Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 6/27/24

Episode Date: June 27, 2024

Mike & Jason look at the previous day in sports including the Canucks trading Ilya Mikheyev and re-signing Teddy Blueger, the aforementioned Blueger joins the show to discuss his new deal and the season to come, 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 & Brough. You're listening to Halford & Brough. I see a lot of pathways here for the Canucks with the amount of money they have right now to do a lot of really fun, interesting things. There's a smash. Right center field. Forget about it. The marvelous one. So hey, Otani. Drill deep to left. There it goes. See ya. 30th home run of the year for Judge. The Toronto Raptors select Jacoby Walter from Baylor University. Good morning, Vancouver 601 on a Thursday.

Happy Thursday, everybody. It's Alfred and his brother at Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey, dog. Good morning to you. Good morning.

Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Alfred and Brother 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 you with anything you're looking for, be it sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling.

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Sophie, what are you waiting for? Kintec. That is what you are waiting for. A guest list today begins at six 30 Thomas Hickey, former NHL defenseman, now an analyst with NHL and MSG Networks is going to join us.

We'll go around some of the big stories in the National Hockey League. Maybe we'll talk about those Vancouver Canucks who were cooking up some business yesterday. 7 o'clock, Adnan Virk, MLB Network will be joining us. 7.30, Thomas Drance from The Athletic and Canucks talk right here on Sportsnet 650.

We'll talk about the signing of Teddy Bluger, the trade of Ilya Mikheyev. Speaking of Teddy Bluger, Jason, at 8 o'clock on the program, Teddy Bluger, he'll be joining us fresh off his two-year contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks. So we got a big show.

We got a lot to get into. You can feel it. It's getting more and more busy as we get closer and closer to the draft and the start of free agency across the nhl the game of musical chairs has begun let it let it roll let it roll musical chairs let it roll so working in reverse i don't i don't i don't i don't i don't think they say that you roll the chairs and then let it roll musical chairs let it roll that's why i remember saying that at many birthday parties when I was seven years old.

What was the song? Did they do Ring Around the... It's just any song. London Bridge is Falling Down, maybe? Is it any song? It's just any song. It's just any song. They just play a song.

And it stops. They're in heaven. Yeah, yeah. And you had to keep moving. You had to keep moving. My move was always to slow it down. I was a slow player. Oh, okay.

And you just go past the chair real slow. I'd wait until someone was about to sit down and then pull the chair out from under me. No, you couldn't do that. Can't do that. That is an ejection. I got away with it. That's a red card at the seven-year-old birthday party. They called it a slow roll when you did that, by the way.

Slow roll. So working in reverse. Slow roll. Working in reverse on the guest list. Eight o'clock. Teddy Bluger, 7 the way. Slow roll. So working in reverse. Slow roll! Working in reverse on the guest list. 8 o'clock. Teddy Bluger, 7.30, Thomas Drance. 7 o'clock, Adnan Virk. 6.30, Thomas Hickey. Two Thomases on the show today.

That's what's happening on the program. 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? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that?

What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. The Vancouver Canucks got to cooking yesterday. Chef Alvin in the kitchen cooking away. Two moves yesterday. They re-signed Teddy Bluger to

a two-year deal, and they traded Ilya Mikheyev and the rights to Sam Lafferty along with a second-round pick in 2027. We're already trading 27 second-round picks now. Let's begin with Teddy Bluger, though. Bluger agrees to a two-year contract extension. Takes a little bit of a haircut on the AAV, down to $1.8 million per.

But the versatile and experienced center sticks in Vancouver for two years. Yeah, there was an interesting quote from Teddy Bluger, and we can talk about this with Teddy Bluger later in the show when he joins us. And he says, I think there was a two, three month stretch where I was playing the most consistent best hockey of my career, especially offensively. I obviously didn't maintain that the whole year. So that's an area for sure that can be improved amongst some others. I thought our PK was strong the second half of the year. So being a part of that and

bringing different elements, those are some important parts of my game for me. I think ideally, Teddy Bluger would be your 4C, but he might be the 3C. And you never know if the Canucks still manage to re-sign Dakota Joshua. And that's a possibility, although it sounds like a distant possibility. You could reunite that line now with Garland Bluger and Dakota Joshua. Maybe it's going to be Garland Bluger and Vasily Podkolzin, but this is a good deal for the Canucks to get a solid bottom six center

under contract at a reasonable rate. Remember what Jay Beagle got. Jay Beagle got a four year deal, $12 million, $12 million. Now compare that to what Teddy Bluger is getting, you know, that that's, I know that the Beagle contract was done under a different environment.

