Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 3/24/26

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, plus they preview tonight's Canucks matchup versus the Anaheim Ducks with radio commentator Brendan Batchelor.  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. I mentioned looking inward to yourself. You're just not doing enough. To a man, we don't do enough. Today you should have a fireplate under your ass to go play for your teammate. Good morning, make her 6-1 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody.

It is Halford and his broth. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you. Good morning to you. Good morning.

Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brumph of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have payday loan 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 an hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling.

Vancouver's Premier Metal Recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studios. Step Strong with Orthotics and Footwear from Kintech. Let's go now to the Duick Morning Drive. It's our morning guest list brought to you by the Duik Auto Group. It begins at 6.30 this morning.

It's a four guester today on the Halbro show. David Amber is going to kick things off at 630 this morning. Sportsnet, Hockey Night in Canada, NHL host. Quiet night in the NHL last night. Just one game on the slate. Massive night tonight in the NHL. 15 games on the docket tonight. Several of them with massive playoff implications, as we are now, get this, just 23 days away from the end of the regular season. David Amber is going to join us at 6.30 this morning. 7 o'clock, Brighton Bachelor is going to join the program. Canucks play-by-play, SportsNet 650.

Canucks are back in action tonight, the seventh of this season high and wildly entertaining eight-game homestand. Tonight, it's the Pacific Division leading Anaheim. Ducks in town pre-post in the actual game all right here on SportsNet 650.

Batch is going to join us at 7. 8 o'clock, Jeevan Bodwell is going to join the program. He, of course, whitecaps and Canadian men's national team midfielder. Good local kid, born and raised in Surrey. now plying his trade for the local soccer squadron. He's become a really important part of the White Caps lineup this season. Also a tremendous story.

Played his youth soccer in Surrey, came through the academy, now doing the business for the White Cups. He's going to join us at 8 a.m. Is he a candidate to make Team Canada? He was called up in January for that one game camp that they had against Guatemala. And that was his first senior cap. He's been capped at every other level before.

I'd say he's on the outside looking in. He's not involved in this most recent recall that's going to happen during these March friendlies. But he's holding out hope, the young man. He's only 20 years old. He's still pretty young. So Jeevan Bodwell is going to join the program at 8 a.m. Another local product joins us at 8.30.

You heard his name in the intro. Scott Niedermeyer is going to join the program. In the normal place where we do what we learns at 830, the hockey hall of famer currently working as a special advisor in hockey ops from the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks are, of course, tonight's opponent, obviously. So we thought we'd get. gets Scott on to talk about the team's progression, how they went from being, let's be honest, miserable, ending a now seven-year playoff drought and...

Well, not yet. They're going to end it, I think. Yeah, they're going to end it. I feel like the chances are pretty strong. And here's the thing. Never know in this division. That's true, actually. They could be out by tonight.

They have not won a playoff game since 2017, because the last time they went to the playoffs, they got swept. So Scott Niedemeyer is going to join us at 830. I want that as my job. Special advisor. It's like, are you responsible for anything? Just give an advice. About what? Like, do you make the final call?

Nope. I just give my advice. Did you read his full bio? It sounds like he's done like eight different jobs in the Ducks organization. He's been there pretty much since he retired. Just kind of working. I think he was on Bruce Boudreau's staff when Boudreau was stole the head coach there. You know what?

I think you're right. Yeah. So Scott Niedemar is going to join us at 830. In the place of what we learns, those will go, update your wall charts accordingly. at 7.30 this morning. What we learns at 7.30. So when we play the music and read your submissions, don't get freaked out. You're not like an hour early or an hour later, however you would figure it out. We're going to do what we learns at 730. Scott Niedomar is going to join at 8.30. A lot of people use their watches to tell time and not going to run it in sports radio show. You will be surprised, my friend today. How many texts we get in at 730 when we do what we learn. Yeah, well, I'm going to go. I'm really late. Okay, so we got a lot to get into on the program. Not going to run it reverse. Without further ado, Laddie.

Let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened?

Missed it? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies, the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.com. Yeah, the connects were back at practice yesterday. Vancouver, as

Halford mentioned, host Anaheim tonight at Rogers Arena, where they can at least play a role in the Pacific Division playoff race, a.k.a. Pillow fight. The word from practice is that they were working on line changes.

