Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 4/2/26

Episode Date: April 2, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they chat a big 8-6 Canucks win over the Avs, plus the boys look ahead to tonight's 'Nucks matchup at Quinn Hughes' Minnesota Wild with analyst Randip Janda. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Whoa. Wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose the fucking Canucks?

Da-na-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Besser, cutting across the Colorado line, right circle with Roots shoots and scores. What a wrist shot from Brock Besser. It's his 20th of the season. and second of the game, and it's six to Canucks. Labs don't know what hit him. And boom goes to dynamite.

Just speaks to the guys. We've been talking about playing more aggressive and competing harder, and I think we've done that. Good morning, Vancouver, 6-01 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. It is Halford, it is Brough, it is SportsNet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios in beautiful Mount Pleasant in Vancouver.

Jason, good morning. Good morning. Addo, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halvard and Breb in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have credit card debt?

If you do, Sands and Associates can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We're coming to you live from the Kintech Studios.

Step Strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech. If you want to text into the show, 650, 650 is the number of the Dunbar Lumber. Text line trusted by contractors and DIY champions across Metro Vancouver for generations. Find them at three convenient locations or visit Dunbar Lumber Online today. All right. Let's get to our guest list. It's the Duke Morning Drive brought to you by the Duick Auto Group.

It begins at 7 o'clock. Adnan Verk from MLB Network. is going to join the program. We'll talk about the Blue Jays who lost to the Rockies yesterday and with it lost the series as well. We can also talk about ABS, the hottest thing in baseball. The twins set a record yesterday, Jason. Nine challenges in a single game.

They won eight of them. Pretty impressive. Was there any CB Buckner news yesterday? There was not in a good way. Oh. He took a hundred mile an hour foul ball tip to the head. Oh. Yeah.

Yeah, and I look like a jerk for calling him. out yesterday. You do look like a jerk. Gladdy's the game with injury. How often do do umpires leave games with injuries? He's a human being. He is. He's going to be replaced by a robot, but he's a human being. He's going to be replaced by a big robot. What is this doing to MLB umpires? We'll talk to Adnan and Verk about that at 7 o'clock. 7.30, Scott Rintoul's going to join the program. You of course know him as the former Sportsnet 650 host, now the host of the Better Sports Parents podcast. He had long time. other Shane Donne on his pod recently.

We'll talk to Scotty about the current state of youth sports, but maybe also get his thoughts on the local sports scene as well. Rintoul is going to join us at 7.30. 8 o'clock, it's Randy Janda, Kinnock's analyst right here on Sportsnet 650. He was on the call for an absolutely wild and crazy night for the Knox in Denver last night, in which the Kinnucks scored a season high, eight goals in an 8-6 win against the Colorado Avalanche. Lots to unpack there.

think in terms of at least the betting line, that was the biggest single game upset of the NHL season last night. Randineep's going to join us at 8 o'clock to talk about it all. So it's only three guests today. The first hour of this show is all uninterrupted Halbro. We got a lot to get into without further

ado. Laddy, 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? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance.

Making safety simpler by giving construction companies to best in tools or resources and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. Last night at Ball Arena, Brock Bester with the hat trick. Vancouver Canucks and a six game losing streak. And boy, how did they? An 8-6 win in an absolute roller coaster against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Wednesday night. There are some Canucks games where I run through all the goals. I'm not going to do that this morning.

You take up the whole show. We don't have all day. But that was a really fun game. You know, sometimes, and we're going to have to do this probably during the rebuild, sometimes we're just going to have to enjoy a hockey game for what it is. Now, the Canucks haven't given us a ton of enjoyable hockey games this season. But last night, you forget about the standings, you forget about where the Canucks are. you know, you forget about the fact that it's probably going to be a multi-year rebuild back to being a contender.

And you can just, you know, enjoy a hockey game. It was a wild one. True fun, Jason. It was true fun last night. It was. I'm sure the abs are furious with how they played. No fun whatsoever. Because they were super sloppy right off the bat and clearly took the Canucks too lightly.

But Colorado's lack of respect for the NHL's worst team made for. a pretty entertaining game. So I'm glad they did it. I'm glad they disrespected the Canucks in that fashion. That's the secret recipe. What is it? Oh, a lack of respect. Vancouver went up early on a goal by Max Sasson just 29 seconds into the game.

Sleepy play by Josh Manson made that happen. And amazingly, the Canucks just kept scoring and scoring to the point. But they held a four-goal lead over arguably the Stanley Cup favorites in Denver. Now, in an eight-six games, the Avs scored a few two. The Canucks were up six-two after Brock Besser's second goal of the contest, and that was with about five minutes left in the second period. After which the abs proceeded to score four unanswered goals, eventually tying it up with six minutes left in the third.

