Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 4/15/25

Episode Date: April 15, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk last night's OT Canucks win over the Sharks with radio commentator Brendan Batchelor, plus the boys tell us what they learned. 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 to 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- You're listening to Halford and Brough. Hughes high slot for Fesser, one timer, missed the net, rebound, side of the goal, Giyurtiev stopped it with the press, scores! Hughes had the puck most of all the time, that helps. Maybe that's the strategy to actually just give him the puck and we all watch them. To be honest, I wasn't too nervous. Like, you know, playing hockey for a while. It's good they're getting a taste.

Oh, sh. Good morning, Vancouver 601. On a Tuesday, happy Tuesday, everybody. It's Alfred and his bruh, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. And Ladi, good morning to you live from the Kintec studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning

A dog. Good morning to you and lady. Good morning to you as well Hello. Hello Halford and breath of the morning is brought to you by sands and associates BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews visit them online at sands-trustee.com We are in our one of the program our Our one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premieres metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle.

You get paid. Visit them at 1170 Palt Street. What's going on? We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Did you want to jump in early there? Was that it? Yeah. Oh, okay.

Is everything all right? Yeah. Okay. We have a big show ahead on it. I'm just so excited. A bit of an erratic start today though. We just want to get in there. I don't, Adog is-

Only one game left in the Connex regular season. Adog is hurt. There's some sort of, it's, I don't want to call it a medical emergency because that would grossly overstate both medical and emergency But a dog is just kind of shuttling back and forth between his chair Yeah, and the first day I think he just needs a band-aid I think that's what he needs so we'll try and get a dog the help he needs. We'll have an update later Yeah, we'll update you on the health of the dog

Hey, we will get him the finest vet the finest vet that we can find here the halferd and breft show We have the we have the resources to help them here. Right. Okay, let's focus, shall we? We've got a big show ahead on a Tuesday. Guest list today begins at 6.30. Greg Waszynski from ESPN is going to join us, our NHL insider. The final wild card spot in the Western Conference could finally be decided tonight as all three

of St. Louis, Minnesota Minnesota and Calgary are in action We'll look ahead to that with Greg. We can also ask about The Eastern conferences version of the Vancouver Canucks the New York Rangers whose tumultuous season is slowly coming to an end It has just been it's been a real slow death march for the New York Rangers a lot of drama there I do want to ask him about the Rangers because Rick Tauke it continues to be tied to that job Should it become available? I don't know. Maybe they'll keep Peter LaVille out around they won't we'll talk to Greg Wyshinski at 630 about all that 730 Jason gonna do a little NBA talk on the show today Adam Morris from the all-city NBA pod With former NBA or Tim Legler on the all-city network the NBA's play-in tournament begins tonight

Tim Legler on the All City Network. The NBA's play-in tournament begins tonight. There are two games tonight. It begins with Atlanta and Orlando. That's the 7-8 in the East. But I think everybody is a little bit more excited for the nightcap, which of course is Memphis, to take on Steph Curry and Jimmy Buckets and the Golden State Warriors. The winners of tonight's game become the seven seeds and play the number two seeds in their

respective places. Well, I think today would be a great opportunity to discuss whether the NHL should adopt the plan. So if anyone has any comments about that text into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650-650, we can easily have that conversation today. Since I don't think we need to go super in depth

on the Canucks-Sherricks game. Oh, I disagree, friend, because at eight o'clock Brendan Batchatchelor who called that game last night. Did you see my notes? I called it the Canucks beat Sharks in OT thriller. Mm-hmm Were you thrilled? I was thrilled. Were you sitting on the edge of your seat the whole time? I didn't even need the edge because I was already off it. That's how exciting it was. I was like is this That's how exciting it was. I was like, is this, swear, game, gonna go to a shootout? Are they gonna treat us to a shootout?

Is this gonna go to a shootout? Laddie was there, you enjoyed yourself. If it was going to a shootout, I was going to leave. I'll just put that out there. Batch will join us at eight o'clock. That was the penultimate game of the regular season for the Canucks. They still got one left at home

against the Vegas Golden Knights, so we'll talk to batch about what he saw maybe we'll look ahead to some other big stories like Rick talk its future coaching in Vancouver working in reverse on that guest list though eight o'clock it's batch 730 it's Adam Mares and it's 630 it's Greg Wyshinski that's what's happening on the program today Greg let's tell everybody what happened hey did you guys see the game last night Let's tell everybody 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 bc CSA dot ca Jake the breast scored a thrilling goal with 17.6 seconds left in overtime Vancouver Canucks beat the lowly and I mean lowly San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Monday night. That was San Jose's 10th consecutive loss During that 10-game road swing or losing streak that last night was actually a defensive stalwart by their standards.

They've they've given up, they've given up 48 goals over the 10 losses. They only gave up two last night. One of them was in overtime. So two one for the Vancouver Canucks over the sharks in the second to last game of the regular season. Yeah. It was zero, zero after the first and that was like a shock locking it down. It was a shock that connects had a four minute power play in that first period and the power play looked good.

Georgiev, I guess, decided to play after his last performance, I think was the one against Minnesota where he allowed eight goals. He was like, all right, I'm going to lock it down a little bit better tonight. The Canucks had plenty of chances. The power play looked good, but the whole thing you have to take into Into appreciation how bad San Jose is can I do the San Jose like you watch them play you're like?

