Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 5/26/25

Episode Date: May 26, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports that saw some memorable NHL playoff action, they talks Abbotsford Canucks postseason hockey with commentator Brandon Astle, plus the boys tell us what they learned. 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 the Panthers lead 3-1! Would you shotgun a beer in church? Wait a minute, this sounds like Rock and or Roll. Three on one, Connor McDavid right circle, ditches, gets it back and scores! Good morning, Vancouver. It's six o'clock on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody, it is Halford at his broth at his Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. It is so hot in here. And Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello, I don't complain. Halford at broth, good morning. What's going on in there? The heat's broken, it's like 45 degrees in the producer's well. Hello. Hello. I don't complain how pretty brother in there the heat's broken

It's like 45 degrees in the producer studio. It's ridiculous Somebody left the door closed over the week, but it's not even that it's like that's bad enough But it also the heat is broken in here. Oh, it's fine in here. I'm glad yeah I know it's very comfortable in there. I'm spending the show in there. You see us on camera. We come in there No, okay How pretty rough of the morning is Brad to you by Sands & 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 almost chilly in here,

Kintec Studio. Kintec, footwear and orthotics working together with you and Step. We got a big show ahead on a Monday. Lots to get into. It's a four-guester here on the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Guest list today begins at 6.30.

Our good buddy Sean Gentile from The athletic is going to join the program live from Florida ahead of tonight's potentially serious clinching game of four of the Eastern conference final. First question for Sean, what the hell has happened to the Carolina hurricanes? Hopefully he will be able to answer at six 30 again ahead of tonight's a Kane's Panthers game, which will be aired live right here on Sportsnet. Six 50 seven o'clock Jason Greger from sports 14, 14 Edmonton is going to join the program.

The Oilers took a two one lead in the Western conference final yesterday afternoon with a big six one win in game three in Edmonton. What a weekend for Stuart Skinner in goal for the Edmonton Oilers. We'll chat to Jason Greger about all that at seven o'clock. Seven thirty Axel Schuster, white cap sporting director, is going to join the program. Awesome win for the Whitecaps on Saturday rallying from a two nil deficit, two nil Jason in the first five minutes of the match. Incredible. Not a good start.

Well, no, but what a finish. But what a finish. Three to win for the Whitecaps at Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah on the weekend. Unbeaten Street goes to 14 matches for the Caps. So we will also preview Sunday's big ConcaCaf Champions Cup Final with Axel at 7.30. Eight o'clock, Brandon Astle is gonna join the program.

The play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks. Abbotsford is in a game five winner take all this afternoon. Jason, this afternoon in the Calder Cup Pacific Division final against Colorado. You're telling me all this stuff like I have no idea. Two o'clock in the afternoon the game starts today. Why? It is Memorial Day in America.

Right. So we've got the call also live right here on Sportsnet 650 beginning at two o'clock. After that we've got the call also live right here on Sportsnet 650 beginning at two o'clock. After that, we've got Kane's Panthers. So like seven hours of uninterrupted hockey today on the station. We'll join. We'll be joined by Brandon at eight o'clock to talk all things. Abby, I love how there's just like no consideration for the visiting team and their fans. It seems like it's memorial. Right.

It seems weird. The two of them got that up in Canada, right? I'm sure they do. Yeah. Okay. Set the schedule. The game classic two o'clock Monday game five Yeah, so working in reverse on the guest list eight o'clock Brandon Astle 730 Axel Schuster 7 o'clock Jason Gregor 630 Sean Gentile It's a big show ahead got 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? No. 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. Well folks, it's still not written in stone, but it's looking more and more like we may get a Stanley Cup final rematch.

We will begin our rundown of the weekend with what happened yesterday afternoon in Edmonton, Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, two goals apiece for the Oilers who cruised, although the score was a little more lopsided than the game indicated. Six one against the Dallas stars in game three of the Western conference final at Rogers place. As I mentioned on Sunday afternoon, Edmonton now has a two one lead in the best of seven series. Florida's up three, nothing on Carolina. So that one's done. Obviously I'm worried about this and the Oilers and I'm not happy how easily they seem to be

taking care of Dallas yet again, but I can admit that a rematch of the Panthers and Oilers would be pretty awesome. Yep. The Panthers and the Oilers have been easily the most impressive teams in these playoffs. They've each had a few hiccups along the way, but that happens in the playoffs and it especially seems to happen

to the Edmonton Oilers. But, you know, I think the Dallas Stars and Pete DeBoer were just trying to take anything positive away from yesterday's game. Um, you know, the, I saw Pete DeBoer's presser after and he was like, you know, I was pretty happy with the game and the start. And I get it.

Like they did have an advantage on the shot clock and their second period did go up, but they were down 3-1 after the second. They give up some, they give up some grade A chances to the Edmonton Oilers and like Connor McDavid, like don't do, not with him, not with him. I mean. Or Zach Hyman. I mean.

Or Zach Hyman. You know. Or Ryan Nugent Hopkins. Well, the three stars on Sunday were Stuart Skinner, who we can talk about, Zach Hyman, and Ryan Nugent Hopkins, which is hilarious because McDavid scored two goals. There were two of Edmonton's first three goals,

so pretty important, and he doesn't get a star. Never gets the recognition. His second goal was an absolute backbreaker too. Making it three one late in the second period that had been like Pete DeBoer pointed out, dominated to that point by Dallas. Now the wild card in all this remains Skinner, but he's mostly been excellent since taking

over in the Vegas series. Yep. You know, three shutouts, only one goal allowed the other day against Dallas yesterday. But until he gets it done, he'll be doubted and frankly, rightly so, right? Like each year he's getting pulled out of the playoffs and people are asking questions like, when is Calvin Pickard back? And I think, and I think that anytime that someone asks the question, when is Calvin Pickard back? You can say that there's not full trust in the starting goaltender.