Um, but this is, this is a, this is a nice solid deal for the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah, and I think it's important for a little bit of continuity for a team that, I mean, look, they had a great year last year, and I'm sure that they want to try and retain as many pieces as possible to keep the group together, to keep the chemistry alive. But the reality of it is, like you said, with Dakota Joshua and possibly other guys, the allure of July 1 and free agency

and some of the contracts we've already seen guys extend with, what's out there in terms of UFA money, I would imagine that a guy like Bluger was probably thinking along the same lines. Like, hey, I wonder if I could go out there and see what's available, right? The word versatile came up, as I said it this morning it was in the press release yesterday and he's a versatile guy he could do a lot of different things for you he might also

just want to stay in one place well i think the point where he said the best hockey of my career that probably had something to do with the environment the guys he was playing with the role he was do you remember some of the nice passes that he was making? He was playing really well, and I think a lot of us watched him and were like, I didn't know he had that in his game. We'll see what the future holds for

Teddy Bluger, but the biggest deal of yesterday, I think, with all due respect to Teddy Bluger... Who we'll have on the show at 8 o'clock....was Ilya Mikheyev, who we won't have on the show at 8 o'clock because he is no longer a member of the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah, the Canucks announced Wednesday they traded Mikheyev, the rights to unrestricted free agent Sam Lafferty,

and a 2027, way in the future, second round pick to Chicago in exchange for a fourth round pick in that same 2027 draft. Do you think Sam Lafferty was like, someone traded for my rights? That's amazing. If I was Sam Lafferty. For me, that was like when I got ID'd. I was like, oh, well then. You have to be low-key happy that someone traded for your rights as an unrestricted free.

Oh, someone's interested in me. It's the Chicago Blackhawks. Still. However. Still. We can't let Sam Lafferty go to July 1. We got to get in there early and negotiate. So despite all these other. They're going to show Sam the city and all the sites.

I mean, this could be all yours if you sign for $875,000. Take him to a Cubs game and then a hot dog at Portillo's. He can do it all in Chicago. Anyway, the big part of the deal, obviously, is Ilya Mikheyev. Okay, before we get to the nitty gritty and everything, I genuinely felt bad for Mikheyev. And this is one of the guys that I can't empathize with because I've never torn my ACL and then tried to play on it

and then came back the following year. And you lack empathy. Yeah. Well, there's two reasons, not just the ACL. He signed the deal in Vancouver. He got hurt almost right away. He tried to labor and push through. It didn't work.

He probably messed up part of this year by delay. And this is obviously on the organization as well, by not just going under the knife and getting his ACL fixed as soon as it was hurt. And then this year you could tell that he just wasn't the same player. The 34 game goal is drought was tough to watch. Watching him in the playoffs with countless chances on the end of his stick that just wouldn't go in the back of the net was tough to watch. I think the want and the will were there,

but at the end of the day, 4.75 million for a forward that just wasn't getting it done, masquerading in a top six role. The Canucks kind of had to make this move. They were the ones that signed him to this deal, this regime, and they're the ones that had to get rid of it.

Yeah, it's a smart, no-risk move for Chicago, which has oodles, I like that word, oodles of cap space and lesser expectations than Vancouver. The Blackhawks have a win-win potential where they get both a second-round pick, albeit in a few years, and a bounce-back candidate. Of note, the last time the Blackhawks coaxed

a second-round pick out of the Vancouver Canucks to take on a bad contract, they landed on, they landed Jason Dickinson, who emerged as one of the best players and finished 12th in Selkie voting this past season. And he killed all-star Jason Dickinson. Yeah, that's right. He wasn't. Did he go?

He didn't go? Oh, that's right. He wasn't because... He was supposed to be the Conor replacement. And then they were like, we can't. Yeah, we can't put Jason Dickinson in here. Maybe if he's top 10 Selkie, but not number 12. As for the Canucks, the most important team in all this,

they're definitely going to lose that second round pick, so you can't really call it a win-win. But this is a win-now move for a team in the most promising window it's been in, in a decade. Is it worth noting that Mikheyev is a Milstein client? God, I just sound like Dollywall here. Mikheyev is a Milstein client and so is Zdorov. I don't know if Mikheyev or if Milstein had anything to do with this trade.

I don't know if he worked the phones himself trying to get Mikheyev traded. Because he was granted permission to seek a trade on behalf of Mikheyev. Right. Yeah. So I don't know if he had anything to do with that. But, you know, I could see a story play out where, you know, like, okay, you moved Mikheyev, like, we'll find the money for Zdorov. Yeah, I think that's...

But I don't know. Apparently, there were a couple teams interested in Mikheyev for the deal that the Canucks were willing to put out there, and Mikheyev was willing to go to Chicago, so it ended up being Chicago. That's a perfectly logical assumption to make that like, Hey, here's how the pieces on the chessboard can be moved.

If you do a little bit of moving, you know, in conjunction with this Milstein, by the way, one, we should be calling all Dan Milstein agents, Milstein men. He's a Milstein man.

He's a Milstein man. And two to everyone texting in that Lafferty used to play in Chicago. Yeah. That's not part of the bit. The bit was that they traded for his negotiating rights. We were going to have fun with that. But yes, he did spend two parts of two seasons. Thank you for all being that guy at 612 in the morning.

You must all be great at party. Yeah. Actually, actually, he spent. If you remember correctly. He spent parts of two seasons. The wizard's key. With the Blackhawks organization. Anyway, so yeah, this is. Look, the Canucks are making moves right now.

Everyone is already pointing to two figures in particular. The Nikita Zdorov extension, if that does happen. And then, of course, Jake Gensel. And things are heating up more and more and more because they got to, like, when you talk about the priority chart, I bet there's a big whiteboard in the Alvina Rutherford office. I don't know if they share one. They probably don't.

