Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 5/28/26

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

Mike & Jason look at the previous day in sports, they discuss how Canucks ownership finally seems to be embracing the idea of a proper rebuild, plus they look ahead to the NHL Entry Draft and what Vancouver might do with The Athletic Vancouver & Canucks Talk host Thomas Drance. 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. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Blake over the line, steak open in front, he scores. That's hockey, baby. What a play on a transitional rush. It's criss. The game's going to humble you. You know, whenever you get humble, you just stand tall.

There's a lot of crows pecking at our neck. but all you can do is spread your wings, keep flying high until those crows fall off and suffocate from the inability to breathe. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. It is Halford and his breath, and his sports net 650. We are coming to live from the Kid Tech Studios in beautiful Mount Pleasant in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you.

Good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Though further ado, Laddy, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the. game last night. No. What? Pissed.

We begin in Montreal last night where the Carolina Hurricanes moved to within a single game, a single win of the Stanley Cup final. 4-0 victory for the Keynes, or if you're a Habs fan, a disappointing 4-0-0 loss at the Bell Center on Wednesday night. Series now shifts to Carolina on Friday where the can't close it out and go to their first Stanley Cup final since 2006.

But I think the story last night, Jason, is how ugly it was in Montreal. So I was on the golf course and was not watching this game, and I'm kind of glad. Best in the business, folks. I was doing that because it was a beautiful day to play golf, and I was listening to the game on the course, and the Montreal broadcast sounded forlorn and just out of ideas,

and you could hear that there was no energy in the bell center. There was, it was nothing happening there. And it's crazy that, the habs have gotten this far in the playoffs with a pretty dreadful record at home, but they've been good on the road, so they've managed to do it. But, you know, we wondered after game three, and that would have been two straight, fairly dominant performances by Carolina, suffocating performances by Carolina, we wondered what the habs have left in the tank.

And I think last night we got the answer. they've got nothing left in the tank. They're done. They're cooked. There's no way that the habs are coming back and winning this series. Clip it. Clip it. Okay, fine. Yeah, great. You know what? They're not winning three in a row. There's no chance. There's absolutely no chance. This team is... Most tepid hot take of all fire.

Well, yeah, it's not, yeah, it's not like... You never know. I don't know why. It's like they're down 3-1. They can't get a shot on goal. It feels like they're going to probably lose this series. Yeah, it does. done. They're just, I think they've either, I think two things have happened at the same time and they're both against the habs. They've run out of gas. They played two seven game series while Carolina's been resting. And, uh, they do not know how to get through the checking of Carolina. And this conference final on both sides has been the, it has been the year of checking.

Yep. Because Vegas checked Colorado, an incredibly dangerous offensive team. Into the ice. Yeah, there were injuries, but they were checking unbelievably well to the point that they swept Colorado. And Carolina has checked their way all the way to within one game of the Stanley Cup final. And that includes what they've done against Montreal. Don't forget, they swept Ottawa. They swept Philly.

It's just like, They've lost a grand total of one game. They've lost one game. Like, I mean, the habs are, going to make the trip, I imagine, to Carolina. But, you know, if the Bell Center is, you know, the Bell Center probably has to reserve the space for game six, but I don't think it should bother. Like, if it wants to book a concert in there for

game six, you might as well, because they're not going to need it. They're done. Yeah. So I, I don't think anything should take away from what's been a very impressive season. I'll stop short of saying magical, but a very impressive season for the Montreal Canadians. For a young team in its maturation and growth. They took great strides this year, right? They of course. One-on- one incredible story. However, I just want to say that they're not there yet,

the way this has ended. And the other part of this too is I think the most disappointing part for me, if you're going to look back over the course of this entire playoff run, is how disappointing the Montreal Canadians have been at the Bell Center this postseason. They have not been good. I think they have

two wins or something like that. Two wins at Le Sant-Rabelle. And yesterday and a couple of the more savvy journalists pointed this out of it. What a terrible look. This is, if it is indeed the last game of the year at the Bell Center, the fans in the third period began to chant, shoot the puck, after the Canadians weren't only outshot 19 to 3 in the third period of a game. They were trailing by 3 and then later by 4.

Nick Suzuki got their first shot of the third period, 17 minutes into the 3rd period. Like it was unbelievable how much the canes were basically playing keep away with the puck at times. I want to play the audio here. Good on Chris Cuthbert, Sportsez-Sverri-owned, for trying to put a glass half full, kind of take on what was going on in the third period. But here's what it sounded

like from the Bell Center yesterday with the fans serenading the Canadians to shoot the puck. Cycles it around for Anderson behind the net. We'll get it. Fans try to pick up their team. more time. Fans try to pick up their team more time. That's one way of looking at it. Yeah, I don't I don't think it was that. He was trying.

