Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 2/14/25

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, plus they get a Canucks update from the 4 Nations via 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. And do my graveyard slay. Doing the Monster Mash with you on this beautiful Valentine's Day. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Jack has another! Stop! Stop! He's already dead! You choo-choo-choose me? Happy Valentine's! Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning, Vancouver! 6-0-1 on a Friday!

Happy Friday, everybody! Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Alfred, it is Brough, it is Sportsnet 650, and we are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios, the beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. It is Halford and it is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650 and we are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios, the beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you.

Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. 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 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. It is a Friday, it is Valentine's Day,. We got a big show ahead. The guest list today begins at 6 30.

Brady Henderson, ESPN, NFL Nation Seahawks insider is going to join us. It was a busy week for the Seattle Seahawks. Their new offensive coordinator, Clint Kubiak got introduced to the media. The Seahawks also rounded out their coaching staff and head coach Mike McDonald offered yet another strong endorsement, maybe his strongest endorsement to date about Geno Smith being the Seahawks QB next season. So we will talk to Brady about all that at 630. 7 o'clock Tom Galidi from NHL.com is gonna join the program. He was working last night's game from the Bell Center. Big statement, big statement for the Kachuk brothers Brady and Matthew in a 6-1 thumping of the program. He was working last night's game from the Bell Center. Big statement, big statement for the Kachuk brothers, Brady and Matthew, in a 6-1 thumping of the Finns in the second

game of the Four Nations faceoff. I also want to ask Tom, and I want to do this gently because he is American, what was the atmosphere like at the Bell Center given all the political tensions right now with the United States? because I feel like of all the tables that were being set for Saturday, the booing of the anthem, the booing of the players, the very loud booing of American captain Austin Matthews, I feel like it's going to be spicy on Saturday, Jason. Please share the text that I sent you and Martin Ago yesterday at around, you can just say the general idea, around noon,

I think yesterday. It was a classic, bruff prediction. Yeah. Where he likes to throw things out into the ether in hopes that they come true. So we can all tell him. Not hoping, not hoping, not hoping that. We can tell him he was right at the end of the day.

The prediction was that there's going to be booing of the American Anthem tonight and it's going to take this whole tournament to another level and there's going to be booing of the American anthem tonight and it's going to take this whole tournament to another level. And there's going to be booing on Saturday. And there's going to be booing when, if Canada and the United States are in the final or if Canada is in the, in the final back in Boston, they're, they're going to boo the

Canadian anthem. And I've got some thoughts on this. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. You can text into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650. Please keep your thoughts calm and reasoned. Okay. Go crazy.

I, all of us here are well aware of the different opinions that we see on Twitter. Let's try and avoid like the Twitter comments. Oh, okay. Like let's, let's try and avoid that sort of stuff and just have a conversation about this. Because, um, what's going on, the relationship between Canada and the United States, um, is for

our two countries, the history, very, very, very unusual. It is not every president that sits in the Oval Office and says, Canada, you know, if we don't protect them, there's a lot of ships out there. There's a lot of ships. There's Russian ships, there's Chinese ships. There's a lot of ships. You know, like this doesn't happen

with every president and this is a very unusual and for me, it's a little disturbing a disturbing situation that we're going through. The two countries will not be. I must be a soy boy because I'm disturbed by it. The two countries will not be exchanging valentines today. Let's put it that way. So that's going to be at seven o'clock with Tom

Gleady. Oh God, it's Valentine's Day. It's also Valentine's Day. Oh my God. Yeah. There's another. There's the flower store. And there's another thing that I should, I'll be

reminding, for everybody out there that has forgotten their significant other, I will be, for everybody out there that has forgotten their significant other, I will be reminding you several times this morning that it's Valentine's day. So you can furiously rush to the store and get some crappy flowers and some second rate chocolates. Okay. Speaking of secondary chocolates, a Moj is going

to join us at 7.30. Ah, good old Moj. We'll look back on his week at the Super Bowl. I'm sure that he's recovered from a week of partying and having a good time down in New Orleans. We can get into everything else that we normally get into with Moj, including Ask Us Anything Fridays and a food Ask Us Anything Fridays. For him a reminder, it is Ask Us Anything Friday on the program. AJ is going to join us at 7.05 and the best Ask Us Anything or What We Learned

Today is going to get a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. Finally, rounding out the guest list today at 8 o'clock, Rick Dollywall is going to join the program. I, as per usual, have no idea what we're going to talk to Dollywall about. That's Jason. Well, Dollywall's really excited about this story in the WHL about Penticton leaving the BCHL and going to the WHL and the amount of money that was paid to make that move.

He's also got a little note in here and it says, season ticket prices going up. Was there a note sent to Canucks fans that season ticket prices are going up? Well, I mean, it's been such a successful year. There's one thing you want to capitalize on from this year. It's raising ticket prices.

