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

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Mike & Jason look back the previous day in sports, they talk a gutsy Canucks win over the Devils last night, they look at the out-of-town scoreboard and how it affects the Canucks ahead of tomorrow's big road matchup vs. the Isles, plus the boys discuss Quinn Hughes' post-game comments following last night's win, and wonder if Hughes will finish his career as a Canuck.  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. Whoa. Wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose the f***ing Canucks? Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da You're listening to Halford and Brough. Demko's been doing a lot of work behind the scenes. He's going to start against the Devils. Brad in front for Carter is run by Demko. Full stretch into the splits. We've got some new guys in, some guys from Abbey, so you know, and we're hanging in there. Blinker back in. Wide onto the right wing. back into the slot on Marks from Stutes, he scores!

Lekkerbacki wins it for the Canucks in the shootout! I think I got my swagger back! Oh! Oh! Oh! Good morning Vancouver, 6-0-1 on a Tuesday, happy Tuesday everybody. It is Haliford, it is rough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are are coming you live from the kintex studios and beautiful fairview slopes in Vancouver Jason. Good morning. Good morning Hey dog. Good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie. Good morning to you as well

Hello, hello, Halford and brough for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers They have a friendly knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for sales They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step Studios got a little pep in its collective step this morning. Everyone's excited to be here. We got a big show on a Tuesday We got a lot to get into guest list today It begins at 630 with Greg Wyshinski from ESPN Dot-com Vancouver Canucks beat his beloved New Jersey Devils last night We'll look back on last night's game with Greg New Jersey Devils last night.

We'll look back on last night's game with Greg. Greg is obviously dialed in to this Western Conference Playoff chase, not only is he following the Canucks exploits. He also recently wrote about how laddie Dustin Wolf has saved the Calgary flame season. So we'll talk to Greg about everything that's going on in this Western Conference Playoff chase in the Vancouver Canucks at 630.

He's excited to watch. Seven o'clock. Speaking of exciting to listen to, John Arnold is going to join us on the program. We're going to have a little footy talk at seven o'clock this morning. John Arnold, who we've had on the show before, writes the Getting Conca-Caft Substack, it's been on ESPN FC, MLS. We'll talk to him about everything that happened in the nations league

tournament over the weekend. Mexico wins, Canada finishes third. What changed in the region? If anything, we'll look ahead to the gold cup and we'll answer that question we were kicking around yesterday about three countries, Canada, US and Mexico, co-hosting a world cup despite not loving each other at the moment. Political tensions. We're going to talk to John Arnold about that at seven o'clock.

Eight o'clock, Landon Ferraro is going to join the moment. Political tensions. We're going to talk to John Arnold about that at 7 o'clock. 8 o'clock, Landon Ferraro is going to join the program. Huge win for the Vancouver Canucks last night. 4-3 in the shootout over the Devils in New Jersey. We'll talk to Landon about one of the gutsiest wins of the year. Talk to him about Thatcher Demko's return, Jonathan Leckar or Mackie's big game, and of course another monster effort from Quinn Hughes. That's at 8 o'clock. At 8.15 this morning we're giving away a pair of playoff tickets to see game one when the Vancouver Giants take on the Spokane Chiefs this Friday, March 28th at the Langley Event

Center. Be caller number five at 8.15 this morning. The number here 604-280-0650. That number again 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. Be caller number 5 at 815 this morning for a pair of playoff tickets to see game 1 of the Giants and Chiefs this Friday at the Langley Events Center. Okay, that's what's happening on the program today. 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? 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?

What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. It was Connor Garland, not Pew Souter, but Connor Garland, who tied the game For more resources and safety training, visit them online at bccsa.ca. It was Connor Garland, not Pugh Souter, but Connor Garland who tied the game with 36 seconds left.

It was Jonathan Leckermackie who got the winner in the shootout and Thatcher Demko made 22 saves in his first start in over a month of Vancouver Canucks, a huge 4-3 shootout win over the Devils in New Jersey on Monday night. First off, that was a great hockey game and a super gutsy win by the Canucks. Demko returns and had the save of the season in overtime. Huge Lekermacki had a big goal and then scored the shootout winner. Hughes played half the game and was incredible as always. I thought Aturatu played well. And how about Pugh Suter, the new 1C with two

points, one goal and an assist played 23 minutes on the night, Pugh Suter. That's awesome. So I tweeted this out afterwards and I got to be honest, I have not cheered that hard for the Canucks all season. He's not joking, by the way. I just loved seeing the effort.

I loved seeing Demko get back in there for his teammates. I loved seeing guys step up when the opportunity presented itself. And I know some of you may be rolling your eyes right now. You're in the the tank category or you just want a good draft pick you've given up on the season but regardless of all that for me personally it felt good to watch a game where you could feel how hard they were fighting for each other the way they responded to adversity within the game was admirable.

They fell behind twice in the third period and each time they battled back. That devil's goal where it bounced off the end boards. Do you remember that one? I think that was their second goal, right? Yeah. I thought that might be a dagger. I thought that might be like, oh, it's just, it's not going to happen for us. Nope. The Canucks kept battling.