And it probably has the things to do. It'd be funny if they did. The honey to-do list. And number one was figure out Philip Peronick's deal. Well, that's taken care of now, right? And then there was sign some depth, guys. So Mark Friedman, you get a new deal. Teddy Bluger, you get a new deal.

They were working on those for a while. Bluger said his contract took a while, actually. It wasn't an easy one to finish. Do you remember months ago, months ago, it might have been Dollywall that reported that Teddy Bluger was one of the guys that they were going to target to bring back. Because I think, number one, they liked him. But number two, he wasn't going to break the bank.

Yeah, and I do think it's funny that all all the Pittsburgh guys like Friedman, who came from the Pittsburgh organization, gets his deal. Bluger, who came from the Pittsburgh organization, gets his deal. And then the next one obviously was to figure out what to do with Ilya Mikheyev. I guess in hindsight, it was probably pretty telling what Patrick Alvin had to say about Ilya Mikheyev at his end of year presser where he said you know he was miscast as a top six forward and that was Alvin's fault that he was thrust into that role because that wasn't what he was and then he was going to try and you know fix it and this is how he fixed it as he

jettisoned him and his 4.75 million dollar cap it to Chicago so again just another example of this management group being efficient and strategic and pretty cutthroat right i mean this is an organization now that with two different players have quickly jettisoned a guy after signing him to a fairly lucrative deal and it happened interestingly enough with two milstein men so kuzmenko and mckev so you mentioned the the things to do yeah the things to do. Yeah. The things to do would be get Heronic signed. They did that. Move off Mikheyev's contract. They did that.

But then the number one thing they had to do and the hardest thing they had to, they're going to have to do because they haven't done it yet, is bringing a difference maker up front. Right. they're going to have to do because they haven't done it yet is bringing a difference maker up up front right so um i don't think they like have a plan a for jay genzel and no plan b i'm sure they have a plan b and probably a plan c but with the added cap space for mckeough which they can spread around they don't have to use all for one player. But I wonder if, and this is apparently the talk in Vegas, according to pretty much everyone that's down in Vegas, including a guy like Pierre Lebrun. Yep. Are the Canucks just going to really come out of their boots to get Jake Gensel? Because this is a team that does not have first or second round draft pick this year.

They don't have a second in 2027 either, so that's off the board. I don't even know if they're going to go to Vegas. They've only got two blue chip prospects in Lekker Amaki and Willander. So if you're talking about going the trade route to bring in a difference maker, whether that's Ehlers in Winnipeg or whoever. Sure. Whoever might be available. Sure.

We never know really exactly who's available. But the easiest thing for them to do, because of the lack of trade ships that they've got, is to outbid everyone else for Jake Gensel. Clear cap space and then throw, what, seven years, nine million per at Gensel? Something along those lines, which is a lot of money and a lot of term

for a guy that's going to be 30 in the fall. But you know what? YOLO. You may as well go for it. Yeah. I use proof of concept probably way too much on this show but last year i think probably emboldened this management group to a certain degree like we believed in uh players x y and z we believed in head coach rick tocket yeah we thought that this is what we could be and then

everybody went out and then we were better and then everyone went out and did it last year and we won a playoff round and we pushed the western conference champions to seven games something that only one other team accomplished in the playoffs and that was the stanley cup champion florida panthers i get it i absolutely get it is it fraught with risk yes could the long term be dicey down the road could there be pain where there's no draft picks and aging contracts yeah yeah there could be for sure there's there's there's already kind of pain with their lack of prospects lack of prospects isn't their problem it's not their fault that's the only thing i'll give them a pass on part of it is they inherit they've drafted they drafted

well the two guys are like i would also They also traded away picks. They've traded away picks. Sure. They have. Whatever. Who cares? They did not inherit a good prospect cupboard. Let's put it that way. Van City Zavid in Toronto.

Text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line if you want to text in. 650-650 Dunbar Lumber with three stores to serve you in Ladner on Bridge Street. Dunbar Lumber Express at Ladner Center or Buda's in Vancouver. Online at Dunbar Lumber Express at Ladner Center or Budeson, Vancouver, online at dunbarlumber.com. As an agent, VanCity Zavid in Toronto asks, how do you convince Mikheyev to waive his no trade clause to go to Chicago?

Genuinely curious on the business end how Milstein sold Mikheyev on the lowly Blackhawks. Well, he probably said, you're not wanted here. So you don't want to be here anymore. You never want to be on a team where you're not wanted.

And you're going to get a big-time opportunity in Chicago. And you can say, look at Jason Dickinson. He went to Chicago. Chicago's a nice city. Chicago's a nice city. Conradard. Yeah. You're going to get ice time.