And a lot of Vancouverites have a lot of money, spare money that they just don't know what to do. Luckily, this is a really cheap place to live. Yeah, this is just like, that has actually been, nobody has brought up the cost of living in Canada. So that, we'll see how that goes. We'll see how that goes. We will, oh man, okay. It's Ask Us Anything Friday. We haven't asked us anything

that's ripping the show apart right now. So we'll get into that as well. Dolly Wall's gonna join us at eight. Moj at 7.30. Tom Gullede at seven. AJ at seven as well. And Brady at 6.30. It's a big show ahead.

Oh, reminder too. We're not just doing the $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway today. We are also gonna be giving away the final pair this week of the Rugby 7s tickets. Yeah, the HSBC Rugby 7s. It's going to be at BC Place later this month. If you want to win the tickets to the 7s, be caller number 7 this morning, 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650.

Be caller number 7 at 815 this morning and you'll win our final pair of tickets to see the rugby sevens at BC Place later to this month we got a big show ahead on a Friday there's a lot to get into so without further ado laddie let's tell everybody what happened hey did you guys see the game last night What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that?

What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. The second game of the Four Nations Face Off went went yesterday and it was the most lopsided game Although there's only been two to date Matthew and Brady Kachuk each scored twice as the US blew the doors off of Finland in the third period especially In both countries debuts at the four nations face off from Montreal Matt Boldy scored Jake Gensel scored

The Americans really lit it up and put forth a pretty profound statement going into Saturday's game against the Canadians. But I mean who were the stars of this? Brady and Matthew Kachuk. Yeah. Yeah. And there's So they do they put together that line As the game went on with Kachuk. Yes, or sorry with with Eichel as their center Yes So in the second period, early in the second period of the game, with the game still very much up in the balance,

Mike Sullivan made maybe the move, the move of the game. And if it's a short tournament, the tournament, where he took Kyle Connor off a line with Jack Eichel and Matthew Kachuk and replaced him with Brady Kachuk. And from there, the tone of the game shifted and the scoreline of the game shifted as well. Let's go right to the head coach. Here is Mike Sullivan after the 6-1 win over the Finns

talking about the move to put the Kichuk brothers on either side of Jack Eichel. I'm not gonna lie when I was thinking about the line combinations and having the discussions with our coaching staff, the conversation did come up about putting Brady and Matthew together. Um, you know, I think those two players, not only are they great players, but they're great teammates. Um, and I also think, you know, that, that it's pretty cool when you, when you

have an opportunity to play with your brother and there might be some added motivation or some added inspiration, uh, an opportunity to play with your brother. And there might be some added motivation or some added inspiration to want to play. And so that was something that we thought about and talked about as a staff before the tournament even started. So they're two real good players. I thought when we made the switch, we put them with Jack Eichel. I think they just have a funny way of just dragging us into the fight.

So hey, if you wanted your great narratives and great storylines and exactly what the matchup is going to be going in to Saturday, look no further than the Nova Scotia boys, Crosby and McKinnon going up against the Kachuk boys, Matthew and Brady. That's what this tournament early shaping has come down to. You know, obviously Crosby and McKinnon were great in the opener and Crosby was player of the game.

I'll tell you this, watching that game and at times it was a slog yesterday in large part because the Finns through the first two periods did finish things. They made it grindy. They made it checky. They had chances though. They just, they just, I mean, half the time

they had a two on one, they didn't even get a shot on goal, right? Like, and, uh, I, I bet they're looking at that game and going, man, like that was a one goal game, um, and you know, we just completely lost it and it really started at the end of the second period when they took a late penalty and Whether it was a soft call or not they got called and it was a couple seconds left

It was it was a needless penalty and I think I think it was only Mata got called for it. And then Kachuk scores 15 seconds into the third period and then Jake Gensel scores 11 seconds later in the game and the game is over. Now that Matthew Kachuk goal originally looked like a howler of a goal by Yussi Saros to allow, but I think upon further review it looked like a Finnish player did tip the puck a little bit. Miko Nikola. Nikola, yeah. So that game could have been much different if the Finns had just capitalized on a few

of their chances because through two periods, I wasn't sitting there going, wow, the Americans look incredible. Not at all. Not at all. I didn't think, it wasn't a terrific hockey game. It was much more physical than Canada and Sweden. So I like that in hockey, but it wasn't as fast as Canada and Sweden. So, you know, I like that in hockey, but it wasn't as fast as Canada, Sweden and the Finns were in it.

They just, you know, once they lost it though, it was, you know, and I think the guys on the broadcast made a good point that this is sometimes what happens when you're an underdog. You fight, fight, fight to keep it close. You fight to keep yourself in it. And then as soon as that reality hits, it hits hard and the flood gates open and that's what happened last night.

Yeah, but obviously the turning point in the game was when Sullivan made the move to put the Kachak brothers between, or sorry, on the other side of Jack Icah, and they really took off after that. And okay, so all the other, and I don't know, do you wanna, whenever you wanna start on your thoughts about the political side and the anthem side of things, we can get into it because I've got, look, basically I've got the game stuff and you've, and both are important.

Both are vitally important because even in the aftermath- You always seem to have the game stuff over the really hard stuff. If you want to deal with that hard stuff over there, you go for it. I'll just deal with the score sheet. Well, do you have any thoughts on it? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. On what? On what?