Their four centers last night were Suter, Bluger, Amon and Ratu. And yet, I'm watching this game, the Canucks created more offensively than they have in a lot of their games this season. They weren't exactly the Colorado Avalanche out there, but they legit scored some nice goals through hard work and creativity and guys maybe stepping outside their comfort zone a little bit. Suter's first goal was nice. He popped out into the slot, got his feet moving, went to the open space and Marcus Pedersen activates down the left wall and gets it to Suter for a goal. Leckeremakki's goal was nice in regulation time, where they, where they were rotating around the defense or activated around again.

Somehow Derek Forebord was behind the devil's goalie and you know, like working the blue paint down there, like behind the net. It was weird. And then, and then Lekeremakki coming down from the point into the slot to score. The tying goal was just hard work in desperation. And then Lekker and Mackie coming down from the point into the slot to score. The tying goal was just hard work in desperation. Hughes puts the puck on net and there's a big scramble in front to the point where nobody knew who scored the goal because there were so many Canucks around it. You know, the announcer said Garland and I thought it was Debrusk, the

way he went in there and celebrated. Yeah. It was originally announced Pew suitor and then it went back to, to Connor Garland. Yeah. Garland stole his goal. We, the whole game, wiped off the board. You know, I'm going to give, I'm going to, I'm going to steal your look because I know what people are texting already.

I haven't seen the inbox, but I guarantee there's one or two. The connects are still in tough. There's still a long shot to make the playoffs. I'm not blind, okay? But we've had so much BS this season. Where you're watching this team and wondering, is everyone pulling the rope in the same direction? Is everyone trying to pull the rope in a direction? That guy just dropped the rope. We know the group has been dysfunctional, very dysfunctional. It has been one of the most dysfunctional seasons in Canucks history. So to watch that game last night and to watch a team play like a team knowing how shorthanded they were down the middle and knowing Thatcher Demko had returned to help his teammates. I just okay this is going to be cheesy you might want to play some like violins right now. I just

enjoyed being a Canucks fan last night. I was legit proud of them. I'm proud of you. You know that. I hope you do. That was beautiful, man. Am I the only one that felt that way? Like, like, am I, am I overdoing it here? No, no, no. Am I overdoing it? Like, I was watching that game and I'm telling you, I've not cheered that hard for the Canucks all season. You're not overdoing it. You're not overdoing it. No eye rolling from sea legs in the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket. No eye rolling here. But let's get a little bit more grounded.

Dare I say caustic. I'm gonna ask a question. It's a leading question. Might be a bit polarizing, given the authenticity of your feelings this morning. How much did this have to do with the fact that the Canucks put forth that kind of effort? And it was without Elias Pettersson

and JT Miller in the lineup. I think it had a lot to do with it. I just told you, we've watched so much BS this season and we've watched some underachieving and we've watched some dysfunction. And I know Pedersen has found his game a little bit, but we all know he hasn't back to the same Pedersen. So what I watched last night was overachieving.

I watched, you know, Derek Forebort make a really nice pass and Lekker Amaki take advantage of an opportunity and Aturatu stepping in and taking advantage of an opportunity, giving the team something it was missing and, you know, just winning face-offs. Fatcher Demko probably wouldn't be playing if his team didn't really, really need him.

It was overachieving versus underachieving. And, you know, coming together as a team and playing that way. And it was, for me, it was just like a pure hockey game. I wasn't watching it with like, I wonder if he's trying today, or I wonder if he's upset today, or I wonder if he's feeling angry today or sad, or I wonder if he's going to be defensive after the game. You know, like I was just watching a team play hard hockey and was it super pretty?

No, but it was somewhat creative. I thought, again, I thought they'd made some really nice plays out there. You know, I don't think they just parked the bus out there and there were some mistakes defensively. Sure. But that's hockey and they just played a hockey game. You know, like it was, it was fun to just watch it purely from like, Hey, I'm watching my team work really hard and I'm watching my team

overachieve and I like cheering for that. Sure. I think the Canucks have the opportunity to the most, and you pointed this out yesterday to do the most hilarious thing imaginable here. And it would be going on this sort of, I don't wanna say Cinderella or fairy tale run, but going on a run late without those two particular individuals

contributing to it whatsoever. Now, who knows when Pederson will be back in the lineup, but work with me here. They have an opportunity here to kind of redefine what they're about and what this season was about. And the things that you were talking about, having pride in the hard work and rallying when the chips are done and being a likable, cohesive, no drama, no BS group is an interesting thing. Now, I wanna play some audio here from Quinn Hughes with his interview. And I believe this was with the ESPN and Amazon did the game yesterday.

I believe this was with the ESPN guys afterwards. Hughes was talking about this year and he does drop, you know, this has been an incredibly long year and an incredibly trying year, which you would expect. But there's also some upside, some intrigue, some real positivity here about this group, what they're doing and where they're going. We'll play it now. Another monster game for the captain yesterday.

