Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 4/2/25

Episode Date: April 2, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss the latest news from around the NHL with Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, plus they preview tonight's Canucks home matchup versus the Seattle Kraken, as analyst Randip Janda joins the show.  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 tip of the left post! It's a must-win. Is it game seven? Pretty close. So game seven for tomorrow is our thought process. Where's your solution at center? Like the solution might be the guy you have there already. Duclair played only a little over 12 minutes. He was god-awful. Something was said, not good. Side-blooded, negative about everything. Duclair played only a little over 12 minutes. He was god awful. He was god awful.

Something was said. Not good. Side bloody negative about everything. Good morning Vancouver, 6.01 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. It is Halford, it is Brough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning. A-Dog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halferd and Bruv of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers.

They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal.

North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. Got a big show today on a Wednesday. It is a Canucks game day. Note the start time, 7.30 puck drop tonight

against the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Arena. Our guest list today begins at 630 this morning. Greg Waszynski from ESPN is going to join us. And you know what we can talk about with Greg this morning, Jason? The fact that Sportsnet has reached a new 12-year agreement for the national media rights to all NHL games on all platforms in Canada that starts in 2026-27. So we'll ask the ESPN guy about that. Yeah, he's been talking a lot about it. In a good way? I hope so. We'll soon find out. Anyway, that news. A lot of money, a lot of money for the NHL. That's right. So extending the agreement to over two decades with the National Hockey League and sports that got announced this morning. It's big news from a sports,

a business perspective. We'll talk a little bit about it. We can also talk to wish about those playoff races in the East and the West heated up even further last night during a 10 game slate. That's at six 30, seven o'clock Frank Sarah Valley is going to join the face off. Talk to him about if he's got anything on the news on the Rick talk at coaching front. That news popped off yesterday. It's Gabriel Landis cog going to return for the Colorado avalanche for the playoffs. Frank had some on that at daily face off.

I will also talk about the Western conference chase with Frank. He spoke with Mike Russo, but the Minnesota wild yesterday, Minnesota is now in the second and final wild card spot. The Wild are the team that everybody's chasing now. However, fleeting those hopes are in the West. Frank's gonna join us at seven o'clock to talk about all that. At eight o'clock, Randeeb Janda,

Canucks color analyst here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I mentioned it's the Canucks and the Kraken at 7.30 tonight. Lots of Canucks news to get into following the team's return to practice yesterday. So it's Rand Deep at eight, it's Frank Zeravalli at seven, it's Greg Wyshinski at 630. That's what's happening on the program today.

Laddie, 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? can be. What happened?

Did you miss that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. The Vancouver Canucks returned to practice yesterday and there were a lot of news and notes coming from that practice, specifically Rick Talk. It's post-practice media availability.

Let's start with the injury updates. Elias Pedersen and Phillip Heidel were not a part of practice yesterday. Both have apparently been skating on their own. Pedersen with an upper body injury, Heidel in concussion protocol. No clear signs on when either will return to the lineup. Although of the two, it sounds like Hedl is far more doubtful to return at all this season.

Yeah, Taka was saying Hedl is still having good days, but also bad days. So I don't think there's any sense in returning him to the lineup with eight regular season games left. And the Canucks very much in doubt of making the playoffs. Elias Pedersen sounds a little more optimistic about him returning, but let's say in a couple of games, cause it didn't sound like he's going to play in the next couple of games, let's say the Canucks are really out of it by then. Is there any sense in bringing him back for the final two games of the regular season? I, I, I really don't think there is.

Can't imagine there is. Um, Nils Hoegländer with an undisclosed injury wore a red non-contact jersey in practice yesterday. So he actually took part in the practice and those are your injury updates, which really were sort of the main news, but not really the main news from yesterday. There were a couple other things as well.

Do you want to get into the talk at contract stuff right away? really were sort of the main news, but not really the main news from yesterday. There were a couple other things as well. Do you want to get into the talk at contract stuff right away? Um, well, speaking of the center position. Okay. What did Freach say about Suter? It was Ladi, you played it in the intro. Good morning Ladi.

Um, what, what, what was Freach saying about Suter was he basically saying like, if you, if you've got an issue at center, maybe the piece is right there, maybe it's resigning Pugh suitor? It was more about the depth that's available, isn't that great? And your best option might just be the guy that's already with your team.

I'll be really curious to see if they re-ignite talks with Pugh suitor. I don't know if they've made him an offer at all, or if they've just heard his price and they don't really like his price, but I do wonder if they might circle back. But this all kind of, and this is a good way to jump off to the talk conversation. It's all part of like, Hey guys,

what are you going to do? The direction. The direction of the team because obviously how much money and how many years, the typical things, the main things you talk about in a contract negotiation are going to be important with Rick Tauken. I'm sure he wants a raise.

Um, and, but, you know, Tauken is 60 years old. Um, he's probably thinking like this right now is the prime of my coaching career. I would like to win another Stanley cup. Is it possible to do that with the Vancouver Canucks and how quickly are we going to do it? What's the plan with Quinn Hughes? Is he going to stay?