The booing of the anthems and the atmosphere. The booing of the anthems is going to be allowed and it's going to be, I justified probably isn't the right word, but it's inevitable. It's going to happen on Saturday. It happened yesterday and I know that they tried to tamp it down as much as they could. It was very obvious that someone was at the controls of the broadcast in terms of the volume that was being played from in the arena. But if you followed every reporter that was in the building covering the game,

I think almost all of them, to an individual, put out that there were very loud boos while the American anthem was going on. And this was for a game, I'll remind you, that did not involve Canada. The opponent was Finland. It was just an opportunity to boo the US anthem yesterday. It wasn't related to the fact that they were cheering for Canada and booing the US on that given night.

It was that the anthem was played even with an in arena announcement, asking those in attendance to respect the anthems, the anthem was still booed. So the Kachuk brothers were asked about it afterwards and Brady and Matthew were up there together and Brady's like, well, I play for the Ottawa Senators, I'm gonna stay out of this right now. He's like, Matthew, why don't you take this?

Brady was the Halford, Matthew was the Halford. Yeah. Matthew was the Brough. Yeah, God, that was so funny. And if you have any thoughts on the hard stuff, that'd be great. But Matthew said, I didn't like it, and I'll leave it at that. And I'm sure he didn't like it.

He didn't like it. I'm sure he's a proud American. But the replies to that are like, you know what we don't like? We don't like what your president is saying about us. We have had a very, for the most part, friendly relationship for a long, long time. We have fought wars together. We have died on the battlefield together. We have had a trading relationship that has helped, for the most part, both our countries. We buy your products. You buy our products.

And now the sitting US president is up there acting like a schoolyard bully and saying some things that we have never heard a US president say about Canada before and people are like yeah you still shouldn't boo the anthem though oh I'm sorry are we are we being rude? Are we? Is, was that rude of us to boo a song? Was that, was that rude of us? You know what else is kind of rude? Now, I am fully aware of what's being said on the other side and I'm being, I am fully aware that some of that stuff is coming from within our own country and I am being I am fully aware that some of that stuff is coming from within our own country and I understand why that's happened there are a lot of Canadians right now that are not as proud to be Canadian as we used to be collectively as a country and that's an us problem that's an us problem. That's an us problem that we need to solve.

Because the fall of Canada, if it ever happens, will not happen only because there's a power outside of us that wants to intimidate us or wants to take us over. The fall of Canada will partly come if we just capitulate to it. And here's the reality for all the leaders out there. This should be every single Canadian going, this is wrong and we're gonna come together as a country. The problem is we've got a lot of young people in this country and a lot of medium-aged but

the problem I think I see the main problem is young people that do not feel good about their futures in this country. The housing market seems basically impossible to get into. Everything is very expensive so you can't even save up money. And here's a little thing that some people in the lame stream media won't throw out there, but it is very much true. If you gave the offer to a lot of young Canadians, do you want to join the United States? You'd have access to cheaper housing, you'd have access to job markets, they'd go, yes. And all the older Canadians would be like,

what are you talking about? Like we're a sovereign, we're one of the best countries in the world. We're amazing. There is a disconnect there that we need to bridge as Canadians. And previous leadership has let us down in that way. Also situation, the pandemic caused all this stuff.

But I am telling you right now that if we don't come together as a country, there is risk in this. Maybe not through Trump, but once the germ of an idea is planted and that's very much how this happened, this started as a little barb that Trump gave to Trudeau when Trudeau foolishly went down there to try and talk his way out of this. Like, oh, that's going to work. The barb has grown.

Trump is essentially like, to get back to like a little bit of comedy, Trump is a schoolyard bully. Like, he's a schoolyard bully. He doesn't have friends. He's a schoolyard bully. He if he's a school yard bully, he doesn't have friends, he's a school yard bully, he's had trouble at home. I think his parents are going through a divorce, so he's got some trouble, right? And anything that shows vulnerability, he's going to be like, ah. So as soon as his little joke went public about Canada becoming the 51st state or

whatever and he realized that oh my god we're getting traction on that like he's gonna be like yeah we're gonna we're gonna lean into this we're gonna lean into this and that is exactly what he's doing so it's it's remarkable the timing of this particular tournament and having a Canada versus US. Like it's almost, it's beyond coincidence. It's like the cosmic, the moons and the stars have aligned and in this moment, in this flashpoint moment, where as you said, this has never happened before politically,

you get this game. And what have we talked about incessantly over, not even the last couple of weeks leading up to this term, but the last few months is like, there's been a void in international best on best and by extension there's been a void in cheering for Canada for cheering for the the team for the national team for the guys that are wearing the maple leaves on their chest and are so proud to do it. It's interesting because when you talk about what's been lost from this generation to the past,

I see a lot of people referencing it's like, there's an entire younger generation that things like Terry Fox and the 72 Summit series doesn't resonate with them. Like it resonates with our generation. Remember the things that we used to be really proud of it like we've got great peacekeepers. That's, you know, things like that, that we'd,

and people are like, well, what do you think about Trudeau? Well, what do you think I just said? I just said our previous leadership let down a lot of people. Our previous leadership did not do enough to make us proud as Canadians. Said silly things like we're a post national

country, which he might've meant something high braille that none of us understand, but it's like what we heard was like this, like he could not appeal to the everyday people and he lost a lot of people along the way. And that is his fault. Just like it's the Democrats fault down south that they lost the working class.