Here is Quinn Hughes following a huge 4-3 shootout win for the Canucks over the Devils in New Jersey last night. Yeah, I mean, honestly, this has been the longest year ever. It's been a year of adversity and guys in and out, I think we've had, you know, pretty much everyone on the team. No one's played full season. So I know a lot of teams go through that, but definitely a lot of adversity, really proud of our group.

We got a lot of care and, you know, we're going to try to do everything we can to make the playoffs here. And I believe we can, but if that doesn't happen, you know, what we're building here for the next couple of years the care factor, like what I'm seeing. The next couple years, that sounds great. Yeah. You can make something of this. Could you say three years or four years or five years?

That'd be nice. You wanna sign some sort of piece of paper? Yeah, actually two years isn't enough. Two years is actually worrying. Yeah, Quinn, could you please expand on that? There were two big things. The one part of that clip was talking about building towards the future and he likes where they got going. The other one is that they're

clearly clearly focused on making the playoffs which by the way when we were doing the show yesterday it was they needed eight wins to get to the playoffs. Well, knock one off that list. Now they need seven, right? Go through the list and look at the teams they got to play. You can do the real simple brass tacks. They need probably need seven more wins to get through the list and look at the teams they got to play. But you can do the real simple brass tacks. They probably need seven more wins to get into the playoffs. So start picking your opponents. Look at the rest of this road trip. Try and find seven more games on the slate

that they can win with this group and what they've got. I also want to talk about that at your Demco. Yeah. That was massive last night. That's incredible. That was massive last night. May have saved the season. Awesome.

I mean, the rebound on the third goal wasn't great. He wasn't perfect last night and he would admit it because he said afterwards, he was like, yeah, like it's not going to be a hundred percent. But if you're talking about this vibe and this narrative over these final 11 games now about what it's going to represent for the team, a lot of it is going to be, it might not look perfect.

It might not be perfect and it might not be perfect, and we might not be a perfect team, but we're going to try and go out there and scratch and claw and fight. And I want to play the talk at audio because talk it spoke about not just the save that Demko made in overtime yesterday, but the fact that he was able to put up that kind of performance despite not having a ton of lead up time getting back into the lineup as far as it came to practices. Here's Rick Tuckett following the game yesterday on Thatcher Demko's big performance in a win for the Vancouver Canucks. Well, I mean, he's the saving overtime. That's Thatcher.

It's just really proud of him. You know, it's been a tough six weeks for him. And, you know, I think he's on the right track. Didn't have many practices, you know, it's hard to for him and you know I think he's on the right track. Didn't have many practices you know it's hard to do like you know it's not like he's had a lot of team practices to go in there and he had to play in overtime so made some post-post saves so yeah he was terrific for us tonight. You want to play the Hughes audio too? So after Quinn Hughes in that same interview that we played talked about that save in overtime he happened to be the guy playing the two on one but it was Paul Cotter on the shot, right? And here's a little snippet.

Quinn Hughes, working blue last night in the interview, talking about Thatcher Demko's big save in overtime. It's not save, he made it in overtime. You know, classic me playing a two on one like ****, but I can't say enough about Thatch. I mean, he had a right to play it like, believe, he played what, 39 minutes last night? I don't know.

I think he ended with- I think it was 33 or something like that. I think he ended with 33. I think he played over two thirds of the overtime. I think he was out there for over three minutes. Again, they're gonna rely on certain guys now. Hughes, obviously. Demko now, assuming he can stay healthy and upright.

That's a huge shot in the arm and apparently Pugh suitor. And it's the guy that's going to be driving the bus because up until about 10 30 last night, the third biggest, and we haven't got to Leckar and Mackey yet, but the, you know, the second biggest talking point was Pugh suitor scores a pair of goals. And then his second goal was later credited to Connor Garland, but suitor scores a pair of goals, including the one with 36 seconds left in a one C position playing 23 minutes. Like that is that stepping up. That's playing. You talked about overachieving.

I'm not sure how long you can go with Pugh suitor being your one C playing 23 minutes a night. Probably not long, but it's also Teddy Blugger as your two see. But that's the reality, right? Like that's what's going to for the very at least for the remainder of this road trip. It's got three more games on it because we'll get to Pedersen and Hoaglander in a bit. They left and they're not coming back on this trip.

These are the guys that are going to be carrying the mail for the Canucks. OK, I text in if they lost three to two, would you be this elated? What is the difference between this game and the Rangers game where you were so critical, they played hard in both games. Well, they won this one. Well, I just told you, I'm being dead honest with you. Pedersen not being out there made a difference for me.

If you want to come at me for that, that's fine. The underachieving of the star players on this team has affected the way I've watched this team. I mean, I've been pretty honest about it, right? Well, I mean, for me- Like, I don't want to dance around this issue. No, that's fine. The Pettersons underachieving has been one of,

if not the top stories of the last year, and it has affected how I've watched this team. Well, okay. I'll answer the question. Um, but don't do any PR for me. Like I'm just telling you that made a difference. There was no Miller and no Pedersen and no BS last night. Okay.