Surely the Canucks were going to lose again. The momentum was not on their side. But the Canucks immediately answered the tying goal with a goal of their own. Marcus Pedersen. Everyone's expected him to score. Of all guys made it 7 to 6 and then Besser completed the hat trick into the empty net. I want to play the winning goal by Marcus Pedersen, who had himself a knight. One goal, the winning goal, two assists, plus four.

trade him now. Here's the winning goal by Marcus Patterson. Canucks are back for checking in the Colorado zone. Brock Besser behind the net feeds. High slot Marcus Pederson with the one-timer scores. Marcus Pedersen for the left circle beats Scott Wedgwood

and the Caducks have the lead back in this roller coaster of a hockey game. Vancouver leads seven to six with 539 left. What is going on in this game? 13 goals. What is going? going on in this game. 14 goals by the end of it, too.

Brock Besser hat-trick into the empty net. A lot of guys padded the stat sheet last night. Brock Besser, hat-trick to give him 21 goals on the season. Okay. So I want to... I know this was in your notes. Okay. The part where I won the bet was...

Wasn't in the notes because I had forgotten about our bet. Because every time... Listen, I don't want to disrespect you the same way the abs disrespected the Canucks. Sure. But like every time I make a bet with you, I just assume I'm going to... Okay, so what? Normally do, right? Here, we need to clarify.

I'm still waiting for that dinner from three years ago. Yeah, welching on that bet. I can't remember what that was from the Edmonton series. Oh, yeah, that was all that time ago. Which of course was two years ago. We've had a few Christmas dinner since then. Don't count. I don't think those count.

I don't think those count. Not part of the bet. Okay, question. Not part of the bet. The bet that we had started with a conversation whether or not the Connucks would have a 20 goal score this year. That question has been answered. As you put it, Brock Bessner now has 21 on the year.

I think it dovetailed. into a conversation about who the Kinnock's leading score, goal score was going to be by the end of the year. And you took Drew O'Connor. It did. So either way, it's not looking great for me. Because Brock Bester is now on a rocket ship to the moon, whereas Drew O'Connor, I believe, is still stuck on 17, which is a problem.

So Jake DeBreska has 17 as well. Yeah. He scored last night. That's his 14th power play goal. I love that ratio, by the way. So in all in all seriousness, I know I said, oh, trade Pedersen, Marcus Peterson now while his value is high, Jake DeBrasco is probably not going to be on the team next season.

It doesn't sound like, I know he walked back those comments earlier, but I think there's a pretty good chance that he's like, I'm okay if you want to trade me, and the connects are like, we're okay with it. He's going to walk back the walk back. I wonder if he, well, I do wonder what's going to happen. Who knows? But some team out there that is struggling on the power play and needs a net front guy with great hands and the ability,

to get there and get a stick in the right position or tip puck's home. That's a guy that you should target. He's very good at that. Now, at five on five, he needs to be more effective, but maybe with a more effective center or just a different combination, he can be. We all know he came from Boston and there were inconsistencies there. So he's not ever going to be the perfect player,

but there are some things that he does really well. and being the net front on the power play is one of them. So, you know how you often talk about when you get players on bad teams like this? You have to sell a story to other teams about wanting to trade them. Yes. I think, I think that you could go to someone in the offseason and say, hey, we know we had a bad year and, you know, DeBrask, like a lot of our players, struggled.

However, consider what he was able to do, the rows that grew from concrete in this awful year. I looked at it last night. He's seventh in the NHL. in power play goals. Yeah. He's top 10. The leader is Wyatt Johnson, who, I mean, he's got more than 50% of his goals on the paper.

But if you look at it, and I know some of the names kind of jump out and you're surprised that they're there. I think Nebraska would be won't. But you could say in a year where we were the worst team in the National Hockey League, this guy still managed to carve out a niche where he was a top 10 power play goal score in the NHL. Teams would absolutely, absolutely be interested in the question to hire. Just blame it on PD.

Right. Just blame the 5 on 5 stuff on PD. PD is. We didn't generate anything at 5 on 5 on 5. with on the on the power play um to make things happen um most of his passes on the power play that lead to goals he's he's not moving his feet he's just standing there yeah right and he still has he still has that great vision and he's a good passer i've compared him to an aging quarterback that isn't going to be mobile but you can still make passes from the pocket yeah you know it's like as long

as he gets protection yep a lot of his assists are on the power play and that pass he made to DeBrusk was a really good one he just you know when he's got time and space and and and you know like he's again he still has

has the vision but at five on five he's not very effective now Brock Besser is having a lot of success in the last little while because I think he's got a line or he's got a center that works a little bit better for him I mean Brock was stuck with David Komp for much of the

earlier of the early season. Yeah, Adam Fott mentioned that post-game. Yeah, well, it's like, it's like, oh, did he? What do you say? He's talking about Brock's season and how he was able to break out offensive. He said, he didn't frame it quite as, you know, David Kump's lack of offensive prowess. He said that when he was playing with Komp, they were more of a defensively responsible line. That's the class-half-full approach. That's the way to put it. Okay. Yeah, that's the spin. Teddy Bluger also had a pair of goals,

including one short-handed. Him not being moved at the deadline to me, and I know there's a multitude of reasons for. I know for sure. But that's the same thing as the Heronic argument to me. I watch him play. How is he not on a team going to the playoffs right now? He would have been such a valuable addition to any team going to the postseason because he could do a lot of different things.

