Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 3/31/25

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

Mike & Jason discuss a busy weekend in sports, including a pair of losses for the Canucks that might have put a bow on their season, plus they chat with Abbotsford Canucks head coach Manny Malhtora, as the Junior 'Nucks are currently on a 9-game winning streak.  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 Vancouver zone, gone around forward to the net, he scores! It's a good hockey team, I had a chance to win a cup, but I thought we were heading up really well. Over to Crosby, one-timer, he scores! An overtime game-winning goal! The Great H has 890 goals! Good morning Vancouver, it's 6! 6.01 on a Monday.

Happy Monday everybody. It is Alfred at his brough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning.

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

We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. Got a big show ahead on a Monday. We're gonna spend about 90 minutes recapping the Junos from yesterday. Talk a little Anne-Marie, talk a little Michael Buble. Lattie and I won a Juno.

Yeah, I heard. For one of our intros. Yes, best jingles. Yeah. It's a new category. Bracket sports division. Yeah, I heard. For one of our intros. Yes, best jingles. Yeah. It's a new category. Bracket sports division. Yeah, nobody else was nominated, strangely enough. What did Anne Marie get?

Lifetime achievement award? I think her- She's still making hits, is she? I think her and Michael Buble had very pro-Canadian speeches up on stage. Oh, I see. At the Junos, a pro-Canadian speech? I thought it'd be anti-Canadian.

Didn't see a comment. Thought it'd be pro-Trump. Yeah. What a stage to do it on. We won't be going over the Junos, a pro-Canadian speech? I thought it'd be anti-Canadian. Didn't see a comment. Thought it'd be pro-Trump. Yeah. What a stage to do it on. We won't be going over the Junos. We'll be talking a lot about the Vancouver Canucks after a very, very disappointing weekend for the Vancouver Canucks to finish out their

six game road swing. We have two guests today on the show and only two guests today on the show. It's gonna be mostly Haliford and Bruff, but it's seven o'clock. Manny Malhotra is gonna join the program. Head coach of the Abbotsford Canucks, the hottest team in hockey, brackets,

non-St. Louis Blues division, nine straight wins for Manny and the Abbotsford Canucks. That's crazy with all the guys playing for the Canucks too. I know. When you consider the amount of guys that he's lost and then the usual roster shuffle that they have just normally in the American. Yeah.

The fact that they've been able to rip off nine straight wins, they got a five one win over the Barracuda of San Jose on Saturday. We'll talk to Manny about that. Uh, Manny and the Abbotsford Canucks were prominently featured, uh, during Sunday's broadcast of the Canucks jets game, talking about some of the young prospects there.

Ty Mueller can ask him about him. So we'll talk to Manny at seven o'clock. A lot to speak about with Manny, as the Abbotsford Canucks at least are on their way to the playoffs. So we'll talk to Manny Malhotra at seven o'clock. And then at eight o'clock this morning, the second of our two guests,

Satyar Shah is gonna join the program. The Canucks, as mentioned, finished their six game road swing with a 3-1 loss in Winnipeg yesterday afternoon. They finished their trip with a 2-2-2 record. It was okay. There were some gutsy efforts, but ultimately not nearly enough points to keep whatever playoff hopes they had legitimately alive. It's pretty much over for the Vancouver Canucks now. They'll need to run the table, and even then, it might not get it done. So, it's a tough weekend. What are you doing it done so so let's get into what are you doing here so let's get into that with what happened hey did you guys see the game last night

what happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools or resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Did two guests throw you off or something? You couldn't run the back in reverse order? I was going to run the back in reverse order, but then we didn't. Sat at eight, Manny's at seven. So the Canucks lost a wild one, uh, Friday

against, uh, Columbus. It was entertaining to watch, but disappointing result, just getting a point out of Columbus, especially when you had a three nothing lead. Um, and then Sunday against Winnipeg yesterday, they played well, lost to a better team. I think that, that, uh, that is basically the story at the end of that one. And you know,, how, for, like you said, two, two

and two on the road trip, not terrible, but the results, they needed more results because of the situation they were in. And, uh, I think you can be impressed with the efforts that the Canucks gave on the road trip. And, you know, Rick Tauket said he was proud of the team and I think the players were proud of their efforts.

Uh, and I think some of their younger players showed pretty well. And we could talk to Manny Mulholland about that. But, uh, you also got to be willing to face reality with how Vancouver's season is likely to end. And the reality is that they will play eight more games this regular season and that will very likely be it for them.

There are lots of reasons why this season is likely to end without the playoffs. Uh, the top of mind, the most obvious one is the, well, if you want to call it that, I've heard it before, the rift between Miller and Pedersen that led to Miller's departure. Plus the fact that neither of those players, top six centers,

played up to their ability this season. There were also injuries. A lot of injuries. Most notably to Thatcher Demko, and we can talk more about the goaltending situation later, but Hughes, Hronik, Besser, the newly acquired Hedl, and Elias Pedersen also missed games. And that is something that for the most part didn't happen last season, at least until late in the season when they ran into some injury problems with Thatcher Demko. Those injury problems have kind of kept occurring for him, unfortunately.

