Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 5/16/25

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

Mike & Jason look back a the previous day in sports, they break down the comments from Adam Foote & Jim Rutherford yesterday, plus they get the latest from around the team with Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da On it for Domestika, shoot, score! Bardell for Watteslaw Domestika! And the Carolina Hurricanes have won this second round series! We're going to compete, we're going to be hard to play against, and we want to win. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning, Vancouver! Six o'clock on a Friday. Happy Friday gentlemen, The Weeknd. Woo! Good morning, Vancouver. 6 o'clock on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody.

It is Halford. It is Bref. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you.

Morning. And Ladi, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Bref of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five star reviews. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program.

Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Big show on a Friday. The rundown is huge today. I got so many things we need to get into. Guest list today begins at six 30 sports net golf analyst Adam Stanley

is going to join the program. He will join us live from the 2025 PGA Championship from Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Your leader after the first round, Johnny Vegas, one of my favorites. Johnny Vegas goes seven under Taylor Pendreth, the low Canadian, after round one at two under. So we'll talk to Adam Stanley about all that. I'm going to talk to him about mud balls, mud balls. Mud balls were a big topic of conversation yesterday. So what's his name? Scotty Scheffler was very irate about mud balls, mud balls. Mud balls were a big topic of conversation yesterday. I saw, what's his name? Scotty Scheffler was very irate about mud balls yesterday. Should ask what his thoughts are

on the Happy Gilmore crocodile dying. Yeah, that's tough too. There is a lot to get into. Shake it up the golf world. Yeah, there is a lot to get into with Adam Stanley. They nearly canceled the tournament. Yep. Seven o'clock AJ from AJ's Pizza

is gonna join the program. That's a reminder that it's Ask Us Anything Friday on the show. The winner of Ask Us Anything Friday gets a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. What's more, here's a tease for you. AJ has some big news to announce at seven o'clock this morning right here on the Haliford and Bref Show on SportsNet 650. After AJ at 7.05, Adnan Virk from MLB Network is gonna join the program.

Our Thursday regular move to Friday in light of all the Canucks news that happened yesterday. Get into all the major stories around baseball with our MLB insider. I do want to ask him about the active crime scene that is the Colorado Rockies. So we'll talk to Adnan about that at seven o'clock, seven 30. It's the Moge. Yes, it's the Moge up in Kamloops for BC Lions training camps. So we're going to go to North Carolina. We're going to go to Kamloops, all the hotspots,

lots of reporting up there on what the Lions are doing ahead of their season opener. I heard that Moge played a big, big role in bringing Snoop to BC place for the concert kickoff series. So we'll talk to him about that. We can also talk to him about Adam foot. He wrote an article for black press yesterday about Adam Foote's hire as Canucks head coach. That's at 7.30. That's with the Moj. Eight o'clock, it's Rick Dollywall.

I'll throw it over to Jason, our resident Rick Dollywall handler. Yeah, the Foote hiring, how it affects Pedersen, trades in UFA guys, and how the Will Ender deal was done. That's what we're going to talk to Rick with. What a powerhouse hit. Okay. Also during the Dollywall hit today at eight o'clock at eight 15, we're giving away our final pair of tickets to see the who at Rogers arena on

September 23rd, uh, tickets do go on sale today at 10 AM. So at eight 15 this morning, it's your last chance to win tickets from the Haliford and Bruff show caller number five at eight 15, the number six Oh four two eight Oh zero six 50. That number again, six Oh four two eight oh zero six fifty pair tickets to see the who at Rogers arena on September twenty third it's a big show there's a lot to get into so without further ado laddie let's tell everybody what happened hey did you guys see the game last night What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be.

What happened? You missed 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.

Thursday was another busy day in Canucksland. First, the Vancouver Canucks and their general manager, Patrick Elveen, introduced the club's new head coach, Adam Foot. He met with the media for the first time since being named the club's bench boss on Wednesday. Yeah, I thought Adam Foot came off very well. He didn't seem nervous for the moment. And we've seen that before from general managers

and coaches, especially ones that have never been general managers or head coaches in the NHL, but I thought I'm foot struck a good balance between a guy who's serious about his job and serious about the things that he has to get done, but also a guy who can joke about himself. I really, really liked his answer when he was asked about being painted as a defensive coach. I really, really liked his answer when he was asked about being painted as a defensive coach because

he was a defensive defenseman when he was in the NHL. He comes to the Vancouver Canucks on Rick Tuckett's bench and he is in charge of the defenseman and he's developed really good relationships with the likes of Quinn Hughes, but now he's going to is in charge of the defenseman. And he's developed really good relationships with the likes of Quinn Hughes, but now he's gonna be in charge of the entire team, and it's a team that needs to score more goals. So how is he going to help a team,

being a defensive defenseman, how is he gonna help the team score more goals? And I thought his answer was a pretty good one. I didn't like the role I got early in my career. Mark Crawford really threw it on me. And, and, you know, I had a great conversation with Mark about a month ago and. And every player wants to play on the power play. We all come from our minor league teams and we're all probably a

power play guy, every defenseman. And I did not like my role because I wanted to play in the power play. I all come from our minor league teams and we're all probably a power play guy, every defenseman. And I did not like my role because I wanted to play on the power play. I wanted to score goals. Who doesn't want to score goals? But I remember my dad said to me, listen, you got the feet, you got the size, you can skate with them and, you know, if you can really dial it in, you could be do something new and you win. And I accepted that role. And when you have that in, you could do something new and you win. And I accepted that role. And when you have that role, you get to play against the best players in the world. Paul

