Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 1/9/26

Episode Date: January 9, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss yesterday's 'Nucks road loss to the Red Wings, plus they 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.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Dan, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-na. You're listening to Halford and Brough. He gets it now. Yeah, I mean, it's frustrating to lose. You know, it's never a good feeling. This is the worst day of my life. Chalmers!

Vancouver's 601 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Halford and his Brough and is Sports Night 650. We are coming live from the Kintech Studios in beautiful things. Bairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adon, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well.

Hello, hello. Halford and Brought for 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. This is them online at sands dash 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 in 1170, pal. Street in Vancouver.

We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio, Meg, 226, your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech custom orthotics. We've got a big show ahead on a Friday. The guest list today is the Do-It Morning Drive, brought to you by the Doick Auto Group, and it begins at 6.30. Nick Shook from NFL.com is going to join the program. It's Wild Card Weekend, everybody. We'll run through all six games this weekend, beginning the Rams and Panthers,

on Saturday afternoon, taking you all the way through. to Monday night football and the Texans and the Steelers. Our big NFL preview with Nick Shook goes at 6.30 this morning. 7 o'clock AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway is going to join the program. A reminder to ask us anything Friday. $100 gift card to AJ's pizza for the best ask us anything. Dunbar Lumber text line is 650, 650. Hashtag it, AUA, and put a pizza emoji into your text.

You could win a $100 gift card to AJ's. 7.30. Sam McKee is going to join the program. He, of course, from Real Kipperenborn, Leifes Talk on Fan 590. Canucks play the Leafs tomorrow in Toronto. Leifes have won six of their last eight. Sam's going to join us at 7.30 to preview tomorrow's game. At 8 o'clock, Rick Dollywall is going to join the program.

Now, normally, I turn this over to resident show handler Jason Brough, but I actually have the Dollywall info today. Dollywall texted. I can't DM Brough. Something is wrong. with my DM. Give him my cell if he wants any additional info. Tomorrow we will

talk about the game. Kiefer Sherwood update, trades, and Coots Trade. I have some interesting info. Rick has all of our phone numbers. Including our, the dogs. All of them. All of ours. It's an amazing thing. We've always just communicated

on DM. It's incredible. I did not know this. For some reason, I don't know. I think Elon Musk didn't like all the conversations Rick and I were having, so he just shut us down. He was like, the spelling is even too much for me, Elon Musk. We're doing a giveaway today. As a free speech advocate, there are limits.

Please stop talking. It's too much. Whatever this is, it's not speech. It's too much. We are doing a giveaway today also. It is day two of our Chris Stapleton, all-American road show tour ticket giveaway. We're giving away a pair of tickets to see this individual.

I'm not familiar with his music. This summer, July 22nd, 2026 at Rogers Arena. If you're caller number 5 at 8 a.m. This morning, you'll win a pair of tickets to see Chris Stapleton's All-American Roadshow. 604-280-650. That number again, 604-280-0-650. Caller number 5 at 8 a.m. tickets to see Chris Stapleton this summer.

That's the program. There's a lot involved in it, but we got a lot to get to. So without further ado, Laddie, 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 was.

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies, investing tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.com.

The big news yesterday in the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 loss in Detroit to the Red Wings was Patrick Cain. We'll start by congratulating Patrick Kane, scoring twice in the game, including one into an empty net, and scoring his 500th career NHL goal in the process as the Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 at Little Caesar's Arena on Thursday. Shall we play the call? Shall we give Patrick Kane, his flowers, just the fifth American player ever, in my opinion. The fifth American player to score 500 goals in the National Hockey League. Here's what it sounded like last night, fittingly, I guess. given his years of torture of the Vancouver Cadax.

Patrick Cain, goal number 500 and a 5-1 win for the Red Wings. Every guy in a red jersey on the ice, you're trying to get him the park. Look at that way, there's Key. Patrick Cain, showtime, 500. I remember when Patrick Cain was a young man, stiffing cab drivers and potentially assaulting them. It's been a long time since then,

and now he scored 500 NHL goals. Congratulations to Patrick Cain. was probably one of the lone takeaways from the game last night. Yeah. Well, I was prepping the show last night, and I realized that from a Canucks perspective, and we are a Canucks show, there was absolutely nothing interesting to discuss. The game happened. The Canucks weren't terrible, but they weren't great either.

They ended up losing 5-1, but it was closer than the score indicated. It wasn't a bad game in terms of flow and entertainment. It was over fairly quickly. but it wasn't memorable in the sense that what a terrific game that was. Jake DeBress scored on the power play. Yep. You know, he does that.

Wasn't an ugly goal. Wasn't a beauty. The Canucks didn't get enough from Leah's Pedersen, Brock Besser, or a van der Kaine at five on five. Have we talked about that before? Probably.