And you're going to have a role there. So much of it is about the role for the player. McCabe's not in a position to sit there and go, like, I only want to go for a Stanley Cup. Yeah, it's not moving. Yeah, and Mikheyev needs to rejuvenate his career to a certain degree. Well, to a large degree, actually,

because he had a bad injury and he's still recovering. And you never know. Maybe Chicago is looking at this as uh we get Mikheyev in here um he should be and a lot of people say of his injury it's like 18 months to two years you know you can get back and start playing after a year but you're only really yourself in two years so Chicago is taking a bet here that they can bring in Mikheyev, rejuvenate him, and then he's an asset to them. Then he'll only have, let's say he plays out the year in Chicago, then he's only got one year left, and maybe they can turn him into an asset in a trade. Sure.

This is the type of move that is a pretty smart one, I think, for the Chicago Blackhawks, getting a player like this, who is the legitimately good NHL player when he's on top of his game, and he has the potential to get back to his game, and then the Blackhawks have, they got the Canucks to retain a little bit, and if they want to trade him, they could even trade him at this deadline, this coming deadline, and then they retain, and then they get a pretty good asset back if mckeough bounces back and if he doesn't oh well i just think that in there's no expectations anyway looking at it in retrospect it actually probably would have been difficult to have mckeough back this year one because the

canucks obviously wanted to want to do something fundamentally different with their forward group and in part are going to be forced to do it so let's say hypothetically they wanted to go big game hunting for a top six forward which patrick alvin clearly stated ilia mckeah is not right we can we can all agree on that at 4.75 he wasn't going to be a top six for yeah and i don't know well if the dog was joking he's not going to play with bedard i mean he might i don't even know who they got can Chicago. Can you imagine? Everyone can get a turn, I think. Could he be any worse than Foligno? I think he got spins with Bedard last year. I think the Blackhawks are going to do something else.

Anyway. Maybe they'll get canceled. Regardless of whatever Chicago may or may not do, Mikheyev wasn't going to be a top six forward here. And then if you talk about, well, what is your third line going to look like? A very good case that you're right. It could end up being Bluger, Gar Garland and insert third winger here. Probably not Mikheyev, right?

And then you're talking about a fourth line winger making $4.75 million, which is not efficient spending and not efficient cap resources. So it would have been tough to bring him back. It also would have been tough to bring him back because I'm pretty sure that management and the fans were united in seeing exactly the same thing that the guy just couldn't score i mean it was painful at times last year you remember when i came in here and i half jokingly i was like tonight's the night that mckay i was gonna break his 34 game goal scoring slot you're misremembering this i said i think he's gonna do it in the next five games and then

we had an over under and then you said he's gonna do it tonight in the next five games. And then we had an over-under. And then you said, he's going to do it tonight. Yeah. And then he did. Was that the only goal he scored? I don't know. I don't think he scored another one. No, he didn't. And I did it jokingly.

There wasn't any sort of like predictory part of it. I was just like, yeah, I'll do it tonight. Why not? He was playing better, though. He was playing better. He was getting chances. The problem is even chances for Ilya Mikheyev are not great chances. Well, his lasting legacy here might be missing that

open net in Game 7. The playoffs. When I think of Mikheyev for the rest of my life, it's probably that moment. Which sucks for him. He made a great deke. He did. And then the puck just went off those concrete hands of his.

The playoffs were really tough. So I want to add a couple of notes from Pierre Lebrun, Couldn't finish. Went off those concrete hands of his. The playoffs were really tough. The playoffs were really tough. So I want to add a couple of notes from Pierre Lebrun, who's writing for The Athletic down in Vegas. So this is the first one that I already kind of mentioned. Lebrun wrote, there are serious rumblings about the Vancouver Canucks making a pitch. Would they be willing to go seven years, nine million?

And, of course, other teams would get in there Monday. So he's talking about Jake Gensel. So Gensel and his agent, Ben Hankinson, who's also the agent for Brock Besser, have a big decision to make soon enough. Take Carolina's best offer or go to market while leaving the door open to the Canes. I don't think the Canucks have been too shy about putting it out there that they're going to make a big pitch for Jake Gensel.

Where are you on this, by the way? I stated yesterday that I'm – or maybe it was two days ago, but regardless, very leery, and I'm actually out on it. I think he's a pretty good player. I know you do, but that's not the question, friend. I think there's risk there, but they need to get a difference maker in, and I just don't – Yay or nay?

Yay. That's just don't. Yay or nay? Yay. That's fair. Yeah. I like him as a player, but I also recognize the fact that I could go into a time machine and punch out the Jason that just said yes on this, right? Like in a few years. Because there is some risk. There's always a risk in bringing in even a good player to your team,

especially one at Jake Gensel's age. He's getting a little bit older now. He's closer to 30. What if he doesn't have chemistry with anyone? What if he doesn't have chemistry with Petey? You know Petey's always top of mind for me. Like this whole thing, like this, it's gone away for a little bit, this whole Petey discourse but it's how

it himself said yolo right i mean that's the thing that's how the canucks are looking at it so i mean you yourself have to embrace the yolo embrace the yolo the other the other thing i wanted to bring up for yolo's coming back to bite me yeah exactly yolo by my own yolo okay hold on hold on a sec the other thing i wanted to get to yeah from pure Lebrun was something that I kind of wondered if this would happen. Pierre Lebrun on Tyler Myers. And Lebrun writes, Penning UFA defenseman Tyler Myers and the Canucks remain in talks, but the sense I get, that's a real insider thing.