And they were like, okay, guys, if two of you come off the ice, how many are allowed to come on? And the answer, of course, is two. And, here's another trivia question that was trivia

if the it's not trivia necessarily yeah it's like this is Adam foot coaching if the other team has the puck and it's like it's at like the center ice should you make a change then

and then a couple of the guys were like we're not sure and Adam foot is like no we've gone over this so many times so many times. Got it. Don't make the change when puck is at center ice. Cool wet sack. Yeah. It does look like

based on line rushes. Garbage and garbage can. It does look like based on line rushes yesterday that Nils Holglander could be headed for another healthy scratch. He hasn't done much since returning

to the lineup. We'll see if he is indeed at scratch tonight. Assassin set out Saturday's loss to St. Louis with Curtis Douglas replacing him. Just four games remaining for Evander Kane to reach 1,000. He's back on Petey's line. That's the second line now. Petey's line is the second line. Remember, I was looking at Evander Kane's Hockey DB page yesterday. He broke into the NHL on Atlanta, which tells you how long he's been playing for. He was actually a teammate of Chris Cellios. It's amazing.

With the Thrashers. Chelyos was 48 years old and Navander Cain was 18. Yeah. Chellios did that comeback thing where he played for the Chicago World for a bit and then eventually got signed by the Thrashers. But I just jump in. I don't realize it now until I'm 46, how wild it is that Chalios played at 48. It's insane.

It blows my mind that he was able to do it. I can barely get out of bed. I've seen some 48-year-old. I play master soccer. I've seen some 48-year-old guys move. The fact that one of them, And I know Chelyos is kind of a freak of nature. Yeah.

The fact he was able to play in NHL games, and he played a handful of them that year. Yeah. One of the more remarkable things we don't talk about enough. Assuming Kane stays in the lineup, he'll play game number 1,000 next Monday in Vegas, which is appropriate. And he, uh,

that's also the place where he enjoyed a running feud with Ryan Reeves. So I'm sure the Vegas Golden Night fans will wish him happy 1,000. I don't know how they do. do the ceremonies for a thousand games. They just wait until they get back home? Usually, yeah. It's kind of a dicey proposition doing it in someone else's arena, especially in Vegas with VanderKain.

Can you imagine the silver stick ceremony there? That would be hilarious. The Ducks, tonight's opponent, are coming off a wild 6-5 O.T win over Buffalo on Sunday. Anaheim is first place in the division, and they have just 23 wins in regulation this season. Shootout merchants. Other teams with 23 wins in regulation,

Winnipeg, Calgary, and New Jersey, three teams that will not be in the playoffs, let alone winning their division. The Ducks added John Carlson ahead of the deadline in a surprise trade with the Washington Capitals. He joins two other veteran defensemen, Jacob Truba and Radco Gudas, all three of whom are pending UFAs.

So we'll see what the Ducks do with that in the offseason. Jackson Lecombe is the only D-Man they've got locked up long term. I know there's been a little conversation on, I've heard it on the station about Pavel Minchikov. Yep. I think he was the 10th overall pick a few years ago and he hasn't really, he hasn't popped yet, Alfred.

He hasn't popped. Hasn't panned out quite yet. Anyway, we can ask Niedermeyer about all this because They should get him back. I bet he can still play. The Ducks Blue Line is something

that they're going to need to work on not just because it needs improvement but just because they've got some big decisions to make going forward. Okay, so that's the Kinnock story. They're going to play Anaheim tonight.

Any questions or comments? Text in to the Dunbar Lumber Text line at 650-6-50. It was damage control time in Edmond. after Connor McDavid's love fest for John Cooper and everyone was like, does this mean that you don't feel the same way for your head coach? And I know Mark Specter wrote about it and the insinuation in the Mark Specter column was that

Connor McDavid is well aware of the weight that his words carry. So there's no way he was just saying that to be nice about John Cooper. And yet, Connor McDavid yesterday said, hey, I was just being nice about John Cooper. Do we have that audio? We got it. We've got a couple questions here for Connor McDavid. Here's the Connor McDavid scrum from yesterday.

I know it was a short spin for you today. Everything okay? Yeah, no, no. Good. Just hips and growing stuff. It's all good. So when you talk post game the other night, you made a lot of complimentary comments about John Cooper,

who was just your coach at the Olympics. When you couple that with the stuff Leon had said earlier this year, some will jump to conclusions about how you guys are feeling about your staff. Can you just clarify where you're out on that? No, no, we're not taking shots. It's just everybody can be better, myself included. Everybody can be better. It's not, it was more just complimentary of a great team in this league

that came in and played a good game. Nothing more than that. You guys have been, and you haven't had a lot of long stretches just to feel great about your game as a group, right? It's been pretty up and down. Is that kind of taken its toll the amount of time you've spent in a frustrated headspace this year? Yeah, it's been, you know, there's been, as you said, it's been up and down. It's been a trying year for sure.

You know, with that being said, we're 71 games in. Still in a playoff spot, still with a chance to win the division. When you look at it that way, that's a lot of positive things. So it doesn't really matter how we got here. It doesn't really matter the division you play in. We're 11 games left with a chance to get in, not only get in, but even to win our division. So you got to look at the positives there. Are you a little surprised yourself in the backlash?