Lankinen was fine, not spectacular. The Canucks have 39 games left in the regular season. Uh-huh. Like that's, that's, I actually, I actually to ask us anything Friday

I'll ask the listeners from a Canucks perspective so we all know Patrick Kane was the story right? Yes

And the Red Wings that was an important win for them every win is important for that team that's trying to break their playoff throughout and trying to win

the division but from a Canucks perspective what stood out for you did you think any of the young guys had a particularly good or bad

game I thought Zeeve Bouillon struggled a little bit, but not so much that you were super concerned. He was frustrated yesterday. He smashed his stick yesterday. Okay, that's interesting. That's good. Good, good. There's a stick smash. There's a stick smash. Was there

an interesting statistic from the box score? Did anyone have a particularly good or bad game from that perspective? I checked the text inbox during the post game show. I was prepping the show. I was like, well, I'll see what people are talking about. A few people were to seem mad at Elias Pedersen. We could talk about him for the bill at that time. Yep.

You know? A couple people have, as a matter of fact, right now in the Dunbar Lumber Texts. Is he controversial? Is that why? People are. Yeah. But like what, what, so what are, is anyone texting in right now about, like, what was interesting? I know this is my job to come up with interesting things to talk about the game. I'm usually. I like, I like, I can usually find something.

I'm like, I really want to talk about that. I think we could really get into that. And I think my takeaway from the game is actually there was. nothing really to talk about. Not talking about anything. Is that not... Yeah, is that not in itself something to talk about? The fact that there was nothing to talk about?

Okay, possibly, except for the fact that, as Jason astutely pointed out, there's 39 of these bad boys left, right? If you listened to Adam Foots, and God bless you, if you're hanging around for this part of the proceeding still, his end-of-game media availability, he is right now in... We just got to move on to the next one mode. And he's been like that for a while.

But right now, there's zero. How many of these left? There's zero analysis going on. Like, we, you know, the most obvious ones are we can't give up a two nothing lead. I think, you know, there are different variations of we shouldn't be this bad at hockey, but we are. And then it's, well, we got to just pack up and move on to the next one. And that is the sentiment right now is we just move on to the next one. Just move on to the next one.

Just move on to the next one. Tyler Myers and his postgame media availability, we played a bit of it in the intro. he expressed a bit of frustration. Yeah, the details. Details, I got to get back to the details. He astutely pointed out that they would like to win and not lose and that it doesn't feel good when you lose, but you got to move on to the next one.

Yeah. And that is a very appropriate yet worrisome trend, narrative, talking point, however you want to phrase it and frame it, with 39 games left in the regular season. Here, I've got another Ask Us Anything. I have one too, but we'll go with yours first. Okay. What are the Canucks selling right now?

The next one. Because they've got a bunch of games left in the regular season. What are they, are they even selling hope? The next one. Because there doesn't seem to be a lot of hope out there. So what are they selling that the fan base can get behind? Zeev Bouem? Is Zeev?

Here's, okay. Is Zeve Bouillon the main selling point right now, or is it whoever they pick first in the draft? Is he the plan? Is he the selling point? Again, this is where I struggle to understand what the Canucks are doing. And I'll add one more thing. If I owned the team,

I'd be absolutely furious at all the guys that I'm paying big bucks. I'd be itching to ship some guys out, if only to save some money. How is there no furor at his management group that put this roster together? Elias Pedersen, Marcus Pedersen, Brock Besser, that's over $20 million in combined salary. It's what? $170 million, $180 million in total commitments? The management group recommended that spending. Now, I'm sure there was some opinions from the owners on it, too.

But they recommended giving up a first round pick to get one of those guys, Marcus Pedersen. The management group was also well aware that Quinn Hughes might leave, and they still recommended that that spending take place. They were well aware that Brock Besser needed a good, well, they should have been, needed a good center to play with and that he struggled without J.T. Miller. And yet they still recommended that the Canucks extend Brock Besser. Like, I don't know. I just, if I were the owner of team, I'd be like, get some guys out of here because I'm kind of mad at them.

The closest thing that I've heard Adam Fogg come to publicly and by publicly, I mean, through the media, criticizing any of his players was actually the previous game against Buffalo where after they fell behind 2-0 and we played the audio on the show, he said that was the moment in which we were floundering and I'm paraphrasing here.

We were floundering and we needed our leadership group to step up and calm the waters and it didn't happen. This veteran group right now, which by the way, they should all be on notice. Everyone should be on notice because what's going on right now after trading away Quinn Hughes is

the sort of standard issue challenge you put to veteran guys when your captain and leader and best player goes. It's like we're going to need other guys to step up. We're going to need other guys to show the young incoming players like Liam O'Grath and Steve Boeum how to handle adversity,

how to try and win games, how to do the little things and how to, you know, play with those details that they talk about so much. And the veteran group responded by doing, none of that. They're all on the side of a milk carton, essentially, and the ones that are trying are kind of screwing out more often than not.

