Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 4/18/25

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, the boys tell us what they learned, plus they preview today's end-of-season Canucks media availability with Donnie & Donnie's Rick Dhaliwal. 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. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da Lawrence Nguyen? Nguyen. Oh my god, the whole Vietnamese community just got a really good laugh out of you. Lawrence Nguyen, you country rude. Nguyen. I don't even think you said it that clearly. What did you say it again? Nguyen. You read it so that none of the letters were silenced. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend.

Good morning, Vancouver. 7 o'clock on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. It's Halford at his broth at his Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Andy, good morning to you. Really, no sports clips, nothing? No highlights? No clips of the evening before that we know what to do teams that got a got a big win or a dog We call it the guy And Greg good morning to you as well. Hello. Hello, Ladi. Let's tell everybody what happened Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened?

Missed it? You missed that? What happened? Let's dive right into what happened in the National Hockey League last night. The season ended. That's it. It's all over. None of the games had any consequence or significance whatsoever because all the playoff spots were

already decided. There were a bunch of blowouts last night. There were some really bad games. The Kings did not put in a good effort against the Calgary Flames in a rescheduled game. The Flames just went down there and I mean, I think they were up five-nothing in the second period. The Kings got one. Yeah, you know what happened on that one goal? Laddie was talking about this earlier.

The Kings goal from last night. Yes, Taylor Ward, the former Penticton V, scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game and then barely celebrated. Poor Taylor. Oh because he didn't want to make a 5-0. Yeah that's a tough situation. It'd be funnier if he did celebrate. He just went off. He's doing a stomach slide now. High five at everyone. Did you see Jessica Alba was at the game? I just saw it on screen right now but I didn't know Scalers. Scalers. He lapsed around the ring. He's doing a stomach slide now. High five at everyone. Did you see Jessica Alba was at the game? I just saw it on screen right now, but I didn't know it was that game.

Do you think she was like, this is the best they can do? This is awful. A makeup game where the Kings aren't even trying? I'm never coming back to a hockey game again. I will pass along a couple of finalities though worth mentioning. Congratulations to Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Nik Nikita Kucherov who captured his third career and second consecutive Art Ross trophy as the league scoring champion that puts him is a pretty hallowed ground There's only a handful of guys almost all of them in the Hall of Fame and the ones that aren't are going to the Hall of

Fame to win the scoring title three times you're talking about Wayne Gretzky Gordie Howe Mary Lemieux Phil Esposito, Jarmer Jagger, Connor McDavid, who's on his way to the Hall of Fame, Stan Makita, Bobby Hall, and Gila Fleur, and now of course Nikita Kucherov. So shout out to him, and I suppose, shout out to Leon Dreisaitl for winning his first ever Maurice Rocket-Rachard trophy

as the NHL's leading goal scorer. Leading goal scorer this year only got 52. Little low, little low for my tastes. Everyone was talking about how low safe percentage was this year and all they must was 52. Yeah, I guess the goal scoring's more spread out now, right? Cause you have like third and fourth liners like putting up 20 goals, but still kudos to Dreisaitl.

He beat William Nylander for the rocket Richard, the first of his career, after finishing second a couple of times. Do you want to jump straight in to the Canucks preview stuff or do you want to talk about a couple of these other stories? There's a kind of an interesting one out of Chicago regarding Connor Bedard and there's a couple updates going into the playoffs, but I'll throw it over to you,

Jason, or do you want to get right into the Canucks stuff? I mean, now that you've thrown out the Bedard story, what is the Bedard story? Let's do the Bedard story, cause this guy actually was funny. I subscribed to the Chicago Sun Times. So in my email in basket. You subscribed to the Chicago Sun Times. So in my email in basket. You subscribe to the Chicago Sun Times?

I'm trying to get away from it. I don't know how to unsubscribe. You don't pay money. Alfred subscribed to every newspaper in the state. I do. I give a dollar a month to every newspaper to keep journalism alive. Anyway.

Okay, so what's the deal? So usually the Chicago Sun Times will forward like important civic news or whatever. But today the Chicago Sun TimesTimes will forward like important civic news or whatever. But today, the Chicago Sun-Times had a email come through. And one of their lead stories was how Connor Bedard recommitted and showed his love for the Blackhawks. I'm like, what is this all about? So I guess yesterday at Chicago Blackhawks Media

Availability Locker Cleanout Day, Bedard was asked specifically about a couple things. Like one of them was like, why does it always seem like you hate being here? It wasn't that, it wasn't worded quite that way. Quite that way. But they flew in Jim Matheson to ask the question? Yeah, like what's going on here? Why are you so pissy?

And he did answer the question to his credit. The question was really a two-parter. It was one, why are there so many visual moments, seemingly caught on camera, where you look either upset or frustrated or despondent? We've seen them, right? Sure, sure. And then the other one was like,

do you want to address the rumors that you're not happy here? Because those are out there, right? So this is about a minute 15 of audio from Conor Baddard addressing it all about his future in Chicago, his love for the city, and all of these rumblings under the surface that he might not be happy in the Windy City. Here's Connor Bidart from yesterday. No, I think, you know, unless you're in the room and around, you know, all of us, I think, you know, I'm a pretty mild-mannered guy, and, you know, if I look a little sad on the bench or something maybe people can take it out of context

but You know I've said it so many times that you know I love being here and the city of the people Even before I got drafted I was embraced like you know one of their own so it's it's a special sports town you know we got a lot of great players coming up great people and You know I think anything can you know get saddened me. I mean I don't really look at that We got a lot of great players coming up, great people. I think anything can get sad in me. I don't really look at that. I don't really see a whole lot of that unless someone shows me.