Uh, on Friday, when we did the one to watch brought to you by Delaney's okay tire, I made the one to watch Stuart Skinner because we were all wondering, is Calvin Pickard healthy enough to return to the series Stuart Skinner Throughout these playoffs when he's been good He's been excellent when he's been bad the Edmonton others have lost usually with a five or six on the scoreboard in the goals Against department and it has been Such a fascinating thing to watch because you never really know what Stuart Skinner you're gonna get but over the weekend They played on Friday and Sunday

What was it stopped 58 and 59 shots the weekend, they played on Friday and Sunday. What was it? Stopped 58 and 59 shots faced, got a shadowed on Friday night, allowed one goal yesterday and a 6-1 win. Miko Rantan in his post-game media availability, of all the players he could have picked, who the MVP, he said the MVP of the match, he coined it in a very European way.

Said the MVP of the match was Stuart Skinner. He was the best player on the pitch. Yes, and he was. Large stretch is the best player on the pitch. I. And he was. Lars Stretches, the best player on the pitch. I mean, I understand what DeBoer and the Stars were trying to say after the game that, you know, the old Travis Greenline didn't really feel like a 6-1 game, although it was a 6-1 game. Like they outshot Edmonton 21 to 7 in the second period,

and they weren't just flinging the pucks on net like the Carolina Hurricanes. The high danger chances were pretty even. The problem is, the problem is they're not converting. That they're not. And Edmonton is doing a fantastic job because of that depth that we've talked about it forward. Like you mentioned, Connor McDavid didn't get one of the three stars yesterday. And it's because the other guys that got them, Nugent, Hopkins and Hyman justifiably deserved them.

Like Hyman's line yesterday was two goals, an assist, 10 hits, 10 hits in the game and a plus five ratings. Plus five. That's pretty good. That's great. I think Newch had three assists. He was huge.

Right. I mean, he's such an all around player too. By the way. Yes. If, if, if Dallas goes out, who's going to win because everyone was like, Oh, Rantanen is the leader of the Conspite trophy race. Who's going to be McDavid again? The other betting options, two and three right now are McDavid and Bobrowski.

Stuart Skinner. Stuart Skinner, Stuart Skinner, if they win the Stanley Cup. You'll either get a shutout or lead in 12 goals. Right. Here's the thing. I know we're projecting. Never know. I know we're projecting too far ahead because it's either win the Gonsmite or be bought out. Or Calvin Pickard will be in that at some point during the Stanley Cup final. Hey, the swings back and forth though are kind of crazy. It's pretty comical. It's

wild. I don't think I've ever seen him play an average swing. I haven't been in as many swing swings lately, right? I was always told they valued consistency in gold tenders when I was growing up. Apparently not. It doesn't. Apparently you just need to have a shutout every once in a while. Every now and again, you just have a game that you just throw.

You just throw in the toilet and flush it. Who needs consistency, right? Yeah. So we're all wondering what's happened to the Carolina Hurricanes and we're going to talk to Sean Gentile about that in about 20 minutes, but I have the same question about the Dallas Stars. Did they just expect that Rantanen would do all the

scoring for them in these playoffs? And again, I know, I know they played reasonably well yesterday and missing hints was, was a blow for sure. Yep. Uh, like I said, I listened to DeBoer after the game and he was generally pleased with the performance, but they are not getting nearly enough from a bunch of their quote unquote star forwards.

Uh, here's a fun stat. Wyatt Johnston is minus 17. He's having a tough go. In the playoffs. He's having a tough go. Minus 17 in the playoffs. That is like, think about that. First of all, to get to 17 already,

what have they played? Have they even played 17 games? 16. 16 games. So he's minus 17 in 16 games. And the teams made it to the conference final and they're only down two one in the conference final to be minus 17.

Duchenne is minus 13. Jamie Ben, I think he's minus eight or something like that. Jason Robertson, he had a goal yesterday, one goal in nine games. I mean, that goal yesterday wasn't exactly, like it wasn't exactly a big one, right? He's clearly not playing it 100% because he's already missed.

But he's not, those are the guys that you're talking about right now that did tons of the heavy lifting during the regular season. Wyatt Johnson, Jason Robertson, Rope Hintz. I mean, they're getting nothing. Hintz obviously is injured now and we'll see what happens. He did take a warm up yesterday, so he might be able to get back in this series.

But they haven't had enough. If you look at their leaderboard in terms of scoring, it's random with 21 points. And then there's a 10 point bulge between him and Thomas Harley, who's a defenseman. Like they're not getting nearly enough. Where's Jamie Ben Tyler Sagan had a goal in this series. And we feel like he got shot out of a cannon, but it was all too brief. It's got to be very concerning for Dallas right now. After scoring six in the opener to come back and get one goal over the course of

two games. What a weird team, though. You remember like such a weird collapse at the end of the season, or such a weird, awful for a stretch of what was it? Ten games going into the playoffs. And oh, no, no, they're fine. They had a seven game losing streak going into the playoffs. Yeah. The Canucks kind of triggered it, didn't they?

Yeah, they broke them and then they came back. We thought they did. And now they look a little broken again. They just broke Wyatt Johnson. The Stars could have a lot of turnover this off season with Dushain, Ben, Dattanoff and Grandland all pending UFAs. Like those, that's four key forwards right there.