So, because they, they, they, they looked their nose, they looked down their nose at them and they thought they were the working class. So, because they, they, they, they looked their nose, they looked down their nose at them and they thought they were better than them. So the reason I bring it back to that. And now, and now, and now what's happening is the chickens are coming home to roost and we're all like, wait a minute, like, are there some people that didn't feel proud?

Yeah. Oh, and that's why they, I mean, and this is in part why we're having a large scale debate born from in part, booing an anthem at a game. Because part of me is there's got to be a sense of I'm glad, I'm glad that there's pushback and I'm glad that there's people voicing that they don't like what's going on. That's an important thing, right? When you talk about national pride, that's an important thing. And the other very interesting part

in the weird realm that we exist in is that this, like again, the time really struck me last night is like, we talked about, well, we've been starved of this for so long. You remember back, and I know everyone looks at the 2010 Olympic victory as a sporting thing, but let's be real, a big component of that was that it was a celebration of Canada and the country. And what better way to close out Olympics

on Canadian soil than with that moment and that celebration and you jumping on the SkyTrain to go downtown and everyone's wearing red and white. And there was that sense of national like pride, right? And that was born from- Sports brings people together like that. It was born from a hockey game. And now fast forward at 15 years,

and I'm looking ahead to tomorrow and I'm like, it's not gonna be the same. It's fundamentally different, but there are some components that are important and interesting and do harken back to a time where, like, and I, the two that, you know, I mentioned earlier, it's like when the intersection between sports and everything. Terry Fox, 72 summits series, 87 Canada Cup. Those are ones that are built into the fabric of when

we were growing up. I think tomorrow could be very iconic based on what's going on. I think it might be larger than people think or are ready for. It's a flash point moment. It's a flash point moment. It's a flash point moment. It's come out of nowhere. We've got Canada and US playing a hockey game in Montreal during the most, one of the most unusual, maybe the most unusual time in the relationship between Canada and the United States. And I just wish that on both sides of whatever side of the debate you're on, you just try and understand the other side more. Sure. You just try and understand the other side more sure because what I tried to do in that segment

Was say hey, I don't like what's being said by the US president, but here's the thing There's usually a reason for everything and it's not just like racism Right, you know, it's not just racism, you know, like, it's like, people aren't happy. They're not happy. They're not happy that they live in this supposedly great country but can't afford to buy a condo despite the fact that they're working hard at their job every day. And, and, and for years, for years and years, that was the thing that was the agreement.

And I'm talking about Kennedy and the United States here. You work hard. You, uh, will have a place to live and a little extra money to have some fun. Right? Well, that doesn't, that, that doesn't compute right now. By those connections.

That doesn't. How many people in this city, unless they've got their parents to give them some money, which most people don't, how many people come out of university or high school or trade school or whatever and you're ready to work, how many people are like realistically like, whatever, and you're ready to work, how many people are like, realistically like, well, I can't wait till I have the half a million dollars to put down on, you know, to buy a house, right? Like it's thing people are angry. And I'm telling you that as Canadians, if we don't come together to make a better argument for Canada, we are at risk of losing Canada.

So for those of you that are texting in, please stick to sports or get off the cell box. Too bad. Turn the radio off. Just turn the radio off. Look, there was a very interesting moment on the national broadcast yesterday, where they threw to David Amber and Elliot Friedman

after the game. And it's a 6-1 win for the US over Finland and you know you're looking at the hockey aspect of it and what it's set up for Saturday and Frieds just looked at the camera and essentially said he's like you know this is now a powder keg. Yeah nobody cares about why Finland lost yesterday. Well I kind of do. I was I would like to talk about it- Will we see Lankton in the next game? Probably, yeah, probably, but who cares, honestly. I would, I do think-

This is so much bigger, this stuff. I do think that Kitchax is a cool story, but I get exactly what you're talking about. But to the point, it was something that, so in the aftermath of the game, because everyone was kind of with an eye on this Finland U.S. game, like let's be real, everyone was looking at this game

as just what it meant for Saturday's game, right? I think that's a fair assessment on the entire thing. Even in the aftermath where there was plenty of things to parse through, it was hard not to look at what's happening in that, you know, sort of geopolitical realm and look ahead to Saturday and what might be on the horizon. And you know, Frach acknowledged it straight out.

He's like, you know, I don't usually like to drag these things into it. And everyone, I understand the notion of stick to sports, but it was almost on it. What do you think the 1972 Summit Series was about? It was just like a hundred percent hockey. Right. The Canada Cubs were like a hundred percent hockey?

To the, my God people. Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it's wrong to talk about. Some of us have the emotional regulation to talk about this sort of stuff. Why do you think the Summit Series was so big and so important? Literally it was a... Because we loved the Russians. It was a geopolitical event.