But I just think people that know me know that I love to be here and really trust the direction we're going. If you get the first overall pick, you're probably not winning the cup in the next two years. So, you know, it's an understanding of where you're at and you know, we're going out there to win every game, but at the end, you know, we're in a process of growing and learning and that's an exciting time and you know when you lose it makes winning a lot sweeter once you get there. So we're excited for that. You know what the problem is? He has a resting sad face.

Yeah. I was going to say that actually. I was thinking of my dog Pedro. He's really cute, but sometimes you'll be looking at him and you're like, why are you so sad buddy? Right. You know dogs, how they look up at you? They're like, ooh. I love when dogs sigh because the first thing I think of is, what do you have to be sad about? Yeah, Pedro has a lot of, there's a lot of sighing. So maybe Badaar just kind of has that in him.

He's just like a dog that's just going to sit there. Sad dog, but still. Yeah, yeah. But actually he's quite comfortable. Yeah. I don't know. Anyway. I didn't like that he said that he loved being in Chicago and he wanted to be there long term. I thought that was an opportunity to widen the rift between all this. Anyway. I didn't like that he said that he loved being in Chicago and he wanted to be there long term.

I thought that was an opportunity to widen the rift between both of them. Well, you notice before he said that, he started vibrating because there was a little bracelet on there shocking him. Right. So that reminded him to say it. The Blackhawks, it's funny because no one expected them to be good this year or anything. And they delivered. And San Jose was considerably worse than Chicago.

If you look at how many points they had and their goal differential, which was over minus 100 in San Jose. And yet I would still put Chicago in the group of most disappointing teams because, and maybe we'll do this with San Jose next season, just because of the vibes, I think. And maybe it was just Bedard's Pedro face.

Could've been. He just always looked upset and he wanted to be somewhere else. Yep. Like Vancouver, his hometown. Right, possibly. I mean, who's to say? Who's to infer?

It's like trying to read a dog's face. It's impossible. But they're easily not the most disappointing team, and this would actually be a good time because we're going to be talking about the playoff team soon because the playoffs start on Saturday. So let's give out the Halford & Brough Most Disappointing Team Award. Okay. It's a tough one this year. A lot of candidates.

I mean, the candidates include your hometown Canucks. Yep. The New York Rangers, complete disaster, dysfunctional, lots of stuff going on off the ice and you have to wonder how that affected on the ice. The Nashville Predators, who we talked a lot about early in the season, or especially last off season, because they made so many additions, they stunk this year.

To the point where we just stopped talking about them. We were just ignoring them. They stunk early and they were done. But they stunk the whole season. They might have had a little bit of a run at some point. They did really well against the Canucks. Yeah, that's true. Oh, so did the Buffalo Sabres, but the Buffalo

Sabres were very disappointing yet again, um, as were the Detroit Red Wings, I would say. The Detroit Red Wings had a, had a time when they were in the playoffs, but they fell out. So, you know, Ottawa wins that race of the big three, trying to get back into the playoff race, or the playoffs. Ottawa gets in, Buffalo played well in meaningless games down the stretch and Detroit just seems,

you know what Detroit needs? They need a real star. They need a real star. They've got some good players. Don't get me wrong. They've got some good players, but they need a real stud. They should have drafted Quinn Hughes, I'm thinking, when they had that opportunity. He's a bona fide star.

And then I guess I would throw in the Bruins, not that I don't think anyone had these huge expectations for the Bruins, but they went out and spent some considerable free agent capital in getting Lindholm and Zdorov, and they ended up well out of the playoffs with a horrible goal differential and they, they traded Brad Marchand. So it was like the end of an era in Boston. Who would you give it to if you had to? The New York Rangers.

The abs, you know what, to the point where I respected all the candidates and the efforts they put forth to be the most disappointing team in the NHL. But the one thing that stands out for me above all the rest is that the Rangers went from being the best team in the regular season. They were the president's trophy winners last year. They had 55 wins and 114 points and they were within a couple wins of going to the Stanley Cup final to that. I understand some other teams got to

the playoffs last year and then fell out, most specifically the Vancouver Canucks and the National Predators. So there's an inherent disappointment there. But to go from where the Rangers were to where they ended up this year with, you know, the very tumultuous tearing apart of their core and the very questionable tactics used to get guys like Barkley Goodrow and Jacob Truba out. This latest scandal involving our Temi Panarin,

that to me is the most dysfunctional and thereby. Put them over the top. Thereby most disappointing team for sure. Okay. The Canucks are going to be having their media avails this morning. I'm expecting that it's just going to be the players. I don't know when the brass and the coaching staff, well, head coach Rick Tauke, if he's still the head coach,

will talk. I imagine that they want to get some finality, the brass on the Tauke situation before they hold a press conference. They could do us a favor and do it in the next hour and 45 minutes. Be nice. Announce the extension. That'd be fun. Three players I'm looking forward to hearing from today, Quinn Hughes, Elias Pedersen and Thatcher Demko.