Sense I get. I'm getting real sincere. The sense I get is that things have not progressed on that front despite several weeks of discussions. They'll chat again this week at the draft so the door remains open but there's just as good of a chance he goes to market monday at this point i feel like pierre lebrun has been chatting with tyler myers agent yeah i mean this actually doesn't come as a huge surprise to me um just because of the the two the two deals that stand out for me with the chatfield extension in carolina and the de mello extension in winnipeg those guys made nice coin for what they are as defensemen right they made

pretty good money there and i do wonder if there have been as we talk about light tampering if there's been some teams that have called up Tyler Myers and they're like, do you really want to just stay where all your stuff is at that price? Because you can always come back to Vancouver. You can summer in Kelowna. You don't have to winter there or whatever. He doesn't winter there. It's just kind of one of those things where it's like,

if you're a team that is looking to add these pieces that everyone is talking about are incredibly valuable in the playoffs size physicality nastiness Myers had it on display for two rounds this year he was he was very very effective in the playoffs Snoop the dog texts in what's the word on line a as a backup plan for Gensel there's no word on that Snoop the dog that should not be a thing that's that's that's not a that's no I was I, Snoop the Dog. That should not be a thing. That's not a – that's – no. I was listening to Aaron Portsline from The Athletic in Columbus yesterday on a radio hit, and he said that it's going to be –

it seems like it's going to be really difficult for Don Waddell to move line A because of the contract. Yeah, he's got a cap hit of like $8 million. Right. You don't even know if he can play. Yeah, like it might end up being, I mean, the new sort of dumping ground is no longer the desert because the NHL

doesn't have a team there. Now it's Silicon Valley. Everyone dumps their bad money in San Jose. So it couldn't end up being there. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. 802 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody.

Halford Brow, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brow in the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or bars. How about those horns? We are in an hour. Are we a circus now?

Are we just a circus? Pretty close at this point. Yeah, pretty close. We are in hour three of the program. I think that's one of the funniest things that you can say on the golf course. If someone has a bad swing or is having a bad moment, it's like, could somebody please put a tent over that circus? Absolute clown show right there. Very befitting of the Halford and Brough show.

We are in our three of the program. Teddy Bluger is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off our three. Our 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. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Circus. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star google reviews sophie what are you waiting for kintec that's what you're waiting for to the phone lines we go our next

guest signed a two-year contract extension yesterday he joins us now it's vancouver connects forward teddy bluger here on the halford and brough show on sportsnet 650 good morning teddy how are you i'm, thanks. How are you guys doing? We're good. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. Congrats on the new deal. Everyone here has been talking about it all morning. Very excited about having you back in the fold. What made you choose Vancouver to stay here for two years

as opposed to maybe going to try and test free agency on July 1? Yeah, probably a number of different things. I think the biggest thing, we really loved it there. I loved all the guys. It was really a blast coming to the rink every morning. I think, you know, we built some pretty good friendships. You know, my wife, everyone, all the families were pretty close, especially towards the end of the year.

You know, made some memories, and I think that was a big driving force. I mean, everyone in the organization, the way we're treated, the staff was all great. So it's a great place to be from that standpoint, I think. The fan base and especially kind of the little run we had and the atmosphere at the rink, I think that was something special to be a part of. And I think that's, you know,

you don't always have those opportunities to play in a place like that where people care so much. And the team and hockey means so much to the community. So I think that's something special that you can't take for granted. Yeah, so those, I mean, we love Vancouver. We love living there. It's, you know, beautiful, a lot of things to do. So, I mean, it was, I think,

our mindset kind of leaving after the year was that was that would be our number one choice for sure so um yeah really happy to be coming back next year um how long did the contract negotiations take how long did you guys talk for um i mean probably from the you know first conversation i mean was maybe you know two two-ish weeks ago or so um but i mean it really kind of went in spurts and you know there'd be some going on and be quiet for a little bit but i think once it really got going i mean it was literally just the last couple days so after that it went pretty quick and um yeah we got it done. Were you pretty confident that something would get done? I mean, yeah.

I don't know if I'd say like confident. I think, you know, once the year's over, it's kind of completely out of your control. I mean, you did what you could during the season and then, you know, the business side of it, there's a lot of moving parts and especially with the salary cap these days, I think there's a lot of things in play.

And so I actually think I did a pretty good job of just kind of shutting it out and just kind of letting it play out I mean we were definitely hopeful to come back but um you never know how it can go and um so I think honestly like didn't really think about it too much and then you know when my agent called we talked and whatever and um you know we knew we wanted to go back but other than that i think uh tried not to think about it as much as i could because there's nothing i could really do that would that would influence it that much anyway so for the listeners who don't really know how this sort of stuff works um do you ever talk to other guys that are in similar situation because you, you know, there's a lot of pending UFAs still on the Canucks.

Do you ever reach out to those guys and be like, hey, what are you going to do? Or is that considered something that's kind of taboo that you don't do, that you let everyone deal with their individual circumstances by themselves? No, I think we talk for sure. And, I mean, things can change quick too. And I think, you know, you can be talking to someone and they'll be like, yeah, it's not looking good for me.

