Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 6/3/26

Episode Date: June 3, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they hear from Canucks GM Ryan Johnson on the hiring of head coach Manny Malhotra, they discuss the latest hockey news with Victory+ NHL insider Frank Seravalli, plus the boys get a Canucks update from analyst Randip Janda. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Into the doctor, it says it's back for Erno. He scores Tomush-Hurnell. And it's 5'4 in Vegas. This is an amazing opportunity for a coach that has the makeup and everything that I could want in a coach. reports of my demise

or retirement are greatly exaggerated. Oh, dear God, no. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford, it is Brough. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming here live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Mount Pleasant in Vancouver.

Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you. Gary's never coming on this show. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brub for the morning is brought to by Sam. and associates. They're open seven days a week and they're open late to help you get debt free.

When no judgment or upfront fees visiting today at sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to 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 the 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. And we are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio. Step Strong with Orthotics and Footwear from Kintech. if you want to text into the show today,

the Dunbar Lumber Text Line is 650, 650, trusted by contractors and DIY champions across Metro Vancouver for generations. Find them at three convening locations or visit Dunbar Lumber Online today. All right, let's get into our morning guest list. It's the Duick Morning Drive brought to by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 6.30 this morning. Sean Reynolds SportsNet NHL reporter.

It's going to join us live from Carolina at the Stanley Cup final. Vegas jumped out to a 1-0 series lead last night with a very entertaining 5-4 win over the Cains. What did Sean see from game one? We will find out at 6.30. 7 o'clock, Frank Saravalley, our NHL insider from Victory Plus. He too is in Carolina for the Stanley Cup final. We'll talk to him about maybe all the business and news and rumblings from around the league yesterday.

Gary Bettman's media availability, Chris McFarland, leaving Colorado for Nashville and everything else that's going on. Frank is going to join us at 7 o'clock this morning. 730 going to the national football league our NFL insider mike tannier from the two deep zone is going to join us just a ton of big NFL news this week headlined by the miles garrett to los angeles trade also a j brown of the patriots a lot of deals going down this week we'll get into those and more with mike tannier at 730 finally eight o'clock randy janda kinnock's analyst on sports net 650 you heard it in the intro yesterday. Connect's DM Ryan Johnson spoke

after the hire of many Malhotra's head coach. Johnson spoke about his new bench boss, but also a lot of other intriguing subjects. We can get into all those and more with Randy at 8 o'clock. So we got a big show ahead. We got four guests on the horizon. Without further ado, Laddie, to tell

everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? Whoa!

With all due respect to game one of the Stanley Cup final, which was a very good game, by the way. This is your home of the Canucks Sports Night 6.50. We're going to talk to Sean at 630 about the Stanley Cup final. So let's start with Ryan Johnson's media availability yesterday following the hire of Maddie Malhotra's, the 23rd head coach in Vancouver Canucks franchise history. Okay.

And the easiest question to start with is, and we can play some audio here, Lattie, is just RJ on why Manny Mulhotra? Well, I think very clearly Manny understood that the vision, how connected we want to be as a staff and a group and that the support that he would have, I can't tell you that that was something that was new to him walking into our discussions over the last few weeks.

I mean, it's something that I think we all, we all having the opportunity to do this. We wanted to do it with the right people and make sure that we had, we know how tough this is going to be. We know there's going to be some hard days. I think maybe because you guys see that there's a connection between, you know, Daniel and Henrik and myself and Manny that, hey, you know, a bunch of just some buddies getting together to do.

That's not the case here. This is more of a mission. something that we see an amazing opportunity to change a franchise, to build it the right way, to get it sustainable. And I think just it would be, was Manny looking for, and it was a matter of time, and he and I've discussed it over the last few years. I felt when I bring in somebody, especially at the American League level, it's on me a little bit to prepare them for their next opportunity, whether it's with us or with another team.

I take a lot of ownership in making sure that I put them in the next best place moving forward. I really felt, and I didn't have to sell Manny on this. Our discussions have led to this naturally, but I really feel this is an amazing opportunity for a coach that has the makeup and everything that I could want. and in a coach that's going to start the process into this rebuild and working with players and growing to where we want to go. So I love that he called it a mission. Yeah, I noticed that too.

We're on a mission from Gad. Blues Brothers reference. That's another timely reference. Yeah, Brett caught that one right away yesterday. I think these guys are really motivated at the opportunity and you use that word as well to turn the Canucks around the right way. I think they hate what's happened to the team. I just hope they get all the support they need in terms of resources

because I don't want that to be a hindrance. I don't want that to be an excuse. These guys are passionate about the franchise. And I really value that as a fan after some of the guys we've seen parachute into this market without a real appreciation for it. and in some cases not even taking the time to try and appreciate the market. They just came in there.

