Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 3/11/25

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they set up tonight's Canucks matchup versus Habs, plus they go around the NHL with analyst Ray Ferraro. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Back in front Sanderson gets it one of that scores! Dylan Cousins gets his first goal as an Ottawa Senator. Sam Darnold is trading in the purple of the Vikings for the blue and silver of the Seattle Seahawks. He's going to throw it to Jared! I got a job to do and my job is to come inside of this stadium. It's coming I just don't know when. Good morning, Vancouver 601 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody.

It is Halford at his breath. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintex Studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning.

Lattie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and breath of 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. We have so much, so much to get into on today's show. We have a loaded guest list. It's a Canucks game day. We have multiple giveaways for tickets. It's all gonna begin at 6.30 this morning. Jama Malalela is going to join the program. He, of course, the assistant coach of the Toronto Raptors and UBC basketball

royalty. Why are we bringing them on the program? Well, this week, the U-sports men's and women's basketball championships are going to be out at UBC. First time ever in U sports history that both the men's and the women's tournaments are being played in the same location. Jama is serving as the men's tournament honorary chair so we'll look ahead to the tournament with him. Is that why Shaq gave UBC a shout out? I'm trying to figure out the relation there. I might ask Jama when we get him on the show because you're right. Shaquille O'Neal shouted out UBC, who will be one of the final eight

playing in this year's tournament on the men's side. Gave him a shout out yesterday on Inside the NBA. So Jama Malalela is gonna join us at 6.30 this morning. Seven o'clock Ray Ferraro. Sad days for the Haliford and Brough show. This will be Ray's final hit of the regular season. He will be moving on to chase Alexander Ovechkin across North America as Ovi continues his attack

on Wayne Gretzky's goal record. But he will join us this morning. Ray Ferraro at seven o'clock. 7.30 Nick Shook from nfl.com is gonna join the program. Busy, busy day on Monday as NFL Free Agency opened with a bang locally. Biggest news of course was that the Seahawks found their new quarterback. Sam Darnold is now a member of your Seattle Seahawks with a three

year 100 million dollar deal. We'll talk to Nick about all that at 730. Eight o'clock the back half of the Ferraro doubleheader Landon Ferraro is going to join the program. More Canucks talk with Landon of course. Huge 48 hours coming up for the Canucks right. You've got tonight's game against Montreal, a night in which Calgary, St. Louis, and Utah are all off. So the Vancouver Canucks have a chance to jump back into a playoff spot tonight. Then of course, tomorrow night, massive game in Calgary and the second of a back-to-back. Landon will join us at 8 o'clock to talk about all that. Giveaways for today. At 8 o'clock, we're giving away a back-to-back land and we'll join us at 8 o'clock to talk about all that. Giveaways for today.

At 8 o'clock we're giving away a four pack of tickets to see the Monster Jam at the Pacific Coliseum on Friday, March 21st. Be caller number seven at 8 o'clock this morning, 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. At 8.15 this morning, another giveaway, a four pack of tickets to the Vancouver International Auto Show at the Vancouver Convention Center. It's the same weekend as the monster trucks. The auto show goes March 19th to 23rd. Again, be caller number 7 at 8.15 and the number here 604-280-0650.

That is what's happening on the program today. You can see and hear it's a lot. So without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I'm moving.

We know how messy 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 in tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. It was a light day in terms of the Canucks on ice participation yesterday, but it was another busy day in the world of Canucks news.

And for I think maybe first time this season, Jake DeBrusque became the main character for the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah, he was definitely one of the main characters. The Canucks leading goal scorer has kind of flown under the radar this season. He's done his job after signing as a free agent, scoring 22 goals in 63 games, but it's not like we've talked about him a ton. He hasn't been so impactful during games that

we've been raving about him. Kind of like when we were raving about Kiefer Sherwood earlier in the season. He's just kind of been out there and doing fine. Hasn't been amazing, hasn't been terrible, hasn't been rifting with any teammates, hasn't been injured. There's been frankly, nothing super interesting

about the season he's had. He's probably been looking around going, there's a lot of interesting things going on in this team, but not really me. Um, he did find himself under the spotlight after Sunday's loss to Dallas in which he played just 12 minutes and 45 seconds and finished minus two on the night.

Afterwards, his coach said that he, along with a couple of the other top forwards on the team, didn't earn any more ice time than they got. Now, Debrusk spoke to the media yesterday and he begrudgingly agreed. Do we have any audio from Debrusk herebreus here? Because I thought it was pretty good. I thought he was pretty accountable to what his coach had to say and we'll see how he looks tonight.