I don't think I'll be back. And then, you know, two days later, it's like things turn around and negotiations take off and they might be back. So you never know. But you talk a little bit. I think there's a little bit of kind of like, you know, everyone has their priorities and there's different things they're looking for, whether it's, you know, certain locations they want to play in for, you know,

family stuff or, you know, maybe term or money or whatever. Like, I think everyone's got different priorities that way. So I think everyone's respectful of that, and there's no kind of right or wrong with that kind of stuff. I think you definitely talk a little bit, especially guys, you know, you're close with and even different guys around the league on different teams and what they're hearing. And, you know, guys, you're close. I mean, it's just like any one of your friends that you talk to.

I think that stuff comes up and, you know, those conversations definitely happen. So now please provide us an update on each of the Canucks UFAs and what they're thinking I don't think I'll be able to do that uh Teddy you said that uh there was a two three month stretch where you thought you were playing the most consistent best hockey of your career and you mentioned especially offensively and I think a lot of us here in Vancouver were very impressed with your creativity, especially when you were playing with Garland and Joshua. Why do you think you were able to play your best hockey of your career? What happened out there?

Was it just the chemistry or did you try and take your game to a different level? Yeah, I mean, I think a bit of both. I think obviously, you know, those guys are great players and, you know, for sure a lot of credit to them and, you know, they made me look good out there many times. So they were a huge part of it. And, yeah, we did have, you know, a good time playing together. I think a little bit, you know, a good time playing together. I think a little bit,

um, you know, the other side, I think I did go my game and, and, and try to improve, you know, some of that creativity and some of that making plays and that kind of

thing. And, um, so I, I think probably ultimately a bit of both. I mean, obviously when you're playing with, with great players,

that helps a lot. And, um, you know, they can mask some of your weaknesses. So that was a big part of it for sure. So there's the potential for the PK group, both forwards and defense,

to change significantly this offseason. You will be one of the returning members of a PK that was very much improved and looked especially good at times in the playoffs. How do you feel about your responsibility, not only to continue playing well on the PK, but bringing in possibly a new group of guys to try and kill penalties? Yeah, I mean, I think that's all good. I think that's been kind of a big part of my game ever since I've been in the league.

So, you know, I think that's an important aspect of what I bring to the team. I think as far as different guys, like, yeah, we did have good groups and I think we built, you know, built good chemistry with each other. But I think it's true overall. I think, you know, the team unit is greater

and more stronger than any individual player. And I think whoever comes in, whether it's guys coming back or if it's new guys, they'll adjust pretty quick and click into gear and we'll build chemistry and work together.

And I think, obviously, we've had a good foundation from last year that we're going to look to carry over. The expectations are much higher, I think, both on the PK and I think for our team as a whole. Is it tough to go into a season with significantly higher expectations?

I don't know. I think that's kind of what you want, right? You want to be on a good team where the expectations are high, where you have to push each other, because I think obviously everyone wants to win the Stanley Cup. And, you know, I think next year, you know, we're not surprising anyone like we might have, you know, at the start of last year. And I think that's just kind of the natural process of kind of evolving as a

team and growing and getting better that you have to get through where we know we're going to get everyone's best game and no one's going to take us lightly. We're going to have to get through that challenge and that's going to help us grow and get better as a team and try to take that next step. How does it work when you're pushing each other? Is that an enthusiasm for coming to the rink or is that a willingness to call people out if they're not up to the task what does that look like yeah i i mean i think it's it's a bit of both i mean it's both the things you said i think um i think when like when we were winning and doing well last year, I think obviously that helps the mood and everyone's got a little more energy.

When you're fighting regular season to get into playoffs and compared to being out of it, I think that brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm and just more positive vibes, I think, as far as calling each other out. Yeah, I think that can be a part of it as well. I think at this point, I think we all kind of know what it takes to have a strong season, you know, to get into playoffs. And we understand how hard it is to actually win, you know, playoff games and playoff series from last year. So I think everyone knows the standard that each guy has to hold

himself accountable to and i think as far as calling each other out i think we got great group for that i think we got great leadership and it's not just one or two guys but it's kind of a group effort and different guys step up at different times so i think um and also i think guys have have strong enough to relationships where it's not you know if someone calls someone out or um you know goes at someone a little bit it relationships where it's not, you know, if someone calls someone out or, you know, goes at someone a little bit, it's not going to break relationships or create any kind of drama, I think. It's understood that, you know, we're all in this together and we're all pushing for a common goal.

And if that's what's needed, that kind of needs to happen. And then you move on really quick from that. We're speaking to Canucks forward Teddy Bluger here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. How much did you bring with you from what you learned in the Pittsburgh organization? Because there's obviously a strong Pittsburgh influence in Vancouver. I didn't even realize this. Every year that you've been in the NHL, you've played in the playoffs. Every single season since you broke in in 2018, 2019, you've been in the playoffs.

