Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 2/13/26

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss Canada's takedown of Czechia in Men's Olympic hockey, 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. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Last, it brings it down for two aces or wild. Like I say, I apologize, maybe I made that bad decision to go back to my home. And the whole quote-unquote loyalty thing is, I think it's overrated. You know, I think this is a business at the end of the day. and it's a lot of money involved. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend.

Good morning, Vancouver, 6-1 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. It is Halford and is Brough at SportsNet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Good morning to you.

Good morning. Ladi, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have payday loan debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut that debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. visit them today at sands dash trustee.com.

We are an 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 Kintech Studio, New Year, New Opportunity for Comfort with Orthotics from Kintech. 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumber Text line,

trusted by contractors and DIY champions across Metro Vancouver for generations. Find them at three convenient locations or visit Dunbar Lumber online today. Big show ahead on a Friday, a sweet, sweet Friday. Our guest list today, it is the Doick Morning Drive, brought you by the Duick Auto Group. I'm going to begin at 6.30 this morning. Rick Celebrini is going to join the program. He, of course, the director of sports medicine and performance for the Golden State Warriors. But for the purposes of today's interview, we're going to refer to.

Heardom is Macklin's dad. Rick's going to join us live from Italy today as Macklin and the Canadians prep to face Switzerland at 1210 our time today in their second game. First one got off to a pretty good start. And Macklin Celebrini got the Canadians off to a pretty good start. Rick Celebrini is going to join us at 6.30 this morning live from Milan Cortina. 7 o'clock this morning, AJ from AJ's pizza.

A reminder, a $100 gift card to AJ's is up for grabs for the best ask us anything. I'll tell you this right now. It's 602 in the morning. We already have a few very strong challengers to win the best Ask Us Anything in the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket. At 7.30 this morning, Matt Cullen is going to join the program. Former NHLer Matt Cullen? No, Andy. CBC Play-by-Playman for men's hockey and snowboard cross in Milan, Cortina.

That Matt Cullen. Are we sure about this? We are sure about this. We're going to go heavy on the Olympic hockey today, folks. Lots to get into, including a pair of games already wrapped from this morning, which we'll get into and what happened. Matt Cullen, not the three-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Cullen, is going to join the program at 7.30. 8 o'clock this morning, Rick Dollywall is going to join us.

Intrepid Canucks reporter for Donnie and Dolly on Czech TV. For this, as always, we turn things over to our show's resident Dollywall wet nurse, Jason Brough. Just call him Dolly's Wetners. I did. You always put me on the spot here. And Dollywall, we've got a different system now. Dollywall is texting me instead of DMing me.

the Canucks are busy Canucks are busy That's what we're going to talk about What we're going to talk about It says Canucks are Busy Canucks I kid you not

Is spelled wrong Canucks C-A-N-U-V-K-S are busy There's a couple other things Apparently Patrick Alveem Also spelled wrong Saw Stenberg play last Saturday

All that was spelled incorrectly And also took him two and a half hours to write But isn't there a trade freeze still? Oh, they're busy, though. They're not talking on the phones freeze. The phones are actually encased in ice. They're not like. Gary,

Barry Bedman just takes all their phones away from them for two weeks. They're like, I don't know what to do. He had to, Bettman actually had to pack them to go over to Italy. He's like, I don't trust these guys. All the general managers have to send handwritten letters to one another. That's the only way that they can converse. Working in reverse on that guest list.

8 o'clock. It's Dollywall. 730, Matt Cullen. 7 o'clock, AJ, 630. Rick Celebrini. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie to tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies investing tools or resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccccsa.ca.ca.

yesterday was a good day for Canadian hockey. As both the men and the women posted 5-0-0 victories over Finland and Czechia, respectively, it was a good day. I don't know if the Lakers beat the Supersonics, but it was a good day, a good day for Canadian hockey yesterday. We are going to begin, though, with the opening game for the Canadian men, and what proved to be an outstanding first effort against the Czechs. They opened with a 5-0-0-1 as mentioned over Chequia. Macklin-Cellibrini, as we mentioned, opened the scoring. Connor McDavid, a mere three assists, Biddington, 20,

six saves. Goals also coming from Mark Stone. Bo Horvatt Nathan McKinnon and Nick Suzuki a very dominant performance from the Canadians yesterday against the checks. Yeah, and I do want to get to that in just a bit, but a little spoiler here, we're going to talk about a game

that just finished and that is between Finland and Sweden, so if you had a PVR'd and radio off for just a little bit. We have a sounder thing and everything for this. Okay. the Swedes lost 4 to 1 to Finland

and that's the same Finland team that lost to Slovakia and our guy Elias Pedersen didn't have the best game he only played 10 minutes minus 1 I think and he got hit into the bench by Michael Granland so it did not go well for them

and you know Finland lost that first game to Slovakia and everyone was like, oh, that's going to be tough without Barkoff. But I think most people went, the Finns will do something at this tournament. The Finns, that's in their DNA, not to go away meekly. I think the biggest worry right now, if you're talking about the teams that went into this tournament with a chance to do something, big one's Sweden, because Sweden had a scare against Italy.