He just complimented coach and suddenly becomes a backhanded and dikemen on your own coaching. Yeah, I'm not sure how it was taken that way. It wasn't supposed to be that way. You know, but I understand obviously it's understand how people could look at it that way, but it's not what I was intending to to do it all. It's that damn media. Always twisting my words. Like when I praise the head coach

of another team. All I wanted to do is compliment future, hopefully future Edminton Oilers head coach John Cooper. And when I did it, I'm probably. Or just future Connor McDavid coach. This is what Peders is afraid of. It doesn't have to be in Everton.

Do they have any openings to Tampa? He's right. Pete, he's always worried about making a headline. He's always worried about. This is the exact situation. I can't even talk nicely about another coach in the National Hockey League without you guys turning it into a headline.

So we can talk later about the I admit to no others, maybe when David Amber joins us, or we're going to talk tonight about the busy schedule. But I do want to look back to what happened, you know, what happened last night at Madison Square Garden, because I'm not sure if it was good news for the Ottawa senators because they got a much needed win or if it was bad news for the Ottawa senators because they lost maybe two more defensemen. At least one. One of significance in Thomas Shabbat, and they're already missing Jake Sanderson. And then, of course, there's the Rangers angle. It was game number 1,000 for Mika Zabanajad yesterday. And they had a great ceremony.

And then they set a record for least number of shots in a game with nine. That's a team record, not the NHL record, a team record. And they actually made the game kind of close. Somehow. Somehow. Forcing James Reimer to make eight saves in the process. I mean, it was the only game on last night, and I watched it, and the senators just stifled them.

And they had so many odd man rushes that they couldn't convert, and Shasturcom was really good in goal for the Rangers, but offensively, man, they just had nothing. The only goal they scored was Connor Shiri, and Shane Bento was out to lunch checking that. Did you know the New York Rangers hold the NHL record for few shots on goal in the in actual history? They have zero shots on goal. That one's actually incorrect.

Somebody found a news article clipping where they announced that Terry Sautchuk had 26 saves in that game or something. So it was a misprint. You're telling me the internet's lying to me? That never happens, though. Okay. Aedog would never get fooled by something that he read online. To be fair, other people got fooled, but I've seen that one floating around before. The record is seven.

Yes. And the Rangers got nine last night. And, okay, so Rangers lose two, one. Senator's third straight win. They are now just two points back of the Islanders for the second and final wildcard spot in the east. So that race continues to heat up, but you mentioned the Rangers.

You also mentioned earlier in the show that Evander Kane is soon to play his 1,000th game. I hope for his sake that his 1,000th game is followed by a better performance than the one that the Rangers put forth for Mika Zavidivinajad, because apparently in the aftermath. I think it could probably be about equal.

I mean, for everyone's sake involved. Everyone involved. Because here is the captain, J.T. Miller, after the game yesterday, talking about how embarrassing it was for the team to go out and tie a franchise record, nine shots on goal, which hasn't been done since 1955 on the same night. They were celebrating Mika Zabinajad's 1,000th NHL game. Here is a very dejected and disappointed captain, J.T. Miller. after a 2-1 loss where they put just nine shots on goal against the Ottawa Senators.

A few times, just how much does that add to the frustration that it was a big game for him and the team didn't have a good night? It's not that we didn't have a good night. We just got out-competed. Like, it was, that's the part that you just, it's hard to live with that stuff. You know, you look at, like, I mentioned looking inward at yourself. Like, you're just not doing enough. Like, to a man, we don't do enough.

Today you should, you know, have a fire lid under your ass. go play for your teammate, a guy that feels like a cornerstone of the organization. And we go out and have, what, four through two at home, a place where we haven't been desperate enough this season. Like, that doesn't sit well. So I told you about finding a way to find energy for tomorrow and the next day. But, you know, it's hard in moments like these. Like today, we had every reason to, you know, we knew exactly the game we were going to get.

And they went out and executed and out-executed us and out-competed us and out-competed us. And some nights you leave here feeling good. about the gateway you played and tonight's not the one where we should feel good. So a couple of... Yeah, that was going to be my second point. My first point was this is a team that despite all signs pointing to, not unlike what the Canucks are doing right now, just tear the whole thing apart and move in a different direction.

I've never seen a team run it back night after night complaining about the exact same things with zero change from game, I think this is about game one or two. in the season where Sully came in after a, like, very disappointing loss, really dejected and being like, we're not playing the kind of hockey we need to play. And now we're at game 70 whatever in the season. And they're saying and doing the exact same things. It is a absolute mess in New York.

I don't understand how Christry is going to keep his job. I mean, I can't understand why a lot of people are going to keep their jobs in the NHL. But, you know, I also do think that it is. somewhat funny that there were two guys that had this really publicized rift. Okay? And one of them had to be traded to New York where he became the captain of an original six team. Real quick, too, I met it.

