Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 6/12/24

Episode Date: June 12, 2024

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they get the latest Canucks news from Sportsnet's Satiar Shah, 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 Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. It looks to me like Edmonton is running out of gas. The attrition on them is really starting to go. Luches to strike away. And he got him. Garcia using that high fastball to strike out Dunn. I'm a small-town Connecticut girl, and I always love these.

This market loves young guys. Good morning, Vancouver. 6-0-1 on a Wednesday. Good morning, Vancouver. 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford. It is Bradford. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintex Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver.

Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning. Good morning. Laddie, good morning. Hello, hello. Halford and Bradford in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers.

They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling. They recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Rafi, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that is what you are waiting for. Big show today on a Wednesday after a very quiet night in the world of sports. Jeff Merrick is going to join us at 6.30. He's the host of The Jeff Merrick Show and the 32 Thoughts podcast.

Seven o'clock, Mike Morial is going to join us. Senior draft writer from NHL.com. We'll get caught up on all the things that Mike learned at the recently completed NHL Scouting Combine. Wait, I thought we thought we don't care about the draft. We do now because of Macklin, our dear son, our local boy, Macklin Celebrini.

I feel like. Is there any way he could fall to the third round? Probably not. Okay. And I only say probably because you're saying there's a chance. Mike Morial is going to join us at seven o'clock to talk a little draft and look at what he learned about Macklin Celebrini at the NHL draft combine. 7.30.

John Molinaro, Sportsnet soccer writer, is going to join us. I'm excited. I'm excited because we are now just two days away from the start of the 2024 European Championships. It's going to open with the host, the Germans, hosting the Scots.

Germans are slight favorites in that match. But Germany hasn't been great lately. They have not. You know who else hasn't been great lately They have not You know who else hasn't been great lately? Scotland Yeah Well They qualified for the tournament

They did qualify Actually you know what Getting to the Euro is their Euro So we'll talk to John Molinaro about all that Getting to the Euro is their Euro? Do you mean their title? Their European Championship? I said what I said

And I stand by it Getting to the Euro is their Euro. Okay. We're going to talk to John Molinaro at 7.30 about that. And then, in eight days' time, we get the start of the Copa America, which normally would get zero mention on this show. But Canada is not just competing in the Copa for the first time. It's the Copa America, by the way. The Copa Cabana is a totally different thing. Canada's not just competing in the Copa for the first time. It's the Copa America, by the way.

The Copa Cabana is a totally different thing. Canada is not competing in that. They are not only just competing. They are in the opening match of the Copa America against Lionel Messi and the top-ranked team in the world, Argentina, in front of what's going to be, I think, 73,000 at last attendance figures based on tickets sold in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Did you see Ronaldo the other day scoring twice for Portugal?

He's still got it, baby. So they had a side-by-side picture of him because he played in the 2004 European Championship. 20 years ago, I believe by math. 20 years ago. And then he did a side-by-side. There he is, still going 20 years later, representing Portugal in this year's 2024 European Championships. So John Molinaro is going to join us at 7.30.

But all that, 8 o'clock, big get here. Really tough to book him, but we managed to land Satyarsha, who will be on the station later today because he works for the station and has a show on this station. So one of the things that I heard Sat say, and I was actually texting him about this yesterday, and I've been wondering about this, is the timing of the Philip Peronic situation.

I remember thinking, don't they have to figure this out by July 1st? Because if they don't have it figured out, then don't they have to go out and, you know, sign some defensemen in free agency and maybe you pay a little bit more to get Chris Tanev or one of these right-shot defensemen in? So we'll talk to Sad about that because I think he was hinting

that the Canucks are going to put a little pressure on the Hronik camp to get this deal done in the next couple of weeks. Well, that's great because we saw during the regular season how well it plays when you put some pressure on a guy to get an answer from him about his contract status. So I'm looking forward to seeing how that plays out for Philip Hronik. So working in reverse.

Yeah, Hronik's going to have a tough August. Yeah. You know, maybe we don't pressure guys. Maybe we let them make their own decisions. I don't know. Anyway, 8 o'clock, Sadie Arshaw. 7.30, John Molinaro. 7 o'clock, Mike Morial.

6.30, Jeff Merrick. It's a big show. We've got a lot of guests. We've 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 You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the B.C. Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca.

With all due respect to the Blue Jays scintillating 3-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers last night in what really was the only sport story of significance. On the field, the playing field, we are going to start with the Stanley Cup Finals. So, after all the hoopla and all the chatter and all the consternation and hand-wringing and arguing online, it does seem as though Leon Dreisaitl and Alexander Barkov are likely to play in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Leon Dreisaitl, in news that was reported first by Sportsnet's Elliot Friedman,

sounds like he's going to be eligible to play for the Edmonton Oilers. He will not receive suspension for his forearm shiver to Alexander Barkov in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, which, of course, the Florida Panthers won to go up to nothing on the subject of Barkoff. His status is still questionable, although there were some positive signs on Tuesday. He took to the practice facility ice in Florida. By the way, I went down the rabbit hole this morning of monitoring flights out of Florida. I don't know how I landed on this, but the Edmonton Oilers left Florida on Tuesday. Yeah.

They didn't head straight to Canada, though. They had to make a pit stop in Kansas City. I don't know why. It was just a flight plan. The Panthers are going to fly today, nonstop on their Delta Boeing 757, all the way from Florida to Edmonton. There's no way you found this information. You found this information tweeted out or on a blog.

