Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 6/23/25

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports, plus they preview Game 6 of the Calder Cup finals with Abbotsford Canucks commentator Brandon Astle. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na It's what Bumbles gets it fires a 30 foot rainbow at the shot clock. Buzzerie hits it! The Thunder have taken the NBA by storm for the first time. The NBA champion resides in Oklahoma City. Cal swinging a drive deep into right center field and Crow Armstrong going back looking up and goodbye baseball. He keeps doing it. Cal Raleigh with another home run. Good morning, Vancouver.

Six o'clock on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. This is Hal for today's NBA. He keeps doing it! Cal Raleigh with another home run! Good morning Vancouver! 6 o'clock on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. It is Halford and his brother at Sportsnet 650. We are coming live from the Kintec studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey, Don, good morning to you. Good morning. And Lydie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and brother the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates and he never sent the read so I don't have the copy in front of me. We are in our one of the program. To you as well hello hello halvin brub in the morning is brought to you by sands and associates and he never sent the read So I don't have the copy in front of me. We are in our one of the program

Our one of this program 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 1170 Powell Street in bank you don't have it memorized by now. No Just make it up on like Yeah, just make it up No one knows. Sans and associates They stop foot pain. No, that's not it. Do you want me to do mine first? Yes, please I'll do it really slow so A-Dog can do it as slow as you want that email ain't coming brother All right

We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step Guess what didn't show up during your read about Kintec the email. Yeah, that's right. Okay. Well, let's just talk about the guests We got we have a big show ahead on a Monday guest list today begins at 7 o'clock So first hour is entirely uninterrupted Helford and brough Chris Peters. It's gonna join the program at 7 a.m NHL draft and prospects analyst for flow hockey flow hockey Greg the NHL draft is this Friday 27th we figured since it's the week of the draft we should figure out who some of the players are that are gonna get drafted We'll do that this morning with Chris. We'll also talk to him about the Calder Cup final Which he's covering as well for flow hockey

So Chris Peters on the NHL draft and the American League Finals, how many prospects could you name? Oh? Boy, I can do Schaefer Schaefer Hagen Mesa Mesa Mesa Smith Gavin Jones Gavin McKenna. He's next year. Oh gosh, right over again Josh Ravensburg in Oh God, he's some goalie Ravensburg in he's one of the top goalies His middle name is also Prince George. Is that a publisher of children's books? He's one of the top goalies. His middle name is also Prince George. Isn't that a publisher of children's books? Ravensberger?

I think it is. Look it up. We'll check it out. Chris Peters. Ravensberger. Yeah, maybe. 730 Peter Ball. Peter Ball from the Athletic is going to join the program.

New York hockey writer. So last week he had an explosive tell all piece inside the New York Rangers. 24, 25 descent from playoffs to selloffs, no one here is happy. So already this off season, the Rangers have gotten rid of Peter LaViolante, got rid of Chris Crider. We're gonna take a deeper look at how bad things got for the Rangers.

What does Chris Drury have next in store for his team? We'll talk to Peter Baw about that at 7.30. Eight o'clock, it's Brandon Astle, play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks. The Abbotsford Canucks were just one shot away, a single solitary shot away from winning the Calder Cup on home ice this weekend. But last they did not. They're now playing in game six of the series back in Charlotte tonight.

Brandon will be on the call at four o'clock. A reminder, you can get all your coverage pre post and the actual game right here on Sportsnet 650 It'll begin with satin Dan and connect central at 3 o'clock puck drop is at 4 and then we have a Abbotsford Canucks postgame show After the game, maybe it will be a Calder Cup Championship postgame show. Who knows another friendly reminder, by the way I have a question Have you bought your tickets for the Sportsnet 650 Jays Care 50 50 for Challenger Baseball yet? Jason, you could ask that question of me because I now have to purchase one hundred dollars worth of 50 50 tickets after the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals yesterday.

Go to JaysCareGolf.RaffleNexus.com right now. Buy your tickets, support Challenger Baseball, be a good person, you'll also have the chance to win some money. JayscaregolfatRaffleNexus.com. That is your link for the 50-50 to the Sportsnet 650 Jayscare 50-50 for Challenger Baseball. Okay, working in reverse on the guest list. eight o'clock it's Brandon Astle, 7.30 Peter Baw, seven o'clock Chris Peters. That's what's happening on the program today. 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 messy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety

Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. We are indeed in hour one of the program, by the way. Hour one is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for net help. With over 3,000 five star reviews, visit them online at sans dash trust. Thank you. Not for pain. Thank you. We'll give them a little extra love right now. Sands and associates. They're very good. We turn

our attention first to the Abbotsford Canucks. It was oh so close on Saturday evening out of the Abbotsford Center in front of nearly 7,500 fans in attendance, but it was Jesse Puglia. Yardley. Remember him? He scored 1522 into the first overtime as the Charlotte checkers spoiled the party, beating Abbotsford four, three in game five of the Calder Cup final on Saturday evening. Let's hear the call of this truly bizarre goal that led to the Charlotte Checkers win. Here's Yesi Pulyarvy from behind the goal line, winning it for the Charlotte Checkers. Sort of for the chance. It's wrist shot blocked.

