Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 3/23/26

Episode Date: March 23, 2026

Mike & Jason look at a busy weekend in sports, they debate which team they should adopt for the NHL playoffs, plus the boys chat a 'Nucks loss to the Blues that saw them get eliminated from playoff contention, as Canucks Central host Satiar Shah joins the show. 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. You're listening to Halford and Brough. With the Vancouver Caddox with them as they leave Rogers Arena. They try to push. They don't work, so that sucks. Strom on the TV. A lot of teams are fortunate to play in this division. It's a bit of a pillow fight.

We had another fight over the inflatable bath pillow. I kept screeching and screeching at him. All right, very good. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. It is Halford. It is Brough. It is SportsNet 650.

We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adol, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have CRA debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour 1 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 live from the Kintech Studio. Steps strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech. And when guests call in on Sportsnet 650, they will call in on the ABLE auction Hotline email sales at A-B-L-E-Octions.C-A to get your business assets sold and your building cleared. Let's run through this guest list of ours. It's the Monday morning guest list. Brought to you by the Duick Auto Group, the Duke Morning Drive. It begins at 6.30.

James Sharman is going to join the program. He is the host of the Footy Prime podcast. So much going on in the footy world. Man City won the Carabout Cup over the weekend over Arsenal. Okay. The White Caps lost this weekend. But most importantly, this week, we've, are finally going to start to figure out who's going to play in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Oh, I thought you were going to say, and most importantly, Spurs might really be going down. Possibly. Possibly. They lost badly to, uh, they lost to a forest. I know. And all the animals that live in the forest, they lost to them 3-0, too. A chipmunk had two. It was impressive. They call it a brace. Yeah. He scored off a corner. He's a hell of a chipmunk.

They lost 3-0 to Nottingham Forest. Yes. Forrest isn't exactly like fighting for the top of the division. They are also in the relegation battle. As a matter of fact. So we'll talk to James Sharman about all that at 6.30. 730, Jack Michaels is going to join the program. Play-by-play man for the Edmonton Oilers.

Wait, another Oilers guest? Is there even worse news for the Edmonton Oilers now? Oh, it's delicious. Even more stressful times in Edmonton over the weekend. So the Oilers lost to the bolts. Connor McDavid had some candid remarks about coaching. and while all that was going on, Leon Drysidal was taking in a Bayern Munich match

and was talking during the match, during an interview about his health and when he might return to the Edmonton Oilers. So there's a lot to unpack there and a lot to get into with Edmonton Oilers play-by-playman Jack Michaels at 7.30. 8 o'clock Satyar Shah is going to join the program. Canucks Central, Canucks pre-and-post game host right here on SportsNet 650. Canucks played another home game and lost another home game over the weekend.

This time, a 3-1 defeat to the Blues on Saturday night. There are now just two games left. Some would say mercifully in the eight game season high homestand. The connects are currently in the midst of Sat's going to join us to talk about all that at 8 o'clock. So work reading real quick in reverse on the guest list. 8 o'clock, it's Sat. 7.30, it's Jack Michaels. 6.30. It's James Sharman. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie. Lett. Let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies, and tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. We will get into what happened to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday in just a moment.

But last night, the Vancouver Canucks were officially eliminated from playoff contention. I know it's going to come as a shock to us all. I thought they were going to make a late run. You know? It's a low bar in this conference too, right? So I thought they were going to make a late run, but they couldn't get it done against St. Louis, I guess. That was it. That was the straw.

So with a record of 21, 40, and 8, with 50 points with 13 games remaining. Some might look at the standings and say, but wait, if the Connax were to win all 13, they'd finish with 76 points. Alas. It should be noted that because the Predators and Kings still play each other twice this,

season, 76 points would not be enough to clinch a playoff spot. So last night officially, your 2025-20206 Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from playoff contention. You can look into positively, though, they are first place team in elimination. The first team. They are the very first in elimination. First team to get eliminated this season. Congratulations to you, Vancouver Canucks. You are now officially eliminated from playoff contention. Well, we are through six games of this Canucks's eight-game homestand, and the Canucks are two and four so far. after the 3-1 lost to St. Louis on Saturday night.

Games remaining Tuesday against Anaheim and Thursday against the Kings, and here's a prediction. Someone's going to try and make this whole, like, spoiler thing, a thing. Like, you know, we've got an opportunity to play spoiler. We can ruin someone else's dreams. Yeah, we've already ruined ours. Saturday's loss to St. Louis was one of the connects.