Yeah, yeah. You know, there was a Bronx picking them up and then placing them in front of the net so he can shoot the puck. There was there was a Bronx cheer too when their first shot on net. Finally occurred. I want to play. But it's not always so easy. I feel like, do you remember I feel like we're not so easy?

To get shots on goal against a team like Carolina. But you're saying shots, plural. I think they wanted shot singular. No, I know. At a certain point. I realize that, but I think we as Canucks fans have seen what it looks like when you struggle to even get shots on goal because that's what happened to the Canucks when they went to the playoffs. And a lot of people just blame Tockett's system. And that was part of it for sure. It was a limiting system. But they eliminated Nashville and they had trouble getting shots on goals sometimes.

You remember all the times that Drans would come on and say fronting? Fronting. Nashville's fronting the Canucks. I was like, yeah, walking shots. Yep. And, you know, it was the same in the series against the Oilers because I think the Oilers said, well, look at Nashville did. We should do that against the Canucks.

Shot blocking is massively part of the game, obviously now. And it is a way to really frustrate a team that, especially during the regular season, was really dynamic and probably felt like we can do anything out here at times. Yep, for sure. And, you know, if you commit as a team to constantly getting in shooting lanes, people will say, like, the fans, what's really frustrating for the players, I'm sure, is the fans are like, shoot the puck. I'm like, if I shoot this puck, it is going to go directly into his shin pads.

Craig Ludwig's style. Like, it is just, there's, it is easier said than done when you've got a team that knows what they're doing. and is dialed in defensively. And this is what happens at this stage of the season. There are teams that are dialed in defensively. They can smell a trip to the Stanley Cup final. And that's only going to increase their focus, their sacrifice and their relentlessness defensively.

That's what we saw as the Vegas series against Colorado wore on. It got even harder for Colorado. and then in this series I mean it's just been I mean outside of what someone texted in outside of one period this series would have been a sweep so I want to play audio now

from Marty St. Louis post game and then talk about Marty on the other side here he is addressing what the fans had to say I actually think the question might be longer than the answer here but here's the clip Marty St. Louis talking about what has been an issue all series long and really reared its ugly head

yesterday the lack of shots compared to the event. amount that Carolina are getting especially. Here's Marty St. Louis after a 4-0-0 loss in game four of the Eastern Conference final. Marty, I think we're seeing why the hurricanes swept their first two series. You know, I guess you heard the fans third period. They're yelling, shoot the puck. They're frustrated. Your players are frustrated. How do you deal with that frustration when the guys can't get a shot? Stand tall. Is there something different?

The game's going to humble you. You know, whenever you get humble, you just stand tall. It's not fun to hear that. But they're not wrong. So a lot of people didn't love that answer, the stand tall answer in the aftermath, because they were like, well, maybe like something a little bit more strategic that we could use that standing tall.

It's like where they tell goalies to be bigger. Because here's the thing. Here's the thing. Stand tall. You mentioned what we saw in the, the similarities between the Eastern and Western Conference finals and that you had this defensive clinic that one team threw on the other team in blanket and with it.

One of the criticisms of Jared Bednar during the course of that sweep was the aves never found another way, right? They never unlocked the code. They never solved the riddle. They never came up with any alterations or game plan adjustments. And instead they just kind of threw their hands up and said, well, this is what we do. This is how we play. And if it's not going to work, it's not going to work.

And there's some, look, there's some validity to that. You build an identity of a team. You build a style of play. And as Rick Tuckett used to like to say, non-negotiables. and guys know where they're supposed to be and where they're supposed to do. Tactically, it's tough. But some of the best coaches,

and I think the guys that immediately spring to mine are like Peter DeBoe or Bruce Cassidy, they are able to look at things and make adjustments in-game and in-series to unlock certain defensive fronts that are going on. And right now, the repetitive nature of the losses that the habs are, facing, that is going to be a criticism of Marty St. Louis.

He should be credited largely for what he's done this postseason. So as we go into, I don't disagree with what you're saying, by the way. Yeah, thank you. But as we go into the off season, it's also going to be on the general manager to address some things. Because sometimes the best way to get through a really tough defensive system, and I think this is the Florida Panther way often, is a smashy, smashy. Like smash it.

Smash it with big players. Yep. And, you know, I think if you look at the Canadians' forward group, we have seen at times that Josh Anderson has had success in this playoffs, but he's not able to play a top six role. Slavkovsky is a big guy. I don't know if you'd describe him as playing super big. He doesn't play big.