Uh, but last season they were very healthy and that made a big difference. The lineup was able to stay somewhat consistent. One thing that doesn't come up too much is the overtime record. Canucks lost 11 games in overtime this season compared to just five wins. Switch that around, flip it around and say it was 11 and five. Playoff spot or close to it right now. And then I would say it around and say it was 11 and five, playoff spot or close to it right now. And then I would say a number of the offseason additions didn't pan out and even though the Canucks were able to

move on from the likes of Vincent Dernier, Danton Heinen and even Daniel Sprong and of course Carson Sousi had big struggles, they still played a significant number of games this season and they were not part of the solution. The defense, uh, earlier in the season was a problem. And then it kind of flipped around because they robbed Peter to pay Paul to fix the defense. And then all of a sudden you're looking to the forward group and going, no, I don't really like this forward group.

To make a long story short, a lot of things went against the connects this season, some of them beyond their control. Some of them not. They aren't officially done yet, but I don't think it's too early to talk about what they're going to do this off season. And when we've already got some texts into the Dunbar lumber text inbox and Scott and

Surrey asked what changes do you realistically think the connects will do this off season? So a lot of you are already into off season mode and I get it. There's still eight regular season games left, but man, St. Louis, I don't know if they're going to lose again. Minnesota probably had too much of a cushion to catch. And by the way, there's still Calgary in there anyway. Uh, if you've got any questions or comments, text in on the Dunbar Lumber text line.

Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and run a Warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. To Scott and Suri, what changes do you realistically think the Canucks will do this off season? Realistically, I think there's a lot of changes that they could do. They could change coaches if they don't come to it together on an extension for Rick Taukett.

Although, and we talk about this, there is realistically a chance they force them back on that option, according to what Thomas Drance has reported. They could trade Elias Pettersson. Is that something that appeals to you or is that something that scares you? They could trade their first round pick.

They could trade one of Leckermackie, Willander, DPT, maybe plus the first round pick if they want to meaningfully address the center position, you want to bring in a 25 year old center who can maybe be a 2C or even a future 1C, ain't going to be cheap. Nope. What are you going to give up to it?

What are you going to get up to get it? One thing I'm pretty sure they won't do, tank, rebuild. There's zero chance of that. They're not going to do that. So you got to give to get in the NHL. Probably won't trade Quinn Hughes either. Probably not. Probably not.

Probably not Andy. You never know. Probably not. Probably not going to trade Quinn Hughes. You never know. Probably not. Probably not. But I think there are lots of options on the table as there should be after this season. Yeah. The autopsy this year is going to be one of the more interesting ones in recent memory because there's either going to be the slicing and dicing.

And when you're all done with it saying, well, a lot of stuff conspired against us this season that we can't envision happening next year. They need to find some sort of happy medium. I think we talked about this last week a couple times between icing a team that can achieve when everything goes right and then icing a team that doesn't achieve when a lot of things go wrong. There needs to be more of a contingency plan in place. The center position, I mean, it seems glaringly obvious that they're gonna have to give to get

to try and get a center into place. Like they're gonna have to probably part with one of their young prize prospects in order to get a guy back that's going to be able to do the thing that we're talking about, which is compete immediately and not rebuild and not reload and not tank and try and draft the young guy that you can build through the ranks.

They're going to try and go out and they're going to try and based on this management group's history, make another big splash in the trade market, which is something that they've done throughout their time in Vancouver. They've made a lot of moves to address pieces, but as you've pointed out, a lot of that addressing has been the old Rob Peter to pay

Paul or vice versa kind of deal. Yeah, well, I mean that's kind of the only way you can do it at times. Well, and now, especially if you don't have- Paul and Peter, one of them would be the prospect group now. You're robbing the prospect group. You're robbing the future to pay for the present. That's what it's going to be next. Yeah. Danny in Brookswood, Texas, boys, this mostly just makes me even more frustrated that we didn't trade away assets at the trade deadline. Yeah. I mean, even if you weren't impressed with the return that you're going to get for Brock

Besser or Pew Souter, I mean, you kept those guys and they did score some goals down the stretch. Besser had a few really good games. Pew Souter has been unbelievable. Even just to watch him do this is kind of cool. But now, are's kind of cool. You know, are you going to bring those guys back? I don't know.

I hope they bring suitor back. Well, they might have to bring suitor back. I mean, down the middle is, uh, is a big time issue. Uh, I guess it depends what they're going to do with Elias Pettersson. I tend to think they're going to keep Elias Pettersson, but I have time for any conversations about them moving on from him.