Um, how are we going to, I mean, we had, this isn't just me saying it, we had Rick Tauke on the show and I asked him, you know, about his comments about Pedersen in March, where he was saying like, oh, over the last 48, 72 hours, we've, we've been seeing things, Pedersen doing things that, you know, wow, I've been waiting all year for this. And I kind of asked him, I was like, well,

why wasn't it happening all year? And he said, well, that's something we're going to have to dive into this off season. So that's part of the plan, but a lot of it involves the center position, right? What's the, what's Heedle's outlook? I mean, that's a, that's, I mean, if you, unclear right now.

If you think about pretty much every center that the Canucks have, especially at the top of the lineup, there are major question marks and centre is just such an important position that if I'm the head coach, I want to know what's going on with that position, but I also want to know, hey, what's going on with Quinn Hughes? Can we get some, I keep saying this word, guidance

on what he's thinking and another guy we've talked about this week, what's the plan with Thatcher Demko? Is Kevin Lankin in my starter or do I have both guys? So the direction of the team is one major point that Rick Tauket and the management group are going to need to come together on. The other is the status of his contract options. So from Elliott Friedman yesterday, previously reported by Thomas Drance, the guaranteed portion of Rick Tuckett's contract expires on June 30th. Pretty standard stuff. Once it's July 1, coaches like a lot of players go to free agency on July 1,

except in this instance, there's a wrinkle. The Canucks do hold a team option for next season, 2025-2026. According to several sources of Elliott Friedman's, the Canucks do hold a team option for next season, 2025-2026. According to several sources of Elliott Friedman's, the Canucks are indicating that if Tauke is coaching next season, it will be in Vancouver, on his club option or with an extension. Their goal is to extend him, Fried explained, but they will exercise the option if it is necessary.

I wanna play the audio from Rick Tauke first, then we can dive into this more on the other side. Here's Rick Tauke from yesterday's practice, talking about the reports about his contract future and his future coaching in Vancouver. Yeah, it's private. Like, you know, I'm trying to be as honest as possible. I honestly am thinking, like trying to, you know,

get this team in and, you know, the direction, all that stuff, that's for another conversation, you another conversation with Jim and Patrick. I mean, we go way back, so we'll have those conversations. But right now, I'm thinking of how do you beat Seattle? I really am. I know people don't believe it. It's the truth.

And this is a great city. I walk around the city. It's a phenomenal city. The fans are great. So just say that. It's a phenomenal city. The fans are great. So, you know, just say that. It's a great city, but there's some things that we'll talk about down the road and it's not the right time right now. So the report suggested that the club has exercised its option to bring you back next

year. Whether an extension is done or not, has that been communicated to you? At this point, it hasn't been exercised, but that's not because of Jim and Patrick. It will be communicated when it gets done. And those guys have been great to me because they know I've been entrenched in this playoff drive. They've been great. So this is something that Drantzer reported last week but then Elliott kind of reported a similar thing and it blew up a little bit

more just because it's Freage and he has more of a national reach than Drantz. What? No, for real, he does. No, serious. But credit to Drantz for getting this first. So I think what's happening here is the Canucks are telling other teams, don't even bother with Rick Tauke. Back off. Yeah, he's ours.

And then they- Stop with the light tampering. And then they hug him. They're like, he's ours. He's our guy. Looking at you Danny Breyer. Yeah, looking at you Philly. Enough of the text messages.

Looking at you New York Rangers, if you, you know, once you end your regular season and you start your coaching search, don't even think about calling Rick Tauke because he's ours contractually. Is a winky face emoji a light tempering? The big question here, I think it is. The big question here is would the Canucks really force Tauke back behind the bench next season if he doesn't believe in the direction of the team?

I still can't see it no matter what they're saying. I think, again, I think this is a message for other teams, not so much Rick Tocket. Um, I know what the Canucks are saying. And again, both Drantz and Freach have reported that their goal is to extend them, but they will exercise the option if it is necessary. But tell me if this makes sense to you.

All right. Listen up. Tell me if this makes sense to you. Okay. I am listening. Okay. If any, if any, if any part you disagree with, stop me.

Okay. You can't bring a coach back on a one year deal if he's not all in. That would be insanity, right? That'd be insanity. Bring back the coach. You only said to stop you until you said something. Oh, okay. Oh, okay.

And by saying they would, they've kind of painted themselves into a corner from a negotiating perspective because if they trigger the option without an extension, so they say you're coming back, you don't have an extension, but you're coming back and you're going to be a lame duck head coach, whether you like it or not. That makes it look like he doesn't believe in the plan.

That makes it look like he hasn't signed on for a good reason. But if they let him walk, it also looks like he doesn't believe in the plan because he didn't negotiate, you know, like he didn't, the talks didn't work out and he was like, I don't believe in the plan. So basically they have to get him extended.

Otherwise it looks like he doesn't believe in the plan. So from a PR perspective, Tocket has so much leverage here because the Canucks are not going to look good if either they let them walk or they just trigger the option and say, you're coming back. Right. I mean, they could say, well, we couldn't come to terms on money, but then that doesn't help.