I don't know how much more Besser can say. He's kind of said it all. I'm with you on that. You know, like he's like, I mean, the media talked to him a lot before the final game and after the final game. So we kind of got all we need out of Brock Besser, but Quinn Hughes, I mean, maybe he gets the bedard-like question, like, are you happy here? Yeah, that's fair.

You know, not because he always looks sad or anything, but just because I'm sure he was very frustrated with how this season went and he's got a big decision to make in a couple of years. Or maybe sooner to be perfectly honest with you because the Canucks, not this off season, but next off season can sign him to an extension. And it's going to be like in Edmonton this year, if McDavid doesn't sign an extension right on July

1st, people are like, what's going to, what's happening, right? Like we went through it with Sid. Sid didn't sign it right on July 1st, people are like, what's happening? Right? Sure. Like we went through it with Sid. Sid didn't sign it right on July 1st. Yeah, he pulled it all the way to August I think. I can't remember when he ultimately did it, but you know, the question marks were there and if Quinn Hughes next July 1st doesn't sign it, people

will be wondering. So we're already into the speculation with Quinn Hughes, Elias Patterson. I don't think I need to say any more about why I want to hear from him. And I'm sure a lot of listeners want to hear from him. And then Thatcher Demko, where is he in this injury recovery?

Vancouver. Because I feel like he's still in recovery from that injury. You know, like he might've had other injuries this season, but did they all tie from the original injury? You know, he has suggested that, you know, you, you start working on one area and then another area, maybe it gets too much strain or you

ignored or something like that. You got to move differently. So where is he and how optimistic is he that he's going to be able to return to Vancouver and be a top flight goalie. Because we saw signs of it this season, but he just didn't play enough. No, not even close.

At a high level. Not even close to enough for anybody's liking, including his. And you could tell that being out as long as it did, war on him. Yeah. Like, I mean, I can't remember when we talked about it almost half jokingly, but like that Hail Mary

that they threw up where they had a, I think it was probably about 10 games left in the season and they needed to win a whole bunch of them. And Demko came roaring back in and put up some good performances. And then ultimately was shut down after, you know, elimination was pretty much obvious. Demko, I'm with you on the three

that you want to hear from the most, you know, working in reverse on it. Demko, I'm with you on the three that you wanna hear from the most. Working in reverse on it, Demko, I think you laid that out really well. Pedersen kind of goes without saying. Hughes, I think he will be asked a lot of questions about how happy he is, because I noticed that more than a few media members made mention of the fact that after that final

game 82 loss to Vegas, Hughes spoke and he was just sort of. Exasperated, tired and disappointed because I think the finality of it really hit and he knew that, all right, that's it. There's no more hockey now. Like even in even though the chase was over, he was still playing 30 minutes a night, still going out there

and trying to, you know, do things, I guess, still trying to break Alex Edlers record for most points in the franchise by a defenseman. And I think that the inevitable follow-up would be like, okay, now that you've had 48 hours to sit and take a deep breath and decompress, how are you feeling about all this? Because there's no point in looking back anymore. It's about looking forward and everyone's

looking forward as it pertains to his contract situation. There's no point in looking back, but I'm sure he is. Think about the season that he had, because not only was there all sorts of, I'm going to call it nonsense in Vancouver with a few of his teammates that he was right in the thick of as the captain trying to fix his situation.

Yep. Let's also remember that he missed the Four Nations. Mm-hmm. And that was some of the best hockey we've seen in a long, long time. It would have been his playoffs because he didn't get to go to the other ones. And he could have made a difference for the Americans. Yeah, big time. If he was playing, they could have won easily.

I mean, they already could have won. Yeah. So a season of disappointment for Quinn Hughes. And it's always dangerous when you've got a highly competitive guy like Quinn Hughes that wants to play on the biggest stage and your team isn't playing on that stage. Do you want to go down this road a little bit further? I mean, that's why I was so important for Ottawa

to make the playoffs, right? And I bet all of Sens fans are not only hoping that Brady Kichuk is going to be successful in this series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he has fun, like he enjoys himself. You know what I mean? In that maybe he develops even more of a poll to be an Ottawa senator.

Even if they don't win, it's like, oh, I got to come back next year. We got to get over the hump here in Ottawa. They made a step. That's what we want with Quinn Hughes. We want him to feel that poll of like, oh, we got something here. I don't want to leave this.

I don't want to leave this. This is something real here. We got a chance here. I like the way things are going. I'm not want to leave this. Like this is something real here. We got a chance here. I like the way things are going. I'm not going to bail because frankly, it got to the point, it was so bad this season that I remember thinking it and I remember seeing a bunch of people texting into the show about it.