Looks like Mueller got in the way. Now Kirsten, the defenseman's in deep. One hands up behind that for Pulyarvy. Looking in front, they score. It goes off of Kanuk, body it in. It'll be Pulyarvy's goal. And this series will continue as the Checkers win it four, three in overtime. So it actually went off to Canuck defenseman. And I put this question to you guys. Was that hockey's version of the double doink? Technically off a center and then a defenseman

because Ty Mueller was doing good work in the zone. Okay. So I went off Ty Mueller, then off Guillaume Brizbois, but still you have a joint It was about as double don't kiss as it gets apparently and I only the only thing we didn't get was that classic Double doing sound it would have been like Don't doink instead. We just got the sadness and Brandon Astle's voice now. I have a clip to edit Yeah, you should put that together. I'm very nervous now. Apparently Pully RV scored a really weird goal to advance them to the

Calder Cup final as well in the sweep that they had in the Eastern final. But nothing as weird as that one. That's really disappointing. Yep. Terrible way to lose it. With, I mean, very Canuck, but with a chance to win the Calder Cup on home ice, the last chance to win the Calder Cup on home ice for a goal like that to go in, really, really disappointing.

It's not like Charlotte was totally undeserving of the win or anything like that. Yet again, outshot Abbotsford. Yeah, but you know, I mean, this series definitely isn't over now. I know Abbotsford has two chances to go down to Charlotte and win a game, just one game, just one. Just one.

Just one. And Sealoft could go down there and steal one again or the Abbotsford team could just come together and have a good performance. But Charlotte played really well down there. And I think they probably came into this series as the favorites and you get one double-doink goal. Man, I just hope that isn't the turning point in the series. So it was Linus Carlson, the playoff hero.

Boy, my boy, my boy played well. Two goals for him. Archdy Baines, yet another goal. So he's really heated up in the second half of these Calder Cup playoffs. Artur Seeloff's 36 saves. So another really good performance for him. Yeah, they were outshot not by a massive margin, only outshot by eight, I think, at the end of the end of the game, but see, loves was busy yet again. Uh, another,

again, as you mentioned it unfortunate for all of the fans at the Abbotsford center because they tied the record for most attended AHL game in franchise history, 7,470. It would have been fantastic to see them go out and win that thing on home ice. But as you mentioned game six and seven are now back at Bojangles in Charlotte. Again, the game goes tonight. A reminder, you can hear everything you need to hear as it pertains to this Abbotsford Canucks team right here on Sportsnet 650.

Sat and Dan have Canucks Central, which will sort of act as the pregame show from three to four. Puck Drop is at four o'clock. And then there'll be a postgame show as well. Again, if the Canucks are able to hoist the Calder Cup tonight, we will have it all, including the celebrations and everything, right here on Sportsnet 650.

There was a there was an NBA title handed out last night, Jason. What a wild day in the National Basketball Association. Fittingly, the best team all season was the best team in the end. As the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 103 to 91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night, the coronation is complete for Shade Gilgis Alexander and his teammates. There's a lot to unpack from this game, but I think we do need to start with the biggest story of them all. And that was SGA capping off what's been a remarkable, remarkable season for the good Canadian kid, Laddie's former high school teammate.

Yeah. Yeah. Like I mean, there were so many stories from the NBA. Halliburton's injury was just tragic for the Indiana Pacers and him. And speaking of guys that have suffered injuries in the NBA finals, Kevin Durant was traded yesterday.

But yeah, the story for us should be and is SGA completing one of, well, definitely the greatest NBA season of any Canadian and up there with the greatest NBA season for any NBA player. Regardless of nationality. I mean, like, what were all the accolades? So he was the NBA Finals, NBA. I'll go through it right now. Go through it all. Because this is a Canadian kid. He's the first player in NBA history to win the regular season MVP, the Conference Finals

MVP, the Finals MVP, all in the same season. Now that comes with an asterisk because the Conference Finals MVP is a relatively new award. Still, he also became the first player since 2013, back when LeBron James did it 13 years ago, 12 years ago, sorry, to win the regular season and finals MVP in the same year. It's incredible. He's doing things that only the greats in the game have done. And the thing with Oklahoma City, as much as this former Sonics fan hates it, they got a lot of run runway to keep going with this.

