Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 9/10/25

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they dissect Jack Hughes' comments about playing with his brother Quinn down the road, wherever that may be, plus they discuss the latest 'Nucks news with Canucks Central's Satiar Shah. 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 the best of Halford and Brough. And a ground ball to first. They're coming home, and the Blue Jays win it. if I, like, visualize it walking up to the plate, I'm like, I went to Pittsburgh for this hit right here. The two-a-s-s-wong-on, blasted, right-field. Massive bad flip is this one, sails away.

Goodbye, Josh Naylor. Good morning, Vancouver, 6-1 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford, it is rough. It is SportsNet 650, and we are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. And Lattie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program.

Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming alive from the Kintech, Radio, Kintech, footwear and orthotics, working together with you in Step. Big show ahead on a Wednesday, four guests and a ton of stories to get into, so let's not waste any time. Guest list today begins at 630.

Ben Nicholson Smith, Blue Jays reporter for Sportsnet, is going to join the program. What a win for the Jays last night in front of the Toronto Faithflow. Tyler Heineman drove in the winning run in the 10th inning, and the Blue Jays rallied to beat the hated Astros, those cheating Astros, 4-3 on Tuesday night. There was some bad news, though. Bo Bichette and his health going on I-L. We're going to talk to Ben about all of this at 6.30. Big win for the Jays, but a tough one for Bo's health.

Laddie's pointing at me, yes, Lattie? Beat those dastardly Astros. Good thing we have good boy, George Springer, on our side. You never cheated a day. Never cheated for one second. 7 o'clock. Sean Gentilly's going to join the program. NHL writer for the athletic based out of Pittsburgh.

The Penguins and Sidney Crosby. very much in the news right now. We passed this along yesterday. Crosby's agent, Pat Bresson, said that a potential trade involving Sidney Crosby is always a possibility. Then at the NHL's media tour yesterday in Vegas, Crosby addressed those swirling trade rumors

with Elliot and Kyle in a recording for 32 thoughts, the podcast. We can also get into the potential sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins. So there's lots to discuss with Sean Gentile from the Athlete. athletic at 7 o'clock. 7.30. Very cool guest to get on the program. Former SportsNet 650 host, now podcaster extraordinaire.

Scott Rintoul is going to join the program. That's right. Rinty, it's going to be on our show. His latest endeavor is a weekly podcast titled Better Sports Parents. It's about bobsled. No, it's about better sports parenting. I debuted yesterday featuring Canadian Olympic Alpine ski. here, Alison Forsyth.

So the focus of this, because there's obviously lots of ways you can go with sports parenting. He's talking to former athletes who have kids in sports right now. Very interesting angle to take. So we'll talk to Rinty about all that. We obviously talk a ton about youth sports

and sports parenting on this show. So this is right up our alley. The key, I think, is to put a lot of pressure on them. Yes. Every good sports parents will tell you that. Make it unfun. Yeah. How does it feel like work?

Well, to put pressure on them early. Early. So they get used to it. Yep. And it's an answer. And he said, make sure it's not fun. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it can't be a, I don't want to see you smiling out there.

A couple of the staples of good sports. And just make sure they know that we're counting on them to support the family at some point. There has to be a financial component to it. Yeah, yeah. How much money it's costing you in relation to how much you need to earn later on in life. Keep reminding them of how expensive it is and how many sacrifices you're making so that they can eventually support you financially. And this is all stuff that Rinti'll go over. You better be making money at this pretty soon because this hockey gear is expensive.

So Rintel is going to join us at 7.30 to talk about his latest podcast, Better SportsPare Parents. 8 o'clock. Sorry, 805. Someone needs a five-minute buffer after he gets home from the gym. That's the new Dan Murphy. Satyar Shaw is going to join us at 805 Sportsnet 650 Canucks Central hosts. Some big news from the Canucks yesterday from a guy that doesn't even play for the Vancouver Canucks. Jack Hughes, brother of Quinn Hughes, had some very interesting things to say

at the NHL's media tour in Vegas yesterday about how much he hopes to one day play with his brother, not Luke, but Quinn. We'll talk to Sat about that and a bunch of other Canucks-related topics as the team preps for its prospect journey in Seattle this weekend. So working in reverse on that guest list, 8 o'clock, it's 7.30, it's Rinty,

7 o'clock, it's Gentilly, 6.30, Ben Nicholson Smith. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddy, let's tell everybody, 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? 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 BCCCSA.ca.c.a. With everything going on in the National Hockey League and the sporting world, we are going to start with the Vancouver Canucks and the Canucks adjacent news from yesterday. So in Vegas, during a interview with various print media types, including Pierre LeBron, Jack Hughes decided to kick the Hornets Nest here in Vancouver. It opened up about his desire to eventually play with his brother, Quinn Hughes. There's no audio of what he actually said available.