I like the game that Philip Hironic is having. There's a handful of exceptions. He's playing well. Hironic, I think you could say, is putting in a good honest effort and making his paycheck. But there's some other guys that, and this isn't just a regular moment, I know it feels like they're playing out the string, but the head coach is very much issuing a challenge to these guys

to step up and be leaders. Now, this is the further part of this conversation is, why on earth would you keep these guys around as culture builders or culture carriers when in the moment they are showing you that either they can't do it or they're not interested in doing it? The culture of the team right now is let's get this game over with so we can go to the next one. And then when that one starts, let's get that game over with so we can go to the next one. And then when that game is over with it's let's get on the plane and go back home so we can play another game. game and get that one over. And then eventually the season will be over and we can go golfing or

something. They could hang a banner right now. The Vancouver Canucks. Let's get this over with. Because that's what the rest of the season has in store. And if that's the case, and you've issued a challenge for some of these veteran guys to maybe not necessarily make that the case, it's failed spectacularly. So yeah, they should be, I mean, someone texted yesterday about Connor Garland, how they miss Connor Garland, dragging people into the fight and challenging and working hard. I'm like, he brings all those attributes for sure. I don't even think that he can pull this collective group out of its whatever this is,

a funk or malaise or whatever. Or lack of talent, too, and maybe they recognize it. And I think a lot of these guys, whether they like it or not, or whether they're no trade clause, can keep them from getting it or not, could probably use a change of scenery. I think everything about this group could use a change of scenery. Of course, you go back to the problem of, well, first of all,

the no-move clauses. but also do these guys have a market? Does Brock Besser have a market right now? I think he should because I really do think that Brock in the right situation is a good player and can be valuable as a complementary player. I think he is. Now would I be a little concerned that he's nearing 30

and he's never been the fastest guy and he's got a few years left on quite a few years left on his deal? Yeah, I would be concerned. That would be the thing. you know, Pedersen's got a massive contract. And I would be concerned about taking that on with some of the things that have happened here in Vancouver. If you're trying to, if you're thinking about acquiring a player with that contract and then you're like, let's see what's happened in the last couple of years in Vancouver.

And you had the riff with J.T. Miller. And you can say, even if you excuse that and you go, well, that, we all know J.T. That was J.T's fault. So that was JT's fault, right? Okay, so that's in your mind. What about the criticisms from his own team, the management group, the coaching staff, that he wasn't putting the amount of work in that he needed to? What about all the times they asked him to step up and be a leader,

and he didn't seem interested in that? Is that a guy we want to add to the team? Yeah, you want to keep that around for sure. Just give it another chance. Next time. Next time, it might be different. In our team, he'll thrive. Now, I think I want to pivot off the Canucks here, while we've got a few minutes left in the opening segment.

There are some tire fires right now, non-Connucks division, that are raging throughout the National Hockey League. Last night, a few of them were on display. And in particular, in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, there are fires and tires burning everywhere. So I'm going to start by reading the statement that the Ottawa senators released Thursday, evening in which they categorically denied online rumors regarding goalie Linus Allmark and his ongoing, this is still active, personal leave of absence. This is from General Manager and President Steve Stales. Quote, our organization was completely disappointed to read the completely fabricated and false

stories that are spreading around social media about our hockey club. Linus is away from the team for personal reasons and he has the entire organization. organization's support. We are disgusted that outside forces are attempting to disrupt our hockey club. This statement will put an end to the ridiculous speculation that is spread online. Did he post that on truth social? He did not. It's, it's, it's, it had that sound to it.

Did an official NHL franchise actually used the word trolls and their press release? In this instance, yeah, I, I, I edited it for brevity, but there was some allusions to trolls and sickos and everything else. No, they actually said trolls. I'm aware. That's what I just said. I edited it for brevity. I didn't read that part on it.

So what's the exact line, the trolls line? I don't have it in front of me. Oh, okay. Let me find. Okay. It's amazing. I couldn't believe when I read it. I was like a parody account at first when I saw that thing.

I was like, this isn't a real press release. Is it? Oh, my God. That's the new style of press releases, though. Yeah. It's just like internet comment style. Internet comment style press releases. How do you combat internet comments by becoming the internet

comments. So the interesting thing here. The interesting thing is how dumb that was to release that statement because I had heard none of those rumors. And the first thing that I did, because I'm a human being, was, huh, what are the rumors? And then I easily searched them. I found them. And I was like, huh, that's interesting. I'm not going to share them. But like, I would imagine that thousands upon thousands of people did the exact same thing possibly tens of thousands this is the exact line this is the actual line for the press release okay we ask that people respect his privacy but clearly that request was not heard by the lowest forms of trolls and sick people who scour the internet can you read the last sentence of the line read read read the last sentence of the stadium of the statement this statement will put an end to the ridiculous speculation that is spread online I don't think it will. Narrator, it did not.

It made it works. So as this is going on... I'm blown away, this is a real press release. Well, no, they have a history of fighting the internet with the internet. The Scales don't have a guy next to him, like, should we edit this maybe? Can we change it a little bit? Can we not send this out? Has anyone heard of the Streisand effect?

