Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 2/11/25

Episode Date: February 11, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, plus they preview the 4 Nations with NHL analyst Ray Ferraro.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na From Slovenia, Luka Dostoevsky! For three! Luka, welcome to the Lakers! The status of Sidney Crosby, he was on the ice. Will he play Wednesday night? He says he will. Yeah, it's, I mean, four great teams. Four really, really high-end teams. You know, anybody can really win it. Four nations facing off. and teams you know anybody can really win it. Four nations facing off. Good morning Makeover 601 on a Tuesday happy Tuesday everybody. How many nations? Four of them. Count them. What will they be doing? They're facing off. Crosby's like line

it's four Sid, four. Four faces nationing off. And what are we doing again? Facing off. You're listening to the Alfred and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Let's go around real quick and say good morning, everybody. Good morning, Jason. Good morning. Good morning, Adog. Good morning. Good morning, laddie.

Hello, hello. Alfred and Brough for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid.

Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics working together with you in Step. So the show sounded a little different right off the hop and it's gonna be a little different today because there's no NHL, there's no Vancouver Canucks and we are gonna spend a considerable amount of time getting into the four nations face-up.

Four nations facing off. That's what they're doing, they're facing off. If you know anything about this show, it's that Jason and I have long been admirers of best on best international competition. And quite frankly, we've missed it over the last, now some say it's nine years without international competition.

I don't count 2016. I gotta go all the way back to 2014. So it's 11 years really, without best on best international competition. It's been an awfully long time. So our guests today, yes, we will get into some Canucks talk today without question, but we are going to spend a lot of time talking about the tournament that gets underway on

Wednesday when Canada first takes to the ice with this all-star team that they've got facing off against three other teams, four in total, a four nations face off, if you will. Guest list today begins at 630. Greg Wyszynski from ESPN is going to join the program. We'll ask him how upset he is that Quinn Hughes is not going to suit up for his beloved American squad. He also has a really cool big profile piece up on ESPN about Brady Kaczak who's obviously going to be featuring in this tournament for the Americans. We'll also ask him what he has in store for digital cover of the four nations

with ESPN. I believe he's doing a post game show with Arda Ocals. So Greg Wyszynski is gonna join us at 6.30. Seven o'clock and eight o'clock, the dynamic duo of Ferraro Tuesdays here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Ray is gonna join us at seven. Landon's gonna join us at eight so we can get into the Canucks with both of them.

Ray worked a bunch of games out of market over the last week so we can talk to him what he saw from a variety of teams heading into the break. I was also texting with Ray yesterday and we want to talk about some of his favorite international hockey memories. And, you know, he played for Canada a few times at the Worlds and he played, I think, at the 1989 Worlds,

and that was the one, I believe, where Alex McGilney. Defected? Defected. Oh wow, okay. Yeah, so we'll talk to him about that, and he would have played the Soviet team back in 1989. Okay, so we'll talk to Ray at seven, Landon at eight. At 8.15 this morning, we are giving away another pair of tickets to see the Rugby 7s.

Yes, the HSBC Rugby 7s. We are giving away a pair of tickets every day this week. We'll do it this morning. We're going to do it old school, via phone. Call in at 8.15 and be caller number 7 for the Rugby Sevens tickets. 604-280-0650 is the phone number. That number again, 604-280-0650. We will be giving away a pair of tickets at 815 to caller number seven for the HSBC Rugby Sevens. Coming up in just a short period of time here at BC Place. Working in reverse on the guest list,

eight o'clock it's Landon Ferraro, seven o'clock it's Ray Ferraro, and then at 6.30 it's Greg Wyshinski. That's what's happening on the guest list 8 o'clock it's Landon Ferraro 7 o'clock it's Ray Ferraro and then at 630 it's Greg Wyshinski that's what's happening on the program today laddie let's tell everybody what happened hey did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? what happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca.

Now we did mention this yesterday as the news broke on the show, but to recap everything that happened yesterday, we will begin with Team Canada's first official practice ahead of the Four Nations faceoff. And it, of course, featured a line which had Sidney Crosby and Nathan McKinnon. The Nova Scotia boys were together alongside Mark Stone. And the other big news and noteworthy thing from Canada from yesterday is that the head coach, John Cooper, would not commit to a starting goalie for this tournament. All that he would confirm is that they wouldn't have any sort of rotation.

They're gonna announce a starter, I believe today. It's expected to be Aiden Hill, but as of yesterday, John Cooper wouldn't go there, who would start in between the pipes for Canada when they get underway on Wednesday. So once he names a starter, the other two guys can what, go home or something like that? Just take a break, have an extended break. He's just gonna, obviously plans can change,

but so his plan is just to be like, okay, we're going to have one guy and that's it. Because the tournament's so short. Yeah. He said. Four games max, right? For, if you, so you play three round robin games and then hopefully.