I know there's some people that think the Canucks should go after a guy like Jamie Ben. I'm not so sure about that. You know, they're, they got to get faster. Jamie Ben is not going to add to the speed at any rate. Um. He's having it, but I just, I'm sorry to interrupt, but he's having a tough, tough postseason.

Yeah, he's old, man. I know. He's old. But he's got one goal in 16 games. Again, he, he, he's old. He's having trouble keepingseason. Yeah, he's old, man. I know. He's old. But he's only one goal in 16 games. Again, he's old. He's having trouble keeping up. Yeah. And when you got guys like McDavid out there,

he looks even slower. And don't forget the Stars have already spent a big chunk of their cap space on extending rantonin. So, you know, we always talk about stakes and trying to, you know, when you have a chance to win, you gotta win. Cause there's no guarantees for next season. And I realized that they've got these young players like Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston locked up, but it's like, yeah, but I think we're wondering right now, like how

these guys are good, but how good are they? You know, can they get the Dallas stars over the hump? Um, I was looking at the, uh, the 32 Thoughts podcast title and it was, are we headed for a rematch and, uh, rematches are always fun in the Stanley Cup final, but, um, at the risk of getting ahead of ourselves, uh, if it is a rematch between the Panthers and the

Oilers, you kids out there, you kids listening at 614 in the morning, none of you are listening right now, you're still in bed and good for you. You're going to learn a lot. The Edmonton media is just going to be all over this. About the first time the Oilers won the cup back in 1984 and it was in a rematch against the New York Islanders. Long story short, 1983 they lose to the dynasty New York Islanders. They learned a lot of valuable lessons about what it took to be a real champion and then they beat the Isles the next year, ending one dynasty and starting another.

Uh, but I think it's also worth noting if you go back, I mean, the Islanders beat the Canucks in 1982 and they had won, it was something ridiculous that they won like 17 straight playoff series. It was 19 straight playoff series, which is just crazy. And in that series against the Oilers, the Islanders ran out of gas. They had won four straight cups, played a ton of really hard hockey along the way. Meanwhile, in the conference final, they had their hands full with the Montreal Canadiens, while the Oilers, they swept Minnesota.

They were called the North Stars back then, kids. The Minnesota North Stars. They eventually moved to Dallas. Where they just became the Stars. And so the Oilers swept Minnesota and got like nine days off before the finals started. That's amazing. So I just wanted to point that out

because the comparisons are gonna be made, and that's fine. That's fine. I mean, it could be relevant comparisons, but my point in all this is like the Panthers aren't the Islanders back in 1984. Like they're not totally banged up. They're not, like the Islanders had a ton of injuries that playoff year. The Panthers, if they can take care of business tonight, they're gonna be sitting real pretty, but they should.

Because they gotta get Reinhardt healthy. And I wonder, is it even worth him playing tonight? No, he won't play tonight. I think Michalas banged up. He is also very. AJ Greer, Reinh Ryan Hart's the big one. And well, Michalas is too. He's a really good player.

But they brought Boquist into the lineup and like didn't miss a beat. No, I know. He scored one of the goals against Carolina in game three. But all I'm saying is take care of business and get healthy. Yeah, there's gonna be the risk of being rusty for the Stanley Cup final, but I'd rather risk

rust than health. And you're going to have to prep for the Oilers. You're going to have to look at a lot of video and you're going to have to be prepared to go to Edmonton and face that crowd. And I think that's one of the best crowds I've ever seen in the NHL. Like they are, you know, I don't want them to win, but that crowd in Edmonton is awesome.

And they are loud. And we've seen it a few times. And part of it has to do with the Oilers quick strike ability, but we've seen teams be like, oh my God, what's going on here? Right. You know, like I think we saw it twice with the stars yesterday, the Oilers score their first goal. And then like whatever it was, 15 seconds later, they score again and you see the faces on the Dallas bench because that place is just so loud in there.

And they're like, oh my God, what's going on here? Like you need to keep your composure when you go into Edmonton. The quick strike ability of both of those teams is very notable. Like the Panthers on Saturday night, that was five goals in 10 minutes and 37 seconds of the third period. The Panthers have had a really, really effective way of racking up goals in short bursts to just kind of, you know,

like throw the rest of the dirt on the burial and finish it. They have a really good ability to do that. You know, you mentioned the 1984 angle and I think that it's an important one because A, it will be brought up by a lot of media members as they try and drive particular narratives. This one you can see coming from a mile away.

But B, I actually think it's really relevant. Now, are the Florida Panthers, the New York Islanders 84? No. However, in this instance, there is one important similarity. And it's that if you face a team for the second consecutive year in the Stanley Cup final, they've set the bar. And for the Oilers, that's the team that they know they need to overcome to win it. Like, let's be clear here. If you were to ask anyone who of the two best teams been in the Stanley Cup

fun or Stanley Cup playoffs so far, they'd say Edmonton and Florida, most likely, right? Someone might throw a token vote in for someone else, but it's been those two. And then if you were asked, who has been the two of the better teams, I think most people would say Florida. Florida's look like the most dominant team. And part of that has to do with the fact that they're the defending Stanley Cup champs. They're on their way to their third

consecutive Stanley Cup final. They're the team now, if these two meet in the final that Edmonton has to go through to get to the ultimate prize. The anecdote I remember about 94, or 84, sorry, was that in 83, after the Oilers had lost to the Islanders, they walked past the Islanders room after the Oilers had lost to the Islanders, they walked past the Islanders room after the Stanley Cup clinching win. There was no celebration from the Islanders

because they were all physically and mentally exhausted. It was a quiet room. It was like Paul Coffee and Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, they all mentioned it. They expected to walk by and be like, oh man, we're gonna have to walk by the champions room and there's gonna be beer and champagne and celebration. And at that moment there wasn't because.

