Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 2/20/25

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they preview tonight's 4 Nations finale between Canada and the US with NHL hall of fame defenseman and Olympic gold medallist Scott Niedermayer, plus they discuss the latest 'Nucks news with Canucks Talk host & The Athletic Vancouver's Thomas Drance. 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. We're going to start today's show with news that pertains to both the foreign nations face off and the Vancouver Canucks. Quinn Hughes is not going to be going to Boston. That was confirmed yesterday when the Vancouver Canucks announced that their captain won't, I repeat, will not be joining Team USA ahead of tonight's foreign Nations final against Canada. Okay, so Halford, what happened here? Because yesterday, right at the end of our show, was it yesterday? Yes.

Yeah, it was right at the end of our show yesterday. It sounded like Quinn Hughes was going, or was it two days ago? It sounded like- It was two days ago. Yeah, it was two days ago. Two days ago we came back from air. Yeah, right.

We were done. It's been so confusing, and there's we came back from air. Yeah, right. We were done. It's been so confusing and there's been so much stuff going on here, but I can't even keep track of the timelines. It was two days ago, we came back, we thought our show was over, and then Mike Sullivan, doing a press conference for Team USA, he's that coach there, goes, Quinn Hughes is coming to Boston.

And we were all like, mixed feelings, mixed feelings, but we figured that was going to happen. Uh, then ultimately it didn't. Yeah. So why not? Who, who kept him back? What happened here? So what actually happened at the beginning was,

according to sources, and these are crib notes from the athletic, thank you to the good people at the athletic team USA called Quinn Hughes on Monday said, Hey, you want to come to Boston to join the team? He said, yes. So that's why the announcement came out on Tuesday cause Mike Sullivan was under the impression that this was a done deal. We talked to Quinn. He's ready to go. Let's go. Then things started to happen. The NHL first decided that Hughes couldn't play, play, not go, but play, unless

there was another injury to the remaining group of 18 skaters that they had. But that still meant that- And I think it was more specific than that. He couldn't play unless there was an injury to a defenseman. Yeah. And then the rules started to get ambiguous. So confusing. I guess they could have chosen to play him as forward. But at that point, at that point, the option was still there for Hughes to the very least go to Boston just to be

with the boys. Just to be and hang out with the boys ahead of the game, be with his brother. His brother commented on that. And everybody else, right? And in the event that someone got sick or someone threw Jake Sanderson down a flight of stairs, he was gonna be able to get into the lineup. Now here's the kicker. While Hughes was willing to go to Boston under those parameters, the Canucks didn't want him to fly all the way to Boston and then all the way back and then to Vegas for Saturday's game

against the Golden Knights. Especially if he wasn't gonna play, especially if he was just gonna watch. This again is reporting courtesy of sources from the Athletic, okay? Then this whole thing became moot when the Canucks didn't medically clear Quinn Hughes to return to play.

Now that's interesting in itself because yesterday at practice, there was a big difference with Quinn Hughes from Tuesday's practice. On Tuesday, Quinn Hughes wore a non-contact jersey. On Wednesday, he did not. He resumed full practicing and full skating, which led many to believe that, okay, he's medically returned to play.

How can he be medically cleared to practice but not to play? That's a great question. Aren't those one of the same things? I don't know if they are. Well, you can be, well, if you're not wearing, uh, if you're wearing a no contact jersey. Nobody was wearing a, he was wearing a. I realized that, but it's not like the doctor

goes up to him and goes like, okay, here's your regular jersey, right? He should do that. Uh, at any rate, maybe we'll find out the full story, like I, it feels like we've got the full story here, but there's still questions. You know, like we've got the full story here, but there's still questions. You know, like why didn't the Canucks

medically clear him? And what I hope through all of this is that Quinn Hughes himself harbors no hard feelings towards the Vancouver Canucks because it's almost like he had to pull out of this tournament twice now. Once before the tournament, and that was very difficult for him and we all praised him for his selflessness and his sacrifice for the Vancouver

Canucks. But then he got this reprieve and by all accounts, he said, yes, like, oh my God, yes. Like, are you serious? Like I can, I can possibly play in the championship game. Yep. Uh, and this is a game that has the potential. I mean, we're all excited as Canadians, but this has a potential to be a top two

or three moment in American hockey history. Could be number one. I don't think it's going to top the miracle on ice. No. But I think it would top the 96 World Cup of hockey. Um, and that's gotta be really, really frustrating to miss that for Quinn Hughes. Even if ultimately he wouldn't have been allowed

to play in the final anyway, because the Americans had six healthy defensemen. It's still like, he lost the dream. Then he got it right back. Then he lost it again. Yeah, I think the point where Hughes was willing to go just to be around the team, just to support them, spoke to a couple things.

One, how badly he wanted to be involved at any level. And then two, that's where you could kind of at least bring up the discussion point and maybe the argument that the Canucks might have rankled or overstepped. Again, I understand why they wouldn't want him to jump on a flight to Boston and then fly all the way back and then go to Vegas.