Korea, how do I shut down his A game, his A game speed, if I'm playing against a sack, his A game is that shot, I'm not letting him have that shot. I approached it like, you know, if they're going to beat me, they're beating me with their C game, not their A, not their B. And I knew what that was. You study the game, you use the people around you to help you and understand what offense is coming at you. And I knew what I was uncomfortable defending against. I knew what worked, what put me or my partner or our goaltender in a tough spot. And I did that for a living for 20 years. Very fortunate, very lucky. And I think that's a big part of it for me.

I think, like I said, you can pay me with whatever brush you like. I'm a big guy, I'm a big boy. But I'm gonna surround myself with the right people too. And we're gonna have that deep discussion. We've got some great people here with the Sidines and we're gonna continue have that deep discussion. We've got some great people here with the Sidines and we're going to continue to keep getting better. But I would say I'm very fortunate

that I had to play against those top players and shut them down and it was a fun job. And so we've got lots of ideas how to make that offense better. So basically what he's saying is like, hey, I was one of the best defensive defensemen in the NHL and I went out against the best players in the world. I know what they can do to make it hard on a defenseman. Sure.

I've seen good offense. I had to defend it. Yeah, exactly. Now they're going to bring other people in for sure. Um, and it'll be interesting to see how he fills out his staff they, they need. And this is Adam Foote saying this, they need an offensive guy and a defensive guy. He actually said like, I'd love to still run the

defense, but I don't think it works like that. No. Anymore. And, uh. You're hitting the big time now, Adam. Yeah. Perhaps one of those two guys has been a head coach in the NHL before to add some experience to

the bench, because that's another thing that he got asked about. But Foot didn't really make it sound like he was worried about the experience factor. He just said he just wants the best fit. Whether that person has three years experience, five years, 15 years experience. Now I'm sure he's already got a few guys in mind.

So maybe he's prepping for that. Um, so I thought Adam Foot did, did really well. Any thoughts on it? Um, yeah, that was the most detailed answer that he gave, uh, of the day. I think it was easy to pick that one as the most interesting one in illuminating because oftentimes, and he did lean back on these, um, when you're

asked about the specifics of what you want to do as a coach, in order to answer the question without really answering the question, you'll say stuff like we wanna win, hard to play against, this is a classic. Anytime you wanna give a real stock answer about what you wanna, just say hard to play against.

Everyone's like, ooh, that is good, right? And wanting to win is also good. Those are two very good things. I think in reality, a lot of the planning has still, they still gotta do it. Right, I mean. I think that's part of the reason why it was low on details and high on platitudes

because you have to hire your offensive defensive coordinators for lack of a better phrase for both. He needs to do that. You gotta remember, this is still an organization that is adjusting on the fly to the talk at Exodus. Adam Foote, I'd say up until three weeks ago, it was probably not being bandied about as the head coach of this team. They were still entirely focused on talk. It's so when you pivot off that, not only do you have to elevate your assistant coach to the big boy chair,

you have to find someone to replace him as well. And those guys are gonna be critically important because I think one thing footed knowledge yesterday is being a head coach means you don't get to dial down on the minutia that you normally would as an assistant coach, right? You have to have a bigger picture and you have to have a more macro view of everything.

That's your job. That's your job. Delegate the details. And the other part of it is you have to have relationships with all your players now. Like you're not just running the blue liners. You have to worry about everybody now and you have to develop and forge independent

relationships with everybody. Uh, as for Jim Rutherford, he was on with, uh, Canucks Central and he was, well, he was Jim Rutherford. He was predictably forthright. Uh, like when he was, well, he was Jim Rutherford. He was predictably forthright. Like when he was asked about potentially trading a defenseman for help upfront, Rutherford isn't afraid to state the obvious.

Never has been. And I think that's why he brought up, you know, Quinn Hughes wanting to maybe go play with his, his brothers. And he was asked about that and he was like, well, yeah, isn't that what everyone is talking about? Like, you know, like I often say on the show is like, you know, the things we're discussing, they're discussing the same things.

Right. Maybe not the Ask Us Anything Friday stuff, but the rest of it, they're definitely... No, they are. They're definitely addressing most of the Canucks related things. Yeah. Like, and they're, and they're having the same kind of like wild conversations that we have. You know, and, you know, for example, uh, I know people have texted in is like, well, what, maybe the Canucks could get the Hughes brothers instead

of Quinn going to New Jersey. What about we bring them there? And then, and like, you know, I'm like, okay, well, that, I don't know. And that's not super realistic cause Quinn's a couple of years away from unrestricted free agency and he's the oldest of them.

Um, but they've had those conversations too. The only major difference is that we don't get accused of tampering. Yeah. We just get accused of being idiots. Yeah. Which is fine. We can live with that.