You're in the final. You're in the final. He mentioned that having been involved in previous world championships, which is a much longer, more drawn out tournament, you do have the option to rotate goalies, change around lines, move guys in and out of the lineup and off the roster and back into the roster.

He's not going to have that luxury for this tournament. So they will announce a starter. I'm assuming today when the final sort of media prep happens, all the captains of the four teams are going to meet in Montreal with the media today. And then the coaches are going to meet as well. And they're going to come up with, I suppose, what they're going to roll out on Wednesday and

Thursday when all four teams get underway. Okay. I'm going to throw this out to you guys and the listeners, you can text into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you

or online at dunbarlumber.com. What is your excitement level for this Four Nations tournament? Did you get excited when you saw some of the line combinations for Canada yesterday, when you saw that Sidney Crosby was gonna play, so Sid and McDavid would be on a team Canada for the first time ever. Um, and I think here's, here's a key question.

How upset will you be if Canada doesn't win this tournament? Um, Halford, I'm getting more excited for it. And I had a lot of buy-in at the beginning because look, there was an obvious, Halford? I'm getting more excited for it. And I had a lot of buy-in at the beginning because, look, there was an obvious, I want this to happen vibe emanating from, I think both of us, like the Halford and Bruff show collectively. Part of it probably has to do with the fact that we've lived through some pretty great tournaments where Canada has risen to the top, I think 2010 right off the bat. And then you were fortunate enough to go to Sochi for 2014.

And while that. That was a snoozer of a tournament. I know, but it was also maybe the most dominant Canada's ever been at an international tournament. They were as close to perfect. One of them, yeah. They were as close to perfect as you could get.

So there is that to hang your hat on. Like even if it wasn't. They allowed three goals. They did. And even if, and only one game wasn't, they did. And even if, um, and only one game wasn't decided in, they won every game, but only one game wasn't decided in regulation. They were had to go to overtime for one of the prolific,

the round Robin games. So if you look at it, you said, well, even though it might've been a snoozer of a term, but there was still that, uh, Canadian dominance and Canadian excellence when it came to hockey, which is an important thing. And part of the second question is, how important is it to you for Canada to win this thing? And I mean, for me right now,

all due respect to Sweden and Finland, this to me is the playing out of the best rivalry that hasn't had room to breathe over the last nine or 10 years. And that's Canada versus US in hockey. Because right now, I don't know who's turning out better players. I don't know who the favorite is. I don't know who's turning out better players. I don't know who the favourite is.

I don't know who the better nation is, and this is a one way to decide it. So I'm very excited for that. Uh, for, for fans, I think international tournaments need emotional stakes to matter. As a Canadian, if you're not worried who wins, what's the point? It's why fans don't get particularly nervous for the world championships.

I'm sure it's a great experience to go and play in the world championships and represent your country. But I think at the end of the world's because, you know, a lot of really good players are still playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It doesn't really prove which hockey nation is on top of the world. I actually quite enjoy watching the world sometimes. Like it's a, it's a fun tournament and I think the

players really enjoyed the experience. Um, you know, in the seventies and the eighties, all that mattered was Canada winning the tournament and hopefully beating the Russians along the way in, I'm talking about best on best tournaments. Sure. And really when you think about it, the, the true best on best experience started in 1972 at the summit series, because before then there was the NHL and there was the Olympics and,

you know, the Canadians dominated the NHL, the Russians dominated the Olympics, but the best Canadian players weren't going to the Olympics and the best Russian players weren't in the NHL. So that's why it was so huge when they met in 1972 and all of a sudden Canada was like, whoa, we might not be the best at this anymore. And eventually they won that tournament and they were like, phew, well, I guess we are. Um, and you know, they had the 1972 summit series and then they decided to organize the

1976 Canada cup, but that's 76 Canada cup. Actually the Russians didn't send their best players. They were like, whatever, this is a Canadian thing. Like we're not going to get too excited about this. We're going to still dominate the Olympics. Um, and then they did start to take the Canada Cup a little more serious and 1981, this tournament doesn't really get, I'm going to do

some old man stuff here. Okay. I know there's going to be some history. Old man winter. There's going to be, there's going to be some old man stuff here, okay? So just bear with me. The 1981 Canada Cup, Canada had Gretzky, he was like 20 years old, and I think he was on a line with like Guy Lafleur and Gilbert

Perrault. And then you had a bunch of the, that was right in the midst of the New York Islanders dynasty. So you had Mike Bossy, Brian Trottier, uh, Denny Potvin was on the team. Scotty Bowman was the head coach and everyone's like, Canada is going to like dominate this tournament. Meanwhile, there was this really testy relationship between the West and the Soviet union.

