Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 3/17/25

Episode Date: March 17, 2025

Jason Brough and guest host Jamie Dodd look back at a busy weekend in sports including a big win over the Blackhawks and a disappointing loss versus Utah, plus the boys look ahead to tomorrow's matchup versus the Jets. 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-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da We'll watch the final few seconds tick down, and the Utah Hockey Club come into Vancouver and pick up a big win to bolster their playoff hopes. Happy St. Patrick's Day, loser! Ladies and gentlemen, what you're seeing is a total disregard for the things St. Patrick's Day stands for. All this drinking, violence, destruction of property. Are these the things we think of when we think of the Irish? Yes.

Good morning. Welcome to Halford and Brough here on Sportsnet 650. Brough is here, but no Halford. I'm Jamie Dodd filling in for the week. And I'm informed by producer Andy Cole, a dog, that apparently Mike had to take. I didn't listen to the show on Friday, but apparently Halford had to take a week off. There was some sort of incident.

There was an incident. There might be a rift developing between Laddie and Halford. Halford didn't care for Laddie's basic comment. He called Halford's opinion basic. Yeah, well. Halford's taking the week off. Good morning, Jamie. Good morning.

But Laddie's not here either. I was gonna say, so I don't know if Laddie is like serving a one day suspension or something. We've got producer Zach filling in. What's going on, Zach? Good morning. My mother's birthday today. Shout out mom.

Oh wow. All right. Happy birthday, Zach's mom. Happy birthday, Zach's mom. Happy birthday, Zach's mom. We've already offended the Irish as well in the opening. We got lots going on here. So no Halford this week. I'll be in all week on the show filling in with Brough. Halford Brough is brought

to you by the DeLari family of Honda dealers. Experience the DeLari difference today. Visit your nearest DeLari Honda dealer today. And this hour 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, Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid 11.70 Powell Street. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Now there's, is there like a little bit I do now? No, okay. No, no, no, no, no bit anymore. I know, I know. You know what? You did it the best. Thank you. I enjoyed it. I No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, twice over the weekend, so there is a lot to get into. They got a busy week coming up as well. Guest list begins at 6.30. Arthur Staple covers the Rangers and the Islanders as well, but I think we'll be focusing on the Rangers with them for the athletic. And of course, lots of interesting tie-ins

between these two teams this year, obviously with the JT Miller trade. They also traded Carson Sousi there. And from what I see of Rangers fans on social media, they are not pleased with the Carson Susie experience so far. And also might want to chat with Arthur Staple about Philip Heidel's injury history when he was with the Rangers. Of course Heidel missing yesterday's game after that hit from Jason Dickinson.

So lots to get into. They play the Rangers next weekend as well. So lots to get into with Arthur Staple at 6.30. At 7, Ben Pope, he covers the Blackhawks for the Chicago Sun-Times. Of course, we just saw the Blackhawks visit. Another tough showing for Connor Bedard in Vancouver with the Chicago Blackhawks for the second time this year. And I don't want to say just for Bedard, for the team is what I mean. So that continues just to be kind of a slog of a season for the Chicago Blackhawks nearing the end point. Now we'll talk to Ben about what's next, what's gone wrong, how miserable Connor

Bedard looks and what the plan in Chicago is to kind of pull out of this situation and start trading. Exactly. When the trade demand is officially going to come in for Connor Bedard. Yeah. Well, we'll map it all out with Ben Pope at seven and at eight, Ian Furness from KJR radio in Seattle. He also works on the Seattle crack and broadcast and there's been a lot, a lot going on with the Seattle Seahawks recently. So we'll talk to him about that. Maybe a little crack and stuff as well. And then of course at eight thirty, it's what we learned. So you can send your submissions in now, 650-650, to the Dumbar Lumber Text Line,

a hashtag WWL, what you learned in the last 72 hours in sports. So eight, Ian Furness, seven, Ben Pope, 6.30, Arthur Staple. But first, let's do what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how messy your life can be. happened.

What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools tools, resources and safety training. Visit bccsa.ca. The Canucks played twice over the weekend. It was a victory against the Chicago Blackhawks, a 6-2 victory on Saturday, followed up by a 3-1 loss against Utah. Now, I don't know how you guys handle it when there's two games over the weekend. Do you just forget about the first of them? Well, I think we should start with the most important game. know how you guys handle it when there's two games over the weekend. Do you just forget about the first of them?

Well, I think we should start with the most important game and that was yesterday against Utah. A win over Chicago, even with already Sea Lodge in there was expected. And we're going to talk about the Blackhawks later. The big game was yesterday against Utah and the offense did not show up. Yeah.

So it's a 3-1 loss to Utah Sunday night at Rogers Arena. As you might expect with the Canucks on the second half of a back to back, this was not the most thrilling hockey game. The score zero, zero after the first shots were 10, four after one period in favor of Utah. Stop me if you've heard this before. It was low event hockey for the Canucks. That would be a theme throughout the night.

The Canucks did open the scoring early in the second period on the power play. Quinn Hughes got the puck at the point with lots of space and he didn't waste any time. He just kind of flung it at the net. The Canucks had a couple bodies in front and the puck went off Mikhail Sergeyev's glove. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You have to forget who passed the puck to Quinn Hughes. And what an assist it was. Yeah, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You have to forget. Who passed the puck to Quinn Hughes? And what an assist it was.