You know, they ended up out shooting them very badly. but they were also tied halfway through the game and now they play a very physical game against Finland and it was hard fought on both sides but we wondered how this Swedish team would look offensively considering the fact that Leo Carlson who would be their one C there I think

even though he's still very young wasn't able to be in this tournament and then you had guys like Elias Pedersen and Mika's advantage at you were like I don't know I'm not looking great these days And then, you know, I think Is it Joel Erick's their first line center? I mean, that's a big deal. That's a big deal.

And I know the Swedes have a great, have a great blue line, and they're potentially good goal-tunning, but they are looking right now, it's only been two games, they're looking right now like the most disappointing team at this tournament. Without question.

So the goal scores for Finland today, Mantepalo, Lundell, Armea, and Miko Rantan gets his first to the tournament for the Finns. you would have expected after a very disappointing outing in the first game against Slovakia that Finland was going to push hard, especially in a rivalry game like this. Big story in this one, the play of UC Soros, who came under some pretty heavy scrutiny after the loss of Slovakia to the point where

the head coach actually openly considered starting Kevin Lankton in this game. He wouldn't commit to a starter following the Slovakia game. Soros comes up with a 34 save performance, allowing just one goal against Sweden. and that included, as Lattie and I were watching the last moments of this one, in the third period. 17 for 17 on shots face in the third period, when Sweden really put the hammer down and started really tilting the ice in their favor. Soros was able to lock it down. Soros was able to keep the win for Finland.

So that really throws that group into an interesting place because, and I do have to mention this, Slovakia did move a top with a win this morning, but it too got a major scare from the Italians. The Italians once again put forth another tremendous effort. They lose 3-2 to Slovakia. It was 3-1 late. Our boy, East Vancouver's Matt Bradley, scored again. Another one?

Another one for the Nano. That's right. Two goals for Nono now. In the third period, he scores late. Italy pushed at the end with the goal he pulled. Didn't really come that close to getting an equalizer. But in that group right now, definitely the most unprecedented. predictable of the three.

You've got Slovakia a top after two games, which I don't think a lot of people expected. And they now got a game with Sweden, which is incredibly important for Sweden. You've got Italy, having only been outscored by four goals on the aggregate now, right? Losing by three in the first and then one in the second. Yeah. So keeping it relatively close in terms of goals, four and goals against. And you've got a Swedish team, which I think you accurately put it through early days in this tournament and everything. But Sweden has been the most disappointing team in this tournament.

right now. You know, you look at the ice time for Sweden and I'm sure the Swedish fans back in Sweden are like, what is going on? What is head coach Sam Halam doing here? Because the ice times

are just all over the map. Like, you know, clearly he's leaning on, and this is crazy, Joel Ericksonek, Adrian Kempay, and Lucas Raymond. Like those seem to be the forwards that he has,

and I'm not saying those guys are bad players, but when you think about the Swedish team, you usually think about so much higher-end forwards, you know, than that. And I really like Joel Ericksonek as a player. I think he's a good player, but he's not a one-see, or shouldn't be a one-see on an NHL team.

And I think that's probably, maybe if you look at Minnesota, you're like, do they have good enough centers to win the Stanley Cup? And I think right now you're looking at Sweden and going, Does this team have good enough centers to win a medal? So the talking points right now out of Sweden, having briefly perused Swedish Twitter,

such a lovely place, very attractive. There are major questions about what's going on with Elias Pedersen, because he only played 10 minutes today. More distressingly is after two games, Philip Forsberg has played collectively just over 10 minutes in two games, including a grand total of nine minutes and 31 seconds today, where he again was a minus player, he's minus one. You look at some of the big dogs for this team, and in particular two guys that were going to be counted upon,

I think, going into this tournament, a lot more than they have delivered thus far. Pedersen and Forresburg have been absolute non-factors for this team. Now, the big difference from game one to game two for Sweden is that Sam Halam didn't sit two players specifically. There were some low ice times, but in the first game, Philip Forsberg played one minute

and if I'm not mistaken all of Ekman-Larsen didn't get a single shift in the first game. Nothing. He sat the whole game. That changed somewhat in the Finland game where the 13th forward and the seventh offenseman got in a little bit more of a regular rotation but still Ekman Larson finishes with seven minutes and 36 seconds of ice time.

Forsberg finishes with nine. Forzberg wasn't the low man for ice time up front. That was Pontius Holmberg. Again, if I'm not mistaken, we're kind of pouring through all these stats in the moment here, but it's a very, very interesting dynamic for this Swedish team right now

because they have woefully underperformed, I would say, despite the opening game where they put 60 shots up on the Italians. Rasmus Dahlin has been good. Dahlene's been good. Lucas Raymond's played a lot and has been good. Adrian Kempi's played a lot, but they just don't have the depth

that you would expect from a Swedish team that has enough players that they should be able to roll at least three lines competently. at least have more than one D pair that they're leaning on. But right now it seems like Sam Halim has identified as guys, or more distressingly for him, he's got guys that just aren't going right now and he can't play them.