Here's Debreus talking about the criticisms from his coach. Well, at the beginning of the year, no one thought I could score here. I've gotten a few. You know, I think I've got to score more though. Obviously, like I said, we've been in tight games, it seems like, for a while. And you know, when I'm not at my best, it seems the results are usually the same. So you know, it's one of those things where we all take pride and we all, you know, look

at the film and we had a good video session today and you know, you don't necessarily like what you see out there. But you know, when you come home after a game like last night, you already know, look at the film and we had a good video session today and you know, you don't necessarily like what you see out there, but you know, when you come home after a game like last night, you already know, you feel it and you know, you're excited to get back out there and try to do better. He also admitted he was pretty pissed off with his ice time and the comments from his coach, but then he said at the same time, I mean, I wasn't

doing enough to help the team win. And he said, Tock's an honest guy and honest coach. He's one of the reasons why I signed here. He also added, I need to take more control with body position and stop guessing where the puck is going to go. And it's funny, I did notice a couple of plays where he could have gotten body position on a guy and he, and he didn't, and I didn't really think much of it at the time because that happens all the time in a hockey game.

But I think Taukeed is looking for, by the way, we all know Taukeed is a big body position guy. Loves body position. And sometimes getting your body position properly can get uncomfortable. You have to step in front of guys. You have to put yourself in harm's way. You might even get run over occasionally, but you have to step in front of guys. You have to put yourself in harm's way. You might even get run over occasionally, but you have to do it. You can't be poking at the puck from the outside or guessing as Jake DeBrusk puts it, where the

puck's going to go. And if you lose wrong, if you lose the bet, the guy's gone the other way with the puck. So, you know, we'll see if, if Debrusque is back on the line with Besser and Suter. Besser is another guy that obviously has to pick his game up. I'd be pretty surprised if we don't see a better, more engaged effort from Debrusque tonight.

I don't know about Besser. I don't know where his head is at right now, but Debreus sounded properly humbled by his performance against Dallas and Debreus knows he's the leading goal scorer. I mean, he's only got 22 goals, but he's the leading goal scorer by four goals, I think over Brock Besser, who's got 18.

So he's one of the guys that's got to step up and it can't just be like, oh, he's got nice hands around the net. He's actually got a, he said like, we've got to generate more chaos. So it's going to be, it's got to be more than just being around the net. Well, if you look at the numbers on the brass, there's a few things that jump straight to mind. The first of which is that for a guy that's been tagged as a streaky goal

score, um, he's way overdue for a streak where he actually scores the goals because right now, since the calendar flipped to 2025, the streaks have almost exclusively been zeros in the goal scoring department. And if you look at, again, one of my favorite stats, plus minus, between January 1 to present day, he's minus 12 and he scored six goals since January. This is a guy that scored nine goals in December and seven more in November. The early half of the season, you saw exactly as Jake DeBrasque was advertised. He would go a handful of games without scoring and then he'd rip off consecutive goals in five or six straight games.

And the totals kind of bared themselves out. The fact that he's this team's leading goal scorer, I think speaks to a lot of different things. One, the lack of punch they have offensively. Two, the fact that a guy that can only score six goals over the first three months of 2025 still remains as the goal scoring leader and by a decent margin. It's the call out was overdue, to be honest. To be honest, when I look at this now, like calling him out and dropping his ice down was probably long overdue because this is someone

that this team relies upon to find the back of the net with regularity and they are struggling in a huge way to do that right now. And you need to look at the personnel currently on board and say, what are you doing to make us better? And I know there's gonna be people right now and you need to look at the personnel currently on board and say, what are you doing to make us better? And I know there's going to be people right now that are saying, this is all Rick Tauk at system and that everyone is regressing under the very old school dinosauric Jurassic, if you will, style of play.

I would again, once again point to the opposite that this is a guy in Nebraska that has spent, I don't know, I'd say the last 15, 20 games at times on the side of a milk carton. And it took up until that loss against Dallas for him to be one, reduced in ice time and two called out by his head coach. Yeah.