Yeah, tweeted out. Andy Slater, who has a lot of flight information. It did kind of sound like you were like, I was looking at some special site myself. I did go down. Instead, you just like found a tweet and you were like, there you go. I will admit, I did go to the guys that give the information to FlightRadar24 on Twitter. Okay.

I couldn't make sense. I can't read what they were. I don't know how they got the information they were putting out on Twitter from what they were looking at. I'm like, it just looks like a lot of yellow dots. I don't know what those mean. That's why Twitter is telling me. So anyway. Should we get one of them on the show to explain?

You know what? It wasn't worth it. I thought it would be more entertaining and interesting. There's a big storm in Florida right now. So they were saying it was funny. This Andy Slater guy who was doing all of the translation on Twitter, the flight translation, said that a lot of Florida Panthers fans are having a tough time going to Edmonton because there's a bunch of storms in the area right now. And I was like, Andy, I mean, how many Florida Panthers fans are really going to Edmonton? Right.

They can just wait. There's several. You think? Probably more. Tens, dozens, if you will. Now I'm on Andy Slater's account. Yeah. And those yellow dots are planes.

Yeah. He did a new graphic. Oh, I see. Okay. Yeah. So anyway. Why doesn't he just turn the dots into little tiny plane thingies, like make it so much easier to read. He did. Oh, did he?

Andy Slater did. Yeah. Good. So I will say that the only reason I'm bringing this all up is because I was like, why are the Florida Panthers still in Florida? They should be on their way to Edmonton, but they practiced yesterday in Florida. And there was a question of whether or not Barkoff would get on that flight. That's the other reason that I brought it up.

So Marie said that Barkoff passed get on that flight. That's the other reason that I brought it up. So Murray said that Barkoff passed a needed evaluation on Tuesday, but he did not confirm nor deny whether or not he actually went into official concussion protocol. He also said that he didn't want anything more to do with the discussion about the play itself or how Barkoff is doing. All he said was that he did not get any worse from Monday night when he suffered the hit from Leon Dreisaitl. So I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that Dreisaitl is going to play on Thursday night in Edmonton for game three, and so too is Alexander Barkov.

You know, sometimes I wonder what it's like to be George Peros during the Stanley Cup final, the head of player safety. How does he watch the games? Does he just sit there and go, please, God? Nothing big happened. Nothing controversial happened. He must have been praying that Barkov was okay. Now, some people will push back and say, well, he shouldn't be doing that.

He should just look at the play and see whether it's suspendable. I don't know. Maybe he does love to dig into a tough decision. I have no idea why anyone would want this job. So maybe George Peros just has that desire to be put in tough situations. But think about having that job. Is it even possible to have that job and avoid criticism? No.

Like there's never a time when both teams and their fan bases are like, well, that was a perfect decision. George, chef's kiss to you. I could not agree more with that decision that you made. I actually wonder how long you can even work that job. He got promoted to the head of the department in 2017, so he's been at it a while. I honestly wonder because I am a very empathetic person.

That's what a lot of people say about me. Many people are saying it. Many people say I'm empathetic. They hear it more and more. And I just wonder what it's like to have that job during the Stanley Cup final on a play like that where the injury isn't obviously long-term. The play wasn't so bad that you were like that's an obvious

suspension now some people will reply yes it was right but it wasn't it wasn't because but it was but you know like because i i know it's funny because i was listening to sat yesterday i think it was sat and he was saying like i don't understand how I think he was saying, like, I don't understand how people don't think this was a more serious play or a worse play. Or I guess, like, he's saying it should be suspendable. But I looked at it, and I was kind of like, yeah, he got his hands up a bit.

And I guess, you know, like, he caught the side of Barkov's face. Right? You can describe it all the way. I'm just a little forearm shiver, right? Just a little one. A little shiv. A massive one, you know. A little shiv.

Like a rapper, a little shiv. But at any rate, because I'm such an empathetic person, I really do wonder what it's like to do that job and really how long you want to do that job before you go crazy. And you must be a person that is able to deal with criticism. Can you imagine if George Peros searched his name on Twitter? Oh, no.

You're like, I don't think I'm doing a very good job here. He would have to exist in a vacuum in so many different ways. Yeah. What I kept coming. And it would be impossible to remain quote unquote. Everyone's like, I just want consistency on these plays.

And you're like, man, I don't know if that's possible because everyone reads these plays differently. And one, what about this one is, in their mind, they're like, that's a perfect what about. But in George Perrault's mind, they'd be like, those plays are completely different. And then it just becomes after a while yeah there's totally inconsistent like i think the issue and it's it's a great conversation to have because he's got such a thankless job especially in moments like these where the stakes are so high i gotta go back to carson susie getting suspended

during the canucks Oilers series. I saw a bunch of tweets about that. Imagine how Carson Soucy gets suspended for a play where he, you know, like Connor McDavid wasn't even hurt, and he gets a one-game suspension for that. Barkov is hurt. At the very least, he had to leave the game. And Soucy gets a one-game suspension suspension you have to remember how these work and I hate that I'm in the position of defending the old George Peros jr over here uh I think you're actually older than him I probably am yeah

he's got a better mustache though it's true they're both fine mustaches at any rate you have to remember that the way you determine a suspension is the first step you take is is that a suspendable play you don't jump right to the injury some people want you to yep but you don't jump right to the injury start with the act not the consequence now what a lot of people will say is they'll watch that dry saddle hit on Barkov and be like yeah that's a suspendable play and he was injured so suspend him shots right and hey I I might even agree with you but I think the dry saddle play on Barkov didn't look as bad as the Carson Soucy cross-checked Connor McDavid. They will say that that Carson Soucy cross-check, that act itself,