Well, they were bored of it. It was their fourth straight. But they were also, they were old at that stage and they were physically exhausted. And all the Oilers said to a man, that's when we understood what it took to win. That those guys knew how to win. They understood that they had to push themselves

to the brink and lay it all on the line and all those cliches to the point where when you won, you were so physically spent. And that's kind of you got to dig in, they say. And that's what it's going to be if they play Florida again, because I'll say it like Edmonton as the two best players in the playoffs right now, I think in McDavid and dry saddle. But Florida is the better team right now, like the way that the Panthers don't just play hockey

But seemingly break the will of their opponents is really something to see they're gonna win the cup again Bryndamore and I think so I think it's gonna be a toss-up. I mean they went seven last year. I look so dominant Oh, what have you been watching the others when they're on? Red bull paint they look good. It's a two best. He was good. Florida looks better though You mentioned it via text over the weekend like the Canes almost embarrassed themselves becoming so unglued yeah in that game because They thought that they had done a good job through two periods. It was a tight game They'd actually won a period which is what Brendan Moore set out to do and then it just Unraveled and a lot of it had to do with what Florida did to them

Do you think this is this could be a crazy idea. Shoot it at me, brother. Do you think that the Florida Panthers are so physically intimidating that the Carolina Hurricanes were like, we need to match that physicality? Think it's a big part of it. And then you're kind of like, why?

You can't. Just play your own game. That series has actually been, I mean, I call Jamie Benold. This is going to be even older because I'm just like, it looks dangerous out there. Sometimes. And there have been times in these playoffs, honestly,

that I'm like, I wonder if the NHL is going to have to look at hitting from behind again, because I grew up in the era where they started putting stop signs on the back of jerseys because it became a problem, right? People were getting hurt. Look at that little stop sign, that'll fix everything. And I realized that a lot of times these players are turning away from hits and taking. And anyway, I just think some of the hits, I love physical hockey, but some of the hits in that series,

I've been like, oh my God, someone's gonna get seriously hurt out here at in Florida. Florida hits to hurt. Yeah There's no point in sugar coating it they hit to hurt and you brought up a good point with Carolina because one of the biggest hits from the Carolina side of things was the most unlikely guy was Sebastian Ajo on Reinhardt which is not Brian which was a dirty. It was Sebastian Ajo on Reinhardt, which has knocked Reinhardt out of this. Which was a dirty hit.

It was a dirty hit. And Ajo has been on tilt. Yep. Out there. Yeah. And what happened when the game got comfortably out of hand for the Panthers in game three, Kachuk went and exacted his revenge. I think further throwing the Carolina Hurricanes into a tailspin, because they're like, not

only are we getting beat on the scoreboard, we're getting beat up physically too. When you don't win a single facet of a game, that's when you really start to lose your marbles because that's where it's like, well, we can't do anything here. Like we can't play our style of game. And they abandoned it at times way too early and way too often.

I'm talking about the Carolina Hurricanes. When you think you've won one of the small battles in a game like they did, like after 40 minutes, they were pretty happy with how they played. They had Mikko got tossed from that game, right, for the five. He got five in a game. So they felt like they had an advantage going there. I mean, Florida was down a couple of key contributors.

And what happens? You come up in the third period of a game that you need to win and you give up five goals in 10 and a half minutes like that is deflating to the point where I do think it messes with you mentally We'll talk to Sean Gentile about all this. He's down in Florida. He's gonna join us on the other side It's probably and I hate putting it this way But it's probably the most interesting thing about the Carolina Hurricanes in the last couple years Like all due respect to them as an organization and a franchise.

And I know them making the move for Rantan was a big deal. But to me, this is an inflection point. And this is something that Florida has now, uh, foisted upon two different opponents in back to backgrounds. Yeah. Because they sent the Toronto Maple Leafs into

a mental tailspin after beating them and look at the changes that got made there in the mid aftermath, Brendan Shanahan's out. Who knows what's going to happen roster-wise. It's the same sort of story, like a team that keeps making the playoffs but can't get over the hump. Right. And for Florida to do this against back-to-back opponents, because you know that after this,

there's going to be major, underline, underline, underline, major questions asked of Carolina and what they're doing as an organization. Would you say with the Leafs, the question question it was like, core four, core four, can you get it done with this core four? And ultimately the answer is no. And I think Marner is going to go and Tavares might too. Yep. Would you say like, what's the equivalent of the core four in Carolina?

Is it just Bryndenmore system? Is it Bryndenmore? Is it the system? Is it? Maybe. I hate it because I think he's a really good coach. I know. But you can't. Didn't he sign like a five year extension fairly recently? Maybe. I hate it because I think he's a really good coach. Yeah. But you can't.

Didn't he sign like a five-year extension fairly recently? Yes. That makes me wonder if they'd be even willing to fire him. Although someone would probably just hire him right away and they'd be kind of out of that obligation. Here's the thing. You have to look at not being able to win a single game in the Eastern Conference final.

Yeah. Like that's a major, major red flag. I don't know what it means. I don't know if it's a mental block with these guys, but you can't be as good as they are during the regular season and then through two rounds of the playoffs and then have a total inability to win in the conference. I know a bunch of these losses came against Florida, but to go

because if they lose tonight, they're going to go 0-8 in consecutive playoffs in the Eastern Conference Final against the same team. That's a problem. That's not being able to figure it out and not being able to unlock a single solution. Do you put it all at the feet of Brendan? I don't know. It's a good question. I don't know if you can, but I think you've got to ask yourself the question of, I don't know if you can, but I think you've got to, you've got to ask yourself the question of like, do we have the right mix in here?