It's like, what do you mean? She couldn't come to terms on money. Yeah. Like, what? You want this guy? You're supposedly one of the big money teams. What did he want? Um, $11 million a season or something like that.

Of course you could come, could come to terms on that. The only thing that doesn't make sense is the looming threat of like, we're going to force you to come back. That doesn't make any sense. Nobody forces a coach or anyone, quite frankly, against their will to work or play or coach when they want to go somewhere else or if they want

to go somewhere else. The reports that first came from Drantz and then came from Freage about the club will exercise its option if it comes to that. I can only imagine that it has to be a message to the 31 other NHL teams and probably specifically the Philadelphia Flyers, don't bother. That's't bother. Don't even go down that road. That's the only thing that can make sense.

Because you're going to hold them at gunpoint. If a coach doesn't want to be here, at the end of the day, even if you really want him and he doesn't want to be here, you have to let him go. You can't force anyone to coach against him. You can't force anyone into doing it, especially on a one-year job. Imagine how unmotivated an individual would be. I was, wait this one out and then I'll go elsewhere.

So I think the messaging that's out there. And if I, you know, I thought about it last night, Bref and I were talking about this last night and we're like, this doesn't really make sense. Like as it's laid out, it's very, it's like, almost like there's a piece missing somewhere. Yeah.

That would tie it all together. Because again, you don't strong arm someone into coaching if you can't come to an agreement. You won't sign our contract? Fine. We'll force you to do it contractually. It just doesn't make sense. If it is a warning shot across the league that

he's staying here, we're going to get this done. Don't even do as Andy suggests, like sending emojis and light tampering, just leave it alone. Maybe it's to quiet things down. Maybe it's to, you know, snuff out any fires before the smoke raises. I don't know, but the reporting right now, as it stands, it feels like there's a component

missing that would tie it all together. Um, okay. A few people have texted this in and I don't, I don't know if this got, I don't know where everyone's coming up with this, if this was on social media or not. A lot of people texting in like, could the Canucks trade talk it and get a first round pick. That's gone a long time ago.

Like, what's that? Yeah, like I, that- That got shut down in 2015. There used to be- No, no, no. I think that's a little bit different. That's compensation, isn't it? Right, but you can't trade a coach. Well, isn't that what they mean? Compensation? You can't trade a coach. Well isn't that what they mean, compensation? Who did that with him? It used to be compensation if you were to acquire a coach.

It was Tortorello and the Blue Jackets. Didn't the Canucks do that though with somebody? Tortorello was the last one. Yeah. But I don't think it was like trading a coach. I don't know if you could. Because Tortorello was unemployed, but he was still being paid by the Canucks.

Right. And then the Columbus Blue Jackets wanted to hire him. They had to give a compensatory pick, and that was the last one, because the system wasn't working. I think everyone was like, well, he's not working. Why are we paying a compensatory pick on top of paying him his salary?

Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I don't think it's that, guys. I wouldn't give that. They want him back as a head coach. Yeah, that's what's going on. They want him back. They're not trying to get not, they're not trying

to get a draft pick from Rick Tog. Um, the only thing that kind of makes sense to me is that maybe they're just trying to, in a season where there has been a lot of tumultuous moments, a lot of noise is sat likes to put it. Sad always says they'd like to quiet things down and they'd like to maybe make less headlines and less noise in the

media, that maybe this is their way of just firing a shot across the league saying, don't worry about your thoughts and feelings towards our head coach. Once our season is done, as Rick Tuckett said, I'm only focused on the playoff chase. Once our season is done, we're going to get it done. Sorry, Andy. I mean, JR and Roslyn is texting in, like,

there's been a bunch of these. If he really wants to go to Philly and they really want him, could they say they'll sign them to the one year deal unless Philly gives us a draft pick? This could trade us a pick for future considerations. Again, let's not get held up or, you know, distracted by this idea that they could get a

draft pick for him. Even if that were to happen, okay, I don't want to talk about that much anymore, but even if- I don't think they can do it. But even if that were to happen, that's still optically not good for the Canucks because that is a guy that they have said they want back and

he's saying, no, I don't want to be here. Right? That, that's not an endorsement of the, of the future in Vancouver. If Rick Taka would rather go to Philly than Vancouver. So again, push back on how the Canucks

haven't kind of painted themselves into a corner when it comes to negotiating with Rick Taka. Like if they don't come to an extension with him, do you really see them bringing him back on a one year deal for him to be a lame duck head coach and he's not all that enthused about it?

How much you have to be, he always says like, you got to be all in. Like, is he going to be emotionally all in if they've essentially forced him back on the job? And if he walks, if they let him walk, that's yet another like, oh God, this guy doesn't, this guy doesn't believe in the plan. So maybe the Canucks are just willing to risk

that optics or PR disaster, which it very much would be if this guy that they've said is our guy and we really like the job that Rick Taukett has done. And ultimately he's not motivated enough to extend with the Vancouver Canucks. Tell me how that doesn't give a ton of leverage to Rick Taukett in these negotiations. See, I think, I kind of look at it differently.