Uh, the difference with last night's game as opposed to let's take the Rangers game where they also played very well. One, the big differences is that they got two points from last night as opposed to zero from the Rangers game. The other point would be that they found a way this game to not shoot themselves in the foot, especially in the third period. When the Meyer goal happened and I tweeted out, this team has a remarkable ability to not keep the good times going no matter what.

They came back right away and put up a goal and they were able to get that thing to overtime, scratch and claw and do whatever they needed to do to get that extra point. Also, big difference last night, Demko comes back after six weeks off, probably isn't 100%, probably isn't ready to go. And as you pointed out earlier in the segment, probably wouldn't be playing if the Canucks weren't in this situation.

And he guts it out, puts up 22 saves, has a huge save in overtime. There's differences here. I know it sounds kind of nebulous to say, well, a guy stepped up here as opposed to other games where they didn't, but what has Rick Taukett been speaking about all year? This team has been presented

with so many big moments this year, and oftentimes it's been the other team that's capitalized on that big moment. How many times has he spoken about the moments this year? I've lost track. They've had a lot of moments this year, not all of them good. But last night, the big difference for me would have been they got big plays, big moments and big performances from guys who were not the frontline guys. I know Hughes was great and I know Demko was great, but Suter,

Lekkeramacky, Garland coming up in a moment where they are fighting for their playoff lives, that's the big difference to me. If you wanted a straight answer, Lekkeramackie, Garland, coming up in a moment where they are fighting for their playoff lives, that's the big difference to me, if you wanted a straight answer. Leckermackie, by the way, what a night for the kid. Now apparently- I was gonna lose my mind if he didn't get a chance on the shootout.

Apparently, Thatcher Demko was told in the post-game scrum about Leckermackkey's stick twirl. You know how he twirled his stick a couple times right out of the shoot out. What was that about? He did, I mean, Demko said he did a stick twirl and then he took a pause and he said, we will have to talk to him about that.

So I guess that- He said it was a superstition though. I'm sure. I don't think it's a big deal. I know- He's got a stick twirled tick. Yeah. You would do to look badass though.

Like it was like sort of doing like, like pumping yourself up right before a fight or something. Like he did the like it was like sort of doing like like like like Pumping yourself up right before fighters. I'm like like a little stick like he knew he was gonna score Like that's what I looked like Dean Youngblood out there It was so cool. He's like he was so confident. He knew he was gonna score absolutely 100% It was really cool It's like ice in his veins. It's some real old-school hockey rhetoric to not like Everyone Thomas Hurdle went between the legs and scored on Marty Buran, and then they had to sit him down

because they were like, ah, you embarrassed him. And then, remember when we saw our first Michigan and you had to sit for the rest of the period? Those little things. I hope he does it every single time now. Well, I mean, you know what? If they go to more shootouts, the Connexors three and one in the shootout this year.

They haven't gone to many of them, but they've been pretty good in it. Debreseq was good in his shootout attempt as well, but what a performance from Lekker Mackey as well. Um, I remember when he got the most recent recall and I heard Tuckett's response to, you know, are you worried about, you know, throwing him in under duress and you know, there's a lot of pressure right now and he's like, oh, give it a shot, right?

Let's see what happens. Like we may as well try him out. I was, I wasn't sure that he would be able to respond like that, but that was a very big performance from him last night with all of what? 10, 15 games of NHL experience under his belt. Okay. So the road is still not long, but difficult

for the Canucks to come back and get that last playoff spot. The New York Islanders are next tomorrow and they had an interesting game last night against Columbus. Yeah. Um, we've got the audio here as well. They had a goal chalked off late, uh, not to VAR, but, uh, it was disallowed by the official on the ice and then it went to review in Toronto.

And I think the Islanders were assuming that this thing was going to get overturned and allowed. It was not and that led Patrick Waum, we've got the audio here, to issue the following post game after they lost in a shootout to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Paul Mary was out of the crease and we tipped it in and I think their goalie pushed him away at the same time. So I see it. If Toronto is afraid to overturn calls made by their referee, we don't need Toronto. Well, we don't need Toronto. Well, we don't need Toronto. That's all I want to say. Um, so the Canucks and the Islanders are in

very similar spots, just in different conferences. The Islanders are one point back of Montreal for the final playoff spot. Montreal has a game in hand on them and the Vancouver Canucks are three points back of the St. Louis Blues for the final wild card spot. And St. Louis has played one more game than the Canucks. So each of them are probably, like if you're looking

at the statistics, not going to make the playoffs, but you know, Wednesday's game is huge for both teams. Yep. They've still got a chance. They're, they're, they're still very much in it and the Isles have, they're very similar teams. The Isles have a minus 16 goal differential. The Canucks have a minus 16 goal differential.

And the Isles in their last six games have managed to get a point in all of them. But Horvath used to play for Canucks, now he plays for the Islanders. But three of them have been overtime losses. So the Islanders have a problem with overtime losses as well. So this will be an interesting one.