And they basically said, I wouldn't even blame Quinn Hughes if he left. Like I wouldn't even be mad. I wouldn't even be mad. Yeah. If Quinn Hughes left. So just to even be mad. I wouldn't even be mad if Quinn Hughes left. So just to circle back to that Four Nations thing, I was thinking about this the other day and it's like you look at the guys that showed up and played through injury at Four Nations and I think the

guys that most are focused on the Kachak brothers, right? Because both of them exited the Four Nations with varying degrees of severity on their injuries. But Matthew Kachak missed all the games post-Four Nations. Brady Kachak missed a handful, but still managed to play in some for the Sends. Right. Hughes missed that tournament in large part because he wanted to be healthy for the Canucks. Right. And like he put he put club over country to use the old like European footballing analogy. Right. And oftentimes guys do the inverse. They put country over club.

That probably stings a little bit, seeing that there were other teams in the National Hockey League that were like, you know, go to four nations. Now it's obviously different because the Kachaks didn't go into the tournament hurt, they got hurt there. But there was always that risk playing in it. You were getting injured, right?

Florida and Ottawa both found a way to get into the postseason. And Hughes in the inverse didn't go to that tournament, came back, and the club just couldn't put it together for him. Like that's going to, I mean, again, if you're looking at it in retrospect, it probably stings that in a year where a lot didn't go right, there was this one thing, this one entity that he could have been a part of and wasn't. And it all ended up being for not great sacrifice, not great sacrifice.

Captain, don't get me wrong. Never question anything about the the emotional toll that took, but also like making a good decision for your club. But when you look back on it, it's just like another thing you kind of add to the disappointment list. Yeah, I should have just played hurt there. Right. And what was the worst that was going to happen? We weren't going to make the playoffs?

Roman in Calgary texts in, ask us anything Friday. What are the chances? Pedersen holds his end of season presser from Sweden over Zoom. Now that would be a power move. Well, that's going to come up too today. You know, what's your plan, Petey? Are you going to stay in Vancouver? What's your plan?

Are you guys going to get on the same page? You know, what happened? What happened to Vancouver? What's your plan? Are you guys going to get on the same page? You know, what happened? What happened to you? What's going on, man? Cause remember it was at this time last season where he brought up the tendonitis in his knee. And we all know some people latched onto that and others kind of, oh God, it sounds like an

excuse to me. Are we going to have, you know, are we going to have a similar storyline coming out of this press conference with Pedersen? Because things have been pretty quiet for PD in the last little while because he hadn't been playing and I haven't even been talking about him. Well, now he's going to be front and center.

Um, and I'm sure he's getting some pretty tough questions. There's no way they don't put him up there, right? We're just. No, no, no. He's got to go tough questions. There's no way they don't put them up there, right? We're just, he's gotta go. He's gotta go. Yeah. I think he was at the, uh, ceremony for the jerseys off.

He was. Yeah, he was. He was wearing a tuque. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. John and Wes K asks, uh, am I allowed to still be a bit pissed off with JT and

Petey for being so selfish this year? If they only put the fans in franchise first, I can't help but wonder where we would be today. This year sucked. You can be pissed at them for as long as you like. I think it's justifiable. Yeah. If you want to go back and look at that part of the season where remember Besser got knocked out with a concussion from the tenor, Janot hit, and then Miller took his 10 game leave and then Hronik got hurt and was out a couple months. That stretch right there really threw the team off kilter and they never were able to really find their footing

after that because there was some bright spots at the early parts of the season where they ripped off some wins that and then and then I'm talking about the biggest of all of those like you can't really help Brock Besser getting knocked out with a concussion, that's an injury. You can't really help Philip Hironic getting injured, that's an injury. Some would suggest that, you know, this rift, which ultimately, and you have to say I played a role

in a 10 game absence from one of your star players, like that didn't help in a year. Where you missed the playoffs by about four to six points. And how many games do we hear talk it saying, our key players have to step up. Too many. Our guys have to, our guys have to step up and it can't just be Quinn.

Juan from Comox within Ask Us Anything. If you had the power to go back in time and save one athlete's career from being derailed by injuries. Great question. Who would you choose? I'm listening, Happy Easter. Happy Easter to you as well, Juan. Um, Bobby Orr for me, because I never got to see him play.

I was born in 76. I think he, his career kind of ended around there. So I never, I never got to see Bobby Orr play. I don't know how many more years he would have played if he didn't have the bad knees, but that's the one, that's one player I just missed seeing and I really would have liked to see. So mine isn't a player that we miss seeing because he played,

but the one I always think about is Lindros is that if, because we got like a two year, three year snapshot of how dominant he could be when everything was right. And he was like the best player in the league for those two or three years. And he was, he was, he was new. Like a player like that was just, it was different. And there was no, I don't think I'd ever seen anyone

that big and that fast before. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Adog, did you hear the big news that, um, there's going to be a new team playing in downtown Vancouver because. The heart of downtown.

The PWHL is apparently coming to Vancouver and they're going to play, like you say, downtown. Right downtown. At the Pacific Coliseum. Heck yeah. Um. Pop, skip it a jump from Harbor Center. So if you're very confused about this, ADOG last week or earlier this week suggested that

the Pacific Coliseum was in downtown and we were talking about a practice facility. Yes. Where the Canucks might have one. He's like, well, what about downtown on the Pacific Coliseum? I's like, well, what about downtown on the Pacific Coliseum? I'm like, that's not downtown, brother.