As someone that wants this to go right and would love the team to get back to being in the playoffs and being a competitive team and not have this like very frustrating season that just passed, I hope that this is very much a group that is like, we have certain things that we want to get done the moment that our regular season is over. And it's a laundry list of things that need to get done. You can go down it, talk it, and then clarity on

Pedersen, Besser, Demko. We've talked about them at length. So if the number one priority is getting the deal done, then I don't have a problem with ceding all of your leverage to the coach and just being like, as soon as this is ready to go, we're gonna give you what you want to stay here. It'll be term, it'll be money, if that's what it ends up being, great. If that gets muddled, then we got a problem. If the, if the, this is gonna be as straightforward as they're making it out to be,

which is he's coaching here next year, come hell or high water, whatever way they get there, if they can get them to an extension, as long as this is done early, and then they can go with the business of, how are we gonna execute this plan? You know, I do wonder how much of a say Rick Talkett's gonna have in the two year,

I would say in the immediacy, the two year future of the club, what it looks like roster wise, what it looks like stylistically, how many guys that they currently employ can he work with moving forward and how many guys can't he? Those are big questions. But in order to answer any of those, you have to have him in our contract first.

Um, we got another text in unsigned text. Do you think this management group recognizes this year has had too much drama slash noise and wants to quiet down, quiet things down moving forward, or is this just their way of doing things? I mean, there are a lot of similarities to the Elias Pettersson contract situation with Rick Taukett. Obvious differences, of course. Like you can't threaten to trade Rick Taukett to Carolina, but.

He could. It does seem like they're quite publicly, I mean, the similarities is last year with Pedersen, they're telling the media and they're like, we want to get some certainty on Elias Pedersen. We need it. You know? And I remember that stage of it and people were

saying like, why don't you guys just let them wait until the off season? Why, that's what he wants. And I was like, well, why don't you guys just let them wait until the off season? Why, why that's what he wants. And I was like, well, the big deal is that the team wants him to talk now. The team doesn't want him to wait until the off season and they went so far as to again, threaten to trade them to Carolina, according to reports.

You sign this contract, you commit to us long term or we're going to deal you and we've got a deal in place. Now you can't do that with Rick Tauket, but you could argue that there's some strong arming going on here. You could basically saying like, no, talk like you're not going anywhere else and other teams,

you're not signing them. You're either basically coaching with us next year, or you're not coaching in the NHL. That's what they're saying. Is a compensatory pick, compensatory pick, is that allowed anymore? Because in 2017 they got a second round of retorts.

And that was the last time it happened. Yeah. So I was going to ask, is that even a thing anymore? They stopped doing it after that. Okay. So you actually can't do that. Why are you so focused on this? I'm just wondering if that's an option that they would actually be like, okay, well, let's get a They stopped doing it after that. Okay, so you actually can't do that. Why are you so focused on this?

Oh, I'm just wondering if that's an option that they would actually be like, okay, well, let's get a pick for him if he's not gonna come back and another team really, really, really wants him, like, Philly. You know, I was just curious. It was 20, it was 2015 when Commissioner Gary Battman,

they did it at the Board of Governors, and they said, we're no longer doing this compensatory thing for coaching. It was a small window where they tried it and a lot of it had to do with the National Football League where it's a lot more commonplace. The practice is pretty, I wouldn't say routine, but there's enough moments in history where it's happened that other leagues were kind of toying and experimenting with it. The NHL tried it and they shut it down. Baseball had a form of it as well, as well.

I remember the Blue Jays when John Farrell left got compensation. Basically, it was supposed to try and curb what Andy referred to as light tampering, where you would start questioning a coach while he was currently employed by one team. And the teams that were losing coaches were saying, he would have stayed with us

if not for getting this sort of like option or this interest from another team, that should have been illegal. I really want some compensation for it. I really think we're focusing on the absolute wrong thing. Well we are. By talking about this compensatory draft.

Why are you just answering listener questions? I mean a lot of people are curious about it. Well I know, but I could be wrong about this, but I don't think so. I just, I don't think it's a factor. I think they want him back. Yeah. And they're basically saying to the league and

maybe to him as well, like you're not going anywhere else. So even if you're interested in this Philly job, you're not taking it. And we're willing to swing the hammer and say, Like you're not going anywhere else. So even if you're interested in this Philly job, you're not taking it and we're willing to swing the hammer and say, no, you're coming back here. And if you don't want to come back here, then you can go back to TNT and you can take a year off from

being a head coach because contractually that's what we negotiated with you. It's our option. We negotiated it. You agreed to it. And if we have to swing the hammer, we're going to swing the hammer. We're not looking for draft pick compensation. We're looking for you to coach this team. Now, the reason they might feel comfortable doing this and they might be able to tell Rick,

like this wasn't about you. This was about us really wanting to do this. And they might be able to tell Rick, like, this wasn't about you, this was about us really wanting you and telling other teams, this was about other teams, hands off, he's our guy. And the reason they might feel comfortable doing that is because they have a good relationship with Rick Taukett and Rick Taukett always says

that too, I have a great relationship with Jim and Patrick. We go way back. I'm sure we'll figure something out here. And he loves the city. I still would be shocked if, let's say they have this big conversation after the season and Jim and Patrick lay out their plan for fixing the team. And Rick goes, I don't believe in that plan.