poorest performances of the homestand and really the season. I know the Blues have been playing better or late, but the way they dominated the Canucks was pretty striking. Vancouver managed just nine shots on goal at even strength. The Canucks' only goal came on the power play, of course, after Blues defenseman Logan Mayu tip to Philip Peronik point shot past Jordan Bington. That was just a terrible decision by him too. but that was the only way that Caducs could beat Bennington

when one of the Blues put it past him. That goal actually made it a one-goal game in the third period, but the scoreboard did not really reflect the play on the ice. The Blues ended up scoring into the empty net to put it away. In terms of expected goals, I know you love that stat. I do. That was one of the worst offensive games that Canucks have had all season,

and it came at home against, the St. Louis blues. I know we got some audio to play. Adam Foote on trying to create more shots. Here's Adam Foote. Yeah, we want, especially when we go low to high and direct real quick and we want our D

like you saw Phil do in the third and there was chaos at the net. So if they're going to double up in the corners, we're stressing our D, get it back down quick. If we rim it out and you can do a D to D. You might have the three high play, but, you know, we have to get,

you're right, shots of the net. And also anchor the net. When we have the anchor there, we can funnel and throw pucks to the net. We're looking for two clean plays. We're looking for clean plays that aren't there. And, you know, when we get pucks down and jam the net, you're going to have to find a way to get those dirty goals.

That was a lot of terminology in there. Second question, Adam. What? A lot of funneling. Say that again in like a sentence, if you could. Or even two. Canox have been held to two goals or fewer? in five of their past seven games.

Everything's a struggle right now. Although I'll say they only, I mean, conceding goals against the blues wasn't the problem. The problem was they had absolutely no offense whatsoever. And I suppose there is some merit to finding the greasy areas at this time of the year and trying to get some pucks on that. But for them, it's not because there's a lack of space and they're fighting for every goal that they can to try and make the playoffs.

They just need some semblance of offense. and I guess outside of Marco Rossi right now, who again got another point and has now extended his point streak to five games. It is a team that is really bereft of offense. Part of it is a talent thing, for sure. Let's not get that twisted. Part of this is that they just don't have the talent whatsoever.

But I don't want to continue to harp on the teaching and the lessons that need to be learned. But I do really struggle at times to wonder if the guy that we just heard and the guy behind the bench is the right guy to navigate through these waters where you should be taking something from these games, something from these games,

as opposed to the things that you're not doing. There should be some semblance of, and I know we use these buzzwords all the time, but structure and philosophy and identity and the things that you need to do to be successful at the NHL level, even if it's an execution problem, right? I think that's my biggest issue here. Counterpoint, Landon DuPont.

Can I come to the defense? offensive Adam foot just a little bit here. Absolutely. The Canucks don't have a consistent play driver. Nope. Not one of them. Nope. And it's hard to compete with, without anyone who can push your team in the right direction on the ice. Quinn Hughes was a play driver. How many times did we hear that, that, oh, he's a one-man

breakout. Conor Garland was probably the second best play driver. Obviously, those guys aren't here anymore. I mean, Kiefer Sherwood got the play going in the right direction. It's another reason they're getting, they're getting pinned in their ends so much. They got, I got no one who can just say like, pap, screw it, I'm taking the puck. And if you watch a hockey game and notice who is constantly making things happen when they're on the ice, that's likely the play driver. Yeah. So who are you watching right now on the Canucks?

and you're like, man, that guy's making a lot of things happen. He just says, screw it, I'm taking the puck, I'm going to move my feet, and get things going in the right direction. Nobody, nobody. There's no one. There's no one. Like maybe Hieronic. Maybe.

Yep. Okay, that's fair, actually. Do you know what the numbers suggest? The numbers. Maybe not the I test, but the numbers suggest who the best play driver up front is. L. Linus Carlson. Oh, okay.

I was going to say the other L. Liam Ogren. But yeah, okay, Carlson, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Why not at this point? The numbers could bear that out? obviously I like what Rossi's been doing lately,

but I don't watch that game and be like, oh, Rossi's taking it over, right? Rossi's a talented guy. He can make some nice touches, make some nice plays. But he's not like, all right, guys,

you know, get on my back. We're going for a ride here. It's funny you mentioned Rossi, because after the game, he had the quote, or he said, I think we play too cute,

we play too much on the outside, and we're not going enough to the inside of the dirty areas. I think that's missing in our name. I always kind of chuckle when, I hear that because it's like, it's easier to send them done, especially if you've got the puck. You know, like, you can go to the inside without the puck. That's no problem.

But when you've got the puck, see what the other team tries to do is they try to defend their net. Yeah. So they don't want you coming to their net with the puck. Yeah. I mean, so look, everyone knows this. Well, most people know this. What we don't know is how they're going to. solve this fundamental problem.

They're planning to solve it through the draft and hopefully they can do it. When is the draft anyway? Is it soon? Could it be tomorrow? Nope. It's a few months. Three months away. Hey, by the way, was foot listening to the show on Friday because

Batch texted me before the warm-ups of the Blues game and he's like you'll never guess who's taking the drills first because it is the Rossi line, the bro line. Yeah, the bro line. It is now listed as the top line for the Canucks, supplanting the Pedersen line. It's Rossi, Besser, and Ogren.