Man, it looks fun to play for them because there's no expectations on this team And it'll be interesting to see how much that changes next season. But like I cannot discern what they're trying to do out there. Just have a good time. But they're just having a good time out there. Maybe keep the vibes high, although losing would dampen the vibes somewhat. Yeah, it doesn't seem to. It really... Actually, you know why it's a good point.

It doesn't seem to. Yeah. You know there's going to be this conversation about San Jose this off season and heading into next season. There's, it's going to be like, you know, uh, we, we, we've got a lot of young talent here, but we, you know, losing cannot be acceptable, uh, anymore and we can't get comfortable with losing

in it. And, you know, we have to hate losing and, and you know, you're going to have that conversation about San Jose and we'll see how it goes because like it's funny because we're going to talk about Chicago because they went into Montreal and actually beat Montreal last night and San Jose is worse than Chicago.

You know, but the vibes in Chicago are so low compared to San Jose. And the funny thing is, is that game was one nothing for the Sharks, like halfway through the third period. And I'm sitting there going like, I still think the Canucks are gonna win this game. Yeah. And it, you know, let's just throw it out there.

It had a very preseason feel Yeah in part because of the lineup did you do the roll call? Yesterday for the guys that were playing in this game like some of the names that were in this moment When you were in the in the suite watching the game last night I made a joke that I was actually not at a junior game for once whoever would said well Did you see the lineup that they posted you're still kind of close? I know Nikita told a pillow obviously made his NHL debut for the Connucks So do did Kirill Kudryatsev on the shark side of things such luminaries as Cam Lund one of my favorite players

Jimmy Schold Jimmy Schult Schold They didn't have a face for him on this on the jumbotron, but they found one about halfway through the game I don't know how they did that Daniella Gushchin, Luca Cagnoni, all of my favorites. Who is the local kid? Luca Cagnoni. Okay. He had about 20 family members in the crowd. Oh, that's awesome.

Yeah, that's cool. So was that his first NHL game? No, it's the sixth or seventh. Okay, but he was just recently called up. He didn't know he was gonna be playing in his hometown. It was him and Schulte that just got called up and got thrown into line. Like, listen how we were talking about this team Like oh good for him. That's great. I'm proud of you

I hope he had fun out there and Macklin sell the brainie Of course scores against the Canucks on a shot beauty night. What a shot for tola pillow, too You're like who scored the first goal on you. He's like Macklin sell the brainie the first overall pick you? And he's like, yeah, Macklin Sellebrini. The first overall pick of the day. He won't be getting a can of Bud Zero when Sellebrini was hired. Okay, so before we get into some of the audio

that we do wanna parse through, shout out to Tolopilo. He gets his first win in his first ever NHL game. Quinn Hughes went and picked up the puck form in a very nice gesture. Quinn Hughes, speaking of the captain, 409th career point, tying Alex Edler for the most by a defenseman in Canucks history. And finally, Jake DeBrusk. And we can jump right into the audio here,

set a career high in goals this year, 28 surpassing his previous high, which I think he did twice in Boston of 27. Uh, let's just jump right to the audio because after the game Rick Tuckett spoke about Jake DeBrusk scoring his 28th goal how many of them have come on the power play but Also adding in that there might be another level for Jake deBrusk to reach here is Rick talk it on deBrusk following last night's 2-1 win over the Sharks in OT at Rogers Arena the good thing for Jake I think a Lot of goals around the net if you look at his goals, I don't know, what's he got?

15 power play goals now. He's one of the top power play guys. He didn't play in Boston much power play. That's a positive. A lot of goals around the net. Now there's other parts of the game he has to get better at. So, you know, that that's for another conversation. But I am happy with his net front goals.

But, you know, there's another level for him to play without the puck and a little bit of pace, you know, but, but, it's something to build around. So, um, play without the puck and play with pace. And I think that's the play with pace thing is the big one for me, um, with De with De Bruyce because outside of his great hands around the net and we've seen him hop on rebounds, we've seen him tip a lot of pucks home.

He does have great hands around the net and that's awesome. Yep. You need that. Um, but here's the thing that a lot of people text in about, and I certainly don't disagree with. When else do you notice him? Hmm. It's fair.

Like, does he push the play? Does he push the play forward? Like, if you're going to compare Jake DeBrus to... What's another prominent? Like Garland. Garland, how much do you notice him during the game? You notice him a lot, right? Now, the difference between Jake DeBresk and Garland is like, Garland around the net isn't as good as Jake DeBresk, right? Like if you could combine those two players into one,

you'd have one, you'd have like a guy that pushes the pace and has great hands around the net. Gar-Bresk. net. Garbrusk. You garbrusk. The kids can call you garbrusk. Okay, I have thought about this and it's like, in a very weird way, and we've said this before, but I think Debrusk was maybe the most as advertised player

that I've ever experienced in my years of following the Vancouver Connects. When they pick up someone in free agency, you're like, what's he like as advertised player that I ever experienced in my years of following the Vancouver Connects when they pick up someone in free agency or like, what's he like as a player? And you'll ask his the reporters and maybe some teammates used to play with him in his previous locale and the scouting report, even aside from the streakiness, everything kind of fit. It's like he'll show you glimpses where you're like, wow, there's maybe more there. Then what you're getting out of them. But then when you look at the size of the contract

that he signed, the amount that he's deployed, his cap hit, he delivered on that contract. I don't think anyone, can anyone say that that was too expensive or too rich of a deal? It's got value right now. Yes, it's absolutely fine value for the money that you're paying him. However, no coach is gonna say that in the after round.