Not at all. Right? Well, a little bit. Maybe he can build on that. He's still a young guy. But I wondered if this would come up at some point about the HABs being a little too small, up front. Coffield, Suzuki, you know, Demandov is a terrific talent.

And by the way, I think Demandov is going to get way better. He is going to be an unbelievable player in this league. But the top six at five on five, leaves a little something to be desired. You're just talking just the forward group here. Yeah, the top six. Yeah, because you were talking about Demadoff and Hudson. But, no, I didn't say Hudson.

I said, I said, Caulfield. Yeah. Yeah. The top six. I mean, Hudson, Hudson, I don't care about.

He's like, he's, but he's getting Quinn Hughes out of this series. Like, they are targeting him. Sure. I mean, that's going to happen and he'll learn,

but you're still going to, you still want, Hudson still managed to make plays. Because they're back. Because I think collectively, they are on the tinier side. Yeah, yeah. Like, their blue line's not huge either, which is why I was bringing it up, right? And I think.

But if we're talking about creating shots, I'm not so, yeah, I'm talking about the forward group. Yeah. And it's interesting that you bring that up because I thought in the first round against Tampa Bay, which was a real slob knocker at times, I thought the Habs actually did a really good job of being physical. You haven't really seen it since. and it's a different kind of physical, right? Like, I think Tampa Bay like to...

It's exhausting, man, to be physical. Well, that's the other part of is. I wonder, like, Josh Anderson, the first round's a lot different than Josh Anderson the third round, right? Like, I think he might be running on fumes. But I think there's a difference in physical. Like, you wouldn't classify Carolina as being nasty

and mean and dirty, and they don't do a lot of stuff between the whistles, but they're still physical. They're more of like a check you down, wear you down, you know, death by a thousand cuts kind of physical. Yeah. And that's hard to match. Because you need an energy level that I think to your earlier point, I'm not sure Montreal has right now. They wear you down like there are a bunch of A-dogs talking about the draft. It's a very good comparison. That's like, you mean they pump you up is

what you're trying to say. No, no, no, they just wear you down with their insolence. Yeah, like yesterday where Brough was like, fine, let him talk about Baird. And then we're like, and I was like, okay, he's going to go for it. No, that's a good point though. They wear you down. And there's that element of it as well. Okay, let's turn our attention. now to the connect stuff. How dare you? Let's turn our attention to the conduct stuff now. So yesterday, and we mentioned this right as we were going off air because the article dropped late during our show, there was a Q&A of sorts, an interview that Ian McIntyre did with Henrik Siddeen as the Cedin's media

blitz continues. This was up at Sportsnet.com.ca, and the headline of the article was, we believe in the plan. Hendricks said the connects are locked in on the rebuild. And the quote that we read yesterday that a lot of people focused on is just how locked in the Cedines are on the rebuild, in part because the decision to rebuild was made well before the Cidines even came aboard. So we're learning a little bit about the process in which the Cedines jumped to the presidential role,

but also how the plan was in place to do this thing properly when Jim Rutherford announced that he was stepping down as president back in early May. I'm still celebrating the fact that I got to read Henrik Siddine say, and they here is talking about ownership. They were tired of missing the playoffs year after year while at the same time trying to win. And that was the most frustrating part of the Canucks over the last decade and a half. They were doing their best to win.

Trying as hard as they could. And I wonder how many people in the fan base and the media, not to name names, are doing their best right now to be like, don't say I told you so. Don't say I told you so a million times. Don't say I told you so after every major deal that they made in order to win now. So we're not going to say, I told you so. Told you so. You just did it, though.

Yeah, I did. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think that for a lot of the fan base, what Henrik Siddean said in this article was validation. And maybe that is why, in fact, I know that's why, what we've heard from the Sidene's and Ryan Johnson, but the Siddins, I think in particular, has been so well received

because it has been validating. It has felt like the Siddins have been on the same wavelength as a lot of the fan base. Yeah, they've been putting their work in in Abbotsford, part of the organization, but quietly they've been like, this isn't going to work. Like I'll go to work with Linas Carlson

or whoever down here in Abbotsford and I'll go to work. But like what the team is doing, it's not going to work. You know, this is, this is, I mean, the same thing with the culture, right? They saw something that, in fact, that they built that just went away. And that culture, by the way, started to go away when the scenes were still in the room. Yep. But maybe they didn't have, maybe they didn't still have the same weight with some of the young, players or maybe it was that the organization was trying to force young players into the group

that weren't ready. And I think there were times you could tell that the Cineans didn't agree with it. Certainly the head coach at the time Willie Dajardin didn't agree with it. You could tell that. And, you know, so I think some of these comments that the Cineans are making, even though nobody is guaranteeing that this is going to work because no rebuilds are guaranteed. You still got to get really lucky, still got to make a good decision, a bunch of good decisions. Like, I think that line, they were tired of missing the playoffs year after year while at the same time trying to win, it just covered everything for me. Yep.