So I'm going to have to do my best Jack Hughes impression. I'm not going to put on a little voice. I was thinking about doing a gabble voice, but I'm not going to do it. When asked the question about eventually playing with Quinn, he did allude to the fact that this was a quote-unquote headline question. He was stealing Pee's bit about making a headline in Vancouver. This is the quote that caught everybody's attention yesterday

from Jack Hughes about playing with his brother. Honestly, I'm not afraid to say it. Yeah, I would love for Quinn to. eventually I'd love to play with him and whether that's in New Jersey or at what time that takes at some point I want to play with Quinn but yeah that's the question going around

they talk all day about it up in Vancouver you know yeah Jack we know and guess what we're going to be talking about even more now up in Vancouver hey you get you confused people you have to put the Shorty end quote

end quote my favorite part of Shorty's read It's like, this is the part where I stop talking as another person. You weren't supposed to read the quotation part there, short. End quote. Exclamation point, period, end quote. Okay, let's parse through this. And then we got a lot of other things we need to get to as well.

Because this quote does kind of speak for itself. The only thing I think that... What a little stinker that Jack Hughes is, by the way. I've been a bad little boy. You know, Rutherford called him up as like, hey, that's my bit. Yeah. And it was Rutherford's. bit for a while but now it's jacks so the only thing i'll say is that he very quickly caught himself

when he said i would love for quinn to he was going to say one day play in new jersey obviously and then he caught himself and said i'd love to play with him and then wherever that would be in new jersey or anywhere else but there's no i know that there's a visceral reaction when people hear this but i mean i don't know what to i don't know what to say other than you know he's not hiding from it. No one's hiding from it. The general manager and the president of hockey ops from the Canucks isn't hiding from it. The brother of the player in question isn't hiding from it.

I think there's a bunch of Canucks fans hiding from it, like literally in their beds right now. You know what? I'm just hiding. hiding from the idea and the thought. And I was not on social media yesterday, but I'm sure more than a few Canucks fans were like, isn't this like tampering or something

like that? You know, just it's we don't this is why this season coming up, I think everyone's a little bit on edge because Quinn has thrown out there, and I think the quote that kind of sticks with me is the interview

he did with IMAC, and he said who knows how I will feel at this time next year, right? Like, he can't say for sure. It all depends, I

think, how this season goes. I don't think Quinn, well, I don't know, but I wonder if Quinn even knows himself what he's going to do. No, like, although, I think it just goes, look, I think the only thing to be taken away from this is that the brothers playing together has been a lifelong dream. It hasn't been extinguished. And now we're at the point of the proceedings where it's close enough that everyone's just openly talking about it. There's nothing sort of shrouded. There's no innuendo.

There's no subtle allusions to it. It's just out there. And I think that what happens next, and Quinn Hughes is also down in Vegas at the media availability, by the way. So I'm sure he will get asked about this as well. This does put pressure on Quinn Hughes to either answer these questions,

deflect these questions, or shut it down entirely. It'd be funny if he was like, I'd love it if Jack and Luke came to Vancouver. I mean, that's a possibility. I'll throw this out there. Maybe, maybe Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey Devils will poison the Hughes well by screwing things up with Luke because they're in a contractual standoff right now.

Come on. Take that. Take that. Put it out there. Put it on the NHL's media tour. Why ain't anyone asking that question? Huh? Anyway, we got other things.

Because they'll get something done there. Yeah, right, because that's 100% getting down. But still, still. Let's not be desperate, though. Let's not grasp at straws like that. I'm not. I'm throwing it, but I'm just throwing it right back. This is on the Canucks to solve as far as I'm concerned.

This is a, this is on, you know, you know, what do they say? What do people text into our show that's kind of annoying? Be better. Be better. Like that's what the Canucks have to be. If they want to, they want to keep Quinn Hughes. And frankly, if they want to keep their fans, just be better, don't have another year like last year.

But you understand the issue with that now is that they may get better and they may be better. And it still may not be enough to overcome the allure of reuniting the family. But that's why I say I honestly don't know if he's decided what he wants to do. He's the captain of this team. Yeah. I don't think he takes that lightly. He does not. That's a hundred.