I don't know how long you've been here. And he was defiant about it too, which I really respected. Yeah. It's in Vancouver, but it's not downtown. Downtown adjacent. It's not. Okay. Yeah.

What do you guys think about this news? I'm not surprised by it because when the, the PWHL tour came through Vancouver, there was almost 20,000 people at Rogers Arena. It sounds like, uh, there's going to be a team in Vancouver and Seattle. I don't think we should expect, um, sellouts every, every night.

You know, I think average crowds, you can maybe expect kind of like Vancouver Giants crowds when they were at the Coliseum, seven, 8,000, but I think it's terrific for women's hockey. And I bet it's going to be supported here because I think in Vancouver, we've got, there seems to be a market for women's sports based on, you know, we saw 14,000 people at the Vancouver rise game.

And, you know, I didn't go to the PWHL game, but I just, I heard that the vibe there and the atmosphere was really, really good and really, really encouraging. And I'll be really curious to see how this league does because listen, you can admit it like it doesn't have the market that men's sport has, but we've seen women's sport getting

more of a high profile all around the world really. And I do like the fact that this league is owned by a single entity. Right. It's a rich guy. I think he owns part of the Dodgers, part of Chelsea, like this guy's got a lot of money. Um, so when you have a league that's run by a

single entity, there's more stability and you would assume that the owner can kind of sustain some losses in the beginning, because they're probably going to be losses, right? You build up the revenue, you build up season ticket bases in various cities. And what you don't have is you don't have any cowboys that come in and say, yeah, here's a few million, I want a team. Not actual cowboys.

And then no, but like business cowboys that come in. Yeah, here's whatever you want. And then they start running the team andboys. Sure. They come in, yeah, here's whatever you want. And then they start running the team and they're like, well, wait a minute, this is harder than I thought it would be. I thought it would be a lot of fun. Oh, I'm losing a lot of money. I'm folding the franchise. Like that is terrible for a new league to have that.

Right. You don't have that at the PWHL. Because this is, it's an important moment for the league because Vancouver's going to be its first ever expansion team, right? They've got pretty good footing. What is it? Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Boston, New York,

Minnesota. So that's your original six. And then anytime you expand, there's always a risk involved, regardless of the league. Yeah. Is that you're going back to zero, like you're starting from scratch. It's been reported.

The additional travel costs too of adding Vancouver and Seattle. All of it, right? I mean, and you've seen leagues in the past that have expanded too much too quick. And then there's some that haven't taken advantage of the groundswell and have dragged their feet on it. Like part of this is the PWHL has played to big numbers

in certain places, including Vancouver. That game they had here was the fourth largest attended game in league history on the Takeover Tour. So there is a sense of let's act now. Like let's make sure we take advantage of the momentum. That being said, the first expansion team, it's a big moment, right? You could have easily and comfortably stuck with six

and let things like matriculate and build and everything else. Or add more teams in the geographic area. Right, and this team, according to some reports, may begin play as early as next season, so a very quick turnaround. It is sort of turnkey to the fact that they've got a arena ready to go, and they have experience

playing in the market, so there's a proof of concept there. And it adds to, let's be honest, a sports ecosystem here. We can always use more. I've said that like a lot in the, you know, given that 95% of our coverage is dedicated to the Canucks. I don't think it's a bad thing that the entire industry spreads its wings and tries to cover more things, more avenues, more sports, more professional franchises, all of it. All of it's a good thing. Rick Dollywall from Donnie and Dolly on CheckTV joins us now on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. What up,

Ricky D? Why are you guys working? Get a new agent. Get a new agent. Ross is letting you down. We love to work. We love to work. Why wouldn't we want to work at the end of one of the most tumultuous Canucks seasons ever with a bunch of stuff to discuss in a press conference today?

We're going to work on Monday too. So what's the latest on Tom Willender? Okay, look, talks are going nowhere and there is no communication right now between the club and the advisor Todd Diamond. Not a good way for the Canucks to leave a good impression or start a good impression with a first-round pick who is the most important pick obviously here since Quinn Hughes. The A bonuses continued to be the issue. So let's go to Ryan Green, a teammate of Willanders in Boston. Just got $750,000 in A bonuses from Chicago, burnt a year on his contract, played two games for the Black Rocks.

He is the 57th overall draft pick from three years ago, not three years ago, not last year, three years ago. The 11th overall pick from last year, Sam Dickinson signed for 780,000 in A bonuses. That was last year, two weeks after the draft. The Canucks early offers were nowhere near those numbers. Every other NHL club was able to get

their guys signed without any problems. But the soap opera atmosphere continues with the Canucks. Willander, I want to get this, there was a report earlier this week that Willander, something I want to get this, there was a report earlier this week that Willander, you know, something about personal and he didn't want to go to Abbotsford. That was 100% incorrect. Willander is willing to go to Abbotsford, but that ship may have sailed.