But this is at the same time a once in a lifetime opportunity. And there is the players wants and needs that need to be taken into account. And like you is, this is at the same time, a once in a lifetime opportunity. And there is the players wants and needs that need to be taken into account. And like you said, it wasn't the first time that he kind of had hope about playing and then missed it. And we played the audio yesterday from Queen

Yuz's scrum. Yeah. You could tell he was visibly, visibly shaken at having to miss this tournament period. The other thing too, is that the Canucks didn't stand in his way. They said of him playing in this tournament, the whole way it went out was we're going to leave it up to Quinn. There was no like medical clearance or anything like that. I never even

heard that phrase come up, but we joked., you know, like we were joking, but also like trying to make a point with our joking. Yes. That the Canucks were like, uh, Quinn, it's up to you, but just remember how important you are for this team and you know, you're not feeling a hundred percent and we're going to need you a lot. I mean, Rick Tauke went on with Elliott Freeman

on the national broadcast and said, well, we're not going anywhere without Quinn Hughes. He's very important to our team. We all know how important he is, but we're leaving it up to Quinn. And like, even though he's, even though he's really important and even though he's, you know, like, we don't want to want them to get injured.

He's so important to us. We know he'll do the right thing and it wasn't ambiguous about that right thing. Yeah. And Quinn Hughes then are like, okay, well, I get it. I won't play. But there was always this, you know, and I think Tauke was even asked like, do you think he'd be allowed to play? Do you think he'd be able to play like if you guys had a game in a week? Do you think he'd be able to play like, if you guys had a game in a week, do you think he'd be able to play? And they're like, yeah, I think so. Right? So when Quinn had that opportunity,

or he thought he had the opportunity to go and play in this game, he was probably like, yeah, I'm good to go. I really want to know how the Canucks reacted to that because Team Canada wasn't standing in the way of this. That was another thing, right? Team Canada was like, yep, if you want to play, you can play. We're not going to complain about that. Yeah. That's not what we're going to do. The US team was very motivated, very motivated to get them there. So that probably stirred up a lot of emotions and excitement as well, right? The fact that they made the call on Monday and that

Mike Sullivan sent it to the media so quickly without even verifying or confirming that it was true. I mean, you could tell that they really, really wanted them in the door for this game. And who can blame anybody involved? This is, as I said in the intro, the most anticipated hockey game that we've had in years, dare I say decades, right?

This is for a made up tournament that they're still making up the rules as they go along. It has become this huge thing to the point where it was funny. I saw Rangers fans ragging on Adam Fox yesterday because Adam Fox said that he's never been more fired up for a game in his career and Rangers fans were like, Adam, we have played in Eastern Conference finals games before, like with the chance to go to the Stanley Cup. Well, if I were Adam Fox, I'd be like, uh-huh. Yep. Yeah. We sure have, haven't we?

I said, I thought I was going to get more blowback when I said, in our first show back, I guess on Tuesday, I said, I have not been that fired up for a game. And I was thinking in hindsight since 2011, game seven for the Canucks. It was less than a year ago that they played a pretty big game seven against another Canadian team, Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the playoffs.

And while I was excited for that and anticipating that. Wasn't the same. I didn't have that same level of adrenaline flowing through me before the game. And I didn't have that same level of like, we can't lose this game. I was almost going to reach out to the Rangers fans, but I don't do that because engaging with people on Twitter is a pointless endeavor. But if I was, I would have said,

hey, he's telling the truth. I don't know what to tell you guys, but this means more to him than game seven of the Easter Conference finals two years ago or whenever they made it. I'm like, that's just the truth. He's speaking his truth. And if you were to ask a lot of these guys,

they would say the same. Jack Eichel was saying that this is the biggest game I've played in a long time. I was like, Jack, you were in the Stanley Cup finals two years ago. Yeah. Like this is, and it's, but they're not lying and they're not putting it on for effect. This is a big deal for a lot of these guys, bigger than I think you would imagine. And that again, going back to Quinn Hughes kind of underscores why he was ready to jump on a plane

just to be a part of the surrounding elements of it. Okay, well- You think Quinn Hughes and the Canucks came to an agreement in terms of what you were saying? Like, look, you're gonna be doing a lot of flying over the next few days, and you're probably not gonna play. Would you not agree it's maybe best to sit this one out because of the fact you wouldn't be playing?

Probably. A different story if he was playing, obviously, but the fact that he wouldn't be playing anyways, all that flying is not, you know, do you think the team and the player came to an agreement? I would like to know that. I would like to know that. I would like to know that. Cause I would hate to think that Queen

Hughes was like mad at them. Don't forget. Like everyone, everyone in this tournament has. That was the whole point of our first, the first 15 minutes of our show. Like, and, and we were saying that like they, they came to an agreement for sure ahead of the tournament.

Well, yeah. But the reprieve. Yes. Let's call it the reprieve, the last chance to go and play in this game. I would like to know more details about this because the athletic is reporting that the Canucks didn't medically clear him. And it's also being reported that Quinn Hughes, when he took the call was like, yeah, I'm coming.

So what happened in between then? Let's talk about this big game, this massive game. Here's some things I'm wondering ahead of tonight's game. Will goaltending be the main factor in all this? I'm terrified to say yes, but I think the answer is yes. How's the game going to be officiated?

You know, as many fights as there were in Canada, US, weren't many power plays out there. And, um, there weren't, uh, there haven't really been a lot of power plays throughout. And I have noticed there have been some calls that the referees have let go. Uh, well, Connor McDavid, is he going to deliver his generational moment for Canada?