Yeah, it actually wasn't bad. He held onto the puck, created some space for him. I've lowered the bar. You know me, you know me. I love Elias Pedersen so much that I'm looking for anything that he does as a positive. Don't be negative, he's back. Did you not hear that he's back?

That was one of the most nondescript, primary power play assists you could possibly pick up. It was literally just like, oh, here, Quinn. And then Quinn was like, all right, here we go. There was nearly pressure on him, and then there was nearly pressure on him, and he held on to it, and he got back to Quinn. Yeah, so I'm telling you, man, he's back.

We need Adog to do the John Wick thing that he did last week, but instead change it to like, uh, I'm thinking I'm no longer making progress or I'm thinking I'm back to square one. I'm thinking I took a step back. Yeah. I am not making progress anymore. Uh, so the Canucks open the scoring. It's one nothing. Now with the one, nothing lead Utah really started to take over. Canucks looked like the much slower team, but I do want to give them credit for a time there for playing a gritty, committed, decent defensive game. Derek Forevert was blocking shots. Connor Garland, the crowd was chanting his name because he blocked a shot and then in a lot of distress hung in the play, made a nice play actually basically on one leg to clear the puck. So there was a level of effort, commitment, engagement, but it didn't last that long.

The lead that is midway through the second Utah's fourth line out against the Canucks top line and top defensive pair. So Quinn Hughes and Philip Roenick are out there, Elias Pettersson and his line are out there as well. Utah tied the game. The Canucks lost track of Kevin Stenland. Michael Karconi sent a pass right through Elias Pettersson's legs and Stenland beat Kevin Lankinen. Stenland, that's what he's known for, right? He just finds those areas, right?

You can't lose Kevin Stenland in the offensive zone. And you're sitting there and you're going like, I know I have to cover Kevin Stenland, but how does this guy constantly, it was like McDavid in the four nations, right? He just finds a way to get open. It's like Ovechkin at his spot, right? Why aren't they covering him there? You know that's what he's gonna do. It's the Stenner spot, that's what they call it.

So it's one-one going into the third period. The Canucks had 10 shots on goal and really had not looked very dangerous at all. Utah broke the tie with about five, about five minutes in. Nick Schmaltz shot, took a deflection, fell to a wide open Logan Cooley. He beat Lankton. And at this point, you know, about 15 minutes left, you're down one. You're in the third period of this massive game. Second half of a back to back.

You need to find something you need to dig deep. And the Canucks got a golden opportunity about nine minutes left in the game Clayton Keller stick caught Brock Besser in the face drew a double minor giving the Canucks a four-minute power play a chance to tie it now they managed four shots but none of them were particularly threatening and more than anything the Canucks just looked out of sorts on that four-minute power play struggled to gain the zone struggled to get set up when they did get set up it was passive and it was not particularly threatening so they don't score on that and after that there's only about five minutes left the

Canucks never really had that moment where it felt like they were you know banging the door down to try to tie the game and in fact they continued to look out of sorts even with when they were trying to get the extra attacker out there like it took them a while to get Lankton and off the ice. And after they did Clayton Keller hit the empty net and that was how it ended three one at Rogers. I want to talk about that power play because there was a point on that power play. There was a time during that power play where it was Besser on one side, Pedersen on the other and Quinn Hughes at the top of the umbrella.

And it was tough to watch. No movement between those three and they couldn't work the puck down low. I don't know if they tried. You know, as much as we picked on Petey, we have to have a conversation about Brock Besser because I thought he was dreadful. Yesterday, he had a few chances to put a puck

on net and ripped it way wide. Yep. A few times. And you know, I'm sure that Rick Taga wasn't thrilled to see that. I realized he was now out there like his centre is Bluger. Um, I mean, that's not going to help him.

So he, you know, he's gone from JT Miller to, uh, Phillip Heidel, who he doesn't really know. And now it's like Teddy Bluger, right? But when he's out there on the power play, he's out there with the Canucks top offensive players and he continues to struggle. Here's Rick Tocca, the head coach on the power play that essentially cost the Canucks the game. Well, I mean, it could be fatigue. Maybe I don't know if they took the game or I didn't think they had a lot

of chances. We, uh, it's a one-one game going to the third. We got what? Six minutes of power play, but talk about moments. So I don't think they took over the game at all. I think they had some, you know, they got good players. I mean, NHL hockey teams you play against, you're there to get their moments, but one, one game, 22 hour turnaround. We have six minute power play.