They told us what we wanted. It wasn't what we wanted. But they told us this is what you're going to get. You like it. And we're like, eh, I don't know. I don't know if we do like it. In fact, we hate it. You know, okay, this is an interesting conversation because, you know,

looking at it like in retrospect, I did and still kind of am glad that they went through. the exercise of getting someone that was completely disconnected from Vancouver? Because you always wondered like, what's it going to be like? And maybe, maybe it was the idea, like, it was pure. Get someone that's not, oh, hi, people

are bringing in fans. Get someone that's, you know, not sort of all that familiar with the history and the sad club and the losing culture and everything. And it comes in with a fresh set of eyes and outside ideas, outside perspectives. And that's what I think Rutherford and Alvin were. Now here's the important part. Supposed to be. Yeah. That's what

they were supposed to be. The theory and the idea was great. The execution was poor. Because I think you brought up an important part here. There was never a sense of real appreciation for the market. You could come in and as an outsider. A hundred percent. Be like, you know what? I'm new here. You know, it's like going into someone's house or going to

a new job anywhere. I want to respect the traditions and the cultures of this place. and I want to learn them and that kind of goes hand in hand with appreciation. It always felt, always felt like Alvin and Rutherford and Rutherford especially just wanted things to be like the way they were in Pittsburgh. Yeah. You heard that a lot in the organization

on the business side too. Right? And that's... We didn't do it in Pittsburgh this way. And that's a fatal law. I was like, oh yeah, do you get involved in the community in Pittsburgh because we used to do that in Vancouver. You know, that's the point? Is Sidney Crosby play here by chance?

Is that a thing? Because I've thought about it for a while. why was I so sort of energized when they brought the guys aboard? And I'm like, well, you know, Rutherford's got a Hall of Fame career as a builder and they've won Stanley Cups elsewhere. And I was also invigorated by the fact that they were

from the outside looking in, taking that, you know, 10,000 foot view. But man, did it go wrong? Okay. Can I just say also that I love the way that RJ, even though he's a very soft-spoken guy and a very thoughtful

guy, is just carving the hell out of the last regime. He is if you're listening. And if you're paying attention to everything that he's saying. Okay. Okay. So here's, we talked yesterday about, okay, what are the goals going to be? How do you define success in this rebuild under Mani Mahoja?

What is Mani Mahocha? What are his objectives going to be? because, you know, it's not going to be the playoffs, right? Although previous administrations would have just said, well, we were trying to make the playoffs. And that would be another lack of appreciation for the market because you should be like, no, no. Probably not going to happen.

No, build something long-term and stable here. Here's Ryan Johnson on the goals and objectives for Manny Mahhotra. Well, it's very clear. This, I want him to implement. what I know he does well, and that structure within a game in three zones, absolute certainty from players, what's expected of them, the structure that they're going to play in, and then, as I've said, it's not the 7 p.m. on Friday nights, it's the 8 a.m. on Monday, and the focus and attention on that. Manny and I both have a, you know, feel extremely,

strong about that and that the games become easy. We're going to ask, you know, these players to get uncomfortable at the ADMs. And that the wins and losses or all that other stuff will take care of itself. But as our, as are the judge that not just on Manny but on myself will be the ability to get the players that are here to understand that. and deliver it and the players that don't will make it very clear that they're not interested to be here and we will bring in players that we know are ready to to change that first and then we eventually we will have the patience within the wins and losses but with the structure how we're going to

treat each other and then the competitiveness that we will expect at 8 a.m., that will bleed into the to the 7 p.ms and in slow in time, the results will come. So that does not, that does not, that does not, that does not sound like a guy who's been impressed with what he's seen from certain players and frankly, last year's coaching staff at all. Yep. He's like, we'd like the players to know

what's going on on the ice. It's a big plus. It totally helps. We're going to try some of radical and we're going to put a system in place for the players to actually play hockey. And then we're going to explain that to them. Yeah. I mean, Bruce hit out.

Clearly and concisely. Nobody's tried this before. We're going to give it a whirl. Perhaps hit on a very important part of this and that in a very understated and methodical way, Johnson has subtly picked apart almost everything that he saw wrong about, especially last year.

And that is at all levels and trunches of the organization. managerial coaching and then the room and the attitude in the culture of the players. Yeah. I wonder if Rutherford's kind of like, Wasn't I recommending Ryan Johnson? I was kind of carving everything I was doing. I took it door now.