Okay, let's get back to that Canadian men's domination of Chequia. We asked before yesterday's game about the identity of Canada at this year's tournament. And the answer we seem to get yesterday is the identity is to be really good at hockey. I mean, you mentioned it earlier. The stars showed in a big way. McDavid had three assists and set the tone physically early on. And that means something. When a guy like McDavid is out there laying out guys on the forecheck,

McKinnon scored, Celebrini scored. The other goals were from Mark Stone, and that was thanks to a brilliant pass from Mitch Marner. Just an incredible saucer pass in the crease. The touch that was, required to make that fall onto stone stick. It's incredible. Nick Suzuki got one.

And of course, there was Bo Horvats goal, which featured some incredible passing to get up the ice from the Canadians. Now, suffice to say, it's been a tough year in Vancouver. And Canucks fans, they took notice when Horvatt, their former captain, was named to the team. And they took notice when he scored yesterday. this is after all a guy again he was captain here in Vancouver

wanted to be a Canuck he wanted to be a Canuck and the team ultimately made the choice to trade him for help on the back end while committing to J.T. Miller and Elias Pedersen do we have any interest in revisiting that trade I see a lot of people doing it online yeah it's happening do we want to feel bad

about ourselves even more that was when the timeline has converged saying it months ago I don't think it's hyperbole to say that when it comes to all three of those players, it's hard to imagine how this could have played out worse. The bet the Canucks made on Horvatt is that he wouldn't be able to maintain the scoring pace he set as a pending unrestricted free agent in Vancouver. And remember that's very correct.

And remember that scoring pace, which complicated things from a contract negotiation standpoint. The Canucks essentially offered, they didn't give them full value for, that season that he was having in Vancouver. He had 31 goals and 49 games at the time of the trade. Now you're looking at the contract he signed upon joining the Islanders, and honestly, it looks pretty darn good based on the rising salary cap. Might age, last few years, might be bad, and who knows? But Horvats only what?

He's like 30. He's got a few good years left him. Cap hits just over eight. If the Canucks had a time machine, and God, it would be awesome if they did. Man, get to work on that time machine, Canucks. They probably trade Miller for help on the back end and keep Horvatt. That avoids the riff of Pedersen. Maybe it looks better for Pettersen.

Hell, maybe Quinn Hughes is still here. Maybe I would have won the lotto max if they had kept Horvad. But we will never know. Anyway, if you want to text in about that, text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650, 650. Also, good for Jordan Bennington, who got the shutout. he didn't face the toughest shots. If you looked at the shot map, you know, those shot maps that they do.

It was a lot of, it was a lot of shots for Canada in the slot area, and the shots for Chequio were a lot more spread out. But Bennington got the job done, and it's difficult to, whether for better or for worse, it's difficult to see how he's going to be supplanted as the number one now.

because we talked yesterday about 2010 and it was like, okay, well, how did Luongo supplant Burdur and get the job? Well, Breder had, in the group stage, he had a rough game against the Americans. Yeah, lost. It was an easy way to do it. He lost. You lose and you lose the net.

Well, who are, you know, like I don't think he's going to start today against Switzerland. I think they'll put in Thompson or Kemper. I don't know. Yeah. but you know if Bennington goes back in there against France

is he is he got a bad game? No no no no I mean he's he's going to be it seems almost impossible now that he wouldn't be the starter unless there's an injury

it seems impossible that he wouldn't be the starter once Canada starts the quarterfinals Yeah there's a really interesting You always get lit up by France of course Yeah that is possible Yeah I think we're going to get a look at France again Is it today or tomorrow I know I watch bits and pieces of their game

There for nothing lost Switzerland in the opener. And I mean, they were second best against a Swiss team, which is what, half, two-thirds filled of NHLers. So it's going to be a tall order for the French. Anyway, there are some interesting narratives in the early days of this tournament.

And from the Canadian perspective and U.S. perspective after that opening game and we will get to the U.S. team in a minute here, one of them was the more controversial choices on each team both showed out in the opener. So for Canada,

obviously Binnington, while not overly tested, still made some good saves in the first period, but recording a 26 save shutout when he was probably the most scrutinized pick, not to be on the team, but be the starter. Also, Bo Horvatt, a lot of people saying, like, one of the bubble picks for Team Canada

showed up in a big way in the opener and managed to get on the score sheet. The U.S. had a very similar thing with Brock Nelson scoring twice against Latvia, a pick that was widely considered questionable. But he's having a really good thing. season. Didn't you struggle a little bit when he came over on that trade from the Islanders?

He did. Yeah. He's having a good year. He had a great game yesterday. And a lot of the American pundits that were following this team said all the bottom of the lineup guys, the fourth line guys, Miller, et cetera, had really good games yesterday. Now, granted, it was against the Latvian team that was wildly overmatched. I don't know how many of you managed to watch the U.S. take on the Latvians.

But even though it was tied 1-1-1 after 20, the ice was decidedly tilted in the favor of the Americans. They had two goals wiped out due to goalie challenges. Nelson hit the post late. It really shouldn't have been a tie going into the first. Well, let's talk about those American men too, since you brought them up. Yep. They beat Latvia.