We don't get it done. That's the game bottom line. Yeah. Tauke went on to say that the coaching staff was pretty frustrated because there were plays to be made out there. And that's, that's a few times now that Tauke has said the coaching staff is frustrated because we're, we've, we've told these guys to do this and they haven't done this. Which you don't actually hear very often. You don't hear a head coach go up there and say,

we as a staff are frustrated with the team. Whether or not this was intentional or not, it does feel like it's like talk of being a bit defensive in that like, hey, we're telling these guys to do things and they're not doing them. We hear the criticism from the fans about our system, et cetera, et cetera. And it's almost like when you get into a position where there's a lot of pressure on you, it's hard sometimes not to start blaming others, you know? And, and, and, you know, it probably is, I've, I've said multiple times on the show, especially in the

last month or two, that I feel sometimes like the coaches are out of answers. They're like, we can't do the job for them. We can give them like that we can coach, but if they're not going to do it, if they're not going to find ways to do it, it's tough. Which is kind of understandable, but you're also like, well, if you're not part of the solution,

then I guess you're part of the problem, right? Like is there a mismatch between the coach and the players? I mean, you know, as much as I've mostly put it on the players, you do have to ask that question and management has to be asking that question. Rick Tauket's future is certainly not assured in Vancouver over the next little while.

And I've been generally pretty reluctant to heavily criticize Rick Tauket for all of the things that have gone wrong with this team. Cause I think like you, I look more at the players and roster construction than criticize Rick Taukett for all of the things that have gone wrong with this team. Because I think like you, I look more at the players and roster construction than the job Taukett has done. Having said that, the power play might be the area where I am most open to the criticism of Rick Taukett. And that even stretches back to last year.

Remember last year, they didn't have a dedicated power play coach. It was Rick Taukett taking it on in addition to his duties as head coach. Now this year Yogi Siefkowski is in charge of the power play but from what I understand it seems like Rick Tauke has a pretty direct role in it as well. And you look at that game last night and you know this is a little thing well it's not that little thing to be honest but I mean there's like I don't know if we Minutes on that four minute power play the biggest power play of the year where both Tyler Myers and Philip pro and across the ice together You know what I mean? Like I get it second unit. You're trying to give Quinn Hughes a breather Okay, so that's what Philip Roenick is for and you can still have four forwards out there

I don't know why Tyler Myers needs to be out there as a second defenseman on the power play and just in general to your point about those answers from talk, it kind of sounding like what you say when you don't have answers, when you've, you've tried everything it feels like with the players. And you're getting a bit defensive. Yeah. Okay. You can say, well, there's plays out there to be made.

Do you have the players that are going to make those plays, right? Have you put them in a position to succeed? And I know the power play percentage over the last month looks pretty good, but no one watching this power play thinks, Oh, that's really humming. It's really clicking. I always look at where they are in the power play rankings and I'm like, I can't believe they're there. You know, whether I don't know where they are right now, but I thought they were like 14th or 15th,

somewhere mid around the league, but watching the power play all season, I can't believe it's that high. Uh, DK in Squamish, Texas, and he says, Brock Besser's downfall needs to be studied. Do we even want to resign him now? Doesn't fit in the bottom six, but not playing well enough to be in the top six. What are you supposed to do with him? I don't think he's getting re-signed, DK. No. I think that's an area and that's some cap space

that they can actually are going to look to bring in a completely different type of player. One with a little more speed based on the fact that they've committed to Heidel, maybe more of a playmaker, I don't know. But I've been saying for a long time now, and it's not rocket science, my observation, they really just don't have many playmakers in the top six. If Pedersen

is at the level that he is right now, and I think the one thing that we've been happy about is his willingness to shoot and he's got a few goals. The Canucks need, this is just such a basic way of saying it, but they need, get more guys that know how to make things happen out there. And Connor Garland has been probably the most

consistent, but if Connor Garland is your most consistent playmaker out there, you got a problem. You're in trouble. You're not going to have a particularly dangerous offense if that's the case. Even though Philip Edel hasn't been producing, I think you could really notice how much the Canucks missed his speed last night, especially compared to Utah, which does have a really fast forward group.

The Canucks just looked so slow for much of the game. Utah seemed to be first to nearly every puck. It's not even like Utah was super dangerous off the rush or constantly exposing the Canucks in that way. But again, it was just, you know, getting to lose pucks first, all of that. The Canucks did not have a lot of jump. I get it. It's the second half of back to back, but that's an issue even when they're a well rested

team and to your point on Besser, they just so desperately, number one, they need high end impact players and that's a very difficult thing to do. But if you're talking about just specific traits of players, the thing they need more than anything else is speed upfront. And we all know that's not Brock Besser's strong point. So you only have so much cap space to work with. You've already, from what we hear, damaged the relationship with the player anyways, with your comments after the deadline, it's hard to see a road back

where it makes sense for both sides when they are so desperate for speed upfront. And he just doesn't bring that. Dan from North Van texts in, the way you're talking about finding a playmaker sounds like a Marner signing slash overpay. So Dan, I've kind of been hesitant to talk about the idea of signing Mitch Marner because I think another

thing that the Canucks top six has to get is bigger and stronger and meaner. So you need to get faster. You need more playmaking ability. You need to get bigger and tougher. Well, I mean, that's true. That's all we need. But the top six is not good. No, it is easily the sore spot of the

team and someone texted in and said, you know, the one thing that's encouraging is that the Canucks have three good or reliable defensive pairs. And, you know, I, I agree, the defense looks a lot better, but there's a reason the defense looks a lot better. It's cause they robbed Peter to pay Paul and they improved the defense at the cost of the forward group.