But he has a guy beside him saying, go send it. And that guy is the owner, Michael And Lauer, because he does not like this either. You'll remember last year, the Ottawa senators also combated online rumors about Brady Kachuk and his apparent infatuation from the New York Rangers. The New York Rangers allegedly, and again, reportedly on the internet, were interested in acquiring Brady Kachuk. And they fired out a statement saying that these online rumors were harmful and accused the Rangers of soft tampering. Right. So this isn't the first time that the senators have gone this route. Now, the more difficult thing here is that with the Kachuk thing,

you could say what the rumors were publicly, right? You could say, well, the rumors are that the New York Rangers are actively interested in trying to acquire Brady Kachuk. In this instance, journalistic ethics and quite frankly, probably legal reasons, we can't say what the rumors are, but everyone's interested in finding them now. So while I don't encourage you to go to social media platforms and look for them, they are very easy to find.

and I will leave it at that. Also, the senators lost 8-2 last night. In a related story, they had to play both goalies last night, Merlin and Mad Mads Sogard. Didn't they do the double switch too? Yes, and then they signed James Reimer to a PTO because that will solve all of the problems. They intend to sign them to a regular deal too.

Oh, yeah, they're just waiting. He has to clear waivers. It's a new backup for Allmark apparently. They don't expect Linus Allmark to be back anytime soon. I guess, hey, what's going on with him? Yeah. Do you have a timeline on this? Let me do some quick Googling.

The senators have requested to please not look this up online. Oh, man. One of the ask us anythings that we had in the hopper was, hey, when is an NHL coach going to be fired? Well, Sheldon Keefe stepped to the table. You might be next. Sheldon Keefe, who we talked about a couple days ago. As a matter of fact, I think it was yesterday after the 9-0 loss that the devil suffered to the Islanders. Sheldon Keefe was feeling the heat for leaving Jacob Markstrom-in-net for all nine of those goals.

Well, the Devils did not respond to whatever message Sheldon Keefe was sending because last night they lost another uninspired for one game to the Pittsburgh Penguins. And after the game, Sheldon Keefe was asked about his job security. We got the clip right here. Here is under fire and potentially soon to be fired head coach Sheldon Keefe talking about his job security. Sheldon, are you concerned about your job security if these struggles continue? That's out of my hands. It's not in my control.

Like I said, I liked a lot about our game here. I know what this team needs. I'm got to get them going, but I'm also well aware of the reality of the business and how it works. But I'm going to focus on getting our team ready for the next game and keep building here. To me, this is, we can use this as an organization

as a great opportunity to take great steps. in the big picture. Because we've got a lot of things that we need to get better at. Like, you know, and when we lose focus on that and we get ahead of ourselves, these kind of things happen. We got work to do to become a real hockey team. I think there's a perception that we were a real hockey team before the work was put in. And you get exposed.

And that's to me where we're at. We got to keep on building our game. And you see lots of elements out there. It's closer than you think. Some of those pucks fall on the first period. Some of these chances, we win this hockey game here today. But that's where we're at right now. And we're going to keep working it.

And I'm going to keep working on it. Part of coaching is you've got to deal with crisis and challenges. These kind of things excite me. I believe I can be part of the solution here. and I'm going to keep doing my job to find the answers. So one day when I get fired, probably in the middle of a show, I'm going to start up the Mike Alfred PR firm. And one of my things is when someone asks you,

as a hockey coach about your job security, you should not say the words, we've got work to do to become a real hockey team. If you want to keep your job, if you want to keep that job, you should not highlight the fact that you are not real hockey team while you're in charge of the hockey team. I know what he was trying to say. Yeah. And God bless him for trying it. That was a minute and a half of uninterrupted off the dome,

like just spitting bars. Never been a fan. Never been a fan of Keith. No. The quote was, we've got work to do to become a real hockey team. There was a perception that we are a real hockey team before we put the work in. Can you imagine having him, if you're a player on the team and he's talking like that in the room. Like, what? I'm pretty sure it was real tonight, buddy. They've been outscored 16 to 2 in their last three games. That's very real.

It's just his tone. It's kind of elementary schoolish. A little bit. A little bit. Elementary school teacher. He's saying we still have a lot to work on. Last I checked, we're in almost mid-January now. Who's in charge of making sure that everyone's on the right path? That's Sheldon Keith. Oh, jeez. I probably should have said that.

It is nice to watch the day. devil's fan base implode though because they didn't get Quinn Hughes. It was very funny to watch. They're turning on both Hughes brothers, right? Like, if you read the social media comments, they're like,

get Jack out of here too. Are all three of them going to end up in Minnesota? Is Bill Garron? I mean, that would be very funny. That would be a very funny resolution to this whole thing, like who could have thought at the beginning of the year. And all three Hughes brothers

would be playing for a different hockey team. And then they suck in Minnesota. That's what I want. Can't get out of the first round. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. If you had to put odds or percentage or any sort of number

on it, what would you put on Adam Foote being back as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks next year? How low 0%? Zero. Zero. Really? Okay, 1%. Zero. Zero seems low. I'll give you one. I'll give you one. One percent seems low. No, you can't, why would they bring them back? I mean, unless they want to take it. Same reason they hired them this year. Well, if they really...