I take everything back. So one of the things that was looking like it could be a thing when Jim Rutherford was still here was Philip Hironik, the new captain. And Rutherford didn't shy away from saying a lot of nice things about Philoporonic and even saying like, yeah, I think he could be the captain. And that was kind of another thing that maybe a disconnect in the market. I don't think there are many people that were fans of the Canucks that were like clamoring for Philip Peronik to be the captain. Like I like Philipronic. He's a really good player and he works hard.

I think he's got a pretty good attitude. But like, don't you want it to be something more like, yeah, that's our guy for sure. Like that's our guy. That's our captain. Yep. And it's kind of like, it's not Heronic. And maybe it's not Heronix's fault because he's representative of, you know, a regime that, I mean, even the acquisition of Philip Peronick, a lot of people are like, you know, come on.

Like, it's not the right time to do something like that, to do a deal like that. And then Heronica came in and not that we don't blame him for not wanting to talk to the media. I don't want to talk to many of those guys either but like he didn't talk to the media and he didn't put himself out there for fans like he didn't and that's fine that's his right. Not everyone likes to do public speaking and do that sort of thing

but now he's going to be the captain like Philip eronic like what connection does he have to the fan base and people say well it doesn't matter if he has a connection to the teammates that's all that matters no it does matter it does matter

that's what we want we want it all and we deserve it all as fans you want your captain to be a really good player you want him to be a great teammate and you want him to be involved in the community of a connection with the fans I'm sorry like why should we want

why should we deserve anything less than that yeah I don't know and there's not a why should the team deserve any less I don't think there's a rest to name one I never understood other than I think Rutherford kept using it as a tool to explain why Heronick was going to stick around.

It's like, well, he's the next captain of the team. Can't trade that guy. And I think that they were resolute in that. I think that's why that they kept, I think that's why the idea got floated, really, was it was just validation that they were going to keep them around. Yeah. Other than that, this team doesn't need a captain right now. The part you brought up about the naming of a new captain having a sense of

importance and accomplishment and it being a moment is a really important thing. It shouldn't just be, well, you're the best option we got lying around. It should be you've earned this. It's obvious. We don't have to talk ourselves into this. Everybody knows. We should play the audio now. This is Ryan Johnson on the captaincy from yesterday following the hire of Manny Malhotra as the head coach.

I can just say through my time in managing teams, I am firm believer that the captain presents itself. The captain, it eventually rises to the surface where you. you just don't have a choice. It is, it's in your gut. It's in everybody can feel it. I don't like forcing that position on something, someone that might change the dynamic of your team or it might change that player when it's not that obvious

or that accepted by the group. I've seen it in my time as a player, as a GM and the HL. I've been very strategic even about, assistant captains and I don't think those are things you just hand around. I think they're earned. Obviously myself and a coach are coming in here with kind of a clean slate. Daniel and Henrik, same way. Nothing is just going to be assumed at, oh, you know, these guys have, this person's had one

where he was here, he should have one. I mean, that's something that will go through the initial parts of training camp and and make some decisions on people that we think are here and that are able to deliver the environment that we intend to build. So the most interesting part of that was about the assistant captains and the A's. Why is that, Jason? When he talked about you don't just get one.

You actually have to earn it and, you know, be a leader. So who's got A's right now on the team, Jason? was Besser, Horonik, and Elias Pedersen. Also, J.T. Miller and Tyler Myers also had them in the last two years. Of course, they are no longer with the team. And the guy wearing the C, Quinn Hughes, also no longer with the team. So the guy is... Pedersen's the obvious one that we're going to talk about here.

Yep. Right? I mean... He's the only guy remaining that's worn in A over the last two seasons. Yeah, and he's just kind of... And he was never referenced as a leader by anyone on the team. When anyone talked about, you know, who were so... who are some of the guys that are leading the group best we get talked about for sure horonica would get talked about and you know like j t and tyler meyers like they did get talked about they should have been wearing a's and quin hues you know i don't know he should have been

at least wearing an a you know i know pithers debate about whether or not he was a good captain or not whatever let's move past that i'm going to be really really curious. If Elias Pedersen is on the team come training camp, are they going to have a letter on him? And Ryan Johnson had some very interesting things to say about his conversation with Elias Pedersen. And we'll play that audio here because there is a lot to unpack from this conversation with Pedersen. And I want you, I want to ask a question before we, play this audio. Okay. Okay. Do you think it would almost be a relief for

Pedersen if he didn't have to wear an A? I have wondered this. I have wondered if, so he's had one for the last four years. He got it at the start of the 2022, 2022, 2023 season, right? Always seemed forced. Yeah, like it was almost like one of those things where you say, well, this is the next phase, the next passage, you know? Like one of those rights of passage that everybody goes through, regardless of whether you actually want it or not. Now, in life, some of those are, you know, foisted upon you and you accept them because

that's how things work. But in hockey, and in this instance, especially, it always felt, as you said, like, hey, the contract forced upon you. The A forced upon you. The leadership role. Yeah. The pressure, the responsibility. All of it forced.