We'll see if the Canucks can keep this going. We often see when a team has got us back against the wall, it'll come up with a performance, right? Because the adrenaline is running. The adrenaline is going to have to run for the Canucks pretty much down the stretch. I don't know if Holglinder or Pedersen are

going to be back this season, frankly. Sending them back from the road trip is not especially, I guess. Well, it doesn't lend itself to optimism. It doesn't lend itself to optimism. The next time they got a chance to play is gonna be Wednesday, April 2nd when they play at home against Seattle.

Yeah. So that's at least a week on the shelf and three more games, New York, Columbus, and then you mentioned Winnipeg on the Sunday that they're not gonna play. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. 731 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination

for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, and parts. We are in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Homonuck at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at jason.mortgage.

It was a good night last night for the Vancouver Canucks, not just in terms of their 4-3 shootout victory against the New Jersey Devils. Desperately needed win, two points in the bag. Also got some help on the out of town scoreboard last night because Utah kind of had the same thing happen to them what the Canucks had happen in New York on Saturday. They lost 5-1 to the Detroit Red Wings yesterday. The Red Wings scored five goals on 14 shots.

Right. It was four shots, or it was four goals on 11 shots for the longest time. But they didn't dominate to the point that the Canucks did over the Rangers. Like, Utah didn't get many time. But they didn't dominate to the point that the Canucks did over the Rangers. Like Utah didn't get many shots either. Utah did not dominate to the degree, no.

But. It was a somewhat low event game. Wasn't great. So Vancouver last night, the only team in that Western Conference wild card chase to pick up points on Monday, the Canucks leapfrogged Calgary to move into the spot right below St. Louis.

So if you're talking points percentage, the ranking would be St. Louis, Calgary, Vancouver, Utah. And Utah is actually quite far behind now. I think Utah, sorry, Drantzer. I think those guys are done. You know what Drantz never factored into his equations was that Utah has been terrible in Utah. The record at home stinks. If you look at Utah.

Yeah, they have the same record pretty much as Vancouver at home. If you look at Utah and Vancouver this year, and you're going to point to why they missed the playoffs in both instances, you're going to say they did nothing with their home ice advantage. They were lousy at home. And the Canucks have been lousy at home this year and you're going to point to why they missed the playoffs in both instances, you're going to say they did nothing with their home ice advantage. They were lousy at home and the Canucks have been lousy at home this year. So too has Utah. It was a damaging loss for Utah last night. Calgary has games in hand on everybody. But the interesting thing about Calgary is that they have a very, very difficult run coming up. Now tonight, not so much. They have Seattle. Seattle's on a Western road trip. They're not playing very well.

They're not a very good team in Seattle. Kraken Calgary is playing well after that game. Calgary closes the month against Dallas, Edmonton and Colorado. So they're going to make up those games that they have in hand Calgary is with their games. Very tough games. St. Louis is the team to beat though right now.

And if you look, if you look at goal differential, St. Louis is plus 10. Yeah. Canucks are minus 16, Calgary is minus 21, Utah is minus 13. St. Louis might just be the best team here. The Blues have won six straight. They get Montreal tonight, another game that's kind of a must watch. The Habs have played well lately.

Habs are fun to watch too. Habs are going on the road in this one. It's the last of a four game home stand for the blues where they've been pretty dominant. They've won three of the four. Habs are two oh and two in their last four. They're fighting for their own playoff lives. So there's that, but, um, St.

Louis is going to need to slow down. Plain and simple. If you listen to our One of the podcast, by the way, you can download it, Apple, Google, Spotify, wherever. Oh wait, one of those doesn't exist anymore, right? Anyway, download the Hour One podcast. You can hear Greg Wyshinski kind of pointed out

very clearly that the Blues are in the driver's seat now. If the Canucks are gonna get in, I would say right now, prior to last night's game, we said said they probably need to win eight of 12. Yeah. Well, congrats. Now it's down to seven of 11. And if you want to try and pick the game, the remaining 11 games that you think they can win, go ahead and do it. But St. Louis is going to have to stop winning every single hockey game. Otherwise, they're not going to catch them. It's going to be really tough for the Canucks. And as much as I enjoyed their performance last night, um, and,

you know, there was a lot of guys that stepped up and overachieved to ask these guys to do it, you know, against some really tough competition down the stretch where, you know, Quinn Hughes is playing half the game and we don't know if that your dump goes going to hold up. Quinn Hughes is playing half the game and we don't know if that your dump goes gonna hold up It's it's it's a tall task, but I'm curious to see How they react and I think this is where some guys get tested Mm-hmm, and I want to see what Lucker Mackey's made of I want to see if he can provide some

Big moments for the can I more down the stretch. At five on five, it was interesting that Tauke said after the game, he's like, I got to find more minutes for him. But the problem is, and he also said, I got to find some chemistry for him. Because who's he going to play with? Who's his center? Because you're going to put suitor with Debruskin Besser. Yep.

Right? So Lekarmacky's center is what, Bluger? Yep. Nils Amann. Yeah, that's another option. Atu-Ratu. You know, it is really tough. And so at five on five, you also have some concerns about Lekarmacky's game.