they don't want to have any part of that in the NHL. Yep. So that's the first step you have to take. Now, please don't yell at me. I'm just explaining it. If you think that the dry-side play deserved a suspension and then that play by itself in a vacuum forget about the injuries rose to the level of a suspendable play then i'm not

going to push back on you too hard like he he got him pretty hard in the head so it was a forearm you know like so so but but but definitely from a perspective of you know which play like looked worse or which play do you want to mostly get out of the game? Like cross checks to the head. Well, yeah. But OK, here's the thing. I think we exist in a society where there's like a legal system that has legal precedents, which are basically like an authority to decide subsequent cases. Right. basically like an authority to decide subsequent cases, right? There's if something involves identical or let's just even go similar facts and circumstances,

that's what legal precedent is. I mean, this is a very, very basic explanation of how legal precedent works, but it's there as a guideline. And I think a lot of people want that same like process and standard to apply to what george peros is doing and it's just it's not realistic yeah for example in the case of carson souci v connor mcdavis if there's a precedent on the books that you can't cross check the best player and the star player in the head but you could probably do it to somebody else. They're not making it publicly available, but you know that's a conversation.

Like, some guys can get away with some things, and some guys can't. Yeah, you'd be foolish to think that that doesn't enter at least the thought process, even if no one will say it out loud. There's a text in here. But it's not written down in any law textbook. No, no, no.

It's a quiet, understood, behind the scenes. If that was Fogle instead of Dreissel, he might have been fined. Maybe suspended. Bingo. Yeah, yeah. But it wasn't. It was Dreissel, right? Well, that was the thing. I mean, everyone's thinking it right now, so I'll just say it, and we'll get our first 2011 reference out of the way. Aaron Rome

was suspendable. That's right. That's just the way it is. And that's why it's such a maddening, it's why it's such a difficult job to have. Because you are at the mercy of the commissioner, general managers, board of governors, everyone probably weighing in and getting their two cents in your ear.

And then you've also got to try and make... Do you think Peros goes to Batman and is like, yo, can I suspend Dreisaitl? And he's like, no, he's their best player. Did you just text in this into the Dunbar-Lumber text line? George Peros says, Gary, should I suspend this guy? No, George, he is a star. Yes, George, he is a nobody.

Thanks, Gary. Great minds think alike. Great minds think alike. Yeah, I mean, listen, you can have as many conspiracy theories as you want, but I think— Gary, can I? No, you cannot. Okay.

Yeah. I think it's very, very possible that if that was a depth player on—let's say it was Corey Perry and he had played. You know, I think Corey Perry might have got suspended. I agree. Because it wouldn't have put the Oilers in a tough position. I mean, if he suspended a guy that had cost them the series, right? Like, that's the thing. Like, Dreisaitl getting suspended

could potentially cost them that one move. Could cost them the Stanley Cup. Someone just texted in, guys, what you're talking about, isn't that crazy, though? Do we want it to be like that? Shouldn't all the players be equal in terms of discipline?

Well, of course they should be, but they never will be. Yeah, yeah. Like, never. That's not gonna happen. Look, all leagues have a different set of standards for different individuals. They're just written out differently.

Look at what the NFL has done and the lengths that they've gone to protect quarterbacks. It should be more like the criminal justice system where everyone is treated equally. That's right. Right? Like, everyone gets treated equally in the criminal justice system. It's right. Right? Like everyone gets treated equally in the criminal justice system.

It's true. You just get, everyone gets a fair shake. And everyone will go to the same prison if they are found guilty. It's the same across the board. Yeah. I mean, I think hockey is very, very unique within the sporting landscape. Nevermind the regular life landscape, because there's the element where the guys on the ice for the longest time were allowed to administer justice and police the game themselves.

That adds a whole different dynamic because for the longest time, what would be one's person, while he was just defending himself, is another person's yeah but he cross-checked a guy in the mouth yeah you know and there's a lot of other sports just outlawed that entirely well the department whatever it was called before they went with the department of player safety which sounds aurelian frankly um the department would even like when brian burke

was running it he would look at it he would be you know when with ber Burke was running it, he would look at it, he would be, you know, with Buray on Churla, he would look at it and go like, well, Buray was getting run a lot. Yeah, he looked at it, I mean, I hate using the term, like the hockey, he looked at it like a hockey man. Yeah, yeah, he looked at it like a hockey player. Yeah, he's like, well, you know, you understand how he got to the level of nearly decapitating Shane Churla Shane Charlotte's because the stars were running around. Burke was like,

actually we have awarded a Pavel Buray, a $1,000 bonus. Let's get him a present. Yeah. But there were him, you know, now that we've, I will say,

I remember this distinctly and people have kind of analyzed it in the aftermath. There was almost a very weird sense of, I don't want to say pride but there was almost an understanding that because burry stood up for himself and it wasn't one of his teammates that delivered the cheap shot yeah that was almost played to his benefit they're like well it was the dirtiest elbow we've seen in decades but the little scamp did it himself he didn't make it didn't make sergio mmso go do it and that's a weird dynamic that exists in the game and i think you have to acknowledge it and just say at sometimes because

it is at the end of the day it's just hockey and it's just sports you can just kind of say yeah you know what it's one of those weird quirks of the game that makes it interesting and makes it compelling and look it's given us 21 minutes of content right off the hop of a show uh there wasn't a whole heck of a lot else that happened yesterday, but I do want to play some audio, and I kind of want to have this conversation. We can revisit it later. Russell Wilson has rediscovered the Fountain of Youth,

and it's in Pittsburgh, of all places. Russ arrived at Steelers' minicamp yesterday. Minicamps opened across the National Football League. These are noteworthy only because of the fact that they're mandatory. And if you don't show up like Aaron Rodgers, you could be subjected to a fine. So Russell Wilson showed up yesterday and he's got all the confidence in the world now. New starts, new beginnings. I've actually got the audio here.