Okay. Uh, like it was, it was bad. was this really testy relationship between the West and the Soviet Union. Okay. Uh, like it was, it was bad. The, the, the West had just, um, boycotted the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow. Uh, Ronald Reagan had been elected president and he talked a lot tougher game than Jimmy Carter, who's recently passed away. Um, so it was just, it was, it was different. There, there was a real tension there.

So Canada was the favourite in this tournament and they went through the round robin undefeated, including a seven three win over the Russians. So everything was good. Canada ended up losing in the final to the Russians by a score of eight to one. An embarrassment. final to the Russians by a score of eight to one. An embarrassment.

It was a shocking embarrassment. Um, I was watching some of the highlights last night on, on YouTube and Mike Lute was the goalie in there. And once it got to like five, one Canada gave up. And there was some funny quotes after the game for Mike Lute. He was like, it was more of a five

one game, not an eight one game. Um, but like that was, that was a big deal and future Canucks, Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov, absolute legends for the Soviet team. We're on that team and the goalie Vladislav Tretsek who wasn't in net for the seven three lost by the Russians to the Canadians then goes in wasn't in net for the 7-3 loss by the Russians to the Canadians, then goes in net and is incredible for the Russians.

Again, like it was a shocking and embarrassing for Canada to lose in that fashion. 8-1 at the Montreal Forum. So what that loss did was set the table for the future Canada Cups, including the one in 1987 that I remember so fondly when Canada beat the Soviets in a best of three final, Gretzky and Lemieux were together.

And there's a reason why that win, win felt so good. Not only was the hockey terrific, all the games were six, five, uh, there were crazy comebacks and blown leads and, you know, Gretzky to Lemieux was that famous play that even if you're young, you've probably seen that. Um, but it was like, it was like, okay, we got,

we got some revenge, we got some semblance for revenge, uh, and we felt good about ourselves as a hockey nation again. And this is what we've lost in the last decade when there hasn't been this true best on best hockey. We've lost the narrative arc. We've lost the embarrassing losses combined with the redemptive victories, right?

It was the same sort of thing with, um, in the nineties when the Americans won the 1996 World Cup, which was the tournament that kind of took over the Canada Cup. Two years later, the pros are going to the Olympics for the first time ever in Nagano. So this is going to be awesome. Canada is going to win Olympic gold for the

first time in a while. Ooh, Canada lost to Dominic Kashuk. They did not win. And the Czechs in the semi-finals. And that set the table, I mean, we use the phrase set the table a lot for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake, where Canada was finally able to get back on top of the hockey world. They'd gone from 1991 all the way to 2002 without winning a best on best hockey tournament.

More importantly, they'd lost two tournaments along the way. And there are a lot of people that were criticizing Canadian hockey. Canadian hockey, they're a bunch of dinosaurs. They don't know how to play the game anymore. They're not evolving with the rest of the world. And so Wayne Gretzky had this famous press

conference in 2002 after the tournament had not started all that well for Canada to refresh your memory. And this is now over 20 years ago. Canada had opened the tournament by losing to Sweden. It was five two or something like that. It was not a good, not a, not a good performance. They barely beaten Germany. They beat them by one goal, I think.

And then they tied the checks, three all. A result that left Wayne Gretzky really mad for multiple reasons. He didn't like the officiating, but more importantly, he didn't like the way that people were talking about Canada. And he felt that Canada was getting disrespected by the rest of the hockey world.

They couldn't skate with us in the third period. They should have four or five penalties, hooking, holding, tripping. We all played them in the third period. We just they talk about we're not a skating team. We can't move the puck. We have no finesse. That's crazy. We all skated him in the ground in the third period. Question of that.

There should have been four or five penalties, blatant penalties. And should have been two or three suspensions. Am I hot? Yeah, I'm hot. Because I'm tired of people taking shots at Canadian hockey. And when we do it, we're hooligans. And when Europeans do it, it's okay because they're not tough or they're not dirty. That's a crock of crap. So similar storyline in 2010, the Canadians

had been awful at the 2006 Olympics, then had all the pressure on them when they hosted the games in 2002 in Vancouver. 2002 in Salt Lake, they get it done. That was incredible. It felt so good for Canada to win that game. Felt even better, especially as someone who lived in Vancouver, uh, when Canada won in 2010.

But the key to it all, there has to be that fear of losing, that fear of losing our spot at the head of the table. And right now the Americans are a lot like the Soviets used to be for us. We think we're still the best, but we're not totally sure. Yeah.

We haven't found a way to figure it out because they haven't had best on best international competition in a long time. That's what this is really about. As we try and are we overselling? I don't know. It means a lot to us. And we've talked about it so much as a show.

And you know, it's funny because when you talk about what this means to the players and Jason just went through like the historical breakdown of it. So many of the iconic Canadian players throughout the course of history have that international moment on their resume. It's almost like if you're gonna be anointed one of the great Canadian players of all time, you're gonna have that moment on your CV, right? Crosby's got it with the golden goal in 2010.