And I'm sitting here wearing a 1987 Canada Cup jersey and Mary Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky had their generational moment for Canada in that tournament. Uh, Sidney Crosby's had his moment in 2010 when he scored the golden goal. Um, those are, you know, if you're talking about in my generation, the big four for Canada, Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, and now it's McDavid, but McDavid has not, it's not through, it's not his fault,

he hasn't really had the opportunity to play in any of these games. So is he going to deliver that? Another very important player for Canada, Kale Macar. Is he going to be the difference for Canada? Because he didn't play against the Americans Saturday in Montreal and Canada lost that game and it really appeared that despite all the talent up front that Canada was having trouble gaining entry into the zone and also creating scoring chances. Now full credit to the Americans for how they checked. They checked brilliantly and they've got some really good shut down

defensemen like Jacob Slaven, who doesn't get a lot of attention, but. Jacob Slaven, he's a really good player. So will Kale McCar being on the back end and being able to play a bunch of minutes and hopefully he's a hundred percent after, and I think he had the flu. Is he going to be the difference? Um, here's one that I don't really want to, uh, even consider, but I do want to ask the question, how are we going to react if we lose? What's at stake here for Canadian hockey?

We've heard a lot from the American side, like, this is going to be just such a, like, what's at stake here for Canadian hockey? Because we've won a lot of these tournaments and there have been tournaments that we've gone to and we've lost, but a lot of the time in those tournaments, like it's happened earlier than the final.

Yep. Do you know what I mean? Like. You don't lose the final. You can lose in the prelims in the round, Robin, but you don happened earlier than the final. Yep. Do you know what I mean? Like. You don't lose the final. You can lose in the prelims in the round, Robin, but you don't lose in the final. And it was disappointing to lose in that way, but it wasn't like most of the time when we come to these finals games in these best on best, most of the time there was that 1981 Canada Cup that they lost 8-1 at the forum.

That was a long time ago though. Most of the time we're used to winning these games. And finally, although according to Frank Sarah Valley, he won't be at the game tonight. No president Trump per Frank sources. If the Americans lose, if the Americans win this game, will Donald Trump troll us in some way? And how will that add to the whole reaction if we lose and what's at stake here

for Canadian hockey and Canada. These are all the questions that are going through my head. Which one would you like to start with? Well, let's just start at this, we'll go chronologically, the one that you started with. Can I just say first though, you know why he's not showing up, right? Yeah.

Because there's the slight potential chance for embarrassment. If he shows up and the United States lose, then, oh, you can't have that look for Mr. Trump. I was at the, uh, the Russia, U S game in, in, in Sochi when Putin was there and they lost that game.

That was a famous TJ Oshie game and it was uncomfortable when he was there. Right. Everyone just kind of looking behind. He wasn't that far away for me. What's he going to do? And I'm like, I'm like, all right, let's get the hell out of here. Okay.

So valid point though, right? Cause you can't control the outcome of this. Well, he showed up to the Superbowl, but he could have just said he was cheering for either team. Yeah, but there's no doubt who he's cheering for in this hockey game. Daytona 500 cheering for cars, right? That's really straightforward. Um, Will Golted.

He was like everyone else there. I hope there's a big wreck. Yeah, and then someone wins and everyone's happy in the end. Will goaltending be the main factor, the first question that you ask? I am terrified and I feel very uncomfortable in saying yes for two reasons. Because if it plays out like how it's played out

through the course of this NHL season, it could be that the best goalie in the world, Connor Hellebuck, plays like the best goalie in the world. And by that, I mean, Canada outplays the US and does everything it can, but just can't beat the best goalie in the world. The other option is that Jordan Bennington, who's not the best goalie in the world, plays like he's not the best goalie in the world plays like he's not the best goalie in the world and through that three games of this tournament I mean he lets in another softy and if he plays well otherwise that's great but if he plays well that's a story too in itself but if he if he does what he's done through the three games in the tournament plays well gives his team his chance to win but also allows a soft goal. And the soft goal ends up being the decider.

Did you blame him for Canada's loss in Montreal? No. To the Americans? No. I didn't blame him. I didn't blame him. Adog did. Yeah, no, but that's Adog. Adog's all over Bennington and I'm like, guys, Canada did not create scoring chances despite all the firepower.

Yeah, well in a game where you don't score a lot of goals, your goalie's gotta stop the puck. I do have time. You can't let in one bad goal if it's a 2-1 game. Canada's not the Minnesota Wild of 2003. If it's a 2-1 game or whatever, if one bad goal is the deciding of the game winner, you can't let in a bad goal. You just can't in this tournament. So, yeah, they should have scored more obviously, and if they scored more it wouldn't have been a story, but they didn't score more because Hellebuck's Hellebuck. Were any of those goals dreadful? The first one was...