He's still learning. It's not his fault. He's young. Yeah. Um, now I think he should definitely be on the power play for sure. I think he just adds so much to that power play. And I, and I really like his shot.

I like his willingness to shoot. I like his decisiveness out there. Um, but you're just limited with the centers that they have right now. You know, for all the talk about Pugh Souter being the 1C, I actually think he's more capable of being a 1C than Teddy Bluger is of being a 2C. Ah, interesting way of putting it. Yeah, the heavy lifting is going to catch up to him at some point. What you're hoping for right now is that the Canucks can catch lightning in a bottle over the final 11 games and they can get Pugh suitor on a heater. They can keep Quinn Hughes healthy and playing over 30 a night.

Here's the wild card. Thatcher Demko. Can we replay the audio? Try and find this clip, laddie. Quinn Hughes talking about Demko, because this was another thing that Wyshinski brought up. This was from the ESPN post-game interview last night. This is not to throw shade at Kevin Lankinen, who's done a remarkable job,

in some ways is saved the season to, I mean, they might still miss the players but he saved them to the point where they were able to participate in a playoff chase I think that's fair to say right. Lanken is not here this season's toast. There's a difference between the two and you can say it's ceiling or pedigree but it's also and I hate putting it in these terms but the way guys talk act think and feel in front of one goalie as opposed to another. It's not that I don't like Lankanen, I don't think that he's good, but I think-

They really like Lankanen. I think there's almost an understanding that Demko can go out and maybe win you a game you're not supposed to win, and I don't know if that same feeling of belief is there with Lankanen. Also- He's stolen a couple games, but you're not supposed to win. And I don't know if that same feeling of belief is there with Lankanen. Also. He's stolen a couple of games, but you're right. I mean, we all know Dempco's ceiling is higher than Lankanen's. If they can keep him healthy.

Like does he start again tomorrow? Well, that's the first, that's the question I had. Do you run them out again against the Islanders? By, I mean, Lankanen didn't even dress last night. We failed to mention that. It was already Sealob's as the backup yesterday. Lankanen didn't even dress yesterday. Well, Lankanen might be sick, right?

So in light of all of that, do you just kind of say, all right, pedal to the metal, like let's go. Demko, you're going again? Like how many games can you play them over the final 11? Let's not forget he missed six weeks and jumped back in last night. So some would say air on the side of caution. But the other thing too, you wanna play devil's advocate to the devil's advocate

against the devil's advocate. You only got a handful of games left and he's gonna have the entire off season if they don't make it to rest and rehab and get healthy anyway. So maybe it is like, let's go. You got the clip here? Okay, let's hear this is Quinn Hughes

talking about Thatcher Demko after last night's big 4-3 shootout victory over the Devils in New Jersey. Yeah, I mean, first off, Lincoln has been playing like, you know, real top goaltender in the league. But you know, Thatcher, he's, you know, I've been here for six years. He's been here, we've been here together.

And he's a Vezna type goalie, you know, maybe, you know, definitely could have probably won the Vezna last year and when he's in the net it's a different feeling and I think he's had like two team practices, maybe even one before tonight, so probably wasn't even, you know, close to 100% tonight and he just gutted one out for us, he was an absolute beast and he's just one of the most competitive guys I know. And, um, for him to come out and get that one out for us and that save, he made it over time, you know, classic me playing a two on one like, I can't say enough about thatch.

Um, so a couple of questions coming into the Dunbar lumber text line as we wait to see who starts the game and goal for the Canucks tomorrow. BK in Poco, Texas is Lekromacky playing well down the stretch, potentially replacing Brock Besser for next year. I don't think it would be a one for one replacement if they do in fact, move on from Brock Besser. And don't forget, there's still a chance they

re-signed Brock Besser. But if they don't, I think they might try and just bring in some more speed on the wings, even if they feel that Leckr Mackie will be a much better player next season and might be able to step in at a higher level. Brock Besser has a lot of experience in the NHL. And there were times when he was playing with

JT Miller that he was on a shutdown line, not a shutdown line, but let's call it a matchup line. Sure. Okay. So the JT Miller would get the toughest assignments. Well, Brock would be out there too. Is any, is any Canucks coaching staff, whether it's talking to Exe or someone else, going to

trust Leckermacky in that specific role, or do you want to try and sign a veteran winger that can bring some of what Besser brought, albeit at maybe a cheaper rate, and then you're kind of replacing Brock Besser with maybe like two guys, you know what I mean? Well, I think it's just different. It's just a different mix. It's not a one-for-one swap. I think if there's one positive to be taken from what's been a trying year on a lot of fronts for the Canucks is they have expedited Leckermackie's ascension to being an NHL regular.

I did not expect him to have played, like if you would've told me at the beginning of the year, Lekkeromaki was gonna appear in, because he's close to 20 games, so a quarter of the games, and was gonna be scoring super pivotal goals in meaningful games in March, scoff at all you want at that line,

but meaningful games in March, it's a meaningful game in March. I mean, he's got three goals in 19 games, or something like that. Listen to what I'm saying. If you were to tell me at the beginning of the year, he would've played in a quarter It's a meaningful game in March. I mean, he's got three goals in 19 games or something like that. Listen to what I'm saying. If you were to tell me at the beginning of the year, he would have played in a quarter of the team's game and in those meaningful games in March, you'd be scoring meaningful goals.