Average age under 26. Shag Gildes Alexander, of course, himself is 26. If you want to put him within the pantheons of the true greats and eliminate that conference finals MVP, there are just four players in NBA history to win league MVP, playoffs MVP, and the scoring title in the single single season. Those three previous SGA are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O'Neal. So in this singular season,

he is in the Pantheon of the greats. There's no question about it. The scoring, the statistics are there. The accolades are there. The individual trophies and the team trophies, it's all there. You know, basketball Phil, he barked at me on Twitter last night and asked if I was ready to concede the title

of the greatest Canadian basketball player of all time. And this comes from, for those that don't know, me, my favorite athlete of all time, regardless of sport, is Steve Nash. He's he's he's like I know we're close in age, but he is my hero when it comes to athletics. I will gladly and happily, to a certain degree, acknowledge that Shea Gilder's Alexander has surpassed him as the greatest

Canadian basketball player of all time. What he did this year, I think probably because it's still fresh and it just happened, we're not going to be able to put it into the proper context. It's a remarkable, remarkable season. I know the Thunder have a good team. I know that they're well coached and I know that it's a different NBA than those previous eras, you know, with where you all you had sort of the face of the league and the dominant team. And it's not really like that anymore

You're getting a different title winner every year But take that away to be able to do what he did in a single year is truly truly special We may not see it again for an awfully long time because of the parody that's kind of come on It feels like there's different winners of different awards and different teams that have their moment But to do that in one calendar year. And here's something, a takeaway that I wanted to play for you, Jason. After the game, Jalen Williams was at the podium

on ESPN with Scott Van Pelt. And he had a very, very compelling bit of audio here talking about the camaraderie and the culture that the friends on that team built and how tight they were as a group. And I thought it was interesting in light of everything that happened with the Canucks last year. And we're going to be talking about how dysfunctional the New York Rangers were

today. We'll play the question as well from Scott van Pelt. Here's newly minted NBA champ, Jaylen Williams on the camaraderie and the brotherhood of the Oklahoma City Thunder. You've been incredibly, I think, humble. 40 piece like you could have been something else. What what has been most satisfying that you gave this team along the way that when you look back on it, when you're old and washed like me, you know,

I did that. Is there is there one thing that you'll take great satisfaction in from this run? Nothing's more precious than time, I think. And I think when... That's so true, man. Just giving the team my time and them giving me theirs. We've had team dinners after we've lost. We've had playing don't take off till 4am and we sit on the runway. Like all those like cool times where we were present with each other and like had fun,

played bourree on the plane, uno, listening to music together, like all that stuff, I'm happy that I did that with this team, I think that's why we were so good. Like all the off the court stuff is stuff that I remember and when it comes to like time, it's like, yeah, just spending extra hours with each other. Like me and Chet used to like go in the hotel and like watch film on like our pick and rolls

when he was coming back. Like that's the stuff I remember from this run more than like, I can't even remember what happened our last series. So it's like, those are always moments that stick out to me. Well you shared your time with me throughout this and for that I'm grateful. I enjoyed a chance to get to know you a little bit and I look forward to doing it again somewhere down the road. Yes, I appreciate it. Thank you very much. I did mention this too in the wake of the Florida Panthers having their

Stanley cup celebration and mentioning about 9000 times what all the team dinners that they had and how they've never felt like they went out for a dinner unless there was 40 guys in tow. What did you think of some of the things that they said there? Let's call it just their unapologetic Stanley Cup parade. I saw I saw some all time. Salty takes on social media. Were some of them out of Edmonton? Yeah. And just like how they were classless and no man,

that's, that's just a team that's, that's enjoying its time and has heard the critiques of the team. And you know, I I know there were some, was it Sam Bennett who said for those people that think we're a dirty team. You did the Conor McGregor. I apologized absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So what I always come back to is hockey can be a dirty sport. Do you want to have the team that shies away from that stuff and really isn't able to participate in the knife fights or do you want the guys that are able to participate in that stuff if it's needed? I'm glad they were totally unapologetic about what they did and the way that they did it. Yeah.

And people that have criticized Florida's market or just whined about the tax situation, like they will have to, like this is how I feel. At the beginning of the season, you re-humble yourself. You go like, hey guys, that was last year. This is this year. We need to do it all again. Sure. There's no shortcuts. Um, and this comes from watching a team that its own management and coaching staff said, I don't think we were humble enough, the Canucks

in this pre-season and training camp because we thought we had accomplished something last season. Maybe we thought we had arrived as a team in the NHL and, you know, we hadn't clearly, but I think when you win the Stanley Cup, you are allowed, you don't have to, but you are allowed to have a message for all your critics.