I don't think we need to go more about what Lemieux and Gretzky have done internationally. And Gretzky actually added another chapter to his because he did it as an executive. Like a lot of people consider that speech that we played to be one of the greatest deflections in sports history where he took all the pressure off the team and put the arrows solely on him. He sounded like a real whiner halfway through it you know like you're like you're complaining a lot about it. The press was scathing towards Gretzky. It was

not like wow what a great speech. It was like, are you kidding me, Wayne? And I remember that, like people saying, like there was Wayne's last great salvo for Canadian hockey, wasn't as a player, but it was as an executive. The modern player, the modern group of players, they have not had these opportunities.

And right now what we're witnessing is the opportunity to set the stage and set the table for the Olympics in 2026, which is the one that everyone's looking forward to, but also set up that great dynamic about where does Canada rank compared to their best rival, which right now is the U.S. There are so many players right now that have been sitting on the sidelines and haven't had an opportunity to do that.

And the one that jumps to mind right away is obviously Connor McDavid. Connor McDavid, and to a lesser degree, maybe Nathan McKinnon, but this is his opportunity to enter that pantheon with, you know, he'll remember Crosby, and Crosby will remember Lemieux and Gretzky, and Lemieux and Gretzky will remember going back to the 72 summits years,

like Phyllis Bizzito's speech, Paul Henderson's goal, Bobby Clark breaking ankles, all that stuff, right? That's how it works. Not with his moves. There's a lineage, right? Each generation looks back and there's that measuring stick of all of it. Now, the big thing and why this tournament matters

is it's an opportunity that a lot of really good players haven't had. And for a lot of guys, I think they probably thought that there will always be another one on the horizon. And there wasn't. You know, you look back, go look at Steve Stamkos's career. That's a Hall of Fame guy that really never got an opportunity internationally for a variety of reasons. Right. He was an alternate in 2010, he got hurt in 2014, and then the international competition went away. That's something that he won't have

on his resume moving forward. If you go back and you look at, and that sort of ill-fated 06 team that went to Italy and was awful. Terrible. And that was one, by the way, where you saw a change with Hockey Canada is they kind of stopped being so heavily reliant

on older veteran players because they got burned on it in 98 and they got burned again in 06. They had like Chris Draper on that 06 team and Todd Bertuzzi on that 06 team. They didn't take Crosby in 06. Four years later they go in Vancouver and Crosby is the focal point of the team, right? The image thinks and change in four years, but it can also change for guys careers, right? Like guys like Brad Richards and LeCavier, that 06 team was the only chance that they got.

They weren't there in 02 and they were out of the mix by 2010. So these moments for a lot of these guys, this might be it, right? And that's important to the players. That's why you saw the players like bargain for this, like CBA negotiations, get an international tournament and regularity and a calendar back in

because we want these moments and we want to play. Winning the Stanley Cup and having postseason success is one thing, but especially for the Canadian guys, they understand that you get to that sort of, it's just a different level. It's a level of legend and national heroes. And they put you on postage stamps and you get commercials next to the guy

cutting out the bottom of the beach. And hockey players care about this stuff. They care about this stuff right from the world juniors, especially in Canada. Now here's the other important thing to note with all this. The opportunity is only just that. It's just an opportunity. You got to deliver on those stages.

And the other part of this is that if you go back and look, and everyone looks at 2010, and they were like, you know, 2010 was great. It was this coronation and everything. 2010 was real close to being a disaster for Canada. If you go back and you look at it and you remember how that group stage went, is they barely beat Switzerland in a shootout,

and then they lost to the US S to end the round Robin. And I was looking back at some of the articles that were coming out in the aftermath of that. Like there was one in time and the headline was Canada, the Olympics and hockey, it's time to panic. There was one from the New York daily news. Do you believe in meltdowns? Team USA Olympic hockey team upsets Canada,

Canada reeling. Like that's where it was at. Right? Because, because also though, there had been 2006. There'd been that, there'd, there'd been that preceding tournament, which set the stage for 2010. It was very similar with O2. None of that.

None of it. Yeah. None of it was in a vacuum. Yeah. similar with 02 coming off of 98. Yeah, none of it was in a vacuum. Yeah. Um, so at the very least, I hope this tournament is a table setter for next year's

Olympics in Italy. Let's see with this tournament where everyone stands and I realize the Russians aren't in it, but Canada, the US and Sweden are, they have more depth and talent than I talent than the Russians anyway. Yeah, Russia's depth isn't actually as strong as people might think. Well, I mean, yeah. They're so old.

Yeah. And they don't have enough players. They have some really, really good players, don't get me wrong, but they don't have, like, who's the best Russian defenseman in the NHL? Sergichev. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Who would be Sergichev?