Are they thinking Quinn Hughes is going to come back? Don't fall into that. Don't fall into that conspiracy. There's some people that are coping so hard that they're like, if we hire a bad coach, then we'll get a pick. That is a form of tank. This is a stealth tank by the man.

This is the greatest conspiracy theory, by the way. That it was a stealth tank by management. I'm with it. Because management wasn't allowed to rebuild. So they hired a tank commander that would just make sure that they did tank for the draft pick. I'm like, are you crazy? I think it's pretty, I mean, I'm with it. I think it's possible.

40 chess, man. 40 chess. The Canucks are barely playing checkers. How is the? They're barely playing checkers. Back to my original Ask Us Anything. How's the draft selection for next year? I don't know.

I'm not a prospect sky, but if it's a strong draft selection again, maybe they bring them back. But if it's a less strong selection, then you bring in Manny. Back to my original, Ask Us Anything. Right now, the Canucks are playing at a what? I think Bick put it as like a 4.3420 winters.

They'll change the coach and you know why. It's something to sell. Well, this goes back to, I'm sorry, I was cutting audio, so I couldn't respond to what you were saying, but this goes back to what you just. Oh, darn. I missed A-Dog's thoughts. But no, what you were saying, and it was a good point, I'll compliment you slightly, that if Aquilini did a presser, I would hope somebody would ask, based on what you were saying, what are you selling, especially the season ticket holders for next season?

What are you selling for next season? I mean, if he says to be competitive, then I would follow with, how are you going to do that? Right. Are you crazy? That's the second one. Well, yeah. But firstly, I would say like. I am not crazy.

I would say that if he's saying we're selling hope, Then I would say, then what is that hope? And the simplest thing, yeah, is obviously change coaches. But is that really a selling point? Like, do people care that much? People care about it this year? Would that make season ticket holders excited to come to the rake next year, our new coach? People want to believe in the team.

That is the one advantage that every sports team that has passionate fans will always have. The people want to believe something. Then if you were the owner, why would you not sell the hope? Why would you not, as opposed to say, we're going to be competitive and go for a playoff spot next? year, why would you not say we are selling hope for the future? I'm confused at their direction. Like, that seems like the easier thing to do, selling hope for the future as opposed to saying, we're going to go for a playoff spot again next year because everyone knows

that's not going to happen. You know what I'm saying, though? Yes. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I would just love somebody to ask that question because I want to know what he's thinking. We all would, buddy. So back to my original question, which is the likelihood or percentage, because they

were running it down yesterday. 5%. He's going to end up. And some of the extrapolated work on where the Canucks are going to finish this year, like you're going to get your wish, I think, is that they're going to be, unless something dramatic changes, which I don't see happening, they're going to struggle to get to 70 points at this point. They're going to be a bottom, five, bottom three possibly team in the NHL. He's going to have a worse record and worse points percentage than the Willie year.

And I think the way the Canucks are playing right now, like they looked maybe for a couple weeks like they had finished or worked some things out in their own end and defensively. And then the last few games, it's, you know, it's like Tyler Myers says, it's the details. They're just running around in their own end. There are guys that aren't getting picked up defensively and it does not look like everyone is on the same page. And frankly, it doesn't look like everyone's all that engaged to go out there and play. Juan from Comox, ask us anything. I was lucky enough to get one ticket to a Canada World Cup match. Have you ever gone to a sporting event or concert by yourself, or would you consider it?

Yep, I've been to a sporting event by myself. When I was, my sister used to work in New York, and I went down to visit her once, and I went to see the Jays and the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, and it was fine. It was good. I sat there by myself, and I watched the game, and quietly cheered for the Jays. And I don't know, just do it. it. Like you can't be scared to do things by yourself. You're a big boy now. You're an adult

or a big girl. You know, like you can go. Better way to say that. You can go out there and do things by yourself. No one is going to be sitting there going, look at that, look at that guy. It's by himself. It probably means he has no friends. I ate a meal of food by myself finally for the first time ever. This is crazy that in your, in your, you took it until your 40s for you to go out and have a meal by yourself.

Some would celebrate that I did. it as opposed to focusing on the fact that I hadn't. Okay, well, congratulations. It's like congratulating someone that learned to ride a bike in their 40s. That's not true. No, I'm very confused by this. Why did it take you so long to go out? He's just so popular.

He's always had someone to go with. You didn't want to be alone with your own thoughts or something? Casting aspersions of the guy. No, I mean, I just, what's wrong with eating at me by yourself? There was something wrong with it. No, but clearly there was something wrong with it because that's... Rampant insecurity. Rampant insecurity.

Rampant insecurity. The fear of wondering what everyone else is thinking about. No, I don't know. I just never did it. And I did it. It was fine. That's wild. It's amazing.

It's amazing to have a meal by yourself. You know what? It really turned. It really turned my mind onto it was Joe Flacco talking about it. Joe Flacco provided a lot of great moments this year. But the one where he talked about, just the nice tranquility and sanctity. You know the best place to do, to do like a solo meal? A restaurant?

