Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 3/14/25

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they hear from Elliotte Friedman who sheds some more light on the JT Miller & Elias Pettersson saga in relation to Quinn Hughes, plus they get a Canucks update from Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Da- the backhand! Overtime winner! Rangers beat the Wilds. A pass down low. They score! In front of the net, Sam Bennett. Oh no, it's in! It came out so fast. I'm thinking on making progress. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning Vancouver 601 on a Friday. Happy Friday everybody. It is Halford at his Brough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios

and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Gladdy, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and 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 in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. It is a Friday. We got a lot to get into on a Friday show, although the first hour of this program is going to be all 100 percent uninterrupted. Halbrow, that's right, Halford and Brough from 6 till 7. Our first guest joins us at 7 o'clock. AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. A reminder, it is a Friday. That means it's Ask Us Anything Friday and that also means we are giving away a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway, the best pizza place in the world. All you

got to do, send in an ask us anything or what we learned. Dunbar number text line is 650-650. Do not forget to put a pizza emoji into your text. That will enter you into the contest to win a $100 gift card to AJ's. It's a big giveaway day on the Halford and Brough show as well, by the way. 705, Jesper Sorensen is going to join the program. The new manager of your Vancouver Whitecaps is going to join us. The Whitecaps are back in action yet again on Saturday in Dallas. It will be their fifth match in 13 days. So the new gaffer for the Whitecaps has been very busy to the start of his

tenure in Vancouver. We'll talk to him about how much success they've had to start the year and we'll look ahead to Saturday's match in Dallas as well. 730 it's the Moge.30, it's the Moge. Yes, it's the Moge. Bob the Moge Marjanovic is gonna join the program. We'll talk Canucks, we'll talk a busy opening week of free agency in the NFL.

You see Sam Darnold did his introductory press conference in Seattle yesterday. And they were like, what happened in the last two games of your season last year? He's like, I sure took a lot of sacks, didn't I? I hope I don't do that in Seattle. And we were like, yeah, I hope so.

Yeah, follow up question, how do you not do that anymore, Sam? Eight o'clock, Rick Dollywall is going to join the program. I don't know what we're going to talk to Dolly about. Jason Bruff is, of course, the resident Dolly handler on the program. What are we going to talk to Rick about today? Stuff. Stuff, nice.

Rick is going to join us to talk about stuff at 8 o'clock. This week and its importance according to Rick. Yeah. And Besser's struggles and a couple other updates. Nice. We've got two giveaways on the show today as well. We're going to be giving away our final four pack of Monster Truck and Auto Show tickets. So if you wanna go see the monster trucks, Grave Digger, El Toro Loco, Greg's favorite, Sparkle Smash,

Truckasaurus, Truckasaurus, Love Sparkle Smash. They're all gonna be here on Friday, March 21st. Be caller number seven at eight o'clock this morning, the number 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. Caller number seven at eight o'clock this morning, the number 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. Caller number seven at 8 o'clock this morning

will win a four pack of tickets to the Monster Jam on Friday, March 21st. Now, at 8.15 this morning, we are giving away our final four pack of auto show tickets. That's right, the Vancouver International Auto Show, March 19th to 23rd, so the same weekend as the Monster Trucks last four pack of tickets. That's being given away at 8.15 this morning.

Again, be caller number seven at 8.15, the number again, 604-280-650. It is our final giveaways of the week, so if you haven't had a chance to call in or you've called in, you haven't won, it's your final opportunity at 8 and 8.15 this morning. That is what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened.

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I'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. A reasonably quiet day yesterday in terms of Canucks news. Canucks had a full day off, they did not practice. They'll return to practice today, by the way,.30 at UBC ahead of tomorrow and Sunday's

game a very busy weekend for the Vancouver Canucks. So not a lot of news, not a lot of things happening with the Vancouver Canucks, but there was some sort of Canucks adjacent news and that is because Calgary Flames forward Conor Zary was suspended two games yesterday after his illegal hit to the head of Canucks defenseman DPD. Yeah, so Zary's going to miss for Calgary tonight's game against Colorado and Monday's game in Toronto. Good.

Which marks, yeah, good. Which would, which marks the start of Calgary's four game road trip back East against the Rangers, Devils and Islanders. Um, now stuff to look for at practice today. We still don't know if DPD will be ready to play this weekend. The Canucks were also missing Tyler Myers on Wednesday and of course Quinn Hughes isn't 100% so the blue line is a bit banged up right now. If DPD and Myers aren't ready to go Saturday against Chicago, I guess the Canucks may have to

give Abbotsford a call, but let's wait and see what we see at practice today. Myers and Lekermacki were listed as the scratches against Calgary. So Myers isn't on IR or anything like that. So we'll see if he's back at practice today. Let's talk about some of the scores from last night because the Canucks did get some good news with the St. Louis Blues losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins and so that's good from a standings perspective. The Oilers, man, they continue to sputter with their loss to New Jersey. And that might not necessarily be good news for the Canucks,

but it might be good news for the LA Kings. If the Kings get the Oilers again this year, they might actually beat them this year the way the Oilers are going. And if you go to sportsnet.ca, Mark Spector has written an article with the headline, McDavid and Dry-Seidel can't save the Oilers alone. So the Oilers are back to being like, we got no depth there.