I thought that that was an interesting quote. We've got to just generate more chaos. Like there's nothing chaotic about Nebraska's game. He's been, I mean, I don't want to say he's been on the perimeter, but he's been largely forgettable. Yes. To the point where I had to go back last night and go over all of the breakdowns month by month to just realize like how ineffective he's been for how long that he's been. And again, not the time that a guy like DeBrusk can kind of step into the background and, you know, hide under a pile of coats. This is a team that struggles so profoundly

to score goals. I mean, the numbers on this team since January are bottom five in sort of every major offensive category in the national hockey league. Yeah. Um, so is it just me or is talk it's sounding more and more frustrated these days with just everything? I really don't, I'm not going to make a big deal

out of this, but so before the last game, I guess it, the lineup sheets came out and a few people in the media noticed that Besser was not going to wear an A and Marcus Pedersen was going to wear an A. And some people in the media on social media kind of made a big thing about that. They suggested that the Canucks had kind of taken it from Brock Besser. And we all remember this was when Brock Besser and we all remember

this was when Brock Besser, his name was in trade rumours and he had not been traded and there was people curious about the relationship between Brock Besser and the Vancouver Canucks for very obvious reasons. And when they saw that Brock Besser didn't have the A and it went to Marcus Pedersen, a guy who had just gotten into Vancouver pretty much compared to Brock Bessar, he's been here forever.

There were some insinuations that that was done for a reason. Sure. Rick Tuckett hit back at that yesterday. A couple of guys aren't here that I wish they were here. Just to let you guys know, we didn't disrespect Brock because he didn't have a job. Yesterday. disrespect a year or nine year guy here which they're trying to cause problems so just to let you guys know so that's the reason why and if you can ask Brock Besser if he feels like Rick Taka disrespects him. Why did you want to get that off your chest?

Because it's just the narrative that some guys try to cause crap all the time and you know we played a half decent game last night you know a couple of moments you know I was talking to you about that we need some guys to do which is you guys all know that and the first thing is oh disrespect and Brock Besser about a stupid A so that's what you got to deal with sometimes makes it tough to talk to not a lot of you guys but some guys so that's my I gotta get off my my chest. I didn't touch it.

You were not touching it. No no but you know. Did he send you a bill for the therapy? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, I'm good. I'm good. I just like it.

I'm not wearing you it. You don't wear it. You're kind of. I like getting in scrums once in a while. Okay. Yes. I remember that. Yeah, yeah.

But anyway, sorry. Oh, I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. My voice isn't good by the way. I don't blame Tocket for getting upset about that. I had been upset too. And it wasn't like you could hear, you could hear,

he wasn't frothing at the mouth or anything. That wasn't like a John Tortorella getting mad at Larry Brooks situation, but he was annoyed and it does feel like things are starting to get to him. He lost it on the refs Sunday and that's something he rarely does. He said he apologized to the refs Sunday and that's something he rarely does. He said he, he apologized to the refs afterwards and he was clearly frustrated

with some of his top players too. Now I think it's worth noting that Tocket has to speak with the media a lot more than his players do before games, after games, after practices and even he must be tired of repeating the same things over and over. Got to move your feet and getting the same questions. Why can't the team score? But I really wonder what talk it is thinking about

his future in Vancouver. Does he want to come back? Does he feel like he could win with this group? Does he feel like this group can play the type of game he wants to play in order to win the game? Does he feel like he could win with this group? Does he feel like this group can play the type of game he wants to play in order to win a Stanley Cup? I'm sure the whole Miller-Peterson thing weighed on him and he was frustrated with that and maybe

frustrated that he couldn't figure a way to get those guys to get along considering the situation he's been left in now. be frustrated that he couldn't figure a way to get those guys to get along considering the situation he's been left in now. And don't take this the wrong way, Elias Pettersson supporters, but I am sure he's dreading the idea of another year with Pettersson if Pettersson doesn't turn his game around.

Aren't we all, aren't we all dreading another year of Pettersson if Pettersson doesn't turn his game around. Aren't we all? Aren't we all dreading another year of Pedersen if Pedersen doesn't turn his game around? At the end of the day, you know, you can talk about the system and I think it's fine to discuss that. I don't agree with the debate going that way but I think it's fine. There's only so much you can do as a hockey coach if your most talented forwards are not performing, especially, especially your number one center. And, um, I know Paul Maurice was in Winnipeg a lot longer than talk.

It's been in Vancouver, but I do remember what he said when he resigned. He started to say like, I didn't enjoy it anymore. And he said it was the very first time I could say I didn't enjoy it anymore. And he said, it was the very first time I could say I didn't enjoy coming to the rink. Now I don't think Tokets gotten to that point, but I do keep coming back to what Alveen said in January about Tokets future. And he said, I believe he's a good coach and I see

him here long-term, but it's a two-way street there. Up to this point, there hasn't been an urgency for us to do anything with the club option. There's a club option to bring him back next season, but I'm sure we're going to sit down and talk about it. Now, I've heard Tuckett say, I'm sure we're going to sit down and talk about it. He said about it, he said it before the season actually.