No. Oh. Hotel bar. Hotel bar. Yeah. Because then you don't have, I mean, you're rampant insecurity. You're like, well, I'm on a business trip. You know, like I, what do you want me to do?

I can't bring my family on a business trip. I'm just here at a hotel having a drink. Our next guest is a presentation of Basant Motors. It's none other than Intrepid Canucks reporter from Donnie and Dolly on Czech TV. Rick Dollywald joins us now on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Ricky D? Gentlemen, happy to be here with you for the first time in 2026. Very excited to be speaking with you as well, Rick.

Happy 2026. Hey, Rick, do you have any thoughts from the game last night? My take about the game was that there was nothing interesting to discuss from a Canucks perspective from that game. Yeah, you know what, at the end of the day, you know what's funny is what's happening off the ice is more interesting, isn't it? with these guys and what's happening on the ice. Look, all for two on the six-game road trip so far. They wake up this morning in 31st place. They're nine points out of the playoffs.

They've lost five straight. So I'm sitting there and I'm watching the game just like you last night and I'm kind of thinking, you know, a couple of weeks ago, you're thinking if they got on a heater, they can get back in the playoff race. Sort of like what Buffalo did. Didn't Buffalo in 10 straight? After beating the Rangers last night, Buffalo's now won 12 but 13. But this group in Vancouver, I don't think has the capabilities to do what Buffalo is doing right now.

And making up nine points in a league that has tons of parity and teams going overtime every single night. It's awfully tough to do. And look at the blue line last night, Jason, two 20-year-olds, 1-21-year-old. These kids are learning on the fly on a bad hockey club. There's going to be growing pains. You know, people talk about defensive breakdowns all the time. Well, three of your six defensemen, they're two or 20-year-olds, one's a 21-year-old. There's going to be growing pains, but that's going to pay off in the long run for those three defensemen.

You know, as long as they keep learning, they keep getting better. In the meantime, what's happening with them off-ice is more interesting. I have to admit to you, what direction is this team going, rebuild or not? Are you signing 30-year-old UFAs? How many veterans can they offload? will anyone waive their no move? You know, they're going to get a high draft pick this summer. What's the plan?

Is there clarity in the plan? The on ice product isn't great. And as you mentioned, it's tough to watch these games. But the off-ice stuff right now is front and the center, whether anybody wants to admit it or not. Well, let's go there then. Do we have a key for sure what update? We're going to have to be patient on this one.

We're being patient. We're being patient. I know, but I think, and anything can change. They can make a trade in two minutes. We can only tell you what we know right now. The connects of a price, they're telling teams we're going to stick with it, wait to see who pays it. They would have got a first rounder by now, don't you think they would have taken a yes? Teams aren't obviously ready to give them a first for sure what.

A second rounder isn't going to do it right now. It might be that case in a few weeks. But the player keeps doing his part. Sherwood leads the team in scoring, hits, power play, penalty killing, plays hard, skates hard, six shots against Buffalo four last night. Every night he's leading the team in shots. But a team is going to have to give more for Sherwood if there's a contract extension attached in the trade as opposed to a no contract extension attached in a deal.

That's a big thing, right? You want that first? Well, then give me Sherwood on a four or five-year deal. it kind of helps that situation move along quickly. Now, the Canucks tried, the contract route with Sherwood last week, offered four to five years around $4 million. They offered three times three, three years, $3 million in the summer to Sherwood. This is the Canucks recognition that this player is worth keeping.

But those numbers are light when it comes to getting the deal done in Vancouver. Will they still try and sign Sherwood? With this management team, anything's possible. Did you think they were going to sign Besser after letting them hit July 1st? I didn't think so. I thought he was gone. DeVorak, five years, five million. Keep an eye on those numbers.

That's something that Sherwood could get on the open market if it goes really well for him this year. One thing also to keep in mind, and when it comes to Sherwood, not a lot of teams have their UFA players on the market like Vancouver does. Take a look at Bobby McCann in Toronto, right? UFA forward. If Toronto can't sign him,

and he becomes available, he's going to hurt Sherwood's market. Almost same age, almost same salary, almost same stats, bigger at 6-2-200 pounds, right? The dangers of the Canucks waiting too long is that other UFA players of Sherwood's ilk are going to enter the market down the road. They're not there right now. Sherwood's the shiny toy for everybody in the league because there's not much competition in terms of guys like him available. So that's why so many teams are after Sherwood right now,

but other UFAs will change that in due time when they hit the market. Parity is stopping teams from moving UFAs right now, but it won't be like that forever. And the Canucks will eventually have a crowded market for Sherwood if they wait too long. So Halferr and I were having a discussion earlier in the show, and he said, oh, yeah, they'll be able to trade a Vanderkane. And I said, oh, I don't know.