They certainly didn't look like they were missing any offensive firepower or creativity. And that was, you know, the potential knock on them after leaving off the likes of Robertson and Caulfield. They got Latvia running around to the point of exhaustion. And that's how you beat a Latvian team, right? You run them around and you get them down. and you get them doing lots of stops and starts and like, where's the puck? Where's the puck? I mean, stops and starts, that's exhausting in hockey.

Yep. The Americans in the second period, they outscored the Latvians 3-0 and outshot them 17 to 2. Yeah. It was dominance in the second period. Now, the American team with NHLers in the last couple of games have had strong starts to the Olympics, last couple of Olympic games, I mean.

But they haven't won gold with, NHLers. Did you hear once they won gold back in 1980? They called it The Miracle on Ice. Have they done a documentary on that? They bring it up sometimes. In 2000, no NHLers there, they were just a bunch of hard scrabble college kids. Kurt Russell was the coach.

Oh, no way. Yeah, Kurt Russell was the coach. It was so crazy. It was a bit of a controversial pick at the time because he was an actor. Right. In 2010, the Americans with NHLers, they beat Canada. We just mentioned that. In the group stage before ultimately losing the rematch in the

medal game. Sid's goal. 2014, they piled up the goals in the group stage. They were the high-flying Americans. Everyone was very excited about this team. And then they scored more goals in the quarterfinals, and then they got

Canada in the semis, and Canada just suffocated them. Shut them out. That was the game where Kessler called, it was a snoozer out there. Real snoozer. It was a snoozer. I was like, yeah, because Canada put you to sleep, Cass. The story of that 2014, American team was started hot and then absolutely capitulated at the end. Because you'll remember,

they went to the bronze medal game. Yes. And they did absolutely nothing against the Finns. Remember the quote I got from Jonathan Quick? In the mix zone? He said, we didn't piss a drop. And they didn't really. They got absolutely annihilated in that bronze metal game. But the other talking point there, and we often bring this up from the finish side, is it Finns love bronze metal games. Yeah. They take them like gold medal games. They're like, it's still a metal. And the Americans just didn't see it that way. And it showed. But the big story. there was obviously that, you know, the Americans had this high-flying style. And then they saw the Canadians. And, you know, the Americans, the analysis of the Americans,

the Americans changed their game and they played scared against Canada. So that's just some of the narratives going out there for the American team. Just thought you'd want to know that. It is still very early, but it does look right now that Canada and the United States are in a collision course for gold. Both teams should finish, should finish the group. stage undefeated. Canada has Switzerland and France left. Switzerland today and the Swiss can be tough for sure. The Americans have Germany and Germany has star power with dry-saddle. And they've won yesterday.

And they've also got Denmark, the Americans. So look, they're going to be heavy favorites, Canada and the Americans in their final two games respectively. You know, that Finland-Swedon game today, if Finland had lost that and they fell to 0 and 2, they could have potentially met Canada or the U.S. in the quarters. And I think that that would have been like, oh, no, who's going to get Finland, right? Because that would not have been ideal.

So I'm glad that Finland won today. I'll tell you what, I mean, going back to that Finland's Sweden game, you look at Sweden right now, and they've got one group game left, and it's against the Slovaks. Now, the Slovaks are first place in the group right now. And to avoid the qualification round and not make the, this a mess. I'd have to go down what the tiebreakers are for head to head and goal differential and everything, but

the Slovaks have an opportunity here to put the Swedes into the qualification around, finish atop their group, and avoid that qualification round go straight to the quarterfinals, which would be a big thing for Slovakian hockey and they've been probably the most surprising team, whereas you'd say that the

Finns have been the most disappointing. The Slovaks are probably in the most surprising time. I don't think anyone had them at 2-0 after two games. Yeah, I know they had Italy in their second game, and they were probably going to win them. Who did you say has been on the most disappointing? Sweden. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure.

But they're both in that group. Yeah. And now Slovakia has an opportunity in its final group stage game to really, really alter the course of this tournament in a major way. Okay, I just wanted to get this in as well, a convincing win for the Canadian women as well. Yeah, we had this on the air yesterday, and we talked quite a bit about it. It was a 5-0 victory for the women over Finland. It was nice to see them get their goal scoring back on. track after being shut out for the first time in Olympic history in that 5-0

loss to the Americans. It was also good seeing Anne-Rene de Bien post a shutout after she got hooked in the U.S. game as well. Marie-Philippe Poulin did take the morning skate prior to the Finland game, so there was some more optimism that she should be good to go. I think she's on the ice today too as well. So the women's tournament is into the quarterfinals now. Canada will face Germany on Saturday. Germany finished second in group B, which sounds impressive until you remember that the groups are set differently in the women's tournament. You have, you know, it's not a

graceful way of saying it, but all the good teams in Group A, all the bad teams in group A, Group B. Germany is actually the seventh seed, and Canada, the second seed, should have no issues advancing to the semifinals, where the teams will reseed, so they can't meet,

they're not going to meet the Americans in the semifinals. Setting up a potential and likely gold medal match between Canada and the United States, The Americans will play the host from Italy in the quarters, and that is a game that has the potential to get a little ugly on the scoreboard. We'll see if the ugly Americans come out and beat up the hosts really bad at home in front of their home fans,

or if they let their foot off the pedal, just a little bit. Just a little bit. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. So here's something I didn't realize. Today is Friday the 13th, Jason. Ooh, scary. Friday, December 13th?