That's very good point. I don't think he's gone at their competitive playoff team. If they're a competitive playoff team, I would be shocked if Quinn was just like, ah, it's been fun, see ya. But I think you have to look long term. I think you have to look long term. That's what McDavid's doing at Empton right now. It's not whether, you know, he just went to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals.

And he's still looking at the organization and going, you know, like what do we have, what do we have down the line? These players are getting a little bit smarter, right? They're not just like, yeah, we're good right now, so we'll be good forever, right? Sure. You know, do you ever when, you know what I always think about? Was it Jerome McGinla when he signed in Colorado

after they went on that little, they had that one kind of surprising year and all the analytics guys were like, this is not, this is, you know, fools gold or whatever, and they went and signed in Colorado and they were terrible. I do kind of remember this now. I forgot about the Jerome again

Colorado chapter. I just woke up so I might have dreamed that. I mean, he definitely played there. Yeah, yeah. Like I remember... He signed a contract. Yeah, and I remember people thinking like, like, oh, because he was just like,

yeah, they're good, right? And went there and it's like, I don't know. Like, I think these guys are getting smarter about holding the organization not to account because the organization will know but just being like

hey what are we doing right now but also how are we looking in three to four years public service address there's multiple people texting in saying that we sound like a cross between Buffalo Bill and Barry White on various streams including the HD feed

it's definitely the feed I can hear my voice brough's a little tired but he sounds fine so bear with us what if we talk even slower. Maybe go to your traditional AM feed, maybe try a stream. I'm not sure, but we will work through whatever technical difficulties that we've had since the beginning of time. Okay, let's go on. It should be fixed within the next four to five weeks. Let's go on. We'll see a big girl. Let's go on. Please stop. I beg all of you. Put the lotion in the basket. I want everyone,

I want everyone to stop doing it. It's just going to make things more confusing for the listeners. I want to go to the other trade rumors that are swirling in the present, maybe not necessarily down the road. Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the swirling trade speculation around Sidney Crosby, as I think some people forget, he currently is beginning the first of a two-year contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He sat down with Kyle and L.A. yesterday for a recording for 32 thoughts, and he says that the trade rumors don't anger him because he understands it and knows that. that it's part of it, but he still doesn't love it all that much. Here's the audio, it's but a minute of the captain in Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby talking about the trade rumors and his future as a penguin from the 32 Thoughts podcast with Kyle and Elliot. That's the thing that sucks about losing because when you lose, it's that speculation.

When you win, there's no, there's no speculation. It's like who they picking up or who's the deadline acquisition. You know, it's when you lose, it's like, who's going you know like that's that's the crappy part about losing the expectations are the other way you know they're not high um you know there's a lot of noise as far as you know you know does he want to leave you know where can you go you know everyone's got the team they want me to go to i mean it's it's a lot of that so i think the challenge is it's different in a way but it's kind of the same is just trying to like you know just try to focus on the things that you control and for me like

I still go into every game you know wanting to win and every off season preparing to be the best that I can and those other things aren't really in my control what the expectations are whether we just came off of winning the Stanley Cup or we've missed a playoff three years in a row it's it's not something that you can really change at this point so this year crosbie talked about the expectations, and he even acknowledged, like they're not nearly as high as they've ever been over my course of time in Pittsburgh. I think actually, outside of his rookie year,

where expectations were high for him but low for the team because they were bad, I'm not sure that he's ever gone into a season with as low as expectations. So bookend your career like that in Pittsburgh. And then get out of there. Get out of there. I kind of forget all the things that Dubus has done around Crosby.

I forgot that they have. hired 43-year-old Dan Muse, my muse, as the head coach. Oh, yeah. Right? I knew that was going to catch him off guard. Everything in Pittsburgh is pointing to we're not going to be good and we're going to rebuild. I wonder if it needs to go, we're going to move Raquel, we're going to move Rust, and then maybe we address this thing with Crosby. I also wonder if they're going to kick the can down the road a year and wait for Malkin to play out his swan song and retire. But then I think about it. I'm like, but you're wasting a year of Sidney Crosby as he gets closer to 40.

I wonder how he felt about Pat Bresson for throwing that quote out because, you know, I saw a lot of Pittsburgh media yesterday kind of doing the same thing that we do with Quinn Hughes, you know, like trying to make themselves feel a little bit better. And I was like, Sid speaks for himself and he always has. I don't know.