I'm your 1C now, Marco Rossi says. Proline gets to sit in the front seat because it's good at sports. And that's the way it should be. It's all about merit here. Okay, I'm going to move on to some other stuff because I want to get into what happened to Edmonton over the weekend. And it was another, it feels like every time we come in on a Monday, there's something eventful that's happened with the Edmonton Oilers over the weekend.

And this weekend was no different. I want to start with the comments that Connor McDavid made about coaching following a 5-2 loss to Nikita Kutrov and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. I mentioned Kutrov because lost in all of this was the fact that Kutrov, courtesy two goals and two assists on Saturday night, leapfrog passed Connor McDavid into first place for the scoring title. I looked at the Hart Trophy odds. McKinnon is still the favorite, but Kudraov is catching up. He's climbing 118 points now on the season. That's not a bad total, considering we haven't finished playing the year yet.

But after the game, McDavid wasn't interested in talking about who was going to win the scoring title this year. He decided to focus on coaching. This is a very interesting breakdown from Connor McDavid here. And it raised the eyebrows of many fans and media members, both in Edmonton and across the National Hockey League. Here's Connor McDavid on coaching from the Tampa Bay side of things following that loss to Tampa Bay. on Saturday. They got a great system. They're perfectly coached. They all know what they're doing all over the ice. It's impressive. And when you do break them down, they got a heck of a goalie to backstop. Is that just a bunch of time doing the same things over and over again? Like how do you guys

get to that to be that? To have that system you can rely on and all those things. Where does that come from? How do you guys get there? Yeah, well, that's a coaching question. We can ask number of that question. you know, obviously we've been playing together a long time, and we feel like we're somewhat rehearsed and organized, but not to their level. Time to chat with Knobber. That was one of the funniest things I've ever heard when he's just like, man, they've got such a good coach,

and oh, their goaltender. He's just amazing. Sometimes you. Here's what Chris Knoblock had to say about it. We actually do have Knopflock audio. Despite the tears, James Cooper is so much better than Sarah playing or tall. So Noblock was asked immediately after McDavid said what he said about,

hey, what do you think about what 97 said about coaching? And I feel bad for Nobloc because he was clearly caught off guard by this. And I don't think he understood exactly what Connor McDavid had said. But we're going to play it anyway. Here's Chris Knoblock following the 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay and following what Connor McDavid had to say about coaching. McDavid mentioned just talking about the lightning how organized and rehearsed they are. They've been together a long time.

Is that level of organization and rehearsal lacking overall in your game compared to what this team has done the past couple of years? Like, are you still trying to get back to that level? I don't think so. I think we're the organization is fine. You know, we've got a lot of new players right now with the injuries that we have. We've got some turnover. I think they had, you know, obviously headmen being out.

But, yeah, they're, they've been together for a long time, the group. And, you know, our core guys have been together for a long time too. So, you know, when things are going well, you know, things are, yeah, that looks organized and they're playing well. So, but they got a lot of good players. It would be hilarious if Knoblock was like, well, the one thing that really stands out for me about the Tampa Bay Lightning is they have a great general manager. He is just a terrific general manager. He always makes the right moves and brings in the right guys.

I just keep passing the blame over it. I love our owner. So can we just talk about how hilarious the Pacific Division is? I mean, let's not, let's, we're going to talk to Jack Michaels later about the Oilers so we can, so we can dip into more detailed stuff about the Oilers and the dry sidal injury and the expectations there. But this whole division is laughably bad. It's terrible.

And honestly, it starts with the, well, doesn't start, but it includes the first place team in the division. I watched Anaheim last night against the Buffalo Sabres, and they managed to win the game 6-5 in overtime, but they blew a lead at home. And, you know, like, they're terrible defensively. Yes, they got a minus 7-go-differ. They don't play. They don't play the type. They're still young, and they're still learning.

And they don't play the type of hockey that's going to win in the playoffs. But I don't know if the rest of the division does either. Right now, the Ducks have a four-point lead on second-place Vegas for first in the division. and they've got one game in hand on both Vegas and Edmonton and Edmonton is five points back of Anaheim. Anaheim has a negative goal differential, minus seven, and right now they really are in the driver's seat to win this thing. Four point cushion with just 11 or 12 games left for teams.

Like that's a pretty big cushion. And then you go down the list on the Pacific Division. Edmonton, we all know they have issues. Vegas might have worse goal-tending issues than the Edmonton Oilers. Aiden Hill is, I mean, he can't make saves these days. Vegas has lost three. So this last week, consider with the playoff chase heating up, especially in the east where you look at the wildcard teams

and they're on 83, 84, 85 points. And then you look at the West and you look at the Pacific Division. Just consider this. The Pacific Division has the worst team in the NHL. That's your Vancouver Canucks. Yeah. They have the fourth worst team in the NHL, the Calgary Flames, who were 29th in the NHL,

then you go to the teams that are quote-unquote fighting for a playoff spot. Somehow. The sharks have lost four straight, the Cracken have lost three straight, Vegas has lost three of its last four, and during those four games, they've scored four goals. The Ducks, as you mentioned, hottest team in the division, because they've won two of three. Edmonton has lost two of three.