Right? And they lost a few players in those offer sheets to St. Louis and they tried to replace them. And I think people thought, well, I'm sure Arvidsson and Skinner are going to be okay for the Oilers. And no, they really haven't been. They added Trent Frederick upfront from the Bruins ahead of the deadline. But I think Frederick is hurt right now. And the team, the team just does not look that great.

Dry Cytles having a great season season from goal scoring and points perspective. I mean, he's just having a great season. But McDavid, although I think he had two assists last night against New Jersey, like he's, for McDavid, for McDavid, he's not having an A plus season. Yep. And then you're looking at the rest of the lineup and you're like, okay, who's going to step up here? And I'm not sure what the answer is.

So the takeaway from spec in that article you mentioned was Chris Knobloch has gone where all O'Reilly coaches go, eventually, playing 97 to 29. That of course is McDavid and Dreisaitl all night while everyone else sits and watches. It hasn't worked, it won't work, and it isn't working. And it's funny after the run that the Oilers made last year, getting as close as you can to winning the Stanley Cup without winning the Stanley Cup, although I suppose game seven could have gone to overtime.

The moves that they made have definitely seen them take a step back, which has to be incredibly frustrating. I think this is all compounded by the fact that the moves going into the deadline, at least as far as the reception that I'm getting from a lot of like Oilers fans and social media and their actual media that covers the team, is that it wasn't nearly enough to make up for the gaffes that Bowman and Jackson had in the offseason. And that was, as you mentioned, letting those guys go to St. Louis, Holloway and Broberg, and then replacing them with Jeff Skinner,

who's been a miss, Victor Arvidsson, who's been a miss. Here's the other thing. They've had regressions from guys on the roster that they counted on big time last year. I think the two guys in particular that have really cost them, that they expected a little bit more from this year, are Evan Bouchard and Stuart Skinner.

Bouchard is going to tear Euler's Twitter apart. Bouchard's had it. I mean, and he was- He's a polarizing player. But he was relied upon so much last year, like at times last year, he was in the conversation with McDavid and Dreisel as being one of the most important guys on this team.

I mean, he was terrific against the Canucks. We don't, we don't, we don't, it's like, it's okay to admit that. When that narrative came up that, uh, that he outplayed Quinn Hughes in that series, it was, I was like, yeah, he did. Yeah. I mean, he's not a better player than Quinn Hughes,

but he was terrific in that series. Stuart Skinner last night, 18 saves, but again, in the third period, uh, stopped just four of the six shots that he faced and he's once again, coming under fire. Here's the interesting thing about Skinner. And he's once again coming under fire. Here's the interesting thing about Skinner. I watched bits and pieces of that game last night.

He makes really high end difficult saves. He had a save on Holla on a two on one that was brilliant, like super great athleticism getting across his crease. But then some of the goals that he lets in, and we saw this in the Vancouver series last year, they just seem to deflate the team in front of him and they happen with way too much regularity. I feel bad for Skinner at times

because he seems like a genuinely good dude and it's not like I want anything good to happen to any of the Edmonton Oilers, but it just feels like the weight, there's so much weight on his shoulders because there's so many high expectations for this team and laddies, you're nodding along here. Is my goalie analysis okay?

Yeah, well, it's the finer details of his game where he struggles, right? And that's kind of the difference. Is that important goal-tending? It is, well it's kind of the difference between him and a guy like Thatcher Demko where on his posts, even for a bigger goalie, you don't see those squeakers that go through all the time, but with Skinner,

you're getting them constantly and it just totally ruins his consistency and leads to the frustration you're seeing from other fans. Vegas this season has been clearly the class of the Pacific Division. And if you look at the standings, you might be like, what are you talking about? There's six points difference between Vegas and LA

and seven point difference between Vegas and Edmonton. Look at the goal differential. Vegas plus 42. The Kings are plus 15 and the Oilers are plus 17. Like the Oilers are really not had a very good season. No, I for based on expectations that they came in with. Yeah, like they're going to get in. They're going to be a playoff team. It's not that it's that what's going to happen come playoff time because they don't look like a better

version of the team that went to the Stanley Cup final last year. By the way, on the- I mean, they still could. They're still, when you've got McDavid and Dryecidal and you're hoping for something from the rest of the guys, I mean, you've got a chance, but right now, and it's getting down to it, right? There's not many games and we're in March, the playoffs start in April. So it's not like they've got forever to get going and it's not like they have the trade deadline to help them out because that's already done. Okay.

So a quick note on the St. Louis Blues, who as Jason mentioned, suffered a really damaging loss last night in regulation to Pittsburgh. So that leaves them on 69 points, which yes is incredibly nice, but they basically played two more games than all the other teams that they're conceivably chasing.

One or two more games. It's not looking good for the Blues. Here's something to keep an eye on. In that game yesterday, Jordan Bennington was pulled non injury related, cause I checked, in the third period of a 4-2 game. So with the game still hanging in the balance and late in the game, Bennington gets pulled

with 7.15 left in the third period, because the goals that he were letting in, and I went back and watched a bunch of them, not exactly high caliber goals. And there wasn't a lot of post-game reaction from either Jim Montgomery or Bennington himself. But keep an eye on that moving forward because the Blues are teetering right now

on falling out of this thing. I got a feeling like a couple more losses like the one they had last night. Do you ever follow the deserve to win-o meter? Have you ever seen that one that goes around? Yeah. So yesterday, the Blues badly outshot and badly outplayed Pittsburgh.