When we have time, we'll sit down and talk about it. He said about it, he said it before the season actually. When we have time, we'll sit down and talk about it. So when is that conversation going to happen? Has it happened already and we don't know about it? Has someone been putting that conversation off? So here's what I was thinking about as I saw you put this together last night, and we've talked a lot about Talk It's Future because it seems so

uncertain. You don't know when the conversation is going to happen like you alluded to. When he first took the job and through the first half year and then the full, you know, last year's fantastic season, there seemed to be an energy that was in part because of the newness, right? Being a head coach in a frenzied NHL, Canadian market for the first time, I just remember the enthusiasm was high with Tauke. Remember when he went to his first ever Dyson Ice, how excited he was? He was like, this thing's amazing. I can't believe that he got this big black tie gala,

and then we would have him on the show, and he would talk at length. Gambling. Yeah, he loved all of it. Loved it. He loved like, you could tell that when he was talking to the media in the early days, there was a real engagement level, almost to the point where he was talking like how he was as an analyst, right?

More than willing to break things down, more than willing to go those extra steps to really explain things. And then the good times, well, they turned on him. This is really the first, and this season I'm talking about, has been the first real extended bout of adversity that Tokets had as a head coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

Now, some would say, you know, if your, you know, response to the first sign of adversity is to tuck tail and leave, what does that say about you and your character and how much you were invested in the job in the first place? Because every coach goes through up and downs. That being said, when you consider the context beyond Vancouver, one, his stock is still pretty high

as a head coach, right? He's the reigning Jack Adams winner. He was selected to help, but when, you know, assistant coach or team candidate at the Four Nations, there will be vacancies across the league. He's got options right now. I would say like if he wanted to go somewhere right now and coach somewhere else, he could probably find a job tomorrow.

I would guess, right? There would be teams that would probably move out their current guy to get Rick Tocca behind the bench. So there's always that part of it. As for the situation in Vancouver, the big thing with adversity is, are you able to find your way out of it and be better for it? Or is adversity the first sign

that you're on a sinking ship? And you need, you know? Because sometimes people don't overcome adversity. Sometimes teams don't. Sometimes teams hit adversity. And that is the first step towards a breakup or a series of bad times or losing and then eventually you have to go into your rebuild right and that's kind of where this season has left a lot of people in the Canucks

organization there's a decision that needs to be made on so many key guys from Pedersen to Besser to Demko and then that in turn has the head coach looking at it like there's, I also think Quinn Hughes. Right. Like there's two more years of Quinn Hughes. And frankly, you know, I guess it's possible. Don't shoot the messenger. It's possible.

Only one year left of Quinn Hughes. Because what if they go to him for an extension on July 1st of not this summer, but the following summer, he goes, I'm not going to sign here. Then you're probably obligated to trade him. So, you know, Rick Tauke probably has a lot on his mind. Grimace and Ladner texts in, Tauke seems to be in the, it's go time mood right now. They're right in the playoff race and he's getting frustrated

because the players aren't going. Absolutely. Yep. Absolutely. He is totally, I think he is flummoxed by this team. He doesn't understand why he has to say, we need to play a little more desperate. It's like, hey guys, I think you use this phrase,

we're in a dog fight for this last playoff spot. Do you guys wanna make the playoffs or what's going on here? Well, and that's where I'm talking about. I think that these last 20 some odd games might end up making the decision a lot more clear and a lot more obvious for Tauket. I mean, this group does have an opportunity right now.

Granted, they're without Quinn Hughes and that's a huge component to this thing. And to a lesser degree without Thatcher Demko, but the playoff spot is absolutely there. Like they are not going up against a juggernaut team in the Calgary Flames. Someone just texted into the Dunbar Lumber, tech message in basket, the offensive numbers on Calgary,

and they're just as pitiful as Vancouver's. There is an opportunity here to show something that you can respond to the coach's directions. And I mean, in the case of Debrecht, we're not even talking about a really advanced difficult strategy. He's talking about being more engaged and creating more chaos. Yeah.

And I think a lot of it is like showing that you give a crap. Yeah. And you're going to need to show that at this particular time and further connects. And I know it's cliched, but I bet talk was like the playoffs start now, like this game tonight, followed by a game against Calgary tomorrow night

in the second of a back to back. Those are huge. This week is massive and they probably won't have Thatcher Demko. Well, they might for these next two games, they're not going to have Demko and they're probably not have Thatcher Demko. Well, for these next two games, they're not gonna have Demko and they're probably not gonna have Quinn Hughes. So more adversity, right?