The Gensel one where he had you know what made it dreadful was the reaction. Yeah. Bennington's reaction. Yeah. Where he flipped his head back and he knew that he should have had. Yeah the first one was a little soft. Now that was one that one was so much like Sid's golden goal. Yeah. Like it was it was very similar. Like you got to stop. And I guess, and I guess Americans did blame Ryan Miller for that one. Like it should have stopped. But you know, for me, I'm like, that's a quick

shot along the ice. Um, it was, you know, probably not where the goalie expected that shot to go. I don't know, Laddie, what do you think? Like was Bennington to you and the goal by Dylan Larkin, it's a two on one. Larkin had a, it was a nice shot. I know we expect these goalies to stop everything. Like Connor Hellebuyck has been doing.

Yeah, but like, well Hellebuyck, you know. If it's a close one goal game in this kind of a tournament, you have to do it. You can over analyze any goal you want. And you see this a lot in the Stanley Cup final where every single goal has sort of gone over a hundred times.

Oh, we should have had that one. But at the end of the day, they're, they're, they're nice plays. They're still good shots. And he's also made a number of, in my opinion, a number of very, very good saves. Yeah. For me, that story was, yeah, a little bit of

like, oh, I wish Bennington had had one of those. But for me, that story was, holy cow, the Americans locked down one of the most loaded teams we've ever seen put together. And what I hope is tonight that first of all, you know, the coaching staff has gotten together and maybe some of the players, I mean, like, okay, how can we do things differently here? But also that the addition of Kale McCarr, one of the greatest offensive defensemen

the game has ever seen, the addition of him makes a huge difference. However. You shouldn't expect a lot of goals though. If it doesn't happen like that, because I would argue that these two teams are basically a pick them in terms of talent. I mean, if you look at the Vegas betting line right now,

it's a straight up pick them, right? There's not much. Yeah, I think. I would give Canada the edge by actually fairly significant margin upfront. Okay. In terms of top end players. I would say with Kale McCarr, I don't know,

without Shea Theodore and Patrangelo, that's probably the edge to Canada with, with Kale McCarr because the Americans are missing Quinn Hughes. But in, in goal, I mean, that's a clear edge to the Americans. And that's probably like the most clear advantage of any of like, yeah, we'll give Canada the forwards and maybe we'll give Canada the defense.

Although some people might push back on that. Um, but the clear, clear, clear advantages in goal. USA played a great defensive system as well though, right? And that's another thing that Canada has to solve. The Canada has the game breakers, but they couldn't get it done in the first game against the U S because USA played great defensively.

Which brings me back to Connor McDavid. He has delivered some great moments in that tournament, that goal against the Americans. That was an incredible goal. And the goal that he scored the other day against Finland was a perfect shot. And then Nathan McKinnon added one right after that and kind of Canada took off after that.

Finland gave him a bit of a scare in the end, but Canada, that was a no nerves game as a Canadian and thank God for that, Finland gave him a bit of a scare in the end, but Canada, that was a, that was a no nerves game as a Canadian. And thank God for that, right. Because I'm going to be nervous for tonight, but Connor McDavid, you know, he's feeling the pressure to win something significant. We all saw his reaction when they didn't win or where they were losing. When was that? We guys, we got a dig in thing. Like, when did that happen? I actually didn't win or they were losing. When was that? Guys, we got a dig in thing.

When did that happen? I actually didn't watch that. Wasn't that game seven? That was game seven. Was that in between the periods of? I think in between the second and third period. Okay, so we all know how hard he must have taken losing that game seven in the Stanley Cup final

because he looked back and he said, well, Wayne won the Stanley Cup, Mario won a Stanley Cup, Sid early in his career won a Stanley Cup. I haven't won anything. I want world juniors, but I need to, I need to win something. So I'm gonna be really curious to see if he can deliver that big moment.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. We're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. We are very happy to bring our next guest onto the program, Scott Niedermeyer here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Scott, how are you? Morning, I'm well, how are you guys doing? We're well, we're excited.

This is pretty cool. It's been a long time since there's been a game like this. But for you, you've played in a few of these. You've been there on the eve of a game where you're playing for international glory. So my first question, Scott, is what is going through the minds of these Canadian players right now? Is there a few hours away from puck drop? Yeah, well, before any big game, obviously there's a lot. You know what's about to take place, a little bit of nerves, anticipation,

excitement. I mean, all those emotions for sure. It's different than a regular game. You know, I can remember before some big games where maybe, you know, you're not able to have your nap even the night before. Sometimes it's a little bit hard to sleep because there is so much anticipation. So it's just as exciting for them, maybe more so than it is for us to be able to watch.

But I'm looking forward to watching the game tonight, it should be great. You know, we were just describing as fans, how these games are not necessarily enjoyable to watch because you've kind of got that sick feeling in your stomach. It's like, oh God, we better not lose this game. And I think every sports fan has been through that. Is it similar for players or is there more confidence and is there more excitement?

Do you allow yourself to wonder, oh God, what happens if we lose? I think, I think you try and fight that. I think if that's your overriding feeling, you're probably in trouble. And I if that's your overriding feeling, you're probably in trouble. And I think that's something that you do learn as you've maybe been through those situations before is to kind of have positive thoughts, believe in the work and the things that you've done as an individual, as a team, leading up to get there and trusting that and then having beliefs that you're going to go out and win. At least that was what I found for myself, that

if you were worried about losing when the puck dropped, you were probably going to lose. And does that start early in a hockey career? I'm reading an old quote from Ken Hitchcock, who you knew well, who said of you, he was always the best player in the biggest environment. Whenever the game mattered the most, he was always the best player on the biggest environment. Whenever the game mattered the most, he was always the best player on the ice on either team.