Yeah, I don't, I get why people might've thought it was over the top with a lot of boos, a lot of swearing. So I lot of swearing so I guess it was over the top. It was a Stanley Cup parade Yeah, but I'm talking about the entirety of it the social media posts the tolling of I mean they look Marsha thanking every team that they're going out of their way to troll every other team along the way, but I don't think that there should be any pushback or any hand wringing about this in a serious sense. We work in a league, we work adjacent to a league

where the hatred and the feuds and the blood lust has been washed out of the game. The NHL can be really sanitized compared to what it used to be. Yeah. I mean, for years now, you bemoaned the lack of rivalries and you've asked openly, what's the best rivalry in hockey right now?

And we're often left scratching our heads. Well, scratch Panthers, Oilers right now. Right, and we're often left scratching our heads or talking ourselves into a rivalry that's not really there. So then you get this Florida team that's big and loud and brash and is gonna rub it in the face of the rest of the teams after they beat them.

It's great. It's great, you know what? And if they fall short and lose and get their comeuppance from a team that was fueled by all of that bravado, that's even better because that's where the narratives and that's where the real intrigue comes in, right? I don't love that a lot of the guys in the NHL grew up playing a bunch of hockey together Along the way and when they get to the NHL they see each other and they're all buddies because they did summer skates and Etobicoke Or wherever I got a Etobicoke. I know

Yeah, it actually it actually says in the NHL rulebook that if you beat the Oilers twice in a row in the finals You're allowed to do whatever you want. Yeah. No, I know I know what you mean though It's like it's like it's like oh we played on the little in the Little Caesars program together or whatever We were teammates in the brick tournament Like I don't care You know what you get to the biggest level the highest level the biggest level the best level you want to see some animosity And you want to see some hate? You should be a hater. You're expected to be a hater. The Florida Panthers are good for the league. Yeah.

Totally. They are good for the league because guess what? Next year, some team might beat them, you know? And then, and then you get to see the thing is when you act like the Florida Panthers, you put an even bigger target on yourself. And some people might say, well, there's no bigger target than the Stanley Cup champs, but I think there is.

I think when there's a team that celebrates like this, it's going to mean even more to the team that beats them. And let's remember. There's always a downfall. If the Canucks ever win the cup, I hope they celebrate like this. I saw, I look forward to the hating.

Let us remember, just to put this into context Is that this does happen? Every year it just sometimes it feels fresh because we have the attention span of like gerbils right like I people seem to forget The outrage and the purse clutching when Nikita Kucherov was walking around half-cut Wearing a t-shirt that said 19 million over the cap. Right? Yeah, yeah. People were furious or whatever much they were over the cap.

I think a lot of it is Oilers fans are just extra sensitive on social media right now because they were embarrassed twice. Two losses in a row. Two losses in a row. And they obviously have a lot of media as well that get on that bandwagon too and you just you're seeing that right now happen in real time. Well Aaron from Coquitlam is texting in. Aaron is a Leafs fan.

He said, spoken like a true good NHL supporting Sportsnet employee, classless trash organization. I hope he's talking about the Panthers there. The fix is already in for next year. Betman's NHL at its finest, worst playoff ratings of all time for a reason. Come on, Aaron. Aaron makes a lot of good points there. He makes no good points there.

The ratings reason was because they were on TNT, but it's also a team from Florida and a team from Edmonton. Did anyone think that those were terrible Stanley Cup finals? No. I mean, they didn't end as well as they started. The back half of the Stanley Cup final was disappointing, but that was because of how good the first half of the Stanley Cup final was. Games one and games two set the stage and it set the bar really.

The first four, I think, were terrific. The first four games? Yeah. Game three was lousy. That was the sixth one. Four was terrific. Yeah, four was good. Four was terrific. Honestly, you know what?

I was going over the notes last night. Three of the six games were great. And then three of the six were really just too one sided to be compelling. But over the course of two Stanley Cup finals, Edmonton and Florida did a lot. They did a lot for the league, Aaron. One, they developed a legitimate rivalry. Two, they delivered more storylines and narratives than we could even possibly think of.