Um, and you know, if you think about it, um, Horonic is a product of Horvat, Pedersen is a product of JT Miller and they drafted Quinn Hughes. You know, that they've got some young guys coming and Victor Mancini was, was another guy that was a product of JT Miller. So yeah, you're feeling better about the defense,

but at the same time, you're feeling much worse about the forward group. Now I will say that I like Lekar Maki so far, like I really do. I know he hasn't made a big impact, but man, sometimes I wonder if he looks the most comfortable on the power play of all the Canucks forwards. I didn't think Leckermackie had a strong game last night.

I know he didn't play a ton, but there were moments where I felt like he was overthinking things a little bit. Now that's fine. I mean, he's, how many games has he played? Not that many. Just trying to be nice, man. I'm trying to be nice. Like I, I look at them and I see sometimes more

composure with the puck than any of the other Canucks forwards on the power play. Yeah, that's fair. And look, I love watching him shoot the puck. And I think, you know, talking had an interesting answer about Leckermackie last night where he basically said, it's not fair. He didn't, in so many words, he didn't quite say

it, but like someone asked about getting him power play time over someone like Brock Besser and talk was like, well, we need Besser to get going. He's been there all year. It's kind of not fair to put Leckermackie in that spot, but going forward, yeah, they're really going to need Leckermackie to step up and, and make a claim on some power play minutes and some big moments like, uh, like those power play opportunities. A bunch of other people texting in, Marner would never sign in Vancouver

anyways. That's the problem when you are looking at free agency to try to solve some big, not to fill out your team around the fringes, right? And add a pew suitor or something like that, but to solve big glaring top of the lineup needs is there's only so many guys in any given year, and convincing them to actually join you is really really difficult and Marner is a popular name I'd be shocked if he signs with the Canucks. I don't think he's the answer man. Put that aside, put your evaluation of the player aside. Let's say you thought Marner was the perfect player for the Canucks. The chances of him leaving Toronto to sign with Vancouver seem basically nil.

Like I would be stunned if that happened. Well, JDog the car hog texts in and he says, they need to offer Bennett 10 million per year if he's available. Do literally everything they get to him. Interesting over the weekend, Elliott Freeman reporting that the Florida Panthers and Sam Bennett are talking contract.

Now, whether or not they get that over the finish line remains to be seen, but if you're Sam Bennett, have you gotten a little, have you enjoyed your stay in Canada with the Calgary Flames or have you enjoyed your stay in Florida with the Panthers? And if you were to kind of chart out your next move,

would you be looking to go back to Canada or would you look to stay in a place like Florida? You know, like I, I don't know what, what, what if Bennett likes all the things that come with Florida, I don't know. Maybe some of these guys do, do see a positive in playing in Canada and that they are, you know, playing where it matters the most, right?

And I think those are the types of guys you really have to recruit and find the guys that want to come and play in Canada and want the pressure and want the excitement of playing in Canada. You know, say what you will about the Canucks right now, but when the playoffs were here last year, everyone in the league was talking about how awesome the

Vancouver crowd was, how the excitement of the city, you could really tell how that translated to the team. Kiefer Sherwood mentioned it. I mean, he was part of that playoff against the Canucks for the, for the Nashville Predators. And I'm sure that was part of the attraction of in coming to Vancouver, but, but it's the

same as Dodd just said, right? Like if you, if you're, if you're, you know, pinning your hopes to signing one of the top free agents, man, there's 32 teams, you know, don't you like, don't you think everyone's going to be after Sam Bennett? Why would the Vancouver Canucks get him? Well, yeah, you have to.

And then you overpay him. Exactly. And then he becomes a problem? So, and even Sam Bennett, and look, Sam Bennett, incredible showing at the Four Nations, massive goal, love the player, awesome, don't wanna besmirch the good name of Sam Bennett. He also has a career high of 49 points with the Florida Panthers.

He's gonna be 29 when he hits UFA. So even if you throw the bag at him and he makes it to market, first of all, which is an open question, if we'll even be there on July 1st or if we'll sign with Florida, but let's say he makes it, you win the bidding, you go all out. This is the problem with what I was saying about not just needing one big thing in your forward group, but multiple big things. Sam Bennett is not fixing your, oh, and we lack playmakers. We lack dynamic offensive ability of the top of our lineup problem. He's not, he's not, he's not a part of the solution to that.

Does he help you get tougher? Yeah, of course he does. Although even then I'm skeptical that one, like the one magic guy is out there that all of a sudden completely remakes this team's toughness. It helps, of course, but you're still like, you're still massively in need of really dangerous, high-end offensive players and Sam Bennett just doesn't fit the bill.

So I love it in a vacuum. Yeah. Go out and get Sam Bennett. You're still looking at a deeply, deeply flawed forward group, even if you win the bidding for him. Okay. So Arthur Staples is going to join us next from the athletic covers the Rangers for him. Okay. So Arthur Staples is going to join us next from the athletic, covers the Rangers for the athletic.