We've seen the heights of his offensive prowess when he was on the third line back in the day. I just feel like that was a real opportunity missed from an organization that, again, maybe isn't taking all the necessary steps to truly maximize assets going into a reboot. I know you like Bluger. I mean, not you, you, the collective you. Well, I do like BlueGra. I like him too, but yeah, they should have been able to get something for them.

Yeah, anyway, I just want to throw that in there. He was on a line with Max Sasson and Linus Carlson, and we've spoken pretty glowingly about Linus Carlson. I think he's been one of the few good stories for the Vancouver Connection. I think it's certainly something that the development group in Abbottford can hang their hat on because it took a while. And there was work to be done, work to put in. But the Canucks had got themselves a pretty good player in Linus Carlson.

I remember there were rumors that Tampa Bay was interested in Linus Carlson. And when a team like that shows interest in a player like Linus Carlson, you know, you might have something. I also like Max Sasson on the wing. He's got wheels, man. He's 12 goals this year too, you know. And he's got finishing ability. Yep. So try and trade them.

There we go. Yeah. So get rid of that guy. That's going to be the punctuation to all of our analysis now. He's having a pretty good year. Look at all these guys you could trade for. Look at all these guys. Yeah.

He's having a good year. You should absolutely consider trading them in July. They just decimated Colorado. Yeah. Colorado. It was a decimation. Teddy Blugar worth at least two first round picks. At a minimum.

I would, you mentioned to me this morning before the show that McKinnon did not speak. Well, if he did, we don't have the audio. Okay, we don't have the audio. But he was his usual, like, beastly self last night. and his 50th goal of the season was an absolute beauty. I don't know if you'd say he broke Heronix ankles on the move. Heronick kind of just fell,

but he did Deke Rossi, and then he went around, I think it was Ogrin, and ripped a shot home. But he was also part of a bad turnover that set up Blugher's shorthanded goal. He didn't make a very good play. Neither did the abs at the blue line. And he didn't really battle all that hard on the back check.

He kind of coasted back on the play. I know he might have been out of gas or he figured he wasn't going to catch him, but he didn't really try. So I think he was in a bad mood kind of all night. And he was kind of doing the Nathan McKinnon. I'm going to do this the whole thing myself. Yeah. And it ultimately didn't work out.

But look, the abs clearly thought that was going to be an easy game. And then when they went down one nothing, you know, 29 seconds in. I think they were just, I don't want to say it. They weren't rattled, but they were annoyed. Well, you know who was rattled, annoyed, and pissed off was their head coach, Jared Bednar.

And I made a point of listening to his postgame media availability because I wanted to get a sense of just how pissed off an NHL coach is when you allow eight goals at home and a loss to the worst team in the national hockey. Just Shadenfreude or what? Yeah, a little bit. I don't even know. I was, you know what? It was just my, my curiosity. I was just curious to see what it sounded like.

Also, Jared Bednar is low-key hilarious when he speaks. If you think you have the Valley Girl thing with your likes and your ums, you have nothing on Jared Bednar. Okay. Can we hear it? Yeah, we're going to hear it right now. So this is- We were like bad and stuff?

That's actually pretty close. That wasn't Jared Bednar. That was Jason Brough. Another J.B. But here's the thing. This is the lengthiest answer Bednar gave yesterday. Everything else was real short. This is him talking.

about a response and a reply to an interviewer, one of the reporters there, tried to frame it as like you guys had a nice comeback after a bad performance and Bednar was not having any of it. Here's Jared Bednar after his team lost 8-6 to the Vancouver Canucks. I like the way we played in the third. But the reality of it is, is if you want to win in this league, you have to play that way for 60 minutes.

So we weren't even close. Wasn't a great first. got worse than the second. And then, yeah, like, if you want to hand out, like, badges for, like, good effort and stuff like that, like, I think we're beyond that, like, this time of year, you know, like, effort for 20 minutes and doing the right things for 20 minutes isn't good enough. So the Connects have just had a couple of games where they played some good teams, Vegas and Colorado on the road

Vegas did not look very good in the first period against the Canucks and they were playing for John Tortorella for the first time and they just had their coach fired and maybe they were a little bit nervous but the Canucks played pretty well against them in the first period Vegas took over that game and won and then they then they go into Colorado and you know I know Colorado took over that game But that was just kind of a natural score effects to a 6-2 game.

Sure. And I think the Canucks did well to obviously respond and ultimately win that game. Because when the Aves, when the Aves tied that game, I was like, they're not winning this game. Like the Aves are winning this game. The Aves are going to say, we played one period and we still won this game. Yep. Yep. So good for them.

Now, it brings us to tonight's game. against Quinn Hughes in the Minnesota Wild. Yeah. So I'm going to be very curious to see what the effort is like from the Canucks tonight. The Wild have not played particularly well since the Olympic break. They went into the break on a five-game winning streak. I think they had points in seven straight.

But they're pretty much 500 or maybe even a little bit worse since then. They've only won seven games. out of the 17 since the Olympics ended. Wild haven't played since Saturday 6-3 loss in Boston. So that's a few days off and some practice days. Laddie, do we have John Heinz talking about the Minnesota Wild? So while the Canucks have been on this road trip playing Vegas and playing Colorado, the Wild have been doing this.