So like it can't be Quinn to the rescue all the time. Exactly. Right? Someone else has got to step up and say, I'm gonna be the guy tonight. And frankly, against, what was the game before? Dallas, Minnesota? Minnesota on Friday, yeah. It was Kiefer Sherwood that came through with the big goal on that.

It's like the supporting cast. Yeah, and Lankton had made 37 saves. And who, and who was the guy that scored the goal against Dallas? It was Forebort, right? I mean, it was a nice give and go with Conor Garland and he's one of the guys that'll be relied upon to create chances, but frankly, he's been their most consistent forward this season. Connor Garland, all the other guys, you know, they need to bring not a

little bit more, so much more. And I, I, you know, I'm looking at talking right now and just try and put yourself in his shoes. I mean, look, if the Canucks give him a five year contract offer for a ton of money, he might be like, well, I don't really like I'll coach whatever I have to do for that, right for that level of commitment. But this is a guy that has won a lot of big hockey games with a lot of teams. He's won a Stanley Cup as a player, he's won a Canada Cup as a player, he's won a Stanley Cup as an assistant coach, and he

just won the Four Nations as an assistant coach. He likes to win. He is a winner. What do you think he sees with this group? Do you think he sees a group that is capable of winning? I really. I, okay, but here's the thing. I do think that like the final 20 games of the season, they can dictate that outcome and that narrative a little bit.

I think that there's an opportunity here in the face of adversity where you could show something or show nothing, you know what I mean? Like, I don't think the story has been written yet. I think they're well through it. Like the choose your own adventure, Brooke. You've chosen many adventures. You've taken the Wizard team.

Would you be surprised if Tauket and Pedersen are both back next season? Yes, yes, absolutely. But with the group, maybe even minus Pedersen right now, but with the group, there's a lot of guys that can answer some questions right now. There's a lot of guys that can have a prove it moment right now. Again, even with Hughes out of the lineup and with Demko out of the group, there's a lot of guys that can answer some questions right now. There's a lot of guys that can have a prove it moment right now.

Again, even with Hughes out of the lineup and with Demko out of the lineup, this is not out of the realm of possibility to scratch and claw and get wins and surpass the Calgary Flames for the second wild card spot in the West. I mean, let's be clear, this is the organization's mandate right now.

This is what they want. They want to be in the postseason when it now. This is what they want. They want to be in the postseason when it starts. They that's what they want. And that and I think and I think Rick talk it very much wants to be in the playoffs as well. He does not want to take a even if it's just perception based, a step backwards where, oh, yeah, you know, his first year on the job, they were great. They really responded to him.

And then a second year on the job, like so many other Jack Adams winners, they fell back and missed the playoffs. Like they want to get in. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Ferraro, Ferraro, let's chat with Ray Ferraro. It's time for Ferraro, let's talk to Ray Ferraro. Ferraro winds up with a shot Score!

Ray Ferraro, breakaways on site Scores! Rebound score! Ray Ferraro Ferraro, Ferraro It's time for Ray Ferraro It's time for Ray Ferraro Let's chat with Ferraro

It's time for Ray Ferraro. Let's chat with Ferraro. It's time for Ray Ferraro. 702 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are now in hour two of the program. As the music suggests, Ray Ferraro is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage.

If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him on the internet at jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. To the phone lines we go. It is with happiness and sadness that we are joined by Ray Ferraro

for his final hit of the season here on the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Ray, how are you? I'm good, thank you. I, so I gotta say like, so there, I might've bit off a are you? I'm good. Thank you. So I gotta say, like, so there, I might've bit off a little more than I can chew. It doesn't sound like much with, you know, like all one hit a week.

But with what's going on right now, basically as Ovechkin gets closer to breaking Wayne Gretzky's record, I ended up with five games added to my schedule. And so, like the travel becomes, you know, now we're trying to dance this thing in amongst my travel and I'm like, I just can't do it. So I kind of apologize for saying, oh yeah, I'll do it all year and then going, oh yeah, it's

February 28th or whatever I said and I'm like, yeah, I can't do it. So I've enjoyed it. You guys are kind of a couple of knuckleheads and I enjoy that stuff. So as you know, I do enjoy that part of it all. So yeah, so that's why I just can I'm, I just, like, I just can't keep doing it.

Totally understandable, Ray. I've seen your schedule. I could not do your schedule. And I certainly could not do your schedule and talk to a couple of idiots like us once a week. I can't do that. So I understand that. By the way, I, I apologize. I lost my voice over the weekend. I had a bit of a cold and then I coached two U9 games and you know what, you know, what's

really tough line changes, getting those kids to come off the ice with like, this is our first year of changing on the fly. And I feel like you as a kid, definitely, or maybe even you in junior would have maybe not heard your coach once in a while calling you to come off the ice. Like you heard your coach once in a while calling you to come off the ice.