Um, real quick with us, um, how concerning is this for the Canucks, the Phillip Heidel injury, another concussion for him. And I would say concern both in the short term and the long term, because you wonder if this is going to be an issue that's going to continually crop up. Yeah, it's, it's, you feel first and foremost for the player, right? Who of course had so many injury problems in New York and we'll see what they say. I know Rick Tauke was saying there's a chance you could still go on the trip. So it might not be a long-term thing for Filipino, but look, he's under

contract for two more years. He's only 25. You've seen flashes of the skill and the talent and kind of the tantalizing potential there from Filippito. I'm sure that Canucks are hoping that he can round into form and be a legitimate top six guy or at the very least a very, very good third line player for you. And obviously, you know, to do that, you have to be in the lineup. So it's a tough blow. And it, uh, this was one of the question marks about acquiring him as part of the trade was his injury history.

And we'll see where it goes from here. You're listening to the best of Halford and brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Welcome back to Halford and Brough on Sportsnet 650. It's Jamie Dodd filling in for Mike Halford. Halford and Brough is brought to you by the DeLari family of Honda dealers. Experience the DeLari difference today. Visit your nearest DeLari Honda dealer today. This hour of Halford and Brough is brought to you by 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. That's Jason.mortgage. So the Canucks played back to back Saturday and Sunday. They beat Chicago. They lost to Utah. Today is officially a team day off. Tomorrow, they finished the three game home stand against Winnipeg, which is going to be a tough game. The Canucks have not exactly matched up well with the Winnipeg Jets this season and if they make the playoffs that might be their first round opponent. And then after the Winnipeg game they go to St. Louis to play a big game, another big game against a team that's among the teams

chasing for that final wild card spot. Saturday is against the New York Rangers, JT Miller. It's a Saturday morning game for us here in Vancouver, 1 PM Eastern time, which means it's a 10 AM start for us in Vancouver. That that Saturday in New York. The trip continues through New Jersey, back to New York against the Islanders, and then Columbus, and it finishes it off. Winnipeg! Damn, it's the Jets again, come on!

And another early start! 12 p.m. Pacific in Winnipeg. Why did the Pee Dee versus Miller game have to be at 10 a. 10 AM out of all the games? Yeah. Why does that have to be the early one? It's unfortunate. I'm by far looking to that one.

There's already been a PD versus Miller game. It was in the four names. Yeah, I know. Not much happened. Not much happened, but- This is different. Yeah, this is different. It's different.

This is different. And both teams are fighting tooth and nail for a wild card spot. The Rangers are in basically the nail for a wild card spot. The Rangers are in basically the same situation as the Canucks. There's one wild card spot available in the East, I think. Ottawa looks to have that first wild card spot. I guess they could still choke, but right now that's the way it looks. And in the West, the Canucks are among three or four other teams that are looking

for that final wild card spot in the West. So that's going to be a big game. And so is the St. Louis game on Thursday. And, but let's first like focus on Winnipeg and, and just, I mean, they, the Jets just seem to own the Canucks, frankly. It's a really, I mean, look, the Jets are maybe

the best team in the NHL, certainly in the regular season, we'll see how they perform in the playoffs, but they're super deep. They're complete. They've got Hellebuck, they've got stars up front. They're, they're a really, really good team. So they're a tough matchup for a lot of teams. I do think they're specifically a tough

matchup for the Canucks as well. And then beyond the Winnipeg game, you know, then you have to go out for a six game road trip that takes you all the way back east, a massive game to start that off against St. Louis, who's playing some really good hockey right now, had a big win against Anaheim yesterday. They're tied with you in points. You have a game in hand, but that could evaporate by the time you play St. Louis on Thursday. And the thing that just really stands out to me is no, there's no back to backs on this six game road trip, but there's no extra days off or anything either.

Right? So they played back to back on the weekend, day off today, Winnipeg tomorrow, and then it's every other day for the rest of the month. So that's still a very busy schedule. Six game road trips at the best of the time out east, best of times out east are tough for a West Coast team for the Canucks. Now you consider some of the competition doing it in the thick of a playoff race. This is season on the line stuff and I think it highlights just what a missed opportunity

the Utah game, especially going up one nothing in that game was, if you win that game in regulation, you're six points clear of Utah with the same number of games played and what 15 games left, 16, yeah, 15 games left. That's not quite season over for Utah, but that's really close. Like you had a chance to put their season on life support and instead you let them be right there. And now you've got this very, very difficult schedule to contend with and one of my big Questions is what's that your demko status gonna be because that you can't play Kevin Lankin in Seven straight games here to end the month on the road every other game through those games They need to get that your demko back soon

And they need to hope that not only is he back in the lineup, but he's back close to as good as he was before he got injured again in a hurry for them to have a chance here. When I went to the morning skate on Saturday, the Canucks were working him pretty hard. All three goalies were on the ice to start and then Silavs left early because he was going to start and then it was Lankinen and Demko out

there and they were working him pretty hard. Now I'm not a goalie expert, so I can't tell you how he looked or, I was like, he looks pretty good. He's in the NHL, right? But I don't. He's stopping lots of bucks out there. Oh, that one got in, so that's not good. But again, like I can't, I couldn't tell you,

you know, how he looked, but I know they were working him pretty hard and he was pretty tired after that session. So obviously they want this guy to be available. They got away with starting Sealoffs against Chicago, but you know, the two goals that he allowed, they were long shots. When he made some saves that looked awkward as well.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not like it was like, oh, that's great. Some Sealoffs was like, Hey, you got the win, but you don't want to start them again. No, no, but can you start Lanken in every game for the rest of the season? No, but that's why you need Thadra Demko back ASAP. And then also you've got this Filipino situation

hanging over everything. And that's a new one for the Canucks. Against Utah, down the middle, the Canucks went Ilias Pettersson, Pugh Suter, Teddy Bluger, and Nils Amon. That's not like on paper with Pedersen playing the way he is, even if he's shown some improvement over the last little while and a willingness to at the very least shoot the puck.