I, you know, I've, there's great slide shows. Maybe there's a slide show presentation on what they're doing. I don't know if they still do slide shows. A lot of props. But you know, if he says, I don't know about this. I don't know if I can be all in on this. I very much doubt they'd be like, well, you're

in on it anyway, because we've got this option and you're coming back. Yeah, I see. I think he would just end up going back to TNT or taking a year off. I think it might be the other way around is that they're like, you are going to be a part of making this plan with us.

I think they believe in him that much. I really do. Oh yeah, but I mean, I don't consider that the other way around, but he might look at it like, how many times have we looked at this situation in Vancouver and gone like, sometimes you're just screwed. Sure. Right? And like, if-

But there's always that one trade. No, no, no, but, or, I mean, what's- Always that one trade on the horizon. Let's be honest here. What's the biggest way the Canucks turn around next season? What's the biggest way the Canucks turn around next season? What's the biggest way the Canucks turn around next season? They dramatically improved the center position. No, Pedersen comes back and plays like he can.

Or you trade him. And Demco stays out. But if you trade him, you are not finding a player that can play as well as Pedersen does when he's on his game. You are not finding it, not for next season and probably not for the season after that. It's not gonna be Sam Bennett. Sam Bennett, you know, like it's, it's, it's, you gotta sign the guy and then he's gotta play up to the level that Pedersen played up to.

When? At his highest level, when he scored 100 points. But you're, but this entire, and I know we're way up against it for time. That entire argument is on the pretense that he's ever going to find that form again in Vancouver. But that's what I'm saying. I think that's what I think it might be better served. Mike, that's exactly what I'm saying. That's that's exactly what I'm saying. If you trade him, it's like the whole idea was like sometimes you're screwed.

If you talk, it doesn't believe that Pederson can reach those levels again, and he's like I don't know if I want to go through this again Why do you think he told us when we asked him like hey? What was going on with Pederson? He said well, that's something we're really gonna have to dive into this offseason He knows that that that that bringing him back and him playing at a high level is the best hope you trade him What are you gonna resign suitor and hope that like like it's just that's Clearly the best-case scenario and all these people that say all brotha is always ripping on PD And he wants him traded out of here. No what I want is Pederson to return to form

That's what I want and if theyen to return to form. That's what I want. And if they can figure out a way to do it, awesome. That would be great. That is the ultimate. Because if they trade him, it is going to be very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very difficult to find a center that can reach the levels that Pedersen has reached 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.

Frank Ceravalli joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Frank, how are you? Pretty good, how you guys doing? We're well. I wanna start with a brief bit of audio from yesterday's media availability after Canucks practice where head coach Rick Tocket was asked

about his contractual status and the reportsauket was asked about his contractual status and the reports that are out there about his contract. We'll play the audio and then pick it up on the other side. Here's Canucks head coach Rick Tauket from yesterday's practice talking about his coaching future in Vancouver. This is a great city. You know, like I walk around the city,

it's a phenomenal city, the fans are great. So, you know, just say that. You know, it's a great city, but there's some things that we'll talk about down the road and it's not the right time right now. So the reporting that's out there is that the Canucks are saying that if Tocket coaches next season, it's gonna be in Vancouver.

It'll either be with an extension or via the club's option. And they will exercise that option if necessary. So I guess a two-part question for you. Are you hearing the same things doing your reporting and do you have anything new to add to the Rick Tuckett coaching situation in Vancouver? I guess the easiest way for me to say this is there's still so much to be determined.

I don't think it's nearly as cut and dried as you just presented it. And that's not to knock anyone else's reporting. I just think there's like the cart has been put way before the horse and it's great that the Canucks are confident or at least appearing to be confident in this idea or notion that if Rick Tocque is coaching anywhere that it's gonna be in Vancouver next season, I would just say that a lot needs to happen between now and then.

And it's, again, it's not just financials. This is a clear, concise direction on the future of this franchise and this team needs to be determined by the people who are running it. And that's the easiest and cleanest way to say it. Is it fair to suggest that this might have been a shot across the bow of the rest of the league to say that if you're interested in having Rick talk it as your head coach, don't worry about it because he's going to be coaching with us next year? Yeah, I mean, that's like the general manager

out there that's posturing, match any offer sheet. Okay. Let's see what happens. I mean, I just think making any sort of bold plot proclamation without having an extension done or a deal done is it's false bravado is what it is. Is it also a PR risk in that if you don't get an extension done, you've essentially shown the world that the head coach, the guy that you really want

doesn't believe in your plan? No, I think because it's a little bit more complicated than that. And I think if you, I mean, what's the old saying you plan, God laughs. I get, there's a lot that needs to go together with, um, just having a plan. It's executing and bringing in the required players. It's showing a clear path for, uh, the ones that they, the prospects that they believe in along the way. It's, it's allcompassing. It's including pay and financials on this

next contract. It's messaging. It's reducing the volume and noise and drama that surrounded this team. It's having people and players that buy into team culture. It's so many factors and facets which is why I would say there's too many layers for this for me to accurately at this point in time even give you a handicap of how I believe this is going to go. I really don't think that they've spent a ton of time diving into that stuff just yet. I think they've had some cursory conversations. Um, but this is an all encompassing thing and, and with a couple of weeks left in the season and with Rick Tocket really focusing on trying to get this team into

the postseason, that's really what it's been all about from his perspective. I don't think that he spent a whole pun of time dwelling on his own situation. Do you think there are still issues in the room even though JT Miller is traded? I don't know that I'd be able to accurately handicap that either. I haven't heard a ton and I think the way that this team has fought for each other, um, given the, the injuries in the lineup and, and things of that nature to try and hang in the race as long as they can.