It's important. I think you have a couple days, like you said, I think you get a mental, physical break, which I think is important, particularly this time of year. But then we also have a couple days of practice before we play. And then we got the home game, and then we go on the road for a little bit. And then you kind of have that final stretch. So it's a little bit of an opportunity for both of those things to have some good practices, but also have a couple days where you can get away from it a little bit, which I do think this time of year is important. So it's going to be another one tonight where the Canucks head into this as significant. They were massive underdogs in Vegas because everyone, including myself, figured that, you know, Vegas is going to come out with their hair on fire.

Their coach just got fire. Torches their new coach. And it didn't exactly play out that way. But Vegas eventually, I don't know, set their hair on fire? Yeah. And won that game. They go into Colorado, really, really tough situation just because Colorado is the best team in the NHL and the Stanley Cup favorites.

Now, Colorado didn't have Kel McCar. Maybe that helped them out. a little bit, but I thought Sam Malinsky played pretty well for them. Now they go into Minnesota, and they've just played at altitude in Colorado, and it was a wild one. Now they go to go to Minnesota and play a rested and practiced up team. With Tolo and that. Yeah, with Tolo Pee, well, assuming what doesn't go crazy, but which he might and put Lankin in there again. But there's going to be some motivated players on both teams.

tonight. Hughes for Minnesota, but maybe even more so the guys the Wilde traded away in the deal. Rossi, Bouillon, and Ogren. I was reading a piece from Russo in Minnesota. It just published a piece where he caught up with those three. I think he caught up with them in Denver and talked to them about their return. And, you know, Rossi is going to be the most motivated. Sure. Without Because, you know, he... He got disrespectful by that organization. He can say it. He never felt the love in contract negotiations,

and he never felt that they trusted him to be an important player for them. Like, he was knocked down to what, 4C in the playoffs, and then they were like, yeah, well, you know, like, well, we're going to make it hard with it. They didn't, you know, if they was, if he was a guy that they really liked, they would have been talking long-term contract,

and ultimately they just kicked the, the can down the road on the contract situation, then traded him to the Vancouver Canucks. I think if you got Rossi and I always say this, those those quiet moments where the microphones are off and he's speaking candidly. I bet he would probably air a lot of grievances, specifically with Bill Garron.

Just felt like he was never a Garron guy. And I think the worst part was that Garon made that really obvious in his public remarks about Rossi. He'll be motivated tonight. You know, for as loss as this season is, these last two games last night and tonight's, a lot of intrigue around them, especially, I mean, on a personal level,

sure. I'm fascinated and I always were fascinated around a lot, but I am genuinely fascinated to see what happens today. You can make an argument that this is the game where the Canucks get their asses kicked because they're on the second of a back to back. They're going to be tired. You mentioned they played at altitude.

Also, like, I don't know if the young generation still puts money on the board, but you would think this is a money on the board game for Hughes going up against his former team, right? So they're going to be motivated. Rossi might put up. So that's what I'm saying. I was going to get to the Canucks part of it.

It's like there's also, as much as kind of stack the deck against the Canucks, they do have three guys that are going back to their former team, and they're going to want to make a statement against their former employer. So there's a lot going into this game tonight. I'm curious to see how it turns out the line on it, if I'm not mistaken, the Canucks are once again massive underdogs. They're plus 330 on the money line.

They were plus 380 last night. So it's kind of comparable. Also, Minnesota needs to start winning some hockey games. You mentioned how bad their form has been post-Olympic break. they had a real opportunity here to catch Dallas and move into second in the division because Dallas has also been lousy. Dallas has lost six to seven, if I'm not mistaken, as they go into action tonight, but the wild haven't been able to close the gap.

If you look at that division right now for as elite as it is with those three teams, they're all kind of slotted into position. Like I don't think anyone's catching Colorado at this point. I don't think Minnesota is going to catch Dallas. So it means it's going to be a two, three between the stars and the wild, and the stars are going to have home ice. Maybe why those three teams are kind of in cruise control? Yeah, in cruise control and not winning all their games.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. It's Randipe, Randipe Janda time. It's Randipe Janda. It is Randipe, Red Deep Janda. It is Randy talking hockey now. 8.05 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody.

Halford, Brubb, SportsNet 650. Alfred and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have CRA debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. This is them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are in our three of the program. Randy Janda is going to join us in just a moment here. Our three of this program is brought to by the duo-com.

Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal and why nobody has since 1926. Visit Duick GM on Marine Drive. Visit them downtown. Visit them in Richmond and visit them online at the duikato Group.com. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Step Strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech. Guests on Sportsnet 650 call in on the ABLE Auctions Hotline. Email sales at ABLEe auctions.cions.ca to get your business assets sold and your building cleared. I'll tell you what. We're going to go now to the ABLE Auctions hotline. Our next guest is a presentation of bells and whistles in the Fraserhood.