I would have said like, well, something must have gone wrong. Well, yeah. Right? Something did go wrong. But he's doing it. The silver lining is that you're going to get a better, more polished NHL version of Lechromachy

next year than you would have if you'd spent the entire year in the American League. He's going to need a lot of time in the gym this off season. He needs to get bigger and stronger. And that's what we all knew. It's not like a criticism. It's just how players develop and we'll see what

he looks like at camp next season. Keep twirling that stick though, son. Yeah. I respect that. I like that. He looked confident out there. He's got swagger. That's when I see him on the power play.

He wants the puck. He wants to do things with the puck. He's not scared of having the puck. He's not deferring. Matt and Suri with a good question here. We all know Quinn Hughes is amazing and Kevin Lankenen has done his thing. Outside of those two, would it be fair to say

that Pius Suter has been the Canucks best player this year? Okay. So take away Quinn Hughes, cause we all know he's the MVP of the team. Uh, Kevin Lanken and, um, the season would be lost without him. Um, there's probably a few guys that I would put in the category of, you know, the next best player.

Um, suitor is definitely one of them. Yeah. Connor Garland is another. I put Garland, I mean, if we're going to. I think Horonick too. Horonick is, Horonick has played really well, especially in the games where they didn't have Quinn Hughes.

I thought he stepped up. Um, so those would be the guys that I would, I would talk about. I know Kiefer Sherwood has added something, but in terms of importance to the team, yeah, Pugh Suter has been really important to the team. 22 goals, one off the team lead at 23, shared by Brock Besser and Jake DeBrusk.

He's been great. He's been great. And they are really asking a lot of Pugh Suter right now. Again, in a short sample size, which is exactly what they've got left, he can masquerade in the role that he's in right now. He can. When you get to the playoffs and he's in a match-up, it might be an entirely different story. He might get exposed, probably more

likely will be, but for now, you just, there is something endearing about, as you pointed out in the first segment of the show, way back at six o'clock in the morning, there is something endearing about guys punching out of their weight class and overachieving and doing more than what you would expect. It's an endearing quality for our hockey team. That's why we love underdog stories. Right. Now, those teams usually end up falling short because at the end of the day, they just don't have the talent or ability or depth

that the contenders do. But in this season, which has been a trying season, we played audio from Quinn Hughes talking about how it's been a really long season and how a lot of people, including your co-host of this radio program have become disenchanted with the way and, and the direction of the team has gone. I think maybe there's some real grasping at moments like last night.

People have like clapped back in the Dunbar lumber text message in basket this morning saying that it feels odd or strange or maybe not earnest that we're speaking glowingly about this game after being so critical over the weekend. And I get it. There's a lot of peaks and valleys when you're coming in and talking about wins and losses. But I do genuinely feel like the performance and effort and what they did last night was one of the gutsiest,

grittiest performances they had all season. A season where you could say that that was lacking a lot of times. the gutsiest, grittiest performances they had all season. A season where you could say that that was lacking a lot of times. And it didn't have all the sort of signature benchmarks of frustration that other Canucks games have had this year. There's been a lot of games where you don't know what team's gonna come out for the second and third periods.

You don't know what effort or performance you're gonna get or what new and creative way they're gonna shoot themselves in the foot. And it's frustrating to watch that as a fan. And for last year... And you know watching some key players and wondering if they're gonna perform. And I did say, sorry not that, but I did say prior to last night's game right when we were going off the air yesterday like good on Demko for pushing to get back in and saying like hey do we need a Hail Mary right now? I'll throw it right and the one thing with the Hail Mary theory like not all Hail Marys are created equal like Aaron Rodgers in his heyday throwing

a Hail Mary was a lot more dangerous than like Tommy DeVito throwing a Hail Mary you know I mean it's it's a hope, but the person that's orchestrating said Hail Mary. There's a big difference there. And if Demko somehow can stay upright and healthy and keep going, I know it's a long shot. And I know the odds and history are maybe stacked against it, but there's a little glimmer of hope there.

From Dean and Langley, texting in, nobody seems to be focused on Quinn Hughes' mention of him being excited for, quote, what's to come in the next couple years. Is it just me or isn't this an admission statement that Quinn ain't staying past 2026? Come on, let's get the panic blender going. Oh, Dean and his panic blender. Well, as soon as I saw that, I was like, oh,

why did he say a couple of years? Cause that's how many more years he is signed for. I think if you want to take that for anything, you should be optimistic because he's talking about building something over the next couple of years while he's still with the team. And then he's got a building something over the next couple of years while he's still with the team and then he's got a decision to make. So he's not saying, well, we're going to build something then I'm going to leave.