So think about all this when you listen. to this. I had a great conversation with PD. I really enjoyed being able to just talk to very openly and honestly speak to him about my feelings about his process and some of the adversity and some of the challenges. And there's a lot of them based on the time he's been here. But I wanted to, I wanted to hear him speak. I wanted him to be able to speak without judgment that he knew I was there to listen and to not judge or allowing him

just to speak opening freely. And I think the biggest thing, whatever happens here moving forward, is it just wanted him to know that I was very comfortable with him just being himself. I told him whatever communication or what I'm not going to ask him or put an expectation on him to be something other than he isn't and that that's okay. And that we, he and I can work together in any capacity. And we may ask things of it, but we're not going to ask him to do it outside of really who he feels the core of what he is.

And I thought that was very good to establish early. I enjoyed our conversation. It was pleasant and very informational, I think, for both of us and excited just to move forward. But I thought it was a great, you know, 20 minutes, half hour of just being able to talk without expect. I need you to be this. I need you to be that. It wasn't that. It was more of, you know, what he could understand of how I manage, how I would communicate.

and how I intend to treat people in general. There is a lot to unpack there. And it just makes me wonder if at some point PD just went, shut down mode, beo, emotionally, emotions turned off. Power down. Remember that he was pressured into signing that contract by management. And that was probably unpleasant at times.

He had J.T. Miller and possibly, the other teammates yelling at him, bullying him. He had a coach who lost belief in him, who didn't like or respect the way he played. He had the yips with the puck on a stick. The media was all over him. The fans were all over him. I think the harder everything got,

it was like the walls started closing in. The more he just seemed to withdraw and frankly become indifferent to his work. You know, people ask that, why doesn't he work harder? Maybe it's that. you know, we're males here. We love a good emotional shutdown when things are going hard, right?

My favorite things to do. Yeah. You know, if there are any wives or girlfriends listening to this show, maybe one or two, they're like, yeah, I know, I know when guys emotionally shut down. He's doing it right now. They're really, they're really, really good at it. And when he did kind of withdraw and become indifferent, and we also saw his interviews, you're like,

Dude, why are you so indifferent? That made it worse because then he got ripped for it. Or maybe it was just tendonitis. I don't know. Maybe it was either that, that massive psychological diagnosis from sports radio host, or was the tendonitis. So one or the other. Like, you never know, right?

You never know. Maybe it was spite. He's like, fine, you don't like me? Well, I'm just not going to try anymore. Massive emotional trauma or my knee hurts. Who knows? Are you guys good? Do you guys ever do the emotional shutdown?

Oh, yeah. I'm doing it right now. Like working with me. Yeah. It was just like, phew, okay, fine. When Brough calls you insolent on the air, and then you're like,

you're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Our next guest is our NHL insider from Victory Plus. Frank Sarah Valley here on the Halford and Brough show on Sports Night 650. One thing that I thought was going to be an issue for Bedman and Daily, not just yesterday, overall, but they really don't seem to think it's going to be an issue. It's the Bruce Cassidy coaching situation, which still remains in flux, although the

NHL's got its stance on it. It was very clearly made yesterday that both Betman and Daley don't think that this is an issue. Does part of this have to do with the fact that this situation and the way Cassidy's contract is worded or written up makes it kind of an outlier? Like there might not be another one like this. So they're not worried about being precedent setting? No, I don't think that's part of it. I think that different teams manage their contracts in different ways, meaning the language that they use.

And this one was pretty airtight. Okay. So what do I mean by that? Like, for instance, some contracts when it comes to the termination part of it are single-sided. Some are mutual. Some are one-sided just to the coach. in this case and Bruce Cassidy mentioned a bit of this on spit and chicklets when he joined. He can't just walk away.