That's not a deserving lineup. That's not a deserving lineup. That's not a deserving playoff lineup. If you, if you look at that center group and accurately assess what Elias Pedersen has been this season, which I would say is probably at the level of about a third line center. That's one of the worst, if not the worst center groups in the NHL. Pederson, Suter, Bluger, Amon. Like that is third line center and Elias Pederson, essentially how he's performed

this year. Pugh, Suter, third line probably is what you like. And Teddy Bluger is like third line, but you probably like him even better as your fourth line center. Yeah. And Niels Amon is like fourth line center in a pinch. You're missing two top six centers in that group. And so yeah, when you don't have a legitimate top six center in your lineup, it's going to be really, really difficult to generate offense, to look dangerous

offensively. And again, it's not like Phillip Heidel has been setting the world on fire or filling the net or filling the stat sheet, but at least he's a guy who can make some things happen out there. Carry the puck. Carry the puck up the edge. Has a little bit of offensive skill and offensive mindset to his game.

They're completely lacking that with him out of the lineup and I think they're, you know, Quinn Hughes played almost 30 minutes last night. They need him out there. They need him out there. They need him out there to fill the offensive role that your center is supposed to fill. If the Canucks miss the playoffs by one point, or even by, I guess, what wins percentage or whatever it is, how big would that missed double

mine or ESJ look for them? Huge. That honestly, that. Like that could be, I know it sounds dramatic But that honestly could be season defining that I missed opportunity I think if they season defining not just because they didn't score but because of how it looked Yeah, if they missed the playoffs even if it's not by you know one point or the tiebreaker review car whatever But if they miss the playoffs at all

I think that will be one of the defining moments of the season, right? Like golden opportunity, home ice, extended power play, big moment in the third period. And as you said, it's not just that they didn't score because whatever, Hey, if you, you're working the puck around and you've got these great opportunities, you don't score. It happens, but they looked so disjointed. They lacked urgency. It really just summed up so much of what we've been seeing offensively from this

team and to do it in that moment. And then I think you also factor in talk it after the game saying, oh, there are plays to be made, we're bummed out as coaches that they didn't do it. We're frustrated. That was, that was the frustration of watching the Canucks try to score distilled into a four minute sequence. And yeah, it will be one of the defining moments of this season if they miss the playoffs. Um, what do you think, what have you and Drancer

have been talking about when it comes to. Utah. Yeah, I know. Well, that's the other thing that's a nightmare in all this. If Utah makes the playoffs and Drancer just gets to talk about it. Did you know Drance was in the crowd as a fan

at the game yesterday? Wearing a Utah. I don't know. He went fan for which side. Yeah. He told me on the show, he's like, I'm going to the game as a fan. I was like, to support Utah? And he was like, no, no. He bought his nephew tickets one Christmas.

Oh, so I was thinking about names for the Utah hockey club. And I've seen a few people saying the Utes, the Drancers or the Drance and I was thinking about the Utah. The juice? No, no, that's how we describe it. They have a lot of juice, the Utah juice. The Utah brunch. That's not bad.

Right? Yeah. The Utah brunch. Yeah, there's always time for Utah brunch. Yeah. That sounds like- One texture suggesting that the reason you're here with us this week is because Drance needed a whole show to himself just to talk about Utah. I told Barrett, I was like, you got to get me off the show this week.

I can't do it. I can't do five days of Utah. Send Alfred on vacation. I need somewhere. I need to be somewhere else. He's been talking up Columbus too though. Yeah. I took care of that though. Yeah, I was going to say. I hopped on their bandwagon and then they've fallen apart. If you're worried. That is a powerful jinx. If you're worried that Drance is going to be able to crow about his Utah take. Well first of all here's the thing. Picking any team and I know Drance has been on them for a while but picking any team when the race was this close with like 20 games to go doesn't really qualify as a hot take. You know what I mean? Like if you're within four points of a playoff spot with 20 games left go doesn't really qualify as a hot take you know what I mean like if you're within four points of a playoffs ball of 20 games left

I think it's just the way I think this team is gonna make it okay it's different with Drance though so so I was texting what I'm saying is we don't need to give like we don't need to give him credit for picking a team that was close to the playoffs make the playoffs he's taking it if you and this is the so I had a text with Drance, I was like, Hey Drance, just a heads up that I was kind of poking fun at you in the morning and we, we had a question, what would be

worse, you know, Calgary making the playoffs or Utah making the playoffs and Drance being right. And it was a tough question to answer. And then I said like, you know, I'm worried you may be right. And then his reply is I am right like it hasn't even is he just he's so confident you know it's like well I am right and there's like there's there's no room for debate I was like well what if you're wrong is like no I'm what are

you talking about I'm right what are you talking about? I'm right. What are you talking about? Like I'm obviously right. I mean, look who looked like a better hockey team yesterday, Utah or Vancouver? Utah. Yeah. Yeah. But he could still be wrong. He could, they could still miss the plus.