I didn't see that at all. I didn't see him saying that at all. I saw him saying, I don't know whether he meant to say it or it was unconsciously, but he was like, okay, we're going to, he's probably thinking, if you're Quinn Hughes, you're the captain of the Vancouver Canucks. That means something to you. Even if you want to go play with your brothers

or that's, you know, in the back of your mind, that'd be cool. That's, it's almost like, I wonder for him if that's like an escape hatch. Like if that's, it's, it's almost like, I, I wonder for him if that's like an escape hatch. Like if that's, if that's, if things don't turn around here, I can always go do that in a couple of years. But in the meantime, like nobody watching Quinn Hughes right now is like, whoa, this guy's checked out on the team. Right? That, that, that, that's the one thing that's, you have to be encouraged by, right? No, no, Quinn Hughes is playing for the

Vancouver Canucks right now. Well, maybe it's a challenge to management too. He's like, you got two years to build a consistent winner. Of course it is. So give me. But it's a challenge to him. I've been giving you two years here.

It's a challenge for himself as well, because he's part of the leadership group. And I think the leadership group, they need to talk about this off season, who is going to be part of the leadership group? Because you know, a couple of the guys that were part of the leadership group were part of the big reason why this team fell apart this season.

Do you want them as part of your leadership group anymore? Well, one of them is not there anymore. So, and you know, Brock Besser is considered part of the leadership group. Is he going to be there? So I honestly didn't take that as a negative, even though he said couple of years, because he said building something, if you build something that's good, Quinn Hughes is going to want to stay.

Yeah. I mean, I've actually, you know what, in the last couple of months where things have really gone off the rails and we've been like, well, Miller's gone and if they trade Patterson and he's not around next year, he's gone. That means Hughes has gone too. I've always consciously never said that. I've made a point of not saying it, not because I don't want anyone to keep the receipts, but I don't, I genuinely don't see it that way. I do think that when you talk about Hughes, and I don't think that it's posturing for cameras or media or microphones,

he genuinely seems honored and to fully appreciate what it means to be a captain in a Canadian market. I do think that that means a lot to him. I think that it, because it was bestowed I think that because it was bestowed on him when it was bestowed on him, and what he's been tasked with, I think he relishes all of that. I think he's got friendships and camaraderie on the team,

like anyone does when they play with a guy for a while, but I think he also understands that the ability to build a legacy here is going to be sort of him. Like he's the driving force behind it. I don't know if you get that everywhere else. Like if they were to pivot off, because they've already pivoted off Miller.

If he can be the culture carrier, if he can be the culture leader for the Canucks, then you know how the Pittsburgh group is always talking about Sidney Crosby does it this way. Yeah. Quinn Hughes is at Sid's level as a player, but Quinn Hughes is top five player in the world. Yeah.

Right. Can everyone agree? Like some people maybe have him number three in the world. He is at that level. He is an elite, elite hockey player. It's kind of. And he's getting, he's getting to the point where a young player would walk into the room and go,

Oh, Quinn Hughes is on this team. He is the captain. I should respect him. Yeah. Like I'm not saying he couldn't be that in New Jersey, but they already have a captain who's a pretty good player. And it would be the Hughes trio as opposed like this. I mean, this is Hughes' team. This is his unit. He is the driving force. He's the one behind the wheel.

And I think with that comes a lot of responsibility and a lot of pressure, but also the ability to forge an identity and a reputation and a lot of pressure, but also the ability to forge an identity and a reputation and a legacy that's very unique. And he's got a chance to be the greatest Vancouver Canucks that's ever played, ever played. But he's already the best offenceman that

the organization has ever had. But a lot of things have to go right for the Canucks and they got to do a lot of good things in order to convince him to stay. Hughes also really loves the coaching staff, which is, um, which is something. And I don't think he's, every time he's mentioned it, I, again, I do not think that

that's posturing by a player. I think he is very cognizant of the fact that the heights that he's achieved, winning in Norris, becoming the best defenseman in the NHL has happened with this coaching staff. I think, and they don't deserve all of the credit or none of the credit, but they certainly deserve some.

And Hughes has been very vocal in expressing that. We got a text in here. People want a Canucks tank job. The Canucks have got to build culture. Keep working hard regardless. That's where I'm at too. Like last night in New Jersey, just keep working hard. They gotta build this culture and they gotta get rid of the nonsense. The nonsense is the big...

They gotta get rid of the BS. Yeah. And I know a lot of people, you know, Bruff, you're always picking on Petey. Yeah, I am. I am. You can't have... Like you can't have it. You can't have it anymore. You can't have another year like this. You can't do it. Nope. And you can't have another 12 month span dating back to last year's playoffs in March to this year.

You can't. There was way too many distractions. There was way too many sideshows. There was way too much drama. And there wasn't enough winning to paper over it. There have been dysfunctional teams in the past across all sports and winning can erase a lot of that but if that doesn't happen all of that toxicity and negativity bubbles to the surface and that's where you end up with trading JT Miller midseason for pennies on the dollar and having the general manager come out and be like or sorry the president hockey ops having to explain to the fan base why this deal is going to go down and why they're going to take an L on the

trade and that's what happened this year. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.