Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 5/23/25

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, plus they get a Canucks update from 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 That's why they bring Rets in the front, jammed it, and they score! And it's Sam Bennett crashing the net, and the Panthers take a four-nothing lead! Through the left side a base hit! And Nathan Lucas walks it off! Well, I, uh, well, that, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, Hey dog, good morning to you. Good morning. Gladly good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Half of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3000 five star reviews. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com for more.

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. Got a lot to get into on a Friday, big Friday show here on the Haliford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. First hour of today's show, 100% uninterrupted Halbro. Guest list doesn't begin until seven o'clock. AJ's gonna join us at seven.

A reminder, it's a $100 gift card to AJ's today because it's Ask Us Anything Friday. Best AUA gets the gift card. Dunbar Lumber Text Line is 650-650. Jason Brough might actually win the gift card because he put together several very, very thought-provoking ask us anythings that we're going to do throughout the show today. But if you want to win hashtag at AUA, Dunbar Lumbertex line is 6 50, 6 50, ask us anything.

You could win some free pizza. Uh, 705 after AJ Thomas Drance is going to join the program. Canucks talk right here on sports net six 50, the athletic Vancouver, uh, early Canucks talk on a Friday. They signed a new player yesterday. Their American League team is killing it in the playoffs. All kinds of stuff to discuss with Drance at seven oh five this morning. Seven thirty. The Moj is going to join us. The B.C. Lions are back in Kamloops after playing an exhibition game

against Calgary and Langford. They're going all over the province of British Columbia. Lions won't play another game until the 30th of the week today against the Elks. We can talk to Moj about that and the Canucks. That's at 730. Eight o'clock it's Rick Dollywall. Now Jason is usually the Dollywall handler, but there was a technological glitch yesterday. So we actually all got Dolly's notes.

We're going to talk about the Canucks Pro and scouting meetings this week. Potential assistant coaches for Adam Foote, including a guy to keep an eye on, a former NHL head coach, and a couple of prized UFAs that Dolly Walls say aren't, aren't coming to Vancouver when free agency opens on July 1st. Great reporting there. Pretty good. These guys are not coming.

The following players will be Canucks. They were absolutely adamant they did not want to come here. So working in reverse on the guest list 8 o'clock It's dolly wall 730. It's Marjana. It's 705. It's trance and 7 o'clock. It's AJ. It is ask us anything Friday We got a lot to get into on the show so without further ado laddie. Let's tell everybody what happened Hey, did you guys see the game last night. Oh, 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. We do have a lot to get into. It was a busy day yesterday news wise across the world of sprouts in the national

hockey league, but we will begin in Carolina where for the second consecutive game in the Eastern comforts final, the Florida Panthers put a booting, yes, a booting on the Carolina hurricane, Sam Bennett and Carter, Carter Verhage three points each, Sergey Bobrovsky, a cool 17 saves for the shutout. The Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes five nothing in game two of the Eastern Conference final at my favorite center, the Lenovo Center on Thursday.

Yeah. So, um, you know, I think a lot of the focus is going to be on the Carolina Hurricanes because they've now lost 14 straight games in the conference finals. That's bad. So there are two more losses away if they lose these next two in Florida, which is more than possible from getting swept in four straight conference finals, which is crazy.

It's actually impressive. It's actually, yeah, it's one of those impressive stats where you're like, wow, hard to do that, hard to be good enough to get to the conference final. It's true. You know, four times in the last little while and get swept in them. Not win a single game.

Not win a single game. But I do want to talk a little bit first about the team that's doing it to them right now and the team that did it to them last year and that is the Florida Panthers. They have found their game, man. And you know, you think about their last four, let's say five games actually. Sure.

They had kind of one little slip up at home where they lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in game six, but game five in Toronto, they pumped them. Game seven in Toronto, they pumped them. Uh, their last, let's just say their last four road games have been very, very impressive. About as dominant as you can get on the road.

And I just think that this team is, um. They're built for this, Jason. They are built for this. This team is their everything. They've got everything that you need and there's an article on Sportsnet.ca written by Eric Engels who's covering the series and some wise words in there from who else but Brad Marchand and these guys are just so confident in the fact that they are prepared. They're prepared for every game and they know what they've got. Um, they believe in their coach.

They believe in each other. They believe in their goaltender. They believe in their system. They've got size and strength. They've got skill. They've got depth. They've got, they've got everything. There are a bunch of players on Florida who like like a guy like I don't know Anton

Lindell Lindell just to pick one out right like He's a really good player, but he's not a star in Canada He's not a star and frankly in the United States or even Florida But he's just he's just a really good player that doesn't get talked about much because there's so many other good players on the Panthers And also it's the Florida Panthers. Like that team they've put together is really good. And assuming they're going to beat Carolina and I don't know how Carolina is going to win four or five out of the Florida Panthers.

Prove me wrong, Carolina Hurricanes. Prove me wrong. Uh, but whoever gets this team, Dallas. Prove me wrong, kids. Yep. Prove me wrong. kids. Yep. Prove me wrong. Dallas or Edmonton, and Edmonton knows all about Florida. You know, like they're just, they've just done

a lot of things right. And I get it. They got some advantages. No pressure in Florida. So all the players that they don't want that. They got to go there. The weather's nice. There's of course the state income tax issue, which might be addressed by the NHL. I don't know how they're going to address that, but they might try and address it.