Their deserve to win-o meter was 91.9% and they lost that game in regulation to Pittsburgh. So you might see them fall out. By the way, speaking of the- That's usually a sign of bad goal-tuning. Yeah, it was not a good night for Bennington and he got yanked in a game that was still very much hanging in the balance.

So there's something to keep an eye on moving forward. A-Dogs are gonna be like, I knew it. Well, well, well. It all comes back, eh? All that comes back to roost for Jordan Bennington. He had that, he did have. All these chokes and the big moments. Except the biggest moment.

Where he actually came up with a big. Except the biggest moments in hockey. So tonight, of course, you've got a lot of scoreboard watching to do, Canucks fans. It is actually a relatively busy Friday in the National Hockey League. Six games on tap and you're gonna need to pay attention to the Flames.

Six o'clock start as they host the Avalanche and then an hour later in Seattle, Utah is playing the Krakens. So you've got two games tonight, very pivotal ahead of this weekend double header, back, excuse me, back to back for the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah, I've got an early Ask Us Anything. Okay. And this one's for the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah, I've got an early Ask Us Anything. Okay.

And this one's for the listeners as well. Okay. The listeners that listen to the station. The listeners that listen. The whole day. Okay. Okay. We all know how much Drantz talks about Utah.

Yep. This is a tough Ask Us Anything actually, very tough. Okay, hold on. Let me sell that. And I think a lot of people based on the Dunbar Lumber text line are getting a little tired of hearing how much Drance loves this Utah hockey club, how he raves about them. If, here's my ask is anything, here, if the

Canucks miss the playoffs, okay, they're missing. Okay. So it's down to two teams because St. Louis is, you know, as we just discussed, maybe not part of this. Who would you rather see make it? Would you rather see Utah make it and Drantz gets to crow about it and say, I told you so with Utah or the Calgary Flames make it and then the Flames have made it? Okay. So that's a tough one, isn't it? Would you rather see Drantz be right or the Calgary Flames make the playoffs over the Canucks?

Right away, my first thought was Utah. Because regardless of Drantz and his comeuppance or non-comeuppance, you're trained as a Canucks fan to inherently cheer against Calgary. You don't want anything good to happen to Calgary, especially when you're missing. Here's the thing, whoever gets that second and final wild card spot is probably taking on the Winnipeg Jets in the first round, right? So my mind automatically went to which of the two

has a better chance of upsetting the Jets. I don't think either of them have a great chance at it, but I think Utah might be a little bit better suited to it. I'm gonna lie, watching Calgary the other night. Um I saw some real inherent flaws in that team that makes me think like they are a plucky feel good regular season team but if they got to the playoffs they would have a real tough time like running uh I'd love to see a Calgary Winnipeg series though. I'd

rather see. Do you think it would be for like nostalgia sake? Like I don't think it would be for nostalgia. I don't think it would be especially close. Yeah. Calgary matches up I'd rather say Nostalgia sake I don't think it would be especially close. Yeah, it matches up terrible with them old-school Prairie battle and and wouldn't have to say trance being right. Yeah, like I I mean I understand the trance part Yeah, and I don't think Calgary would have any chance against Winnipeg. I mean hilarious if they upset the Jets But I don't think it would happen. It would be an amazing story if Dustin Wolf got it. But I don't really want to see Utah in the playoffs. And Drants be right? Having watched Utah a few times this year, I don't mind the way that they play. They

play with a lot of energy. They've got some good young players. Keller has been very good this year. Gunther, obviously, and Cooley, but I have no personal affinity for Utah. They're just the zombie coyotes still to me. There's a lot of people really struggling here. Blake the Sometimes Welder is like, oh geez, that's a tough one. Three-putt Shane. I'd love Utah to make it, but I can't remember what's, I don't always say it here. Um, he doesn't, but Drancer isn't allowed to brag about it. That, that, that would be impossible.

That's impossible. That would be like me not being able to brag something about, about something that I was right about. Well, I mean, we did, we were going to, when we look ahead to the weekend, the Canucks obviously have two games back to back Saturday, Sunday, and we were going to, when we look ahead to the weekend, the Canucks obviously have two games back to back, Saturday, Sunday, and Utah is going to be the second of those two. That's the big game of the weekend.

Like all due respect to the return of Connor Bedard and Chicago on Saturday, that game on Sunday against Utah is going to be probably played at a similar fever pitch to the one on Wednesday in Calgary. Um, Tatiana in Langley, I think this is the best one. If Utah makes it, I don't think I can listen to the station anymore with all the gloating

that will go on. If Calgary makes it, at least I can tell myself it was all Dustin Wolf. I kinda like that. Cause you're not totally unhappy for Dustin Wolf. That would be a terrific season for a rookie and going forward, if the flames turn into a contender, we can all start hating Dustin Wolf. I feel like it's a pretty dark day for Canucks fandom when we're in any way, shape or form

rooting for Calgary to make the playoffs. Let's be clear. It would be a dark day for the world if we were cheering for Drance to be right. That seems bigger picture to me. How, where, in your- I mean, Drancer has put himself out there, right? Like he's like, he said like, Utah's this great team and he goes on and on about it.