And a lot of that was with Pittsburgh. Obviously, the run with Vegas, too uh the year prior to this but uh that pittsburgh organization how much of that sort of uh you know heightened expectations you know there's a sense that you're getting to the playoffs and you're trying to win a cup given you know where they're at is as an organization how much did you bring with that to van to Vancouver when you joined last season? Yeah, I mean, I think that kind of, you know, for me, like that, that was all I knew in my career. Obviously, I was fortunate to learn from the best in Sid and the way he was about it. And when you see that every day, I think that kind of, you know, shapes you and influences you as a player and as a person. So I think, I think, uh, yeah, quite

a bit. I think it influenced me. Obviously we, in Pittsburgh, we came up short, you know, in playoffs all those years. But, um, I think as far as the overall dynamic, it's like, you know, even regular season, like you're going into every game with the expectation of, and goal of winning, you're not, you know, thinking to just get through or whatever. Um, I think, you know, as far as going into different teams, if you're not you know thinking to just get through or whatever right um i think you know as far as going into different teams if you're playing there's it can be tough to manage you know you're playing and maybe a team that's like san jose or chicago that's going through some changes or whatever and i um i think it's easy to kind of maybe take those games lightly

or not not as serious but i think you know like in pittsburgh that was a real point of emphasis and good teams got to, you know, you got to take care of business and games like that. So I think, I don't know if it's anything that I carried over consciously. I think it's just kind of the sort of environment I basically grew up in and kind of was around as a player for several years. And even before that, think you know being in wilkes-barre it's it's a similar type of culture to that so um yeah it's just kind of part of the way i guess um i try to play and kind of go about my business speaking of wilkes-barre you spent

what parts of four seasons uh in the ahl Was there ever times that you were getting impatient down there, or did you feel that you had a lot to learn down there, so you just kind of embraced it and felt that your time would come? I mean, no, for sure. I mean, there's definitely kind of some frustrating times, and I think the year before I actually played a game i was called up for a couple weeks and i just ended up taking warm-ups for like six or seven games didn't actually get in the game um and i felt like i was having some pretty good success down there and wasn't really

getting called up so there's there's for sure times of frustrations but i think you know i had to learn to kind of stick with it and and all i could do is, you know, show up to the rink every day, work as hard as I can, play my best. And, you know, if the results aren't going my way, I've got to make sure I'm doing everything in my control to try to change that, but also kind of letting it go a little bit. And, you know, eventually the hard work paid off. So that was obviously great when that did happen but um

you know learned a lot about patience and um you know that that side of it and perseverance so i think in the end it worked out pretty good because it was it was great for for my character and i think that that stuff really carries over to everyday life and um to life after hockey so that i think that was really valuable time in my life for that. Speaking of the Pittsburgh organizations, one of the guys that you played with there is Jake Gensel, mentioning him for no reason in particular. But I also understand that you guys also share an age.

I'm not asking for intel. I'm not going to be like Brough and ask for intel. I just want to know what the guy is like. What's going on with Jake? Yeah, right. But I just want to know what the guy is like. What's going on with Jake? Yeah, right. But I just want to know what the guy is like as a player and as a teammate. Yeah, we're just making a conversation here.

I'm just curious about a very good player that you played with for a few years. Right. I mean, yeah, I think as a player, everyone has seen what he can do, right? He delivers in clutch situations, and I think the thing that stands out for me is is just his his awareness and how smart he is on the ice you know

he's not the fastest he's not the biggest he doesn't have the best shot but um he just finds a way to be in the right spot he makes plays um you know he competes hard um so that's kind of what you know what i'd say as a player kind of stands out to me. I mean, as a person, he's a pretty funny character, you know, really good in the room. So, yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, for our team, you know, he would be a great addition for any team. So, yeah, we'll see.

Who's the funniest guy in the Canucks room right now there's uh there's actually so that's that's a spot with some big competition um uh Neal's hog lander comes to mind um and there there's a couple other guys I'd say but if they ever heard me say Mike uh their egos might get too big, so I'm not going to say it. So you spent, so correct me if I'm wrong here, but born and raised in Latvia, but you came over and played at Shattuck St. Marie's when you were, what, 15 years old?

14, yeah. 14, which was in Minnesota, and then you went to Minnesota State for four years. Did you pick up any of the Minnesota accent? And what does the Minnesota accent combined with the Latvian accent sound like? I mean, I maybe picked it up a little bit. I mean, I guess you guys tell me. I think Minnesota is probably sort of similar to like a Canadian

where they exaggerate their roles maybe a little bit. But yeah, I don't know. I don't know. You guys tell me what I sound like. I guess I don't know what accent I have or whatnot. I think you sound like Vancouver, frankly. Maybe that's why you signed. You signed in nicely.

Yeah, I feel like I've been around and lived different places not to where I feel like I just kind of blend in everywhere. So, well, we've had Ben Hankinson on the show before. I don't think anyone sounds more Minnesota than him. He's got the biggest Minnesota accent I've ever heard. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh yeah. Well, he's born and raised here, so he should be that way. Is that where you spend your off season? Yeah. I'll go back home a couple weeks and then uh but yeah so like a good chunk of it in minnesota yeah what do you do in minnesota

uh i mean enjoy the summer here the warm weather the lakes and then uh train besides that i mean there's there's so many rinks and so many pro guys here that, you know, it's great for that. And a lot of, I think, you know, within probably a 15, 20 mile radius, there's probably 20 sheets of ice around where I live. So it's easy to find ice. It's easy to find guys to skate with. There's really competitive and good skates. Lots of good places to train. So it's really good for that as well.