And three, it's created a really interesting subplot for McDavid now moving forward because in the wake of consecutive Stanley Cup finals losses and reaching the first big, I would say this is the first big pivot point of his career, potentially. That has a lot to do with the Florida Panthers did to him, because now the conversation really becomes is Cod McDavid going to lay down roots in Edmonton and make this the place where he tries to get over the mountain or consensus

right now is that he's going to sign a short term deal. Right. That's what all the experts seem to be saying. So that makes sense, because if I was him, I'd want another shot or two with this current group. I agree. But I'd be very hesitant to sign on long-term because I think once guys like Nuge, Hyman, guys like that age out and they're a couple of years away from that, then this team, this oilers team is going to have a lot of trouble

replacing those guys. You can't just do it with cap space. You're going to need prospects and the others don't have many. So if I was him, I'd be like, yeah, okay, I'll sign on for a little bit, but I'm not making a long-term commitment to the NHL's oldest team without a very good prospect group because yeah, Dry Cytl is there and I love

Dry Cytl as a running mate, but I'm Connor McDavid. I'm pretty good. I can find another running mate if I need to. And what's proven now to Connor McDavid is that, yeah, you need star power, but unless you have the depth to go with that star power, then it's really tough to win a Stanley Cup. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. ["Halford and Brough"]

Right circle, backhand's under front stick, save, rebound clear to Carlson, and he'll skate to center. Could be another odd man rush as Wheeler's going to the net. Here's Carlson, down the left wing, cuts to the middle, shoots, and he scores! ["Halford and Brough"] The Canucks have two four on four goals and they got their first lead at game five. Okay this song, this is Huey Lewis and the News, Doing It All For My Baby. I can hear it.

Do you know the song? Doing it all for my baby. No, it's Back on Track is the title. Okay. Back on Track. By Louie Huey. And the booze. It's Louie Huey and the booze. You are only us and the booze.

You are listening to 80s Monday here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Haliford and Bruff of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. This is really close. BC's first and trusted choice for that help. With over 3,000 five-star reviews, visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour three of the program. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-Pound.com today. Do you think the people that are recording this are like, come on guys, this is Huey Lewis. I kind of hear full house like,

Everywhere you look. Yeah, a little bit of that. Everywhere. Either way. Huey Lewis is listening to this right full house, like, every way you look. Yeah, a little bit of that. Every way. Yeah. Either way. Huey Lewis is listening to this right now. He's like, is this me? But it won't get flagged. It could be. Should I sue someone? We're coming to you live from the Kintec studio.

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Okay, so a couple quick corrections here. Prior to going to break, I said it was 6.58 a.m. and of course it's 7.58 a.m. Shout out to JD and Coquitlam. Managed to text in right away. Nothing gets by him. Right away. You know that guy that sits there

and makes sure, points out every single one of your errors that's not named Jason Brough? His name is JD in Coquitlam. And he texts all the time. I'm surprised he hasn't texted in to point out that I've been calling it Bojangles Arena. Yeah, it's Coliseum.

It's Bojangles Coliseum. I let that one go earlier. It's Colisei, they call it in Charlotte. Angle's Coliseum. I let that one go earlier. It was Le Colisee as they call it in Charlotte. Let's go to the phone lines now. The play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks, Brandon Astle joins us now on the Halford and Breff Show

on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Brandon, how are you? What's up, boys? You know what, Halford? As I mentioned before, during this playoff run, I've had the Dumbar Lumber text line open during the broadcast. And I've made the Dumbar Lumber text line open during the broadcast. And I've made the mistake of not proofreading text before

and have been almost caught, I've almost been dollyballed a few times. So I now have no, learn my lesson. I, the Dumbar Lumber text inbox, you gotta proofread it. And I even had one guy texting later, he's like, I didn't think he'd actually read it. I'm like, I'm Ron Burgundy, man. Put it on the promp prompt or I'll read it.

Yeah, we get a lot of texts from Mike Roach on this show. We gotta be careful. You gotta be careful. He's a loyal listener of our broadcast too. Got a couple of buddies as well. When's the last time you've seen a cup final OT winner like the one Jesse Puglia-Yarvy scored on Saturday night? Never actually. What was the Oilers defense

when they went off the skate with a Steve Smith back in what, the 80s or? Yeah, that was kind of the last one that I've seen, but this one went off two skates, and kind of a one in a million type deal, and definitely was against the flow of play. And that's kind of the way playoff hockey goes sometimes and unfortunate for Abbotsford and very fortunate for Charlotte to

drag the Canucks back to Charlotte for a game. Hopefully not two, just one tonight. We'll see. Who would you say has the upper hand? Because on the one hand, Abisford only needs one win out of two games and Charlotte has to win both the games. But based on the way that Charlotte dominated in

the first two games of the series, C-Lob stole one of them. Charlotte seems to play pretty well at Bojangles Coliseum. That's right. I just stepped into a beautiful Bojangles. We got morning skate here in about 10 minutes. I would say that the Canucks like the spot they're in. If you ask Charlotte, they would want the Canucks spot that they're in. They're in the driver's seat. And the

Canucks now have some Intel. They played two games here in this series and know what to expect coming into this rink this time around. It's a very different building, as I'm sure you guys have heard. It's very old. The ice conditions aren't as great. Although right now I will say it feels a little cooler this time around. It seems like they got more AC units pulling in a joint. We actually had to come in through a different entrance. So that's the Rink staff has been working hard these last few days to try to keep the conditions cool. Obviously that will probably change when 8,000 people get in this building later on tonight. But yeah, the Canucks, I mean, going back to game five quickly brought up, as you guys know, like there's some planning that needs to go in

to if the Canucks win on home ice, right? And that can kind of be a distraction. And I'm not using that as an excuse. I think the players played a pretty good game but then again there's lots of family coming in everyone wants tickets that can just kind of be on your mind a little bit but they they kind of put that aside and put themselves in a great position to win game five with a better team in overtime but again they don't get the bounce to go their way and just speaking to some of the team and staff that loss has already been put behind them. There's no real time to dwell on it.