And if they do, maybe they bring back Suter, at least as a stop gap for a little while. I mean, the fact of the matter is, I don't even think this is a hot take. I think, you know, I'm not saying that Pugh Suter is a better hockey player than Elias Pettersson, but he has been this season. It's not a hot take.

He had that horn an ender ready. He's been a better hockey player than Elias Pettersson has been this season. And that is good for Pugh Suter, an absolute indictment for Elias Pettersson. You know Pettersson's minus 10 this year? Yeah. Here we go with the plus minuses again. And he's surprised. Oh, Pettersson's minus 24. Every time I look at it, I'm like, I don't even know how you got

to minus 24 on this team, but he's minus 24. Anyway, the plus minus talker aside. So for me, that's like the number one thing. Once the regular season gets done, obviously Rick Tocket, what they're going to do with him is a big decision. And I'm pretty sure for Rick Tocket, if you're talking about the decision that he's going to do with him is a big decision. But, and I'm pretty sure for Rick Tauket, if you're talking about the decision that he's going to make. And he said this on our program, so this isn't me saying anything that's new or me just making it up. They're going to have to have a big sit down with

Elias Pedersen and as Tauket put it, like dive into this. Like, Hey dude, are you in or out? Yep. And I know you've said you want to stay here, right? And I know you signed, but what are we going to get out of you, for real? I think Freach called it a come to Jesus moment. And just ask him, hey man, what do you

think went wrong this year? And how are we going to fix this? Because this isn't doable again. Well, I mean, I- For me, he's the number one reason why the Canucks are in this situation right now. Not in the playoffs? Yes.

Hmm, I'd push back on that. Okay, push back then. Well, I would say- He's the number one center that played like, at best, a 3C. Right, but you can withstand, I mean, it would be the equivalent of a player being, you can withstand one guy not going,

and not having Hughes for 14 games this year. I'm not saying he's the only reason, I'm not saying he's the only reason, I'm saying he's the number one reason. I would say that the health of this team is the number one reason that they're not in the playoffs this year. They were not designed to withstand Hughes missing 14 games,

Frohnick missing two months, Demko missing, God, like three quarters of the season. They weren't, this is a management issue as well. It's like there are some teams that are built to withstand injuries. This is the National Hockey League, injuries happen all the time. A lot of people make contingency plans for them,

but this team was not built in a lot of ways to like color outside the lines and paint outside the margins. Like if they kept everything nice and tight, everyone stayed healthy, everyone listened to the coach. There were no riffs. It would have been a little less. You just said a riff.

I say the number one reason is the locker room strife. That's my number one reason for failure. You know what? You're allowed to present that locker room, strive my core of this team apart. And that was the, that was the start of a lot of injuries right now, including to alias Pedersen. I thought they just played pretty well on this road trip. You said they're not designed to be like, I thought the young guys played really well on this road trip.

They got their entire complement of blue liners. They got Demko back. It's a big difference. Yeah, Demko was a big reason. I'll grant you that. We'll get into the Lankton thing later. I think we can all, whether there's a number one reason or not, there's a lot of reasons.

Yeah. Right? Yeah, yeah. But for me, and you know me, like I've been picking Bon Pedersen for a year and I've been right to do it. And they got to figure out what happened. And I've been right to do it. And I've been right to do it.

I mean, well, no, no, no, but like how many people- I bullied him right into submission. Okay. And it was a good bully. My mother took my car keys away for talking to a woman. She was right to do it. How many people last year, we're going all the way back to last season here. We're saying he's gone. Don't worry.

He'll turn around. He'll turn it around. It's just a little slump. Players have slumps. He'll turn around. He'll turn around. And he hasn't fully turned it around. A little bit better. A little bit. But yeah, but like he'll turn around. And he hasn't fully turned it around. A little bit. A little bit better.

A little bit. But yeah, but like he did a 180. He's gone back like 40 degrees or something like that. Right? He's not pointed in the right direction quite yet, but he's just not pointed in reverse. Well, everyone thought when they traded Miller, be like, this is it.

He's going to be back, baby. Everyone thought last season like, oh, it's the playoffs. Oh, once he got his contract done. Right? Like, and, and so what I'm saying is the Canucks need to figure out what's going on with him. That's, that's for me. See, I'm already on that.

Cause if I'm talking, if I'm talking, I'm like, I don't want to come back if we're going to do this again. I cannot do this again. And if my number one center isn't going to be a number one center, is you're not going to play up to his contract, then I don't want to do this. I don't want to go somewhere else. That's why I mean, I've already, is he not gonna play up to his contract, then I don't wanna do this. I wanna go somewhere else. That's why, I mean, I've been one step ahead of you on, like when you're talking about,

they're gonna have a real heart to heart and a sit down and they're gonna try and get the answers. My response to that would be like, you already have your answer. Like the last 12 to 16 months is your answer. I would find it shocking that anything either side could say or promise or swear in a stack of Bibles by is worth the words and nothing else.