You know, he went on the biggest stage. He was always the best player, but that was his, his message. Did, did that start for you early, maybe playing with the Blazers and playing in some big games for them, and then you get that experience and, you know, a big game as a junior might feel the same way as a big game as an NHLer? Yeah, I definitely was fortunate during my career to play in some of those games. That experience for sure helped.

You know, and I think just that was my personality. I enjoyed those games more than any other games. You know when you're playing a tough opponent or in a big moment, for some reason that just helped me focus and just get ready for the game and want to go out and compete as hard as I could to try and help the team. My challenge was on the other nights where I was like, you got to be a pro and come out and be ready to play and be at your best every single night. But for whatever reason, my personality led me to enjoy those moments a little more. So in some sense, maybe it was easier to have a positive mindset. And, you know, so I was

fortunate with that. But I did have to learn that for sure. There were some times where, you know, those, those feelings of what happens if I make a mistake or we lose when those feelings kind of crept in and then probably wasn't at my best. So it's a process takes time to to sort of learn that. And I think that's what may help Canada tonight is that they've got players that have been in those moments before probably succeeded, maybe failed the odd time and have probably learned how to handle them as best they can. So I'm banking on that helping them tonight.

We're speaking to Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Niedermeyer here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. I'm glad that we've got you on in particular today because you do have a fair bit of experience with the Canada-US rivalry and a fair bit of experience in beating the Americans, so it was 2002 and 2010. How would you classify the Canada-US rivalry from when you played in 2002 and 2010 to where it's at now?

Well I think because of those games, you know, it's like any situation, any rivalry in the NHL when you start to meet a bit in the playoffs and there's some history and emotion attached to the games, it adds to it. That's what's happened with Canada-US since maybe 1996 when they beat us in the World Cup and then being able to beat them in a couple Olympic finals. The other games that have been played since I've retired have just added to it. There's obviously a lot of great players from the US these days. If I'm not mistaken, I think there's more youth players in the US than there is in Canada

now. So I think that just is going to create a situation where it's going to be really competitive between the two countries, which to me, I think is great. When Canada goes out and wins tonight, you've accomplished something. It wasn't a foregone conclusion that you were playing a real tough opponent that is a very good hockey team, and I think that's the way you want it. In 2002 and 2010, the stage was set

from the previous Olympics for both in which Canada failed to win gold. Obviously 2002 came on the heels of 98, which was a disappointment. 2010 came on the heels of 06, which was a disappointment. I've always wanted to ask you, in which Olympic final did you feel more pressure? 2002 in Salt Lake or 2010 in Vancouver? I've never really compared the two. There was a lot of pressure in both situations. You know, the one in 02, I think it had been 50 years at that point

since Canada won a gold medal. Um, obviously the disappointment four years earlier just added to that. So you felt that as a Canadian hockey player for sure. And then, you know, maybe probably Vancouver though, just because you're surrounded by it. Um, you know, in Salt Lake City, you know, it was kind of just, you heard about it. You knew the situation whereas in Vancouver, you was kind of just, you heard about it, you knew the situation whereas in Vancouver, you're kind of living in the atmosphere of what the whole Olympic

experience was like, the Canadian, the red and white, the jerseys, the flags everywhere around town. Um, so, you know, there was a lot of pressure. I was fortunate that at that point I was well into my career and, uh, had a lot of experiences that kind of helped me, you know, try and be at my best through that, those games and help our team. So there was pressure and you really do have to learn to deal with it.

And like I said, I think these guys that they're some of the guys, the leaders on the Canadian team have been there before and understand how to handle it. Were you able to enjoy the post game atmosphere in Vancouver after that win over the Americans? Because I, I mean, I watched the game from my house that wasn't particularly close to the arena, but we

all, a bunch of my buddies and I, we all actually walked downtown from Kitsilano to, to downtown just to be part of the festivities. And I'm wondering if you, if you were able to see that or were you kind of cordoned off with, with the players at the arena celebrating that win? Yeah, I mean, I think we, you know, we kind of saw some of that all, you know, the whole time

we were there, you know, the atmosphere, downtown Vancouver was amazing. Almost every day he went down there, you know, the different bars and places were filled with red and white and flags and jerseys. Whether it was hockey or the other sports, just people supporting them and celebrating the great sort of efforts and things they did as athletes. Canada performed well overall in those Olympics. So you're kind of aware of that. We, we hung out in the dressing room for quite

a while after that. Um, I think just maybe because there was so much going on, there maybe wasn't. Yeah. Two places to go. No, um, we had a little place over where the families were. So eventually we made our way over there to

kind of enjoy it with them. And I actually snuck over to the closing ceremonies, just to, you know to kind of be part of that. I'd never done an opening or closing before in the Olympics. So I thought, you know, that'd be kind of cool. And when I got over there, it was real neat where all the other athletes, the Canadian athletes were pretty excited about the game as well.

I wanted to congratulate the team and what we did. So that was a neat experience personally for me, but we enjoyed it in the dressing room just amongst the players probably mainly and then the families as well. We are speaking to Scott Niedermeyer here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650 ahead of tonight's game. It's Canada, it's US, the four nations face off final, five o'clock from Boston. Scott, back in 2010, what did it mean to you when you served as Canada's captain for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver?