It's a quick turnaround. And just being here at the rink for the last few minutes, I can hear the boys just down below me, they're playing soccer, they're feeling pretty loose. And this is a team that has battled all year. They've been able to pick themselves up off the mat after tough losses and tonight's no different. Jason's sung the praises of Linus

Carlson all playoffs long, and it's been scoring with regularity is a big reason why. Then there's a guy like Archdeep Baines who threw the first half or maybe even more of this postseason run really struggled to find the back of the net. But he's been on

fire as of late. Has there been any significant difference in his game from the first half to the second half? Or is it just a matter of the pucks going in now? Whereas it wasn't before Yeah, that's exactly it. However, the pocket is just fine in the back of the net on a more consistent basis Like when he was going through a tough stretch of not scoring. He just wasn't getting the bounces. He was still getting opportunities

I would have been a lot more worried if he wasn't getting looks on net But he was and now the puck is It's finance weighted in that he's got seven goals over his last seven games and that's not even Uh, what he's he does the best out there. He's a playmaker that brings a lot of energy um, he's got a great work ethic and everything just kind of coming together now and uh, His line with carlson and saffson since being formed in game number three they've been a handful for the checkers to try to defend they got a great mix on that line you got Baines that does a bit of everything a great defensive

player with a great skill set can make plays he got Carlson who can muck and grind and get in on a poor check he's a handful in front of the net. Then he got Sassen who obviously has the great speed and playmaking. He's also come a long way with his defensive game as well. And both three are just clicking at the time they need it the most. I mean, 17 points for them combined over the last three games. And I bet you Charlotte is going to make it a priority to try to stop them tonight. They've been that good.

It's hard not to notice that the shot disparity has leaned in favor of Charlotte and a handful or a number of these games. Actually, I know the first two in Charlotte, it was pretty lopsided on the, the scoreboard. Is that something where Abbotsford is okay with that because they're comfortable playing in those games and keeping them tight and maybe the shots aren't necessarily like grade a high dangers or is that something that they needed to seriously fundamentally address that they can't be getting so roundly out shot? No, yeah, I remember Manny here

when the series started in Charlotte, he's asked after the game about it and he mentioned that Charlotte's a high volume team and they are, but give them credit, you gotta have the puck to get those types of shots on that, right? So I wouldn't say it's a huge concern for the team. If they wanna shoot up in the outside and she loves will be picking off box of

his glove and covering up they can let that happen all day they're just trying to limit the high danger opportunities and probably are more concerned about that the checkers for check which has been awesome this series like it has been all playoff for them they're a very aggressive bunch especially the defense and I'm sure you guys have heard that they play exactly like their NHL affiliate the Florida Panthers but at the same time the Canucks have been able to catch them with their aggressiveness in this series. Baines' breakaway goal in game five was able to catch the defense. Leckar Mackie's opening goal in game four a minute 15 seconds in. A

defensive was caught no man's land, it took advantage of it. So you're starting to see the Canucks trying to, or starting, not starting, they have started to figure out how the checkers want to play and how they can exploit it. And who knows, if they can catch them once or twice tonight, that could be the difference. Speaking of that aggression and physicality,

how's the officiating been in your estimation over the course of the series? Because it got off to a kind of infamous start with the overtime goal that was disallowed on the faceoff. And I'm curious how it's been since then, because it wasn't a great start for the Zebras in this series. Yeah, for the first two games, there was 20 power plays combined. But at the end of the day, boys, it's a developmental league for the officials as well they're gonna make their mistakes they're just

like these players they're learning they want to get up to the big leagues and stay there and so there's been ten officials selected to work to call the cup finals and they're all scheduled starts so it doesn't matter how they officiate the game before like you're already penciled in throughout this series and obviously there's been some calls that have been missed either way, that hockey just kind of kind of battle through it. And I think as we see the series go further and further like we did in game five, especially in the third period in overtime, there could have been some calls that could have been made for sure. But I guess the official decided to let the teams settle it themselves,

which we see in the NHL a lot in big games. The rest don't want to be the story. So we'll see tonight if the parade of the box continues, but I got a feeling that it's going to take a lot for these officials to make some calls here in game six. Okay. So the schedule to this afternoon and this evening on Sportsnet 650 Connect Central at three o'clock with sad and Dan, that's going to be the de facto pregame show. Puck Drop is at four.