It was a happy time. That's why it stays in the minds of Canadians. This is making me feel uncomfortable talking about sports. So sometimes... Well, sometimes they're directly linked and you can't avoid one or the other. They come together. Some are saying, no, please don't avoid one or the other they come together some are saying no Please don't stop talking about this. Please continue most most are saying that you're listening to the best of Halford and brough You're listening to the best of Halford and brough Rick Dollywell. I know Rick Rick's waiting patiently. He's not waiting patiently

He will join us now on the program Rick Dollywell from the Donnie and Dolly show on check TV joins us now in the half of the breath show on sportsnet 650 what up Ricky D. It's funny. I was talking to Sam Bennett's agent this morning and I told them I said, you know what your guys going in and After watching the Kachak brothers last night. I I told them I said there is no way they're not putting your guy in And bingo you guys announced that know, Bennett's going in tonight. It makes a lot of sense from the Canadian side. After watching the Canucks, or sorry, the Kachak brothers last night, this is a good move.

What are your thoughts on the Four Nations overall? Awesome. I called it on Monday. This is not an all-star game. The intensity and physicality wise, it's going to be better It was the overtime was so much fun So many great players skills speed just and and I said after the Canadian game I said I can't wait for the USA game because it's going to be way more intense and the Kachak brothers last night Four goals five points 13 shots 10 hits Kachak, eight hits. He said

post game. Canada USA is going to be the biggest game of his life. USA coach Mike Sullivan said the atmosphere is going to be electric against Canada. Guys, that's going to be must-watch TV tomorrow. Like that's to me a game that you don't want to miss. It's just going to be absolutely phenomenal. And the intensity and if the Kachak brothers are having 13 hits against Finland, what the heck do you think they're going to want to do against Canada?

Yeah. Well, I'm thinking about Conor McDavid here and, um, you know, I'm not going to say that tomorrow's going to be the biggest game of his life because he's played in a game seven of the Stanley Cup final, which seems pretty big, but he must feel a lot of pressure to deliver for Canada like the

Canadian superstars before him have. Oh, sure. Sure. When you're the best and the best of the best in the biz and, and you nailed it though. Uh, no matter what happens in this tournament, he's already played the game of his life, game seven, uh, in Florida. And you know, how we all know how that turned

out, but by the same token, this is a tournament that Canada relies on them. But who, who was the best Canadian player, Jason, the other night? It was a 37 year old. Yeah. Yeah. It was a 37 year old. Yeah. It was a 37 year old who said, you know what, I'm only going to play 17 minutes, but in those

17 minutes, I'm going to get three great assists. I'm going to be a difference maker. I'm going to be the guy that Canada relies on. And here's the thing about Sidney Crosby. Um, he didn't play for eight days before the Sweden game, cause he was injured. Um, he had some sort of treatment. His agent was on our show saying he had some sort of treatment before the Four Nations.

This guy hadn't played in eight days. He was banged up. There was rumors he might not even play. And then Jason, he's the best Canadian player. So the great thing about a Canadian team like this, you don't really have to rely on one guy there's so many great superstars any one of these guys can be the difference maker in any certain game and as much as you like and McKinnon's right there too you mentioned McDavid so is McKinnon he's absolutely wonderful when he gets his second third gear going

through the neutral zone is there anybody funner to watch? No. You know, so they, Canada's got so many great players. So are the Americans. Um, so are the Americans and it did, and you know, obviously they're going to miss Quinn Hughes. There's no, no question about it. Uh, but you saw who got all the ice time on the blue line last night for the Americans, Wuranski really, you know, he's right there with McCarr and Hughes. He's not going to win the Norris, but he's having an unbelievable season with Columbus as well.

So many good players, so many good players. So another thing to keep an eye on is Kale McCarr was not on the ice for practice today. He's sick. Um, so hopefully he's not too, too sick because, uh, they desperately need him to be in the lineup and as healthy as possible. So just something to keep, keep an eye on ahead of the game.

Let's talk about this story out of Penticton where Penticton is leaving the BCHL to go to the WHL. There have been rumors about the big dogs in the BCHL joining the dub, but now it's I guess officially happening. Tell us how this all came together. Yeah, this all started about a week, week and a half ago. The BC Hockey League asked for team declarations for next year, commitments, you know, commitments from teams recently and Penticton abstained.

I also believe Okotoks from Alberta abstained as well. The word is that Penticton is paying millions to enter the Western Hockey League as an expansion franchise next year. They also played the Kelowna Rockets over one million for territorial rights. The number I am hearing guys that Penticton paid for an expansion team in the DUP, some say 10 to 15 million dollars just to get in. I heard 12 about three days ago and then last night somebody said, hey Rick, you better be careful, 12 is low. And I said, really? Somebody said 16 million last night. I am hearing some former NHL players may be involved with the Penticton group that's

going to the Western Hawkeye League because you've got to get an infusion of cash. And, you know, if you're going to pay 10, 15 million for an expansion fee, it's pretty tough for one guy to come up with that. So I think some NHL players are involved. I've heard of some names, but I'm not going to say them right now. The funny thing is that the Penticton owner in the GM there played a massive role in the BC Hockey League leaving hockey Canada. Now they leave the BC Hockey League.