I'm like, dude, they're not even in the playoffs yet, so. They have a 500 record at home. You know, like, how great can they be? How can you make the playoffs with a 500 record at home? Turns his attention to the Vancouver Canucks home record. The Canucks, by the way, where's your confidence index right now? March 14th, 2025, 65 games played,

17 left in the regular season, that the Canucks are going to scratch and claw and get in to this thing? I think they're more than likely to miss. But if Elias Pedersen can continue on his play and get in to this thing. I think they're more than likely to miss. But if Elias Pedersen can continue on his play and continue on his improvement, then I think they've got a pretty good chance of making it. So who do you? He's kind of the lynchman for me.

Because I still think that my gut- Yes, I'm going to put it all on Petey, believe it or not. Yeah, no, that's fine. Well, I would put it on Quinn Hughes too, but- Yes, and him being healthy. My gut tells me that of the three teams that are left, Calgary, Vancouver, and Utah, Vancouver still has the best team, lowercase whispering,

because they've got Quinn Hughes and the other two teams don't. And I think he's the best player collectively of the three. I still think that they are probably by the smallest percentage chances in my mind, the most likely of the three to get that second wild card spot. I'm just having a hard time trying to convince myself why it would be Calgary or Utah, if that makes any sense. And I don't know if

this is like my partisanship. Well, Calgary for goaltending and Utah because they're playing better hockey. Utah's playing better hockey, I think, in a visual sense, but there's not a lot of statistical stuff that makes you. How else do you judge a hockey team by an audio sense or how they sound or smell? Wins, usually wins. Well, it's not like the Canucks are knocking it out

of the park in the wings department. But Utah has less wins than Calgary and Vancouver. And a very important part of playing hockey and winning games is scoring goals, and Utah does that better than Vancouver and Calgary and Vancouver. And a very important part of playing hockey and winning games is scoring goals, and Utah does that better than Vancouver and Calgary, especially lately. How many goals do you think Utah has this year? I don't know. 185. The Canucks have 178. Yeah, but it's more about how they are recently. When was the last time the Canucks

scored four goals in a game? I know they were credited with a 4-3 win over Calgary, but that's the shootout, right? Those count. No, they don't. No, they don't. That was an offensive explosion on Wednesday night, just so we're clear. The other thing I would take, I would put Calgary clearly in the has the best goaltending department because right now we don't know what's going to happen.

We hadn't asked us anything in the text inbox, and let me just bring it up here. It was the Canucks, this is from Tyler the Pepper guy, the Canucks have 17 games left. Do you think Lankanen plays all 17 remaining? No, I don't. I don't think that's going to happen, but I think it's going to be close. I actually started thinking about it. I was like, you know, Drantz might be right about one thing that we had him on and he's like, he kind of, correct me if I'm wrong here, but he kind of leaned towards, I think Seelove's is going to get the start on Saturday, tomorrow against Chicago. I also think that.

And I think he might be right just because of what's coming up after that. There is, of course, I'm not just talking about in the vacuum of the back to backs because we've seen that the Conuks are willing to play Lankton in back to backs, but I think they'll want him fresh as possible for the game Sunday against Utah. And then it gets harder after that. Archer Silov is one six and one this year, but do you know who is one win came against?

Was it Chicago? On a Saturday night in Vancouver. Chicago is in such a bad way. They lost to San Jose last night, and I think Bedard got a penalty for chirping at the refs. He got a 10 minute misconduct for abuse of officials, although it seems super weak. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I watched the replay about four or five times. But I'm sure the refs were like, shut up rookie.

He's like, well, actually, my room was a rookie last year. But like just things are not going well for that team. And you know, if, if the Canucks give C-lobs a start and like, I just, there's a massive jinx, but. Oh God. If like, I don't see how they would play well against Chicago. And even if Sealovs isn't very good, still beat the Blackhawks.

Chicago scored four goals in their last three games. I think what you're hoping is that you throw Sealovs in, you go up against a team that's on a Western road swing that doesn't have a lot of punch. You go with the fact that his one really good performance this year did come against Chicago and you hope for the best. And then you load up and try and keep something in the tank for Sunday. Look at the Chicago team. Well, they're not very good.

Who is Landon Slaggart? He's one of those young stars that we were talking about earlier. Andy's favorite player, Landon Slaggart. Yeah, he was the focal point of the giveaway. He's one of those young stars that we were talking about earlier and he's favorite player Landon Slaggart. Yeah he was the focal point of the the giveaway. He's what everyone's going to see. I mean they had they had a very slight uptick at the beginning of March where I think it went 3-0 and won in their first four games in March and it looked like after the Seth Jones trade that maybe some good vibes had returned to the room because we talked about that

yesterday. Nick Foley you know and a couple other players talking about how the big distraction had finally been moved along, but they've kind of gone right back to being the Chicago Blackhawks that we've seen throughout this season. And you know, we've talked about this a lot on this show, especially yesterday, how little buzz there is about them coming into town on Saturday, a Saturday night game in March, as we get down to the final few weeks of the NHL regular season you get Connor Bedard's return and there's just been, it's been very un-buzzworthy and that's got a lot to do with the fact that the Chicago Blackhawks are a very, very bad hockey team here. Who is your favorite Blackhawk guys? Is it Landon Slaggard? He's one of them.