It's Randip Janda here on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. What up, Brandeep. Good morning, boys. Just a still kind of powering down from the game that was last night. What a 14 goal thriller to be a part of. In a game where the Canucks were

plus 380 on the money line. That's basically a 3 to 1 underdog there, but they got the job done. It got a little hairy at times. hey, what was it like just getting to be on the call and dive into what was, without question, the game of the year for the Canucks? Yeah, it was from an entertainment level, you've got the first versus the worst team in the league, right? Like it was when we're talking about the expectation, I think the expectation was,

can the Canucks keep it close, can they be competitive? And especially for Colorado coming off a 9-2 victory against the Calgary Flames. you know, you're obviously fearing the worst from a Canucks perspective, but guys, they came out, you know, energetic. They came out with a spine in this game as well, even when it looked like Colorado was going to kind of run them over, Vancouver had an answer at 2-1. They had an answer at 7-6.

It was just fun to be a part of because it's been a tough season. You know, we have had moments this year where, you know, it's gone, the second periods especially, It's gone in the opposite direction of the Vancouver Connacht. This was a game where it was actually Vancouver who won the second period. That was by far their best second period of the season. And it just so happens it was against the best team in the NHL that is putting up historic numbers and what they're doing. So just a good story for the Vancouver Canucks.

Everybody needs some positivity in their lives. And I think for the players, for the fan base to have that victory when, let's be honest, most people didn't think that it was going to be competitive. led alone that type of entertainment. Probably not a coincidence that Brock Besser has started scoring in after getting teamed up with a decent playmaking option in the middle with Marco Rossi. Yeah, there's a real confidence to Brock's game. And we saw it a couple of moments there. Obviously, you know, that shot that he scores on the 6-2 goal, that's, you know, Brock just, I like how he slowed down the play. And you can see there's confidence.

That was a classic Brock Besser kind of moment where. It's off the posting in, but you give him room. He finds his own shot there. But the five, two goal guys, is the one that I want to focus on. When we talk about chemistry with Marco Rossi, Rossi doesn't get him the pass, but the play by Drew O'Connor to win a battle, Rossi wins a battle in the zone and then shields the puck. Like, he plays bigger than he is at times.

And I like that about Marco Rossi. So, A, to win the battle, B to shield the puck, make a play to Veyloner and eventually Besser gets that. Like that's a high skill play. That's a play where you're looking at an individual, you know, maybe if that's a different player, you know, Rossi wins that battle and he trips it deep and allows a player to get it on the four check.

No, he's got the confidence in his game to say, I'm going to continue this. And good on a Wielander to make that attack through that lane down the right-hand side. But I look at, you know, there's no coincidence, guys, that in the last 15 games, Brock Besser has 17 points, and nine goals. And a lot of that comes from, of course, having just a stable partner down the middle.

And, you know, probably, there's a long way to go here. I don't want to, you know, crown them in any which way because, you know, chemistry still has to develop. You have to do it in go time. You have to do it again next year, hopefully. But for Vancouver, this is a good sign. You know, if you can have chemistry,

if you can develop a duo, it gives you options moving forward. I like Max Sassano. as a winger. I'm not sure I loved him as a center, especially defensively, but he's got a pretty good shot and he's got something that this team desperately needs, and that's a pretty good set of wheels. What do you think? Yeah, I think with a couple of things on that. He came into that game. He was motivated and I remember talking to Max at training camp and the biggest thing he stressed to me was, I have speed, the way we want to play, it really suits my game. So every time he goes

out there, especially if he's been out of the lineup for a couple of games, you can see he really gets those feet moving. And 29 seconds into the game, you know, that happened. There's a little bit of luck involved. Heronip with the stretch pass. There's a deflection off a Colorado defenseman, but credit to Sassone for hitting

the neutral zone with speed. He's able to carry that momentum and pick up that puck and go five-hole, which is turning into his move. And I just like that chemistry that he had with Blugher, right? Even later on when Blugher scores that goal, later in the game at what two, no, that was two one was the Ogren setup, but the four two goal,

that once again, that's identifying in your own zone that the puck is given away by Colorado. Both of these guys have the green light. And that's what I like about Max, where whether he's carrying the puck or whether he is, you know, a complimentary player or, you know, he understands he's got the green light. Like there's no, you know, I don't think there's any hesitation on his end. But from a wing position, yes, it's just, you know, he's still a. player that needs to develop defensively. And some guys have it at the NHL level.

So for some, it's a tough position to learn, especially from the physical aspect. When you play alongside a player like Teddy Bluger, you don't have to worry about as much because he's just so good defensively. So I think with the stone, that was an excellent way to return to the lineup. A, you're motivated, you got your feet moving. And B, when you can play next to Bluger, you know, that just, I think, makes your life easier as a winger because you're saying, we know that guy in the middle of the ice. he's going to be third man high.

He's always going to be responsible defensively. And with Bluger as well, he's not afraid to jump up into the rush, as we've seen a few times this year. I know Jake DeBress kind of walked back his comments about not wanting to be part of the rebuild or a rebuilding team,

but I still do wonder about his future in Vancouver. 14 power play goals this season, only three non-power play goals, but 14 power play goals where he's able to take advantage of his great hands in front of the net as he was. Yesterday when Elias Pedersen fed him a really nice pass side of the net, he just had to tap it in. Do you think there would be a market for Jake DeBresk?