Like you heard it, but you weren't sure you heard it. So you're going to stay on the ice a bit longer. Well, the other, the other disadvantage to coaching at that age is they can't reach over the boards and open the door themselves. Oh, the doors are a mess, man. They always, they, they, they, they, they never

let the guy come out before they get on. So it's just like a massive pileup. Did you get your feet stepped on yet? Not yet, not yet. I'm, I'm, uh, anyway. Yeah. Season. That'll happen.

Yeah. That'll happen. Ray. Um, so we were talking about Rick Tauke at earlier in the show, um, and we were noting that he's looked and sounded a little more frustrated. He, he hasn't completely lost it yet, but he's

looked and sounded a little more frustrated with everything going on with his team and with the media and that sort of thing. And, uh, you know, I'd be upset with the media too, if I had to face those guys every day. But, um, you know, what, what do you think he's thinking about the Canucks right now? Well, I, I would say probably since July, I

mean, has there been any real smooth patch to the season and the answer is no. And so, you know, the expectations were high on the ice. They got news off the ice that threw everything into uncertainty, right? First, you know, I forget which was first, Dakota Joshua's news or Demko's news. And so now you come into camp and you know, you don't have two really important pieces. And then I don't know how long it was before, you know, the chat about the dressing room discord started. And then of course that never went away until Miller was traded and Pedersen's tough year.

It's just been one thing after another. And the frustration comes when some of the stuff you don't have an answer for. Like what are you going to say sometimes? And then one of the reasons why, like honestly, when I was doing daily radio, one of the reasons I stopped doing it was I didn't like the interpretive part of so-and-so said this, what do you think he meant? Like I didn't like doing that because you don't know these people directly and all that you do is interpret what they say. So if you're the coach and in this case because we're talking about talk and everything you say gets interpreted without context or fact and some of it is because you don't have the interaction like the media guys

don't have the interactions they used to have so they have to I won't say guess but they have to take an educated whack at a situation and if it's not correct in your view, well, you're going to get pissed off, frustrated. Like of course you are. Yeah. And, and so to me, it's just like the old snowball, right? And now it's like, you can't push it back up the

hill and it's easy to say, ah, yeah, I'm just going to forget about it and I'm not going to listen. But we all know it's impossible not to forget about it or not listen. Well, I mean, that's what we do on the show, but we're given these limited sound bites. And frankly, one of the sound bites that stood out to me was, this was either a week or two ago.

Um, he kind of said, everyone wants this fancy offensive system. And his point was like, play whatever system you want. But if your players are scared to shoot the puck or they're not moving their feet, it doesn't really matter. I think I've asked you this before, but like, is there anything talk it could do differently? Because, you know, you said, you know, sometimes you don't have the answers to everything. And I kind of feel like talk it's reached that point is like, I don't know how many more times I can say,

move your feet. And if I was him, and I saw people blaming him for Pedersen's play, I would lose my mind. So, um, I think sometimes you, I don't know, every fan would like to have the style of play that Colorado plays, right? Like, wouldn't you like to watch Nate McKinnon? 80 times a year. Like it would, it would be amazing and it's fast and it's a little bit reckless at times and, but they have the personnel that can outscore some of those reckless times, right?

So a, you, you, if a coach says, this is my system, I don't care who the players are, this is my system, I think he's making a mistake. Because you can have a template in your head, but you have to be able to adjust that to the players that you have. So that's the first thing I'll say. This is not a wide open offensive team, right? Like it just isn't. It's built to be a hard, heavy checking, uh, offense through effort type of team. And then the top end of your roster has to score.

So for the people that don't like the system at the end of it, your top end people have to score. Right. Like that's, and if they don't, you can have the best system and you want, you can put Scottie Bowman behind the bench. Not going to matter if the top end of your roster does not play. What do you think is going to happen? Remember when Scottie Bowman won five Stanley cups with the Montreal Canadians, then he went

to Buffalo and all of a sudden he wasn't such a good coach anymore. Right? Like it's, at the end of the day, I've had this line in my head, the reason coaches walk back and forth behind the bench is because they're looking for new players. Right.