So in this week where everyone is fighting and scrapping and clawing tooth and nail to try and get into the playoffs, you are going to enter a world here, and this is wild to me, but the team that wins the Pacific Division, the first place team in the top seat in the Pacific, might end up having fewer points than the first team that misses the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. And if Anaheim plays Utah, Utah is a significant favorite.

The wildcard team would be a significant favorite in the series against the Anaheim Ducks. And frankly, I don't even know where you want to. You want to get Anaheim probably if you're, Vegas or Edmonton, you don't want to get each other. But right now, you're probably going to get each other. You probably want to, the ideal scenario would be if you finish second or third in the division, and like if you're Edmonton, and then Vegas wins the division. Yeah.

So you get, so you avoid either Vegas or Utah. But I have no faith that Vegas or Edmonton have the ability to catch Anaheim. and that's with a four-point lead. Yeah. That's so confident I feel about this. I mean, it is, it's stunning that this has happened because it wasn't that long ago that the Pacific Division was a powerhouse division.

And I remember the beginning of the year when Anaheim got off to the hot start and San Jose got off to a nice start and the Kings were still looking like they might be something of a contender. Say, oh yeah, California's back. It's a tough road trip. It's really flatlined the second half of the season.

And the division's collective play since the Olympic break has been so poor. That's why you're seeing all these conversations come out about the disparity in playoff seating and how this divisional alignment won't work. And I want to play more audio from Connor McDavid here. Because Connor McDavid acknowledged that there's no reason that the Edmonton Oilers

should still be a top three team in the Pacific Division given that they're 5, 4 and 1 in their last 10, they've lost two in a row, they've got a plus one goal differential. They can't win games when they need to yet. still pretty comfortably in a playoff spot. Here's Connor McDavid on the pillow fight that is the Pacific Division. So you wake up in the morning tomorrow you didn't lose any ground to anybody.

Your thoughts on being in a division that's pretty forgiving right now. Obviously, we're fortunate to play in this division. A lot of teams are fortunate to play in this division. It's a bit of a pillow fight right now. But yeah, thankful, obviously, to not have lost any ground. That being said, we've got to find a way to win some games here on the road. Two big ones, obviously, against some. Utah and Vegas and we've got to make some ground too.

Yeah, good challenge. Does it make you think, what if the Canucks hadn't totally fallen apart over the last couple of years? This was the year you could squeak in. Squeak in. Squeak in. Yeah. I mean, more than that, I think.

Not squeak in. I'm talking about what if, what if, you know, I mean, look, a couple of years ago, You're looking at a scenario where, all right, we got a couple good centers. We got, you know, actually, yeah, we got Miller and Pedersen down the middle. We got Brock Bessor. He's playing well because he's got good chemistry with Miller. We got a Norris Trophy caliber defenseman in Quinn Hughes, and we got a Vezna Trophy caliber goalie in Thatcher Dempco.

I mean, like that's, that's not. What if everything went right? Whatever they did. Donating right now. Not even what if everything went right? What if everything just kind of stayed the, stayed the way it was? Just stayed.

Miller and Petey hating each other? No, no, that would have had to have changed. Yeah, but like the players. Dempkins health. Yeah. What if Miller wasn't traded? What if Hughes wasn't traded? What if Petey didn't, whatever happened to Petey?

You know, and Bessor is clearly, I think, you know, look, does he need to play better? Yes. but it's very hard to be a player like Brock Besser without getting any service from your center. And then Thatcher DEMCO's injury concerns, we all know those. But they would definitely be in a playoff spot right now

if that hadn't, that hadn't all. And you're probably looking at the other teams and going, geez, we can at least get to the conference finals. Yeah, why not? There is a why not us element about all these teams that are in the race. And this is partly why teams that aren't that great chase it, because if you are in this division,

Like you pointed out, you get through your division, you're looking at your one of the final eight or final four teams in the NHL without having played a real heavyweight yet. And it's going to suck for whoever's in the Central. I know we said this a million times, and we're kind of, we're not breaking any new ground here. But the fact that the Central right now has three teams that have 90 plus points.

Do you think those guys are jealous of Utah and the potential path for Utah? Yeah. Because, again, Utah right now. The first wild cards are way more fortuitous spot. Yeah. Way more. You're going to get to Anaheim. in the first round.

And they're actually up on, in terms of points, they're up on, you probably mentioned this already, Vegas and Edmonton in terms of points. Yeah. Like, it's, it's hilarious. But it's also,

it's also pretty wild. Now watch one of these Pacific Division teams get to the Stanley Cup final. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. The rules of adoption, not in the world, in sports.