Everything. It's like they would have, like, this past season, right? And this past season wasn't an anomaly, really. Yeah. But this past season, the funniest thing about it, frustrating, but also kind of hilarious. was like, you're watching a team, especially at the beginning of the season, when they still had Quinn,

and you're like, they're doing their best. They went into this, so hard. They went into this season trying to win. They did everything they possibly could to convince Quinn Hughes to stay. And the decision for Quinn Hughes, first of all, sound like it'd already been made.

And it was like so easy for him to be like, no, like absolutely not. You've asked me a hundred times. and the answer is still no, I'm not staying here. And even though we're having a good time kind of being like, we hate Quinn Hughes, he was a puck hog here. I think most of us, you know, deep down are like, I don't blame you, man.

And I was the same way with Rick Tockett. I was like, man, I don't blame you. There's a reason people laugh. You go take that Philly job. Yep, there's a reason people laugh. It's going to be better for your career because there's no hope here. But now when I hear what the Cedines are saying, I have hope for the first time in a while.

It's long-term hope, but it is hope because ownership finally recognizes what everyone in this market or a lot of people in this market were screaming. But I'll say this. I think when it's all said and done, and it is all said and done, but years from now, we're going to look back on the 2025-20206 campaign as I have said countless times as a real waste of an opportunity to even further kickstart to rebuild because what the Cedines are and Johnson are dealing with now is starting from about as scratch as you can get right we've talked about this numerous times we're not reinventing the wheel here they're starting not in even a similar position to when Montreal started their rebuild four years ago with some pieces in place like they're starting grounds that zero, blown to smithereens, back to the studs, not even back to the studs, the studs got ripped up. They got nothing to work with.

This year really should have been an identifier of where the organization was at. And, okay, we need to start this now. But as you brought up, it's comical to think that for the first couple months of this

woe be gotten, you know, I can't believe this happened type season. the connect still had a lot of people the highest reaches of the organization that thought they were going to make a push for the playoffs. Even Jim Rutherford in his exit interviews was still saying, well, you know, we got off to that start. I think we were seven and seven at one point. I can't believe you're talking about the record. I can't believe you're talking about the Demko injury and Hughes wanting to leave.

And the, and the heedal injury, the heedle injury was brought up. So that's why I was like, this year, the foot decision, the Vander Cain decision. the chasing of fourth line setters across the league from David Com to who's the other guy they brought in? I can't remember his name now. Lucas Reichel. Yeah. I would hear stories early in the season of like, you know, people would tell me that, you know, there are people in the organization that still believe things would have been way different if He'd still had stayed healthy. And Demko. Yeah. If those people are around, you're like, go, leave now. Get out of here. We're starting fresh. I do wonder if

any of the other ownership factions weighed in on this was it people beyond Francesco. Who knows, right? But we did hear about Dax being more involved.

And I do wonder if there had been parts of the family that had been like, this is crazy. And, you know, maybe Dax Aqualini's young guy, maybe he knows his way to like Reddit

or like, you know, he's on he's online and reading some of the fans. Yeah, Dax is like, I've been a part of Knewk's Twitter for a while now. I am damaged. Please fix this. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's possible. I mean, we did hear that Dax was more involved. So maybe he's had some influence on this. Maybe I don't know.

But I do find it interesting. Doesn't it anyone else find it interesting that we've heard about this new a member of the family who was part of the process and all of a sudden now we've got this new way of going about business.

It's fair to speculate. It's fair to speculate. Sure. Certainly fair to speculate. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.

We just have to call Thomas Dran's erotica. Thomas Dranserotica. Of course. Thomas Grant Erotica. Expecting goals. Thomas

Transerotica. Dog model. Thomas Grant erotica. Rush. Thomas Transerotica. P.D.O.

7.34 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brubb in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Got debt? If you do, reach out to Sands and Associates during regular business hours and they'll get back to you within 20 minutes. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We're in hour two of the program. Midway point of the show.

Hour two is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason. Dot mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason. Mortgage really quick. I forgot to mention that our previous guest, Adnan, Virk was a presentation of Angry Outer Licker. Angry Outer Liquor has the basis covered with a game day lineup. of beer, wine, spirits, and a great

selection of non-alcoholic favorites. Visit angry outer liquor. cRS for more. Let's go now to the Aval Auctions hotline. Our next guest, I thought he was going to talk. Our next guest is a presentation. Your guys' chemistry is just off the charge.