I think that that would suggest that there's a pretty healthy group right now, but again, that's really just my outside perception from 2500 miles away. Um, I want to talk a little bit about Minnesota cause I heard them being discussed on the station and I thought this was kind of interesting, but also kind of funny.

Is there a chance that they could have all three Minnesota Brocks next season? Brock Faber they already got, Brock Nelson, and Brock Besser. I think so. Um, I think it's probably a little bit of a stretch from a salary cap perspective. Now I know that the wilder having that $14.7 million in dead

space come off their books, but they're also going to be handing a huge chunk of that to Kirill Kaprizov and his next contract, which will likely be extended this summer. And so he's getting a chunk of that. The cap is also increasing. And so the wild should be in pretty good position. And it's incredibly nice for them to have Brock Faber locked up on a long term deal, which feels like a bargain at this already before it's even begun. But to then add Nelson and Bexar, um, it's...

I also just don't, like, I think Nelson fits with what they want to do. And yeah, I think they'd love to find more players that can contribute to their scoring issues or inconsistencies. I just don't know that Vestor's game necessarily lines up with the style of team that Bill Garan has formed. Now, it could be wrong. That's just my look at it. But that plus the dollars, I'd say it's obviously a greater than zero chance, but I wouldn't

put an incredibly high probability on it. What up, Brandy? Good morning, boys. How are you doing? We're good. It's obviously a greater than zero chance, but I wouldn't put an incredibly high probability on it. What up, Brandy? Good morning, boys. How are you doing? We're good. Lots to unpack from yesterday's practice. We got health updates on Elias Pedersen and Philip Heidel

and Nils Hoeglander. We got Rick Tocket talking about his contractual coaching future. We got him getting a little testy. We didn't even get into the Leckar and Mackie thing from yesterday. My god, we got so many things to parse through ahead of tonight's game. 730 puck drop, a reminder for everybody listening. It gets a Seattle crack in it, Rogers Arena. What was your big takeaway from yesterday's practice and media availability?

Yeah, I think it has to be the contract. Obviously, that's the one question with Elliott's report coming out earlier on in the day and the day before for that matter. You know, Rick Tauke has been consistent in the way that he's talked about saying, hey, I don't want to discuss this right now. This is the end of the season thing that he's really like to focus on and to his credit, he's something he's been saying since training camp in Penticton guys. So he's been consistent on that front, you know, where this is going to lead. Obviously, there are some options that the team has. Literally, they have an option where,

you know, they can deal with a certain way. They can push back teams and say, hey, he's under control and we're going to exercise that option. We'll see if they do that or do they strike a deal before that. But I think the biggest talking point, even though, of course, the playoffs, you know, this team dropping a couple of games in a row is front and center. You mentioned the health concerns with some of the players, but Rick Tauket and what he's meant to this team over the last couple of years,

winning the Jack Adams, no doubt that has to be kind of the elephant in the room right now. Is the messaging from the Canucks, and I don't necessarily mean the public messages, but via reporters and Thomas Drantz also reported the same thing that Elliott Friedman reported. Is that less for Tocket to hear and more for other teams in the NHL to hear?

It certainly feels that way just to let everybody know, hey, we do have a plan with our coach and, you know, talk it to his credit also mentioned that once the season's over, they'll sit down, they wanna talk some things through. And of course, the sense I get guys is there does seem to be some optimism there just to say, we just wanna get through with this and we'll figure something out.

But no doubt there's a, you know, there's a, this conversation seems to be more directed to whether it's the Philadelphia's, the world, whether it's other teams that are looking coaches at the end of the year, it just feels like there's an external message that needs to be sent. And internally, I would argue this regime, you know, the way that they act when they go on a deal, they get it done pretty quickly. It comes out of nowhere sometimes. And I could see it playing out this way with Rick Tauket, excuse me as well. But you know, right now with this amount of games

to go, eight games to go, you're trying to make a playoff push. The coach is trying to focus on his job. I think it's more probably the organization just saying, Hey, to the other team, just back up a little bit. We got some work to do here. I still can't fathom a scenario where

Tauke it is back on that option without an extension. Can you? No, I can. And part of the reason that's the case is the alignment with this management group and Rick Tauke it, you know, Jim Rutherford, Patrick Alveen, they wanted him here. They brought him in and this is a coach that has a lot of respect for them and they have a lot of respect for him.