They're tricky, right? Like, when we talk about adopting a team for the playoffs, there's certain teams that are just a no-go. Yeah. And Edmonton, I think. That's at the top of the list right now. Yeah, that, no way. And if you're like, I want to see McDavid

have a Stanley Cup, fine. You won't this year, but. Well, I'm not sure we can adopt them as a show. Where are we on the Montreal Canadiens? Because they are, I love watching the Habs player. They're super fun to watch. They're really fun to watch.

They might be the most fun team in the NHL watch. Well, Cole Caulfield on a Saturday night. Yep. And that guy gets it done. Yeah. So Cole Caulfield scored his third career hat trick and had a pair and assist for a career high five points. Habs win 7-3 against the Islanders on Saturday night. Huge party at the Bell Center. The habs look as though they are on their way back to the postseason. I know that we kind of talked about adopting Buffalo and I still think that's the right choice, even though it's fraught with risk because, you know, once they leave the Sanco.

adopt a team that probably isn't going to win the Stanley Cup? Yeah. Because I adopted one back in 2010, 2010, 2011, and they just happened to beat the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup final. And so I'm a little hesitant. Don't you have to, okay, do you have to adopt a team that you want to win the Stanley Cup? See, I think the opposite. I'm with you on the first thought that you had.

you adopt the team that's nice and cute and fuzzy. Yeah. And they're kind of plucky and they're underdog. But they have absolutely no shot. It's like taking a 15 seed at March Madness. Yeah. You know, it's like the school has 800 kids in it.

Good for them. Yeah. It's built on an old burial ground. Like, oh, you know, those are cool, but you never really take them seriously. First of all, the absolute gall of Brough adopting a team

when his team is a cup contender, that blows my mind. You were just playing with Fireman. No, but it didn't. I wouldn't even thought of it. different time. It didn't happen. It didn't happen like this. The world was different. Halfer and I, we were doing curtain blog radio late in night and don't forget, Luchitch was on that Bruins team and he was still very popular here in Vancouver. And it was like,

man, do you ever watch the Bruins? Like, they're pretty fun. They're, they, uh, we had no idea who Brad Marchion was. They play a really heavy style. Um, and the Bruins hadn't won a Stanley Cup forever. And Luchich was like fighting everyone. Yep. And, and, You know, he was still, you know, he was still very well regarded in this city. And we would just come up and I would just be like, you know what? Games I like watching Bruins games. They've got a good energy about them. And it was also the year they'd come off blowing that 3-0 lead to Philly.

So it seemed pretty harmless. It did. And Boston wasn't as nauseating at the time? We barely knew Patrice Bergeron. You know, like we didn't know, we didn't really know Tim Thomas. But, you know, I was, I've thought about a few teams to quote unquote adopt. Montreal is one of them, although that would go against my docheer for Canadian teams. Montreal, I just like the group of players that are fun to watch.

Buffalo would be another. And frankly, another one in their division, I would have no trouble if Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup. I like that team a lot. How can you not like watching Kutjaoff? I mean, we spoke glowingly about John Cooper last week. And I know it was kind of a John Cooper celebration because he was on after hours on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night.

You know, I don't think there's many people that would be that upset if Tampa Bay won another Stanley Cup. They've already won cups. What are you going to do? There's no skin off my teeth. They're like plain yogurt at this point. Like it's fine, but it's bland and it's uninteresting. Not to me.

Not to me at all. They've already won a Stanley Cup. Oh, in terms of their storyline? Yeah, yeah. You're talking about adopting the team. But I think their storyline is more interesting than you're giving it credit. What's interesting about it? What's interesting is their longevity.

Is the fact that they've managed to stay competitive. And a lot of people, including myself, have wondered in the last few years, are the lightning cooked? Are they done? Are they just getting too old? Is it stale there? Is it all the same? And, you know, you look at the blue line and what's happened?

So the blue line there, Victor Hedman is no longer the Victor Hedman of old. And they managed to find some guys that can not only play big minutes but produce. But can they do it in the playoffs? Are you going to win a Stanley Cup with the top pair of Darren Radish and J.J. Mosier? I don't know. But I think it's really impressive what Tampa Bay has done to remain competitive. The decision they made to move on from Stamco's and bring in Genssel, is not what a lot of other organizations would do.

You are shipping out and in some ways, the way some people portray it, disrespecting one of the greatest players in franchise history and you're choosing a different guy over him. Those are the types of ruthless moves that, first of all, good teams make, but that can also backfire. It does have the potential to backfire

because I think one of the most impressive things about Tampa is how long they've kept this culture and how long they really haven't had many I mean they certainly haven't had two of their players get into a big fight and one of them is forced to be traded I think they're a really interesting team Okay, what about Columbus Consider the case for Columbus

You have this great story with Rick Bonas coming in at the ripe old age of 71, taking the team over midseason. They go on an absolute heater. Everybody loves bonus. He's got ties to the Canucks, obviously. They have a former Canuck, a recent former Canuck in the fold in Connor Garland.