You can hear Brandon Astle on the call right here on Sportsnet 650 for that. And then following the game, we've got an hour long Abbey Canucks post game show again. It's all right here on Sportsnet 650. Brandon, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Have a good call tonight and hopefully tonight will be the night that the Abbotsford Canucks win the Calder Cup. How about me defending the refs, eh boys?

Yeah, I was gonna say. I love it. Very, you know how to go into these games. Don't say anything inflammatory. Hey. Keep your head down and play the game. Maybe they're listening. I'm sure they're fans of the Alcoho show.

I gotta keep on a straight and narrow here. Thanks, Brandon. Appreciate it, bud. Good luck tonight. All right, boys. Take it easy. Yep. Brandon Astle, play-by-play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks here on the Haliford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. Okay. I want to dip right into what we learned. Just a reminder to get your what we learneds into the Dunbar Lumber Text Line at 650.

650, Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at DunbarLumber.com. Elliot Friedman just posted a quickie blog. Ooh. Up at Sportsnet.ca and I'll just read the first paragraph, according to multiple sources, the Anaheim Ducks are in significant discussions with multiple teams on a

Trevor Zegras trade and the likelihood is growing that the talented 24 year old forward could be traded this week. So this is a guy that a lot of people have wondered if the Canucks would be interested in as a young, very talented forward who has fallen on somewhat hard times in Anaheim. Um, you know, I think there was a lot of, there

was a lot of hype around Zygres early in his career. Again, he has a lot of talent. He's a flashy player, uh, kind of famous for scoring the Michigan and his career has since been, I wouldn't say derailed, but negatively affected by both injuries. He's had ankle injuries, all sorts of injuries

that have limited him, but also maybe a loss of confidence and a loss of momentum in his career as the team struggled. Straight up. Yeah. I don't think he was ever Verbeek's guy. When Verbeek came aboard, he was drafted by the previous regime, the Bob Murray regime.

He was taking the 2019 draft and Verbeek took over in 2022 and it's felt like ever since Verbeek arrived on the scene, he was like, that's not my kind of guy. And I think it's probably got to do with the fact that maybe the way Verbeek played or the style and the era that he came up in and the way that the teams that he won on. I do wonder if you look at a guy like Zegris and he's like, he's not a guy I think I can win with. Hey, Greg Cronin liked him.

He said he says he has some good things about him. Where's Greg Cronin now? Well, I know. Now he's the great. Cronin just got a He said he had some good things about him. Where's Greg Cronin now? Well, I know. Now he's the, Greg Cronin just got a new job, by the way. He's the new head coach of the Minnesota Wilds AHL affiliate. Well, clearly, I mean, if they're gonna trade Zegris, Verbeek doesn't love the player. Yeah.

And I think Anaheim wants to become just a bigger, tougher team. I just want to be a different team. Yeah, yeah. But look at the players they've brought in, right? I mean, the two from the Rangers, Intruba and Chris Kreider. Yeah. Radko Gudis is their captain. They probably look at the way that the Florida Panthers play and go,

yeah, I'd like to be more like them. And you just mentioned the type of player that Verbeek was. I'll be very curious to see if the Canucks are in on this. As much as I've kind of like, the way it plays out on this show is like, Adog's like, did you see the Michigan? That was so cool. And I'm like, Adog, you're adorable.

You're 11 years old, but Zegres, you know, he needs to become a more serious hockey player. I know. Right? No, I know, but- I know! But like, I think there's clearly talent there. Yeah. And you've acted like I would hate it

if the Canucks brought in a guy like Zygres. Well. I think that's the type of, I think that's the type of player they should be targeting though. I know. As long as they don't overpay. Would Adam Foot like a player like that?

So the interesting thing- He'll like a guy that if he scores goals, if he creates like the one thing that- Does he play well defensively though? I don't know. Probably not. But that's what I'm saying. Probably not. But the one thing, but Adam Foote also played on a team with some really good offensive

players. Adam Foote knows that you need to score goals. Rick Tauke knew it too. to score goals. Rick Tauke knew it too. I don't think Rick Tauke was satisfied with the offensive production of the Canucks last season. Okay? Everyone's like, Tauke loves this. He's pulling his hair out to the point he had none left. I was going to say. Yeah. He was like, he was like, I got to go to my arm hair now. So no, no, no. Well, just

let me finish. Sure. What the Canucks need upfront. We've said it time and time again on the show, guys that make things happen. Yep. Zegras has the creativity to do that. Sure.