Um, and maybe, I don't know, I'm sure some of the players are just getting frustrated, but you know, I know Eric Tulski there, the general manager, isn't just going to take the kind of conventional approach on this, you know, he's going to take somewhat of a different approach. I'm just not sure what it is. You're listening to take somewhat of a different approach. I'm just not sure what it is. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford

and Brough. Now Blay with a steal behind the net trying to bring it in front. He's tied up. Buck is loose. Mueller trying to jam it towards the blue paint. And the Canucks score! It's over! They've done it! Let's get out of here! Linus Carlsen just called game three! But what happened in game four? Couldn't play that audio. Wasn't as exciting.

Decidedly less exciting for Abbotsford anyway. Losing in game four means we get an all-decisive game five tonight, though. And by tonight, I mean this afternoon. Smack in the middle of the afternoon. 2 o'clock today, it's Abbotsford. It's Colorado. It's the Calder Cup playoffs from Blue Arena in Colorado.

You are listening to the Haliford and Bruv Show on Sports Net 650. Haliford and Brev show on Sportsnet 650. Halferd and Brev 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 three of the program. The man on the call this afternoon for the game, Brandon Astle, he's going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three. Hour three of this program is brought to you by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers, trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound.

Visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Just a reminder, hold on. I was going to try and I was going to throw to you and I was going to say, Hey Jason, who is the presenting sponsor of our hotline? Oh okay. Yeah.

That didn't work out very well. That's not great. Guests on Sportsnet 650 call in on the hotline, powered by Power West Industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at powerwest.ca today. They keep the lights on. They sure do Jason.

You guys are the pros. We do it better than anyone. By anyone I mean most people. And by most people I mean some people. And by most people, I mean some people. Let's go now to that Power West Industries hotline. As mentioned, Brandon Astle, play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks joins us now on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650.

Good morning, Brandon. How are you? Morning, boys. I'm kind of feeling bad for Tom Cruise. So I think Mission Impossible is going to take a hit at the box office because the Monday matinee today features the Canucks and Eagles for all the marbles. I was going to say, it's not very often you get a Monday matinee in the playoffs for a decisive and pivotal game five, but I suppose that's life in the Calder Cup playoffs and

also because it's Memorial Day down in the States. But yeah, we're acting as sort of the de facto pregame show here at eight o'clock in the morning. Set up game five for us, two, two going into it. That's been an interesting series thus far. The last three games, of course, all in Colorado. So set it up for the listeners here, Brandon. Yeah. So both teams have alternated wins since, since game one. And if you would have told me that it would go the distance, I would probably believe you because there hasn't been much that separated the two clubs throughout the entire year. The Eagles finished ahead of the Canucks by just two points in the regular season so that's why they get this home game here in game number five and each team just has great depth and goal tending and that's

held through held through through four games of the series and the goal tenor Shelaws and Miner have been outstanding going head-to to head against each other and playing every single second of this series so far and it's been an absolute war zone. There's obviously a lot of bad blood. This will be the 13th time they play each other here this season and the last three games the refs have handed out 132 penalty minutes to the two squads and obviously when you play each other 12 times that's going to happen and all comes to a head tonight in matchup number 13. It's just not, it's been, there hasn't been a lot of kind of room, kind of space out there for, for both sides.

It's been pretty nasty and expecting probably another tight one here today. Who's been the Canucks MVP so far in this series alone? Um, I would probably say Victor Mancini. Close second between Leckermack and Shelaws but Mancini has just been so impressive. He's probably been, I would say Shelaws has probably been there to play out there in the MVP but Mancini has really stepped up in this series and someone who Manny relies on in all situations. He quarterbacks one of the

power play units, he's on a penalty kill. Obviously he's a big guy, he's physical, blocked shots, has a great stick. And really starting to see that offensive game of his, when he was acquired from the Rangers, a word on him was that he had good offensive instincts, and now we're not only seeing that, he's making plays, whether it's at the opposing blue line

in tight spaces, jumping up in the rush using that skating ability of his and I think he takes the other team by surprise because he moves so well for a big man 230 pounds and I really wanted to Isocam like his seed of practice yesterday just to like taking a stride like his edge work and technique just to see how he goes about his business in that area obviously I can't really focus on that when I'm calling a game, but I was watching this guy do drills and he's going back for pox and tibeting up the ice. And just seeing he's so light on his feet and I just it's remarkable just because of his size and I know his teammates and coaches have been really

impressed with what they've seen for him since being acquired. Mani told me the other, like he describes him as a gamer, a guy that wants to be on the ice in all situations and really relishes big time matchups in the game going against the other team's top guys. I know I've come out of these airwaves during the regular season, I've raved about the play of other prospects like DPD, Leckermacke, Mueller, Kudratsev. The list goes on and on. Um, and obviously there's just been great development in Avisford all year, but man, this guy could be at the top of the list of the most impressive rookies I've seen in AHL all season. Yeah. That's, that's really good to hear.

Cause I don't think a lot of people knew much about him, um, when he was acquired by, uh, in the, in the trade with the, with the New York Rangers. But I had a couple of people from New York reach out to me and say like, this guy's going to be a player. Yeah, I'm really happy they got him in a deal, bruv. He's just the total package. Obviously, it's one thing to do at the AHL level and do it at the NHL, but I think that his game can translate.