Sergichev. I mean, would he make Canada? He's pretty good. Okay. I like Sergichev? I mean, would he make Canada? He's pretty good. Okay. I like Sergeychev. Who else? Would he make it over Sennheim? Yeah. There's Provarov.

I remember doing this in Sochi because everyone was like, oh, the Russians are going to win because- They've always had defense. Yeah, but they've got like six KHL players on this team. They're not going to win, and they didn't win. At any rate, let's see where everyone is, especially Canada, the United States, and I suppose Sweden and Finland as well. Um, and then, then we look ahead to the Olympics, uh, a year away in Italy.

And then let's get on a regular international schedule. So we can look ahead to these events, like they get to in international soccer in Europe, for example, where every four years, you know, England is going to lose in the world cup and every four years, you know, England is going to lose in the euros, but you don't know how they're going to lose. So there's that surprise there, right?

That's the hook of this. It's the, it's the narrative arc that we've lost and you know, that's important in sports. It's all about like redemption and you know, insecurity and feeling like, oh my God, like what if we lose? And hopefully we find that again in international best on best hockey.

So we will continue. I'm seeing a lot of mixed reviews in the text inbox of people like, ah, this is going to be pond hockey. And to those people I say, once you watch these players playing together, I think your tune might change. Okay, also though, that is, I think, illustrative

of what's happened with international hockey over the last eight to 10 years. Is that the only instance we got of it was the 2016, the sort of ill-fated World Cup of hockey. And I think that tuned a lot of people out. Like they're like, I don't want another gimmicky tournament. And they're projecting that onto this one. Also, I think what we're kind of trying to do here

is like re-stoke the fire, rekindle the fire if you can, is that it's been gone for so long. I think it's out of a lot of people's collective memories and conscious. When we were in 2010 and we were working back at TSN, I remember being so engrossed by the tournament because it's a short tournament. The stakes are incredibly high. One loss can really throw you off kilter. And you understood that this was the closest thing you were going to get to figuring out who was the best in the world.

And you weren't going to get a chance for another two to four years. So it was important. And I think that when you're trying to revive something like that, you almost have to get overly excited about something like the four nations face off, understanding that we're back. We're trying to get back

and we're trying to make international hockey a very important thing. I'm not saying this will be the Olympics, but I think the players will care. I think they'll play like they'll care. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Ferraro, Ferraro, let's chat with Ray Ferraro. It's time for Ferraro, let's talk to Ray Ferraro.

Ferraro winds up with a shot. Score! Ray Ferraro! Breakraro winds up with a shot. Score! Ray Ferraro! Breakaway! Onside! Scores! Rebound score! Ray Ferraro!

Ferraro, Ferraro, it's time for Ray Ferraro. Let's chat with Ferraro. It's time for Ray Ferraro. 703 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers.

They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are now in our two of the program. Ray Ferraro is gonna join us in just parts. We are now in our two of the program. Ray Ferraro is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off our two. Our two is brought to you by Jason Hominuk from Jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit

him on the internet at Jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step To the phone lines we go Ray Ferraro joins us now in the hell for them rough show on sportsnet 650 morning, Ray How are you? I'm good Getting ready to go to Montreal. Oh very nice How what kind of expectations do you have for this tournament collectively before we get into the expectations for the teams? What are you expecting for the return to international best on best, even though we do only

have the four nations doing it, still the closest thing we've had in close to a decade? Yeah, I got asked about, I don't know, maybe 10 days ago, two weeks ago, if I thought the players would compete hard, and it was the first time I'd ever really thought of it. Because I'm just assuming that when everybody puts on their country's flag as their jersey that there's no way you don't compete. And the example I have is like, you know, every year in the world championships

players go over to Europe. They've all been eliminated from the playoffs. There's really nothing to play for, right? Except you go there and I went three times and it's completely different than not caring. It's like you look down, you see the Maple Leaf, you don't ever get to do that. It's such a source of pride. And these other players playing for their countries are going to feel the same. I mean, I'd be stunned if it's not great hockey.

I mean, I don't think it's going to be 1996, that video that you see where Keith Kachak and Adam Foot are trying to cut each other in half. Like, I don't think it's that. I start watching that video. I have to watch it again. I'm like, I can't believe I'm watching. The tournament was in August and these guys were like, going to kill each other. It was, but I think it would be good.

I really do. And I'm really looking forward to it. I think, I think a lot of people will, that haven't really seen it. Um, you know, you mentioned it's been about a decade. I think it'll renew some fun in the game. It's easy to feel good about cheering for your country. And I know we nitpick everything, but it feels like it's a different way to watch the game when your

country's playing as opposed to your, I'll call it your city team. What was it like for you the first time you're able to pull on that Canadian Jersey? Wow, amazing. So this is actually kind of a funny story. So it was back in the day when they took just a few players to play exhibition games and then losers of the first round,

that's when they filled the team out. So my agent at the time was Alan Eagleson, this was before he ran into all his trouble. And so they needed about a half a dozen players to play the first three exhibition games. And they said, do you wanna go to Europe and play? I was 20, and I was like, yeah, for sure. So I go over there. We're in some little place in Finland. I couldn't even tell you where we were. And we play the Finns. I got four assists.