No, it's also, that means yesterday was Thursday, February 12th. All of which is news to our next guest. Rick Dollywall, Donnie and Dolly joins us now on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. For those that are unaware what we're talking about here, yesterday you did the classic bit of birthdays. Very original. And you guys, and I believe it was you alone, it had very important. inadvertently did December 12th birthdays

instead of February 12th birthdays and you wished Andrew Ladd a happy birthday what happened there Rick what went wrong and Jim Sandlack who was one of my favorite players

growing up was Jim Sandlake he was a like you guys remember Jim Sanlack yeah he was like a pretty big disappointment how is he one of your favorite players

he was physical big and physical but at the time Jason he was a fourth overall pick he was the hope It was, they thought the Sanlack was going to hit it big, and that's why one of the reasons they traded Neely. And Jim Sandlach's nickname was the house. Like, he did have one good year.

I think he hit the 20 goal mark. But as a kid growing up, we were all hoping that Sanlack would be that big power forward like Cam Neely. But anyways, I screwed up. I typed in December accidentally when I should have typed in February. So, you know what? it was a gong show. But listen, I'm getting old, right? These things happen.

They do. Right? And I took birthdays off at Donnie's plate. You know, I wanted to help Donnie out, so I said, I'll do birthdays. And then I screw it up yesterday like that. It was just amazing. Just amazing. I'm getting old guys.

I'm getting old. I took birthdays off of Donnie's plate. Big plate, apparently. All right. Nice. Last second. Last second. These birthdays are hard to do.

They freaking take a long time because you got to come up with the clues, right? Right. It's not easy. You know, I remember when we used to do crossover week at 1040. Yes. And I hosted with Donnie and I didn't listen to the show. So I had no idea how I was like, don't we just list the people's birthdays? I didn't know it was a guessing game involved that there was.

So did you have to come up with the clues or guess? I didn't, I did nothing. I offered absolutely nothing to that segment. I was like, can we just do the birthdays? Like, do we blow candles? Do you come up with the clues on the spot, Dolly? No, that's what I mean. You've got to research the clues.

It takes forever. When do you do the prep? It shouldn't take that long with the internet. Oh, come on, man. It takes a long time. You've got to Google interesting facts about this guy, and then a million things pop up, and then you've got to pick them out.

It's hard, brough. It's hard. He's right. It's a tough industry to be in. Rick, I'm glad that you owned up to it. That's good accountability. And we'll move on. My mistake.

Yeah. Okay. What are the Canucks up to? So I want to talk about the NCAA. The Canucks drafted Port Moody Native and defenseman Parker Alcoast in the sixth round in 2024. Currently playing for Cologne on the Western Hockey League, he committed to the NCAA for next season last night. The timing matters, guys, since it happened before the signing deadline this summer.

Now, normally an NHL team's got two years to sign a drafted C.H. HL player before losing his rights. With the recent rule change, though, his commitment to the NCAA during that window extends the team's control. So now the Canucks hold his rights until he graduates or leave school, which runs through four more June's after he was drafted. The Connucks should have no issues with Alcoast going to college and continuing his development, but I have no evidence, guys, the Vancouver was going to sign Alcoast

before the deadline this summer. But now they don't have to make a decision on him this summer, thanks to the NCAA commitment last night, they now have time. Now, if they were going to sign him, it would have been signed by now, because usually you don't take these. He's in your backyard. He's in the Western Ocky League. They shouldn't take this long to sign the kid.

The fact that he hasn't been signed tells me that probably they were leaning towards not signing him, but now they get to watch his development. And quickly, about that 20-24 draft guys, boy, oh boy. they traded their first three picks in 2024, right? Right? And now Alcoe's like I'm having trouble envisioning a player

from the 2024 draft that's going to end up in Vancouver and that draft I know that was the draft for Lindholm and that was the draft Zedoroff and they gave up a ton of picks. I get it but boy oh boy you are heading

into a rebuild and the draft two years ago, a year and a half ago might not yield a player. That's a tough, tough pill to swallow guys. They had a third round pick, a fourth round pick, two-sixth, and Parker Alcoast was a sixth, and then a seventh round pick. And, you know, maybe Riley Patterson turns into a player. But yeah, you're right, man.

You know, but you're heading into a rebuild, and the draft year and a half ago may not yield a player. That's tough. That's going to be really, really super tough. I want you guys to keep an eye on NCAA free agent signings in Vancouver in the future. Okay, this is the last two weeks of the college regular season. I'm told the Canucks have a list of guys they're going after in the NCAA. What does Vancouver have to offer college free agents?