And that was, and that was a decision. Like, Chris Jerry was like, you know, I can feel it like, we need a guy. We need this guy. We need, we need a guy that wears his heart on it. his sleeve and he's just a take charge leader. That's what we need. Worst team in the Eastern Conference, nine wins at home. The other guy, part of the Rift, he was left as the highest paid player on the Vancouver Canucks and eight wins at home this season. Like they are the two most dysfunctional teams in the NHL, and I don't think it's.

even close. No. I was actually going to have the debate. It's amazing, really. I know the answer is Vancouver, but I was actually going to embrace debate and ask who's had a more dysfunctional season. And it's crazy that the answer is Vancouver

because the Rangers have had a very dysfunctional season. They're in the therapy, like, office waiting to talk to the therapist, just looking at one other, like, you're messed up too, I had a tip of the cap because the Canucks have had by everyone's measure. An absolutely awful season.

But the Rangers are right there. It's been a disaster also. I don't know you've got the audio already, Laddie. J.T. Miller also audibly said fart during that clip, which is always good times. Can we hear it? That's the fart, that part that's hard to live with that stuff. Like, damn it. He said it.

This captaincy stuff is harder than people said it would be. You can't take him seriously as a captain. He's like, he said fart. Anyway, I will be very curious to see what the Rangers do this off season. You know who else I'm really curious about? Mike Sullivan. I am getting in a major way, John Tortorella,

Vancouver Canucks vibes with Sullivan in New York. Oh, he hasn't been suspended for going into the other room. He hasn't been suspended yet. Yeah. They're not going to fire him, though. No, no, no. They're not going to fire them, though. I'm talking about the vibe that you bring when you've been on a job

in a certain place for forever. And then you make a pretty quick decision to go to another organization. Took the money. also inheriting a team that's pretty veteran-laden, its best days were past it, and you come in expecting things to maybe go a certain way, and they don't. I remember when there was talk that Sullivan, or maybe it was after he left the penguins,

I was like, oh, there's two things that I wonder about because the Connox didn't have a coach either, right? And I was like, I don't know if Connucks ownership would shell out for what Mike Sullivan is making now with the Rangers. And also, I didn't know if it would be a good idea because of exactly what you just said. After you've been with the same team and had a lot of success.

And then it just ends. But you're still kind of a hot commodity because people want your experience and you are a good head coach. You've got to be really careful about the next job you take and make sure it's the right one. Now, Sullivan's going to get paid, so maybe he's, like, fine with it all. But I doubt it because it's embarrassing what the Rangers are doing on home ice.

It's just as embarrassing as what the Canucks are doing on home ice. Maybe even more so because MSG has that. You know, it's just, it's Madison Square Garden. Yeah. It's one of the most famous rinks on the planet. And watching that game yesterday, you see all the empty seats down below. And you don't blame people for either not showing up or going home. Okay, another team I am really curious about is the Detroit Red Wings

because they've got a huge game tonight. It's in Detroit and it's against Ottawa. Yep. And the Sends just came off a big win in New York, but they're going to be missing some guys. They are short-handed. And if the Red Wings don't win this one, and I think Dylan Larkin is going to return to the lineup as well,

then, I mean, the Red Wings have to win this one. I know Ottawa will look at the standing and say, we have to win this one as well, but the Red Wings really have to win this one because if they fall out of the playoffs and they already have, but if they end the season out of the playoffs, man, like, do you know how frustrated that fan base is going to be watching Buffalo host playoff games,

maybe win the division, and then they still can't get in? I thought it was interesting yesterday and perhaps this was to make room for Dylan Larkin I didn't look into it that far but Axel Sandine Pelica the young defenseman who the Red Wings selected with the draft pick they got from the Canucks in the Philip

Heronic trade they sent him down to the HL. Grand Rapids And that's not like so it's not a disaster for the player right he's a rookie he's finding his legs in the NHL. He's only 21.

There's still a ton of talent there. He might be fine, right? He might even be more than fine. But I threw it out on social media yesterday. Does Steve Eisenman take heat for that trade? I mean, he had to give up significant draft.

What did he give up for Falk? A first and a third? Something like that. And he brings in a far lesser player, in my opinion, because he needed a veteran right-shot defenseman. It's like you had Heronic. And I know they were scared about the contract extension that Heronic was going to need, but that contract extension looks fine now.

What is the general reaction? Because I waited on to Twitter yesterday, and I saw a lot of people were saying like preach patience. It's going to be okay. He's only 21. He's going to be fine. We're not freaking out. But I'm like, it's not, it's less about that.