Yeah. Um, so again, Rutherford isn't afraid to state the obvious in these interviews, even if some people might see it as showing his cards, which it isn't, cause everyone sees that stuff. Like it's, if it's available to you, then it's available to the general managers around the league. And the defense is an area of relative surplus for the Canucks.

Note that I use the word relative because that's important. They have a surplus of defensemen relative to what they've got upfront. It's not like, oh, we got so many defensemen, we don't know what to do with them all. It's too many defensemen. Um, and, uh, here's what he said about, uh, the possibility of training a defenseman for help up front.

Yes, teams are aware that we have depth on defense. Patrick gets calls on them. We would be very careful to what defensemen we may trade, if any. We have them prioritised, of course, like all teams do, but that is an area where we could possibly move somebody to improve our forwards. Now you can agree or disagree with the plan of action this off season. Maybe the Canucks should not chase immediate improvement. Maybe they should keep all their young guys, just accept that Quinn Hughes is going to leave and start building for a future that's years away. Maybe they should do that.

Maybe in hindsight, in a few years we'll look back and be like, they should have done that. But here's the thing. They're not going to do that. Maybe in hindsight, in a few years we'll look back and be like, they should have done that, but here's the thing, they're not going to do that. And that's what Rutherford is telling us. They are going to be aggressive and you can pretty much guarantee that the connects are going to trade some picks and, or some of these prospects that they've got this off season? Well, we'll be aggressive. Um, uh, we're, we're certainly not going to be desperate.

Uh, the organization has done a good job in building up the pipeline. Now we have more younger players here over the last couple of years. We feel good about the young defense room We have more younger players here over the last couple of years. We feel good about the young defense when we have coming. We have some young forwards coming. But if we can make a deal and do whatever we need to do to improve our team, we're going to do it. We're not going to end up trading all our young guys or all our draft picks or things like that. But we're gonna be open to all options to make this team better.

Aggressive, but not desperate. A Facebook dating profile there. Yeah, I don't, I don't mind, I really don't mind that, I don't mind that Jim Rutherford is as transparent and is open and candid. And you use the word forthright, which is another one as well as he is. I don't think there's any point in trying to dance around what everyone is pretty sure is going to happen anyway.

Yeah, the notion of showing his cards or whatever other sort of descriptor you want to put on it. That's fine if you feel that way. But the reality is, is everyone knows what cards he's holding anyway, whether he shows them or not. Every other general manager in the NHL is pretty aware of what's going on in Vancouver. If you want to talk about this being the antithesis of quieting the noise, I have time for that for sure. But at the same time, you can quiet the noise by beating everyone

to the punch and saying what everyone is gonna say anyway. There's no real secret recipe about what the Canucks think they need to cook up this off season. They need to rob whatever cupboards that they have that have something in them to fill a cupboard that has nothing in it. And that's how it's going to be. They're not gonna bother addressing

an entirely different approach because it's not even in like the recipe book. The idea of taking a different approach isn't there. They're gonna be aggressive, they're gonna go out and make moves, and they're gonna try and have an immediate improvement. Now, where it gets interesting is what part of the identity of this team they lean into.

Cause we were talking about this with Sat yesterday, and I keep coming back to it is, it's great to say that you want to be aggressive, but the reality is, is the, a level of aggression that you put forth is entirely dictated by the rest of the market. They're the way, if you're going to make a trade, you need a dance partner. And a dance partner is going to have a big say in how aggressive you're going to be on said dance floor. Yeah. And, uh, this is something else that Rutherford acknowledged.

Most teams have cap space now. Mm-hmm. Uh, this is no longer the flat cap of the last, I don't know, four or five years. And, um, that's going to make it harder to land free agents. Sure. And the Canucks are, they don't want to be in a position of overpaying guys in free agency. And some teams might, like I think we're going to see a wild free agency this off season. I think there's going to be a lot of cash thrown around, a lot of cash.

And the question I have is what kind of trades are we going to see? Because there seem to be a lot of teams that want to be aggressive. You know, whether you're a contender right now and you want to remain a contender, maybe you're just outside of being a contender, you want to add that piece that helps put you over the top. And then there are teams like, I think about Anaheim, they want to be aggressive this off season because they want to take that step. You know, Chicago, Chicago needs players, man. Like they can't just keep rolling like this with Badaard there. They need they need to do something. Philadelphia.

We talked to Jordan Hall yesterday and he said that of the when the three year plan began, Danny Breyer targeted twenty five, twenty six is the year where they get back to the playoffs. Well, guess what year is coming up for them? There's a lot of teams that want to do this. It also makes trying to mine other organizations for their uncut gems or diamonds in the rough or guys that are buried in the depth chart or being blocked. It makes it harder to get those guys because those organizations can spend a little bit more money just to keep them around.

Just see if the's got a shot. So the other thing that a lot of people noted was a different tone that was said around Elias Pettersson from Adam Foote, but also from Jim Rutherford. And we're going to play you a Jim Rutherford clip. And I already put this out on social media, um, after ridiculously arguing online yesterday. That's good. I will never learn my lesson. You?