But I think you can also tip your cap to the people that are putting together the Florida Panthers, because I don't know if you guys heard this before, but the Florida Panthers because I don't know if you guys heard this before, but the Florida Panthers have not always been good. So the advantages of playing in Florida have not always been taken advantage of. You know, they've drafted well. They've traded well, whether they're trading for guys that everyone knows is good and that's Matthew Kachak or players that you know, they've acquired that they've developed into good players like a guy like Gustav Forsling that's now one of the best shut down defensemen in the NHL. I can't remember who drafted him, but you know regardless

he bounced around and then he ends up in Florida and there's some good players. Sam Bennett, right? Considered a draft bust in Calgary, goes to Florida and now everyone's wondering how much money he's gonna make in his next unrestricted free agent deal. You know, if you're an NHL team and you're not looking to Florida and going like, is there anything we can learn from them?

Without just being like dismissive about it, it's like, well, we don't have like the weather or we don't have the state income tax, like go beyond that. Yeah. And try and figure out what that team has done. The one thing that stands out for me, by the way, and call me a dinosaur, big boys, tough boys, they win in the playoffs and the physical play that the Florida Panthers bring

when they are truly dialed in, there are not many teams in the NHL that can match that. Yeah, last night was a, on top of everything else, was a pretty physical game. There was a, actually, you know what? Carolina did try and dabble in that, in that they got very engaged physically. And in the case of Svetlana Kovtsova

and the penalty that he took on Kachak, they completely backfired. Ajo took a run at Reinhardt and knocked him out of the game. Kind of a dirty hit also. But the thing with Florida is that they are more than happy to trade those blows with you because I think that they know in the end, like you said, they're the big boys,

they're the tough boys. It's gonna be a battle that they're gonna win. There was a huge hit on Jarvis in that game that also knocked Jarvis out of the game. And this is kind of what Florida is built for. We said it earlier. Florida is built for this type of hockey, and Florida is built to win in the playoffs.

A few of the other things that Florida's done that are super impressive, one, it's made it a destination in the National Hockey League. You'll remember when we were talking the other day, I forget who our guest was at the time, but they were talking about the Brad Marshawn trade out of Boston. They wanted to make it abundantly clear that part of the reason that Boston was hamstrung was Brad Marshawn

wanted to go to one team and one team only they did wait for, and it was Florida. They're the new Anaheim actually. Do you remember when Anaheim was that? Yep. Because Kessler was the same way. Yep. You know, those players wanted to go

there because they were a good team, nice climate, um, good organization, good ownership. Yeah. And they win. And they win. Yeah. So there's that. The other thing that I find really interesting

about the Florida Panthers is that in addition to rolling through these playoffs and putting up, uh, tremendous performances on us, you know, by nightly basis, uh, they've also broken the spirits and mentality of one, and now possibly two, entire NHL franchises. We saw what they left in the wake in Toronto, and by the way, we will get into Brendan Shanahan being removed as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Not long after they were dispatched by the Florida Panthers in the playoffs, the Florida Panthers may have broken the minds, the body and the spirit of the Carolina Hurricanes. I want to play some audio here from Rod Brindemore, the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes after the game yesterday. And the tone, I can only describe it as flummoxed. It's not disappointed and it's not angry and it's not sad.

It's flummoxed. It's like he doesn't know Exactly how to solve this and he doesn't know what his players are doing He doesn't recognize the funneled a little bit of a funnel middle of a moment now and He doesn't recognize his team right now. That's a very very problematic thing for a head coach midway through an Eastern Conference final. I don't even know who you are anymore. See that it was an example of what Rod Brindemore says. That was just postgame speech. foreshadowing what we're gonna play right now. Here's Rod Brindemore after a five-nothing loss to Florida in game two of the Eastern Conference final. We gotta just figure out how to win a period. I think that's the I think we came out with the right intentions but it was trying to do too much.

Then we're not doing the things that we do as a team that normally helps us. We were just I didn't know what I was watching in the first period and that didn't go well. So, you know, year, I always said the other day, the margin here is tight. Like we're not going to beat this team if we're not on the same page and tonight for whatever reason I think like I said the intentions were good. Everyone's trying okay. I'm gonna do this, but that's Not how we do it and just backfired I don't know what he really cares about Carolina like if they're kind of a curiosity and a lot of people's minds They're either good team and they get to this point and then they lose all their games when they get here.

But to watch a team have a crisis of confidence to this degree. And, and especially a team that was known to play to its identity. I mean, for me, it's in game one, in game one, I think they came out way too amped up. You can be too amped up. So you can get out of your game. They're undisciplined. Did you see Brendan Moore on the bench? I think he should look in the mirror and be like,

you look psycho right now. Calm down, Rod. Calm down? Seriously? Did you see him in the first period? I know he's an intense dude, but that was like, hey, Rod, try. I just one time, one time, try blinking. I saw it. And I think that was in part fueled by the ghosts of Eastern Conference final. Maybe. I think that was it.