And it's more just about, you know, why did you trade him? I mean, he's exactly what you need right now. And I would have thought that Red Wings fans would be kind of impatient. And just like, hey, let's get this going here. I don't know. I mean, I don't think they're going to fire Steve Eisenman or anything like that. But I mean, it's way better when the Red Wings are in the playoffs. Yeah, really.

And I was looking forward to them being back in. They still could get in. But, man, like, they could, that's the player. then they wouldn't have had to trade for Justin Falk because they would have had Philoporonic. Yeah, so they've got a huge matchup tonight as Jason mentioned Ottawa and the second of a back-to-back.

Apparently Ottawa was scrambling to get to the airport last night because I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but airline travel in the U.S. is a bit of a disaster right now and they had to get from New York to Detroit as quickly as possible because they've got a big game tonight. Drive. And they may be without the services of Thomas Shabbat, as you mentioned. And Lassie Thompson, not to be confused,

with Laddie Thompson, who of course is your alias when you're going undercover. So they could be down a couple of defensemen and they could be in a lot of trouble tonight, taking on a Detroit team that will be very desperate. That's the part that you're hard to live with that stuff. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Our next guest, the play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks. Brandon Batchel, joins us now on the Halford & Brough show on Sports 9-650.

What up, Batch. Good morning. How are you guys? We're well. I think we're better in Nils, Houghlander who once again looks like he's going to find himself on the outside looking in as the Canucks take on the ducks tonight. Does it seem as though Hogleander's in line for yet another healthy scratch tonight when the Canucks play their seventh of the season high eight game homestand? Yeah, we'll find out later this morning. It's going to be an optional skate. So I don't know

if we'll see more line rushes, but Adam Foote is usually pretty forthcoming about what he's going to do with his lineup. You know, Houglander was the extra forward at practice yesterday. and rotated in a couple of times, I believe, on the Carlson line in Linus Carlson's spot, but I wouldn't imagine that Linus Carlson comes out of the lineup with the way that he's played for the most part this season. And with Hoaglander, this has kind of been an ongoing conversation. And when he sat for a couple of games a little while ago,

I had a conversation with Adam Foote about it, and he talked a lot about puck management of the offensive blue line. And then in the offensive zone, a Hoaglander holding on to pucks a little bit too much and, you know, at times, you know, getting doubled up as Adam Foote likes to call it. So having two men, you know, aggressively to him and him turning the puck over as a result and, you know, how they haven't been able to extend offensive zone time when some of that stuff happens. So, you know, I feel for Hoaglander because it's been a tough go for him here with the injury

and then trying to get up to speed and, you know, he hasn't really been able to do that. and then clearly isn't on the same page as his head coach, especially if he's going to sit again tonight with what, just over a dozen games left in a season that is now officially lost with them being eliminated from playoff contention. And so we'll see where things go for Neal's Hoaglander, but the rest of the way this year, I'd like to see him get into some games

and try to find his game again and be a helpful member of this team. and then you hope for once that he can have a good offseason and stay healthy through training camps so that he could have a strong start to next season as well. Do you think Hoaglanders fall off in production is also, and I'm not blaming it here, also a bit related to Elias Pedersen's fall,

because Pedersen and Hoaglander played a lot together, in case I'm mistaken, the year that Hoaglander scored 24 goals, which seems like 600 years ago now. Yeah, that's part of it. I think also part of it is, you know, the wiggers that are on this team and where Hoaglander has kind of, you know, slotted in on the depth chart, right? They've brought in other players that they wanted to play up the lineup. And, you know, we could argue the success that those players have had like, you know, Brock Besser and Jake DeBrusk and Evander Kane this year. There's also a guy like Drew O'Connor who's gotten a lot of those minutes on merit, I would. would argue. Liam Ogren, I think, you know, is a player this year that, you know, has earned top six minutes on the wing because of how well he's played. And, you know, that to me is the conversation I'm more interested in having is looking at guys like O'Connor

and O'Grathen and saying, okay, you can absolutely understand why those guys are deserving of the opportunity in the minutes because you've seen what they can bring. In O'Connor's case, you know, he's set for a career high in goals this year. He's a straight ahead. player that gets in on the forecheck and can help in that regard. And Ogrin as well has his speed, has his forechecking ability, is building chemistry with a couple of their other skilled players in Marco Rossi and Brock Besser. You know, and there was a time where Nealz Hoaglander and Elias Pedersen had had that strong chemistry.

And, you know, that seems like a, you know, a bygone era for the Vancouver Canucks now with Hoaglander struggling to get into the lineup and, you know, Pedersen where his game has gone. So, yeah, partially connected, but, you know, I think it's more likely to do with Hoaglander just being outperformed by some of the guys he's competing with for minutes on the wing. And as a result, playing in a deeper role in the lineup. And, you know, it's going to be harder to contribute in the way that you would like. And, you know, to get to a 20-goal season like you did a couple of years ago when you're playing fourth-line minutes or you're in and out of the lineup. And, you know, that's where Hoaglander sits right now.