Like there's actions, there's actionable moments, which is the value that you take from them. And then there's words, which are often empty. Like I don't think there's any promises, there's any like, we're gonna all find a way to get this thing back on track. I think at a certain point, and I think they've already reached it, that you just have to move on and part ways.

And it doesn't have to be this awful, ugly, messy divorce. Yes, it does. It doesn't have to be. Well. Doesn't have to be. It does. IMAAC wrote in his column, so this isn't just me

picking on him, but he said, overall, the last four games, two one and one, 15 goals scored, were an interesting test case for life without Elias Pedersen, whose absence could become permanent if Canuck management decides after the season that the key to resetting this team and its leadership is trading Pedersen before the no move clause on his 92.8 million dollar US

contract, which activates on July 1st. It's all right there in plain view. Yeah. You know? I think the leadership thing is also something that you have to consider with Peterson, right? He wears an A. It's very unlikely you're going to strip them

of that A and keep them. So, I don't know. It just must be, it must be for, for the team that's supposed to follow the leaders, right? If you've got a player that is getting paid that much money and is wearing an A and is clearly not playing up to his potential and there are, there is talk of him not coming into the season prepared.

And, you know, it took until like March until Rick Taukett was like, wow, we're, see, doing some things, right? Like, what does that do to the group? You know, what is, how encouraging is that to the group? You know, what is that? How encouraging is that to the group? If you're trying to build a culture, how hard is it if your number one center is not all in and you know, you the listener can say, well, it's not important, but I guarantee you that the management and the coaching staff says it's really important and they will within three, two, one, bring up Sidney Crosby. Yeah.

And that's the most obvious one, especially with this group that they're always going to lean on. Again, it seems like between what IMAX written there and what everyone said, and the evidence that's in front of you that a parting of ways probably makes the most sense. As far as I'm concerned, now this is one man's opinion. I don't think they're gonna do it. I don't think they're gonna do it though. I think they're gonna gamble.

Well, if they're gonna gamble, they're gonna lose. Because there's been too much, there's too much baggage, there's too much collateral damage, there's too much, I think there's been too much under the bridge that you just can't say we're gonna clean it all up. I don't think you can get a fresh start and a fresh slate here if you wanna keep all the other component parts around.

I don't think if you wanna keep. Who's gonna trade for them? And what are the Canucks gonna get? They'll probably take another loss on a trade. Well, what does that look like? I don't know. That's a great question. What's he worth?

I don't know, I have no idea. At some points, like I'm watching him play, I'm like, I'd rather have the cap space, to be honest with you. Well, there's that too. There is that too. I mean, we're getting way far down the road here because the management group is gonna have to do this autopsy

and they might ultimately decide that trying it and running it back is the better, and there's really only two options. I mean, we've discussed this. It's either you move them before July 1, where you've got control of the process, or you say, all right, let's run it back another year and

let's see what happens. I would be shocked if given how tumultuous and how dysfunctional this year has been, that there's a huge appetite to run it back in a similar fashion. I just, uh, I mean, I listen, if the Canucks, if the Canucks decide to keep Pedersen, I'm sure I'll be able to talk my way into being like, oh, maybe he'll have a great off season.

And we've seen him at a high level before, but you know, if it's game one of next season and the Canucks have decided to keep him and then we see his skating doesn't look good. He's got no juice as Drantz puts it. He's not moving his feet. The feeling that I'm going to have is just like, Talk is growing out of here. It's about fully grayed. Slick back gray hair for talking.

Then you realize. Chain smoking on the bench. You realize it's like seven more years of this Which and it's just a massive Handicap to the team too right like it's just like your number one center making all this cap space And it's and it's like I I will not be well if that is the situation But you know if you're management. More so than you already are. No, I'm not well right now.

But, but if you're management, here's the thing, right? Like I have to stay as a fan of the Canucks. If you're management, sometimes you get in these situations where you're like, well, I'm going to gamble. Cause I know that if I trade away Pedersen right now, you know, my chance of getting a number one center back in this deal are like slim and none. I'm not going to win a cup here.

You almost have to acknowledge that and I'm probably going to lose Quinn Hughes. So for me personally, this is a moral hazard thing. I'm going to keep Pedersen and I'm going to gamble. And I know that if Pedersen comes back and isn't good and the team isn't good, I'm probably just going to get fired, right? But like, I might as well take the gamble.

But the rest of us, we're in it for the long term as in our lives, right? So it's an interesting decision to make. I actually think philosophically speaking, the management could go in the exact opposite direction is that especially with Rutherford at the helm, a guy that has traded his way out of problems before will be able to find a way to do it once again. Maybe not necessarily in practice, but in theory I would not be surprised if there's not a situation that they don't think that they can fix

by working their way with the trades and working their way out of it. Because that's how a lot of the management groups are built mentally in terms of their approach. It's not just like well we're gonna just gonna, you know, keep it status quo and see if it turns itself around. It's we're going to try and change this thing and fix this thing. Well, what about ownership as well, right? Ownership blabbers. Big saying this.