They're always gonna say they got another level to go to. But in this instance, I kind of get what you're saying. When you see the stuff in front of the net and you're like, that's great, he's got an ability to finish, he's got nice hands, he's got touch, can there be more? Because at times you do see more, just not with any regularity.

But here's the thing. He's 28 years old. They didn't have bad coaches in Boston. There's a reason sometimes he was in and out of the coach's dog house in Boston. This might be who he is. Oh, I think it's 100% who he is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I'm not gonna- I think they want him to be is. Oh, I think it's, right? I think it's 100% who he is. Yeah, yeah.

Like, I'm not gonna- I think I want him to be more. Yeah, I'm not gonna, I'm honestly just not gonna spend a whole lot of time thinking that there's so much more for Debrus to give. No, but I mean, we're talking about it because the coach said it. No, I know.

Yeah, no, no, no. But like if I- I'm more along the lines of what you're saying right now. It's like, he gave you 28 goals. Yeah. For 5.5 million. He played in almost every game. He was pretty durable.

He's a nice guy. He did all the walk-up interviews very well. Like he did pretty much, he ticked a lot of boxes for what you signed him to. But Bruce Cassidy can be, you know, I don't know, maybe a different approach, but Bruce Cassidy is a pretty tough coach. You know, it's not like, uh, it's not like he was

handling him with kid gloves. So maybe they have to find a different way to try and get Debrecht involved in the rest of the game. Yeah. But I, I, I'm just not optimistic about it. I think he can get more goals though, but so much is dependent on how his center plays and who his center is.

He has scored 28 goals with, let's just call it some inconsistency in the top six among the centers. Half his goals. Let's just call it that. Sure, half his goals were on the power play. Yeah, yeah. He had 28, 14 on the power play.

So if you wanna do that glass half full analysis of that, it's like, hey, he did find not necessarily a new level, but a new role as a power play specialist. Specialist is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, but he did score 14 times with a man advantage. Like I heard the boys on the post game show talking about, who were they comparing? Oh, Zach Hyman on the oilers.

And they were saying like, well, he came into Edmonton and he didn't light it up right away. You know, he had something like 27 goals his first season and then a few more the next. And then his third year there, he had 52 goals or whatever he had. Yep. And now he's come back to earth.

But no, no, no, but my whole point was like, oh yeah, who are his centers there? Are they good? Does he have talent down the middle? Table-setter if you will I mean I think Nebraska having 28 goals this year is terrific Considering what's happened down the middle and yeah like the the Hyman thing is hilarious because if you go back to last year He scored 70 goals between the regular season of the playoffs He scored 54 in the regular season of the playoffs. He scored 54 in the regular season

and 16 more in the playoffs. He was scoring with regularity at a clip that there was only a handful of players that were putting pucks in the net, right? And now this year, maybe a little bit more of a regression to the mean, but a lot of the 70 goals had to do with the fact that he had McDavid playing at this level

way up here as his center. Well, net front-wise, the Canucks might be covered because they got Jake DeBrusk and apparently a young Thomas Holmstrom. Okay, I can't believe the timing in the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket. Someone said, is DeBrusk the modern day Tim Kerr? And I'm like, that would be amazing

because apparently the Canucks have a fledgling Thomas Holmstrom. This is Rick Tocket yesterday discussing Linus Carlson, who scored the lone regulation goal for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. And Tocket, and I believe this was unprompted. I don't think they were. I just look it up. It's Tocket on Carlson in teams. I think this is Tuckett discussing the player,

not necessarily being asked for a comp, but talking about a guy that he sees glimpses of in Linus Carlson. Now, Thomas Holmstrom, for those that don't necessarily remember his style of play, probably the premier net front presence in the National Hockey League over a five or 10 year gap. We got the audio here. Here is Rick Tuckett talking about Linus Carlsen and his comparison to Thomas Holmstrom. Yeah you guys probably

know Thomas Holmstrom for Detroit Red Wings. It kind of reminds me he made a living like he was a hell of a player and he was probably one of the best net front guys in the league for his era. I mean he was one of the top guys. I think that's a goal for a guy like Carly. Can he be that wirey, just control that net front and get those type of goals? I think there's something there. He's got to get stronger and he's got another level of fitness, all those guys do and that's just part of the maturation.

But yeah, he's a guy that can, he should embrace that role because he can do it. I have to admit, I've been really impressed with Carlson. And when he was sent down a little while ago, I was like, why is he down? I thought he was great. You know? And I was like, is it a waiver wire thing? I need to bring in one of these guys that knows the rules. Why is he down there?