Is it Wyatt Kaiser? I love Wyatt Kaiser. Or is it Ethan Del Mastro? I do like Ethan Del Mastro as well. Is that his name? Like Ethan Del Maestro? Mastro? Mastro?

Del Maestro. Del Maestro. Del Mastro. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Okay.

Um, so we mentioned what Quinn Hughes had to say after the last game in Calgary when Elias Pedersen Scored the big goal for the Canucks and then scored again in the shootout and Quinn Hughes the captain Had some very supportive words for Elias Pedersen you know, I thought that was terrific to not only take advantage of of You know, I thought that was terrific to not only take advantage of, of, of a big moment and kind of reinforce it for Pedersen, but also a really smart thing to do because Quinn Hughes knows that the guys are going to need Elias Pedersen down the stretch if they want to make the playoffs.

He could be the difference between making and missing for this team. Elliot Friedman on the most recent 32 Thoughts podcast had something to say about those words and maybe some background to add to it as well. I think he was really backed Pedersen. I think he felt that, you know, he's the captain, he saw the writing on the wall. I think he knew where this was going to go. I think he knew that Miller was going to be leaving and

Pedersen was going to be staying. He knew that the fan base was split on this. And, but I think he said, he felt very strongly that Pedersen could have still have a big impact for them. And, and I think what he said the other day was, it's not only about supporting the teammate publicly, but I think it's a manifesting of what he believed privately was that this was a move that Canucks had to make. And he believed that in the long run, everybody would be better off for it, including Miller. then everybody would be better off for it, including Miller. And so I think that that's what he's hoping to see. I think this is what Hughes believed, that when they made the move, it was the right

thing for the franchise. And if I'm wrong, he can say that I'm out of my freaking mind, but I've really gotten that impression? I have also gotten that impression that Hughes was active behind the scenes in trying to sort this out. Yeah. And- I mean, he's the captain, he has to be. Yes, but it kind of went beyond that.

Like he was, well, it didn't go beyond that. He was the captain and this is what he had to do. But ultimately what I think happened was, you know, you hear about coaches losing the room. I think JT lost the room. Sure. And I think we saw that play out in JT's play and ultimately his wish to be moved.

I think he lost the room. And I think ultimately, um, Quinn Hughes and maybe a few other guys felt like, all right, JT, you're going a bit far with this stuff. And then I think there might've been a blowup with the coaching staff as well that really sealed JT's fate in Vancouver. And then that's, I mean, that's

essentially what I think happened. Now, if I'm wrong, I'll do the same thing as Elliot Freeman. Feel free to reach out to me, Canucks, and tell me I'm wrong, but I think that's what happened. Now, as it pertains to the Hughes-Peterson dynamic, which I think is a very, very important part of this organization moving forward. It's pretty well established that they're good friends. I think there was like an anecdote making the rounds the other day. He was talking about how he sits with Petey on the plane. Like he's his seat buddy or something along those lines.

I think beyond the friendship, there's a kinship in the room and on the ice that one understands how important the other is to the team's success. We got a microcosm, a snippet, if you will, of that the other night after the Calgary game when Hughes and we played the audio, Hughes was talking about how important

Pedersen is to the team's success and also talking about his inherent drive and competitiveness that's gotten him to the heights that he's had in the NHL before. And then Pederson, interesting, and we didn't play the audio because it was a little bit more muted, but he was talking about how Hughes played

damn near 30 minutes returning from injury, clearly not at 100%, and Petey kind of smiled and he said, that's my captain. So they've obviously got a relationship that's important in the context of you need to make these guys happy, Hughes especially, if you want to retain Hughes moving forward, right? Okay, I want to address some stuff that's coming

into the Dunbar Lumbertex line. Jay and Poco, LOL, PD scores a couple of goals and suddenly it was all Miller's fault. Unfair, Jay and Poco, Unfair. That is not the case. Funny gaslighting. I do appreciate it, but unfair. Pettersson... Okay, if you want to hear some some spilt tea. Oh, no. Pettersson wasn't working hard enough. And that wasn't just JT saying that. That was the Canucks.

And I don't think... and feel free to reach out to me, Canucks, again, if I'm wrong. His work ethic became an issue. And that's why Rick Tocket recently said, well, wait a minute, I've seen some stuff out of Pedersen. Like he's doing the stuff in the last 48 hours or 72 hours that, you know, like, I'm like, this is, no, no, don't, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not worried about this, but like, don't, don't, like, don't make this a one or the other thing. Like they both share responsibilities.

Pedersen needed to work harder and that was clear by what the coaching staff had said and the management said it was clear, but I think JT took things too far. and the management said. It was clear. But I think JT took things too far. And ultimately, I think he lost the room. And tell me where any inconsistency is in this story. Tell me where any inconsistency is in this story. I just don't think that we should be using Jay and Poco's text as anything more than like maybe trying to incite a narrative that's not there and that we haven't established. Well, what bothers me is that, than maybe trying to incite a narrative that's not there and that we haven't established.