Ticket prices are going up a bit next year, guys. We need to put together an entertaining hockey team. We need to make a reason for people to be like, okay, it's more expensive now, but this team is worth supporting. It's worth coming out to see them. I have a reason for people to be like, okay, it's more expensive now, but this team is worth supporting It's worth coming out to see them. I have a question for you guys. You know my answer What team was more enjoyable to watch the one with Pettersson or the one the last few few games without him? Well, it was last few games. I would say yeah, they played better for here's the thing the crazy part is it and you're a Massapede fan. I like oh, I like like a lot yeah, and I still think he will

Regain most if not all of his form. Why do you think that I just cuz he's so good I mean, I just I know what it is is I just refuse to believe a guy can lose that much talent He's too talented to just never find it again now the pessimist in me Also known as the normal Canucks fan of me realizes. There's also a good chance He doesn't regain his form until he's on another team. I could see that 100% being the case, is like he gets traded and then boom, it's Petey again. It's like, oh great, of course, that's how it has to happen. It is.

But I refuse to believe it'll be gone forever. It is pretty crazy that in a, not necessarily season defining, but in a road trip where your season was on the line and the team goes, two, and two, very average across the board. There were more good vibes from that two, two, and two road trip than I think there had been from the previous, what, 65, 66 games. Oh, scored goals. Yeah, like that's the thing.

Part of it was probably the underdog status, right? Like they were just missing so much talent, yet they found a way to pull together and win a bunch of games. But as he points out, man, they found a way. They played super well. It's not like they were hanging on and just relying on the goal turning. No, they played really well. They found a way to pull together and win a bunch of games. But as he played well, man, they found a way. They played super well. It's not like they were hanging on and just relying on the goal turning.

No, they played really well. They found a way to score goals. Outside of Lankton blowing up in two games, like Demko looked really good in the games that he played. Again, and that was a six game road trip where they went two, two, and two. They had two wins in six games. It wasn't like they lit the world on fire.

But that kind of illustrates how very, very tumultuous and erratic the previous 60 plus games were because they just never showed those kind of characteristics over a regular stream of games. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Our next guest is the head coach of the hottest team in the American Hockey League, nine straight victories

for the Abbotsford Canucks. Joining us now, Manny Melhotre here on the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning Manny, how are you? Doing well guys, how you guys doing? Good, you guys ever gonna lose a game? We're not focused on that right now. Again, this is a pretty impressive run

that you guys have been on. We were talking about this prior to the show, not just because of the nine consecutive victories but everyone knows at the American League level you have you know a fluctuating roster and you have a lot of guys that were with you earlier in the season now up with the parent club but you guys have found a way to do it. What's been the secret sauce here this you guys nine straight victories including the 5-1 win over the Barracuda on Saturday? Well it's a combination of a number of things I think

this time of the season, the guys have a really good understanding of the systems that we want to play, how they're supposed to look and how they're supposed to be executed. But more importantly, I think that the guys have really taken ownership of what they want their team to look like in terms of their energy and the way they compete on a nightly basis. There's less and less coaching by myself and the rest of the staff. It's more of them policing themselves and pushing

each other to want to be better. And when there are mistakes being made, they're the ones that are correcting it and making sure it doesn't happen again. When it comes to the system, how much conversation do you have on a regular basis with Rick Tauket and the rest of the coaching staff in Vancouver? are correcting it and making sure it doesn't happen again. When it comes to the system, how much conversation do you have on a regular basis with Rick Tauke and the rest of the coaching staff in Vancouver?

Um, not a, not a great deal. Uh, obviously with the schedule that they have there, there every other day basically, and there's not a whole lot of time for that. Um, there are the odd text messages here and there. Um, I know that obviously with our D situation, There are the odd text messages here and there. I know that obviously with our D situation, Adam Foote and Jordan Smith will shoot the odd text just to get an update on guys or just to get an understanding.

But that's the one thing with talk early in the year that, or I should say last summer, was that he let me know that he wanted it to be kind of an 80-20 split in terms of 80% of our system should look exactly like theirs and he gave me the opportunity to run 20% of it the way I wanted to which was great for me as a first-time head coach and giving me the opportunity to kind of develop certain areas of the game that I wanted to work on. But it's been a good, even the coaches summit that we had at the beginning of the year, I learned a lot of how they do things in Vancouver, certain trigger words, certain tactical stuff that they

want to do. So it was helpful in terms of us setting up the way we wanted to play here. I'm certainly not asking you to share your playbook or anything, but when you talk about trigger words, like what are some of the things that you find yourself harping on a lot and really trying to instill in your team? I think the biggest thing for us is our commitment to defend and limiting other teams offensive ability.