It was Penticton that brought the AGHL teams into the league, which cost teams hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now they're jumping ship. I talked to enough people in the BC Hockey League last night, not impressed. So Penticton always wanted a super league in that BC hockey league, like the one they got in Alberta. They only wanted to play top teams, but the BC hockey league governors didn't go for it. So, what does the BC hockey league do now without their

flagship team? The junior hockey landscape in this province, oh my goodness, it is changing at a rapid pace. Someone told me last night they don't see the BC Hockey League continuing in its current format with all their teams. This is an expensive league, incredible amounts of travel. So let me give you an example, the Surrey Eagles, they got to go to Vancouver Island, then they got to go to Prince George, then they got to go to trail, then they got to go to the Okanagan.

The travel in this league is unbelievable. Budgets are huge, crowds are not. They're going to have trouble recruiting high-end players because all the top players, where are they going? They're going to the Canadian Hockey League. Things have gone downhill for this league since the moment they left Hockey Canada. They lost Wenatchee to the Western Hockey League last year. They're losing Penticton to the Western Hockey League next year. They have left Hockey Canada. How many blows can this league

take? Big decisions lie ahead and don't discount Chilliwack. It's on the radar for the Western Hockey League. I don't know if they get in next year, but if you lose at that market, it gets even tougher. Very interesting times for junior a hockey right now in this province. Yeah, the travel thing is interesting. I was actually in Palo River this past weekend

and the Kings were playing and the Kings, Kings are having a bit of a struggle, but you know, there's still support there in Palo River for the team, but if having a bit of a struggle, but you know, there's still support there in Palo River for the team. But if you think about the travel there, I mean, Palo River is not super easy to get to for Vancouver, it's two ferries. Um, you know, and if you're going to the Okanagan,

I don't even know how they travel or whatever. But. Jason, forget about the Okanagan. These guys got teams in trail and Prince George. Like if you're prince george every single road trip every there isn't a close road trip for prince george other than the okanagan and that still you know it takes a few hours to get there it's a very expensive league um i don't know how some teams are doing it i look merit left last year. What a proud franchise Merritt has been. So many guys in

the NHL went through Merritt. I don't know how some of these teams are going to survive. Like, you know, people are saying, you know, are they going to have to end up being a junior B-League? I don't know. But who's getting stronger right now is the Western Hockey League. You saw a player in the Dub this week announced as a 19 year old that I'm not coming back as a 20 year old I'm going to the NCAA. So now players don't have to go to the BC League to get their NCAA scholarship. They can get both, you know, they can get the Western League and then the NCAA scholarship. It's a really tough time for the BC Hockey League right now. Yeah, like if you were a top player, why would

you choose the BCHL? Like if you think about the history of like, I don't know, one name comes to mind, I guess, Cal Taurus, right? Like, and he wanted to go play at Wisconsin? Yeah. Was that it? Like.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he, so he played a bit in the BCHL, but why would, why would he go that route now? No motivation, no incentive now because you can play in the dub for two, three years and if the NHL is not on your radar, you can still get your NCAA scholarship now, right? And before you couldn't do that.

So it's, the landscape is changing and they did this because they were upset that kids who are 16 and 17 couldn't leave Alberta for the BC League without moving their families and for the Western Hockey League you can do that without moving your families and you can leave Alberta and go to an academy in British Columbia at 15-16 and not move your family but the only league you couldn't do that was the bc league and they were upset with that and but now uh... oh boy if chill like leaves next year that's that's to flagship

uh... uh... that to flagship teams that could leave that we get say it's a tough time i i want to see what the bc hockey league does here to counteract all that has happened here. And boy, oh boy, it's, it's, it's talking to a ton of people last night. Uh, um, there's, there's a lot of anger.

There's a lot of people pissed off, uh, but also nobody forced these guys to leave hockey Canada that that was a decision they made. They, they are going to have to reinvent the, their selling points for the league. Like why come here and then just be able to come prepared and be like, here's why you should come here because it's not so obvious anymore.

Anyway, let's move on here a little bit. Yep. Um, Thatcher Demko's injury when we last left the Vancouver Canucks, everyone was super excited about Elias Pedersen, but they were a little worried about Thatcher Demko. What are you hearing on that front? Well Well we're going to find out next week. Jason, I think Wednesday is the day the Canucks are back to practice from their four nations I believe. I'll double check

that. Is he going to be a practice? That's going to be the big telling tale. Sometimes it's better to be cautious especially in this case but it's uh I've been told still being told it's not serious it's not the knee or the hips um John Garrett and Jamie McClallin couple of former goalies came on the show this week and they both said you know what they're concerned with Demko's injuries the Canucks got to be worried as well durability is going to play a huge role in the Canucks next contract offer to Demko they can talk to him starting this July 1st. If he keeps getting hurt, even Demko knows that he can't ask for huge term. It's been what, we're almost 12 months in, he's on his fourth injury guys, not second, not third, but that one against the Leafs was his fourth.