He looks pretty good. And then they brought up Baines for a bit. I'm like, Carlson's good. He's not, I wouldn't say he's a super thick guy, but he's strong. And he plays bigger than I expected when he was acquired by the Canucks from the Sharks. You know, there's a backstory there too,

cause I think a lot of people were like, oh, Leenoth Carlson, like who's the kid that they sent to Sam. Dolan. Dolan, right? Like everyone was upset about Jonathan Dallin and I was like oh, they're ruining him down in Utica Yeah, look how that one turned out. Yeah. Thank you Jim. Yeah, wasn't he like didn't go home? Yeah, he's wanted to go home Well, I think the comparison there

Sorry is that Holmstrom wasn't like Holmstrom's got this aura and reputation as being this net front presence It was like huge, but he wasn't he was he was wasn't. He was six feet tall, he was 200 pounds. He wasn't a massive physical presence. It wasn't like putting Chara in front of the goalie. He just found, I think using the phrase or the term wiry is a good one because it's more of a mindset. It's a mentality to be in for net front presence sometimes

and that's what Holmstrom had. Well, you gotta have a long reach sometimes too. Like you gotta be willing to get to pucks. You gotta be willing to take a ton of abuse. Yeah. That's kind of the big thing. Mm-hmm. You're going to get a lot of cross-jacks

into the small of your back. You're going to be on the ice a lot. It's a greasy, dirty job, but if guys can do it with their mentality and a physical makeup that lends themselves to it, you could be a very valuable NHL-er. Let's talk quickly about the Habs Chicago game, because someone texted in and said,

Brough, you are jinxing the Montreal Canadiens by getting on the bandwagon. I said, don't worry. I said, don't worry. I pre-jinxed Columbus, and Columbus is the only team that can catch Montreal for the final playoff spot. So I already took Columbus out because I got on their bandwagon. So don't worry, Montreal still gonna get in but man like Montreal's left the door open though, and that's probably not a great thing and in their last I want to say five games

They've been bad. Yeah, you know, they've gotten some results in some of those games, but you can't get out shot at home by Chicago well, you a game where you blow a two nothing lead, then that can't happen. And if Montreal doesn't pull it together, they're gonna be out of the playoffs real quick. So the Habs lost yesterday in case you missed it, 4-3 in the shootout to Chicago as Jason mentioned. They got out shot by the Blackhawks

and blew a two nothing lead and really wasted the energy and aura from Ivan demidoff's NHL debut in which offensively he was brilliant. A goal and an assist really brought the Bell Center faithful onto their feet with that energy fulfilling the promise that so many people had for him. Terrible back check on, I wanna say, it was the Nazar, is it Nazar or Nazar? I don't know how to pronounce it. But on the goal in regulation, it was a two on, it was sort of a two on one that kind of turned into a two on oh.

And the back check got spot shadowed because he would just sort of, Demidov would just sort of gliding back, not really getting back into the play at all. And they're like, well, he's got the Kovalev comp down pretty close. Like, you know, everyone, everyone thinks he's going to be the next Kovalev. He certainly got that part of his game like honed in. And then we're going to have to get the K.H.L. out of this kid.

Honestly, I mean, that is going to be part of it when you play that when you play in the K.H.L. all season long. And then you're thrown not just into the NHL, but into crunch time in the NHL, like the Habs, I'll be dead honest here, should be disappointed and a bit embarrassed that they haven't locked this thing up yet. They've got a very healthy margin on Columbus, and Columbus has been hanging on by a thread for days now,

and they continue to last night. Columbus is four points back, the Habs have one game left in the regular season against Carolina. All they need is a point. If they don't win that game against Carolina or don't get a point and let Columbus decide their own fate, that's a failing for the Habs. What'd you guys make at the end of that Habs?

The shootout? The shootout, did you see what happened? So, Nazar slash Nazar scored in the shootout on an empty little backhand move, right? And then the puck got so thoroughly lodged in the back of the net that nobody knew that it went in. Except him. Yeah, but including the referees and the officials.

Now, Freage kind of did a really quick blog breakdown of what happened. I guess someone jumped on the headset right away and tried to tell the on ice officials like that's a goal You know if you can't find the puck you should wait until you find it before you start letting Patrick line a shoe Which is what they did so it was mass chaos and confusion And they ended up allowing the goal after the line a shot which ruffled some feathers, but it was technically play had restarted Yeah, you're not supposed to go back and change. Yeah. Lining was like, I would have done something different.

Yeah. Totally changed my approach. I knew that was a goal. And then and then what was crazy was the shootout continued. And Suzuki had a brilliant move that somehow stayed out of the net. It plunked off the crossbar and then fell and it looked like it was going to bounce off solder blown and it didn't. So the Habs lose four, three in the shootout. And then, yes, still have not clinched that playoff spot.

Before we go to break real quick. So the Kings and Oilers matchup was already locked in for the playoffs yesterday. It was a very interesting dynamic going into their playoff series. Home ice advantage was still up for grabs and the Kings grabbed it in a very definitive way. Five, nothing beating up. Now keep this in mind.

What some were calling the oilers B team because the oilers were without wait for this Connor McDavid, Leon Dreisaitl, Matias at home, Trent Frederick, Zach Hyman of Anderkane, Troy Stetcher and Jake Wolman. That's like half the team that they didn't go to play LA with. They got beat five nothing. LA clinches second and home ice advantage. Well, they're not gonna have that come for the first round. Yeah, he's out the entire first round.

During the intermission of a game that got pretty nasty, including Darnell Nurse getting five in a game, they did an interview with Philip Deneau about what was going on with Edmonton. Here's what Deneau had to say. How did it get to the point where we are right now? What's going on out there? I think they just have their B squad and trying to hurt us. So that's pretty emotional message.