I know everybody talks about that, but I really found our group has gravitated towards that and understand the basic benefits of not having to chase the game. We are a team that does well when we play on our front foot and we're playing with a lead. So to not have to score our way back into a game or have to outscore you to make it a contest is kind of basic ground roots understanding for us that when you defend hard and you don't have to spend a lot of time in your zone, um, that, that

obviously means you're, you're spending time on the fun half of the ice. And, and that's essentially where most players want to play is in the offensive zone. Um, when teaching these guys, is it more like teaching them techniques to how to defend better or is it convincing them to be, you know, willing to defend because defending

isn't easy. It takes effort. Sometimes it takes sacrifice, but it also takes knowledge. Yeah, I think it's a bit of both. It's an understanding of philosophies and why you want to do certain things and why you want pucks to go to certain areas. But then also the technique aspect of it of leading, you know, stick on puck, those things, getting

body position, how to protect pucks. So it's definitely a combination of the two things. But again, I'll come back to it's the buy-in of the players that they are willing to do these things. As you said, it's hard to defend and it's hard to do it well regularly, but their commitment to being physical and committing to stopping in spots and blocking shots and doing all those things that are hard has shown them, they've been rewarded for those types of things and they want to keep those types of things going.

Yeah. I mean, as part of the sell job for you as a coach and one of the things that you can use is like, Hey guys, like the big club is watching for this stuff and goals are and points is obviously going to be important. But they're also watching at the micro level for you to do these things.

Yeah. And obviously with the number of guys that we've had go up this year, there's a very strong understanding that there are eyes on them at all times and to your point that has been the messaging for them that we're not just looking at the stat line we're not looking at goals and assists obviously those things help but it's watching their game and the things that are transferable at the next level. The puck battles, being heavy on pucks, being on the right side of puck battles, getting cutoffs on guys who

can't forecheck, making strong plays off of the wall. Those are things that we stress on a daily basis that regardless of what team you're on, what level you're at, those are the things that make you a good pro and those are the things that make you a good pro. And those are the things that ultimately the connector are looking out of our young guys to be able to do at the next level. Can you tell us a bit about Ty Mueller, because he seems to be getting a lot of positive analysis for him and maybe he's a guy that's doing the things that you're asking of him.

He very much is. Over the course of the season, he's grown tremendously. People always look at the stats, where is he in the lineup in terms of how many points he has. But for him, the way he gets his points, he's always doing it the right way. And one thing that surprised me with Newell's was his speed and his ability to use it and how well he protects pucks and hunts pucks and puts himself in good situations. And then from there, he's intelligent with the puck.

Once he's earned it back or once he's won a race for the puck, he knows he doesn't just want to dump pucks and chip and chase and cycle all the time. He has the wherewithal and the poise to find a stick, to find a trailer, to find somebody on the back door. But his hockey IQ has helped him get there. Obviously, his physical attributes, as I mentioned, the skating, his ability to protect helped him get there. Obviously his physical attributes, as I mentioned, the skating,

his ability to protect pucks is good, but he thinks the game really well and our confidence in him has grown with that. He's in all situations and he's done a good job of taking advantage of those situations. We're speaking to Abbotsford Connects head coach Manny Malhotra here on the Halfordord and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Manny, I know you said that you look beyond the stats and not look at just the numbers,

but it's hard not to look at the numbers that Max Sassen has put up lately. Basically a point of game guy over the nine game winning streak. What has his game been like? How positive has his game been since his return from the Connex and especially over this nine game win streak. Um, Max again is a guy that, that uses his skill set to his advantage, his ability to get us up the ice, um, is what has kind of driven the line that he's been on, um, for the most part he was with, uh, Baynesian Carly or Baynesian Nealer, um, so just his ability to get us up the ice and

get into the offensive zone. And then again, his hockey IQ and his skill to be able to make plays of tight situations. Finding Baynes, finding Carly, finding, you know, seems to find a weak side D have been really good. But again, he's he's not cheating to get to the offense and you mentioned his his point of game production uh for us it's more his ability to play in all situations he was out on the penalty kill taking some key face-offs um especially when rats left but he's uh he knows what is expected of him and he's taken a hold and taken ownership of his game and doing the things that we ask him to. And again, getting noticed being successful here is what has got him called up again when

he needed him. Is there anyone else you want to shout out on your team right now? I know there's a bunch of guys on the Canucks right now that we want to talk about, but anyone else that's really deserved some credit? I'm really happy with all of our guys really. And one thing that kind of gets overlooked at this level is leadership. And Chase Waters has done an outstanding job of doing everything we've asked of him. And

with a smile on his face, being the hardest working guy on the ice in practice. So his leadership by example for us has really driven the bus. We've been able to put him up in the lineup. He plays down on our fourth line. Regardless of where he plays, we get the same game out of him. So that's a credit to him and his leadership capabilities. But just everybody that's come into our lineup has contributed something down the stretch here. Danila Kulmovich, again, obviously everybody goes right to the goals that he's been producing this year, but his growth as a player over the season has been much better, been much more reliable in those puck battle situations.