And unfortunately you've got the 18 that are sitting there. And if again, we can nitpick the edges of the roster, but the top guys have to be able to score and if they don't, you're really going to be in trouble. And if you go through the top end of the Canucks roster, how many of them would you say have had productive or not spectacular years, but expected years? Like not the great year, the career year, but how many have had expected years? It would be a really short list, wouldn't it? Yeah. In terms of goal scoring, maybe I'd say, Debrusk. But then you just got called out by

Tuckett. Right. Because the one thing, this is what I do think about Jake. I think he's one of those players you can kick in the ass and he responds. Some guys, you can't, you've got to get to them a different way. Uh, what I found, like personally, I, I responded to that, um, which turned out to be a bad thing because then the coach was always on my, on my heels because I responded to it.

Some guys just don't. Right. Some guys don't. Yeah. And so, but the brassica, I, like, Suder's not supposed to be one of your top goal scorers. He's had an excellent year, but go down the list. Like you're, who else, who else can you put in the group?

You're not, you're so goal scoring is the issue for this team consistency of offense. And if the top guys don't score on a team that's built to check and be heavy, then how are you gonna score? We're speaking to Ray Ferraro here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. We may be like overthinking this sometimes, Ray,

in that when Quinn Hughes is out. Whatever you're gonna say, yes. We're overthinking it. A rare accusation for the Halifin and Brev show that we're overthinking anything. But no, if Quinn Hughes isn't in the lineup, it just so dramatically alters things. Now that may be not ideal roster construction,

but the reality is reality. If number 43 is in the lineup, you're gonna have a hard time generating offense. Well, so the top three contenders for the Norris are McCarr, Hughes, and Wurenski. I think McCarr's probably gonna win it again. Take one of those three guys, take any of those three guys out of their lineup,

how are any of those teams the same? It doesn't even matter who you have. I mean, maybe Nate can, I don't know, go on a superhuman thing for a while. But all of a sudden, look, I think De'Vante is awesome. He would be, he's just a terrific defenseman. If he's running your power play, Sam Gerard, as opposed to Cale McCarr, how do you think that's going to go? But he's just not the same.

So it's not overthinking at all. You just cannot replace one of the best players in the league. Like you just can't. You can wallpaper over it for a while. But I mean it's a devastating blow to not have them available for the games. Since you were on this subject, and it actually got me thinking,

because of course tonight's opponent is gonna be the Montreal Canadiens, I'm curious to get your thoughts on the year that Lane Hudson's having, because we're going to see him front and center tonight. And you look at the point totals and especially the assist totals, and like offensively, he's been brilliant. I don't know how much you've had a chance to watch him this year, but we're going to get to see him for the second time this year tonight, 7 o'clock at Roger's Arena.

Looking forward to it a lot, because I haven't seen him live this year. I've just seen him on TV. There is a similarity because Lane Hudson is a small guy. He's not short. He's small. He's not short, he's small, like he's not thick. So he has like, Quinn can absorb a little bit more punishment, but the similarity between the two is their exceptional agility and escape ability. They rarely get cornered. And with that, which is what a gift to have, right? Like you can escape these monster forwards, is that they have a vision and a sense

of where the puck needs to go, really before they get their hands on it. So they don't get caught hanging on to it very often. They get it, they shake somebody off, then boom the puck's gone or they've got room and they carry it. It is, they're going to be forwards always that are going to be too much physically for them, for both of them and that may be once every 10 games. Like do you even care? Like who cares? Lots of big guys get beat too. And nobody says, oh, they got beat because, well, they're big, right?

They find some other reason. There's always a reason to nitpick a player. When it's obvious that they're small or smaller, that's what you nitpick. But there, there's an exceptionality to these guys. Like the way I watch when somebody's chasing Hudson to four check. First of all, they don't chase them with as much vigor. Same as Quinn. They don't want to get embarrassed. I'm going to get down there and now I'm standing next to the Zamboni driver.

Like this is not good. I'm like, I love watching one of my favorite things that Quinn does. And I, and I'm curious to see if Hudson does it too, is Quinn will pull the forward right up to the blue line. I think he almost does it for sport. And then he goes, shakes one way, goes the other way, comes back the other way. And the forward spins around and Quinn's gone. Like players can't do that.

These are the best players in the world and they make them look pedestrian. Hudson's got this thing that he just vanishes and it must be terrifying to for-check against because you always get told, don't get caught. Okay, well then I'm not going to for-check. Well then he just skates by you. So you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Work on your edge work kids, I guess. Oh yeah, get on it. Um, I want to ask you what's going on in