I couldn't, it was ridiculous. Every time I touched the puck, I passed it to somebody who went in the net. And so after the game, you got to go, you know, they, they picked a random urine test and shockingly, the guy that had four points got picked. So I've been there with this guy that used to play for the capitals, Timo Blomquist, and we're sitting in there and so they bring you orange juice and water and you know, and then pretty soon they started bringing a couple of beers. Timo crushed about seven beers. I don't even think he was trying to go. I think he was just having a couple of beers. We were just sitting in there and then like, you walk around the corner. And I'm like, yeah, okay, I got to go.

So I walk around the corner and this guy walks around the corner with me because, you know, you can't cheat. And so I'm sitting there trying to go to the bathroom and this guy's like four feet away, I'm like, this is kind of weird. So that one, I didn't really, you know, it didn't really count to me. I went over for a couple of games, you know, but yeah, um, when I went over, um, 89 was in

Stockholm and it was just, honestly guys, it was just the best. It was so, so awesome. Loved it. And you got to the gold medal game, right? And what was it like to play the Soviets? Because there was still that era of mystery about them.

Well, the mystery was, we didn't really know who they were. Like, you knew the big names, but they always had these players you didn't know. And so they had these, I was on the, at that, on that team, it was such a really good team. Um, but I was on the fourth line with Kirk Muller and, uh, Pat Burbeek.

We all had 40 goals that year. We were all on the fourth line. That's a pretty good fourth line. And so we're playing these three, our matchup is these three kids that are just flying around, they're wearing cages and we don't really know who they are, but we think we do,, they're wearing cages. And we don't really know who they are, but we think we do, but they don't speak English and we don't know and it's McGilney,

Buray and Fedorov. And we're like, when we found out later, we're like, well, no wonder, like, what are we going to do? You know, they're like zipping around and it was, yeah, it was, it was yeah, it was it was fun to play those like to because you there was a real hate to it still you know and and that's I don't know as much as the game has evolved in that but one of the things that makes it great is there's conflict and Conflict makes tension makes better games Since you mentioned his name. I want to take a slight detour What are your memories of Alan Eagleson? Because he was such a central figure to international hockey in the 70s and the 80s.

Well, I mean, that era of international hockey would have never happened without him. I don't think there's any denying that. He was a bully. He was loud and obnoxious and if somebody said no to him he just hit the table harder and then asked again and then they said no and he hit the table harder and eventually they had the 72 Super Series which no matter what else has happened since then is the greatest international event of all time, because it was the first and it was the best and the way that it ended was amazing. He did amazing things, organizing the players at the beginning, the players

union and all that stuff, but there's, there's so much that went into the gray and to the almost black with Alan That really impossible to defend his record. Yeah. So let's talk about the rivalries because for so long it was Canada and Russia and it's kind of evolved into Canada in the United States and the United States got one over us in the 1996 World Cup and

nearly in 2010. Can the players, can we develop, I mean, it's never going to be the same sort of hate as it was during the cold war, but there are some geopolitical tensions right now, I guess, between Canada and the United States, but will the players develop that or is everything just so different now? The players are all friends, they're teammates

that it's going to be hard to create that. I do think it's a challenge to create that level of, um, of dislike to, you know, that you, you really feel, you really feel it like in your bones. And it's just for the reasons you mentioned, I mean, there's, you know, players are so much more familiar with each other. There were, you know, there's lots of stories about like when, you know, when Canada put their teams together, you know, and like the, the 87 Canada cup, like around that era, like guys were coming to the locker room.

They wouldn't even speak to each other, but they're on the same team now. Yeah. You know, like that, that stuff I think is, is long, long gone. Um, but there, but there is like, I would say in 2010, I mean, the players were all familiar with each other then. It was kind of like this. And I don't know, I thought that tournament was amazing. And not just because Canada won, which of course made it more amazing, but it was a phenomenal tournament.

And I just, something happens to you when you wear your country's Jersey, like you, you just, you just, you need to win. It's not that you want to win. You need to win. And in particular, and, um, you know, in hockey, we, we should feel like the Americans are stepping on our toes here because they are. And it should be enough that, um, you know, the Canada, I'm doing the Canada, uh, us game on Saturday night.

Um, and I just, I can't wait. I just think it's going to be amazing. I, I'm, I'm hopeful. It's like, it just, uh, like a, a raucous crowd, which I think it will be. I don't, I just, I can't imagine it won't be. And I think that I just hope the game is awesome because these are, there are so many incredible players playing.