And in terms of organizations that have gone through unimaginable disappointments and tragedies and everything else with no postseason success really to show for it. They really are, there's been so many tragedies in the Blue Jackets organization. We had Aaron Portsline. Look, just for the record, I do not want to make light of any of these tragedies.

And I don't want to use them as some sort of syrupy narrative to try and, like, play a bigger story. Just acknowledge that it exists. Just acknowledge that throughout the course of that franchise, several awful things have happened to individuals within that organization. Okay. Also take it. And also, I mean, so I was asked the other day, why do they have netting up in the rink? Yeah. I'm like, well, that was also from Columbus.

That was horrible. Yeah. So take all this into account. Take into account they have zero postseason success to speak of other than a couple of playoff round victories. They've been around for long enough that you could call them a hard luck franchise. And I think that would be underselling it. And if they do make the postseason, and right now they're sitting third in their division, they've really come on strong over the last two months of the season.

They have a legitimate shot of making noise in this postseason because they're going in on such a heater. And they might get like Pittsburgh in the first round. Yeah. And that's, listen, we all know that the penguins have been a good story and we all know they got, they got Sid and, but that's not, it's not the toughest matchup, you can imagine for Columbus in the first round. Um, do they have the players though? No. That's another reason that it's safe to take them. Right. I mean, Zach Werenski's a hell of a player. But then you look up front and you're like, uh, are they going to get a done? with, here's their center depth,

Fantilli, Monaghan, Charlie Coil, and Boone Jenner. Now, I think a guy like Marchenko was one of the more underrated players in the league. I think he's a terrific player. But I don't particularly look at that lineup and go, that's a Stanley Cup champ. So maybe that is a safe bet.

Yeah. I mean, I thought about this one quite a bit over the weekend because it does, look, I do not want to get behind a team that's going to win the Stanley Cup, especially if it's one that hasn't won a Stanley Cup before. I think it's too dangerous. I don't want to do it. So you don't want to do it.

So you don't want to do it. So you don't want to want to get behind Buffalo. Do you think they got a chance? I don't know. I'd pick Buffalo. That's definitely the most interesting team. Here's a...

Buffalo's too worrisome. Would you be worried that they'd actually win the cup and then the Canucks would be the only team in the sad club? That's exactly what I'm worried about. Yeah, but that would also be kind of funny, so I wouldn't mind seeing it. It would be funny in a tragic way. Yeah, that's why I put my eggs in the basket of the sabers. You know what would be hilarious, though, is how quick the narrative would change on Buffalo

in that it was literally this season when we were like, what is wrong with these guys? How can they continually rack up the amount of talent that they do in the draft and they still stink? That was the same season we'd be having guests on and I've been asking them like,

how has Kevin Adams not been fired yet? How is he still the general manager? and then maybe a first in NHL history we get a new GM bump. Has that happened before? Has there been a new GM bump? I've never seen a new GM bump like this. I've seen a new GM come in and the team

maybe has a little bit of choke chain response, but nothing like this. And is it a new GM bump? Is that what it is or is that a coincidence? We had Paul Hamilton on the show right after and he did say like Yarmo came in and there was an understanding from the top down that was like,

this ends now. It's like they turned it into a professional organization. But I think he really did threaten some guys. He's like, I will move you out. I don't care. Yes, but here's, I remember hearing that and being like, was that really a threat? Don't know.

At the time? Was that a huge threat? Oh no. Trade it out of Buffalo. Don't threaten me with a good time, right? Yeah, that's actually what I was wondering. So I do wonder what's happened there. And Lattie, this is one.

for you, sometimes I wonder if it's just like, yeah, the goalies started making more saves. Like, how much does that have to do with something? Yeah, it's a major part of it, usually. Goleys start making more saves. Yeah. Thank you for that.

Thanks, buddy. What do you want me to add? What do you want me to add to that? Anything, really. I don't know, I'm scared of Buffalo. Put it this way. If I was to pick the teams in the East right now, I'd go Tampa,

The Cup would go through Tampa Bay first. Maybe this is the year that Carolina does it. Carolina's got to be looking at this and thinking, we have to get to the Stanley Cup final. But now I'm going to throw, we have to do it. I'm going to throw Laddie back in the spotlight here. Can Carolina win a Stanley Cup with Brandon Bussie and that?

He's going to be like, I don't know. If Ante Nehemi can win a Stanley Cup, then yes. So that's a thinking, right? Probably better than Anteaniemi if it was at any point in his career. That's the thinking is that if it's a wider. open year. Maybe this is the year you also win with a goalie that's not, because he's done really well during the regular season. There's no debating his numbers. He's been very good during the regular season. Goaltending has always seemingly upended the hurricanes at some point during the

postseason, so I wouldn't be surprised if he's shaky. But this might be the year. This might be the year in the east where you can get through because Florida ain't there. No. Tampa Bay is good. I don't know if I'm ready to call them great this season. You're talking about the top team in that division at Buffalo feels like it's too early for them and then you look at the rest of the field

and you're almost saying that's the field no one really stands out there for me no if I'm Carolina I actually just coming to grips with this right now

they have to get to the Stanley Cup final this year to do it they can't they can't bow out meekly in the second or third round again

well it's time to chat with said T R we'll talk about the hockey now Let's chat with Sattier, checking in on the Canucks. Well, it's time to chat with SETIR. We'll talk about the hockey now. Checking in on the Canucks.