And I that's that's what I'm thinking. But yeah, they just had their B squad and they're trying to hurt us. So Dernal Nurse is part of the B squad. Yeah, he's like, I'm an A squad guy, acted like a B squad goon. Just see my contract, that's an A squad contract. So, and I think this was Speck that asked it, but I'm not 100% sure, but kudos to whoever

the Edmonton reporter was who decided to ask Corey Perry about what Philip Deneau had to say during the intermission. Here's Perry's response to Deneau's accusation that the Oilers dressed their B team and tried to injure the LA Kings. Don't we know that the intermission said that you guys were playing a B squad and trying to hurt them? What the f***?

Sorry, my language. What do you want us to do? Did you not look at what's happened over the last couple of weeks? What do you want us to do? We're not here to hurt anybody. That's... So why did all those guys sit? We're not here to hurt anybody. So why did all those guys sit? You want me to tell you? Yeah. Okay, Connor McDavid, rest. Okay.

Leon Dreisle, undisclosed. Matthias Ekholm, undisclosed. Frederick Ankle. Zach Hyman, undisclosed. Evander Kane, hip and knee. Troy Stetcher, undisclosed. Jake Wallman, undisclosed. Yeah, and a lot of undisclosed. And a lot of undisclosed injuries.

A lot of undisclosed injuries there in Edmonton. McDavid rest is interesting because the others have one game left and I think it's in San Jose. Why would he even go down there? Yeah, I imagine they'll do the exact same thing and not play any of these guys. And try and hurt the Sharks? Right, he's one point away from 100.

Who? McDavid. Yeah. He's at 99 points. Look, so the back half of that answer from Corey Perry was he was like, guys, we were just trying to get into the play. We just, our goal was to get into the playoffs. Like we just want to get into the playoffs.

Now I don't know if they've got enough left in the tank to do, I mean, they've got McDavid and Dreisaitl. So they've got that, but they look like a team that's limping into the playoffs. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. To the phone lines we go, the play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks.

Brendan Batchelor joins us now in the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Batch? Good morning, how's it going? Good, thanks for taking the time to do this today. We appreciate it. The phrase full circle was truly befitting yesterday because we started the year with games where you had to figure out who these guys were that were playing. And now we're ending the year with games where we're trying

to figure out exactly who was playing. How many new player profile cards did you have to run through yesterday to get through all the guys that were playing in that two one win for the Vancouver Canucks over the San Jose Sharks last night. Well, this is where that prep you do in the preseason comes in. Always pays off, buddy. So literally full circle, like it was copy paste

from young stars in some cases, for a guy like Karel Kudryabtsev, but yeah, for the Sharks there were a couple of guys that I had to figure out who they were going into the game, but that's the way it is at the end of the regular season when teams are playing games that don't matter in the standing. So it's part of the gig. And that's why I hold on to my prep from the preseason all the way

until the end of the year, because it could be useful. It wasn't like a massive body of work for Nikita Tolopilo and that. But he did stop 15 of the 16 shots that he faced. And I think most importantly, got a win in his NHL debut. What did you see from Tolopilo in that, but he did stop 15 of the 16 shots that he faced. And I think most importantly, got a win in his NHL debut. What did you see from Tolopilo last night? Yeah, I thought it was good. You know, they made a couple of big saves on the one shot that did beat him. Might be most goaltenders in the NHL when you give Macwood

Celebrete that much time and space for a free shot on the power play. And I thought what Rick Tauket said after the game was correct, that, you know, sometimes the games where you don't get a lot of work can be more difficult for a goaltender where, you know, he was standing there not having to make saves for a good stretch. I think it was seven or eight minutes into the first period

until the Sharks were credited with their first shot. So, you know, for him to come in to an NHL game and he sort of joked about it afterwards saying, you know, biggest difference was bigger rink, you know, for him to come in to an NHL game and he sort of joked about it afterwards saying, you know, biggest difference was bigger rink, more fans, but seemed to embrace the moment and did a good job to pick up his first NHL win. So that'll be a confidence booster for him going into the off season and back to Abbotsford

where I'm sure he'll hope to be part of a long playoff run. And at the end of the year, you're also talking about silver linings. And if you're, especially if you're missing the playoff, you're looking for, you know, something to draw positive from. And one of them was Jake DeBress scoring. So it's a career high 28 goals.

I think he did 27 twice in Boston. So 28 for him, 14 of them on the power play. I don't know if you heard the comments that Rick Taukett had after the game. We played them in the first hour today, but he praised the player for getting to that mark and noted that he had done well in the power play, but also said he felt that there was more there and maybe more to give.

What did you think now that we've had 81 games of Jake to brush the season, what did you think about Rick talk? It's remarks about what they can maybe try and squeeze out of them next year. Yeah, I think, I think the comments are fair. Obviously it's great that he hits a career high in goals, but I think Rick is right to point out that he did have more opportunity here. He played more on the power play than he had in Boston. And the fact that he leads the team in power play goals

is an indication of that. And in terms of some of the non-negotiables of Rick Taukett's game, so the 200-foot game, and maybe generating a little bit more off the rush, I think those are areas that Debrus can improve upon. And I think, you know, his game is kind of a microcosm of the team to a certain extent, where when he was good, he was really good. And he got on some, you know, really hot runs where he scored a number of goals in a short span. But there were long stretches where he was on the perimeter too much wasn't a big enough factor for a guy that, you