Demko's health is is gonna play a massive role in what they do with Lankanen. The Canucks may have no choice, but to go outside their comfort zone to re-sign Lankanen. If you give Lankanen term, then what does that do for the future of Archer Sealogs? So like when I look at this and the decisions that are coming up in goal,

they're gonna be fascinating for the Canucks. You've got Demko's contract up next year, but you can talk to him July 1st. Lankton is a UFA right now, so what do you do? You know he's asking for term, and you know his price is gonna be at a number that's gonna make the Canucks uncomfortable. It is, and look what he did against the Maple Leafs, guys.

Coming in at the ten minute mark cold last three minutes maple leaf server powerplay to great change do what what he is the only reason the connection a plow spot today is because of lincoln it it was a great signing get the connects credit but they're not getting that guy cheap anymore that guy is now though did the league is noticed

you know the league is noticed what lincoln's doing and you know the legalankenen is doing and You know the league also knows he's a ufa I'm just saying to you guys like the decisions coming up in goal are gonna be absolutely fascinating in the next Few months. Hey, Rick. I'm gonna throw you on the spot here Lankenen one have you spoken to his agent and two if you have did the agent tell you if he's gonna be playing tomorrow for Finland or not? I Talked him last night he was it was interesting I thought he'd go in there in the third period last night. Agents don't he obviously wants to see Lankton and play but I there was word I will tell you this that you know Lankton made it tough on them it wasn't a

slam dunk that Seiros was gonna go and play for Finland last night. But I would put him in now. I mean, he got lit up by the Americans. I'd put I'd put Lankinen, Lankinen in. And I did talk to this Finland GM, Kari Lettinen earlier this year when he was picking Lankinen. He said, hey, look, we are very well aware of Lankinen's great season in Vancouver. Let's see if he goes in tomorrow on the Lankton and he said hey look we are very well aware of Lankton's great season in Vancouver. Let's see if he goes in tomorrow. On the Lankton front I

can tell you Mike it is quiet. When I talk about it can I do a quick UFA thing for you guys? I checked in with Brock Bester a couple of days ago quiet on the contract front with Brock, quiet with Lankanen. Pia Suter, his agent was in Vancouver last week. That's a player that Canucks would want back. I do get asked a lot about Vitaly Kravtsov. He's wrapping up his season in Russia. I think he's still property of the Canucks. I checked in with Dan Milstein earlier this week.

He said no talks with the Canucks. Look, this guy's not even a point-per-guide in Russia. He's not a top- six player in the NHL, but he's one of those guys that when you're not top six in the NHL, can you find a role in the bottom six? Not a bottom six guy. Not a bottom six guy, not a top six guy, not a Canucks guy. That's it. So here's the deal. When you are drafted high and you're an offensive player and you can't make it

in the top six, you better change your game and find a role in the bottom six. And if you can't, then you're in trouble. I find it hard to believe the Canucks would have interest that guy. I don't know. I get a lot of DMs, what's going on with Kratsov. You do? From who? I do. I do. That's why I'm bringing them up. That's why I call them Melty. It's crazy though. Why are they? Okay. Whatever. Jason, it goes to tell you that this is a good hockey market. They care about every prospect.

They care about every guy. Like if I'm, if I'm covering Carolina or Columbus, nobody's asking me about Vitaly Kravtsov. But they'd be right not to. Yeah. But I, but here's what I got a bunch of DMs saying, Hey, can you, and I do it. I do it for the people cause I'm a people's guy.

You guys know that. You're a good man. You're a good man. You're a good worker. I'm a people's person. Yeah. So I called You're a good man. You're a good man. You're a good worker. You know what? I'm a people's person.

Yeah. So I called Milstein and I asked him anything going on with Cratzoff. But anyways, I don't. I'll be shocked. I'll be shocked guys if they do anything with him. That's not Rick Tuckett's type of guy. No. Let's move on here to Will Ender and Lekarimaki.

You've noted that they had good weeks and Lekkeramacky is certainly continuing to score down in the AHL and Will Ender of course played well and helped his team win the beanpot back in Boston. I guess my question on both of these guys is when could we see them and what should our expectations be because Will Ender has never played in the NHL and Lekarimaki as much as he's scoring down in the NHL, I do wonder if physically he's ready to really contribute in the NHL yet. Yeah, that's a good question.

And I'll get into Lekarimaki in a second and I'll bring that up, but I want to talk about Tom Willander. The decision isn't far away. Okay. I'm not sure how far his team goes in the playoffs. They finally got a good goaltender. You know, they didn't have that for a while. They're pretty undisciplined bunch.