That's all I'm saying. Well, what bothers me is that, and maybe this is just what I see in the world today, is just the tribalism where one side is either 100% in the right and the other side is 0% in the right or vice versa. I think you can separate these issues. Pedersen did not come prepared for this season and the Canucks were disappointed that he didn't work as hard and he hasn't worked as hard as he should have. Okay? Okay. Uh huh. JT also got, if you want to put, he got a little

carried away with some of his actions and it caused a problem in the room to the point where he lost, he lost the room and now he's no longer part of the Canucks and the Canucks still have a decision to make on Elias Pedersen on whether or not he's the guy to move forward, but you know, it doesn't, like, you don't have to be like, I'm just going to give you as a

fan, the freedom. You don't have to be on team PD or team JT. Like you don't have to be, you don't have to choose. You can say like, I actually like both players, but no, neither of them are perfect. Pedersen himself said it the other day, I'm not perfect. Like, that was part of his mea culpa, right? Like, I'm not perfect.

Yeah. None of us are perfect. But you don't have to, you don't have to wear the, I'm team JT or I'm team Petey. It's not necessary. Right. Team JT or I'm Team Petey, it's not necessary. And I think it just frustrates me because we see people, like their identity is almost tied up in I'm a Petey guy, or I'm a JT guy, or I'm a left-wing guy,

or I'm a right-wing guy, right? Like it's just, just look at the issues and think of, they actually use your brain to think about them. You don't have to be on a team. Sure. Right? Just how about be on the team of like, what really happened? What's the truth? Be on that team. Yeah. It is remarkable that when an interpersonal relationship fractures, the most logical thing to think is that both parties have to shoulder some of the blame here, because that's the way that interpersonal relationships work.

Very rarely is it 100% one person's fault and 0% the other person's fault. There's always some blame and some responsibility to take. Yet somehow, and let's be clear, part of this has to do with the fact that perception wise, it does look like the Canucks chose Petey and traded away Miller. Now that's not accurate in any way, shape or form. However, look at what happened.

One got sent away and one got to stay. So I think you can understand where maybe some of these less nuanced, more definitive team A, team B takes come from. It's because when you look at it and from, you know, a million miles away or as objectively as you can, there is a sense of one guy got to stay and one guy had to leave. And I think that's where some of the, you know, opinions come into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket.

I think the key is maybe stick to what you know and what you believe. And people are going to have you believe and people are gonna have their opinions and people are gonna be tribalized and whatnot, but at the end of the day, no, and be confident in the fact that in a situation like this, there's a lot more gray than there is black and white. That's how I would classify it. To the phone lines we go,

check TV's Rick Dollywall, Ricky D joins us now in the Halford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. What up Rick? Gentlemen, how's it going? How's it going? Uh, can't complain. Things are good. Uh, that was a good game of Calgary the other night. Absolutely. This whole week, uh, eight points up for grabs and, uh, Canucks fighting for their playoff lives with the flames blues in the Utah.

And you saw the Penguins did the Canucks a favor last night, right? They beat St. Louis. So two out of four points so far. Blackhawks here tomorrow, huge game with Utah on Sunday. That was very gutsy. Come from behind, win over Calgary. For the last 17 games, if Elias Pettersen can play like he did in Calgary, Quinn Hughes can be healthy the rest of the way. Yeah. I'd put your money on the connects to make the playoffs ever since Patterson had his, uh, honest interview. I think it was the Wednesday of trade deadline

or the Tuesday, one of those two days. Remember he took responsibility for his play. Yeah. Uh, he's got to be better. Well, guess what? He's played really well since then. Three goals, last four games. I really liked his reaction after the game-time goal in Calgary we haven't seen that in

a while the passion the smile right that stuff that that stuff matters he seems to be having fun last week week and a half that's only good news for the Canucks but the guy Hughes misses 12 days comes back his postgame interview was telling to me you could tell how much he Likes Pettersson and loved his big game He said the Pettersons taking a lot of crap this year, you know He has felt for his pal this season on all the criticism. He's taken look guys. These two guys are good friends They got the same agents, you know look guys, these two guys are good friends. They've got the same agents.

You know, like you could tell in that post game interview that Hughes was so happy for Patterson and that's a good sign. That's what a leader, a captain does. He was some Patterson guys are the keys down the stretch for the Canucks as they go, this team will go. But I want, I want to throw Kevin Lankton in there as well with Patterson and Hughes. He was great helping the Canucks play in games on back to back with so much uncertainty about Demko this year. Lankenen has been a blessing for the Canucks.

I mean, they did not have the confidence as he loves, let's be honest, and they played him back to back. Now on Demko, I want to tell you guys, the Canuck schedule is not helping. Demko needs full team practices before he plays games. When you have back to backs, you got to take the third day off. So there's not much time for practices. He could be a few days away. He's got a groin injury, by the way.

That's what's kept him out five weeks and counting. But, you know, I just don't know. I we're right back to September, October, November with Demko. It's just all over the map. We don't know when he's going to be back, but he needs practices. And right now the Canucks can't get practices because of their schedule. They got one today, but they're right back into Saturday, Sunday, probably Monday off. And then a road trip where it's harder to get practices. but they're right back into Saturday, Sunday, probably Monday off. So that-

And then a road trip where it's harder to get practices. So how do you, how do you get that guy practices? That's a big issue right now and getting them back in the lineup. Um, just getting back to, uh, Pedersen, I think sometimes we in the media, like we think too much about ourselves and the role we play.