Of no one, he's just a presentation. Thomas Dr. Dr. Rance joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Dranser? Sponsors aren't beating down the door to get in on this. Analysis. Let's we can say you up with better I guess let's see what we got we got a hat guy

we got a hat guy for him you want to be I'm a big hat guy myself yeah exactly right yeah okay drancer um so you've got an article you got a couple articles up on the athletic and I want to start with the case for the Canucks drafting a defenseman because we've had

so much talk about Caleb Malhotra and I know you wrote about him too so I do want to talk about that. But I think my argument, and this is not a unique argument by any means, is that the third overall pick, you have to pick a guy that can be a game changer on the ice. If it's a forward, it needs to be a first line forward. An elite player, doesn't matter what position. Just a top line forward. If it's a deemant, it's going to, it has to be a guy that can carry his own top four pair and do well. And I think what some people are concerned about is that Caleb Malhotra is more of a, well, he's an all-around middle six center, right? And with the third overall pick, you should be aiming for a game changer.

Are there any game changers on the blue line available to be drafted? Yeah, and I think so. So the thing, like, just to come back to the idea of BPA, best player available, or sort of what you should be looking to accomplish third overall, if you're optimizing, in my view anyway, is, you know, like, for example, I would say Keaton Bearhoff, the defender out of North Dakota, is probably the highest upside player outside of Gavin McKenna in this draft class, six but four. He scored 21 goals in the WHL at 16. He's the third 17-year-old to play NCAA hockey and record 20 points at that age, which I mean, he's like the sixth guy in 20 years to play

an NCAA season at 17. He played it on a really good team that advanced to the Frozen Four. He played a major role. And he's the third defender at that age to be a 20-point guy in that league. and by the way, that league just got an influx of the top 60 to 70 CHL players this year and is harder than it's ever been. Like we saw that with Tyn and Lawrence. We saw that with McKenna. We saw that with Verhof. The other two guys who've done it, by the way, are Werenski and Noah Hanifin.

So like from a pure raw upside perspective, I'd say after McKenna, the highest upside guy, six foot four, right-handed D, pedigree guy who has a completely clean and unique profile is probably Keaton Verhof. But there's concerns about his hockey sense defensively and more importantly, his skating, his boots. And so I think that's the sort of qualitative, you know, every scout I talk to, well, not every scout, but a lot of scouts I talk to have real concerns about the hockey sense, the processing, and the speed in particular. And for me anyway, like, I'm not such a raw data guy that if you have concerns that are as material as like,

we're worried about his skating. I'm going to say, well, he's still the guy who should go second or third overall. I'm willing to adjust and be like, okay, well, then he's got the highest ceiling, but there are reasonable concerns about whether or not he's got access to it. Right. And so what I mean to say is, for me, what you're effectively, what I go through in my own process and is just trying to come up with the cleanest, bet overall, who's the cleanest overall bet to be a star level player in the NHL.

And that doesn't mean the safest bet, though, does it? No, the cleanest bet. And so what I mean by clean is I want a super high-end scoring profile. Like, I want the sort of scoring profile where the upside is extraordinary. But I also want someone. someone who I think has like there's no significant compelling reasons that I can come up with anyway, because again, this is just a subjective individual judgment-based process that I go through myself.

Can't come up with significant reasons that I find compelling to suggest that this player can't access it, right? So, and by the way, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't still rate Verhoff as like a top five guy in this class because I think the upside matters so much. but we've seen six foot four defender, especially in the new NHL who struggles to skate, go high in the draft and not be a guy. Like we've seen the Griffin-Rin-Hart thing, right?

We've seen, like, I'd even say the Aaron Eckblatt thing where it's like he's had a long career as a top pair defenseman, but I don't know that he was ever, you know, he certainly was never Drew Dowdy, right? And so, you know, I think you should factor that in, to some extent, the qualitative matters as well. And so when I look through this class, generally. I won't even talk just about the defenders. When I look through this class generally,

right, I see sort of McKenna in a different tier entirely. And I sort of see three really clear, really clean profile bets that I think are like worthy of top five selections and have that mix that I'm talking about. And I think Ivar Stenberg is one of them. I think Carson Carls is the defenseman that I think fits this mold. And then I think the third profile is a center, but it's not Caleb Malhotra's Vigo Bjork. Those are the three guys that I would be like, okay, I think those three guys. And by the way, I wouldn't really put Stenberg in a totally different tier.