And then obviously going to high school here and college and my wife did the same. So we kind of spent a lot of time growing up here. So we have a lot of friends and both of our brothers live here. So, you know, spend time with those people as well. Well, Teddy, enjoy your off season. Take some time to enjoy it. I'm sure you'll be training hard as well. Congratulations on the new deal.

And we're all excited for next season. Yeah, for sure. Me too. Thank you very much. Thanks for coming on. We appreciate it. That's Teddy Bluger, Canucks Forward here on the Halford & Ruff Show on Sportsnet 650. He did say that Jay Gensel would be a great addition. There's your headline. It's happening.

Radio me, folks. Radio me and Teddy Bluger. Teddy Bluger guarantees Gensel signing signing that would be funny if teddy just went through all the ufas like yeah dakota talking to him i don't know i'm glad you glad you asked i've been thinking about this and i've made a list he's got a big offer on the table i don't know if you guys heard tyler myers gathering interest from other markets yeah that would have been good yeah so teddy bluger back in the fold two years 1.8 million per just had him on the show uh good guy to talk to and hopefully a good uh not we're not acquisition but a re-upping for the vancouver canucks over the

next two seasons i think i put him on the spot awkwardly with the accent question he was probably not expecting that well um i've no he doesn't realize how much we talk about well it's hard so to accent it's hard to know what your accent sounds like you don't listen it's true actually is probably not expecting that. Well, I've noticed... He doesn't realize how much we talk about Minnesota accent. It's hard to know what your accent sounds like. You don't listen to yourself. It's true, actually. That is a good point. Well, they do.

You don't listen to yourself, well, actually. Actually, I listen to the show every day. God, this is a good show. And then the best of, and then the repeat at night. Wait, wait. I say something really funny here. Oh, don't worry. It'll be on again. Hold on, honey. I gotta listen to this. It say something really funny here. Oh, don't worry. It'll be on again.

Hold on, honey. I gotta listen to this. It'll be on again in two hours. Don't worry about it. Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the show. What we learned are coming up. I'm going to do my customary call

without even checking the in-basket, just assuming that because there's no giveaways, we might be light on content. So, Texman Dunbar, Lumber, Texani, 650, 650. What did you learn over the last 24 hours

in sports? If you want to weigh in on all the stories that we did not touch today, now's your time to do it. We have not mentioned the football

at all. That of the European variety. Euro, group stage, done. We're down to the round of 16.

It begins on Saturday. So no Euros this morning, no Euros Friday. If you want to weigh in on that, do so. lumber text line 650 650 nba draft if you were into that if you watch that if you would like to weigh in on that you can do that as well well why don't i want to do one right now what we learned england once again gets an easy draw sure now they could they could still blow it for sure but uh there was a possibility a strong possibility heading into yesterday's action that england would actually get the netherlands in the round of 16 even though england won their group they would have played a third place team the netherlands yeah which would have been tough. But thanks to Georgia upsetting Portugal 2-0,

England will now play Slovakia. So listen, England have not been good at this tournament. They haven't lost yet, but they haven't been good. So I'm not going to sit here and guarantee a win over anyone. Slovakia is a solid team they made it the round of 16 so they are a good team but you look at the way the draw broke and this has happened for england in in recent tournaments they've been on the good side of the draw they're not on the side of the draw with spain germany portugal france they are on the side with Spain, Germany, Portugal, France.

They are on the side of the draw with unlikely group winners, Romania, Austria. They could get Italy. If they beat Slovakia, they could get Italy in the quarterfinals, so that would be a rematch of the last Eurofinal. But they continue to to get lucky despite not performing all that well the the the results yesterday everyone universally agreed that england got as favorable a draw as you can get for as poorly as you've

played that was cool when georgia beat port Now Portugal... A historic moment for the country. Yeah, Portugal didn't have a lot to play for in that game. Well, they turned over their starting 11 except for a handful of guys. Ronaldo played, but everyone... But Georgia got off to an unbelievable start, took advantage of a Portugal turnover and scored. And I now have

a question for A-Dog. Is A-Dog listening right now? He's getting the Bloger video up right now he's getting the blooger video okay fine i'll ask laddie where's georgia the country the country of georgia state oh like exactly i don't know i could not point it out on a map it's pretty small isn't it yes it's very tiny this is their first time in the euro and the win against portugal was their first ever win obviously obviously, at the Euro. They're advancing to the round of 16 for their first

series of firsts. It's south of Russia and north of Turkey. Sandwiched like a turkey sandwich. Turkey and beets. We've got to stop saying Turkey, by the way. It's next to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan got to stop saying Turkey, by the way. No, we don't. Turkey. Yeah. Yeah. It's next to Azerbaijan.

Yeah. Yeah. I did. So that's a pretty cool story for that. That country is incredibly small, incredibly small. And they have some really tantalizing young talents. That sounds sexy. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.