Some uninterrupted Russell Wilson as he begins the newest chapter of his life, this time as a Pittsburgh Steeler. I feel the family youth, man. I just, I feel, you know, I feel revived in every way, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I feel confident, you know. I think at some point you got to know who you are, you know, as a player, as a man, as a competitor, you know, as somebody who's been fortunate to be able to play in this game.

And I don't doubt it, you know, I just don't trust it. I felt really good last year playing, you know somebody who's been a fortunate bit of a player in this game and I don't doubt it you know I just don't trust it I felt really good last year playing you know I felt really confident in the midst of everything and so I think

right now I have all that confidence to extend Okay Seahawks fans listening right now Yep Are we still hoping

Russ fails? I thought about it I saw you pose this question last night You know what? No Yeah I'm good No but do you do you want him I want him to succeed Still hoping Russ fails. I thought about it. I saw you pose this question last night. You know what? No. Yeah. I'm good.

But do you want him to succeed? Succeed in a big way? Sure. Why not? He's in a different conference. The only time the Seahawks will ever see him is in the Super Bowl. Right? Right.

I mean, he went through not just the humiliation of having this gargantuan contract and failing miserably. He's going to lead the Broncos to Super Bowls, plural. And then he was cut and dropped after two years. There was also the public ridicule of the personality and the Broncos nation, country, let's ride, all that stuff. Do you think he's changed, though? Do you think he's been humbled? Exact same person. So if he hasn't been humbled, if he if he himself i mean it was a humbling situation from the outside looking in but did he see it that way i don't even care what he sees it

as right right you know sometimes you can be he did deliver the seahawks or help deliver the seahawks super bowl hey i will always i will always have that for him you You know what? That love for him. I love a good redemption. It's more empathy for me. I love a good, yeah, you're very empathetic this morning. I love a good redemption story more than anyone. And to be dead honest,

he was not that bad in Denver last year. No, he wasn't. As a matter of fact, I thought how they did him. You were so naive with that situation. You were so naive. I wasn't naive. My original stance

still makes total sense that a guy who was away from the game for a decade was going to be like, ah, this sucks and he was going to leave. That was my thought

on the whole thing. But that was wrong. He was brought in there to drum him out. But it wasn't naive. He was going to look at the situation. Well, look at him now.

Look at what the situation is like. Bo Nix and Jim Stidham. They're going to stink until they're good and then he's not going to be there because they're going to bring in another coach to make them good. But the point with Russ was last year,

I think that he probably did enough to get another kick at the can as the quarterback of the Denver Broncos, but it was very obvious that Peyton wanted no part of that relationship. The organization wanted no part. Yeah. They saw the writing on the wall, and to be honest, a lot of it had to do with not how Russ played on the field, but how Russ came into the situation

and basically alienated himself from everyone in that organization. Teammates. Mr. Unlimited. Right? I mean, he's a strange guy We're rooting for him now Rooting's a strong word Rooting is a strong word

If it happens Yeah I'll be happy Okay If it doesn't I'll be like This is his career Cause he's an old guy now

So we We usually support the old guys I also Don't think that he's gonna be able To keep Justin Fields Off the field Well we'll see I think he's a better quarterback

Than him right now We'll see. I think he's a better quarterback than him right now. We'll see how long that lasts. The Steelers also have a new offensive coordinator, which they badly needed after watching them. Blame Canada. No longer. Ruff. 802 on a Eurodance Wednesday here on the Half of the Ruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Half of the Ruff of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda.

Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 3 of the program. Satyar Shah is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 3. Hour 3 is brought to you by Campbell & Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of

Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sorfi, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. I tried to do a different delivery during my primetime read during the break.

Was it of an exhausted person? It didn't go over well. I didn't realize it came out so flat. I was trying to go primetime. You were the Bueller guy. What's his name again? I always forget the actor's name. Ben Stein.

Yeah, that was a Ben Stein read. Was it? It was good, though. It was an interesting take on the whole live radio thing. I have pretty good range as an actor and a talent. Oh, my God. So I'm okay with it. And sometimes you got to be willing to try new things.

What were you trying? I was trying to do a more... Were you trying to... Balance delivery with a lower voice. But it just came across as flat. If you're trying to deepen your voice, don't try and deepen your voice. Hello, I'm Mike Halford.

Hello, I'm Mike Halford. Only I can do that. Whoa! Yeah. You just sounded exhausted. Yeah. Yeah. So tired.

But that's an interesting thing for the methodology of my acting. Now, if I ever want to do an exhausted Mike Halford, I just have to drop my voice. And I learned something today. Satyar Shah is on the line waiting patiently through all of his idiocy. He joins us now on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Satyar. What's happening, gentlemen? Two thoughts.