Willander also had never asked for any guarantees of ice time in Abbotsford. This week would have been a great week for Wlander signing. He could have played for Abbey. They would have got two, three regular season games left and then he could have played in the playoffs next week. One of the problems for Wlander is the Canucks have one of the hottest teams in the American hockey league and they're really sad on that blue line in Abbey. But Wlanderers got options. If he doesn't sign with the Canucks,

he can go back to college or he can play pro in Europe. He would very likely have a ton of teams after him in Europe. I did not see the Canucks playing hard ball with Will Landers like this. Both sides have clearly dug in their heels. Time will tell where this goes as of now. And I said this on Monday, all these people freak out on Twitter, oh, it's gonna get done, it's gonna get done. Well, as of now, this morning, it's not off to a good start.

Yes, things can change with one phone call, but six days after this kids' season ended, the Canucks and Willander, they remain far apart. I refuse to believe that a relationship between a draft pick and a team could come apart on schedule A bonuses in the ELC. Is there a risk of the relationship just never getting off the ground?

It's a, it's a great point, Jason. It's just not off to a good start. His season ended in St. Louis last Saturday. You would think either Saturday night or Sunday morning they would have got together. There's been long stretches this week, guys, when there's been no contact. And Quinn Hughes signed quickly out of the NCAA with the Canucks. Barack Becker signed quickly out of the NCAA with the Canucks and this one and I warned you guys about a month ago I said don't be surprised if the Canucks throw LaKara Mackie So, La Caramacchi bonuses at Willander and when La Caramacchi signed, his bonuses were at $475,000 a year.

I don't think the Canucks are there, but they, you know, I told you guys, don't be surprised if they throw La Caramacchi at them. And I warned you guys for four, I think four or five weeks ago that that could be an issue, but it's clearly, um, both sides are not there. And like, I don't know where this is going to end up, but if this guy goes back to Boston or let's just say really worst case scenario goes to play in Sweden or whatever in Europe. I mean, not a good way to start a relationship with the first round pick Jason is just not, I, like I mean, not a good way to start a relationship with the first round pick Jason is just not. I, like I said, I'm very surprised we are where we

are, but it's clear to me that both sides dug in their heels and you know, this stuff about you know, they're close and this stuff about he's going to sign with the Canucks and he's going to turn pro. Yeah, he might turn pro next year, but it might be in Sweden and, you know, not in Vancouver or Abbotsburg. So there's just, I count me surprised that where we are this morning. Um, just count me very surprised where we are, uh, with the Canucks and Tom Olander.

Uh, let's move on to Rick Tocca because there's no deal there either. Um, I heard that it would make sense that they would want to get something done before the season ending. Pressor, now the players are going to speak today. I'm not sure when the brass will speak, but what are we hearing about Rick Tockett's future in Vancouver? Well, first of all, your intel was bang on and I do

believe the Canucks up their offer for Tocket this week but I would imagine his future is number one on the to-do list for management and certainly hearing more positive things regarding Tocket's future than negative the Canucks know that they're gonna have to give Tocket a healthy raise to keep them they know that look he's at 2.7 million right now. Right guys. I, I think his new numbers got to start with a four, uh, Craig Barube four times four in Toronto.

Who represents Craig Barube, Steve Mountain, who represents Rick talk. It's Steve Mountain. I think talk. It's looking, um, uh, to be up there in terms of coaches being paid in the national hockey League. He just won the Coach of the Year award 12 months ago or whatever, just over a year ago. And also, he just gave the Vancouver Canucks last year their best season in the last 10 years. But here's the thing, more important, I see all these tweets, oh, it's a Friday,

it's a Friday, the Canucks are going to sign, talk, that's not the way it works. You know, there's things to work out, term, money, direction of the team, like, you just don't rush into these things and you just don't sign because it's a Friday and the Canucks are known for making news on Friday. That's just not the way, I'm not hearing like there's a rush to get it done today. Maybe it gets done today, I don't know. But I just know that there's a lot of factors at play.

There isn't anything Tauke has said in his interviews in the last month or month or so that indicates he doesn't want to come back. Getting target signing and starting to work on next year would be huge for the Canucks. Target leaving would be a PR nightmare for this team. It would mean four coaches in four years. It would mean the guy this regime handpicked has walked away. That's not good. The last thing the Canucks need is another negative story. They've had a ton of those this year. One thing I do want to talk to you guys about is one thing pocket missed this year was the leadership void left when Zdorov and Cole left. Boston, I don't know if you saw this, Boston coach Joe Sacco yesterday went out

of his way to mention that Zdorov was one of the players who stepped up, uh, as a leader down the stretch for the Bruins. Those two big voices in the dressing room really, really were never filled and really, really affected the dressing room. Now think about Cole and think about Zdorov and think about Pedersen Miller, the few, and how those two could have helped.

Right. They, they, they could have, they really, really could have. I remember JT Miller last year saying that when Ian Cole talks, players listen. And it's just that guy that's played a thousand games that brings that experienced veteran voice. Don't be surprised if the Canucks go looking for more leadership voices like Zdorov and Cole this this summer but I think that that's one thing that really affected

Tocket this year was just missing those veteran guys and it's just not on the ice it's it's in the hotel rooms it's on the buses it's a training camp it's off the ice it's in the gym room you, you can't have enough leadership on a hockey club. You just can't. You just can't. And the Canucks, as we know, are one of the younger teams in the NHL. So there's a lot of things that play with Tocket, but I definitely like you, Jason, hearing, you know, more positive.