And, and, and the course of tournament is going to be hurt with, you know, cause Quinn's not playing and you know, it's, you know, the Swedes are down a goalie and the injuries really do put a little bit of a pall over it, I guess. But that was going to be the case, I think. From the time the tournament was announced, the middle of February, gee, I wonder if guys are going to be hurt, what the course they are.

You should be totally biased in that game, by the way. Or ESPN just like clearly cheering for Canada though. How do you think that would go over? Well, I think it'd go great. You know, like I think I should, I should wear a red suit. Not that I have one. I mean, you look like a clown, but anyway, I just do the game anyway. I, I, I don't, I do care.

Like I want Canada. When of course I do. I live here. It's my, I, I don't, I do care. Like I want Canada win. Of course I do. I live here. It's my, you know, it's our country. Sure. And, but the game ends and like if they get a trophy or something, nobody gives it to me. So it's like, this is where I don't think, like,

you're, I don't know how it is for other broadcasters. I really don't care who wins because I don't get to share in the spoils of the win. It's got nothing to do with me. And so I just do the game and like when Canada won in 2010, I was really excited. I was sitting right next to Cuthbert and watching them do his thing and it was, oh, it's just so awesome and the building, you know, you were in there.

It like, it just explodes. It's just amazing. And I'm like, then it ended and I was like, okay, time to go home. Okay. You know, like I. I was not in there. like, it just explodes. It's just amazing. And I'm like, then it ended and I was like, okay, time to go home. Okay. You know, like I. I was not in there. I was drunk at home celebrating.

Oh yeah. Of course you were. We're speaking to Ray Farrar here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. So that game on Saturday, like I know we don't want to fast forward too much because there's games for all four of these countries before the super Saturday where you've got Finland, Sweden, then USA, Canada.

But I was just talking to Greg Wyshinski about this, though. I feel like if there's going to be a driving force for this game popping off on Saturday, it might come from the American side and it might come from Brady and Matthew Kachuck, just because you've already alluded to their dad sort of firing things up back in 96 and being perfectly fit for these one game powder keg kind of moments. Are you anticipating that the Kachuk boys could be playing a pretty central figures on Saturday? Yeah. It's funny how they both get lumped together because, uh,

I'm not obviously the brothers, but like Matthew has has really refined his game. Um, he doesn't take as many penalties. He still drives everybody crazy, but he doesn't take as many penalties. He's got more of a finesse game than Brady. Brady is his dad. I mean, like Brady goes into the goal crease, there's sticks lying all over the place, guys, his helmets are knocked askew and he gets up like he can't believe anything bad happened and he's got a hundred penalty minutes and 27 goals or whatever he's got.

Like he is so much like Keith. Like it is, they're really interesting characters to watch because like Dad, you know, I mean you can be a pain out there, but they're really good. They're good players. I think what ends up setting a game off is one hit. Somebody gets hit that they don't expect it, like that happens in every NHL game, but it's going to happen here, and then the temperature just gets clicked. And I mean, I kind of hope for it.

It makes the games great. As I said earlier, the sport's awesome, but conflict makes tension and that makes the games drive. Like it's the best part of the game. Yeah, so we spent a ton of time looking at the Canada lineup and when the lines rolled out of practice yesterday, we were on the air and we were going through those and going through the first power play unit and everything.

And then I started turning my attention to that US team, just to see what it looked like with the line matches especially, also the pairings on defense without Hughes. And then I circle back, I'm like, everyone's talking about the Kachaks and Matthews as well. And then I'm thinking like Jack Eichel. And I know that you did his game Saturday

against Boston, right? Yeah. And he just kind of took over in the third period. I think he assisted on the game tying end game winning goals. And I'm like, there's another guy that we've paid zero attention to this year, even though he might be having the best year of his career. What did you see from Eichel on the weekend?

And what can you expect from him in this term moving forward? Because he is having a hell of a year in Vegas. You said it. What did you see from Michael on the weekend and what can you expect from him in this term moving forward? Because he is having a hell of a year in Vegas. You said it, he's having the best year of his career. He looks dominant. His confidence with the puck, that upright skating posture, his desire, like you just, you just see it. He wants, he wants the puck all the time. When he doesn't have it, he hunts it down. He's, um, I think he's, uh, he's a phenomenal player and there, there is, I mean, I'm not comparing them, but there is some caution in

dealing away a mid 20 center. Right. Right. Like you, cause remember things had gone south in Buffalo for him, not just with the injury, but there was, you know, Buffalo hasn't made the playoffs in, you know, whatever it is, 14 years. And, and so they, they got to a point there though,

that was untenable and they tried the, the best thing that they could, right. They, they made the best deal they could make. And as good as Alex Tuck is in a first round pick and all that, you're not Jack Eichel. And he has got the chance while, and he's a really great player that you bring up, he's got the chance to,

while everybody's staring at the other players, take over the game. Like that, that he's that type of player. The one thing I will say about the US defense without Quinn is don't forget like Zach Warrensky's having a hell of a year and that kid is good. He is really good. Now he's not Quinn but you know they're probably in pretty good shape. There's not a position you look at and go, oh, the Americans might be a little short. Like they've got the best goal-tending in the tournament, like by a mile.