And the other one is last night, you know, don't give up a goal one minute and 17 seconds into the game because it takes all the air out of an arena that can get pretty, pretty loud and pretty boisterous. And also, you know, Carolina is built to play with the league. They don't know how to play from behind. They can't play from behind. It's why they go after these guys,

these quote unquote game breakers, whatever you want to call it, you know, Gensel, Rantanen. And I guess we might as well ask the question. One of the things I want to ask and a few people have been texting in is like, what happens if they get swept? It's a great question. Or what happens if they lose in five or even six, right? Like what, no, not seven, because then at least you'd have a chance to win. Do you know what I mean? Like what happens if this is this series and it's already looking that way is just hopeless.

Okay, it's a great question because it opens up a debate which we can probably tie back in to while the Vancouver Canucks and any other team. So the Coles notes version on what they do and Taylor Hall actually opened up the book a little bit. There's a great piece by Wyshinski up on ESPN talking about not just the loss yesterday, but I don't know if you saw it or not.

At the end of the first period, they got boo't know if you saw it or not, at the end of the first period, they got booed off the ice by the Carolina Hurricanes faithful, a fan base that is usually really positive and really optimistic about the team. Even their darkest moments, they're like, come on hockey team, let's try and win. Let's do a storm surge.

That's Carolina in a nutshell, right? Yeah. They booed them off the ice in the first period and then midway through the second period. I heard Marner started crying again. He's like, is that for me too? It was not. It might be when they sign you in free agency,

but until then, no. In the second period, the Carolina fans with seven shots on the scoreboard up hanging above the Lenovo Center, seven shots on goal midway through the second period, started chanting in unison shoot the puck shoot the puck Which is a crazy thing for a team whose entire offense is predicated on putting pucks on net. I Tweeted out halfway through the game. I was like seven shots

That doesn't seem like many and then all my critics are like, that's talking hockey, baby I thought you'd love that. I was like, all right to my god So we're getting closer and closer to the talking part of the conversation, which is good. So Taylor hall in the aftermath opened up the book ever so slightly about exactly what the, the Keynes want to do. What the, what they want to do is they don't shoot to score. They shoot and shots on that predicate everything else that they want to do.

The exact quote was we generate offense by shooting pox and getting them back. Then we draw a penalty or we get a rebound. We generate momentum by doing that. Now you can argue with that philosophy and that style and that approach, however you want. The important part is that they have a very clear identity. They know exactly what they want to do. And the most important thing and the divisive thing right now is that they have a very clear identity. They know exactly what they want to do. And the most important thing,

and the divisive thing right now, is that they don't deviate from it. They don't go into a series saying like, what do we need to do to unlock this mystery, or figure out this mystery, unlock this box, like figure out the riddle. They say, we do Carolina Hurricanes hockey, we do it. And then if it's not working, what do we do? Wericanes hockey, we do it.

And then if it's not working, what do we do? We do it even harder. And then last night, they didn't do it. Bryn Mawr was talking about, you know, we were passing up shooting opportunities. They were trying to make fancy plays. They were trying to pass the puck in, and they were trying to get out of their element. And it backfired spectacularly,

to the point where the head coach went to the podium and said, I didn't know what we were doing in the first period. That's, that's crazy that that happened. It's actually crazy that Carolina of all teams just couldn't get shots. Just they didn't know how to unlock it. But this is a team that will shoot anything. Like if we want to bring Tocket into the

conversation, um, you know, I don't think Tocket believed in shooting everything. Right. if we want to bring Tauke it into the conversation. Uh-huh. You know, I don't think Tauke it believed in shooting everything. Right? But I'm not talking about the philosophy. No, no, no. What I'm saying is that when the Canucks were struggling to get shots, remember in the playoffs, like. Or all of last season.

Yeah, or any game pretty much. Take your pick. A lot of the times the pushback from the coaching staff is like, we want to create quality shots. We're not just going to shoot everything. I don't think that's a great way to play hockey. If you shoot just random stuff and that's a great way to give the puck over, basically.

Okay? In a nutshell, the Hurricanes don't feel that way. They will shoot anything because that's their whole game plan like you just laid out. But the fact that they couldn't get the shots and this is a team that will shoot anything says a lot about how much they're struggling, but also how good a job that Florida does smothering teams. So what happened yesterday was they went away from their usual game plan.

In game one, they did exactly what you laid out, shot from anywhere. They had 33 shots on Bobrovsky and they lost because it was a lot of stuff from the perimeter and they weren't getting to the guts of the ice. Like Rick Tauke and our new best friend, Craig Ludwig was talking about the other day when he was on the show, right?

Getting into those hard areas. They don't even need to be in the guts of the ice. Yeah, but it's just not what they do. They shoot from the perimeter, they try and pick up rebounds and they try and draw penalties and they're not getting any of that going. So yesterday they totally change it up. They start trying to make plays that they're not accustomed

to making and it goes spectacularly wrong. This is where it gets interesting everybody because I remember distinctly during the year and I, you know, believe it or not, the water carrying media for Rick talking, we did have some complaints. And one of mine was as a head coach, I'm not

sure it's the greatest look and I'm not sure it's a feasible defense for your game plan, where when it doesn't work, your answer is, well, we got to execute better. Or when we're shooting and they're getting blocked or they're missing the net, the answer

is got to get them unblocked and gotta hit the net. Like I get the theory behind it, but sometimes. Move your feet, create those shooting lanes. You know, sometimes. We tell them to do it, but they don't. Sometimes there does need to be tactical adjustments. Like I remember listening to guys that played for the Vegas Golden Knights

and played for Bruce Cassidy. And they're like, Cassidy is unbelievable at coming up with a new game plan on short notice. Yeah, how'd it go against the Oilers? Well, it didn't go great against the Oilers. But Cassidy's had a lot of success as a head coach. And sometimes you can't unlock. Like, let's make that abundantly clear.