And it's a tough spot for him. And again, as I said, I feel for him. because, you know, some of this is on him in terms of the way he plays and the things the coaching staff want him to do because it's not just Adam Foote that has had issues with, you know, Hoaglander's 200-foot game, right? This goes back multiple head coaches that have had some of these issues with him, but the injuries haven't helped him either, and that's tough.

I'm just looking at the numbers right now on Natural Statrick. He scored 11 goals with Pedersen as his center. he scored seven goals that season with Sam Lafferty as his center. So yeah, it's been a curious falloff for Nils Houglander. But you're right, like the underlying issues have always been there. Still, like, you see some of the players that are getting time over Nils Houglander. And what do you think is going to happen with him? Do you think he's just going to have to be back next season because he's under-conscious?

track and probably doesn't hold that much value, if any, on the trade market? Or do you think they'll try and find him a new team this offseason? I think that depends a lot on who is making those decisions. So, you know, when you're the last place team in the NHL, right, there could be all sorts of change this off season, right? We've talked about, will Adam Foote be back as the head coach? We've talked about what's the future of management? with a guy like, you know, Jim Rutherford, it seems like he wants to stay on.

But that said, he's also in his late 70s, so you never know what his future holds. And, you know, if there is going to be a new head coach, then maybe Niels Hoaglander has an opportunity to, you know, earn a new opportunity with a new head coach. Now, if things stay the same, if Adam Foote's going to be back, if management's going to be back, then I could absolutely see them looking to find him a new, home because, you know, at this point, he's in his mid-20s, he's not a young player anymore, and you kind of know what he is by this point. And so it could go either way, and it kind of depends on other organizational change, I think. And, you know, I don't want to sit here and try to look into my crystal ball and tell you who's going to be with this organization next year and who isn't, whether it be off-ice personnel or players.

But I think it wouldn't surprise me if they moved on from Neal's Hoaglander, especially if there's a team out there that sees the upside from a couple of years ago and thinks they can unlock it in him, then he's still on a favorable contract comparatively when we look at where some of the contracts in the NHL are going to go. This is also a league where free agency isn't going to be star-studded this summer, we know. So teams are going to be looking for other ways to bolster their roster. And I think not just with Hoaglander, but for the Canucks in general, if they really want to lean into this aggressive rebuild, then there are going to be suitors for their players out there because it's going to be hard to find the players in other ways that teams might be used to. And so, yeah, I can absolutely see Hoaglander being moved on before next year. We're speaking about Brendan Batchel, Batchel, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650.

This kind of slipped through the cracks when we were doing a weekend recap. We didn't mention that, not a huge deal or anything, but Victor Mancini getting a two-year contract extension with the club. He seemed pretty pleased to practice the other day to get a little bit of both the financial stability and the term playing in one place for two years. He's not going to be a major focal point of the team. Do you remember how excited Adog was about Mancini?

It was almost as excited about Mancini as he was about Akita Horose. Yeah, and those two players have gone in different directions in terms of their NHL futures. What have you seen from Mancini lately batch? Because he has been a lineup regular, at least through March. And again, his ceiling is probably somewhat limited, given he's on a two-year deal, one million per. But I'm just curious what you've seen, if you think there could be anything more there, if this pretty much is what Mancini is. Yeah, I think it's probably too early to say.

I think by his own admission, he was a little bit tentative when he was first recalled. And, you know, I think he's gaining in confidence now that he's getting more reps. This is also an incredibly tough situation for a bunch of these young defensemen to be in, especially a guy like Mancini who hasn't been here all year with the NHL team was in the AHL. And, you know, you come up now and this roster has been picked apart. And you're spending all this time in your own zone going back for puck. So, you know, I also don't want to read too much into things both positively or negatively. in this stretch run because hopefully, you know, going forward, they will be a little bit better in terms of driving play to some degree.

Now, maybe they won't be. Maybe next season will be a lot like this one and we'll have to see ultimately what the roster looks like. But I think he's looked better in recent games. He looks more confident. He talked about moving his feet and getting his head up and making plays out of the defensive zone. And that's what this team needs because if they want to spend less time in their own end,

transitioning the puck is key. And in the games, we've seen them play well recently. It's been about them being connected, about guys being in their spots, about them breaking out cleanly. And, you know, I think Mancini, you know, if he gets into a better situation, can be a puck moving defenseman. Obviously, he's got, you know, the ability to skate the puck up the ice and make plays when he does so.