Number one, did you guys have your glow sticks going with intro music coming back from break? No, we've just done a bunch of drinks. We should have. I was dancing. You guys just should. You guys should. And the second thought, we need to create a, you know those ex-Twitter accounts that are like out of context humans, out of context Canucks?

Do out of context Mike Halford. Yes. We had one yesterday, Jason Brough out of context, where he was talking about, do you remember what did you say? I'll always be a girl from Connecticut. Yeah, I'm a small town girl. Yeah, small town girl. I'm a small town Connecticut girl,

and I always will be. Yeah. It's a great one. That somehow came out of the what? The Dan Hurley? The Dan Hurley conversation. Dan Hurley's wife. He was doing Dan Hurley's wife. Wait, that came out of the what the dan hurley conversation early's wife he was doing dan early's wife wait that came out wait what uh set let's talk some uh canucks move specifically

my first question is gonna be uh when are we gonna start to see some yeah we're all waiting for that i mean i think we're all kind of tired of the rumors and speculation because like all we're kind of doing is talking about the same things in different ways and it's like the updates are the same type of updates kind of with slight variations i mean honestly i'm not expecting anything major until close to the draft because i think the thing that we've seen with this front office two pressure points matter and i just don't think we got to a real pressure point yet and when those things happen i think we'll start seeing a move and i don't know if they've closed the door on any of their free agents quite yet and i think we'll start seeing a move and i don't know if they've closed the door on any of their free agents quite yet and i think once they get to the point where they're like okay

this guy's definitely not coming back that guy's definitely not coming back i wonder if we'll see some movement but i'm still expecting us to be like another couple weeks away from from any real moves happening because i mean we heard stuff about natchas remembers like well they're gonna try to trade him before game one of the cup final. And that obviously didn't happen. And the reason for it is there's no pressure point right now forcing any of these big decisions. Okay, so there's a couple players that I want to talk about. And I know you've probably talked about this a lot on the station already. But let's start with Filip Hronik. A few weeks ago, I was sitting there going, they got to figure this out before July 1st don't they because if

they don't have him signed then all of a sudden they're put in a pretty tough spot if they get past July 1st and they get past the draft and all the trades have been done for defensemen and all the the the free agent defenseman like a like a guy like Chris Tanev is off the the board, and then they're sitting there with Philip Peronix still unsigned, it's going to be pretty tough to just trade him for another right-shot defenseman. So how do you think that's going to play out in the next couple of weeks? Well, you know, like I mentioned on the show yesterday, and I know it was put out on social media, it wasn't quite as strong a report as it comes out on social media,

but we were talking to Irv, and one of the things I mentioned and I've heard is the Canucks don't want to get to arbitration. I mean, it doesn't mean they're going to avoid it at all costs and trade him for anything if they get to that point, but I think getting to arbitration is not their ideal scenario here with Roenick. And I think in a perfect role, they want to get something done by the draft, and if not, that's the perfect time to trade him. And I don't think they're going to be afraid of moving him. If they get close to the draft,

they don't feel like they can get a deal done with them. You mentioned right-hand defensemen. There are a bevy of them this year in the free agent market, actually. None of them really fit the profile of Philip Hronik, but there are enough capable players who can play alongside of Quinn Hughes, who can play alongside a Carson Soucy, can give you top four minutes and stabilize your back end. So there are options available to you. And I don't think you can be in a position where you leave that situation unresolved or back yourself into a situation where you're in an arbitration hearing later in August and you don't have your plan B figured out.

To me, this is not a front office who wants to be beholden to somebody else making a decision on how much money a player is going to make who's a significant part of this roster. So I think the draft is a real big point here, inflection point on Filip Hronik. And I think, I'm not sure where the talks stand right now, but I would imagine they're going to start picking up soon if they haven't already, and they want to have some real assurances by the draft. Now, they're not going to trade him for anything at the draft if they can't get a deal done, but I would say there's a really good chance he won't be here if they don't get something done by the draft.

Okay, the other guy I wanted to talk about was Elias Lindholm, and to be honest with you, I hadn't thought of this until I heard it. Could part of the discussion with the Canucks be, obviously a lot of it's going to be about term and money, but could part of it be role and whether or not Elias Lindholm wants to be the third line center? Yeah, I think the third line center thing is not as important as who is he playing with. I think what he's trying to recapture from what I've heard is, can he have line mates like he had that year with Goudreau and Kachuk? And now it's not about having both those guys with him,

but I think he envisions himself as a top-line center. And top-line centers, they have a pretty nice running mate next to them. And if he's coming to Vancouver, that means, well, Besser's going to be playing with JT as long as he's here, most likely. And if the Canucks are adding a big-time winger, guess who he's playing with? Elias Patterson. So that leaves guys like Conor Garland.

It leaves guys of a lesser ilk in terms of top six scores, high-end players playing with them. And hey, listen, it's not a bad lot in life if you make $7 million or whatever and that's how you play. But let's say you have a chance to go to Boston and play with Pasternak. Would you rather play with Pasternak or play with Conor Garland in the next three years? Yeah.

Don't make me say anything bad about Conor Garland. No, I'm just saying. I'm not even trying to i'm just saying like you know that i think he envisions himself as being a top line player and top line players of top line line mates um another thing i wanted to talk about is jake genzel first question does he want to play in canada what have you heard about that and the second question would be be, if they sign Jake Gensel, and I like Jake Gensel a lot as a player, but he's not a big dude. And there are guys like Elias Lindholm and Dakota Joshua who they might lose in free agency. All of a sudden, do you wonder about the size and the strength and just the general makeup of the Canucks forward group? So I'm really big on Jake Gensel, and he doesn't fit the profile of the size stuff, obviously.