So it's been interesting for me as, as a coach to watch these guys evolve and grow over the course of whatever it's been six, seven months now. It's a, it's a great feeling to see them, uh, grow their game and become better players. Uh, Manny, can you tell us a bit about Elias Pedersen, the defenseman? Uh, what's he, what's his personality like? Because, uh, as a fan just watching on TV or at the rink, he seems very confident in a good way for a guy that just turned 21 years old. Yeah, you hit it on the head right there. When he came in at the beginning of the year,

obviously you never know what you're going gonna get from a 20 year old. And you would hope and you'd want them to feel comfortable right away. And he absolutely did that. His confidence in his game, number one, and more so his confidence in knowing who he needs to be to get to the next level. It hasn't wavered from day one, which is good to see even when he was getting the accolades

and getting the attention. He never tried to change his game to become that offensive minded defenseman, lead you up in the rush, quarterback of power play type mentality. He knows he's big, he moves really well, he can close down plays, he shuts down space, he needs to be physical, and he's done those things over and over and over again over the course of the year for us in Abbotsford,

and now that's what's gotten him noticed, that's what brought him back or brought him up to Vancouver. And I think that for a 21 or a 20 year old or a 21 now year old to have the wherewithal to stay the course and play your game is a credit to his maturity. Is it just, what does he need to work on now? Is it just the details or is there bigger picture stuff? Well, as you mentioned, he's 21 years old.

The evolution of his game is to do it better and do it harder and do it faster to become more of an everyday mainstay at the NHL level. So to say he's 21 and he's a finished product would put him at a very large disadvantage. He's continuously going to be a work in progress, but it's that mindset of getting better with every aspect of your game. The puck touches need to be cleaner. He's going to get bigger. he's going to get faster, he's going to get stronger to be able to continue to apply those things in his game are kind of like the next step in his evolution. A lot of people have been very impressed with

Adu Ratu's play with the Canucks. What has he been working on this season with you or what had he been working on with you this season and what has allowed him to play so effectively for the Canucks last few games? His main focus in talking with him is his skating. He wants to get quicker. He wants to get faster.

And again, the messaging to him has just been be intelligent with the puck, be on the right side of puck battles, and just make simple plays. I think for forwards especially, always wanting to be able to produce offensively and wanting to show that you can contribute on the offensive side of things tends to take away from your game on the defensive side of things and more so the detail aspect of your game. So in the conversations I've had with him, his own mindset and his own focus has been on wanting to do the right things. And it's a very broad term and it sounds very basic,

but especially at our level, you know, we give the guys the freedom to make the play when it's there, but more so the intelligence to know when, quote unquote, the play, the time for the play to be made is, or is the time just to chip a puck and get it to the bottom or just chip a puck out of your zone and

alleviate the danger. And he's done a better job of that this year for, in the last little while of making the right decision at the right time. Uh, Jonathan Lekermacky, he's, he's going to be the youngest player that we talk about today and he is still 20 years old, doesn't turn 21 until the summer. Definitely not the biggest guy, but has an unbelievable shot,

has a little bit of swagger to his game, has looked comfortable on an NHL power play. You've been around the game for so long and you know how players develop not only mentally and on the ice, but also physically. How much stronger does Lekker-Mackie need to get? And are you confident that he can get to that place? Well, if you're talking about physical size and strength, that's one thing. But when you talk about functional strength on the ice,

that's a different story. And for me, that functional strength is a learned behavior. And the more you're in contact with bigger, faster, stronger defensemen, once you're playing against older guys that have an understanding of how heavy you need to be on your stick and how hard it is in a puck battle. And just using body position, you know, it's not always about overpowering somebody and being stronger. It's he has the intelligence to know how to shield the puck or how to put himself in a, in a, in a better situation to create angles where he's not going to put himself in a bad spot.

So that's for him. I think that would be more of his focus is that functional strength on the ice and you know, who better to kind of teach him those type of things than Hank and Danny Sadeem. Yeah. They were never the biggest guys on the ice, but try to take a puck from them, you're going to have a pretty hard task in front of you. Were those guys the masters at body position? Because when I think about the Sedin's, you say

they're not the biggest guys, but I would say not the fastest skaters, not the greatest shots either. And yet they just, they had an ability to control the puck and part of it was them reading off each other, but another part of it, they always just, the, the guy trying to get them was always on their backside and you know, like, and they just never exposed the puck that much.