That's why I think there's got to be a conversation at the end of the year and say, obviously the threat of using the option is, to your point, kind of backup teams a little bit, whether that actually happens or not. I think that was a very important question in yesterday's availability of has it been exercised or not and talk it that at this point in time, it hasn't. So, you know, it's more than anything. Guys, this is about leverage, not only internally,

but external leverage as well, making sure that teams know, you know, we have this option, we will employ it, but do I see it happening? No, one year contracts for coaches, especially a reigning Jack Adams winner, it just doesn't make sense. There's a lot of interest. Of course, there would be interest for a guy that was at the top of his profession last year, but this is going to be a negotiation.

There's going to be a conversation, money, term, and of course, the direction of the team who's coming in, having a say in all of that, like that's what coaches want. So, you know, I think the overall alignment between this management group and this coach, he is their guy going back to a different organization. I just couldn't see the fact that, you know, I

couldn't see him coming back on that option on a one year deal. It just wouldn't make much sense to me. You mentioned leverage there. Doesn't Tocket himself have a ton of it considering, can you imagine the PR if they don't come together on an extension, the only conclusion we could draw is one of two things, either the Canucks didn't

meet his price or more likely Tocket didn't believe in the plan. Yeah, that's fair. And I think, you know, if it goes to that point, guys, there's a couple of things that we haven't really talked about outside of Rick Tauket and the fact that this is going to be a big summer, right? There's plenty of decisions to be made.

Rick Tauket is one of them, but we talk about the center position, you know, Elias Pedersen, obviously, Pugh's suitors rise to be a much more important player to this team than we all expected at the beginning of the year. The health of Philip Headle, you go to Brock Besser, what's going to happen there, adding more wingers in general, and then that's the immediate short term. Then we start looking at the long-term questions with Quinn Hughes and making him happy and keeping him happy. So, of course, as a coach you want clarity on where does all of this stand, what kind of path is there going to be in the short term and the long term.

And in that, with all that information, there is no doubt leverage there. You are the reigning Jack Adams winner. And we'll see where that goes this year. But as of right now, you know, there's a lot of respect for Rick Tauke across this league. He would not be a coach that's going to have a lack of interest for him if he's available. But of course, there's leverage on that side. The Canucks do have leverage in the option. Now, is that realistic leverage is the question because you can force that and say, hey, like get back to the table or, you know, if that was something that was holding them back. But the fact of the matter is, yeah, the leverage is in the coach's hands here

because rarely in sports do we see that option exercise. Rarely do we see a coach stick around for one year. I would say Rick Toggett has a lot of the leverage but of course the relationship and you know overall the trust and the alignment with the management group is what makes that conversation a little bit more equal and even. You've got a management group that you know you have to have alignment with that person that you that brought you in so to speak. Now, of course, Philadelphia has Keith Jones, who is somebody that seems to be pretty close with Rick Tauket as well. They have, you know, know each other going back and Keith Jones holds them in higher guard.

But the fact of the matter is, I think the alignment that you have with Rutherford and Alveen, it's probably a little bit more of a special relationship for Rick Tauket. Randip, I just want to play some audio from Rick Tauket. He was asked if he'd like to find more minutes for Jonathan Leckermacky and his answer was pretty, pretty strong. Well, we have, you know, we've got some pitfalls.

Your team's working hard. I don't know where you want me to play them. You want me to play in the center? Okay. No, I'm just saying I'd like, what do you want? He's on the power play he's a young kid you know you got to be careful we know what we're doing when it comes to young guys you know I think you guys in the past were the franchise of

putting guys too quickly I think so I mean we're not doing that we're gonna you know think we're just gonna take our time there it's the same thing with Pederson that's the same thing Mancini you got it you got to mar these guys, got to give them some good times, good, you got to protect them. So we're protecting their confidence. I think they've done a hell of a job, these young guys in this road trip. This is a good taste for these guys. And whether they play 10, 12 minutes or I get them on a shootout, when I put them out

there, I'll make those decisions. What did you think about that answer, Randy? Yeah, that you could call it testiness kind of came out of nowhere because the question right before that was about his contract and he took it straight up. There was no directness or he was being pretty honest and I think he was being honest in this question as well with Johnson Leckermackia. I think these comments, he is a young player. There's going to be peaks and valleys. There's going to be that game against New Jersey where he looked great. Sure, he played some 10 minutes in that game. But guys, after that, you know, Lekermacky's

done some decent things, but you have to stand out in the minutes that you play. You have to develop, I think, some consistency. And you talk to any coach in this league and saying the toughest part about being a professional NHL player is backing up that one effort, that one good effort with a couple of them or string four or five games together. And, you know, we're not talking about a player that's been playing six, seven minutes. We're talking about a guy that's played 12 minutes, 11 and a half minutes. So I have no problem with, you know, Jonathan Lekromacki hovering in that range. This is a player that's going to have to find his rhythm, he's gonna have to find

his groove. He sometimes does tend to be a little bit more perimeter. And I would say the last two games he has been that, you know, you compare that to some of his line mates, even Linus Carlson has been able to get to the middle of the ice, obviously an older player more pro experience. So I have no problem with the coach saying, hey, let me handle this guy the way I want to handle him. Remember, this is a management group that has also had the Wiltsbury system, right?