I think there would be a couple of things. He talked about the power play. And, you know, last check, Jake is still top 10 in the NHL when it comes to high danger shots. Like, he's still getting his looks. It's maybe not happening as often. But that was a number that popped out to me to say, wait a second. Like, he's still amongst the league's best when it comes to high danger opportunities,

high danger shots on goal. So, you know, anytime you can get to the middle of the ice, any time you can, you know, have moments like that and get to the toughest part of the ice, you know, inner slot shots per game guys, he's got 1.14, which is around top 10 in the NHL. So he's still able to make it happen. And I think, you know, playing on a skilled team, maybe slotting into that, second or third line is still something that I think at his price point, which is a very key part of this conversation.

For the dollar figure that he makes, you know, that's pretty good output. If you can get him into the middle of the ice, he knows his job. And even on the power play, we've seen, you know, that goal he scored last night. That's a play that's set up for Marco Rossi to get at the Pedersen for the one-timer. You know, Jake pretty much admitted that he's usually a power play decoy. like he's not supposed to get the puck but on a play like that where if EKs start to cheat a little bit

and they take away the shot from Pedersen like he's very much the main threat after that and that's exactly what happened on that goal so you know if you can score like that on the power play if you can get you know inner slot shots and find ways to get those shots through at that dollar value I think there will be a market for Jake DeBrus

now the question is would that be something that he's open to? I know when he signed in Vancouver you know, it was, you know, there was other interests across the league as well. Obviously, he was coveted. And he wanted to come to Vancouver in Western Canada specifically. So, you know, only Jake DeBrus can answer that. But I feel like there would certainly be interest with the amount of money he's making as well,

which is not a huge number, especially with the rising cap. Okay, a tough assignment for the Canucks tonight. Not only did they play last night at altitude, they got to go play a Minnesota Wild team, which is good and also rested. The Wild haven't played since Saturday where they lost to the Boston Bruins since then. They've come home. They've had a couple practices. And as head coach John Heinz put it, they've had some time to get away from the game.

What are you expecting tonight against Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild? I'm expecting motivated players, right? I'm sure Quinn is, you know, fueled and wanting to do his best against his former team. But, you know, you started looking at the three players that returned in that deal to Vancouver, and that were a part of the return, excuse me. You know, Liam Ogrin did not get much confidence in Minnesota. He had zero points. And now he's a top line player for this current iteration of Vancouver Canucks.

Like, you want to go stick it to your former team to say, hey, former first round pick, but I found confidence here. I don't maybe feel like you gave me an opportunity or maybe gave me the confidence. You know, Marco Rossi, I think, is going to be really fired up for this game. He's got some edge to his game. But even though certain moments, you know, Bill Guerin was saying, no, he's a part of the future. You know, actions speak louder than words when you're in the fourth line in the playoffs. And you're constantly out in the rumors, trade rumors.

I think Rossi is certainly going to be motivated to show what he can do. And, you know, for Zeev Bouem as well, I remember talking to Bill Garin right after that deal saying, hey, we didn't want to put Zeev in the deal, but we understand in order to get a, Quing Hughes, you have to make that happen. I'm sure there's going to be motivated for the motivation for the 20 year old as well, saying hey, you have me as a part of your future and you shipped me out of town. So

I think a couple of things here, guys. Like, individually there's going to be motivation. Sure, there might have some heavy legs at some point of the game, but there will be a couple of guys that are very fired up. And the Minnesota while are not playing great right now. They've lost six of the last 10, you know, which seem like

they might be competing for home ice, at least in that first round matchup. Now, comfortably six points back of the Dallas stars. And if you start looking at the last 10 games, Quing Hughes leaves them in points, but Vladimir Tarasenko is also up there in nine points in 10 games. Caprizov and Boldie have kind of slowed down a little bit here. So, you know, hopefully for Vancouver,

that continues tonight as well. But this is a team that's not exactly clicking. And, you know, maybe a little worry for the Minnesota wild. Vancouver, it's going to be tough guys on the second and back-to-back. Can you take advantage of a Minnesota team that is not playing their best hockey. All right. Speculate along with us and we did this earlier in the show. If you had to bet

which team is Quinn Hughes going to be playing for next season? Okay. I feel like if this was dating, it feels like Quinn may be playing the field. Like, hey, I know you're, you know, this is a steady relationship right now. We've gone out on a few dates.

It just feels like you're waiting for the playoffs to see, is this the real deal? Because I feel like Bill Garron and as much as a gun slinger as he is, not picking up a center or a high quality center at the trade deadline is the major flaw I see with this team. And if you're trying to, yet again, win for Quinn in a different market, I don't know if Ryan Hartman and Eric Seneck. Eric Seneck, I think, is a fantastic player. But, you know, if he's leading the line for you or Ryan Hartman's leading

the line for you in your top line, that to me is a bit of an issue. So if I were to look at Minnesota or elsewhere. As of right now, I feel like it'd be elsewhere. Now, here's the issue. What is that other place? New Jersey, I'm not sold on them. I think Detroit makes a lot of sense in theory, but kind of a similar situation there.