I think the Canucks want to get this done. And I think Tocket wants to get this done. I really think he wants to come back, but it's a situation where he's not coming back for the same money. It's just that, or just a little raise. It looks like it's, they're going to have to bump him up into a very nice neighborhood.

Is it, is it, is it mostly about money now? Because I was thinking about it and you know, they, their last game was on Wednesday. Have they really had that much time to sit down and kind of decompress and be like, all right guys, like that did not go well this year. How are we going to change things for the future? You know, you can come together on money and

term and all those things. And obviously those things are important, but you know, if I'm talk it and I'm thinking of signing a long term contract with the Canucks, I want to make sure we do everything to avoid another season like this. And I don't know if that discussion can take place in like 45 minutes. Exactly.

Exactly. And he's got player exit meetings and then he's got to say, hey, show me a pathway, a guide to better days in Vancouver, you know show me we've had eight years in the last 10 no playoffs, show me how we're going to get out of this funk, you know show me how better days are ahead, show me a mission statement, every business in the world has a mission statement right, what is the mission statement for the Vancouver Canucks going forward, like how are we going to bounce back from this awful

season? Why did we have such a great year last year and such an awful year this year? Show me. Show me. This is a team and I hate to bring this up. This is a hockey club without a practice facility.

And talk came from Pittsburgh. Stuff like that matters. After a practice, a coach would probably like to go into the video room at a practice facility and go over video with the players. And he can't do that right now. He can't do that right now at a practice facility in UBC or SFU. These owners aren't millionaires, they're billionaires.

It is very unacceptable for the Canucks to be one of two teams in the National Hockey League without a practice facility. Just get it done. Just get it done. Like you're a billionaire. You're not a millionaire. Just get it done. Calgary is going to get theirs with their new rink and then you're going to be left

the only guy out of 32 teams in the National Hockey League. How bad of a look is that? Like just get it done. Quit complaining about the real estate prices in Vancouver you know and just get it done. Like I so there's a lot of things to play Jason with Rick Tauket but I just think that I think both sides want to get it done. I've got no indication that Tauke doesn't want to come back. And here's the other thing for you. Look at the base he's working from. He's working from a base of a 90 point team, right? He's not working from the base of a team

that had 56 or 65 or 75 points. So the Canucks can do what Washington did, right? And turn it around quickly with a really good, smart summer. The Montreal Canadiens made the NHL playoffs with 91 points. Canucks were at 90, so there's something there. And the Canucks had a ton of injuries. When you're starting goaltender only plays 23 games, they only had two players that played 82. That's Bluger and De Bruyffs. So the base is there. It's not like they're Chicago or San Jose or Anaheim. There's something there to build off and quickly turn around this summer. And talk, it's got to be looking at that as well.

Look, we had 90 points. How would you like to be the Calgary Flames this morning, Jason? 96 points. They would have almost been sixth in the Eastern Conference. It's just, unfortunately for the Canucks, they're in a very tough conference. Like the Western conference is that much better than the East. And so, you know, look, there's something there to work with. It's not like there's a good blue line.

There's the, the goaltending is, is there, but they got to fix the forward group, the center ice position. And they can do that with a really good smart summer with some really good moves. So it's not like Tocket is sitting there going, I'm looking at a rebuild or I'm looking at, you know, five to eight years. No, he's looking at a team that got 90 points

with 160 to 180 man games lost with injuries, you know? So if I'm Tocket, I'm probably saying, you know what, I want to stay, fix this. I get to work with the best defenceman, one of the best defencemen on the planet. And there's more positives there than Tocket can see. Then he's not going to, where's Tocket going to go if he leaves?

He's going to go to a bottom feeder team because all the top teams aren't changing a coach. Well, speaking of that, Rick, I do want to ask, you know, there's been some confusion in the market about what's going on with that team option. And we've heard Elliot Friedman report that the Canucks have kind of dialed it back in terms of using that option against Rick Tauket essentially.

Is there a possibility that Rick Tocket, now that it's the end of the season, can go talk to other teams? No, he'd have to have permission from the Canucks. I just don't see that option working for the Canucks. I just don't see, okay, Jason Brough, you're a UFA. You're signing your next deal and it's a one year deal. That's not the way it works. If you're a UFA, what's the fight

with better right now? Security term. Do you think that Rick Tocque would come back on a one-year lame duck coach deal? I don't see it. He doesn't have to accept that option. He could go back to TNT. I don't see him accepting that option. I don't see him saying, okay, well guess what? I'll come back as a one year lame coach and then we'll go through all this crap about you got no contract, we'll do it all again. No, I just don't see him accepting. I'd be shocked if he. Well, I'd be shocked with that, but my question

is, so you know that he's not allowed to talk to other teams right now? No, there's no way unless his agent asks for permission. They're not there yet. They're trying to sign. They're legit. And you nailed it this week before anyone else that

the Canucks made an offer that is going to make Tocket think about staying. So they're still right now, I believe in the negotiation stage, uh, stuff like him asking for permission to talk other kids, they're not there yet. Yeah. I really do believe that both these teams, um, oh, no, sorry, both these sides, uh, Jason really

want to get it done. I, I do feel that. Um, okay. So, uh, which player are you going to be most curious to hear from at the presser today? We identified Quinn Hughes, Elias Pedersen, and Thatcher Demko. Cause we'd already heard enough from Brock.