No, you won't. I will never learn my lesson. Um. He's a big dumb animal, folks. Yeah. If I've got five minutes free, I'm going to make my life worse. Here's Jim Rutherford talking about Elias Pedersen. And, um, I, I'm not going to, I'm not going to go too far down it, but

people acted like this was like, whoa, what a way different tone that the organization is striking about Elias Pedersen. And I kind of said, I don't know, it sounds like the same tone they've had for the last little while. You decide for yourself. Here's Jim Rutherford on Alias Pedersen. Well, preparation is going to be the biggest thing. I mean, preparation is the biggest thing to success in anything you do. But with Petey, he didn't have a good off season. Now, he was dealing with a couple of physical things where he didn't feel he could work as hard as

he as he normally would and he's learned from that you know it it bit him this year he had an off season and he didn't have the strength and the preparation so we're gonna check on him on a regular, but he stayed in town a week to 10 days before he left town after our last game. And he was in here working out almost every day. So it was a very encouraging sign. I do feel his injuries are behind him. So that's not going to be an excuse for the off season.

And if he has a good off season, there's no doubt that he's going to bounce back to be the player that he's capable of being. Oh my God, he admitted. What did you think when you heard that? What was the tone that you took from Jim Rutherford's comments? I think they've acknowledged that Pettersson felt that he had some things that were keeping

him from training last off season. But listen to the way that Rutherford said it, he didn't say the word injury until the end. And I think he might've been talking about the injuries that Pettersson suffered at the end of the season that kept him out of the lineup. But I think he basically said he was experiencing some physical things and I think there was just a disconnect on that and they want to make sure that that disconnect doesn't happen anymore. You know, you heard them say we're going to keep an eye on them and I think they've said all these things before. They've acknowledged that he said that there were some things that kept him from training and you know, whether there was, I think if there was anything that happened yesterday, I will, I

will acknowledge that maybe there was a turning of the page and a willingness to be like, okay, the season's over. Maybe not start with a fresh slate because I think that's impossible, but let's try and strike an encouraging tone. Um, you know, he started with some praise, said, Elias Pettersson has been, when he stayed in Vancouver, he, he was in Rogers Arena working out almost every day.

Yeah. Um, and you know, and then he said, you know, if he has a good off season, there's no doubt in my mind that he'll come back and be the player that we know he can be. So let's see how it goes, I guess. Well, okay, so I thought about this a lot yesterday in light of, when you parse through the entire media availability, and we started out by saying,

Jim Rutherford is very forthright and direct and blunt and honest in his assessment. And I know that you said they've said this before about Pedersen, but I kind of feel like they've more intimated or hinted or talked around it, as opposed to just directly identifying what happened. And in that instance, I'm kind of saying like, why did it take everyone this long to get to this point? This should have been the conversation right away and they should have nipped this entire thing in the bud. And what should have happened was they should have said, look,

the player did not arrive at the start of the season in the shape that was going to make him be as effective in NHL players. He's been in the past. I think what wouldn't have been a bad idea was if they had gone, I mean, Dakota Joshua's medical situation was entirely different, but there was still an understanding that it was going to take Joshua a long time to find his form if he was going to find it this year. Right now, you can't compare that to that. It's apples and oranges, but what could have been done instead of trying to cattle prod the guy at the

beginning of the year to get into shape that you kind of inherently knew he wasn't gonna get to, was address it and be open and forthright with it right away, because what's happened now is the Miller divorce, this played a role in it for sure, right? This was the main catalyst for it, let's just put it for sure, right? I think it was the main catalyst. It was the main catalyst for it. Let's just put it that way, right? So you're talking about a season

that your president of hockey offices said went off the rails because of this schism in the room. And this schism in the room happened because the player wasn't ready to play at the beginning of the season. And they were mad about that. The organization was mad about that. The fact that all of this is like sort of being

finalized in terms of a narrative on May 16th. It feels like an entirely wasted season for an organization that at times has the president of HockeyOps speaking freely about everything else. Right. Conducting interviews with Gary Mason in the middle of the season to prep everybody for a JT Miller trade.

It's, it's a very, very weird way about going about your business. I think one of the other frustrations though is that they, like us, have been a little bit, kind of, I guess confused by all of it because they've offered, I think one of their frustrations about last off season wasn't just that Pedersen didn't train, it's that he didn't, and he doesn't reach out for help. Right.

You know, and he does things as only he's like, I'll handle it by myself, right? Which is fine when you're playing really well. You know, there are some players in the NHL, you know, Craig Berubi said it about Nylander, he's like, I just leave the guy alone. And some guys, that's fine, right? You know, they're so good that you're like,

okay, well, you do your thing, right? Um, but when it doesn't work, then it becomes a problem and the other things that you can hear over the last few months is the word resources come up. Yep. We've got the resources to help, which is basically them saying like, we are offering help, but it's up

to the player to accept that help. And yesterday we had that conversation about trying to control people and how, in some cases it's a fool's errand. Yeah. You know, and I keep coming back to the same thing. If anyone wants to fix Leas Pettersson, it's gonna be Pettersson making that decision

to do it himself with the help of the Vancouver Canucks. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. It's Rick Dollywall here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Ricky D? Gentlemen, gentlemen, it's Friday, let's go! What did you think about the Adam Foote hire?