Is he, um, a risk? Absolutely. He hasn't done much in the last few years. Six goals in 31 games, the season before last season and last season, 12 goals in 57 games. But he has that potential and he's only, he's only 24 years old. It remains to be seen what the Ducks want because the Ducks, like so many other teams are like, yeah,

we don't need futures. We're all stocked up on futures, draft picks. We don't need draft picks. We don't need, we don't need prospects. We need NHL players. So can the Canucks provide them that? He is a bit of an interesting character because last year especially,

part of the reason that Cronin liked him was that he did develop, now I wanna be careful with this, he developed an edge to his game, Zegras, but it was almost like a guy that was trying to figure out what being tough and playing tough hockey looked like. Like he got suspended three games for like a lousy hit on Raspi's sin from Detroit.

And it was like the kind of hit where you're going out to try and prove that you got an edge to your game as opposed to just naturally having one. Do you know what I mean? There's a difference. Forcing it. Yeah, you know, it's not part of your DNA or your makeup but you're trying anyway.

And I think they appreciated the effort but I think the reality of his game is that he's a certain type of player. All players grow and develop things when they get to the National Hockey League. There's very few that stay stagnant or the exact same player. Sometimes you go too far afield and you forget what got you there.

Like I think in the case of Zegras, there could be a case to be made that all the focus on all the other parts of his game, maybe the natural skill and the offensive flair went away a little bit. So maybe you just got too much attention. I think as a by low candidate, it's a great option. I just don't think there's any by low candidates in this. If there's a bunch of teams interested, it's not a by low candidate. Like there's going to be teams that are going to bid them up, probably.

To what extent, though? Out of where you're saying, hey, we got this guy for good value. It's like, hey, we paid a fair bit to get him in the door. And again, to your original point, I don't know what sort of asset the Canucks would have that would make a ton of sense at first blush. What about Hoaglander? Yeah, are you I mean I'd rather though. I'd rather bet on hold on er. Yeah, I think I don't even know I think the ducks would ask for more than that. I think that's an intriguing trade. That's how that's a hockey trade Those are two guys from more than that. Why?

Because they would argue that zebras is better. Okay more talented right but whatever you what evidence would you have to that? Not much him and probably pretty you know you be like he does the mission I didn't see hoglender on the cover of my video game. Hello Didn't hoglender do it Michigan actually man. Yeah, I think you did. Okay. Anyway, point being God, I don't think there's a huge discrepancy. Okay, I'm gonna rage Yeah, I don't think there's a huge discrepancy between the two. I think that might be not a terrible change of scenery idea If the thing is the key secrets has scored 20 plus goals twice Hoaglander's done it once. Yeah Well, I'm just saying right so there's like our guys twice as good as yours put it this way I would say if the two were being held up. I'd probably say Zegris is the superior player

Of course not by a lot. No, yeah, but he is I'm just saying like the Canucks to acquire Zegris It'd be tough for them because I'm sure there'd be a lot of teams. I would try and get this guy 24 year old 24 year old skill players are not available readily. So lots of teams will be like, Ooh, I want that guy. Just the amazing feedback into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket. One text will be like, they should absolutely take

a flyer on them. And the next one is like, do not go near this guy. Too soft. He would be the worst player on the team. Rob, Rob and Surrey is emblematic of the too soft angle. Uh, I don't necessarily agree with or disagree with Rob, but like this is the anti-Zugrass.

What I've learned is that being as soft to play against as the Canucks are right now, the last player they should be bringing in is a roller hockey player like Trevor Zugrass. He does give me big time roller hockey vibes. Yeah. Like, yeah. Connor Bedard and Ken Johnson played roller hockey. What's wrong with roller hockey? Sorry. What's wrong time roller hockey vibes. Yeah. Well. Yeah. Connor Bedard and Ken Johnson played roller hockey.

What's wrong with roller hockey? Sorry. What's wrong with roller hockey? Just, it's not. Yeah, those guys can throw it out, man. It just gives me roller hockey vibes, that's all. It's not in a negative way. You wanna crap on ball hockey while we're at it too?

Sure, yeah, yeah. All the listeners that play these sports can just get angry at you. I just get, with Zegras, I sort of get, when he went to Anaheim. I'm like this works Mighty Ducks So like playing outside because it's nice and sunny roller blades on you're right I could see him with like long hair and like six like sunglasses and Zubaz pants playing roller hockey

But there's a lot of neon in his game, right? Yeah wearing like a Miami Vice tank top They could wear a Vancouver vooodoo Jersey for one game. If they're not a negative or positive, it's just a vibe. He's got roller hockey vibes. Burroughs had ball hockey vibes when he played because he was very good at ball hockey. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.