And he's someone that's got a lot of experience in these call the cup playoffs. Going back to last year when he was in Hartford, he got a bunch of time in the playoffs and now today will be a 21st career playoff game, he's just 22 years old and playing the type of role that he is in high leverage, high pressure situations. I think that he's just getting his potentials through the roof and when I I talk to like, like I said, guys on the team and the coach, that they just kind of like shake their head like this guy's an absolute monster. He played the most minutes, I think I would say around 25 minutes per game. He played almost 30 in that overtime win in game number three.

So yeah, can I just turn to see what this kid brings to the table? The size of speed, the offense, the defense, the physicality. I just marvel at the way he can skate at how big he is. I know I say that a lot, but it's true. Yeah. Well, you mentioned Lekermacky there. What has the playoffs been like for him? It seems like it's been kind of a mixed bag. Yeah, it's been up and down, but I can definitely report that he's got his confidence back. That's for sure.

Four points at four games, lead the series in scoring. And he's been keyed on. Like the Eagles have been going after him and rightfully so because he has 12 points in nine games against him this season. I took a huge hit and gave one, got right back up. And then a few, then a period later took a

nasty slash on the arm, uh, drew a penalty and, uh, just wondered how we might react after that, but he just kind of rolled with the punches and I think experiencing this type of attention he's betting is going to be good for his development in the long run. Um, when he's hopefully a Vancouver Knott because, uh, like, yeah, he's balanced some adversity these last few weeks and it took him a bit to find his games. It's coming back from that oral procedure.

But I've just been impressed with how like he's operating around the rank. There isn't a time, a lot of time and space, like I mentioned in these playoffs and his touches with the puck have been clean, making really smart, competent play to help the team get out of their own end. And like I said, boys, the playoffs are played differently. He's not the biggest guy in the world. And I think he's been able to adapt accordingly as the playoffs and the series has gone along.

And just seeing him around the rink in the hotel, he just seems to be in a much better place, a lot chipper. And I'll tell you what, guys, he's someone who doesn't really celebrate when he scores in a game. Like you can look over the tape, whether it's AHL, NHL this season, when he puts a puck in the back of the net, his celebrations are very subdued. You never see him raise his arms in the

air or anything like that. But I, I can't say I finally saw him do it yesterday and practice after he scored a goal, which took me by surprise. So that might just go, go to show how loose he's feeling right now, which is the, which is great for him coming into this big game today. Who's a guy that, uh that Abbotsford could really use to

up their game a little bit in this decisive game five. Maybe someone you haven't seen much from in the series or the playoffs, but you know, it's there for them. Yeah, I don't know if there's, there's exactly one guy. I know R.S.D. Baines, he had a great first round and hasn't put up a kind of point since, but he does other things well defensively, penalty kill, plays a lot in all situations. Maybe he saved his best for last here today. Levis Carlson having a great playoff by the numbers. He's got five goals. That's the third most in the American Hockey League playoffs right now. I feel like he still maybe has a signature game coming.

Obviously, his head to style translates really well in these playoffs and scored that big overtime winner in front of the net where he does a lot of his damage. So they're gonna need a whole team effort to step up today, Bruff. I know that's kind of generic, but at the end of the day, this is a team that has gotten to where they have just due to the depth up and, Bruff. I know that's, that's kind of generic, but at the end of the day, this is a team that is, has gotten to where they have just due to the depth, uh, up and

down the lineup. Like it could be a fourth liner, it could be a third pair of defenseman that steps up in a big moment today. It would not surprise me. Um, like last year they played the Eagles in a winner take all game in the same rank, went to overtime and their captain Chase Waters got the weight game winning goal and maybe he's got another in him today. So, um, yeah, I'm, I'm interested to see this is where, uh, where heroes are made. A lot of guys are going to be playing the biggest game in their professional careers and let's see who rises to the occasion and gets the job done.

We're speaking to Abbotsford Canucks play by play man, Brandon Astle here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 6 50 a reminder. It's game five, the decisive game five between Abbotsford and Colorado. This afternoon at two o'clock, you can hear Brandon and the entire call all right here on Sportsnet 650. Um, you know, I'm not going to talk, spend a lot of time talking too much about the opponent here, but I am curious about the makeup of the opponent because we have talked about a

lot of the younger prospects that are doing the business for Vancouver in this series. Is it fair to suggest that Colorado might be more of a veteran-laden squad, like relying on guys that aren't necessarily looking forward to what's next for them in the NHL, but more guys that are comfortably in the AHL for the long haul? I'm thinking about guys like Jason Magna and TJ Tynan and guys like that, guys that are in their 30s that have spent a long time playing pro hockey and are now sort of AHL veterans. That's a hundred percent bang on Halford. So one thing to keep in mind, big picture in all of this is that the Colorado Eagles have a private owner.