He could walk away from the pay, but they still control whether or not he has permission to work somewhere. So that stands out. I don't think it's abnormal. I truly believe that what has happened along the way is there's a lot of contracts that have been worded exactly like or very, similarly to Bruce Cassidy, and teams have put that language aside saying, hey, this is the right thing to do, and this is the custom and norm. And it hasn't typically been challenged and certainly hasn't been reviewed or scrutinized in a way that this one has been with Bruce Cassidy. The league feels, look, I mentioned this before. Gary Betman's one of the best labor lawyers in the

world. They're going to respect the terms of the contract, and Vegas has him. airtight in terms of his services that they don't have to let him go anywhere. I'm very curious about the role that Edmonton plays and all this. Because, I mean, it's very obvious that they want to hire him or at the very least want to get him in for the interview to hire him. And I think it's mutual, by the way. Yeah, I'm sure that Cassidy wouldn't mind getting in there with, I mean, however many years Conner McDavid has left on his contract, right?

Like, that's another part of this as well is that there's not a huge shelf life for McDavid at Edmonton potentially. And, you know, time is ticking and they need to get better. Is there any, is there any thought to the matter of Vegas looking at it and saying, well, the longer we drag this out, the worst we make it for Edmonton? The worst we what? The worst we make it for Edmonton. Oh, 100%.

And, like, look, they, I'm not convinced that they're ever going to relent here, even if they win the Stanley Cup. Yeah. And part of that is because. It's not really just about being in your division. It's the long game or longer game, which is, yes, Bruce Cassidy might make the Edmonton Oilers better. Part of their thought process in the back of their mind has to be, we know how good

of a coach Bruce Cassidy is. He led us to a Stanley Cup. He could have similar type success. But if it's someone less than Bruce Cassidy and if things blow up, what if there's a John Tortorella in Vancouver type experience, well, then, hey, maybe we might be able to get McDavid out of our division for once and for all. Yeah. It's quite a rivalry between the Vegas and the others.

And this is like, we expect nothing less of Vegas, really. Okay, I want to ask about a guy. This is a little kind of out of left field, but we talk about the market for centers, and it seems to be the same guys over and over again. We go back to Robert Thomas in St. Louis. But there seems to be a new guy now, and that's Nico Heeshire.

What do you think's going to happen with him in New Jersey? There's a new general manager there. The devils are probably looking at that and going like, man, we thought we had a team here, but we don't know if we do. And if Heeshire resigns, he's got one year left, and then he's an unrestricted free agent, he's going to need a big raise.

And I guess they're going to have to think long and hard about whether or not they want to commit to this group. Well, it's multifaceted, right? because then Nico Heeshire, even though he's one of the leaders on that team and has been there from the start, the question he probably has to ask himself is,

can I win here? It's a fair question to ask when you get to these stages of your contract. And so I think it's a mutual examination period. I think the true answer is that we don't really have a read on it, it just yet. He's a name that teams have been percolating about, teams have asked about, that they're curious to see where this goes, in part because it's so incredibly difficult to find centers who can make a difference, and they look at the complete nature of his game and see what a

great fit he'd be. But then that same side of it exists for the devils, which is, let's say we trade Niko Heeshire, we now need to go fill that voice. in our lineup in order to become a contending team. And it's a lot easier probably to get to that place with someone like Nikohesher in our lineup than not. But then you're also staring down how do we fill around him too, which is what Sunny Mehta is trying to figure out at this exact moment in time. There's a lot of holes and voids to fill.

Yeah. Centers pretty valuable in the NHL these days. And that's why there's a lot of talk in Vancouver. that the CUNX might draft Caleb Malhotra. Now, you were the first to report that the Cunuchs had a deal in place with Manny Malhotra, Caleb's dad. What did you think about Manny being hired and what do you think about the possibility of the Cinnock's drafting his son, Caleb?

I think it's a great fit. I really do. I think for this team with where they're at, having a coach that can grow with them and hit the reset button on this team's culture that's so desperately needed. He's going to be that beacon that helps guide that and the comfortability factor between being a former teammate of the Sadiens working really closely with Ryan Johnson.

I think it checks just about every box. The only awkwardness is what to do with the draft. And I'll just say that we can hypothetically debate this. I have a hard time, envisioning right now Caleb Malhotra not being available on the board for the Canucks to take at number three

but what we don't know yet is what happens with those two slots before that number three pick and that's the part where I mean you can work yourself up into a tizzy but what happens if

Ivers Denver goes one and the sharks take a defenseman it's a possibility and if that's the case, then, well, then maybe Gavin McKenna falls into your lap at three and you just have to execute and take the highest skilled player. I think there's a lot of teams that have been paying very closely attention to exactly what you said about grabbing a center and him being arguably the premier center in this draft. That matters.