Now that interview he did. Yeah might have Done something for his game But I think it's more like if I were to think about reasons why Pedersen has found his game I would I would look at what Rick talk had said on on March 4th, and he said the last 48 hours or 72 hours. Yeah, he's doing stuff that I'm like, wow, that's the stuff we need from him. Thank you very much to Adam Kierzenblatt for quoting that, including all the times Rick said, wow, that's the stuff we need from him. So for me, it's kind of like, yeah, the media stuff is the thing we all see and because we're in the media and we think that

You know the world revolves around us. We're gonna be like that's what turned it around but for me, it's like Maybe it was the work he was putting in It definitely was talk its comment was Rick pocket loves guys Who do extra video work who do extra stuff on the ice, you know who go out of the way to say? Hey, can I get a session with the Sedin twins or whatever? He likes that and maybe Pedersen wasn't doing any of that and maybe Pedersen now is. I look at that interview of Trade Deadline Week and the week before he was in LA and

I did, Pat Bresson, his agent lives in LA. In the following week he has a press conference, he's doing extra things. I mean, I'm trying to connect the dots here, but I don't really care what Pettersson is doing off the ice. What I think the matters is him getting back to being a difference maker because the Canucks are going nowhere. If their number one centre is on pace for 54, 55 points, they're not. He's got to get up into the 90s, 95 for the Canucks to be successful.

And the other problem that Canucks have, if this guy's not going, they don't have a second line centre and they'll be hunting for a second line centre via trade or July 1st. Like I think about Sam Bennett a lot. Yeah, we were talking about Sam Bennett earlier. Yeah. And I wonder if he's on the Canucks radar, but

Sam Bennett's a, going gonna cost you a lot. Sam Bennett also, I wouldn't rule out him resigning in Florida simply because the one thing that Florida and Tampa Bay have that people just don't realize, one is they're winning a lot lately. And two is that tax situation of Florida is so appealing to agents and players and you know I would say a contract in Florida at seven million is probably closer to nine million in Canada right so if the money goes a long ways and in Florida in Tampa Bay like they just they're getting look at Gensel right says no to Carolina but where does he end up on a long-term deal Tampa Bay, you know, so look I don't know how the Connucks fit Fix the second line center

Obviously through trade or July 1st But I will say if this guy Patterson gets back to being a number one center and a difference maker It solves a ton of problems for Vancouver I know you wanted to talk about Brock Besser's struggles because as much as we've been impressed and encouraged by Pettersson's progress, Brock Besser's game has not come on. Ray Ferraro was on the show yesterday. He made some really good points about Besser. Ray said he was not built, he's talking about himself, Ray, he was not built to play in the final year of his contract. It bothers some players, maybe it's really bothering Besser. Ray had his

240 goal seasons the year after he signed a contract. The contract has been hanging over Besser's head since day one at training camp. The trade deadline was not fun for him and the GM's comments on trade deadline day, that didn't help. Vassar's got no goals in 10 games. He's got four in 23. He's got two goals in 15 games since JT Miller left. Vassar's got to figure this out quickly. There's only 17 games left. The Canucks need him to start scoring goals. And he needs to start scoring goals. If he wants that next big payday, maybe on July 1st, if Besser struggles, continue the rest of the season because he's got no chemistry with any of the

centers in Vancouver, there's likely no fit for him here next year. Anyways, Patterson, Suter and Heidel. He's not feeling anything with any of those centers in term of chemistry since Miller left. Yes, Besser misses Miller, but Miller doesn't miss Besser, he's not feeling anything with any of those centers in term of chemistry since Miller left. Yes, Besser misses Miller, but Miller doesn't miss Besser because he's got 17 points in 16 games with the Rangers. Besser's got to get going because one of the lowest scoring teams in the NHL right now needs him ASAP.

And you know, he hit the crossbar the other night, uh, in Calgary, I think it was in the dying seconds of overtime, but at some point, um, like, you know, he hit the crossbar the other night in Calgary, I think it was in the dying seconds of overtime. But at some point, um, like, you know, he's got to get going here and he's kind of gone into a drought at the very wrong time of the year. He needs to get on the same page as Heidel, in my opinion, like, it's either, it's either

that or, I mean, any of the guys, but I think Heedle makes sense because he can bring the puck up the ice, but Heedle also has to know that Besser is there. I think Heedle sometimes gets that tunnel vision a little bit. He wants to go one-on-one with players as opposed to distributing the puck. So it would be nice if those two could get on the same page. Just my opinion on that. He needs a playmaking center.

What's one of Besser's greatest assets? He always finds an area in the offensive zone, sets himself up, but somebody's got to give him the puck and Miller got him the puck. Go look at some of Miller and Besser's goals. They just knew where each other was. And so Besser had Suter as a center a couple of games ago, two, three, four games ago, that's not the guy to get him the puck.