I don't know where they rank up with North Dakota and Minnesota and some of the other top teams. I don't know. The decision to sign Willander is a few few weeks away he's had a good year he only turned out twenty by the way guys a week ago will enter turn twenty don't discount this guy needing time in avid spurt uh... but when he solidifies a spot on that canucks roster that vancouver blue line on the right side is going to be set for years

with the road it will enter everybody you talk to about, great world juniors, he's had a good year. The Beanpot, you saw the assist on the winning goal for Boston University heads-up play. I still got scouts telling me you're not going to get a ton of offense out of this guy, but what you're going to get is a great skater, right? He's a phenomenal skater and his compete level. He's a competitor. He hates to lose. The other thing is, and I do want to bring this up, and I know it's not hockey related, this guy's pretty sharp. Like in school, like this guy's straight A's. Like he's a pretty sharp dude. And he's really, really committed to the education side. And he does a good job there, but it just, look,

everything you hear about Willander is positive. Like I, but the only thing I get back is don't expect a ton of points. He's not going to be Quinn Hughes. Like. That's fine though. That's fine. Just, just a solid right shot.

That's it. Number four defenseman that can eventually play behind Hronik and you're happy with that. Yep. Yep. Yep. You're happy. And, and finally the Canucks draft and develop

a defenseman after Queen Hughes and you got the Elish Pettersson, the defenseman. So they're coming and they're finally doing a good job. Okay. Let's go to LaCaramaque. 16th goal the season the other night in Abbotsburg, 16 goals in twenty seven games that's pretty damn impressive i talked to a pro scout who watched him play nabas for this week

loves the shot the parks on his dick office dick back of the net did you see the goal park on his dick office dick back of the net now you mentioned it not me but i was going to bring it up, Jason, a slight build. I think he's only 170 pounds.

That comes in time. You got your physical maturity, mental maturity. He's only 20 years old. This is going to be a big summer for a La Caramacchi. I'm going to take you back to two years ago. He was going through a tough time. He heard the whispers. He was out of shape.

That summer, he was a man on a mission. He worked hard on his conditioning. He came back, scored 19 goals in the top Swedish league. He got the message, this kid is dialed in. I don't know when he becomes an NHL regular, but he's going to get there. This kid is really dialed in. in NHL regular but he's going to get there. This kid is really dialed in and you don't think the Canucks have been asked about LaCaramaquia and Willander last year and this year when it comes to trade talks? Of course they have. They're the only two blue chip prospects that Canucks have. Last year's draft Canucks didn't have a pick in round one or two and then they traded the guy in the third round. Well guess what? There's not much much common there's not much common in it's a big reason why they haven't read the first rub pick this year so for the second time in the last five years the connects will not have bill

have to drafts where they didn't have a pick in the first three rounds back to moralize is a franchise it doesn't help you team at a spirit then you gotta go to europe to get the uh... niles amman and and the uh... the carlson's then you gotta go to the western hockey league and get over a jersey like our steve bains and chase wooders interest in nielsen so if you look when you've got two guys like this hang on to them uh... developed them and and but i i just i'd

the group the big question you asked jason is where when are they going to be NHL regulars? And the answer is up to them, nobody else. Okay, I want to ask you one final question. We only got a minute to go here. Unless you got time, take it. Season ticket prices going up, how dramatically and how confident are the Canucks that they are going to find enough buyers? Okay, so you see Twitter, everyone that last night,

we just got a text into our Delaney's OK Tire and Lang Lane box, 20% higher. The reason that it's going up, salary caps jumping up 8.5%. Next year, the owner's got new seats going in. You have to factor in the Canadian dollar. It's not great right now. Right?

Donnie and I still talk about going to Canucks games in the early 80s, 70s for $7 a ticket. I know it's a different time. You can't even get a bottle of water at a Canucks game for seven bucks. Programs are three bucks. I got the program at the Coliseum for $1, Jason.

Oh my God, you're out doing me here. You know, I, well, I'm freaking 500 years old, but I remember late seventies. Um, but I, I don't know, they're, they're pricing 60, 70% of the public out. They can't go to games. I talked to somebody. It's more than that, I think.

I think 80%. Is it just now, is it just for the rich that go to Canucks games? Is it just corporate? You know, average Joe Blow works his ass off, can't go to Canucks game now because tickets are 150, 200, 250. Doesn't it reflect the rest of the world and the

problem of inequality, financial inequality that's causing all these problems? And here's another one for you, revenue streams. If this owner runs out of revenue streams, it gets worse. You know those four games on prime? It's probably going to be seven games on prime and then 10 games on prime and then 15. Because if you run out of revenue streams and the cap keeps going up, you're in trouble. Yeah, I always say the best seat in the house is on your couch.

You got your pillows, your blankets, your crown, and away you go. Rick, powerhouse hit buddy, as always. Last thing, Elliott Friedman called to sell at about the seven minute mark of this interview. I didn't take it. I didn't take it. I didn't take it. Hey Rick, happy Valentine's. Happy Valentine's day to you. You too are my radio Valentine's.

Have a good one. Bye. See you buddy. Rick Tullywell. It's always an adventure. What a gift. That was another tour de force. That was.

Sometimes I'm just left kind of speechless after these, which is bad because I'm a radio host. Freage what? Freage called him mid hit. Yeah, yeah. Freage isn't going to be like, don't ever do that again. If I call, you answer the phone. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.