I know we've talked a lot about dealing with pressure and leaders and experience and everything, but what did it mean to you to wear the seat for Canada at those particular Olympics? Well, first, it was quite an honor. It's an honor just to be able to be part of the team and then play for Team Canada with the Maple Leaf on in any situation and then ask to be captain, kind of was just an added bonus on top.

There definitely was some pressure, but again, I played long enough. I'd been in enough situations where I kind of knew that I wasn didn't, you know, wasn't, I wasn't supposed to change anything with that, you know, just because I had the sea on my job was to go out there, do what I do as a player, contribute the best way I could, and then lead the team in things I've learned and developed through my career in those big games and, and really not change a thing. So easy to say a little harder to do at certain times. The pressure was real, but I'm thankful that I had a lot of water under the bridge at that point in my career,

a lot of experiences that definitely helped me sort of handle that. You know, as being the captain and just being focused on doing the things I knew were necessary to help our team have success. Because in these kinds of competitions, it's such an interesting dynamic, because I would gather that half your teammates in 2010 were probably captains of their teams, right? It's all guys that are, I mean, when you're talking about the best of the best and the elite of the elite,

it's all guys that are wearing letters on their jerseys, but do the eyes still dart to you or do people still look to you? Did they look to you in 2010 because you had that added responsibility among this collection of captains? Yeah, I mean, I think you're right. I think in any situation, there's, you know, it's never just one or two or three people, you know, doing the leading at different moments and different times and different situations. Everybody's kind of stepping up and sort of a leadership role.

role. And you're right, I mean, that team was full of captains. So it really wasn't a difficult job. I mean, a lot of those guys had the experiences I had that we're going to use them to help our team help themselves perform well. So yeah, you know, that would be a question maybe for other players. I didn't feel I was doing a whole lot of work. I was just trying to go out there first and foremost and, you know, be prepared doing my job as well as I could and handling the situations correctly and hopefully that would just, some of the young guys maybe would look towards the captains in a situation like that.

I'm sure everybody did, but maybe the younger guys a little bit more, but yeah, it's an interesting question for sure. So, Kale McCarr did not play for Canada in Montreal and the Americans won that game and Canada So, Kale McCar did not play for Canada in Montreal and the Americans won that game and Canada had quite a bit of trouble creating scoring chances despite all the talent they've got up front.

You got to certainly credit the Americans for their game plan and their checking ability. They played very well defensively. What does Canada need to do tonight and how much will the addition of Kale McCarr to the lineup help them? Yeah, I mean, McCarr is an amazing player. So I think he, he, he will absolutely help. Um, you know, both ends of the rink he's been, you

know, won the Stanley cup. He understands, you know, sort of the, the style of hockey that it takes to play in those must-win games. I think that will be a real advantage. Watching that game, I think sometimes the tendency or just what happens is when you have a lot of skill, you want to use it. I think sometimes in those hard checking, hard fought games, it kind of gets a little bit ugly.

And who's in front of the net? Who's going to score an ugly goal? Who's going to get inside? I think last game on McDavid's goal, Mark Stone was in front taking a cross check that screened the goalie. You know, McDavid got a lot of the credit, rightly so. But the way I see that is I look at Mark Stone as doing the dirty work to help that play have success. I think that's what is going to take this on both sides.

In any hard-fought game, it's often those type of little plays and sacrifices that players make to be in front of the net, to get pucks into the middle. A lot of times, they're not the highlight real goals that, that makes, makes a difference. I guess, even if we think back to 2010, the winning goal by Crosby, it was kind of an ugly sort of work by Jerome in the corner, you know, for checking and then making just a subtle little play and, and, uh, Sid making a quick shot on that. So I, I, from my experience, those tend to be the way goalers scored in those games.

And I think that's something Canada's gonna have to focus on a little bit more. They have the guys to do it. I think they may be in that game, got a little bit away from it in the last two US in the round, Robin. On a day where we're eagerly anticipating one of the biggest international hockey games

in the last decade or so. It was very cool to get to talk to you, Scott, with all of the experiences that you had and all the great memories that you've given all of us as Canadian hockey fans. So one, I wanted to thank you very much for doing this today. We really appreciate it.

Sorry we sounded so mentally weak and fragile with our questions. Two, we're freaking out a little bit. So thanks for calming us down. You're a very calming presence, much like you were on the ice. Can you play tonight? Yeah. Please.

Finally, before we let you go, enjoy the game tonight. It should be a lot of fun, I hope. No, I obviously enjoy talking about these things. I had a lot of, you know, it's fortunate to be part of some fun experiences, a few disappointments, but that's what makes, you know, the wins that much sweeter. So yeah, glad to be with you guys. Thanks. Thank you for doing to be with you guys. Thanks. Thank you for doing this.