Yeah. Suter is the goal scorer of the team. Yeah, exactly. So he needs a playmaking center. Miller was perfect for him, but I got to give Miller credit. You know, he goes to New York and you know, Besser, no Besser, he's got 17 points to 16 games. Like you got to give the guy credit. But I think like if the Canucks can't, if he can't, if Besser can't find chemistry

with one of these three centers and we don't know who the second-line center is going to be, I really wonder about his future in Vancouver. Let's talk about Victor Mancini because he had a good game the other day, played a key role on the tying goal by Pedersen by simply getting the puck on net with a quick hard low shot. How did he come to be on Vancouver's radar? Is this a guy that they specifically scouted and wanted? Were they looking for someone else from the Rangers?

Because I'd never even heard of this guy before he came to Vancouver. Some people may think that Mancini was a throw in, in the JT Miller trade. That's wrong. He was not. The way it was told to me, the Rangers really had a tough time letting him go. They really, really wrestled with it. They finally relented. Like someone told me like for two weeks, Canucks kept saying, you know,

Mancini's got to be in it. And they finally drew re-relented and say, okay. And he said, yes. In the end, when you trade a very good player, like JT Miller, there is no room for throw-ins every single piece counts. Every single piece is important to the Vancouver Canucks and the JT Millertrade. You can't just throw in this guy and this guy and this guy. That's not how it works. The Canucks like this player a ton. He's only 23, right

shot, 6'3", 229, can skate really well. Mancini's dad Robert is well known in American hockey circles. He was one of the first coaches in the U.S. development program. He found guys like Ryan Kessler. You know people are talking about Mancini skating. He went to Sweden during Covid to play on the bigger ice and work on his skating. You know his skating has really blossomed in the last two years. You know, Bruff, I know you coach minor hockey. You probably see parents put pressure on kids, you know, get, you know, the bad to midget, you know, your skating and previous skating.

Well, how did Mancini, he blossomed into his skating at 20, 21. He's a big guy. Those big guys have, you know, know bigger skates some of their in size 12 13 for crying out loud they take longer to fill tall lanky guys but when it was told to me this week that this guy's skating Blossom in the last two years Canucks assistant coach Adam Foot worked with Mancini when he was 15 years old because Footwork for Mancini's agent Kurt Overhart. Did he work on his footwork?

Well, when he was 15, Foot worked with him. He's known the kid for a while because Foot was the development coach for Kurt Overhart's agency. When Suzy traded, I don't know about Meyer's injury, Juleson's injured, Mancini is going to get a good run here with the Canucks the rest of the way, and a good job by the Canucks for identifying Mancini then making sure that he was included in that Miller trade Let's talk a little bit about Abbotsford just to close it out here Jujar is down there. Klimovic is putting some pucks in the net and I know you want to talk about Lekermia as well. I know you want to talk about

Lacrimachia as well. I know you want to talk about that. That's the kid from Cloverdale, 31-year-old. That's the kid from Cloverdale, 31-year-old.

Canucks have had interest in the past on and off, but he's had issues with the back. Back surgery last year, he's fought hard to come back from those back issues. I want to tell a quick story about the kid.

He was 16 years old at the North Delta Isox camp on the verge of getting cut and he He's fought hard to come back from those back issues. I want to tell a quick story about the kid. He was 16 years old at the North Delta Isox camp on the verge of getting cut and going back to Cloverdale minor. After one of the sessions, a Prince George Fuscai Junior A Scout asked him, hey, you want to go to Prince George? He said, yes. Great two years in PG, NCAA drafted by the Oilers, ended up in Everett. Never went in the ban of draft. Was a late bloomer. No one in his 94 age group in Vancouver saw this kid going anywhere and you know you reach the NHL. The point is you don't need a hundred scouts to like you just need one scout to like you that's it. One guy to believe

in you that's all you need. He's a UFA carer. Not sure what the Canucks plans on for him or after this year, but you know what the local kids happy to be back home. He already two points in two games with Abbotsford. So, um, that's a kid that, you know, was the underdog, wasn't supposed to make it, but he somehow made it. Klamovich six goals in his last six games, career high 21. He had two last year.

He's starting to figure it out. He's only 22. He was going nowhere with Jeremy Collison. He has found his stride with Manny Maholtra. No other drafted winger in Abbotsburg remotely close to Clemovage in terms of talent. He probably won't get a look with the Canucks this year. They're in the thick of a playoff race. And remember NHL teams are only allowed four recalls after the trade deadline. I want to ask about the Karamaki healthy scrum. I mean, I think it's a great question. I think it's a great question. playoff race and remember NHL teams are only allowed four recalls after the trade deadline. I want to ask about the Karamaki healthy

scratch against Calgary, four games he played before that healthy scratch, no points averaged around 11 minutes. Again, Connucks are in the thick of a playoff race. If you're not going to play them, do they send them to Abbotsburg or does he, uh, hang around Vancouver as a spare part?

Every game from here on in is a must win. So what they do with Leckermacky guys, like what do you do? Like Jason, do you- I'd keep them for the road trip. I mean, you need some, you need some, you need some, I mean, who was the scratch? It was Leckermacky was a scratch.

Yeah, you want to scratching in Calgary. But I mean, just, you know, you remember when everybody said, Oh, get rid of Besser, Leckaramacky is going to be the replacement. It doesn't work like that. No, no. He might be a year away. We don't know. We don't know.

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