Where they let guys season for a long time before they gave them a shot. So they do like to handle players with kid gloves, so to speak, where you don't want to throw them in too deep. You don't want to add too much pressure. So with the Leckermacky, you want to see more, no doubt. Does that necessarily mean more ice time right

off the bat? Or is it, hey, show me what you got in 11 and a half minutes. And if you deserve that game to game, I will give you more. Does Leckermacky at least deserve to be on PP1 compared to Connor Garland? I think at certain moments, like last game

against the Winnipeg Jets, you know, Connor Garland is doing everything out there, right? So, you know, that's a player where if he's the straw that serves a drink to, so to speak, and he's trying to, you know, generate any last couple of games, he's just hounding the puck. I don't mind having Garland there because if he's feeling it, if he's going guys,

this is a player that's going to get to the middle of the ice. I know with Jonathan Leckermackie, of course, he's able to work that left-hand side. He can be assertive at times, but we've also seen maybe moments on that power play. He's not exactly all that prominent either. So I'm with you, Jason.

I think that's an in-game adjustment. I don't necessarily think that's a, hey, that's his spot. Because let's be honest, as a young kid that's still trying to find his way in the NHL, he's not going to have a spot in the top six or the top power play where guys like Connor Garland, if they're going, if he's feeling it, I'd still like him in that spot. I know sometimes maybe he's not the biggest threat with his shot, but he's a heck of a playmaker when he's feeling it. Yeah. And the tough thing is the Canucks aren't

getting many power plays lately. And that's kind of a league wide thing and something we talked about with Greg Wyshinski earlier. And if you want to download the podcast, Randeeb, you can listen to Hour One when Greg comes on and talks about the article he wrote on that.

Enjoy the game tonight and we'll chat again soon, buddy. Before we let you go, can you please tell us about your good friends at Bells and Whistles? All right, boys. They just dropped the mighty burger. You might like this. Smash beef patty, bacon, onion ring, barbecue sauce and cheese.

All right. So let's go. Yes. Get out Bells and Whistles, 3296 Frazier Street in the Fra Fraser hood. I'm so emotional right now. My favorite burger ever. It's the greatest burger ever.

It's so beautiful. It's the most delicious burger of all time. Maybe I should look into my voice for tonight's game. How about that? But check out Bells and Whistles for any game day, boys. Sounds good, buddy, thanks. Cheers. Randy Janda, Connex Color Analyst here

on the Haliford Abender Show on Sportsnet 650. I love a good Smashburger. Oh man, that burger sounds amazing. You make those at home, don't you, Halford? I do on occasion, yeah. Nice cast iron skillet. You know what I actually- Why don't you ever made us one?

Sorry? Why haven't you ever made us one? I've never made you anything. I've never invited you to my house. Let alone, of all the things to make someone to bring into the studio, the Smashburger would be very is very where do you put do you put your skillet on the barbecue? I have on occasion Do you just so those skillets because they're getting a lot more popular now? Do you put them on the stovetop? You can yep. No, no, like what are your options you can put? Okay, so it's a cast iron skill like around Yeah, not because I also have like the flat rectangle that you put on top of the barbecue grill so you can cook okay ones

at a time and these aren't the electric skill it's like there's not the middle there's a cast iron over an open flame it's the only way to do it I get the proper crust on the smash burger if you do it in dad do you need a gas stovetop you can do it with electric they don't recommend you put cast iron on top of an electric stove like the the flathead. But whatever, I do it anyway. Cooking. It's a safety thing, but who cares? I've destroyed both myself and the pan.

Cooking smash burgers indoors, you have to be prepared for like an unholy smoky mess. Yeah, that's what I don't like. Our fan isn't powerful enough, so like the smoke alarm goes off and everything. Oh yeah, I know about that. I have to crack all the window, or not crack, like put the windows wide open, fire up the fan as high as possible. Actually, I brought in, sometimes I bring in a second fan. So is it better to just do it on the barbecue outside then?

Yeah, it's mostly like if it's in the dead of winter and you want a burger and you don't want to go outside. Yeah, yeah. Well, Halford, I think you need to invite us over and make a smash burger. It's not going to happen. I think it'd be really nice if you do that. Probably not. I like that too. I don't want you in my house. Sounds delicious. I don Halford, I think you need to invite us over and make a smash burger. Not gonna happen. I think it'd be really nice of you to do that. Probably not. I like that too.

I don't want you in my house. Sounds delicious. I don't care for any of you. The dogs are hungry. A dog with dogs gotta eat. Dogs gotta eat. I bet a dog's a snooper. Yeah, I see that.

Can you see that? Yeah. Like a dog tours around the house. Yeah, I was like, oh, where's your bathroom? I was like, a dog's been gone for like 45 minutes. Oh, but the dust behind your mirror, I noticed there. Like Dwight, like a... he's asking about your medications. I helped myself to some of that old medicine I found in the cabinet.

Dwight at what's his name's house. Yeah. Checking the foundation of the house. Okay. You know why you guys can come over for burgers sometimes. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.