So what do you think? Is there a market for Van der Kaine? That one could be tough. One team told me have fun moving them. Okay, you got the contract, you got the production isn't great, you got the age, injuries, you didn't play in the regular season last year, no trade. He's got trade protection, sorry. A couple of people told me the Canucks tried to peddle him back to Edmonton. I haven't confirmed that. What?

What? Why wouldn't you if you're desperate, like Jason? But why wouldn't you? Oh my God. So when did, Jason, why are you shocked to surprise? Yeah, but why are you shocked to surprise? I'm not shocked. I'm just laughing.

I'm just laughing. I know, I know. Like, I'm not shocked. Just tired. Jason, when did the memo go out? Many, many weeks ago, right? They've had ample opportunity to trade them. But my Edmonton source told me that ship is sailed for the Oilers.

That ship has sailed. Like, I have no issues with the Canucks calling Edmonton and saying, you want to take them back? They're trying to unload the guy. Now, I'm not saying the cane trade won't happen, but it might be a whole lot tougher than people realize, and then watch them trade them this afternoon for chuckles. But look at the, the other thing with you is, you know,

a lot of these guys have trade protection and no moves. It's not easy. It's not easy. And Kane's not an easy guy to move. You know, I just mentioned productions down. You know, he's got a contract that, you know, lot of teams can't put on the books, you know? They can't put on the books right now. I'll tell you something else. One team told me they're not interested in Vancouver players right now

because the only players available in Vancouver are wingers and that team is really strong on the wings. So you've got to keep, there's a lot of factors, right? Jason, it's just not like everybody line up and take your Vancouver players. It doesn't work like that. You know, it just doesn't work like that. Hey, let me talk about this Friedman story this morning. that the hurricanes are trying to trade this Yisbury Cot-C-Chani-Miami guy. Listen, the Canucks, I know, I know I tried. That was good. It sounded like something and then cotton candy.

It's pretty good. Cotton candy. Can I just call him cotton candy? Can I just call him cotton candy? Listen, the Canucks have been linked to this player since 2022. The hurricanes at some point have tried to move him to Vancouver since 2022. If that Patterson Nettches deal would have gone through, caught kicking the Emmy, he would have been a part of that one as well.

I was told this morning to check into the Canucks' interest in this player available again. He's a center. He's only 25 years old. He's a healthy scratch yesterday. I know, but let me finish. Never produced like a third overall pick. By the way, in his draft year, Connucks loved him. But that was Lyndon and Benning.

He's played, if you can believe this, Jason almost, I think he's played a round. He's young, but he got in the league at 18, right? So that's what happens. Your games go up. He does have cost-controlled term on his deal. When you look at the Canucks Center-Ex position, you got Pedersen-Rossey term. Then there's a big drop-off. There's a big drop-off after Petters and Arasi.

We don't know Heald's history with injuries. Coutts is two or three years away. So, you know, again, when the Canucks took the Oilers, to seven games, they were so strong up the middle of the ice, it wasn't even funny. Patterson, Miller, Lindholm, and Bluger. They're just one of the weakest teams

in the league at center right now. And look at Wenberg and Dvorak getting paid this week. Did you see what Rick Tocket said about centers? This week, centers are gold. Teams are re-signing their centers. They're not letting them go. They're not trading them or letting in the hit.

Look at last year. Canucks wanted Duchain out of Dallas real bad. What did Dallas do? They re-sign them. To get centers on July 1st is a really, really hard thing to do. It's really hard. Teams that have centers are not getting rid of them. They are resigning them.

I mean, that is just the situation, and it's a tough time to be looking for centermen in the National Hockey League, bottom line. Well, let's talk about it. Speaking of centers, and you mentioned Bluger, do you, have you heard anything on what the outlook is there? because he was named the Latvian Olympic team two days ago. Yeah, the fact he's on this road trip, Mike, tells you he's close. He has been, like I've been told,

it has just been like hell and back. Like, he gets hurt in Washington. He thinks he's coming back. He's at practice. There's obviously a setback. I was told the setback was at practice. And then he's had to fight back. Look, in a perfect world,

the Canucks need to get Belugur healthy, Beluga playing, and move him at the deadline. There is going to be a team. There's going to be a team that's going to want Bluger for the playoffs for a center depth. You know, I mean, he's a great bottom six guy for a playoff team. Absolutely. So the goal should be for the Canucks.

Get that guy healthy. Get him, showcase him, move him at the deadline if they can. But I've been told that that guy's been through a lot. Like, I mean, he had the setback that really pushed. I had people tell me it's an injury, then I had pushback on that, and it's somewhere in the legs. I don't know. But so I just think that guy's had, him and Forbert have that a year to forget, right?

Really, really a year to forget. It's both those guys have just zero luck with injuries this year, zero. Tell us about the trade that happened in the W.HL. With Braden Coots. Well, I'll tell you this. I had some Western Hockey League sources say to me, the Coots asked for a trade. I'm not sure that was the case.

I looked into it. I think what took place is this. I think there was an honest conversation with Seattle and Coots representatives, really respectful conversation, where both sides acknowledged that Coots is not going to be back in Seattle next year. Seattle understood that.