I thought he carried himself well in his first interview as head coach. He gave you the answer as to why he was hired when he said he knows the players. That's a huge advantage, right? He knows what makes them tick. Familiarity was a key in this hire because the Canucks had such a horrible season. Last thing you want, Jason, is a new coach coming in and taking a few weeks to figure out that dressing room and you know that was not a great dressing room to begin with. With Foot, the Canucks right from training camp, they got a guy who's got a pulse on the team. He knows every Canuck player inside out, but even more importantly guys, he

knows every Abbotsburg player. There's going to be some Abbotsburg players who have a good summer and that are really going to push hard at training camp to become regulars. There's some good things happening in Abbotsburg and you know Adam Foote's had a front row seat to all those kids in Abbey that are getting close that you know that that's going to work in the Canucks favor as well but like every hire we got to wait you know a time will tell if it was the right move he said all the things every new coach says oh we're gonna compete we're gonna win we're gonna be hard to play against well right now the Canucks are nowhere near hard enough to play against go look at the n.h.l. playoffs

connox sorely lack the hard skill in the size in the top six forward group they had one guy with hard skill in the top six and they traded them they did nothing they got no hard skill in the top six they're miles behind as some of the top six groups in the playoffs right now you guys watch it every night uh... but what was high on the connection list the moment pocket left

he was a clear serious candidate from day one he had good interviews he was well-prepared uh... from the beginning the canucks were okay they had let the agents of all these coaches know that they're okay with an entry-level guy a guy they that could take a chance on, look at the finalists for the job. Foot, Manny Maholtz, or Marco Sturm and Mitch Love, there's no veterans there. These guys would all be rookie coaches at the NHL level. They would not command three, four, five million. Economics played a role in this decision as well

because I can tell you something right now puts not getting what they offer rick talk it which was over four million a year uh... some do say uh... many of the veteran coaches in the n.h.l. never really had vancouver on their list uh... for various reasons and some around the league wonder if what's ready to be a head coach but again uh... time will tell when it comes to quinn- Quinn Hughes, hiring foot is not going to get Hughes to sign a new deal in Vancouver in two years. A winning program, doing things the right

way, less drama, less chaos is going to get Hughes to resign. Hughes is on his fourth coach in four years. He's had one good year in seven years in Vancouver. If that kid walks, the Canucks have nobody but themselves to blame. When his that kid walks, the Canucks have nobody but themselves to blame. When his contract's up, the Canucks are going to have had nine years to keep him happy. Canucks have had more than ample time to show that kid what kind of organization they are. If you can't convince a kid to stay after nine years, you don't deserve him to stay. I want to say something about Foot, and he wants to

hire two coaches. I am not sure what's going to happen with assistant Yogi Sepskoski but I do know one thing the Canucks really like him. Players like him as well. If he's not retained he's not going to have a problem getting the job elsewhere. Yogi is well respected in the NHL circles but I do know the Canucks like him and I do know the players like him as well. Some quick notes on Rick Tockett. Seattle came hard, really hard at Tockett. They threw everything but the kitchen sink at him, but they offered him the job.

But I just don't feel that Tockett felt it was right to sign two hours down the highway. It would have been a slap in the face to the Canucks because he turned down a real good contract in Vancouver and then you're going to sign two hours away I don't think pocket felt comfortable with that he talked to Boston but the Bruins have a GM that doesn't have much term on his left on his deal that always makes people nervous Philadelphia there's going to be a couple of rough years for talk it there there's no question but the one thing that sold him on Philly was a plan. They have a plan. They're building a bit of a war chest, tons of cap space

coming soon, management stable. He's right back in his old stomping grounds. He had his reasons to sign in Philly. And I got to tell you something else. I don't know if you guys watched his presser this morning, but I was kind of going in and out. The one thing that Taukeet raved about this morning but I was kind of going in and out the one thing that pocket raved about this morning in Philadelphia in his news conference practice facility he walked around no he did here's the quote here's the quote Holford here's the quote so the practice facility I'm walking around here there's so many options it's so attractive it really excites me. I don't think the practice, a lack of it in Vancouver, was the reason Tocket left, but you can damn well guarantee it was one of the reasons. Tocket is a culture guy. He

wants everybody together before practice, after practice, do video. He couldn't do that here. He couldn't do that. You know, traveling all over the lower mainland to practice sites. Look, it wasn't the major reason why Tocket left, but it was a reason why Tocket left. And he's there. He is in Philly this morning raving about their practice facility. What does the Adam foot higher mean for Elias Pettersson? Oh boy. I would really like to know what Patterson thinks of the new coach. Just like Hughes, he's had way too many coaches, way too many different messages, but it's not Foote's job to turn Patterson around. There is an expectation for every

player in the NHL to be ready to go to camp. It's Patterson's job to turn himself around. A ton of time in the city has been spent on why your highest paid player is underachieving. The answers for Petterson lie where he looks in the mirror. The onus is on him. Take a look at the top players in the NHL right now in the playoffs, difference makers making a difference. There's no special setups, there's no plans, there's no ideas, there's no time spent on these superstars.