And that's a big reason why he has shot up the draft boards and rankings, not just because he closed with one of the best, you know, second halfs of the season, but also because of the premium position that he plays. We mentioned one of the two coaching vacancies in the NHL right now, one of them, of course, being Evanton. The other one, Toronto. Now, I'm curious, what have you got here?

There was a report this morning, I believe it was from Darren Dregor. The interviews this week are going to include Patrick Waugh, which I did not see coming. and then, of course, there's a handful of other candidates out there as well. What do you know, what are you hearing on the Maple Leaf's coaching front, Frank? Man, it just feels unholy. Patrick Waugh behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, doesn't it not?

That one came out of left field. I did not see that coming. Rain exploding. Yeah, so that would be odd to see, but clearly he's a well-thought-of coach, and I'd be curious to see what he learned. from his second tenure as an NHL head coach and what experience that would bring to this role.

Peter Lavillette, not a shock that they're going to talk to. Look, they've cut a pretty wide swath here in terms of people that they're talking to and investigating. And I expect this to heat up in a bigger way next week after the combine when they bring people in for in-person interviews. But needless to say that of all the things that they're considering, including actually in Buffalo today for the scouting combine, what they do with that number one pick,

getting and nailing this head coach will be a big part of it. I'd love to know what their thought processes are because they're not revealing it, and they don't want coaches to go in with any preconceived notion because I think the answer is they don't really know, how is this going to play out? are they re-tooling, re-whatever? How quickly do they envision being competitive?

Because that's going to determine, in my view, what type of coach they go after. Caleb Malhotra at the NHL scouting combine in Buffalo on Monday afternoon. And two, intrepid nchel.com reporter Mike Moriel did a Q&A and a follow-up with Melhotra after the interview and wrote a piece for NHL.com. Caleb said that it would be pretty cool, quote-unquote,

to play for his dad in the National Hockey League. A lot of really interesting quotes to come from the piece, including how he said he felt the interview went well with the Vancouver Canucks. They did indeed ask him a series of questions about playing for his dad. He made note of the fact that he has not played on a team that his dad has coached since he was 12 years old playing minor hockey right here in BC on a spring team. And that was the last time that he actually remembers

Mani coaching him. Now, there's something interesting here that he very consciously said, and I'll read the quote. This is me being Caleb Malhotra now. I kind of separate dad and coach. And I'll talk to dad, but I'll talk to coach a lot about a lot of different things my game, whether it's about the team

or just specific things in my game. I call both my parents before every game and usually talk to dad more about the hockey side and what he thinks I need in the game, whether it's moving your feet, staying on the defensive side of pucks, making sure you're not cheating. We talk about the penalty

killing faceoffs a lot. So there was that sort of compartmentalization where there's like hockey coach manny. Then there's dad manny, which is a tough thing to do for a kid. Because obviously, those lines blur, especially when you're younger. And maybe you don't have this either emotional maturity or just the regular maturity

to understand that you need to do that. Now, will it extrapolate and play out at the NHL level remains to be seen? But I thought it was interesting that there's already those defined roles because he's going to be asked a lot about that if he goes to the Canucks. And I think, and I'd say more distressingly, if he gets fast-tracked into the NHL this year, which I don't think they will. Really hope they don't do that. be shot. I mean, wouldn't it go against

everything that they've been saying? Yes. But we're not going to rush this. Right. What happened to the best way to go fast is slow. Yeah. That was a great line. And I hope that they adhere to that should they take him. Finally, Caleb did discuss what kind of profile player he is and where

his floor and ceiling is. Again, this is the quote. Floor. Massive bust. He didn't go there. My floor, Caleb said, is just as a really responsible center. He then went on to say, when I'm at my best,

I think I'm an elite centerman that can score and literally do everything. I try to play like Alexander Barkoff. And obviously, he's a winner. It'd be funny if he was like, my floor is still way better than my dad. Way better than my dad. That would have been a good way to show that there's a little friction

between him and his dad, you know? That's good. Well, I was thinking that when you were saying in his quotes, like, what are they expecting him to say to some of these questions. It's fair. You can't really go out on a limb on any of those questions.

I don't want to play for that. He answered him down the middle. Sounds like a nightmare. Counterpoint. What's he going to say? Counterpoint, as a high riser and a guy that's going to go high in this draft, you could say to one organization,

this is such a unique set of circumstances. You could say, hey, don't draft me. This isn't a good idea. Yeah. And it takes some brass ones to do it. And I'm not sure that the organization would love the answer. but I bet some other NHL clubs.

I think they'd appreciate it. They'd appreciate it. If it was a truth. Now, maybe he wouldn't say that publicly in an interview with NHL.com's Mike Morial, but maybe privately in the interview, he'd be like, hey, just a heads up. I don't think this is a great idea. Can I just say that this draft is fascinating? Fascinating.