And so what I write about today in the piece that we ran at the athletic on defensemen, I break down Carl's age-adjusted production. It's a little bit challenging because so many really good WHL players, including McKenna and Verhof, went to chase NIL money down south. And so the WHL brought in a lot of guys from the USHL. Like, it's a younger league this year. It's probably a little bit watered down. And so it's hard to adjust for what that means in terms of like,

what do these scoring profiles I'm looking at, even tell me versus most other years. Like this is literally the Wild West, analytically speaking. So we're doing our best. With Carl's, who I've seen play live a couple times this year, actually, fortunately, you're talking about like six foot two and a half. He's the highest WHL 17-year-old point producer since Scott Niedermeier. So that's 1991.

So that's 35 years. The highest scoring WHL defender in 35 years, he's like wide-bodied, he's mean, he's a dynamic skater. And so for me, it's like, okay, that's all the checkmarks I want. Premium position plays defense. High-end elite scoring profile, like the sort of superhuman scoring profile that you can sum up in a sentence, right? He's got the traits and attributes you want, and he's got the mentality that you want. Right?

Like to me, that's a really, really clean bet. Right? Stenberg, fourth highest scoring, 18,000. year old SHL player ever. Everyone else on the list is basically a top line caliber NHL player. Speed plays really hard through contact, defensively

reliable, killing it, like point per game plus against NHL players at the world's right now was the best player at the U20s, right? I mean, that to me, that's a clean profile. Yeah. And then I think Vigo Bjork's the guy that no one's talking about. The more I looked through like the Vigo Bjork

fossil record, in Sweden this year, the more I thought to myself like, man, I knew that people were way too horned up about listed heights in analyzing players. And there's been some like,

oh, Vigo Bjork, he's like, this drafts Zach Benson. And it's like, no, no, no. This guy's totally different caliber of prospect than that. This guy's an elite,

elite prospect. Like, I was looking through it, like, he played his age 16 season, with his brother, Wilson Bjork, who was a Canucks draft pick last year, in like the J20, which is sort of the Swedish equivalent of major junior, right? The under 20 players, they're all associated with their club teams. He played his age 16 season at that level, but got called up to the Jew Gardens pro team for one game at 16 and scored in that one game against pros.

That season, he had 74 points and 47 games. and that's the best season of all time in that league, in that J20 league, the best season we've ever seen ever from a 16-year-old player. And second place comes in 24 points back. Like he's at 74 points. Second place is 50. The only other guy that we've seen have more than a point in half per game is William Neelander.

And William Neelander is well back. like at like 1.55. This guy's 1.75. Like he, he's the best 16 year old junior player in Swedish hockey history. And it's like by a mile. Do you have to adjust to the last few years where scoring rates have gone up? Well, you, I mean, you have to just do it mentally for sure. But also a lot of the top seasons we've seen are like in the 80s and the 90s.

Right. So it's like, and there's so much that's changed, right? There's so much that's changing all the time. I think more than anything, you just have to, like, I'm not building an algorithm out here or like all in one number that's like producing a prospects. I'm leaning on my own judgment. So for the most part, this is descriptive and there's some grain of salt. But if you're 24 points higher than anyone else in the history of the game.

Sure. And if you're, there's common sense to it. Yeah, like one thing I'd say is six of the, or three of the six best WHL seasons for defenseman scoring ever. happened this year. Ryan Lynn, Daxon Rudolph, and Carson-Carls, all three of them. Okay, so that to me tells me that there's something going on. What's going on? Well, W.HL has weaker competition.

Also, defenders in the Kalmachar Quinn Hughes era are expected to do more offensively. And hey, look, it looks like they are. Right. It looks like they very much are. And then scoring rights are up. And so it's like all three things contribute, but I also don't think we should ignore the factor that's like, the way that players are being developed in Western Canada is better than the rest of the world,

has been for a little bit of time. And so, like, I wouldn't ignore that, like, these three guys might all be pretty special, right? And you're seeing it across the league. I mean, how many Western Canadian kids are just, like, killing it at, like, 21, right? And they, like, go in the second round. Teams doesn't even seem like teams have adjusted quickly enough to being like, oh, this Frasermanit kid, maybe he's really good, right? But then there's like second and third rounders out of the West

and they're immediately NHLers. It's crazy. So I wouldn't ignore that factor either. Like these guys might all be super legit. And in fact, having seen them play, I sort of think they are. Anyway, to come back to Bjork, again, you're looking at right-handed center. He's playing huge minutes, like 17 minutes a game against NHL players right now in the world. He's basically been point per game for Sweden.

at that level right now. And he's the fourth best, he's the best 17-year-old center we've seen play in the SHL, and that includes guys like Hendrik Sidene and Mika Zanajad and on and on, in like 30, almost 35 years. Yeah, like to me, those are the profiles you want. You want the elite scoring. You want the projectable traits.