But in the case of Bryndamore, would you argue right now that the biggest critique is gonna be your style works until a certain point? And then it doesn't work. Yeah, and then what because right now? It's very easy to draw a line to say where his point his style works to it's the Eastern Conference final Yeah, and then not only has he had little success in the Eastern Conference final. He's never won a game That's a problem. Now you could say, you know, certain things

have transpired against him and it's the players that go out there and execute. And I say, yeah, that's totally valid. But a head coach's job is partly to be a problem solver. Not a guy that identifies the problem and then throws his hands up in the air and says, but the way that we play is the way that we play. Okay, so the question is, what do you think the

Carolina hurricanes are going to do if they get swept? They're not dead yet, but if they get swept or if they go out meekly, gentlemen sweep, uh, texting to the Dunbar lumber text line, six 50, six 50 Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rent a warrior's for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at DunbarLumber.com.

We've got the whole first hour of just Halford and Brough and you, the listeners, texting in to the Dunbar Lumber text line. So let's introduce the other, I would say big story in hockey yesterday and that is Brendan Shanahan. The Shana plan failed because Brendan Shanahan is no longer leading the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He'll probably maybe soon be leading the Islanders. Sounds like it, yeah. Okay. Tough losing your job, but I think he Shanahan-ed it with class. There we go. I gotta say you guys. 6'22", never too early for a laddie dad joke.

A daddy joke, if you will. So 11 years, nine playoff appearances. No trips beyond the second round of the playoffs. Brendan Shanahan out as the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. MLSC boss, Keith Pelley, announced it yesterday. So the quote was lengthy, and it thanked Shanahan for his decade plus in charge. And in a lot of ways,

Shanahan does deserve a ton of credit because he inherited a team that was kind of in a tailspin and did bring them a lot of regular season success. Anyway, the money quote from Keith Peli was this, our responsibility and driving motivation is to add a new chapter to the Maple Leafs championship history. And it was determined that a new voice was required to take the team to the next level in the years ahead. So a lot of people read that, especially the I boldface this part.

It was determined that a new voice was required and thought, OK, that means they're going to bring in a new voice. But lo and behold, according to Chris Johnson of the Athletic, it doesn't sound like it's going to go that way. Johnson reported that it was determined that initial indications are no immediate replacement for Brendan Shanahan and that Bradtree Living will either be granted more power and authority as the general manager or Keith Pelly steps in like he kind of has with some of the

MLSC's other properties, specifically Toronto FC and the Toronto Argonauts, where he's now the guy that the general manager reports to and he's more hands on with the operation. And a lot of that's just kind of inside baseball stuff in Toronto and corporate stuff. Um, in hindsight, what was the biggest mistake that Brendan Shanahan made?

Uh, way too loyal to the Cora four, way too many bites at the apple given by the press. That would be my thought. Yeah. And I think it goes beyond that. I think it was being overly loyal to four forwards who don't scream playoff prototypes. Really good players and I think you can win with these guys, but maybe not four of them

together. Well, definitely not four of them together. It was proven. So this is going to get, this is a bit of a theme by the way that I've been working on because some of it has to do with the Canucks. Actually, everything I talk about has to do with the Canucks. Hockey in the postseason is still a game for

tough, tenacious, bordering on vicious or psychopath players. Sure. And if you don't have a few of them in your core, it's hard to win. And let me repeat that in your core. Can't be peripheral guys. Okay.

They cannot just be added to the margin. There's a reason why guys like Dougie Gilmore and Wendell Clark got them the furthest the Leafs have gone in the modern era and they didn't even get up to the Stanley Cup final, but they at least got them to a couple of conference finals. Hockey has changed since that time, but it hasn't changed as much as some people think.

No. And I feel like we're going back a little bit. Everyone says it's a copycat league and look at what the Florida Panthers are doing with a top six that yes has skill. You obviously need skill. I'm not advocating a team put together four lines of, you know, just bottom six grinders and big tough dudes who can't skate.

I'm not advocating that. And I realize it's hard to find these guys that are big and tough than can play. But if you don't find them, it's hard to find these guys that are big and tough than can play. But if you don't find them, it's hard to win. And even a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning had to at least change their DNA a little bit. Like, I don't know if you look at a team like Tampa Bay, they won two cups. They've had a lot of success and be like, wow, that's like a, that's like a monster big in all their core players are so tough. Like, but I do think they're tenacious, you know, like I,

I do think they play a certain style that obviously can work in the playoffs. Although it hasn't worked recently. Most teams like they have a guy or two guys that you're like, man, he is a, he's a nasty piece of business and he's a, he's again, it's like Sam Bennett, right? Kachak. If we're just talking about, uh, if we're just,

you know, and even people are like, well, what about Pittsburgh is like, Sid is one of the toughest guys you'll, you'll meet. He may not like, he doesn't fight or he's not, he's not dirty, but like physically he is, he's a power forward. That's what he is. He's just incredibly skilled. You gotta find those guys. And I look at the Canucks right now and I don't see a single one of them in their core.