They're just superstars earning their pay. That is really all Pedersen has to do. Just be a difference maker. I really like the fact Pedersen told Sweden last month he wasn't going to play at the Worlds. He wants to make sure he's 100% healthy for the Canucks camp. If he returns to his 100-point season, it solves so many issues for the Canucks. It really does. Nothing beats a number one center on the top of his game. But if he's not at the top of his game next year, guys expect another long season of Vancouver. That's just the reality of it. Well, the Canucks are still going to be doing some work.

Um, looking at trades, um, looking at the unrestricted free agent list. Um, you mentioned the lack of hard skill in the top six is, you know, I, I, I, I, I know Adam Foote's, uh, pressure didn't go long yesterday. So the media couldn't ask all the questions they want, but you know, one of them would be if you're having input on the roster and that's why they want to bring a guy in. So he could have input on the roster. What do you think it needs? Because I imagine he might say some

tougher players up front. Oh, and I'll tell you something else, uh, Jason, don't rule out leadership. One of the things that Taukead really hurt Taukead this year in Vancouver was losing Cole and Zadorov. But it just actually, it's a really quiet dressing room. And one of the things that Tauke had talked with management about this July 1st was getting guys with more leadership. Look who's left Vancouver in the last few years. Luke Shen, you know, really good

people. Chris Tanev, you know, Zdorov, Cole. Somebody said like that dressing room is too quiet. Like you need leaders, guys that they lead with the way they play. And other people say, hey, look at him, he's blocking shots with his teeth. You know what, if he can do it, well, I'm going to do it too. And I think one of the things on the July 1st to-do list for the Canucks is going to be to add more leadership. Like that's one thing to bother Tocket this year. He didn't think there was enough leadership

and he really missed Ian Cole. Like I can't tell you guys enough and even Zdorov. Guys like Zdorov kept the team loose with their personality on the road, on the bus, before or after practices during. like, Zdorov was a key last year. And I know you guys can sit back and say, okay, he didn't have a great year in Boston, but I'm just, I'm not talking about how he played in Boston. I'm talking about, like, one of the things Tauke really worried about this year was the lack of leadership.

I wonder if the Canucks, if that's going to be on their to-do list for this when they make trades and when they go July 1st. So Jim Rutherford made it clear last night on your station that he's going to be aggressive on the trade market, looking to improve the team. If there's money left, they'll be active July 1st. They need top six centre. But here's the problem, guys. Montreal is looking for someone in top six centres. So is Nashville so is Minnesota other teams so if you're going to be in the center market and they're not going to be the only ones in the center market you better have good

prospects you better have a draft capital and you better have cap space one thing the Canucks do have is they have a surplus of defensemen so maybe you can take away a defenseman to add a quality forward. So keep an eye on that, but it's not gonna be easy. Like I know the easy thing is to say, oh, we're gonna make a trade for top six guys. Those guys don't grow on trees. And if another team's got one, well, you better give up something real good to get them.

And what do you have to give up? One more thing guys, if you add forwards via trade, what does that mean for Brock Besser and Pia Suter? So I was told that Besser is a long shot to re-sign. They had all year in the trade deadline to sign them. Look, they've had since July 1st last year, right? I just been told that's a long shot, but of course I always have to do it because people throw it in your face. One phone call changes everything, but I've been told that's a long shot, but of course I always have to do it because people throw it in your face. One phone call changes everything, but I've been told Besser is a long shot. Souter is a guy I can see the Canucks trying one more time in June to sign before July

1st. I think that's a guy they want to take a run at, but that could depend on what they do with trades. But I think Souter, Canucks have their annual pro and scouting meetings coming up soon So I think a big a lot of big decisions lie ahead there one other ufa I want to talk about and that's Noah Juleson No offer yet from Vancouver. No nothing there to do Nothing there to hit yet from the Connucks if they want Juleson back or not But I will tell you one thing that That guy's going to have options on July 1st.

The last time that guy was a UF8 7-8 teams called, okay? But he's a local kid. He really loves Vancouver. He really wants to sign back. And so I'm just going to tell you, he's a great team player. That guy, regardless of Canucks Twitter and Canucks fans, that guy is well respected in that dressing room. He's well respected with management and he's well respected with the coaching staff. And you know what guys, you know who loves him, who just held the press conference in Philadelphia this morning. And if Juleson becomes a UFA in July 1st, we all know and talk it, loved him.