Ideally, you want a guy who's been a pedigree guy all the way up. I tend to get a little bit concerned when it's, you know, the Caleb Malhotra, like, well, it's last six months. I want to talk about that, though. I want to talk about that, though, like, because I understand the concern for sure. And I didn't watch OHL playoffs. So I'm just asking questions here. Is it possible sometimes that when you're a young player, you start producing and something has clicked? and you're like, wow, I can do this.

I didn't know I could do this and I can do this now. Because when you think about it, everything for a young player is a small sample size, right? Because you're a much different player at 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. You know, once you're in the NHL and you're, I don't know, 24, 25, for the most part, you are what you are. but development as a young player is not linear. I shouldn't say it's it isn't always linear. It's never linear. And sometimes a player will be like, oh, wait a minute,

something just clicked for me. And those are oftentimes the players you want to jump on because you're like, wow, this guy just figured out what he can do. So you know the brick hockey tournament in Edmonton? It's for 10-year-olds. Yep. go look at the list of MVPs. I know.

Macklinselaubriini, Connor Bred. There is. But was Kel McCar there? No, you're right. Cal McCar wasn't there. So my point, though,

would be this. My point would be, and McCar is a really good example, right? Because his, he was not Cal McCar at 16. He was Cal McCar at 20. Right. And that is different.

Right. I generally would say, though, like there are exceptions. There are Macars and there are Beckett Seneca's. And so it's not necessarily a mistake to jump on one of those players, right? If, you know, to rely on your scouting staff and, and at least be thinking about how to identify the outlier. You should be, right?

And that's the sort of thing, like, you know, give me a team of 10 area scouts and a $5 million budget and I'll be more concerned with that, right? Like, I can't do that. I don't have the time for that. I'm not even a draft analyst. Right. I'm a beat writer. I'm doing my best, right?

So I'm more reliant on statistics. So there's an obvious bias there, and I'm not trying to pretend that I'm right. Because I'm not. I'm just looking at probabilities and going through my own process of betting on this stuff. And the conversation we're having right now is the conversation that happened across all sorts of NHL teams. For sure. The thing I would say is,

those are bets but like hunting for outlier things I think matters I think finding the story and finding the guy to really jump on and bet on to me matters I just think you would I personally am more comfortable

with that sort of bet when it's price adjusted like it's one thing if we're talking about the late bloomer that the Canucks are drafting 24th or 33rd right but when we're talking about 30 the third overall pick and there are

a lot of these like pedigree guys who've been you know like playing u18 hockey when they were 16 and you see you 17 hockey when they were 15 and have been the best player and the best team on the best teams in their leagues all the way up and are being up jumped by their federation to play for the senior men's national team and they only turned 18 three months ago like when there's still those profiles on the board my tolerance for that sort of risk analytically, like as an analyst, goes down. That's not to say, like, if the Canucks had made the Beckett Seneca pick,

I probably would have been like, wow, that's a wild role of the dice. So I know that, I know this is a massive exception, and I'm not trying to be an annoying debater here, but was Kail McCar a risky pick for the abs? Like, would you have deemed it at the time as a risky pick for the abs? I think ahead of a scoring profile like Pedersen's probably yeah I would have yeah I would have I would have said I would have said given you know the the scoring profile on an Elias Pedersen to sort of reach on tools you know I

mean McCar was such an insane scorer but he was in such an like underfished league right like we just didn't have much you know and honestly even like his age 19 NCAA production that first season at Lowell. Now he wasn't playing on like a loaded team. And you were already starting to hear the like whispers, right? The like scouts being like, you got to go see the Skull-McCarr kid. Like you were already starting to hear that. So yeah. Well, he remained loyal to his, he remained loyal to the team that gave him the scholarship at UMass. Right. Yeah. So, so I mean, there's other contexts there. I would say McCar was in a slightly different bucket. Well,

you know, McCar's a good example. McCar, Seneca, those are good examples of the outlier. picks who work. And so yeah, I mean, if you want to bet on that and if you want to trust a Kinnuck scouting staff that has repeatedly made this exact bet, but like, yeah, but man, did you see the U-U-18s, right? Like, I guess my problem is that I've seen this specific staff make this bet and I've heard this specific fan base talk themselves into this specific thing. Well, premium position, size, athleticism.

crushed it in a small sample eight million times across the last seven years while I've been like, I'd love to see them just like optimized for probability. Yeah. You know, and so I guess that's the thing is it's like I think there are times where a really savvy scouting staff will make the right decision to deviate from the data. I think the connects have always been comfortable deviating from the data to their data. Too comfortable. And so and so that's that's I guess my issue.