We appreciate it. That's Scott Niedermeyer, NHL legend, multiple Olympic gold medalist for Canada, one of the most decorated Canadian hockey players of all time internationally. He's done it at every level. To the phone lines we go, Thomas Drantz joins us now on the Haliford and Brush Show on Sportsnet 650. Drantz, sir, we talked about Quinn Hughes not going to, uh, the four nations final. Ultimately, um, from what you've heard, what

was it that kept him from even traveling to Boston? Yeah, I mean, I read the Russo and Chris Johnston article last night. Um, you know, I'll follow up on that a bit over the next 48 hours. Um, I'm, I'm sure the Canucks had a role there and that obviously Hughes wasn't cleared is fundamentally something that has to do with the team itself and clearly contradicts what Team USA was expecting based on Mike Sullivan's

declarative, Quinn Hughes' coming commentary, the expectations of American players. You know, all of that said, I mean, when you rewatch or relisten to Hughes' availability from, I guess it was Wednesday, with sort of how this, I guess Tuesday, excuse me, with sort of how the, how, how this, I guess Tuesday, excuse me, with how this played out in mind, like didn't you get the sense that he didn't think he was going? Did, did you, did you hear his commentary after practice on Tuesday?

Yeah, I did hear, and I kind of got that sense as well, like he wasn't sure how it was going to shake out because he did mention that the defense would need an injury, right? Yeah. Right. Yeah. So he was, he, the rules, he seemed pretty resigned

to the fact that the rules wouldn't allow him to play and he seemed pretty muted about the idea that he'd fly to Boston just to watch the game. Right? Like he was reading between the lines, honestly, I think the way yesterday played out in terms of it becoming clear that he wasn't going to go, all seemed like all of that seemed to me to be telegraphed pretty clearly at that point. You know, the truth is too, is that he was asked, are you going to be able to get healthy

this year? And you know, he definitely didn't say yes, right? Like he, you know, he wasn't going to use it as an excuse. He downplayed it, but he, he didn't say yes, right? Like I think, I think this, I think this reported oblique injury. We've seen the brace that his hand has been in for weeks here. I mean, I just think, like, look, I'm sure the Canucks had a role. I'm sure they didn't want him flying twice before playing a pair of back to back

divisional games that really matter, especially the second leg of that. Right. I mean, you know, to, to travel to Vancouver, be cleared medically after two practices, fly to Boston, fly to Vegas, play in Vegas, fly to Salt Lake. And that Salt Lake game is the one that matters a ton, right? Like that game against Utah is the one that actually, you know, circle that on your calendar, right? If Vancouver wins that game, you know, I, for me anyway, I think they effectively kill their real

competitor to you know, potentially elbow them out of the playoff mix in their cradle effectively. Realistically, there's two games against Utah, both are on the second leg of back to backs with the Canucks. If the Canucks get two out of four points in those games, they're gonna be fine. They're gonna be fine. They really have to lose both

of those eight point swing games, I think, for the script in which Vancouver misses the playoffs to actually play out in reality. So yeah, I mean, you sort of look at that and think, yeah, I'm sure the team had their finger on the scale a little bit, especially based off of what CJ and Russo reported. But I also don't think we should minimize the extent to which the injury factor is real. Like I don't think that's made up here in Hughes' case. You know, him practicing on Tuesday

in a non-contact sweater, you know, he practices in full on Wednesday, but you know, there's still a gap between being cleared to play and being, um, you know, uh, a full participant in a practice and man to, to be at all, at all limited, right. Or at all playing hurt and be thrust into a game with the sort of intensity we expect tonight, you know, like that. Crazy.

So, so I guess, I guess what I'd say is, uh is I'm sure the team had a role in this. I don't have any sense on how Hughes feels about it. I personally wasn't surprised how Wednesday played out because I thought Hughes made it pretty clear, to be totally honest with you with what he said on Tuesday. And I don't think people should underestimate, you know, it's funny, it's funny. It's like the extent to which Hughes' actual health status played into this, it feels like being minimized at the same time that everyone's like,

and they're minimizing Pedersen's injury, right? And it's like, okay, guys, come on, we're really gonna have this both ways, right? Like I think, I think Hughes is going to be playing dinged up for the rest of the year. And I think that fundamentally is why he's not going, even if there's a sort of more political aspects to it that make it somewhat more complicated. Um, Drancy, you mentioned the back to back coming

out of, uh, out of the break and then there's another back to back right after the back to back. Um, how much, uh, how much can Kevin Lankinon play? Well, I would bet he plays four or five on this road trip, right? So I think he goes back to back once. That would be my expectation. You'd want him to play the first set. Like you'd want them to play Vegas, Utah. Cause again, I look at that Utah game as being the one you really got to get. Like that, that's the one that matters the most.

Um, again, because Utah is the team chasing you and, and in my mind, the only team chasing you with enough juice to really get on one of those sorts of heaters. God, the Calgary flames just get no respect from you whatsoever. And I understand. So I don't want to go down that road, but.

Well, look, Dustin Wolf could go nuts, right? Like that I buy, I just don't think they have the juice. Like I don't know what to say. Like I watch these teams play a lot and you know, I mean, I like a lot of the pieces that the Flames have, I think they're in a much better spot today than I would have expected at the outside of the season.