So I know that's a problem. I know we're up against it for time, but I do want to just add because I've mentioned this before, but I'll reiterate it. The fact that it was Brandon Shanahan with his player profile and his history as an NHL or that put this together is kind of stunning. And by kind, I mean completely stunning because it go back when you get a chance, dear listeners, and listen to watch the E60 that they did on

the Red Wings Colorado Avalanche rivalries of the 90s in which Brendan Shanahan played a huge important instrumental figure in there's sit-down interviews with Shanahan where he hadn't won anything prior to going to Detroit and he talked about what it took to win a Stanley Cup and he said he didn't really understand what it took until he got to Detroit and Detroit got him. And they had to go through the war, borderline war with Colorado, where it wasn't about skill and scoring 50, 60 goals

in the regular season. It was about being the tougher and nastier and more physical team in the postseason. And Shanahan was brought aboard because he had those attributes and they needed it to get over the hump to beat Colorado and to win those cups in Detroit. Let, let, let's continue this on the other side,

but do you think he, do you think he got too influenced by, I'm not, okay, I'm not anti analytics, but do you think he got. Dinosaur time. He got too influenced by that, possibly. We can't discuss it on the other side. Before we go to break any- By the way, Kyle Dubas' latest team is doing well.

Yeah, they are. Well, they were. They were. They lost to Denmark yesterday. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. I have another question for you. Okay.

Did Rick Dollywell really call SGA IG? Well, we can find out now as we go to the Power West Industries hotline, our next guest. We will get to the bottom of this. Basketball Phil wants to know. Rick Dollywall joins us on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

Rick, did you call Shay Gildes Alexander, commonly known as SGA by the supermarket chain. IGA. Yes, I did. First of all, basketball. First of all, basketball, Phil, that guy's a nut bar too. I'm not a basketball guy and I was for some odd reason thinking of the grocery store. IGA. Yeah, no, I got that. Yeah. Donnie kept saying SGA, SGA and I was thinking IGA. So I didn't, I, I for some reason I was thinking groceryAs. So I didn't, I, for some reason, I was thinking grocery store and I did say, Hey, is this guy's name IGAs. So my apologies, but I'm

not a huge B-ball guy. I know you guys are, but I am not. I was watching Carolina and I was watching Florida. I was not watching the NBA's final four. And yeah, I did call them IG8. I heard TSN led with it. I can't remember where I heard that. Oh boy. Don't, uh, Donnie got, uh, everyone worked up and riled up on Twitter.

All the basketball guys were just fuming at Donnie the other day, but you know what? Hey, look, I'm not going to be honest. I'm going to be honest with you guys. Look, we're in a hockey nation and hockey is number one the Vancouver Canucks can sign a fourth line guy in the middle of August the BC Lions could be playing their biggest game of the year on a Friday and the Canucks could acquire a fourth line guy earlier in the afternoon and everybody in this city

would forget about the Lions game and to we all talk about some fourth line guy the lines or sorry the Canucks acquired we are it is hockey hockey hockey and I I'm sorry but I'm with Donnie 100% on this 11 o'clock comes well you think about sports page you think about sports page when it was going and I'll give you an example. I, you know, the Grizzlies used to get upset when sports page at 11 o'clock would start with a Canucks practice at eight ranks with Pavel Bure and the Grizzlies played that night. And it probably would have been on the road, but the sports page would lead with the Canucks practice with Bure and it would drive the Grizzlies and Stu Jackson nuts. So look, we're in a hockey nation, hockey's first. I know there's basketball guys out there.

I'm not a B-ball guy, but I'm 100% behind Donny's tweet. 100%. Okay, well let's focus on the Vancouver Canucks then. Tell us- Dolly, did you ever get those Canucks calendars from SGA? As a kid? No, are you kidding me? Shoppers Drug Mart.

Are you kidding me? I had them all the time. I'd run to Shoppers Drug Mart and get the Canucks calend Mart. Are you kidding me? I had them all the time. I'd run to Shoppers Drug Mart and get the Canucks calendars. Are you kidding me? Shoppers, what is it? Shoppers Drug Mart SDM. Yeah, I did that all the time. I'm amazed you came up with it that quickly. That's pretty good. Okay. Let's focus on the Vancouver Canucks. Pro and Scouting meetings this week. What do you got for us, Rick? Well, first of all, this is where the seeds are planted,

okay, for the next five weeks. You got the NHL draft, you got trade targets, you got Canuck free agents like Besser and Souter to deal with, you got free agents on July 1st from around the league. They're all gonna be discussed this week. No scouts do cartwheels when the GM trade tie picks. They spent countless hours

and ranks all over the world for the draft. They get the draft list ready, they're ready to go and the GM trades the first two picks like the Canucks did last year. We all know the first round pick is in play for the Canucks if they can acquire a top six forward. Now, if they do trade that pick, doesn't mean the Scouts job stops. They got to be ready to pick in later rounds. Go to last year, Melvin Firmstrom, third round, Canucks, what do they do? They trade the guy, right? He was just named the Rookie of the Year in Sweden.