Like people are like, well, I trust the twins and Ryan Johnson. Like, I want to. I want to, but I'd first like to see them operate this thing a little bit differently, right? Like, I'd like to see this team put it on the fairway with some clean bets informed by, you know, probability and data. And, you know, you've got four picks in the top 41. Like, this is a new rebuild. This is a new era. I'd love to see this team not talk themselves into, wow, this guy had a really sick three months.

and he's big. It's like, okay, I know. Like, that's how you guys always make this mistake. So I just like to see this team make a different type of mistake, bruff. And if that's the, well, they ignored the small sample late season riser. They didn't go fishing for the outlier. They were too data driven. If that's a mistake in this case, like let it be a mistake that the connects make.

Like let this team just try something different for once. And then we can blame you for it somehow. Sounds great. Like I'd love to be wrong. I'd love to be wrong in that manner as opposed to wrong in the manner where the Canucks make a mistake. And I'm like, oh, man, that sucks. That sounds good to me. Let's try something different.

I should run. You guys have IMAQ. You bump me, by the way, for IMAX. So I got a, A dog, despite bumping me for IMAC, asked me to help you manage the clock. So I got to go. All right. See you, buddy. See you, bye.

Bye. Thomas Trans from the Athletic Vancouver and Connucks talk here on. the Halford and Brough show on Sports 9650. You asked Drance to self-manage himself? Yes. He went behind your back. Regulate. I'm a good producer. What can I say? Okay, it's time now for the smart decision brought to you by Crow.

That was actually pretty smart. That decision. That's why they're going to be a big box. Two smart decisions. To self-manage. Yeah. Scotland, and we're going to do some World Cup managerial stuff. So this is a foreshadow as well. But Scotland, who are qualified for the World Cup, and we'll be

here in North America in a World Cup for the first time in 28 years. have rewarded their gaffers, Steve Clark, with a new contract that could extend his tenure to a record 11 years in charge of the Scottish national team. Clark and the Scottish FAA made the announcement today. So Clark will be managing the Scottish team. I only bring this up really as a foreshadow

because we're going to talk about all the drama surrounding the U.S. men's national team, who as you know are one of the three hosts of this year's World Cup. That's going to come up on the other side. But there's a smart decision by the Scots coming into this year. It's World Cup. That is brought to you by Crow, your trusting accounting and tax advisors for over 55 years.

Crow, smart decisions, lasting value. Learn more at cromachai.cai.ca. So what I want to know is what is going on with Manny Mahotra? Because it's now Thursday, and we had set Wednesday. Wednesday was Panic Day. To ask the question. Now it's free to go Thursday. What's going on there?

I wonder how many other candidates. they're talking to right now. Because I know that they said, like we're going to focus on, on Manny. Because Ryan Johnson was asked, how big a net are you going to cast? Or how wide a net are you going to cast in this coaching search?

And his answer basically suggested, well, that depends on how our talk with Manny goes. Which signal that they were kind of laser focused on hiring Manny Mahalachia. and all of us were like, all right, cool. That's good. That's probably what we expect.

But now in the last few days, since we haven't had an announcement, and it's possible that, man, he's just building out his staff, and that takes time. It's possible. That's what I'm wondering. But I also wonder if they've reached out to a few other guys,

just in case, maybe even some guys that they were going to talk to anyway about the staff. Sure. Like, one name I keep coming back to, and there is a relationship there, is Jeremy Colleton. Good call. If Jeremy Colleton, who has experience as a head coach with the Chicago Blackhawks, and then, of course, was the head coach in Abbotsford before Mani Mahotra took that job.

And generally, we thought did a good job, right? Had a winning record down there. I always liked them. And I remember when it sounded like he wasn't going to be back, people were like, oh, that's kind of a loss for the organization. Now he's in New Jersey as an assistant. Is he still there? Associate. Associate.

Okay. Whatever. Yeah, he's still there. But I do wonder about a name like Jeremy Carlton and whether or not he'd be a candidate for head coach, just in case things didn't work out with Manny Mahotra. I think he'd be an excellent option as an assistant coach or an associate coach with the conchs. Yeah, it's an option. Or even a head coach. But I kind of want Manning to get the job of a point taking.

But he would know, and he would have a relationship with Ryan Johnson. And Ryan Johnson would, look, if he approved him, he'd be like, yeah, he was a good coach for us. Sure. So he would know. I can't really think of many other candidates because none of the candidates that are really being kicked around for. the other vacancies around the NHL, the situation is just so different. Maybe Jay Woodcroft.

If he doesn't land. But it sounds like he wants to coach a team that's a playoff team. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.