Carolina and in particular, Rod Brindemore's comments about the whole ranting and thing. And one of the quotes he had on the radio the other day is the better question is, should we have known that he wasn't going to sign with us before we signed him or attempted to sign him? Which sounds to me like a shot at management, which is his boss. Um, what do you think about that whole situation

and, and, and Bryndamore's comments on it? Well, I was surprised to read them because they're very direct, you know, very, very blunt. Um, that is, you know, that is Rod's style. Like he's, when we talk to him, when we get a chance to talk to him, we always come out of there and we're just so impressed with his honesty. Like, you know, most guys kind of talk around the edges of any issue and he just doesn't. I'd say if you're coaching the team and it's clear that after these moves, no matter how anybody in media tries to soften the blow, Carolina is not as

good a team today as before they made the Carolina trade. Yeah. Or the Colorado trade. Colorado trade. Yeah. And so he's like, wait a minute, we had natures and we had jewelry and now we've got

Stankhoven and a couple of firsts. Like how does that wash out? It doesn't. And so you can argue for future, maybe this is going to be okay. You got the two firsts, you got a young player that projects to be a really good player in Stankhoven. That's fine. But if, if the guy gets to town and tells you when he says there, there's four teams I get to play with and you're not one of them, you probably should have

had an inkling that that was going to be part of the equation. Now, I don't know how you go about getting that done. Everybody's got a friend of a friend and you could probably have had a general idea. And I think that's what he was talking about because it was clear, Branson and Hart wasn't in it in Carolina. Oh yeah. I mean, that was, that was pretty clear. Sometimes you got to do some light tampering,

just some light tampering. Like on a lot of the shows, I think it was wasn't in it in Carolina. I mean, that was, that was pretty clear. Sometimes you got to do some light tampering, just some light tampering. Like, like honestly, like what do you think happens July 1st? Like, or like, what do you, what do you think is going on? Oh, you can't talk to anybody till June 30th

at midnight? Oh, come on. Like I, I, I'm not saying that they should have known they could have had a contract done. They should have known that he wasn't going to be heartbroken and crestfallen to come to that team. And then you deal with it in the off season, but this is two years in a row, right?

That, you know, they, they lost Gensel and, you know, I think they got a third round pick for him from Tampa and they lost Rantanen. He also, he also, by the way, kind of criticized that. He said, um, if we had offered Gensel the contract, we offered him at the end, he's here, but we didn't for whatever reason.

Yeah, look. I know. That's like, that's like, he's frustrated. Yeah, look, I know. So let's look, he's frustrated. This was a, you know, so you're talking about, you know, about pox, frustration. And so here's in another city, clearly frustration is there. Cause he didn't, he didn't leave much up for interpretation, I would say yesterday in that press conference.

It was pretty clear he was talking about more than Rantan, right? Like that wasn't just about the Mika Rantan situation. In a very interesting way, there are some parallels to be drawn because it's largely about roster construction and then what the coach is handed going into a season or in the case with Bryndamore in Carolina midway through a season.

I'm sure Brenda Moore sitting there and saying, our MO is to win a Stanley Cup, yet you've greatly decreased the chances of me being able to do that because I don't have as strong of a team as I did to start the year. And that's a legitimate complaint. And you know, sorry, go ahead. Oh, I was just gonna say it is,

and there is plenty of stories that there's a lot of fingers in the pie with each decision and that just can't be that, that, that just can't be. And the reason is, is that somebody else's frustration that are going to be different than yours. Their level of frustration is going to be different. And so if that's the case, you've got to figure out who's really making the last decision.

And if you're not comfortable with that, then you might know, like you might not be in the right place. Don't forget a couple of years ago, his contract, I mean, this is one of the best coaches in the league and his contract went right down to the wire because he was fighting for his assistant coaches. I remember. Yeah.

So like, it's not like this has been, uh, you know, like, uh, you know, John Cooper and, and Tampa Bay for 13 years. You've never heard anything there. But there's been some potholes to dance around in Carolina for sure. Well, Ray, this was great having you on the program this season, we really and thoroughly enjoyed it. And we understand if we have to take a backseat

to chasing Alex Ovechkin all across North America. Fair enough. Fair enough, right? We get it. So enjoy it. I mean, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'll say that. Like Gretzky, we're getting past.

First and last time that sentence will ever be uttered in the history of language. Well, so let's just think, so today's last hit, we heard the Gretzky reference, right? You say last time ever. And you also accused yourselves of overthinking. This is twice in one interview. This is fabulous.

History was made today. Ray, enjoy the chase, enjoy your travel. If you can, make sure you catch all your flights. And we will meet on the golf course this summer. I look forward for you to seeing you blade a wedge again. Can't wait. It is another of my specialties. See you buddy. See you Ray. Thanks bud. Be well and thanks for everything. Hey, you guys are awesome. Appreciate it.

Thanks man. That is Ray Ferraro here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet. Six feet for the very last time. Alright forget about Ray. Alright. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.