That's got to suck for Scouts, like really bad. That kid, I think that kid's going to be a player, but he's playing for Pittsburgh now. So the pressure is going to be on Canucks, Gucks guys to find another Elias Pettersson, the defenseman, third round, 80th overall in 2022. Now he's on the verge of becoming a regular in Vancouver. Sawyer Mineo, third rounder, Karelo Kudrayevich, seventh round. When you trade as many first and second rounders like the Canucks have, you got to hit in the later rounds. And the Canucks have done a good job of doing that in the last two to three years. They're forced to because this this regime and the previous regime, all they do is trade first and second rounders. Now, Canucks have the 15th pick, so many good centers, but they're going to be gone. There could be six

centers taken in the first 11 picks. The dream scenario is if Roger McQueen of the weak teams falls to the Canucks. Six foot five right shot center, he's only played 17 games and Brandon because of a fracture of the spine. Like every other team, the Canucks have checked the medicals on McQueen, but he's still expected to be a top five, six, seven, eight pick. I am hearing one center that has caught the Canucks attention this year has been Seattle's Braden Coots Very good u18 great skater high compete level very good leadership skills for a young player Okay. Now, let's go to the ufas better and for Burt I will be not be surprised if they both hit July 1st

Canucks have shown interest in trying to get Forbert back, but I'm hearing as of now, he most likely will hit the market. If Forbert leaves, the Canucks are going to miss his size and they're going to miss one of the best penalty killers down the stretch in the NHL. But they would open up a spot naturally on the left side for Elias Pedersen, the defenceman who played on the right side down the stretch. I still think the Canucks are going to take another shot at signing Pia Suter in the next while here, but it's too early to tell what they're going to do with Noah Julesen. But what they do and what they decide coming out

of these meetings is going to plant the seeds. They're going to plant them right now for what happens in the next five weeks. And there could be some big, big moves guys. Rick, what are the trade chips that they're going to use to get these two or three top six forwards that they want? And here's the other thing. There's so many other teams looking for centers.

Rick Tocque, it's Philadelphia Flyers are looking for centers. Okay, so, Philadelphia Flyers are looking for centers. Okay, so this ironic thing, okay let me get into this. So people want to be ironic traded. Is that going to make Quinn Hughes happy? He just lost his favorite coach, you know, he watched him leave, he has watched Miller leave, he has watched Horvat leave, he's going to watch Besser leave in six weeks. So is that the plan to keep this guy around is trading good players? And how would that, if they trade

Hironic for top six help, how in the world would that be making Quinn Hughes happy? Well, maybe the team's better, Rick, maybe the team's better. And frankly, and frankly, you know, is it a, do the Canucks need to come to terms with the fact that it's likely that Hughes is gone? That's right.

That's right. Okay. So let me throw the other ironic thing at you. Exactly. Who's your first pair of right shot D if he leaves, it's Myers. He turns 36 in a few months. I love all this man, Seanie Cough.

Okay. He's doing great at the American Hockey League level But he hasn't proven yet to be a national hockey league regular defenseman when the Canucks got Mancini Where was he he was in Hartford of the American Hockey League? He has not been an NHL regular defenseman tons of potential there He played really great in the American Hockey League, but here's the thing, he has not proven to be an NHL regular defensive. Okay, Rick, like I don't want to go too far down on this this Hronik story, but the only reason that it's been brought up is because people are wondering like, okay, well, if you say no to all this stuff, then how are you going to do it? They've

said, okay, so we're not going to trade Hronik, right? Take that off the table. We'll take it off. Okay. Quinn would be too sad. And they need, and he's a good player, right? Take it off the table. But apparently they don't like any of their unrestricted

free agents on the list. Um, you know, and you're probably going to tell us later that Mitch Marner and Sam Bennett aren't going to come to Vancouver in free agency. Okay. You're talking about drafting with the 15th overall pick and you know, Steve McQueen kid is out there and you know, they're gonna draft him with the 15th overall pick. So they've drafted that player. How are they gonna get these players if they like, how are they gonna do it? I don't understand

this plan. How are they gonna do it? I don't understand this plan. I am with you. And why are they, okay, here's the other thing. Why are they looking for center men in top six guys? Because they traded Miller and Horvat and got top 4D and they created massive holes at the center position. That's why they're in the mess today.

Because when they traded Miller and Horvat, they didn't get offense back and they didn't get good center and back but they got two top 4D. So that's why they're in the mess with the top six they are today. So how do you get out of the mess? Well first of all you try real hard to make trades and then if that doesn't work they're gonna have no option. They're going to have no option. And I'm going to give you something else too. The year that OEL was bought out, the plan was not to buy OEL out guys. In mid season, the plan was not to buy them out. The plan was to trade Myers and Garland for cap space, but they couldn't do it.