The number one thing, guys. Opportunity. When you're in 32nd place, there's plenty of opportunities. So I've been told the Canucks are out there. they're looking for NCAA players, and I'm expecting some signings here in the near future. So keep an eye on the NCAA season because it's winding down, right? The regular season in a couple of weeks, and guys are going to be available to sign. The Canucks are not sitting around during this Olympic break and not doing anything.

Patrick Alvin's been in travel mode. He was in Switzerland covering the Five Nations. All teams have staff of three to six of the Five Nations, including Vancouver, right? So Elvine then went to Sweden. Him and his staff was at the Furlundo game last Saturday against Lulia watching Iver Stenberg. So the Canucks got really good views on Stembourg last Saturday. Stembourg's team lost, 7-3, but he did score in that game. Talking to Scouts right now, there's no clear cut number one for the draft this summer.

Some teams have Stembourg number one, some teams have Gavin McKenna number one. that battle between Stanberg and McKenna should go right down to the stretch regardless of the legal troubles in McKenna. In fact, I'll tell you something right now. I talked to a team about McKenna last night. They didn't think, you know, his situation would affect

his draft ranking that much. One player whose stock continues to rise and should be the number one center taken in the draft was Caleb Multer. That's Maddie's kid? Top 10 scoring in the OHL. 23 of his points on the power plate. That's a loaded brand for 10. team. Five first round picks on that team. He leads to the team in scoring at the age of 17.

He's a young guy. He doesn't turn 18 until June. The decision to leave junior and go to Boston University may hurt, Senator Ty, Nan Lawrence. Just two points in 12 games at Boston. That's the player that Canucks were high on, but boy, he's having a tough going college, right, guys? So here's where it gets dicey for me. If the Canucks pick third and aren't lucky enough to get picks one or two, do they take a defenseman or a centerman? I was really surprised last night when I found out that North Dakota defenseman, Keaton Verhoff, was a goaltender till the age of 13. So you're trying to tell me this kid was a goalie until the age of 13.

Two years later, he goes forth over all the Victoria in the Western Oculee Banam draft is a defenseman. That's unheard of. Might be an athlete? He might be an athlete. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, but Jason, you know, I know you're a minor hockey, and I've been covering junior hockey for almost 40 years. That's, to be a goalie at 13. It's incredible. And to go forth over all the Victoria as a defenseman two years later. Like when I heard that last night, I was like, wow, that's pretty impressive. I've never heard a story like that. I've never heard a story.

Well, hold it a second. Hold it a second. There are stories like that because Ed Jovanowski didn't even start playing hockey until he was 13. and then four years later he's the first overall pick in the NHL draft. So there are weird stories like that out there. I mean, I remember Jason Garrison was a forward in junior, and then they were like, we need a D-Men.

Like, there's a spot on our team, but only for a team. He's like, I'll do that. And then he's in the NHL. But goalie to defensemen at 13, pretty rare. Well, Jason, goalie at 13, four years later, he's going to be a top three, four pick in the N. as a defenseman, pretty amazing by Verhoff. Okay, so listen, the Canucks don't have much room for air in the next two, three years when it comes to the draft.

Four picks in round one and two this summer. More picks on the way if they make the trades here at the deadline coming up. It's a huge draft coming up, guys. That's why Alvin's traveling all through Europe, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland. Look, that's not a European vacation for him. He's got to get as many views as he can of the top kids, right? I like the fact that the Kinnock staff is over there. This is a big draft.

Like, they can't. Did you guys compare, I think I heard you guys compare the Seahawks and what they did in the last two, three years to what the Connx need to do. And I kind of agree with them. I'll tell you why. Seahawks hit a home run with the Russell Wilson trade. Connx got to do the same with Quinn Hughes, right? Seattle at eight, first or second round picks eight on that Super Bowl team. the Canucks are going to have a lot of high picks.

They've got to nail these guys. They're just the rule for error is not much. And Seattle made some bold moves. They got rid of Pete Carroll and they got rid of the quarterback and Canucks are going to have to make the same type of bold moves. You know? That was bold. That was old.

Gino's gone. They made, like, that general manager there is unbelievable, right? And people will say it's a different system and it's a different league and there's nothing to learn there. It's like there's a lot to learn. There's a lot to learn from that Seahawks team. That GM in Seattle's making trades. He's making draft picks, just like GM's in hockey, right?

You also got to, you know why? You got to point out that Seattle did it over the course of four drafts. He was 22, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, where you got Zabel and Imanwari and Murphy and Witherspoon and Smith and Jigba, Hall, Cross, Mafay, Kenneth Walker. It was over a four-year span. So it's not like they went into one draft and turned everything around. It took a while, but they drafted really well over the course of four drafts.

So from 2020 to 2024 with the Canucks, there's a chance they get like three NHLers out of that. That's it. That's it. Tom Vlander, Lekker-Macky, D.P.D.'s in there. Sawyer Minio could turn into a player for. for them. I mean, they traded Hunter Bruce Griff. How did it Berskevich? Brescad. I,

Dollywald there. Ruff, let me butcher the names. Seriously. That was an homage to you. You just got pronunciation corrected by Rick Dollywold. Mark it down. But that's a low point. But the point is, you know, 2020

no players, no NHL players. 2021, no NHL players. And then 2024, potentially no NHL players. And then people are like, why are you always criticizing the Canucks for trading with draft picks? Well, thank you.