He's not the biggest player, but he plays inside the dots, and he's a good forward checker, and he's shown he can score in the postseason. So I have no concerns about him fitting in and being an effective player. But of course, you like to still add players that have more size. What I heard around the trade deadline, and this is something that I know Dahlia Walls mentioned, I know others have heard as well, of the teams that were after him at the trade deadline, his preference, or at least one of the preferences, was Vancouver. I think he would have preferred Vancouver over a few destinations,

perhaps even the one he ended up in, in Carolina. Not to say that he hated it there, but I think out of the places he could have gone, I think Vancouver was very high on the list. Now, coming somewhere as a rental is different than coming somewhere and signing a seven-year deal and committing the rest of your career essentially to. And that's where nobody really knows exactly what he wants to do. Now, I'm not a Gensel insider. I don't know where Gensel's head's at.

All I've heard all along has been, if Gensel's available, the Canucks will be in on it, and Gensel's camp will be receptive. Now, I'm not saying the Canucks are going to be frontrunners to get Jake Gensel, but I do think they're going to be really in on that, especially if they don't get Lindholm done come July 1st. And I still think you can address your size in different ways, but I find if you find a player like Jake Gensel, and we saw Nils Hoeglander play alongside Elias Pettersson

down a stretch of the season and even in the postseason, and Gensel's bigger than Hoaglander and more effective than Hoaglander. So if he can play there alongside of him and Ilya Mikheyev, I think Gensel shouldn't really be any – I don't have any concerns about Gensel's size, but you're right. If you sign Gensel, you don't bring Dakota Joshua back, I do expect that they would sign a bigger forward or two to try to build into being that physical presence.

I haven't spoken about Petey for a couple weeks. I've taken a little vacation, so I'm going to bring it back. Is all this discussion moot if Petey doesn't come back and be the player that the Canucks signed him to be? In many ways, yeah. I mean, it's kind of like it all comes down to Elias Pettersson. We had this conversation, I think it was last year, about JT Miller. It was like, well, if JT Miller doesn't find his game, it doesn't matter. What are we talking about in terms of where this team is headed towards? And I think very similarly here with Elias Pettersson.

And I think all of us are wondering, what exactly went wrong this year? And we hear the injury stuff, but is that really the reason? What else was going on? The coach spoke about they need him and others to take their training to the next level. Is next year not going to be a year where we learn a lot about where things stand with this player? I would still believe, given the level of talent that's there, given the fact that this team committed this massive contract to him, which I don't think they would have done if they had some real overarching concerns about where he's going to be at and how driven he's going to be to earn that money.

So I'm still betting that he's going to be fine. But you're right. If Elias Patterson next year shows up and this is what we're going to get, that changes the entire complexion of where this team is going the next four or five years. We're speaking to Satyar Shah here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. A guy that hasn't got a ton of ink spilled about him or talk on this show, or maybe a lot of him is Teddy Bluger, although he did play a pretty versatile and valuable role for the team at times.

Is he going to be one of those guys that is going to have to wait and see what happens with the rest of the higher profile players? Or do you think the Canucks might try and make a move, dare I say, with term, because we all know the history of giving fourth-line guys term around here. But I was reading Thomas Drance's piece in The Athletic recently, and he said that while handing out real-term-to-depth players is a dangerous game, the Canucks might be able to extend

Bluegird a relatively low cap hit over maybe a two- to three-year window. Do you think that's something feasible? Do you think he might be playing hockey elsewhere next season? I think that's feasible. And I think especially if you're not bringing Lindholm back, but you want to add another center, you start looking at the center market and free agency, and it's not really robust. And I'm not sure where things are going to be at in terms of going after a Stevenson type.

Then you're looking at, okay, Sean Monaghan, who's probably not going to be cheap based on the year that he had. And then it's guys like Wenberg, Bluger, Carrick, Stenland, Boyes, Roslovich, Lorenz. I mean, that's kind of the elk of centers that are available. And to me, if you're not bringing Lindholm back, I'd rather bring Bluger and not overspend on a Monaghan and not overspend on a Chandler Stevenson and try to recreate some of that magic with Bluger and Garland.

And we'll see who the third guy is going to be on that line, if it's Joshua or not. But I do think Bluger is a player that this front office likes a lot. The reason they haven't signed him nor a player like Tyler Myers is because I think they're still trying to figure out where's the big money being spent. And before they figure that out, I don't think they want to spend a dollar on somebody else until they have more clarity on who the big piece is going to be. But I'd imagine there's a really good chance we see Bluger come back, especially if Lindholm doesn't come back. And to me, it makes sense.