Both sides saw the benefits to moving on. Seattle would get a great haul back, and they did. They got eight pieces. Coots would have a shot at winning for the first time in the Western Hockey League. He's got a shot at winning it all. And this kid's a winner.

He wants to win. No animosity at all whatsoever I'm been told with Coots and Seattle and that and the way they parted. I was told that half the teams in the Western Hockey League called Seattle on Coots, some just to check the price to see if they could be a player. The price was expensive from day one. Seattle told teams on day one, this is going to cost you. And boy, did it ever. Vancouver Giants checked in.

checked in. His hometown Edmonton Oil Kings were right there at the end, you know, right there at the end before Prince Albert paid the hefty price medicine out was there at Colonna, obviously Memorial Cup hose, everybody took some looks. The landscape in junior hockey guys is

changing. You are seeing younger guys, 17, 18 year olds being traded, which was never the case before. It's because Western Hockey League teams don't know if these kids are going to go pro or the NCAA. Next, Next year, NHL teams could be allowed one 19-year-old in the American League. If that's the case, Kootz could very well end up in Abbottes for next year.

Before you knew that in junior hockey, you had guys for three, four, five years, that's not the case anymore. If a team isn't winning, these kids are asking out at 17. A Western Hockey League source told me junior teams are now targeting kids with loyalty and commitment. They're looking for the right mix of talent and character. look at Spokane. They sent the kid to Vancouver, who could be a top ten pick in the NHL draft this year.

When is the last time that happened? Why is this happening? Kids want to win now. They want to go pro quicker, and they want to go to the NCAA. It has put the Western Hockey League teams in a very, very top spot. It's what happened at the Western Hockey League deadline

this week was an eye-opener. There is no way any NACD, as teams should be trading a top 10 pick that's going in the NHL draft this year and this NCAA thing has played a part in it and now if you're allowed a 19 year old in the American League

the Western Hockey League is going to get hit there next year as well. If you had to bet, where is Kutz next season? Right there. If this thing goes through if this thing goes through in 19 year olds or

one 19 year old allowed Kutz I think he's got what it takes to play in Abbisbury next year. But time will tell. I did have a scout tell me that Coots is a couple of years away still because that physical maturity. And if you see what's happening with Jonathan LaCarramaki right now, and when you're not the big guy, 6-4-220, you know, and you're not super big, that physical maturity takes time.

And by the way, I got an update on you guys for LaCheromacki. Yeah, what is happening with Jonathan LaCarramaki right now? So he's missed six games, but he skated Monday, skated yesterday, he's getting close. I would not be surprised if he plays this weekend. Look, I was told me the injury there too. I had a little pushback on that.

Look, here's the deal with La Caramackey. If the Canucks do what we think they're going to do and move a lot of wingers before the deadline, there's going to be spots opening up for La Caramackie, right? There's going to be spots in Vancouver because if wingers are moving, he's going to have a spot. But he's got to get going too, right? Like, if you can't make the Canucks when they're 31st in the NHL standings,

when's this kid going to make it, right? I can't use the age. Oh, well, he's only 21. Well, the Vancouver Canucks have two 20-year-old defensemen playing in their lineup every night, you know, and Z. Boom's doing a good job, and so is Willander. If those guys can play at 20, and defense is a tougher position for a young defenseman in the NHL, they're pulling it off, right? I think LeCarramacki's got to get healthy, he's got to get going.

He's got to play the way that absolutely play the way both sides without the puck with the puck that the Canucks want him to play. He's down there for a reason because his game needs to be worked on. And the Sedeen twins, you know, get some time with him. And let's see if he can get back to Vancouver by the end of the year and start making a difference. Because one thing Lakeramaki is shown us is that he can score at the American Hockey League level. He just hasn't translated.

did that goal scoring to the NHL level yet. How disappointed are they with how things have gone in Abbotsford this year? Is it more of a shrug of the shoulders because so much of it is health-related? Don't blame Abbotsford one second. Half their hockey clubs in Vancouver, the other half's injured. Like they've had injuries just as much as Vancouver. If you guys had to go down to Abbotspur and deal with what many Mulholtra has dealt with this year, I don't think anyone would say anything bad about Abbisford.

I have no qualms about what is happening down there. have been hit. They did not expect six, seven guys from their lineup to be in Vancouver every night. That's one. American hockey league teams are not built to have six, seven other guys in the NHL. They're built to have one, two, three. And then the injuries, look at this

past weekend. They had seven of their top ten goal scores out with injuries, right? La Caramacky's out. You know, one guy had the flu bug the Reichel. He was back the other night. But you know what? I do not blame Abbisford for their record. I don't blame anything. You can't go

from American Hockey League champs to crap the next year with the same staff. The same staff that did a great job to win them the Calder Cup. They're doing a great job this year. They just have not had any luck with injuries, and they lost a lot of guys, too. It's not like Abbisper came back with the – Mike – Abbisford didn't come back with the exact same team. No. They let a lot of guys go, too.

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