It is. I mean, it definitely helps that the Kinnock's a part of it. They've got the third overall pick. But, you know, McKenna could in theory draw Stenberg could in theory drop. And then you've got San Jose at number two. They could either draft a defenseman at number two or trade back and still get a pretty good defenseman.

It'd be nice if some of these things played out. There are all sorts of things on the table. You know, it might just go like, it kind of goes first. Stenberg goes to San Jose. The connects to take Malhotra. And then a really good defenseman would go to Chicago. They don't talk about Chicago enough.

they're going to get another good player in this. It's nice to know no matter what happens though, the Canucks come out as a winner. Like they'll get somebody great no matter what. That's good PR, buddy. I'm just saying, that's good SPAR. It's nice because it doesn't always happen like that. Are you the new Jim

Rutherford? Yeah, they hired me. Looking at the mock drafts, though, the top six picks at least are all legitimate difference maker potential players. Like that's amazing for the teams that have a pick in that region. It's a interesting. Randy Janda, on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

Okay, let's turn our attention now to all of this stuff with the Vancouver Canucks that we need to get into, including the big news of the week. And that is that Madi Mahhotra was named the 23rd head coach in franchise history. We played a bunch of audio yesterday, Ryan Johnson talking about a variety of things, but a lot about Mani, why he's on the job.

He called it a mission that they're on right now. And Bruff and I were both talking about this at the onset of the show, how it's great to have, like it used to be a trio. It's a quartet of guys who have a real appreciation for the market and what it means and this franchise having played for it and now being managerial executives, coaches of it. They're almost stewards of what the Canucks are all about. And it feels great to hear these guys talk about it.

Mani is just the latest extension of that. Curious to get your thoughts on what everything Ryan Johnson had to say yesterday about hiring Mani. Yeah, I was very impressed with Ryan Johnson. And, you know, we talked about his style last week, guys, about, you know, would he shoot from the hip or is he a little bit more cerebral? Obviously, he's not afraid to talk, but what he says and the way he comes about making decisions, I've really liked that, right? Like, you know, if you look at the conversation that he had with media yesterday,

two things stood out to me. One is that it feels like he's not going to be rushed into decisions, right? Like, we were having that conversation about, you know, why it took so long or it was nearly two weeks. The way that Ryan says it, it's like, hey, we needed to have some necessary conversations. We needed to make sure that we were aligned that there was a two-way conversation

before anything could happen. And I really like that, right? Like, there's no, you know, ignoring the elephant in the room or not addressing a topic. It's getting into that nitty-gritty. He's not giving you too much, but he's letting you know, of course, hey, yeah, it might not have fit your timeline,

but here's what happened. The other thing is I like the fact that he addresses the tough conversations, whether it was about Caleb, you know, his, mani's son and potentially drafting him, whether it was Elias Pedersen, whether it was what took so long to get the manny deal done. You know, there were, there's always, he's not one to shy away from that conversation. So overall, we'll hear from Mani Mahalthra on, on Thursday. and I expect very much the same, but that alignment where you have, we're going to make our decisions, we're going to do what's right for the organization

and what's right for the process. That's been the most impressive thing right now, most notably from Ryan Johnson, because we hear from him the most. Have you noticed like we have? Maybe you disagree with this, but he doesn't carve the former Canucks administration, but with the way he talks about what he wants to have

going forward, with the Canucks, he kind of carves the previous administration. Yeah, I think him outlining what he wants, there are certain things that you can contrast, right? And I think there's one specific mention that I look at. Actually, too, first is when he was talking about Manuel Hoferra's goals, play structured hockey with all three zones. Every player knows what the role is.

And they have certainty of their role. And I think there was some confusion. Obviously last year, the way the team, even before the injuries, that was not a certain team, especially in their own zones. So when we're talking about all three zones, they didn't catch on to what Adam Foote was trying to get them to do. So having that structured hockey in all three zones, like that is a contrast from last year. And it's not like Adam Foote didn't try. It just didn't work. The other thing is the Elias Pedersen conversation I thought was fascinating, right?

where going back a couple of years, the Jim Rutherford regime challenged Alias Pedersen. In a lot of ways, whether it was players within that group that were empowered to, hey, we want to see the best of them, challenge them. You know, that's what we heard, obviously. We heard the coach talk about him publicly as well. I remember Rick Tockeet after a hat trick by Alias Pedersen against Nashville. He was asked the question about PD's game.