And he loved what he brought to the game. He never complained about his role. You know that fourth line guy that thinks he deserves to be on the third line in the second line? Well, Juleson wasn't like that. He knew that he was a 6'7 guy, but those team players, those guys always get looks from other teams. Canucks have not yet decided on Juleson, but I just that guy, I just want to say to you guys, if that

guy hits the market, he's going to be fine. Um, the Tom Willender contract, how did it come together? Because by some of the reports that I've heard, they were like arguing over what, 20 grand? Yeah, it wasn't 20 grand. I'll explain that in a bit, but I here's the thing that bothers me The notion that the Canucks signed will lander because the reaction of naming foot his head coach was too negative is not correct

What was named coach early in the morning will lander side in a couple hours later? It was not the Canucks who initiated talks that morning to get talks going again. That narrative is wrong. Ft and Willander signings had nothing to do with each other. I want to get that out of the way because you know these keyboard warriors on Twitter, that's the problem with Twitter. There's no rules and regulations. You just throw spit out, you just throw stuff out and nobody cares because there's no rules and regulation. They did not, did I say the S word? But listen, it just infuriates me and how Twitter works and it's just, it's not right.

But they did not sign Willlander because they were worried about the negative reaction of foot a couple hours earlier. Canucks didn't initiate the talks that morning. They signed Willander because the two sides finally, finally found common ground. That's why. Okay, the A bonuses was the issue. They settled on $800,000. Canucks started out nowhere near $800,000 six weeks ago. It had to start with a number eight to get the deal done, and that's why the deal got done.

I believe if it wasn't done this week, Will Lander may have signed in Europe. His agent, Todd Diamond, had interest from a lot of teams in Europe. Diamond was seen talking with the GM of Rogel, a team in Sweden, on Monday night at the World Hockey Championships in Stockholm. I can say there's no hard feelings between the two sides.

Got it done. Both sides wanted it. Just took forever. Really can blame both sides, I guess. This is a very important draft pick. The only right shot defenceman to be taken in the first round by the Canucks in the last 15 years. This kid has got tremendous high character.

He doesn't want to go to Abbotsford right now. He doesn't want to take a spot of another defenseman who's worked his ass off all year to be an Abbey. And then he comes in, takes a spot, doesn't feel it's right. He also has started his off season workouts in Sweden. The kid's already on the ice. He's already on the gym in the gym. This kid, um, I don't think you're going to see a ton

of offense from him, but you're going to see an elite skater. You're going to see a great athlete. You're going to see a good defensive defenseman. You're going to see a kid with high character. I think this is going to end up being a really good draft pick by the Vancouver Canucks. Hey Rick, I'm going to put you on the spot here.

Yeah. Because Jim Rutherford has come out and said, we got depth on defense, so that might be an area we trade from. Yep. Who? Yeah, I've been racking my brain trying to figure out. Okay.

So we know they got a surplus of defense, I mean, because Mancini came in late and the right, when I look at the right side, that's where all your extra D are right but Forbert which the Canucks have interest in resigning but there's no deal with Derek Forbert he forced Elish Patterson to play on the right side so like Forber's there Mancini's there you know they got great kids Kudraytsev down in the minors they got the Sawyer Mineo kid who's I'm telling you, he's going to be a player.

Uh, the Kamloops kid, they've got defensemen coming. I, you know, I don't know. Like Jason, I do, uh, you know, people saw your, Sawyer Mineo though. Like, does he move the needle? You know, because there were teams that called on him just so you know, uh, calling on the calling on him and offering a top six forward, you know, like that, this is what I'm getting at. Like, yeah, you know. Calling on him and offering a top six forward, you know, like this is what I'm getting at. Like it's like even the first round draft pick,

you know, it's 15th overall in a draft that I don't think people are like super, super excited about. I mean, every draft has talent, but I don't think it's comparable to the excitement that people are going to have about next year's draft. Yeah. You know, I just, you know, like the Sawyer Minio, like, yeah, he might be a player, but is

he going to get you a top six? They can actually three of them. And they need, like you brought up a great point, um, that they need a different mix of player too. So, you know, we hear a lot about, well, maybe they can go to the Islanders for Matt Barzell. Barzell is a terrific hockey player, right? I would love Barzell. They need a different mix of player too. So, you know, we hear a lot about, well, maybe they can go to the Islanders for Matt Barzell. Barzell is a terrific hockey player, right?

I would love Barzell to be on the Canucks, but it doesn't make them heavier. It doesn't make them harder to play against. And they're going to need to address that. And it's going to be very, very difficult. Okay. Well, do you make a bold move? Look at Carolina.

We acquire Gantzel, we lose Gantzel, we acquire Ranton and we bold move? Look at Carolina. We acquire Gantzel, we lose Gantzel, we acquire Ranton and we lose them. Where's Carolina today? They're in the Eastern Conference Final. For the fair time in the past seven years under Rod Brenneman, who's one of the best coaches in the NHL. And, you know, maybe they've got to make a bold move. But apparently Carolina, nobody makes more bold moves than them and they keep on winning. Like, literally, they got Gantzel, couldn't keep like literally they got Gensel couldn't keep them Got ranted they couldn't keep them and all they ever do is keep winning and one of the reasons they keep winning is because Rod Brindlemore is just an absolute look at Taylor Hall. Look what he said this week

He said I resigned because of Rod Brindlemore. I love I love being coached by this guy and You know, I I don't know. I think a bold move if It's then if I know you guys both, I've heard you two talk about moving. Um, I've heard you guys a couple of weeks ago, maybe they got to make a bold move. You know what Carolina does? They draft a lot of players. They all the players. If you know what the Vancouver Canucks don't do, they don't draft. They, they have, they have, they have not drafted in the first round, three times in the last five have not drafted in the first round three times in

the last five, not drafted in the second round four times in the last five, and there's your difference between Vancouver and Carolina right there. You nailed it. And last year, no first round, second round, the Connex trade in the third round. And now we hear that the first rounders in play, if, capital letters if, it gets us a great top six forward. And you're bang on. Carolina drafts well and they played the Russian defenseman last night and he was great. And you know, I just, there's such a massive difference between Carolina and Vancouver and how they do it.