I love the max effort they play with. I think Huska has emerged as a really good coach. He's kept them working at max effort. His game plans, game to game are incredible. Like I think there's a lot to recommend Calgary. I just think, I just don't think they have the offensive juice. Whereas I watch Utah play and there's a lot of nights where one of Dylan Cool, sorry, Dylan

Gunther or Logan Cooley are the best player on the ice. Yeah. No, no, no, for sure. Let, let, let. It's different. It's just different. They just don't have players like that. Like, you know, I'm, I've watched Cooley

play Kaprizov or McKinnon and it's like, oh my God, this guy's at that level or just about to get to that level. And like Dylan Gunther, likewise. Like I think Dylan Gunther's worth thinking about from the perspective. Everyone, put it this way, everyone else is talking about how, man, it's too bad Team Canada doesn't have Tom Wilson for the size at this tournament. And I'm like, man, it's too bad Canada didn't bring Dylan Gunther, right? Like that's for me the sort of level that I think that guy's at. So that's all I'm talking about. Like I'm talking about which team has players that we could be talking about as being like, you know, the NHL version of Anthony Edwards within the next

two, three months. And it's like, Utah's got two of them. Like that's what I'm looking for. That's the sort of juice you need. You need to have dominant players. And I just don't think Calgary has that answer to what the Utah hockey club does. Yeah, fair enough. So, sorry, that was my fault. I asked you about it.

So the goal-turning situation, I shouldn't have asked you about that. I knew I would get a long answer. The, the goaltending situation. I shouldn't have asked you about that. I knew I, I knew I would get a long answer. Um, the, the goaltending situation with the Canucks is like who actually is the backup right now? Is it, is it, is it like, do we, do we know for sure? Yeah. I mean, we, well, we, we know that she loves was

recalled under emergency conditions and is actually on the roster and we know that Tolo Pilo was up to practice under sort of the NHL's four nations protocol over the course of this week. So we know that cause the club announced it on Tuesday. So it is she loves, um Shelovs has outperformed Tolopilo at the American League level as much as Shelovs has had an up go in the NHL.

He's squarely third on the step chart, I think, without question. I don't think there's suspense there. And sort of the thing that is interesting to me, Jason, when I think about what this all looks like is, you know, Lankenen is four, well, he's two, I think he's four appearances away or four starts away from matching his career high end starts. Yeah, that's right. But he just played two games for Finland, emotional games at the four nations tournament. So while a lot of players had a break, Lankanen didn't and he's about to, just over the course of this road trip, set new career highs. Right? Like new career highs in games played, appearances starts, saves.

Like that's all gonna happen over the next week and then you've got the stretch run to be mindful of where, you know, the club seems optimistic or, or, uh, pretty confident that Demko is going to be back shortly after this team returns from their five game trip. But I don't know, are you confident about anything when it comes to Demko's availability? Like if I said an over under, or if you saw an over under on games played by Thatcher Demko over the remainder of the season, you know, if you bet it, you'd need to call the line. Right?

Like you'd be a degenerate to bet it, right? Like we just don't know. There's a lot of. I need to have insider information. Yeah. Well, and even then, right? And even then, so, you know, there is an extent to which the club is about to get into uncharted

territory with a goaltender who over the course of the season, we've seen Kerry this team, but we've also seen his worst performances come when he's been overused. Well, he's about to be overused relative to his track record, right? Like that's coming now. That's locked in this road trip. And the Four Nations context needs to be sort of taken into account there and then you've got Shelovs who, let's be real, has not been startable at the NHL level over the course of the season. So how do they split these starts? You know, I think they're gonna ride Lankenen but there's a there's an element of risk there too as good as he's been where they're challenging him

now to do something he's just never done in his career, right? We know that Lankenen is a solid 1B option, right? That's sort of what we knew about him when he came in. But you're very quickly going to get to a point where it's like you've asked Lankenen to play a starter's workload this season. And depending on how many games that is, maybe a workhorse starter's workload this season. And depending on how many games that is, like maybe a workhorse starter's workload this season. And that's just not something we should feel

confident in, just from the perspective of like knowing he can do it or, or trusting that he's been able to pull it off before. Uh, did PD's performance of the four nations change anything? For me, or in general? In general, like I'm reading a headline on, uh, I put Elias Pedersen into Google news and

headline comes up that, um, the Buffalo Sabres dodged a bullet by not trading for Elias Pedersen. Now maybe that's clickbait stuff, whatever. No, I like it. Yeah. I mean, like, did, I like it. Yeah. I mean, like, did it, did it change anything? I mean, maybe not from our perspective, but. Well, we watched him play.

Yeah, from the rest of the league. You have to have not watched him play to think that or write his headline or write that headline. Right? Like you have to literally have not seen what it's looked like all season. Because I think the truth that the, uh, you know, this is going to be a springboard for Pedersen line of argument, Jason, to be totally

honest with you, like I'd file that under the realm of magical thinking. Right? Like people just expected this guy to start moving differently. Yeah. I mean, we've been, we've been looking for these springboards for a long time now.

Well, and also there's a very clear lack of juice physically, even if you think like, no, it's confidence, which I know you do, right? Or it's like, no, it's something else. Or like, no, he's like, he's not moving at the same speed or shooting at the same speed. He doesn't look as comfortable up there. Like that's just obvious.

Sure. So I don't know why anyone would have expected this tournament, which took place without a significant break, um, to suddenly alter that dynamic any way, shape, form, or otherwise, you're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.