It feels like, you know, Steve Viserman, even though he went after Justin Falkis' deadline, they needed a center, kind of like Minnesota did. So if I had to pick a team right now, I think just the connections with Michigan and, you know, that market is probably the strongest, but I don't, I'm not, I can't conclusively say yet

because it feels like they're all kind of that same level right now where there's a level of uncertainty. There's nothing great going on in each one of those markets unless Minnesota, you know, wins a playoff round or two. And then guys, all of a sudden, maybe that market seems a little bit more desirable to Quinn. Detroit was my pick, by the way. And he's pretty good.

I know they don't have a Nathan McKinnon or anyone of that level, but Dylan Larkin is pretty good, and he just happens to be good friends with Quinn Hughes. And I just wonder if that makes too much sense. It was reported that Quinn wanted to go to Detroit, and Steve Eiserman wanted to make a deal, but he wouldn't make a deal unless there was an extension in place, which brings me to another question I have that we kicked around earlier.

What do you think the Minnesota Wild could get? for Quinn Hughes if they flip him this offseason and there's the ability for the acquiring team to lock him into a extended contract. Yeah, and that's going to be really interesting because if you've got, you know, prospects like Simon Edmondson, Sandin Pelica, right? Like, you're going to look for a defenseman coming back the other way.

So, you know, Detroit's got the players to make those moves. I wouldn't move Edmondson. I think he's a top pair D already along with Moritz cider, but like, you know, we've seen Sandin Pelica sent down, obviously, a part of his development. It's not, I don't think, an indictment. It's just some players are

immediately ready, some aren't. But, you know, you'd have multiple pieces if there's an extension baked in as well. It would be, you know, a very, very big deal where you could get a high-quality defenseman coming back and many other pieces. We're talking about draft picks.

We're talking about, you know, some of those centers that we've probably talked about in relation to the Canucks, whether that's our Marco Casper and, you know, go down the list of the Nate Danielsons and a lot more. So, you know, Jason, I think your point about Dylan Larkin is an important one. They are boys. They train together in Michigan in the offseason, you know, and Dylan Larkin's kind of been the older cousin kind of vibe to some of the huge boys over the last number of years. So it makes a lot of sense. And Detroit is one of those teams that, sure, they didn't make a deal of huge,

substance, this trade deadline, Justin Fault is a nice pickup. But that also means that they didn't get rid of their draft capital and their prospect capital, right? And that's important in this context because it does allow you to do business in the summer. Now, you know what would be great for Detroit is making the playoffs.

It's some momentum because, you know, it's a little bit more favorable if you can get a round or two and just rather than going to a team that always just misses. And, you know, Detroit's got their work cut out for them. but if I'm looking outside of Minnesota, I think Detroit is probably your betting favorite, no doubt. Randy, before we let you go, tell us about your buddies at Bells and Whistles.

Well, boys, it's a busy sports night at Bells and Whistles. So you've got the Habs game that starts a little bit earlier. You can watch the Canucks in Minnesota while. And then if you want to stick around for the Flames and Vegas Golden Knights game, while you enjoy some of their awesome beers and their fantastic dinner menu, watch hockey, football, soccer, and more with the sound on. the World Cup is coming in a couple of months as well. 3296 Fraser Street right in the Fraser Hood.

Go check them out. Bells and whistles. 14 games in the NHL tonight. No shortage of things to watch. Thanks, Randy. Appreciate it, bud. All right, boys, take care. Have a good one.

Randy Jan on SportsNet 650. As mentioned a presentation of bells and whistles, your new favorite place to catch all the action. Hockey, football, soccer, and more. On Fraser, right in the Fraserhood, on socials at Bells and Whistles, YVR. It seems like the Maple Leafs at times are more interested in being a business

and a corporation than a hockey team. Now, I think there's an opportunity for an incoming guy, not unlike Vancouver to say, we've got a real opportunity here because we can rethink and reshape and remake this organization to whatever we want it to be.

Because we are so unlikable right now that there's nowhere to go but up. I think you can do it in Vancouver right now. I think if you got to... 100%. If there's a savvy... There's a great opportunity in Vancouver right now. If there's a savvy enough individual out there who can sell it,

you could say what you guys think is, you know, the lowest of the lows, I actually see it as the starting point because we can do anything here. We can remake this team any way we want because things can't get any worse right now. In Toronto, the biggest issue you're going to have is you're going to have to try and sell that to Keith Pelly, who's the guy making a lot of these decisions about what Maple Leafs are right now. Selling $1,000 pregame experiences to dine in the Maple Leafs dressing room and have premium experiences meeting front office members and stuff.

I've had friends that have done this over in the UK. Had a buddy of mine that he had a sit-down dinner at the Etiad for Man City. Yeah. And it was one of those premium experiences. How did he get? Is he rich? He's not poor. Okay.