So their affiliation is with the Avalanche, but Stan Kronke does not own the AHL club. So that makes the Eagles number one goal to win. So they go on the off season, they open up their checkbooks, they spend a lot of money on big name AHL free agents who have been awesome this year and great in these playoffs. And that's why they're always good year over year, because they're an older team. And because the Avalanche prospect pool is pretty bare right now,

because they go for it year after year, they trade a lot of draft picks. Like the year they won the Cal Telford in 2022, they had just two draft picks that summer and were in the sixth and seventh round. So that is starting to catch up to them now. And you saw them at deadline this year, they traded their first round pick, Richie to the Islanders in that Brock Nelson deal. Whereas on the other side of the coin for the Canucks, they got one owner, Francesco Eccolini, he controls both the NHL and AHL club and the mandate in Abbotsford, which is no surprise, is to develop players for Vancouver. So that is the number one goal every single year, which makes what they're doing right

now so impressive with all these young players in their lineup and doing what they're doing. Like the fact that they're just one game away from the Western Conference finals just shows you what grade of a year it's been in Abbotsford. So yeah, two completely different teams. Obviously Abbotsford does have some veterans which you need in your lineup just to kind of help the young guys show the way, whether it's Sammy Blay, Phil Di Decepi, Juja Iqeera, those are valuable guys, but the Canucks go-to players have been the young prospects all year Which is awesome for the Vancouver Canucks future It all goes down this afternoon game five of the Calder Cup around between the Abbotsford Canucks and the Colorado Eagles You can hear it all right here sportsnet 650 again programming note the game begins at 2 o'clock

So we'll pick up the broadcast right then and Brandon will be on the call Brandon Thanks a lot for doing this today bud. We really appreciate it. Have a good call today. Enjoy the game It should be a good one and hopefully next time we speak it'll be previewing the next round of the Calder Cup That's words right out of my mouth offered Hopefully they get it to get it done tonight and we do it again Maybe later this week who knows if they make the Western Conference finals, but thanks boys. Thank you buddy same week Let's go Brandon Astle bookending the week. Who knows if they make the Western Conference finals, but thanks boys. Thank you, buddy. All of you in the same week? Let's go. Brandon Astle bookending the week. Let's go. Abbotsford Canucks today. Thanks, Brandon.

Appreciate it. You haven't given up on the let's go, huh? Still doing it. In fact, I'm doing it more now. It's like thrash Thursdays. I had a lot of people come up to me in the streets and they said, we love it when you say let's go, Halford. No one said that to you, did they? Not a single person, not a one. I do feel like I'm co-hosting a show with Bryson DeChambeau. Let's go.

What a lying on the show today. Lying to listeners, lying about stories. Lying about lying. Yeah, lying about lying. Lying about lying. You just can't get enough lying. Fake news, buddy, fake news. I do love lying.

Okay, I'm gonna start with a what we learned here. Sure, hold on, before you do that, we'll do a quick reset. Friendly reminder, if you wanna be on the radio and get a what we learned here. Sure. Hold on before you do that, we'll do a quick reset. Friendly reminder, if you want to be on the radio and get your what we learned, do it right now. Dunbar Lumber Text Line is 650-650-HASHTAGAT-WWL and let us know what you learned over the last 72 hours in sports.

It's your chance to be on the radio on the other side of the break. Yeah, we do need some more what we learned, so text those into the Dunbar Lumber Text Line at 650-650. I learned that Connor Garland and Drew O'Connor are world champions. I was almost gonna say let's go. Champions of the world.

Let's go! The United States. Let us go there. United States, for the first time since 1933. I saw that. Won the worlds. They beat Switzerland. saw that. Won the worlds. They, uh, they beat Switzerland. Take that Switzerland. What's going on in this tournament?

One nil. One nil in overtime, Tage Thompson with the winner. Um, I remember that 1933 tournament and the world was a crazy place at that time. You were 27 years old. And you know, the treaty of Versailles was creating some problems in the world. And, uh, but the Americans went over there and

then they got it done. Hey, here's some trivia for you. Who was Canada's coach at the 1933 world championships? Tim Horton. John Cooper. You know who it was? No.

Harold Ballard. Oh wow. Yeah. The coach? The coach? So it was like club teams that went over there. The Keith Ballard is great. They were called, God, what they were called.

They were sponsored by, believe it or not, they were sponsored by the yacht club. They were called the Toronto national sea fleas. They won the 1932 Allen cup. And I guess Harold Ballard was a member of the yacht club. He's like, can you sponsor us? We want to go to Europe. Yeah, like sure.

The Allen cup is like the senior men's. Yeah, it was a different time back then. Yeah, a little different. Yeah, yeah. A little different. Um, there was a. Americans had our number there. I thought Romania was going to be a bigger, a bigger factor at then. Yeah, a little different. A little different. There was a... Americans had our number there. I thought Romania was gonna be a bigger factor

at that tournament, but they weren't. Yeah. Romania. There's a, the Heritage Moment commercial, I think reflects those earlier days when it was club teams that used to go represent Canada. That was the one from, that was in, what's his name again? With the Shorzy guy.

Shorzy, yeah, yeah, yeah. He has a name instead of the Shorzy guy. No, it's Shorzy. It's the Shorzy guy. Shorzy, yeah, yeah, yeah. He has a name instead of the Shorzy guy. No, it's Shorzy, I'm pretty sure. Shorzy guy, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, Trail would, Trail would. Right, yeah, yeah. So congratulations, I suppose, to the Americans and Connor Garland and Drew O'Connor,

members of the Canucks that went over and beat the Swiss for the gold medal. Give us a moocall on that. Beat the Swiss for the gold medal. Give us a moocall on that. Ah. I, this is a late one for me, but I did want to get in on this. So, the French Open is on right now,

Roland Garros, there's a couple Canadians in action. They were watching Denis Shapovalov play right now. Against Pedro Martinez. Against Pedro Martinez, right. Not the former MLB pitcher. I thought it was. We're trying to confirm that or not. He's up six to after the first set. Gabriel Diallo's got a match today as well.

So it's a big day for the Canadians. But the hilarious thing is that so this is the tournament where they're going to honor Rafael Nadal. They actually already have this is they're going to going to be like his swan song. He's going to go out and wave to the crowd and everything. And then what happened was for the match yesterday, they handed out a bunch of clay colored Mersey Rafa shirts.