know, you expect to be one of your top offensive producers and ultimately did end up being, um, or is likely to be their leading goal scorer by the time they're done on Wednesday night. So, you know, I agree there's more to give. I think, you know, if he can round out a little bit more consistency in his game, then that would help him in terms of producing more effectively and helping this team win more games going forward. But that said, you know, this is the kind the kind of book that we got on Jake DeBrus coming in, that all the word out of Boston was that when he's on, he's on, but he's a streaky scorer. And I think that's what we saw from DeBrus this year, where he would go on these tremendous stretches where he scored every night and was filling the net. And then he would go

quiet for 15 or 20 games. And that seems to be the book on him. So, you know, consistency, I'm sure in terms of production and having an impact on the score sheet would be something that the organization would welcome from him if he can round that out going forward. What do you think about the possibility and maybe it's a likelihood that you're going to be calling Brock Bessers last game as a Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday when they play Vegas at home? Yeah, it's crazy to think that, you

know, it's as long ago as it was, what was it? 2017, when he broke into the league and had that memorable game in Minnesota, that this appears to be the end of the road. And, you know, it's clear that Besser is, is not eager to leave Vancouver, especially from some of the reporting from Elliot Friedman talking about how heartbroken he is. But to me, this, we hear about the disagreement in term

and you could understand why the Canucks might not wanna commit a max term deal to a player like Besser, who while he's a very capable goal scorer, doesn't fit the identity of what they want to be going forward. I think, uh, you know, Rick talk, it talks about wanting to be a straight ahead North South team, uh, you know, get in on the four check force turnovers and create offense that way. And Besser has always been a little bit more, you know, Mercurial than that, right? He's,

you know, it's, it's, it's his shot. It's getting to those soft areas. Um, you know, it's, it's creating offense that way rather than being a burner on the wing or really generating a ton off the rush. And that's what they want. And honestly, I think that's what they need as a team is to get faster on the wings. And when two of your, your top offensive guys that are going to play in your top six or Jake, Debrusk and Brock Besser, and both of them you wouldn't describe as having a ton of speed or being the, the kind of straight line players that they would like, then I think something has to give. And Debrusk is the new guy that they just signed to the long-term extension last

year. And you know, Besser's coming to the end of his time in Vancouver, it seems. So, you know, not that they can't find middle ground and you know Besser's coming to the end of his time in Vancouver it seems. So you know not that they can't find middle ground and you know if Besser wants to to stay badly enough maybe you know he he moves on term to make a deal happen to stay here but you know everything at the moment anyway seems to be pointing towards this player leaving Vancouver which is you know is sad to see because it's easy to forget when he came in how bright a light he was for this team in a really dark era where he was scoring goals and was their most exciting player. And in his first full season as a rookie was many nights the reason that fans were buying

tickets to come out to the rink and watch the team play. So obviously he's been a great Canuck and a great person to deal with from our perspective in the media. If he does move on from Vancouver, I wish him nothing but the best because he's been nothing but great to the people and to the city here in Vancouver. I really wonder about speed down the middle too, because if you think about the centers, Pugh Sutter who has had a terrific season, but people will always say not the fastest

guy out there, but a really smart player. Philip Heidel is a guy that can move, but you know, his health status is, let's say uncertain going forward with the concussion history. Pedersen's skating was, you know, everyone was pointing out that it wasn't the same and he didn't have the same jump in his step or the same burst or as Drance would put it, juice. And people-

Nitrous, yeah. People would disagree about why it wasn't there, but everyone did agree that it wasn't there. How do you think they address speed down the middle in the off season? Yeah, I think that'll certainly be a topic of conversation, but it's just one area of the middle of the ice that they need to address. Let's be honest, we have no idea who's going to play center for the Vancouver Canucks next year at this point. Pius Suter could be

back, or he might not be. Elias Pedersen could be back or he might not be. Philip Heidel could be healthy, or he might not be. I think the only thing we know for sure is that Teddy Blugr will be here, and maybe Atu Ratu. So you know, yes, speed would be nice down the middle, but they need to figure out just in general how to solidify the middle of the ice with players that you can rely on to reach the level that you expect of them and play on an every night basis and remain in the lineup. And so it's going to be a fascinating

off season in that regard because I don't know if there's any obvious way to solve this. It's not like there are a bevy of unrestricted free agent centermen that would make sense in that regard in terms of bringing speed and consistency down the middle. So they're gonna have to get creative. That may come via trade. It almost certainly will have to come via at least one trade, if not more, depending on what they do

with Pedersen's future and what Hedle's health outlook appears to be in the offseason. So yeah, I mean, you know, speed on the wings, I think is easier to address, just because the wing position in general is easier to address. But absolutely, they would want to be quicker down the middle as well. But, you know, more than anything, I think they just need to figure out what the middle of the ice looks like. And, you know, if they can make that work where they've got more speed and maybe a bit more youthful exuberance at the center ice position, I think that would help. But ultimately, that's really what they're going to be judged on this summer is what does the center ice position look like coming into next year? Because, you know, we pretty well know what the blue line is

going to look like. And Patrick Alveen has said that he's happy with the way they've constructed the back end and with the number of young options they've got now there with Elias Pettersson and Victor Mancini and even Kudryabchev getting his first game last night. And you know, we assume Tom V. Lander coming pretty quickly here, although there was some mixed reporting about that last night. It's going to be the center ice position that will be the most in focus this summer. And honestly, what they do at that position is going to dictate more than anything else, how much of a chance they have at getting back

to being a playoff team next year and trying to be a contender in the next couple of seasons moving forward because there are so many question marks there right now and they need to start figuring out the answers to those questions sooner rather than later. Does the fact they have Quinn Hughes under contract for the next two years and only the next two years kind of dictate their philosophy and all this in that they might have to trade some futures whether it's the first round draft pick of this year or maybe next year, or maybe one of their

top prospects in order to address that center position. I just, I kind of feel like, you know, in Vancouver, even though it hasn't always been great for the last, you know, 10, 15 years, this is an organization that went from Henrikh Sineen and Ryan Kessler down the middle fairly quickly to Elias Pettersson, JT Miller and Bo Horvat down the middle.