Yeah. So he paid for it? He had a friend who said, it up. His friend's even wealthier. Sometimes it's just companies do that stuff and they're just like you can take a client. So he said it was unbelievable the access that

two individuals were able to get that were outside like you were brought into the dressing room. You sat down with Man City Legends. You broke bread. You ate food. You got pitch line touchline access. Yeah. It costs an incredible amount of money. And it's a great experience and then they can go brag to their friends about it.

And what's the thing with City? It's considered a very soulless, corporate club. There's not really a foundation of these guys are here for what it means to the community and what it means to the supporters. It's how much money can we extract from this enterprise? The Leafs have started to dabble in that. I mean, this is started.

I mean, they've been doing it forever. I mean, you know those, those, those, whatever they call it, where maybe is it called the Champions Club in Vancouver where you got the special access? and they sit right behind the benches or whatever. And then, you know, those seats are empty at the start of the period because everyone's in there is like, it's an open bar down here, right? I'm going to go back to the game.

And there's a much bigger conversation we can have here about the premium experiencing of sports and how it's pricing out random fans and average fans and all that. But back to the point, I think that, again, Toronto and Vancouver really mimic each other right now and that they are, they're in bad spots equally. Toronto obviously has more talent without question and more assets without question, but big picture stuff.

Culture, identity, direction moving forward. Both are in very similar spots because they have an opportunity here to completely reimagine what they are. Would you say they have the, one of my favorite words, the disdain of the fan base? Yes. I'd be curious to see. Of the hardcore fans is just like, you know what?

I love my team. I think about my team every day. and I want my team to win a Stanley Cup, but I don't like my team right now. I love them, but I don't like them. Rick from Colonna just texted in. Vancouver is so much more likable as a team these days. I've seen this sentiment coming through.

I agree. In part, because while it's still in its infancy, but it's also, they've acknowledged that it's not working and we've got to rebuild. Now, will they stick to it? I don't know. and there's a lot of trepidation from fans on that. But that media credential story has blown up way bigger than even I thought it would.

I thought it was going to be a story. I was like, you know, one of the things about picking a fight with the media is that we are very sensitive souls and that, and then we have the access to go and write about it. It's been written, like, it's been, like the Globe and Mail has written twice on it. And that is a big deal still in a lot of circles. Awful announcing that front office sports. But the Globe and Mail is the newspaper that's read by all the elites in Canada. I believe it's the newspaper of record in this country.

Thank you, Matthew Secaris. But it is, right? Everyone still reads the business section there. And they've had just a general story on what happened. And then yesterday, Kathaul Kelly, who is the. the columnist wrote a scathing article on the Vancouver Canucks. He called them Bushlead. I read it.

It was, it was scathing. And this is being read by people all across the country where the columnist in the Globe and Mail is absolutely taking the boots to the Canucks. And that's the sort of thing. You know, look, when Gary Mason writes an article in the Globe and Mail, it's a big deal. And Jim Rutherford chose Gary Mason.

On a few occasions. Including the one that preceded the J.T. Miller trade where he basically acknowledged, like, listen, we got an issue with J.T. and PD. So I think this whole idea of, you know, are you worried about, your brand, are you worried about what your hardcore fans really think, or are you more worried just about extracting however much you can out of the top 10% of the population in terms of

their wealth? Like what's what's your ballgame? That's a great point to bring. Because in some ways the disdain from the average fan only grows when they feel like the team only cares about that top 10% of the population. Like they don't get the service in terms of buying tickets. It's all about, you know, I don't care about the average Joe that comes and spends a couple of hundred bucks here. I care about the whale that's going to come and spend. And I'm not kidding here.

like five, ten grand a night. Yeah. Metaphorical oil. On a, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, they do eat a lot in the suite and the sweet charges. I mean, like, there was a whale. They're like, God, it was a major issue. Yeah. And, yeah, it was like, you should see what we charge for sushi, too. Like, this guy is going to eat a lot.

No, have you ever seen the prices in the suites? It is. It's ridiculous. It is insane. It's insane. And a lot of people are just like, yeah, whatever. It's the law firm will take care of this, right? No problem.

The partnership or the, or the, or the, or the, or the, or the, or the, it's insane. offer and we'll just pass it along to some clients. Yeah, but okay, back to the original point. There is something to be said about your identity and what you stand for as an organization. And at times,

the business part of it, and I'm talking about everything like we've discussed, fan experiences, price gouging, all that stuff, can be separate, but sometimes it's not. And if you were able to come in and sell it in both Vancouver and Toronto, on the notion that things have gotten bad, you need

to acknowledge this, but this is a chance for you to reestablish something, a connectivity, an ethos where the fan base really, really likes your team, which is not an easy thing to accomplish. I think then the trickle down effect

is this is how we're going to act at every level of our organization. From business to the executive, to the coaches, to the players. We all have the same singular idea that we're going to work card, care about the market, put forth a good shift every night, and try and be something that we haven't been in a long time. And honestly, the end of the siege mentality in N-State needs to end.

Yeah, you need to be likable. And I know it sounds crazy that that's how basement bottom level this is, but that's what they both need to do. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.