And he said, yeah, I think he mentioned giveaways, as the headline. Like, you know, there's a, hey, he's doing well, but we need more, we need more, we need more. Whereas Ryan Johnson at the outset is coming out with a, just be yourself, which is very different from the previous regime. That was asking him to be somebody different. They wanted him to evolve, I guess, in a way to maybe a Sydney Crosby S type believer that they'd seen in Pittsburgh or a Yvgeny Malkin. So not necessarily talking about the previous regime directly, but yes, the task is completely different. And I agree with that.

I think we'll see how it plays out, but some of the messaging early on is quite different. What would you be looking for in a coaching staff for Manny? I think with Manny, he's very well prepared. And he's somebody that has the playing experience. He's got a number of years for coaching experience, whether it was here in Vancouver, his first stint when he was the eye in the sky

or when he went to Toronto and was on an NHL bench there with Spencer Carberry, who's a lead assistant, Sheldon Keith staff. So that experience is there. When we talked about having, you know, a veteran NHL assistant next to him, I don't think it's as necessary with Manny. Obviously, if you can get somebody that fits that role and, you know, that has the expertise but has some experience, it's not a bad thing, but it's not as necessary.

I think finding those best in industry individuals that maybe don't have that much experience either. I don't mind that. I think you just got to have to carve out those niches with the PK, with the power play, the defensive coaches. But to me, I don't necessarily think you need that griseled vet, so to speak, or that recently let-go head coach

that's going to, the Claude Julien types or the Guy Bouchet types or you don't necessarily need that. I think one of the themes, that we've seen and we've heard from this regime, whether it's the Sedeans, whether it's Ryan Johnson, and having talked to Manny, as you guys have in the past, the process is the most important thing to this individual. He is, I remember having a shout with him

when he was the assistant coach for the Canucks way back when. We're talking about nine years ago. And the thing that he mentioned to me was, you have to fall in love with the process, not the end result. So this guy is fully, fully, you know, he's very thorough in his own deal. He wants his players to fall in love with the process,

but he's extremely prepared as well and build those good habits. So when it comes to a coach being prepared and him bringing that preparation, that organization, I think with Manny, you don't necessarily need the veteran Claude Julian type. I'm just throwing that name out there because he's the one that stands out to me. You know, he's played that role on numerous benches. So I think, you know, best in industry doesn't necessarily have to mean the most experience. Yeah, I mean, they're going to need to fall in love with the process over the next year or two because they're probably not going to win many games.

And I thought it was interesting that Ryan Johnson talked about Manny's experience last season in Abbottford and how you might expect more of that in the NHL this season where you look at the roster and you look at the talent on the roster and you basically say, we don't have much of a chance to be a playoff team here, but we do have a chance to become better every day. And that's really the key. When you are a coach that's working your way up through the ranks and you're in Abbotsford,

and a lot of coaches will say this, but they're trying to do what's best for the player and make sure when they go to the NHL that they don't come back, right? Ryan Johnson mentioned something very similar about having coaches in the HL. You want to graduate them to the NHL. with Manny, it was a really tough year last year.

They used, what, 52 different players on that HAL team, which is ridiculous. You know, and we talk about injury trouble for the NHL club. It was damage control at the HAL level, and they still weren't a good team, but they were a competitive team. They were able to finally get a bit of a rhythm, but it was a tough start for that team. And there was a couple of, you know, what, a 10-game losing streak, but he still was able to show his strengths, right? And one of the key ones, I think, that's going to be really important for him over the next couple of years is staying calm and being able to communicate.

And you talk to any player that's played for him, the ability to, A, stay calm, you know, stress accountability within your team. And guys, to communicate that, because in any managerial situation, if you don't communicate why you're making a decision, there's a lot of questions, there's a lot of animosity that can be, you know, develop. and for pro athletes especially, and even on that Calder Cup winning year, like there were some tough decisions. He had the scratch players in the playoffs, and you have to have, you know, a clear communication of why you're not playing versus,

you know, somebody else in that lineup. So I think with Manny, certainly the foundation is there for this group because there are going to be days where you're going to maybe get spanked on, you know, you know, hockey night in Canada, or you're going to get spanked, you know, in a midweek game.

And you got to keep your head up. You got to make sure. that your shoulders are back and that you are confident going to the next one because you're not playing for right now. You're playing to become a better team long term and you need a coach that thinks that way. We always talk about a developmental coach versus a coach here and now, you know, that's trying to win. And for the first time in a lot of years, guys, as far as I can remember, the Canucks finally have a developmental coach. And we'll see how that works out. But I think, you know, he's got the right mentality for it.

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