If you're getting him around $2 million or so for two or three years, I think you get some stability down the center position. And he's one of those guys that, hey, if you find an upgrade down the line, he can easily be your fourth line center. Yeah, do you see or envision a world or a scenario where this management group is comfortable going into next season with Bluger as a 4C and Suter as a 3C? I think going into the season is one thing, going into the playoffs is another. And I'd say if they go into the season with that,

that's a spot that they would be looking to upgrade unless Suter just shows he has incredible chemistry or is playing incredible down the middle and they feel like they have their answer. But I'd say based on the profile of players they've gone after so far and based on the fact they want to be a three-line team that pushes and having three centers that can really handle themselves in critical situations, I'd say if that's how they go into next season,

we'd hear a lot about third-line center guys they'd be interested in throughout the year trade-wise. Because I think it's important to note that this management group was literally the only one in the nhl making trades from september to november last year like if you remember the construction of the 2023 2024 vancouver canucks a lot of it happened in the preseason in the early stages of the regular season when the nhl felt like it was in a trade freeze. So there is something to be said for maybe not necessarily doing all your work early July. This management group did show an ability to do things like the Souter deal happened mid-August,

and then they did a lot of work, including that Pearson trade where they picked up the Smith in September, right when the preseason had begun. The only thing that's going to be harder for them next year is they're still draft pick deficient over the next few years here. Do they have the same ammo to go and trade a third round pick to get Isidoro out, trade an extra fifth, trade a third to go and get DeSmith and move Pearson's contract out, trade a fifth to go and get Lafferty? I think that's the question I

have is if you're looking to do the same thing next year, can you do those, make similar moves without trading draft picks? Or do you have to find a way to recoup some picks some way or another this offseason to have that ammo coming up next year? Because they spent a lot of their draft capital, and I know they have some decent prospects. I'm just not sure their prospects have enough value for them to go out and add as a door of, say, in early parts of the season. So that's kind of my question is, do they have enough ammunition to take the same approach as it did last year in terms of trying to acquire those players? If they strike out on Jake Gensel,

you've talked about the Canucks trying to get a big name player in. What are some other names that we can bandy about here? I feel like we spent a lot of time on jake gensel right well i think i think it's one of those things where the free agent market there's only a couple of guys that kind of fit what they're looking for on the higher end and if you can't get a you know gensel type and i don't think reinhardt's getting there right and lindholm we know we're seeing where things go there i don't think they're going to force going after a higher end player i think they would be comfortable trying to go after toffoli type. We mentioned guys like Zucker before, maybe even Victor Arbitzen. I don't think they're committed to finding long-term solutions. I think

they would love to find long-term solutions, but I do think they have pivot points where they look at it and say, okay, well, if we can't do these things, what's our next best thing? Can we sign a couple of guys to one-year deals or two-year deals and kind of somewhat recreate the same free agent approach it took last year? We'd sign guys to short-term deals and just try to kick that can down the road a little bit. I can see that happening because there are enough players who fit that. Okay, a little bit older forwards, like even a David Perron type, would he sign a one-year deal? Can he play somewhere in your top six and give you something for a year or so? I think those are points that can happen. And the thing to keep an eye on, guys, is RFAs.

And I know that the obvious player people point towards in New York because their cap situation is messed up is Copacabra because he can't really be re-signed. Could he be a guy that they go after? They've shown that they've been interested in those RFA types that can take a step perhaps or haven't really found their game yet or teams that are reluctant to pay those guys or can't pay them. Now, I'm not saying they're interested in Kako,

but I'm saying a player like that whose ELC is running out, who's kind of in between getting a contract, there's a bunch of guys like that around. There's guys in New Jersey like Dawson Mercer, for instance. What does his future hold? I think those types of players could be guys that Canucks are circling around to see if they can nab a younger player who a team is reluctant to pay right now.

Sat, this was awesome, man. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the day. Have a good show. We'll do this again soon as we get closer and closer to the draft and then July 1. Thanks, boys. Anytime and bring glow sticks next time. Will do. Every Wednesday. It's glow stick Wednesday now. Thanks, Sat.

Satyar Shah. Sportsnet 650's very own here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. So this is going around Twitter right now. The Minnesota Wild will be switching

to the old North Stars colors for the 2025-26 season as part of a rebrand and that's via aesthetics. Those jerseys that they did with the Minnesota Wild logo, with the Minnesota North Stars colors are the best

new jerseys that have come out, I'd say, in the last 15-20 years. I quite enjoy them. They're unbelievable. I enjoy how all the teams just end up going back to the old stuff. How many teams have gone back to, like I think about Washington. Do you remember some of the jerseys that Washington had? Horrible.

Buffalo. The Slugs. Although it's making a comeback. The Go-Head. I did kind of appreciate the Slugs. Well, the Oilers did it too. Yeah, with the gear. This sounds awful because I should know this.

Like what jerseys do the Jets wear on a regular basis? Because I think they should go back to their old logo if they haven't done it already. They haven't done the 90s. It's classic. This sounds awful because I should know this. What jerseys do the Jets wear on a regular basis? Because I think they should go back to their old logo if they haven't done it already. They haven't done the 90s? Like the Heritage Classic. Well, they had them for the Heritage Classic. Remember the old Jets logo? I can't stand their jerseys.

They're so boring. Yeah. I think they're, if not for the Anaheim Ducks, I think they're the worst jerseys out there. Man, I went to- The Ducks need a rebrand too. We went down, I was in Anaheim last spring break and we went to the ducks need a rebrand too we went down i was in anaheim last spring break and we went to the ducks store because they were still playing but they weren't

in town the ducks team store had some of the worst gear yeah they're terrible that's just ugly branding like there's no other way to put it there's something kind of nostalgic and kitschy about the mighty duck stuff but the color scheme is awful it's green and purple and it's not it's better than what they've got right now i i don't understand why anyone would actively seek out ducks here unless you were a diehard ducks fan because it doesn't look good yeah the colors stink the logo logo sucks they're such an irrelevant franchise right now and the the colors and the logo and the scheme ain't helping at all. They try to keep forcing orange in there because it's Orange County,

but it's like, we get it. It's ugly on your jerseys. Don't put it in there. Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650 coming up. It is what we learn time. It's your chance to be on the radio. Some of you have done a good job trying to submit content for free to our show.