So they ran out of time and they had to buy them out. So they could go get the guys like Blugr and all these guys in free agency, they got the money from the OEL buyout. So if they don't make the trades to get top six pieces, they're going to have to go back to July 1st again and try their hardest to get those pieces. They're in a bind and top six pieces, they don't grow on trees and teams who have top six pieces don't necessarily want to give them away. If they pull this off it's the greatest management in NHL offseason history because I don't see how it's possible.

Yeah okay and last year no first, no second and you traded the third pick who is the rookie of the year in Sweden. So basically last year's draft, if one player makes the NHL, I'll be shocked. I'll be shocked. So basically last year's draft is a write-off. If you give up the first round pick this year, what's this year's draft going to be? After the second round,

you guys know the odds of a player making it in the national hockey league. They get lower. They don't get higher. Well, you know, it's in the prep notes and we've already kind of talked about it. Sam Bennett and Mitch Marner, some people would love to see Sam Bennett. Others would like to see Mitch Marner on the Canucks. No chance? Jim Rutherford said a couple of weeks ago, UFA players don't have, they're not high. Vancouver's not high. And I've been telling you guys for six weeks that the top UFAs don't have

Vancouver on their list. If the Canucks don't get their top six forwards, they're going to have no choice. They're going to have to go and get somebody on July 1st. Players wait a long time, Jason, to become UFAs. They are club controlled for so long. They now have a choice as to where they want to go for the first time in their careers. They want to go to good programs. They want to go to winning programs. They want to go to teams of good owners.

They want to go to teams of practice facilities. They want to go to teams where there was no drama, no soap opera stuff. The problem they have, the Canucks, and the other, but the problem the UFAs have, the teams with all the cap space, they're the crappy teams, right? These guys want money, but all the good teams don't have the cap space for a Mitch Marner and his 13 million he's supposedly going to make something else. I'm going to tell you about someone just published Mitch Marner's address

publicly in Toronto. Bunch of people went to his house. I think the police were called. I would be shocked if Marner signed in another Canadian city. Like, I mean, he goes through this every year. He's had, if you think Elias Pedersen got heat this year in Vancouver, you guys have no idea what Marner or Matthews are going to in Toronto. When he was booed with the puck at the end of that game,

that was, that was, that was, that was pretty rough. But to publish a hockey player that popular, his address on the internet, this is why players, and this is why players and this is why players don't want to play in Canada. Then these Leafs went out for golf the other day, somebody took a picture and put it up on the internet. You don't get that in Carolina and Columbus, you don't get that in LA and Florida. That's why players are flocking to those places, LA and Florida, because where did Alexander

Edler sign after playing his entire career in Vancouver, LNA. You don't think, uh, Edler can walk down the street and nobody can notice him in LA. Those things matter. You know, a lot of guys. But Edler's so chatty. He loves to chat with people.

It was interesting. He picked LA. A lot of these guys like tax free states with lower cost of living or less media. If the Canucks don't end up, uh, getting the, I'm sorry, but they're going to have to go after the Matt Duchesne's, John Tavares, Bennett, even though Bennett probably does not want to come to Vancouver, they're still going to have to call the agent and say, hey, do we have a chance? Like that's, if they don't get a centre, get ready to, you know, they're getting the pursuit for Matt Duchesne,

but at least in, but they're all older guys. At least in the trade, the Canucks can target 23 to 25 year olds, but they're gonna have to pay through the nose. Now one thing I do want to say- With what? With what assets? That's it.

That's why you're all ironic. Okay, well, who's your right shot D in the first pair? And you know, okay. So you worked so hard since Chris Tanev and give the Canucks credit for identifying Hironic, okay, and then getting him and then signing him long term. That's the first right shot D that's been stable since Chris Tanev left, right? So now you're going to move them to get a top six piece, right? But did you not think to get a top six piece, right? But did you not think to get a top six piece back for Miller and Horvat? You know, this is why they're in the mess they

are today. They elected to get defensemen and they fixed that. Now you got to rob the DE to help with the forwards. It's just, I don't know. I do want to say one thing. I see a lot of articles that the Canucks should go after Marco Rossi of the wild. He's an RFA, he's 23 years old, but he's 5'9". The Canucks top center right now, Pedersen, last time I checked he's not 6'4", 2'20". I heard you guys talking about, and I've been harping on this for a long time, the Canucks have no hard skill in the top six, zero, zero, it's none, zero. When the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup,

massive at centre, everyone was six, two, six feet, 200 pounds, you can wear teams down when your centres are that big. So how are the Canucks gonna wear down teams with Pederson and Rossi? He's five, nine. I know he's a good young centre, he's got a hundred points in his last two seasons.

When I checked earlier this week, the Canucks had not contacted Minnesota about Rossi. These things can change, but like you guys talked about, go get some guys with hard skill. You know, for second line center, I want somebody with size and grit. You know, they need a guy like JT Miller

Let's talk about Well, Adam foot had some grit in the NHL and you know what? So did Bob Boogner. Is he a possibility for? The connect staff. What else are you hearing about? The assistance for Adam foot because I think that's gonna be pretty key the assistance for Adam Foote because I think that's going to be pretty key. Boy, it is average. Listen, Luke Richardson is still talking with

teams about a headcoaching job. I think he just interviewed in Boston. If he doesn't get one, I believe that Luke Richardson would be a candidate in Vancouver. He did talk to the Canucks when they were looking for a head coach. By the way, I want to get this in. Foote did not interview with any other team.