Talking Hockey now. 803 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford Bruff, Sports Night 650. Halford Brough for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. GFCRA debt? Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today, it's...

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Step Strong with Orthotics and footwear from Kintech. To the Able Auctions hotline we go. Our next guest, Connect Central, connects pre and post game host all right here on SportsNet 650. Saty R. Shah joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show. What up, Sat?

What's happening, boys? You know, another, yo. Yeah. I cut you off there, sorry. I have nothing important. I don't worry. Our Dunbar-Lumber text line, I know it's spring break, but it is real quiet this morning.

Maybe the most quiet Monday I can remember. What's it like on the post-game shows now? It is a bit more quiet. You know, like we still get people text again a lot, But there's a, there's, I mean, I wouldn't say necessarily significantly less interest, but people aren't, I think, waiting for the finish line to get here, you know? And I guess it is spring break too, right? So I guess maybe last weekend this week is a bit more quiet if we try to cope a little bit

about why people are taking it easy. Is anyone listening? It's not what's going on. But yeah, it has kind of gone quiet, right? I mean, it's, you see, you mean, you look at the building, right? There are fewer people in the building, for instance. I think I see a lot of people

like messaging the next day like they'll listen to a post game show on a podcast or whatever or I see people you know texting in it'll be like halfway through the post game show like oh I didn't watch the game but I just tuned in to see what's going on so I think people are in many ways

just waiting for the finish line to get here because I mean watch the games too I mean the Tampa game at least you got to watch Kucharov and Tampa do some stuff the other night it was just you know the Kinnacks not being very good and it's not very entertaining. So I kind of get it.

Yeah. I mean, look, everyone always jumps down our throat now when we criticize a performance because it's like, this is what you wanted. They're tanking. But that was one of the worst games of the season against St. Louis. And I do wonder if it's just,

even the players are like, listen, I'm done with this. Let's get this season over. Or maybe it's just, they are so bereft of talent and play drivers and guys that can make things happen out there that this is what's going to happen against even some of the other bad teams in the NHL.

I think you've nailed it about the play driving. I think that's a big part of it. And I'm sure the other factors play a part as well this late in the season with some of the veterans, too, he just gets at the fittest line. And maybe some of the young guys, as much as they're happy being the national hockey league when the season's kind of gone as a ride as it has.

But they have nobody driving play. Like even Marco Rossi, who's been tremendous offensively. He's shown some chemistry with Ogrin and Besser particularly. But a lot of that danger hasn't come off consistent play driving shifts by that line where they're tilting ice in their favor in a massive way. They've had a couple of games that they've done so. And I'm not taking anything away from it because there's still guys that can create offense. There's still guys that I can produce on the power play.

And it's good to have offensive contributors. but you need to have your high-end players be play drivers. And perhaps for Rossi, he'll be the better version of himself last year. But it comes back down to EP40. And if he's not going to be anywhere near a play driving force down the middle, then who is the engine? You might have a few shifts here and there, and maybe, you know, depending on what the opposition does

or doesn't do, perhaps more importantly, they can have games where they tilt ice in their favor a bit more consistently. But they don't have guys that can just do that offensively, even their wings. Like, you know, it's funny. Hogi might be one of their better players. play driving wings, but he drives play to nowhere half the time. It drives it to the corner.

Yeah, exactly, right? So it's like, you know, and this is why sometimes I kind of laugh at some of the underlying numbers. It's like, well, here's a Holglander has a controlled zone entry, and he has a high dangerous shot, but it's like him from a weird angle that's close to the net, that's really not that dangerous, and the play doesn't really develop into anything. And people on the post game, should be like, oh, Hogan

look great. Like, he's got to give him more ice, I'm like, sure, he did some exciting stuff, but he didn't beat it to anywhere. And that's kind of part of the issue is even the guys that can drive play forward aren't connecting it as well as some other players did in the past. And it's funny because you think Hoaglander has the tools to be a Connor

Garland type player. Well Garland as much as sometimes he did too much of that spin stuff and too much puck handling. He was genuinely driving play. He was genuinely connecting playoff sometimes. That's something that's really been lacking in Holklander's game. So when one of your best play drivers doesn't even connect play all

that well and he plays down your lineup, I think that tells you a big story about how much they're lacking up front. Who do you think their best play driver up front is right now? Oh, man. I mean, I mean, it's funny because maybe Drew O'Connor. Yeah. The numbers suggest maybe Linus Carlson, but I just, I can't accept that. I can't accept that.

