, I think you're looking at, you know, any time you talk about leaders, it feels like with Adam Foote, he goes towards, you want to say probably three players on the back end, right? Like Silapuronic, Tyler Myers, Marcus Pedersen are the guys. But beyond that, you know,

Elias Pedersen is a part of that. You've got players like Brock Besser that are part of that. So, you know, grabbing that game, letting it not get out of hand, I think that's essentially coming down to players that I mentioned there, the four or five guys that are able to provide

a little bit of stability, that are able to win battles in the corners, that are able to kill the cycle. That's second period, the Canucks, you know, for how long were they just kind of hemmed in their own zone? I believe the puck possession in the offensive zone was equal heading into the second period, excuse me. And, you know, Buffalo had a three-minute advantage

by the time the period was up. So that tells you, you know, you're looking to those guys that have been there for a while that have played in the NHL for some time to break those cycles, to, you know, skate with the puck, make some plays, have an important clear when you need to, so you can get a change. So, you know, those players that I mentioned,

Alias Pedersen's up there. anytime you're arguably the best player on the team and you know one of that's supposed to happen Brock Bessor is there and I look at those three defensemen I mentioned Marcus Pedersen, Philip Ronick and Tyler Myers and those are the guys that are the leaders on this team and in those moments you need them to kind of really bear down

and win their battles and that's where I think Vancouver fell short that's not to let everybody else off the hook but when he says leaders those are the names that come to mind for me I don't like a line that has both Brock Besser and Evander Kane on it. I don't like the idea of Millhouse having two spaghetti meals in one day. You're listening to The Best of Halford and Brough.