So there weren't ever many years where the connects were like, oh my God, what are we going to do down the middle? Like I think about teams like Minnesota and Montreal that have been looking for these elite centres for so, so long and how that's just like a constant topic of conversation in those markets. Are we at that point now in Vancouver? Yeah, ultimately what they do in the off season

will dictate that, but you're right. I've had to shift my thinking because we've been talking so long in this market about right shot defensemen. It's in the game. That was our white whale. Trade deadline. Yeah, I don't like in the game since the trade deadline, I could remember like

prepping for them facing Columbus and being like, Oh, Dante Fabro, that's an interesting piece. They could try and acquire him in the summer and then being like, wait, actually they don't need that anymore. We need to stop thinking about that. And we need to start looking at sentiment that they could acquire instead. Yeah. Well, until they trade Willander, then we might have to start thinking about it again.

Yeah. Well, exactly. But that's the, that's sort of the, the ever present tug of war that you have in trying to build a roster is, um, you know, you, you have a position of strength and that's where you have to deal from to treat a position of weakness, which is ultimately what they did by trading strength and that's where you have to deal

from to treat a position of weakness, which is ultimately what they did by trading JT Miller and bringing in Marcus Patterson. And now your blue line seems settled and you go, oh, we've got a, you know, position of strength on the blue line, but now we need help down the middle. So we'll have to turn around to do it the other way. Ultimately, you know, I think this moment in Canuck history is different than most of what we've seen over the past decade plus really since the 2011 team was dismantled because for many years and I think rightfully so the fan base was banging the drum on a full tear down rebuild. But I don't see anybody arguing for that right now because of the situation with Quinn Hughes

and the two seasons remaining on his contract and the understanding that if you want the best defenseman in franchise history and arguably the best defenseman on the planet right now to remain a Canuck long-term you need to find a way to at least get into the playoffs next year if not become a contender and so that creates a very high stakes off season where they are going to have to make major moves and they are going to have to make some big bets that they will have to hope will pan out.

And people should be ready for the fact that that does mean most likely that they will deal futures. And they're not necessarily going to be the futures you want them to deal, but if you really need help down the middle and you really need to get a center then that can make a difference or maybe two of them if you decide to move on from Elias Pettersson, then you have to break eggs to make an omelet. So as I sit here today, the next two first round picks I think probably are both in play. Tom V. Lander I think has to be in play to a certain extent. I think Elias Pedersen probably has to be in play to a certain extent, which I don't

think fans are going to want to hear. But ultimately teams aren't just going to give away legitimate top six centreman and that is going to be the number one priority for this team this off season. And ultimately we'll see how they do. We'll see how many of those assets they have to part with, but you know, it's that time now where they've got to make those moves, they've got to, you know, support Queen Hughes with a team that can have some success and they're going to

have to give up future pieces if they want to do that. It's just the reality of where they're at at the moment. That's, this was great, bud. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week. We'll do this again in two weeks time. Sounds good. Thanks boys.

Have a good one. Thank you. Brendan Batchelor connects radio play by play man here on the Haliford and Brough show on sports net 650. It is what we learned time. We're going to do some of ours and then we'll read yours on the other side of the break. I'm going to start because you're aware that

Leonel Messi has been in the news recently, especially locally, given that Inter Miami is gonna be playing the Vancouver Whitecaps in two legs in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. I'll say this, it might not be the only time that Messi might have a shot at playing at BC Place. And that's because, according to his teammate in Inter Miami, Luis Suarez, Messi wants to play in the 2026 World Cup for Argentina.

Lionel Messi. Was that not understood? Lionel Messi has not declared his intentions for the 2026 World Cup yet. He has not announced if he intends to play, if he intends to retire. He's 37 years old right now. He turns 38 in June.

By the time the World Cup comes around in 2026, he'll be 39 years old. What was the last major competition that he played in? Copa America, which they won. Prior to that, it was the World Cup, which they won. Luis Suarez, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper, said, jokingly, we talk about retirement all the time because Suarez is widely expected

to maybe retire at the end of this year. He said, but Messi keeps telling me, you know, he wants to play in the World Cup because they've had such a great run with the Argentinian national team over the last two major tournaments. And it's in North America and he plays in North America now. So it'll be very interesting to see what the next 12 to 16 months have in store for Messi because surely they could find a spot for him on the team. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. No. Like what's Ronaldo doing with Portugal? He's still out there playing. He's still out there going. I will say this. The success that Argentina has had internationally, especially over the last two tournaments,

has almost done this resurgence with Messi where he shows very little signs of slowing down. What's more. He doesn't need to start. But it doesn't, people thought that going to MLS and playing in a inferior league was going to be the swan song and the sort of curtain call for Lionel Messi, that he's gonna have this final chapter

where he would play in this league and there would be this sort of marketability boost. But then he's returned to play. What a freaking boost. Thank you. then he's returned to play. What a freaking boost. Thank you. Then he's returned to play for Argentina, played very well, and played very well for a team that's winning every significant tournament that it's in.