They gamble, Carolina gambles, but they keep winning despite losing gambles. You know, Gensel and Renton and look at them last night. They're in the Eastern final again. 2012, they acquired four or they had three fourth round draft picks. Yeah. One of them was, one of them was Jacob Slaven.

You know, and it's just like, you might say like by itself, it doesn't matter if you trade away a fourth round draft pick by itself. Oh, I got it. You do it enough though. You do it enough though, and you don't acquire picks. You never have a surplus of picks. Then you're constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul.

No, and these guys had to give up high draft picks to get out of bad contracts, Jason. You know, they had to give up picks to get rid of Jason Dickinson and his contract. Like they have to give draft picks away to get rid of bad deals, which makes it even worse. Dolly, uh... Hold it, hold it, hold it. I know you want to talk about the lions. Quickly, quickly, 40,000 tickets sold, Snoop dog uh... listen i i just want to

say this uh... stop with the hip-hop rap uh... stuff i don't know any snoop dog songs are going to go to that game uh... he's not he's no more for teaching chong stuff than songs but anyways i'm going to go to the game at kickoff i'm not going to watch it last year fifty cents i went to the game i didn't watch him fifty said it said not just let them out of care fifty cents fifty said i went to the game, I didn't watch him. 50 cent. No, just listen, I don't care 50 cents, 50 cents, I went to the game. It's good, keep going. I missed, I didn't, I don't watch 50 cents.

But listen, here's where the Lions screwed up last year and they better not screw up again this year. So I go to the game last year, the first six possessions to and out. So there's a bunch of guys sitting behind me, now clearly they just went to watch 50 cents. When the Lions have 35 to 40,000 people there that are going to see a concert when you have that many people there to see your product do not go to two and out two and out six times the guys behind me who are there to see 50 cents they left in the first quarter it is it is imperative for the Lions not to do that again.

Just a quick Nathan Rourke update. I've just been told he had a great off season. I've been told he's throwing darts and cam loops. I've been told that his mind is focused. He's not between the NFL and the CFL anymore. This guy is going to have a great season and he's there he if he gets back to his own a pin work for i think the lines are looking good this year but it doesn't matter how great your quarterback if you're alive doesn't protect them they're going to be done it doesn't matter how many minutes and but anyways uh... that nathan work

expecting a big year from them but that first quarter when snoop dogsg's done, if they go, uh, six times to and out, they're going to lose, they're going to lose a ton of people in the first quarter. We just talked to Moj from up in Kamloops. He's there for training camp, raving about the offense Rick said they're moving the ball. It looks great. And they haven't even implemented the schemes in the game plans yet. Last thing, Nathan Rourke and his brother,

these two guys are great. and I'll tell you why. A starting Canadian quarterback, which in the 70s and 80s, and, Brough, you'll remember this, there wasn't many Canadian quarterbacks. They were either backups or they were third stringers. It's an American skill position in Canada. But this guy and his brother gets drafted by the 49ers.

These two brothers are giving hope to every canadian quarterback out there from here in newfoundland the wants to be a starter either in the cfl or the nfl they never know kids didn't have this grown up they didn't have the canadian quarterback to look up to and i'm talking you know in the seventies eighties nineties uh... lines before work never had a starting quarterback that was Canadian. And these two Rourke brothers, you know, whether it's the NFL or the CFL, these kids, these guys are giving hope to that young Canadian quarterback that I can

play an American skill position on both sides of the border and good for them. The Newfie quarterbacks have been overlooked for too long in this country. They got to throw in very tough conditions. It gets very windy. Fingers get cold. Play a Snoop Dogg song for me. I don't know any song. You can play 10 of them. I wouldn't know any of them anyways, but anyways. Enjoy the concert anyway, Rick. And thanks for doing this. I'm going to kick off. We'll be a kickoff later. Bye. See you. Bye. Rick Dollywall, everybody. Running out of words. Okay. Not a big gin and juice guy apparently No

They could split up the concert into three parts and that way people stay for the whole thing like Snoop performed a third of his stuff Before a third and have to leave three times. Yeah, you know what? I'm already just lock everyone in I bet the gates You know what? I bet snoops gonna play his concert and leave call me crazy But I don't think he's gonna stick around for the game big CFO big CFO guy? He likes football though, he's a big football guy. He'll be on the broadcast, he'll be doing all around, I think he will. Why do they keep punching on third down? What's going on here? What's a two and out?

The story went last year, didn't 50 Cent, 50 Cents, didn't he go play a show or didn't he end up in Vegas like the very same evening? I think that was the- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He had things to do. It's fitty. It's gotta go. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.