Like we know what Brock has had to say, but we haven't heard from, you know, we haven't heard the final thing from Quinn or what Petey's plans are for the off season. And also Thatcher Demko's injury status. Like how are you feeling right now? Yeah, for me it's Pedersen and it's very simple. The Canucks made it public.

They want this guy to stay this summer, right? They made it public. So it's public. They want him to stay in train in Vancouver, but you can't force a national hockey league player to stay in train in that city. He doesn't live in Alberta or Saskatchewan where you can fly back and forth 10 times

so you can take a look at him. He lives in Sweden, which last time I checked is a 14, 15 hour flight. You can't force a player. I've never heard of a hockey club forcing a guy to stay. And so I wanna hear what Pedersen says and he will be asked today, what are your thoughts on the Canucks wanting you

to stay in training in Vancouver? I will say this, most players will go home after the season and kind of just kind of take a deep breath and you know, go home, take a deep breath. It's a grind. You've had injuries, you know, you had all this, the National Hockey League regular season is a very, very's a grind. You've had injuries, you know, you had all this, the National Hockey League regular season is a very, very much a grind. He'll go home. But I didn't hear the Canucks want him in Vancouver for four months. I'm guessing

that they want him to periodically check in, you know, with this training. But again, like, why do you guys, why are you checking in on the highest paid player on the team and not trusting that he's going to go home and do the training anyway? Right? So I want to see what Pedersen says today when he's asked about the fact, hey, the Canucks want you to stay in training. His answer today will be very interesting to me. You know, it's very, very interesting because the Canucks do not have the right to ask a player to stay in Vancouver.

Some do it, some don't, some go home, stay at home, some come back and forth. But I want to hear what Pedersen says about his training this summer. He did not show up to camp in great shape this season, but as his agent, Pat Person has told us, there was an injury he was dealing with. So I think this guy needs to go home.

I think he's currently dealing with a wrist injury. He needs to get a hundred percent healthy. And then he needs to have one hell of a summer, one hell of a heck of a summer, come back and training camp, be a difference maker. Because if he's not a difference maker, I don't care what the Canucks do on July 1st, I don't care what they do with trades. If he's not a difference maker and he's not earning that salary, it doesn't matter.

Exactly. They're screwed. They're screwed. They're screwed. Your number one center, your number one center can't have 45 points. He can't. Last year, when the Canucks had their great

season, Miller and Pedersen had close to 200 points. The top two centers for the Canucks this season did not even get a hundred points. Therein lies the difference between the playoffs and the not in the playoffs. Your top two centers have to be productive or you're in trouble. You're right. All the other, all the other debates are just noise.

Unless, unless it doesn't matter. It's mood, right? Like it's, he has to perform. Yes. You're paying them 11.6 million, not to get 45 points and be average. You're paying 11.6 to be a difference maker. Be a difference maker.

Show that you are a difference maker. 11.6 to be a difference maker. It be a difference maker. Show that you are a difference maker. That's why you got the money. You got the money because your points per game over the course of your career is really good. Now keep going there. Hey, I want to get a couple of things in before I go. I got a UFA and injuries. Can I go here? Yeah, go. Okay. So Brock Besser, obviously I do want to hear what he says today, Jason, because I think it is important what he says today. He clearly wants to stay, but the business side of hockey is rearing its ugly head.

Besser made it clear last week in an interview, it's looking like he won't be back. It terms the issue. Besser saw the Canucks give Patterson eight years. He saw the Canucks give Miller seven years. They offered him five. Until the term changes from the Canucks, he is most likely gone. Okay, let's go to Pia Suter. I'm not hearing that an offer has been made

to Pia Suter as of yet. Obviously, the season over now, they can get to his agent. There has been, been like preliminary talks, but there hasn't been an offer. So Souter obviously guys had scored 25 goals, had a great year and absolutely killed it. But here's the issue with Souter. The Canucks are looking for a second line center.

Philip Pita looks healthy, Bluger's under contract. You got to find ice time for Atu or Atu. So where does Suter fit in all that? And if he's going to get $4M a year on July 1st, I don't know if the Canucks can go there. Derek Forbert, tough ending, took the cheap shot. The Canucks like him a lot. One of the team's best PK guys. They have talked to his agent.

I can see the Canucks taking a run and resigning for Burt, but when he plays, Elise Pettersson, the defenceman, plays on the right side. So how long can you afford to keep playing that kid on the wrong side? Noah Juleson, the forgotten man. I want to say this about Noah Juleson. His season ended with hernia surgery. I am hearing he's back skating lightly. Juleson, his season ended with hernia surgery. I am hearing he's back skating lightly. Juleson very well liked by his teammates and coaches. Good team player, accepts his role, never bitches or whines. Good on the PK, good depth piece. But with the addition of Mancini, and we don't know what's going to go on with Willander, the

right side's getting crowded. Two years ago, Juleson had nine teams after him on July 1st. He'll be okay, guys, if he hits July 1st again. Canucks have not talked with Juleson's agent about the future yet. Obviously, those talks will happen. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.