Yeah, I mean, it's, okay, so he's been really good, right? Like, and I think when you look at the minutes that he's played, but again, like, if you look at it from the analytics stand, point. He's still playing relatively sheltered minutes. He's playing less than 12 minutes per game. Would those numbers look as good if he's playing 17, 18 minutes or 16 even consistently? I doubt that they would. And any time we've seen him get elevated. And I'm big to be as Carlson fan. Like I think he's taking a big step. I like the contract. I love watching him play. I love his shift to shift consistency. He's great along the dirty areas. It's great along the board.

He does a lot of small little things that help you have success. Plus, he's scoring at a high rate, considering how little he plays. But I don't think you're going to see those numbers in terms of play driving be anywhere near as good if he's playing 17, 18 minutes a game. And any time we've seen him get elevated, he's had a hard time sticking. And I still want to see him get a look over a guy like Evander Cain. But it is telling that late in the game when, you know, the coach looking for a moment up the top line, he elevates Wethers DeBrus.

He elevates Evander Cain. And I know we can be skeptical about Adam Foot too, so perhaps that's not the best argument to say, okay, does he make the right decision to some extent? But anytime I've watched Linens Carlson get elevated, I've seen him struggle to keep up with the pace of higher-end players, especially the opposition when you're playing against the other teams, you know, top lines and top deep pairs. That lack of speed doesn't allow him to drive play as consistently. So I don't even think it's Linus Carlson, despite what the numbers say. I mean, it could even be EP40 if you look at some of the numbers, but that's also like not even in a good way. You know what I mean?

Like that's more about if you look at it by default, perhaps he ranks really high, but that's, also, again, not very compelling. They don't have guys to drive play consistently. They just don't exist on this roster. Who do you think would be a better play driver if you dropped him into the NHL next season? Gavin McKenna or Stenberg? I'd say McKenna, because of how he transports the puck and others to handle it,

I think that he can probably help you a lot with the entries too, with the speed he can play with. He's the fastest player, but he plays quick, he's dynamic. Stenberg might be better in terms of handling the puck along the boards, a bit better holding on the puck's a bit more. So it really comes down to your play style. But I would say McKenna, I'd give a slight edge to. But I don't think there's a big separating factor in terms of their overall impact on the game

and even play driving. It just comes down to them being slightly different players and certain Tracy you would like better than others. But I'll probably lean McKenna. Okay. Let's talk about the coaching staff. And first of all, I'll ask you, what are the chances, in your opinion, that Adam Foote is the head coach next season?

And then secondly, how important, this is a weird question to ask, do you want a good coach for next season? Like, is, because people will be like, I want the Canucks to finish last overall again and have a chance at Landon DuPont, which is absolutely fair enough. But it also seems crazy to think like,

I don't want to have a good coach on this team, and you do have a lot of young guys that need to develop and pan out for the Canucks. Well, I think that's the part there. I think maybe even more important than a good coach as a good teacher. And I know the NHL isn't necessarily a developmental league, but you're still developing young players

at the National Hockey League level. And something that Tocke did well was teach guys, is tricks, right? Or tricks in a trade, I should say, not tricks in terms of like, here's a cat coming out of the hat, right? But maybe that's the story of the season. Those are illusion, sad, not tricks. Yeah, exactly.

They're illusions, not tricks. And maybe that's what it was. This whole season has been an illusion in many ways, right? But I think you need somebody who's a teacher. I think if you look at, I know football is a bit different, but you look at some sports like football, they always talk about having guys that can teach certain traits and teach certain things as part of their game plans

and just overall methods that you can have in terms of your playing position where you can get better. And there's always room for you to learn. So I think the best teams have guys that can teach. And I think even teams that are developing, you need to have those sets of players. That aspect, I can't say with any certainty whether a foot's a good teacher or not. One thing that we see is a team struggle in many ways, but that could go down to bigger coaching or just over all the roster not being good enough and all those other factors.

But I don't think you need a coach that can make this team. into an 85, 88 point team and punch above his weight, I think what you need is somebody that can teach these guys how to play the game the right way and get better incrementally. And I think part of the issue

this season has been, we haven't seen enough players, especially the younger guys, get incrementally better. Like we've seen Linus Cross and essentially be good from the start of the season and he's been consistent, right?

I think if you look at the young guys, we've seen some ups and downs from both Veylander, from B.P.D. And perhaps that's just, that's just the journey for young players regardless. Like, Sasson had a great start, but he hasn't really taken off, right? Look at Atu Atu Ratu, he's gone through his struggles all year.

I think you're hard pressed to identify any single player who's taken a significant leap from where they were in the beginning of the season to the end of the season. And perhaps they can chalk that up to the NHL not being a developmental league. But I do think you need to have a coach that can get players on the right track and get buy-in from the lead players in terms of how they can individually improve at the very least. It's such a fun. So I do think matters. Go on.

I'll just say, I do think it matters. I do think coaching matters, despite the fact you want to be losing. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.