There you go. Thank you. And the 2020 draft, just so you know, Jason did not yield any players for the Canucks. I think they traded the picks one and two that year, too. And then they picked Yoni Yermo or something like that. But the 2020 draft yielded no players. You can't have drafts where you yielded no. players with 32 teams in the National

Hockey League. Like, I can't remember what you analyst said it yesterday, but your top picks have to play. Because your next pick is in the 30s, 40s, 50, 60s. If your first rounder doesn't make it in today's draft, your second rounder is between picks, you know,

30, 40, or 50. Like, it's ridiculous. You've got to nail the first rounders. And I think I like the fact, Delvin's over there, and he's scouting the hell out of all these players. It's important for the GM to get a lot of good views. But I just, this draft is so important, huge coming up for these guys. It's not even funny. But you know what? I almost have a problem

with them treating it. Like it is important. But I almost have a problem with them. They're like, we got to nail this draft. Like this is it. This is the draft. I think that just reinforces this whole like, it's almost an arrogance that we can just have one draft and turn things around. You need multiple years of that. Of course you have to nail the draft. Every team is thinking that. And the position they put themselves in is like we have to make every pick's got to be perfect. Well, guess what?

It won't be. And you need to just have a different attitude. And I still, again, I still have not heard an answer to this. And maybe I will in the end of season press conference. What are the expectations for next season? Well, but if they said they're going into a rebuild, they should be trying to finish 30 second again next year and get all these picks.

Do you think they will? Yeah, but hold it a second, Jason. They announced we're doing a rebuild. So, you know, 30 second this year, you finish 30 second next year, you get a ton of drop picks. You know, that should be the plan. Is it not in a rebuild? I don't know.

I don't know because, this team, first of all, they haven't traded that many players. They haven't really made a ton of rebuilding moves. Quinn Hughes forced their hand. Sherwood was obvious. So I still don't, because I keep, you know, Jim Rutherford will say, like, this is the year. This is the year to tank. This is the year to lose.

This is the year to get the young defenseman experience. And he keeps saying, this is the year, to which the obvious question about, what about next year? What about next year? Well, next year, if they do a true rebuild, they should be 32nd again. And they don't have studs in their system. Like, they just do not have top end elite young guys.

They don't. And it's just, and this year, they're going to get one of the top three picks. They're going to get a top elite talent. But it's going to take so much more than that. It's going to take so much more than that. They had a pretty elite guy in Quinn Hughes,

and they worked a very good team with him on the team. So they got a long way to go. What did you think when you saw Beau Horvatt score? Obviously, we all thought the same thing. They traded an Olympian. They traded away an Olympian who, and I'm happy for Bo, because he is the, you know, he's the good pro on and off the ice. You mentioned it this morning, do you remember in his early years

when people complained about his skating and then he fixed it? And that's a message to all these young kids. that get drafted high. Just because you get drafted high, it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean that you're going to make the NHL. It just means that today, here's where you're ranked. You've got to keep getting better. Bull got better.

He's a great skater now. He's well-liked. He's a good pro on and off the ice. It's a trade that when you look back, when you look back, guys, you really wonder what the thinking was. Here's what I know on that summer. Canucks made him an offer early in the summer. The Horvack camp didn't like it.

the offer and they, you know, at some point, they were dealing with Miller's camp too. His departure was more contract related than anything else. They just couldn't come up with a number and then Jim came up with a number for the Miller camp. I will say this to you, there were people in that hockey department that did not want to keep Miller over Horvath. They wanted Horvatt over Miller. So there was people in that hockey department fighting to keep Bo. The Canucks told Bo and he has said this in interviews that I We're going to keep you, and we're going to trade the other guy, and they did the opposite. So that really pissed Bull off, and he has mentioned that in interviews.

But look, we all make mistakes in life. There are mistakes you can't undo. They can't undo the Bull Horvatt trade. They can't undo it. They just can't. And then they, remember in November, they made him an offer, and it wasn't going to be good enough. It just wasn't going to be good enough, and he rejected it, and then he was scoring at a high clip, and then he goes over there.

just a real, you know, really good guy, Bo Horvatt on and off the ice, a good community guy, and guess what? They traded them. But you can't undo it. We can talk about it, but everybody in life makes mistakes,

and these guys made a big one by getting rid of the wrong guy. Did they make a mistake not picking up Jack Finley on the waiver wire? I don't know anything about Jack Finley, but I saw a lot of people being upset about it. I'm going to tell you about Jack Finley. Is there a fan base in the NHL that, loves the waiver wire, Morden Canucks fans. So last Friday, Tampa Bay puts this guy,

6'5-7-enter Jack Finley on waivers. You'd think the lightning put a first-rounder on waivers. Even certain media on your station at noon, no, the Canucks got to claim Finley. 100%, it's a no-brainer. Well, the Canucks didn't claim Finley. So I asked a pro-scout in the Eastern Conference about Finley, and this is what he said.