Remember that story about a lot of teams are after Foote and he was a hot commodity?. Foot did not interview with any other team. Remember that story about a lot of teams are after Foot and he was a hot commodity? Foot did not do any interviews other than Vancouver, which tells me and explains what I was told. He was a series candidate from day one in Vancouver. Now, wouldn't surprise me if former NHL defenseman, Bob Boogner is on the radar for Foot. Boogner and Foot played together in Sault Ste. Marie back in the late 1980s and one year in Colorado. Great relationship there. As a coach,

Boehner's won the OHL championship in junior, head coach in the NHL with San Jose in Florida, his time in Detroit's up as assistant. That's the kind of experience that Foot should be looking for. So a couple of names that I think for assistant coach Luke Richardson and I think Bob Boehner would be wouldn't surprise me if those are two guys that Adam Foot's looking at. I would leave Manny Maholtz for an Abbotsford. I would not promote him. He's done a great job with getting the Canucks prospects ready to play in the NHL. Look at that Abbotsford lineup guys. He doesn't have a loaded American Hockey League roster. There's one player averaging a point of game in the playoffs is Sammy Blaze. Our Steve Baines led Abbotsford with a measly 43 points

in the regular season. The league leader had 73. He's done a fabulous job. He's winning in the playoffs without his number one center, Atu Ratu. He's only played five games in the playoffs. He may have not got the Canucks coaching job, but Mahoultra where his day will come. His coaching this season has been noticed around the NHL. What happened there? Did you stop talking? Are you there? Yeah. Did you lose me? No, no, no. We're still good. Okay. Okay. Oh, and hey, and just in about a Manny Moultras kid, Manny's not the only one doing great things this year. Manny's kid Caleb and the Chilliwack Chiefs are tied 2-2 with

Brooks in the BC Hockey League final. One NHL scout told me you could see the pro potential in this kid. So Caleb, is he going to college? No, no. He, he, so here's what I've heard. Caleb may not return to Chilliwack next year. Some say he's going to go back to the OHL next season. Okay. He was a high top 10 pick in the OHL last year. There was rumors he was going to go to Boston college. A lot of teams after this kid, early NHL draft previews have

Mahoultra late first, early second next year. The Mahoultras have been doing a lot of good stuff in the Fraser Valley. This is going to be a good prospect. Caleb Mahoultra, I am hearing that he most likely will go back to the OHL first draft year, but there were rumors about possibly Boston College as well. I think I might have asked you this last week, but I'd be curious to know how Manny felt about Adam Foote getting the job.

But did he, I mean this might sound like a dumb question, like did Manny Malhulcha really want the Vancouver job or is he happy with where he is right now? Sometimes even, you know, you want the NHL job at some point, but maybe you're honest with yourself. You don't feel like your, your time is right or the team is right and you want to, you know, work on your craft a little bit more. Do you have any idea how that all went down?

Yeah. All I know is that look, um, he was the Canucks think highly of him. They think he's done a tremendous job at the American Hockey League level. How can you guys not praise what Manny's done? His job is to get, go look, go look at the last, I think 10, 12 games for the Canucks.

There were six to seven Abbotsford players in that Vancouver lineup down the stretch. The biggest thing, the most impressive thing, Mahoulter did, he kept winning in Abbotsford with his top guys who were in Vancouver. Canucks totally impressed with this guy. Look, they interviewed him. They absolutely like him. His day will come.

He's on the verge of advancing to the Western Conference Final in the American Hockey League playoffs. He's basically essentially five wins away from the Calder Cup. He's done a lot of great things. His day will come. He knows that. He knows that. And teams like I just said, Jason, teams around the league have noticed the job he's done. But you know what? There's no rush. From what I was told, there's no rush with him. He knows his day will come. Baby steps, you know what they always say, crawl before you run. But I have to give the Canucks credit. When he first got the job, I was like, well he's never been a head coach before. Well he's blown everyone away with the job he's done in

Abbey this year. There's no question. Hey. Hey before we let you go I'm gonna throw you on the spot but the labian forward that the Canucks signed yesterday. Stop stop stop stop. You want to try to pronounce his name? I've got it. No you should try. No no I looked at it yesterday I started sweating and I said I even tried and I said, screw this. Listen, if this guy makes the roster, I'll give it a shot. There's no need, no need to give it an attempt. No need, let him come to camp, let him make the team, then I'll give it a shot. Otherwise, I looked at it yesterday and I said, pass.

Hard pass, hard pass. Onry Ravinsky's. No, not gonna do it. Not gonna do it. Six foot three, 200 pounds. He's got that size you were looking for. Hey, hold it, hold it. Did you say Ruchinsky?

Because remember there was a Ruchinsky that played me on each other. There sure was, but this is a different person. They both spell and pronounce their surnames differently. But aside from that, close. Okay, Rick, thanks for doing this today, man. We appreciate it. Enjoy the week and we'll do this again next Friday.

All right, guys. Rick Dollywall Enjoy the weekend. We'll do this again next Friday. Sorry, guys. Rick Dollywall here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. It's always an adventure. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.