So I think there's more there from him. And, you know, this is going to be one of the interesting and, you know, this is going to be one of the interesting and exciting parts of this rebuild is seeing these young defensemen sort of grow and flourish and try to find their game. And I actually had a really interesting conversation with assistant coach Kevin Dean about this a couple of games ago on the pregame interview that I do for the pregame show. And he talked about how, you know, despite it's been a disappointing season,

this is actually, you know, and despite the fact that it's a hard situation for these young defensemen to go into, it's actually a good opportunity for them to learn and grow because they have the freedom to make mistakes right now and try things because there's no expectation of wins or pressure on this team to get results. And I think we've seen that from someone like Zeebouiam, for example, in recent games where he's being more, you know, playing more on the front foot and trying to make plays and move his feet and get up in the play. And I think we could, you know, probably stand to see a little bit more of that from Victor Mancini too. But I think his games trending in the right direction from an individual basis. And

It'll do wonders for his confidence to get a good run of games here to finish the season and to have that new contract going into the summer so that he knows that he's got an opportunity to be here in Vancouver for the next couple of years. I actually wonder what the Canucks as an organization will decide the style of play they want for the next year or two. You know, you think about teams like San Jose and Anaheim, and I realize they had some high-end young offensive. of talented talent that made it possible, but they play pretty loosey-goosey, and they still do, right? And they're going to have to learn how to play defense if they want to become true Stanley Cup contenders, but I don't know if you want them playing tight, structural hockey, especially, I mean, in some ways for the entertainment value of it all. Yeah, they might get the doors blown off them once in a while, but I mean, what do you think about this?

What do you think the guy should be encouraged to do? I just don't want to see them playing tentatively. No, you need to be an aggressive team in the NHL today. And I think you need to have speed too. So that's something that, you know, I think we've seen them prioritize to a certain extent or want to prioritize is to be able to play quickly. And that doesn't mean you need to have a lot of guys that are fast skaters. But as I said, like the handful of games we've seen lately where they played well

or got wins, they move the puck up the ice quick, right? And they transition quickly, but that's a structured way to play as well, right? So, you know, it's not just, you know, one guy picking up the puck and going end-to-end like Quinn Hughes used to do. Now it's, you know, we get to our spots, we break out cleanly, we look like a well-oiled machine when we're breaking out. And, you know, a team that I think of when I think like that in terms of where the Canucks might want to get to is a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning, who we saw recently

at Rogers Arena where, you know, they've got a lot of veterans. They play with a lot of structure. They understand how you have to play to win, but they also have very skilled offensive players who are encouraged to, you know, use their creativity and individuality to create offense. And obviously when you've got guys like Nikita Kutjurov, then that's going to happen. But even players like, you know, Jake Gensel, Braden Point, Brandon Hago, like, you know, these are guys that are very skilled offensive players.

And the offensive zone can be very creative. can help you generate. But that team in terms of how connected they are, in terms of being on the same page and understanding what they are and how to play, you know, they're pretty impressive. And that's something that Connor McDavid even noted this week, maybe to his downfall as it was sort of interpreted as a shot at his own head coach.

But that's sort of what I think of is, you know, you can't just be freewheeling, you know, skill and fun like some of these teams are that you allude to, like the Anaheim Ducks, who we'll see here in Rogers Arena, you know, that's fun for your fans and you're going to score a lot of goals, especially if you've got a lot of skill. And as you're going through a rebuild, I think it's okay to be like that because you want to have some entertainment

value and you want to showcase the skill of your young players. But when you get to a point like Anaheim is now, where you're going to be back in the playoffs and you want to have some success, you need to have that sort of baseline of defensive structure and understanding of how you need to play to limit things in your own end of the ice because once you get to the Stanley Cup playoffs, we know how much things tighten up and how little space there is out there and how, you know, one mistake can cause you a game or a series. And so, you know, from a neutral perspective, I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch a team like the ducks in the playoffs this year. but in terms of their ability to have success,

I don't know if they're quite there yet in spite of the season that they've had. And so I would imagine the Canucks will look at that and say, obviously we want to bring in skilled young players. We're going to get one of them at the, you know, near the top of the draft this year that can sort of help bolster this rebuild. But I think it also might be a reason why this organization has been loath to trade someone like Philip Heronik and wants him to stay and be a key part of what happens going forward here is, I think they value the defensive side of things and the structure that they're going to need to have to have success ultimately once they get enough skill back in the door to be a team that can go to the playoffs.

Hey, Batch, do you find talking about a rebuild is just an endless conversation with transitions where you say, yeah, but? And they're like, oh, I'll explain it. It's like, you're like, you know, you want the young players to have the freedom to show off their skill. And then another guy would like, yeah, but you still do need to teach them good defensive fundamental hockey. And then it's like another conversation would be like, oh, you want the young guys to play lots of minutes. And you just want to give them tons of minutes. Yeah, but you still have to hold them accountable. And if they're not playing well, then, you know, the only way that you can send a message is through the ice time.