So I think a part of him is like, why stop? Why not keep going? Why not add to the legacy? So, and also, as you mentioned, because of the- Yeah, I think he's like, I still see some debates that wonder if I am the greatest of all time. I'd like to slam those shut.

So no word yet. Argentina, of course, has already qualified for the World Cup. One of the handful of teams that have done it along with, I wanna say Japan, New Zealand, Argentina, and then of course the three hosts, Canada, the US, and Mexico. Hey, who in your mind is the greatest of all time?

Messi. Yeah? Yep. Like you would take him over Maradona? Well, I mean, you can't just say Messi and then just like panic about the question. All right. Yeah, you can panic about the question.

Yeah, you can. I mean, there's a pantheon of guys, right? There's like, who's the greatest of all time? Messi. Well, what about Maradona? Ooh. Got me. Because of the generational aspect of it,

because growing up, it's just so different. I know. That's why it's a tough question. Yeah, but I would say Messi, because of the longevity, because he played so much longer. He's Maradona more naturally gifted. I would say Maradona was more of a and this is gonna sound weird but more of an iconic figure because of all the foibles and the personal drama and he

seemed yeah right. Messi's been touched by God with his left foot and everything else and been an amazing generational transcendent talent but he's unrelatable in a way that Maradona wasn't. Maradona was relatable because he had issues like a lot of people did, right? I mean, there's a lot of soccer players that have been, have human foibles, right? Yeah.

You think about Gaza or best. It's the tortured artist thing. Well, I don't even know if it's the tortured artist. I think it's just the guys that struggle with the pressure of being under the spotlight. Eh, there's a lot of it that it's like someone with that much brilliance and creativity also has these demons.

That, like it's, it is the Van Gogh thing, right? Where it's like, someone capable of such brilliance has also got their demons. Don't you think with Maradona too, it was a naivety that when, especially when he goes to Italy and he gets mixed up with some of the people that he gets mixed up with. Yes. Mafia. And he is naive a little bit to the world and he gets...

Those guys come up to him and say, hang with us, we'll take care of you, we'll take care of you. a little bit to the world and he gets, those guys come up to him and say, hang with us, we'll take care of you, we'll take care of you. And they do kind of take care of him. Sure, the world was a lot smaller back then. Also got him addicted to cocaine. Well, as I was saying, the world was a lot. That's the problem.

He like, Messi grew up in the Barca Academy. Like that was a lot different. Yes. You know what I mean? There's just, there's so many. They weren't as protected back in the day. No. Like it was a big world out there that, and for a variety of reasons,

that he would have never seen. Everyone, I think it must be really difficult to be a person where everyone wants a piece of you. Some people have good intentions and they want the best for you, but you could almost be, if you're gonna be cynical, and say like, most of them don't.

Most of them want to be associated with you, not for you, but for them. That must be a tough way to go through life, don't you think? I would say. I mean, no one's sitting there going like, oh, I feel so sorry for like famous rich people. Right.

But. That's where the Half Herd and Rough Show is different. But we have empathy for all sorts. It must be hard, like, if people come up to you, I'm so sorry for famous rich people. Right. But... That's where the Halford and Ruff show is different. But we have empathy for all sorts. It must be hard. If people come up to you, they're talking to you, and you're like, I just feel like these people just want something from me.

You either get taken advantage of, or you become so cynical yourself that you become kind of a jerk. Yeah. That's a good analysis. Thank you. Moo cow it. Moo cow. Ah.

Another guy that I find fascinating is Kevin Durant. And the Suns are in the news because they just fired their coach who was such a success. Mike Booth and Holzer, one year on the job. One year on the job. But Katie right now is on a Twitter bender. And he's replying to like no names. Is he being a reply guy?

Yeah. And like he's, he's obviously what he's doing is he's searching out his name on X or Twitter or whatever you want to call it. And he's replying to people that are nobodies, you know, that are just talking about him. So someone tweeted out, Katie managed his career so bad, man.

And then a bunch of people replied to that guy and there was a bit of a debate back and forth. And then Katie threw in some emojis or whatever. And then someone said, well, the fact that you're monitoring this is just proof of the criticism. And he replied, so I tweet, big deal, arrest me. Yeah. Right.

And part of me is like, it's kind of endearing that Katie's on social media and actually willing to put himself out there, but you also hear the stories about him creating burner accounts. And I also think it's kind of like, is that what you're doing? Like it, it, it seems to put it in a very harsh way.

It seems weak to care that much about like, and it seems like a, an impossible task to try and kind of like, he's trying to control it, right? By replying. He said his approach is always the same. He's like, if you come at me, I'm coming at you. He's like a match energy was the way that he put it. Yeah, but you can't do that. It's impossible. Some people can. You can't do it. No, no, no.

Some people can. Got a duck on the haters. Katie cannot do it. If you reply to all these people You know, what are you doing? You're giving them power over you Is this empowering for Katie to do this or do you think at the end of it? He's sitting there going like This is actually made me a little feel a little bit what happens if it's really therapeutic for you're listening to the best of Halford and brough