That's always been my point to him is that it's like, it's fine to think that Utah is the best team has the best talent of these chasing teams. But it's, my point has always been like, it's fine to think that Utah is the best team, has the best talent of these chasing teams. But it's, my point has always been like, it's crazy to be certain about what's going to happen. In a game of hockey. Over 20 games. You know what I mean? Like pick any 20 game chunk of the season and look at NHL.com and you'll see some wild standings results. Right? So yeah, if you, I don't, I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking Utah is the best of

the bunch, but that doesn't mean they're going to win out. So here's the thing. If you're really hoping to avoid the Drantz back padding for Utah, there's two paths. Well, one path to avoid it and really avoid it. And another one, which is like maybe just a nice consolation, as you said, he's also really been

championing, uh, Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference. What everyone has we all want the Blue Jackets to do well. No no no not in like a not in a Drance doesn't believe in feel-good stories he was doing it from a hockey analytical perspective now they follow emotions do not compute no absolutely not so they might miss the playoffs so that should give the Drance haters some comfort as well a little bit. The other one is St. Louis because as positive as he's been about Utah, he has been extremely negative about San. What's his line? Not a serious team. Bring it up like, Hey, they got a big game against St. Louis next week. He scoffs at it. I'm like, well, look

at the standings. It is a big game. What are you talking about? And Utah is playing some pretty good hockey right now. They're on a roll. They've got every chance still to make this to be in the playoff spot. So if it can't be the Canucks, the outcome you should be cheering for the most, if your main perspective is being anti-trance, is St. Louis to make it over Utah. So bringing it back to the Canucks, let's say there's two scenarios. The Canucks miss the playoffs, and the other scenario is they squeak into the playoffs, but they lose in the first round.

Yep. Does management see that any differently? I don't think so. I don't think they should, and I don't think they will. And I think regardless of what happens, whether they make or miss, as you said, their playbook is gonna be the same, which is they're going to desperately try to find

at least one and ideally two impact forwards at the top of the lineup in the summer. And I think, again, that's- Who do you think about when the, do you just go right to the UFA list? So one of the reasons. Eelers would make sense. Eelers is the guy, but he's going to make sense.

Everyone's got cap space. Yep. One of the reasons I really wanted them to trade better at the deadline, if they weren't going to get them signed is they don't, they don't have a ton of assets to go out and make a big trade. And especially if you're putting Leckermache and Volander off the table, which I think is

understandable, okay, well, those are the two prospects the teams are really interested in. They, so what I wanted them to do with Besser was trade, if you're not going to keep him, trade him at the deadline, get some assets in, then you can go, not as part of a rebuild or anything, but that you can then go use in the summer to try to land a big impact for it. And you'd have to add stuff into that, of course,

but at least rebuild your, your, your stash of assets a little bit so that you could go the trade market for a player. To me, it's what's made the most sense is always one UFA and one trade. And that's still a really tall task. Yeah. But you're not going to get it both done in UFA. You don't have the assets to get it both done as a trade. It probably had to be a two step process and keeping

that, I just think made it more difficult. Do you have any leaning whatsoever about what they're going to do with number 40? Or does it change on a daily basis? It changes a lot. If you had asked me three weeks ago, I probably would have said, I think they're going to trade him. I think they're going to trade him.

I don't think he's going to be here. I think unless he ends the season on an absolute tear, even better than he's playing now, I still bet he's moved his draft. Even better than he's playing now. Can you imagine? Yeah. Yeah. I'm talking like peak.

How well is he playing right now in your opinion? Pretty well. He's not the best player on the ice all the time, but he's playing pretty well. He was on ice for all of the goals against last game. Yeah. So I'm saying like, if, if Petey somehow is like, you know, vintage Petey by the end of the season, consistently every single game night in night out. That's not going to happen, bro.

I know. Well, that's what I'm, hey, I'm just saying that's what, what, what, that's what it would take for them to keep him. If that doesn't happen, then yeah, I think they still move him at the draft. I mean, that is a massive move to make. Does the Quinn Hughes stuff play into it? Does it change your view on it at all? Right? With Quinn Hughes giving him the vote of confidence? That was actually what changed my opinion.

Well, that's why I was saying ask Quinn what to do. Yeah. And then Friedman reporting how much he had his back and all of that. That's a fascinating dynamic. If you are all in on trying to convince Quinn Hughes to stay. Yeah. Now is that, there's levels to this, right? Because Quinn Hughes could be really supportive of Elias Pettersson as a person, as a friend, but also see the wisdom of potentially trading him. Yeah. But that has given me-

I think it does matter. Yeah. I think it does matter, which is why I suggested earlier in the show, like just skip ahead to Quinn Hughes and just be like, Hey man. What's the deal? Can you give us a little heads up? What's going on?