It's a crazy balancing act. Yeah, and I don't envy head coaches that have to deal with it, right? I can remember talking to Travis Green about this specifically when, you know, probably what, like eight years ago, this team was in a pretty similar situation when he was starting out. And, you know, as a head coach in the NHL, your job, generally speaking, is to win games. And, you know, for your own career going forward and, you know, just for the organization that you work for, you want to come in and win. But then when, you know, like for Adam Fitt this year, for example,

he came in and his goal at the start of the season was to win games and try and make the playoffs. Now his goals are very different that we're into, you know, late March, right? And, you know, you still have to balance trying to win, right? You're never not trying to win when you're a player or a coach in the NHL in spite of fan bases wanting you to tank or whatever. Your goal is to win games. But now you also have the dual goal of developing. players when you're in the situation that this team is in. And so you have to find that fine line

where almost everything you do can be criticized, right? Like, you know, we say, oh, you want to give the young players playing time, but you also have to hold them accountable. You look at a guy like Neil's Hoaglander, you know, Adam Foote is trying to hold him accountable if indeed he's going to sit him out of the lineup again tonight because there are specific things that he has talked about, that he wants this player to work on. But then a bunch of people in a fan base, are yelling, how could you be sitting Hoaglander, especially what Evander Kane's playing? And then also you have to deal with, you know, you've got a veteran player at Avander Kane, who's about to get to a thousand games.

And the organization brought him in, and to a certain extent, you owe it to him to play him a little bit because he's trying to earn a contract somewhere for next year. So you've got to keep your veteran players happy. You've got to manage things with them. You've got to get your young players minutes. And, you know, as Adam Foote likes to point out, they have a lot of young players in the lineup and inexperienced players at the NHL level this year. and so you've got to think about development,

but you also have to think about yourself and your future and trying to prove that you deserve to be here beyond this year. And, you know, when it comes to long-term team-building aims, oftentimes head coaches aren't in the same organization by the time the team gets through a lengthy rebuild, right? Like the coach that starts the rebuild, often isn't the coach that's behind the bench when the team is getting competitive again.

So, you know, there's a lot of conflicting things that you have to deal with in a rebuild like this. And then, you know, to your point, from our job analyzing it, right, it is kind of a circle of, yeah, buts when you look at this team, because we're thinking big picture, we're trying to project long term and read into the short term to try and do that, which is almost impossible because so many things are going to change, so many players are going to change, so many things are going to happen between now. and the next time the Canucks make the Stanley Cup playoffs, that there's absolutely no way to know where things are going or what that team is going to look like by the time that they get there. Batch, this was great, buddy. As always, thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it.

Have a good call tonight. We'll do this again next week. Sounds good. Thanks, boys. Have a good one. Thank you. That's Brendan Batchelor, Play-by-Play voice of the Vancouver Canucks here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. A reminder, you can hear Batch tonight.

7 o'clock puck drop Rogers Arena, the call right here on SportsNet 650. Pre-game show starts at 5. Post-game show follows immediately. Seventh of an eight-game homestand, a season-high, eight-game homestand. They've got games left against the ducks and then the Kings. And then there's really only three weeks left until the end of the regular season. Oh, we're nearly there.

Yeah. Mervously, some would say locally. But for the rest of the teams, it's just the beginning of what could be a lengthy playoff run. By the way, I was looking at MoneyPuck. A fantastic website where you can get all kinds of quick. stats and information, especially as it pertains to playoff likelihoods. What do you have a piece of it or something? Yeah.

You got equity in, money puck? I didn't even know you could get it, but you can. No, you can't get it. That game tonight between Ottawa and Detroit has a possible playoff percentage swing of 26%. Oh, man. That's how much is riding on that game tonight. I feel bad for the sense, man. Like, what a brutal injury luck.

Mm-hmm. I don't know how you can compete if you don't have. have Shabbat and Bruce Garriock just had a tweet I guess he's doing the reporting live because they're

not going to skate this morning I was going to I was like is Bruce playing no well he might get into a better shape

yeah it's a tough call but you know desperate times I guess Shabbat is in a sling so he got hurt actually we didn't mention this

but he got hurt on a JT Miller cross jacked in the arm and I wonder if something got broken because it sounds like he's going to be in a sling in

six weeks for him and Jake Sanderson still a few days off so I don't know what you do there Travis Green's had a tough go this year. He's done a good job. He's done a good job.

He's done a really good job. He has been undone by injuries and I think most at the top of the list of things that have undone the senator's season goaltending. Just hasn't been able to get a save with regularity. Really kind of damaging an otherwise solid campaign for Greener. And this is the year after, of course, getting Ottawa back into the playoffs. but it's going to be a tall task if they can somehow get a win tonight in Detroit in the second of a back-to-back. Their playoff percentage chances climb all the way to 73. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.