Big right-shot center, fourth-line center, that could be a third-line center in a best-case scenario. He's dealt with a ton of injuries the past four years. He needs game reps. He doesn't play a heavy game. So you tell me right now, Jason, after I just explained to you what that pro-scouts said about Finley, would you want Finley? That four years he's been injured doesn't play a heavy game.

So the Canucks have, just so you know, the Canucks have no shortage of players in Abbisford who could be fourth-line players. They're just down the highway. They don't need to claim fourth liners on waivers. If they're going to sign NCAA players soon, why would they pick up players on waivers? That would be taken away opportunity from those NCAA players potentially. So if everyone's healthy next year,

and so this is what we know. Pedersen, Heedle, and Rossi up, that's your top three centers. And by the way, the Canucks have spent 20 million on those three centers. Pedersen, Heedle, and Rossi. Where is there room for a fourth-line center to climb the ladder if those are your three centers start next year? Right? So, and by the way, I got a little bit of an update on Heedel.

No, actually, last time I checked, there is no update. They're going to reassess him after the break. Yeah. So, you know, we obviously got to monitor Heedle on a daily basis. Well, he was going to see a new specialist, wasn't he? Yeah, he was. For migrants. But I've been told, yeah, I was told last night they're going to reassess him out.

after the break and see where they are. So let's get back to this. Instead of fourth liners on waivers, the Canucks should be trying to get young players like Winger Brennan Offman, who the Rangers are willing to move. A 23-year-old former first-round pick who needs a change of scenery, right?

And the Connox of that interest in the past in him. But you do know why players go on waivers, right? Jason. Yeah. Look, I'll say this. I don't typically get into the waiver wire fight. This is the same organization that gave Lucas Reichel a shot.

And they put them on the trade block two weeks later. So if you were willing to pay a fourth for Reichael, why would you not be willing to pick up Finley on a free? Okay. Again, so you're taking a spot away from potentially someone in Abbisper. I just told you I think they're going to be signing NCAA players soon. Where's the roster spot? How about if you're getting a NCAA center?

Just put them back on waivers. See if someone else. claim them. I mean, it's not that hard. It's not like, they are the worst team in the NHL by a considerable margin. Like, a guy that's a fourth liner for them could end up being their second liner in a matter a day is the way that they play. Like, I

don't think this Finley guy's going to make a difference. I think the point would be like if there's anyone available, and you've already shown how desperate you are for any kind of NHL slash AHL-credible player. It's not like Abbotsford couldn't use the help as well if you were able to get them down there. And I know you'd have to eliminate a contract

somewhere, but again, if you're If you're the worst team in the NHL, which it connects are by a considerable margin, I don't think anything should be off the table. I don't think you should be looking at your in-house options as being better than what's out there. You should be willing to try anything. But if they don't like the player, they don't like the player. They don't like the player. But it's more than fine for people to be like, well, what did you like about Lucas Reichel?

Yeah. Because you gave up, what, a fourth round pick for him? Was that? Was that? So that wasn't even a free. And, you know, we watched Lucas Reckle. for about, I don't know, five minutes? And we're like, good skater.

Has no idea what he's doing out there. I think what it is, Rick, is less about Jack Finley and more like a thought exercise, which is if there's someone available, are you in a position now that why not give him a look? Because you've already tried it with Reichel. I get what you're saying, though. If he's, you know, if he's 6'6 and 220 and doesn't hit anybody and isn't that good of a player, don't even bother with it. I don't need to watch that.

Yeah. If you're 6'6. Yeah. We've got plenty of 6'5 guys to do that. Yeah. No, I get it. If he's 6-6 and plays a heavy game, defends his teammate and fights,

I would have been in on that. But they do their research, by the way, the Connox. And by the way, Finley played the Spokane to the Western. Yeah, well, anyways, the part that I, he's dealt with a ton of injuries in the past four seasons. Like, the word that was used was ton.

Like, Mike, do you want a guy here that's had a ton of injuries in the last four years? Not particularly. Well, that's why I asked this, pro scout in the east. What's the scoop on Finley? And, you know, and if he played a heavy game, I would maybe think about it because they don't really have anybody in Navisburg or Vancouver that plays a heavy game. But it's just, it's an ongoing process with this hockey club right now, guys. And but I do agree with you. They should be looking everywhere, you know, for players to make

them better and, you know, and maybe give some young guys that aren't working out somewhere else and opportunity to see if it can make it work in Vancouver. And, you know, because I think what Teddy Blugher's head concerns me. You know, I'm worried about the lack of character on this team, and I'm worried about the lack of guys that don't care in that dressing of that. You know, Teddy Bluger's comments really, really, I think, hit home with a lot of people. Rick, you're the best, buddy. Thanks for doing this. We appreciate it.

All right, guys. Well, that was a good one. It was a good old-fashioned hang-up. Rick Dollywell here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsSaint, 650. I can't do reclamation projects. I know. I know. You're going to see a lot of it.

Oh, I just can't, man. You're going to see it. You already saw it. It's the worst. Get ready to learn reclamation project. It is the worst. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.