OK, to those in attendance. Remember how you were saying there that hey, you don't care for when they do the fan assisted shirtirt handout different right well, but it's the same idea Yeah, okay, but the fans here got smart because there was only a select number available They actually became a hot commodity on the secondary market. Oh, and the shirts are now going for 540 bucks a pop Seems crazy to me. So you laugh at Oklahoma City for getting those blue shirts during the playoffs. They could turn those around and $540 would buy you tickets to several Oklahoma City Thunder Games. Do you still have a collection of Canucks white towels from the playoffs? So I do. There are now all

very crappy dish towels. Oh, you can use them as just they didn't stand the test some of them did for me Some of them were a little more special like I got one from 94. Yeah, you know I don't think I use my Stanley Cup finals for dish towels, but I use the playoffs ones. Yep I've so I've got those are just LA The worst material Imaginable pretty bad. I don't think you could is. Yeah, that's a 12. They use the worst material imaginable on those towels. I don't think you could find a worst material. You know, and I guess you're not really using it

for anything else other than swinging around your top. Do you keep your, you're not like bathing? Yeah, but like honestly though, like it's maybe you are, there are some of the worst feeling, like fabrics I've ever felt about. Do you keep your dish towels in a drawer or in like a cupboard or closet? A cupboard. Okay, mine are in a drawer or in a like a cupboard closet?

A cupboard. Okay, mine are in a drawer and pinned in the very back of the drawer. So like, you know, in desperate times, the desperate time rags. Yeah. A lot of ways that could go, but the desperate time rags. Oh, wow. The desperate time rags. Way in the back.

This is a sock. There's like, there's two socks and there's like four or five Canucks towels. There, but you're right. There's certain Canucks towels where you need to honor them. The 94 one, anything from the 2011 run, I think cannot be downgraded to dish towels. But you're saying 2015 against Calgary, like that went immediately.

That's a dish towel. That same night, like I watched the game and then it went home and became a dish towel that night. You know what I want? I want the Canucks to get back to a point where we can just be like, oh, this is only a first round white towel that night. You know what I want? I want the Canucks to get back to a point where we can just be like, oh, this is only a first round white towel. Yeah.

You know? That like- Now it's like, this is a playoff towel. Like this is, I'm framing this. Bars of significance for organizational success will be based on towels, right? So- Meaningless and meaningful. I was texting with a Toronto reporter over the weekend.

Anonymous source? It was James Myrtle. Okay. And he was saying, like, I think Leaf fans are in for a rude awakening for what's going to happen in Toronto because, you know, everyone's like, yeah, get rid of Marner. And like, I get it. I wouldn't keep the core four together either. But. They're going to be worse. Yeah, they're going to be worse.

Like the guys, the guy's a really good player. Score a hundred plus points. And to try and replace him. And then plus you've got, um, you know, a blue line that was good for this year. For sure it was an upgrade, but there's age risk in that blue line. Um, you know, he thinks that one of the guys that could be on the move this off season, and this isn't exactly insider knowledge, a lot of people speculate, is Morgan Reilly.

Okay, well, great. If you manage to move him, well, how are you gonna replace him? And then the one thing that he did say, and this is not him reporting anything, he's like, I said, would they be bold enough to trade Matthews? And he said, you don't really answer the question, but he answered it with the question.

He said, would he want to stay if they take a step back? So this is really interesting because one of the things that stuck out in Keith Peli's presser last week after they let go of Brendan Shanahan Did you pick up on this? He seemed very keen on Reconnecting and reengaging with the fan base He was acutely aware that this team has become unlikable and that the fan base kind of hates them It was his first clue when when they got booed off the ice Marner picked up the puck

and the booze got gone. He was just like, I feel like there's some hard feelings here. Right, but the, I'm sensing a bit of animosity. But the acknowledgement is, I think it's a pretty important thing. Because you could go up there in your end of your media availability

and talk a lot of other things aside from how much the fan base dislikes actively your roster. I do wonder if they will kind of, maybe not even necessarily spin, but I'll just use the, spin it as we got worse and we downgraded because one, we had to change, but two, we had to change but two

We had to change Because of that likeability factor like I'm not sure you can bring back Marner now No, you can't even though he's gonna make you a better He's put it this way Marner's gone, but Marner on the Larner's decision will be to go to the leaves with Marner net going into next You would be better than the Leafs without I think that's a fair statement Well, it depends what they do if well one texture suggests if they trade PD her own income the 15th for Matthews That might shake up the Leafs core a lot and maybe they improve. You know what? I wouldn't if I was Toronto. I would not take that. Yeah, I know I would not take that anything. It's a big haul It's a big haul Matthews is one of the greatest goal scorers in NHL history. But low key, he might be physically broken.

And not a player performer. Physically, I think you really do have to wonder about what's going on there, especially this season where his goal scoring went from like 69. Nice. To not 69. I don't know what the final number is. It's just the yips, you guys. I don't think it's the yips.

I don't think it's the yips. It doesn't show up in the big moments when it counts. I think it's a broken back. He actually does shoot the puck. He just misses the net all the time. The yips, also known as a broken back. He shot in the 69 nice goal season. He shot the puck way more effectively than he did this year.

Oh, he hit the net, that helped. Yeah, but that's all part of, I think, what's going on. I don't think it's a yips thing. Well, every time he shot the puck this year, he went, yep. What was the sort of, okay. What was the sort of theory that because he put so much torque on his body in his shooting style that it's just, it's unsustainable. Shoots from weird positions, right, trains that way as well. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.