And I would say Canada's not the best goal-tending in the tournament. Isn't that the difference between the Americans now and say, let's say 2014 last best on best tournament at the Olympics is that the 2014 team, you liked a lot of their wingers and you liked their goalies, but you weren't sure about down the middle and you weren't sure about defense and down the middle and

defense has always been a strength of Canada. Like their form group is always like, we've got nine guys that could play the middle, but a lot of them have to bump to the wing and you look at the defense, I mean, that Sochi group was incredible. The 2010 group was incredible, but the Americans have that now too, because you've got guys like Jack Eichel and Austin Matthews.

And although Quinn Hughes won't be playing for the Americans, you've still got some pretty good defensemen on that team. Yeah, I mean nobody wins without, as much as we talk about everything else, like if you can't control the middle of the ice, then you know, the game can evaporate on you. And where the Americans have just grown is the sheer number of players they have that are of skill, yet they've all learned to compete. They've all learned to, they all know each other

through the national development program. Most of them came through there a decade ago or however old they are, you know, they're all kind of interwoven. So there's a familiarity to them too that I think is an advantage that Canada just doesn't have. It's probably one of the biggest weaknesses that we have in international play is the

Swedes and the Finns, they all come up through interwoven development through the club teams. The US has that development program, we don't. And if you watch the Finns play at every tournament, it look, they're all the same. Like they're, I mean, Barkov and Ajo and those guys, of course you notice the skill, but they all seem to, they play the team game, the Finns, better than anybody. And that's the one thing that Canada always has to

kind of bump on the edges of the, you know, of the room to, to squeeze together. And then you're like, Oh, now they got it. You know, and sometimes it takes them one game. Sometimes it takes them two or three, but better not take them three this time because there's then it's over. What, what, would you do anything differently,

um, to, to develop hockey players in Canada? I mean, I guess the advantage that in some ways it's an advantage, it's a weird advantage, but Sweden and the United States, because there are, because it's not as important a game, I suppose, and the percentage of people that play hockey in the United States compared to Canada is a lot lower, um, that they all kind of get condensed into areas

and teams as opposed to Canada where it's maybe a little more spread out? Well, I, yeah, I mean, that's part of it. I mean, but I don't know what they spend on that development program in the US every year, but it's not 50 bucks. Like, it is a significant investment. Hockey Canada is, uh, would have to

flip the bill for that. Right. Like who else is going to do it unless it's a private group? Um, that, that, you know, that you can eat. As soon as I said that, I kind of laughed at myself, like, could you imagine the mess that would turn into if it was a,

if it was a private group? So, uh, like as I was saying it, I'm like, well, that's impossible was saying, and I'm like, well, that's impossible. And so then there's also the, the complication of, um, uh, you know, you've got the major junior leagues and if you're taking the best 17 and 18 year olds out to play in that program, well, they're probably not going to be very happy with that either.

And so, but I do think like, I do think like if you can condense programs, yeah, sure you're going to get to the best, most of the best are going to end up in the same place, but the complications are just too great. I think that just can't happen. Ray, always fun to chat with you. Love your stories.

Love your insight. You're an okay guy. Well, I think I'll almost take that as a positive. And remember, if you've ever got to go, if you've ever got to go to the bathroom, think of Timo Blomquist and have seven beers in about 17 minutes. And then you just got to go. He was the guy.

That was amazing. That was, that was great. You must've been so bloated. First of all, I can't go to the bathroom and now I'm like, oh my God, I just got to drink it. I gotta have something. And then they're like orange juice. And I'm like, I don't even like orange juice. And then pretty soon Timo goes, beers, beers.

Awesome, Ray. All right. Enjoy your trip to Montreal. Enjoy the tournament. Talk to you later, buddy. We'll talk to you next week. All right. See you, Pop.

Ray Ferraro on the Haliforne and the Brough Show on Sportsnet tournament. Talk to you later, buddy. We'll talk to you next week. See you, man. See you, Pop. Ray Ferraro on the Haliford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Be on the call on Saturday. The big doubleheader, Super Saturday. It'll be kicked off with the Finns and the Swedes followed up five o'clock, prime time, Sportsnet Hockey Night in Canada, Canada, US,

from Montreal. It's gonna be a lot of fun on the weekend as we continue to hype up the four nations face off here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.