Some of you have not. I will make the call again. The hashtag is WWL. The premise is what did you learn over the last 24 hours in sports? Now, we know that it was a slow night in the world of sports yesterday. There wasn't a lot going on. That doesn't mean that you didn't learn anything, though. So hashtag it WWL.

The Dunbar-Lumber text line is 650-650. We'll do ours on the other side of the break, and then you will do yours. It's this thing that we do on the Halford & Brough Show. It's always quite fun. If you want to weigh in on Canucks unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents, anything there, you can do that. If you want to get in on the looming Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final,

in case you missed it earlier, no for leon dry sidle and there was an update from practice today in florida that alexander barkov was out there they were giving you know george richards who we've had on the show before a long time florida panthers beat writer giving minute by minute updates of everything that alexander barkov at practice today. There's like, he's on the ice. He's wearing a regular visor. That's important. He's taking a sip of water. That's also important.

The Panthers are flying to Edmonton today. I guess, you know, you don't blame them. They're going to stay in Florida for as long as they possibly can. I might've considered flying the day of. The morning of. Just a little time in Edmonton. Just getting it out as possible. A land in Edmonton, like 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

Okay, let's go. And then fly somewhere else between games 3 and 4. Oh, for sure. A little bamf. Yeah, anywhere. We got a plane. Where can we go that's not Edmonton? So if you want to weigh in on any of this stuff,

again, Dunbar-Lemmer text line is 650-650. What we learned on the other side, you're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet. 650. He was doing Dan Early's wife. What? So there was a couple news stories that broke during the show that we haven't got to yet one of them is that uh cavin biggio is no longer a member of the toronto blue jays he has been traded to the los angeles dodgers uh in exchange for a right-handed

reliever named brayden fisher who has spent the majority of the year in the minors. We have a trade to announce. The minors is where Kevin Biggio actually currently was because he had been DFA'd by the Jays. Now, the only reason I'm bringing this up is because I remember that Kevin Biggio was at one time part of the core three that included Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. As a matter of fact, when Biggio first came out.

My three sons of Major League Baseball players. That's right. That was the thing, right? They were all second generation MLB players. He's been replaced by another player that had a dad in the MLB. That's Dalton Barshow. That's correct. So they didn't need him anymore.

They still have three. So I do remember. Guys, do you ever think that genetics plays a big part in sports? How many Nepo babies can we have on one team? Is it a good thing? Maybe that's the reason... It's not nepotism, though. Oh, it's nepotism.

It's the only reason I didn't make it. Yeah, that's right. Nepotism. So I remember when he came out, he had like 16 home runs and 100 at-bats in his first. I thought he was going to be a legit player, but he wasn't very good at the plate after that first i think he was probably the least exciting of the three coming up right that's kind of what i wanted to ask you because i i you know i'm reading the article from jeff passan on espn who i trust is a baseball

you know insider and very knowledgeable and he framed this as being a guy that went and point was supposed to be part of the core and I was like, yeah, maybe but I felt like it was more because his last name was Biggio than anything else. Is that fair? Yeah, he also called him a utility man in the same breath. Super utility man. Well, he doesn't play shortstop so I wouldn't go with a super utility man.

He does play everywhere though. He plays pretty much everywhere else. Yeah, he can catch. He's good around the house too. He'll pitch. He'll wash your car, mow your lawn. You're not going to's the top flight player of the team most of the time if your main role is utility man that's just the way it works but talk about going from the outhouse to the penthouse he's going to get a ring now

yeah and you get to hang out with Shohei Otani what could have been right because he was going to be a Blue Jay right that's what the trade should have been yeah right are we getting enough in return for Shohei Otani? Anyway, moot cow all that.

Bruff failed us miserably. He's so concerned about the listeners. Like, they're the quote-unquote lifeblood of this. Anyway, what do we have this experimental while we learn? Yeah, I'm going to send you something to our group chat, Michael, and I'm assuming you haven't read this yet, and I want you to read it right away. It's NBA related. Okay. I'm going to send you something to our group chat, Michael. And I'm assuming you haven't read this yet. And I want you to read it right away.

It's NBA related. Okay. I want you to read this tweet that I'm sending to our group chat word for word. Okay. Celtics Kristaps Porzingis suffered a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon. Tibialis. Damn it. I was close.

Wow, that was pretty good though. Thanks. That was better than I thought it would go. Did you get retinaculum right? See, here's the thing. The nice dynamic about the show is that the dogs were like, hey, Halford, you did a good job. And then Brough was like, you said it wrong, you jerk. Well, you did celtics christaps

prasingas suffered a torn medial retina caciculum along dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon i don't know what parts of the body these are i don't even know where to begin honestly do you does anybody's got a tendon in there so it's like bruce cockburn bruce cockburn suffered retina cacicula he's like for some reasonburn bruce cockburn suffered rotenica kikulakumum he's like for some reason every time he pronounces a body part the word anal is in there i don't know why favorite body uh i think it's an ankle injury okay so it's like yours no you should know these terms you just went through what porzingis is going through um i actually don't know i saw this tweet making the rounds and some people were poking fun because

they were, he obviously just cut and pasted the very specific medical diagnosis that was given without, in layman's terms, it's an ankle injury. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.