And that, that's a perfect way to put it. It's, it's how to protect it, how to keep it in your own space and not exploit it and make it, you know, expose it to defense. So yeah, those two guys for me, when you think about puck battles and puck protection, it's there, they had an uncanny ability that once it got into their possession, it got into their space. Then you could just kind of hope to contain them in a space and not let that puck come out of there. But obviously they, they made a career of making those small area plays to find one another, making those little slip plays.

Um, and again, because they, they weren't the strongest, they weren't going to overpower you, they out-s strongest, they weren't going to overpower you. They out-thought you on a nightly basis. And it was, and it was obviously incredible to watch. So for, for lucky to have that at his disposal and to be able to bounce ideas off them and learn from them is, is going to be very beneficial.

Um, who, I mean, you mentioned Lekar Maki working with the Sidines. Who else has really benefited from working with those guys? Um, I would say anybody that comes in contact with them. They, they are, the one thing I will say about them in this, in their player development role, um, is obviously their, their hockey IQ and their

knowledge of the game and, and is vast and impressive, but it's not just, hey, give me the power play guys and we're gonna talk power play. But give me your skill guys and we'll talk about finding scenes and creating angle. They will work with every guy in our lineup. The Chase Waters, they're a fourth line, they'll work with Ty Glover, Ty Mueller.

They work with guys in their own game to make them sharper and better and adapt certain skills to help you in your game. It's not necessarily, hey, I'm going to show you how to sauce it over three sticks and find somebody on the back door that they understand exactly who they're working with and they help you in your game, which is impressive to watch. Manny, I just wanted to finish with a different vein of conversation here. Not necessarily a young guy that's making his way up to the NHL level, but a veteran guy that you guys signed not too long ago in JuJarcaira. Obviously everyone knows the local connection and everything, but is there a correlation between you guys going on this extended win streak and the fact that he's joined the team, been in the lineup, and been very productive offensively? What's he brought to the table for you guys?

Well, he's obviously having played at the NHL level when he has experience, he has knowledge, so he plays the game really well. So he's been obviously a very welcome addition to our group and just that size and that ability to get up and down the ice and put them with a number of different wingers and center men and he's adapted and done a good job.

So, you know, being on the line with Blazer, Sammy Blay, they do a really good job of controlling play. They're big, strong, heavy guys that can control play down low. And again, very welcome contribution to our lineup, but he's been seamless in that transition. He's adopted the mindset of our group and came in and wanted to work hard and be a part of it. So he's, yeah, he's done a great job. It's been a very welcome addition to our group.

Well, Manny, with that, we'll let you go. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this this morning, we really appreciate it. Keep this win streak going. It's been pretty impressive so far, and let's try and do this again as we get closer to the playoffs. Sounds good, have a great day, guys.

Yeah, you too, thanks. That's Manny Malhotra, head coach of the Abbotsford Canucks here on the Halford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Nine straight wins for the Abbotsford Canucks. We got some playoff hockey in the lower mainland. It's just going to be with the Abbotsford Canucks. He's a really well-spoken guy and really

thoughtful. And, you know, he's done a pretty good job this year. He's done a great job. I know. Not only is the team winning, um, they're also developing guys. A guy I actually didn't get a chance to ask him about because we ran out of time was Linus Carlson. Carlson is a threatening to become my next like,

Hey, not enough people talk about this guy, but I think he's quite good. Like I've, I have like, you know, like a Tyler Mott for a bit goes all the way back to Yannick Hansen. I don't know if Carlson's going to get there, but I just like the way, every time he's out there, I like the ways he plays.

He plays a pretty heavy game too. I was surprised that he wasn't the go-to in most situations when they needed a recall because the one, the litmus test for him, from what I saw was last year in the playoffs when they needed a guy to go in, remember Carlson got the tap. And I remember thinking like, Hmm, it's interesting that for all the other guys you

could throw in, you went with him. And I think it's because he does play a sort of safe, steady game. He's a big body guy. I like him more than Baines. I like him more than a few guys that have come up, but I understand what they're trying to do. I do too.

There's different, there's different end games with different recalls, but, uh, for him, I do wonder if he doesn't deserve maybe more of a look at this level because I think that there's the consistency that he has right now should be to, it's an attribute. It should be in a positive for him. You know, it should be one of those things

where it's like, yeah, he's a guy we can count on to do certain things in certain situations. Maybe he'll get a longer look next season, who knows? Well, they gave him, correct me if I'm wrong here. They gave him an extension, didn't they? Yes. Okay. So he's signed for one more year and I think he

got one of those one way deals too. He's probably in their plans going forward. I guess it's just a question of how much better can he get? He's 24. A lot of those guys we were talking about with Manny were 21 or 20 like like Lekaromaki and DPD. So. He's still only got like less than 20 games at

the NHL level, right? Like it has, it's not a big sample size. It's not a big body of work. Yeah. It's just, it's just a matter of, you know, can you raise your level? And I guess the same would go for Nils Amann as well. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.