I know we can't offer you a massive contract extension right now, but let's say we could. Would you consider signing it? But let's say we could, would you consider signing it? Because that to me, you know, if, if, if he's suggesting, probably not right. Or if you can figure that out by his answer, then, then, well, put it this way. If they don't have Quinn Hughes and Pedersen is the guy that's

kind of leading the way, I don't want that. That based on how he's played of leading the way, I don't want that. That based on how he's played for what, 13, 14 months at this point? Not a happy thought. Not an enticing thought to watch that version of the Canucks. Russ and Poco says, you guys are assuming there's trade partners for Pederson. He's 11 million a year. How many teams are actually interested?

It's a great question. It's a great question, Russ. Now I do think, as you said, there's so many teams with cap space and somebody, I mean, we were talking about Chicago. And a need for a number one center. Right. And like, you don't think Chicago would

be interested in that? I don't know what kind of return you're getting, but I do think it's still possible to trade the player, it just, if you're fantasizing about the dream return that sets you up for the future, that's probably off the table at this point. But I still think you can make the deal. Yeah.

I'll be curious to see how quickly everything moves in the off season as well. Elliot Freeman has reported that the Canucks are going to have a big sit down with Pedersen at some point. He called it, they'll have their come to Jesus moment. And I don't know if some of those talks have already happened, they might've. Well I'm sure there's lots of conversations. Lots of conversations.

And I'll be curious to hear what Rutherford and Alveen and talk at say at the end of the season, just when they get the basic question, Hey, what happened there? Do they have a good answer for that? I think you mentioned on the show last week that if you're at the year end availability, that's going to be your question, right? Like for the, for managers. Like what happened here? What, because I've been, that's your problem.

I've been saying a lot this year is can someone just, I, all I want is for an explanation, why has this happened? What is going like before you can start to say, we think we're going to fix it. Or we think he's going to turn it around next year. You have to understand what went wrong. You have to diagnose the problem before you can fix it. What would be the most optimistic answer? the problem before you can fix it.

What would be the most optimistic answer? Like if they, if they, if they were hooked up to, uh, a lie detector and they had to tell the truth, what is something that you'd want to hear? Because if it was something like, you know, he wasn't strong enough, he didn't put the work in, in the off season, um, that would in some ways be encouraging because you could just say, well, if he puts the work in the off season, he comes to camp in shape and in better shape than, um, you know, that's great.

Then maybe we could have old Petey back. But the other one would be like, well, why didn't you do that? You know, if we got a player that doesn't work hard? I think the most, and we got to take a break in a second, I think the most optimistic possible answer is something along the lines of, he suffered some sort of injury late last season that impacted his play, that impacted his confidence.

He wasn't able or didn't put in the work necessary because of some, you know, some combination of mental and physical stuff going on, didn't put in the work and came to camp not in the best shape and it's spiraled and snowballed from there. And then it was this kind of loop of because he didn't put it in the work, he kept losing confidence and he was never able to get back on track. And some players were yelling at him. Yes.

That to me is the most. Which players? The most optimistic answer, which isn't necessarily an optimistic answer. But I find it fascinating that the people that you would say are more like PD defenders point to the tendonitis and it's like, well, he can't perform, he has tendonitis. It's like, well, but that's not an optimistic answer. If you're saying he has this chronic knee condition that has caused his play to drop off a cliff for 13 months now, that's not like, well, I want to sign up for more of that.

That should make you want to train him more than anything. Alfred and I always joke about that. We're just like, don't worry. He just has chronic knee injury. Chronic knee injury that makes him completely ineffective as a player when it acts up. It's like, oh, okay, well, no problem then. But what's most important is that you were right. I do want to read this text cause it's kind of funny.

Um, can we talk about, it's unsigned. Can we talk about Canucks fans needing to figure out a chant for Quinn Hughes, ASAP? If you, if we make the playoffs, he will be the guy dragging the team into the postseason. I heard some people last night chanted, he's my captain. But it didn't catch on. Um, we need something and I don't think MVP is going to catch on. Yeah.

Every time that, uh, this has come up in the Dunbar lumber text line, I've suggested you just chant MVP, but if that's not gonna catch up, catch on, how about please don't leave? Would that be a chant? Or is that a little sad? That might be a little desperate. I'm not sure that's the energy you're wanting to put out there. What is it?

Please don't leave. Yes, the solo, you go, please don't leave us, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, please don't leave us, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap. Kind of like in a somber, desperate, needy way. Nothing works better than begging. People love that. People always respond really well to that.

Yeah. We got Ian on the line now. All right, now joining us as mentioned from KJR Radio in Seattle, also part of the Seattle Kraken broadcast, he is Ian Furness. And stop trying to bash on our hockey team. You guys worry about your own house up there, right?

We got our own problems, but we can always bash on the Cracken. It's a three hour show. I got a lot of time. Listen, you could spend three hours just back. Has EP 40 scored at all in the last two months? Has he done anything for you guys? Hey, look, man, we've noticed. And we have experience picking apart hockey teams. We've been doing it forever. So you can learn something from us up here and how to pick apart a hockey team. Our 20 year old Yanni

Newman's got more points in the last three games than AP 40 does in the four nations. So believe it at that. You're not hurting us. We do this every day. Music to our ears. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.