So, you know, for Pat Prasan to come out and say that, was that just Pat's opinion that he only wants to see Sid on a playoff team? Or was he given permission by Sid to say something like that? It's a great question because that is, for Brasson to say it now, you know, like weeks ahead of the start of the regular season. To Pierre LeBron. And having never addressed. this before publicly as

Crosby's agent, it feels awfully strange he would just one day decide, you know what, now's the time that I'm going to do this. He's like, Sid, you could ask for a bigger contract now. 8.7 million. Well, I just, I do, I don't know if it was Crosby maybe, you know, kickstarting this thing or Bresan being like, hey, I'm going to put this out there in the ether. How do you

feel about it? Yeah. Like, who knows who the instigator was, but I find it like very, very, very hard to believe that the longtime super agent of Sidney Crosby just went and did this as an independent agent. Like, I feel as though this is probably a coordinated thing. I'm just a fan with opinions, right? Just the humble agent, just say it in what I think.

Maybe he did. Maybe he did. Maybe he's upset of the direction of the penguins. I mean, it could be. Yeah. Okay, I do want to finish this what happened segment with the Blue Jays because it was another very exciting win for the Jays last night. Laddie, another comeback victory for the Jays.

What was the last season where the Jays had this? This many come from behind victories. They have tied the 1993 Jays, who I don't think they were very good. I don't know. I wasn't, I was really young when that happens. I don't remember. Fell apart in the end. Nothing of consequence happened.

Joe Carter, Joe Carter, a big strikeout. An extra innings win over the Astros yesterday, 4-3 is the Jays rallied to beat those cheating Astros. I'm going to play two bits of audio here. The Jays were down 3-1 going into the bottom of the ninth before I-KF stepped to the plate, drove in two to tie it. Here's what it sounded like, courtesy of Dan Shulman. A line drive in the left of base hit. Higman scores.

Clement on his way to the plate, and the game is tied. The throw to the backstop and the other runners advance. So once again, it's another random name doing the business for the Jays. This time, Isaiah Kine of Falafah gets the hit in the ninth to tie it up to send it into extras. Now we go directly to the bottom of the 10. another household name, Tyler Heineman, gets the job done. Again, we go back to Shulman.

Here's what it sounded like as the Jays win 4-3 on a walk-off. There goes Guerrero, and a ground ball to first. They're coming home, and the Blue Jays win it. Now, this isn't to say that the big guys didn't chip in and do their thing. Vladie legged out an infield single and got that rally going. Great defensive play in the top half of the extra inning. cross-diamond throw to third to get out Altova? Some tidbits about that.

That was his second hardest throw of the season. And when he beat out that infield hit, that was the second fastest sprint of the season for Vlad. So he was really busting down the line. So they're getting contributions from their stars, but it's hilarious when you go through and you're like, who were the big stars yesterday? Well, it was Isaiah Kiner Folefa,

who they just picked up off of Pittsburgh. And he had nothing good to say about Pittsburgh, by the way. He's like, thank God I got out of Pittsburgh. What's his name? Isaiah Kiner Folefa. Gazentite. Thank you. Tyler Heineman, also getting the job done.

Miles Straw came across to get the winning run. All the classic players that you expect. It's their DNA. At this point, you have to at least suggest that they are going to be able to translate this to the postseason because the biggest question for this team right now is can you count on Isaiah Kiner Folefa? Bless you.

It's allergy season. Tyler Heimman, Miles Straw, all these guys in clutch situations when they need a run. Now they've done it throughout the regular season but part of the regular season is you get to play against crappy teams a lot too. Not that the Astros are. Astros are a good team without question. So the Js have a three game lead on the Yankees and remember they're going to make the playoffs but they want to get that

that buy. I want to get that first round buy and right now according to fan graphs they got a 74% chance of getting that buy the Yankees are really, well, maybe the Red Sox are the only two. How about that Yankees bullpen yesterday, Laddie? How many runs? They gave up nine runs in the seventh inning. Yeah. Well, how about the

Jay's bullpen? It's turning around a little bit. Hoffman got the win yesterday. Yeah, yeah. Are bullpen's volatile, you guys? Sometimes. I get the sense. But you can't, when you're doing this on radio and you want to create a narrative, you have to really accentuate. Oh, come on. We're all going to still be nervous

in the playoffs when the bullpen comes out there. Ladi always act like he's so cool he won't be nervous at all and he'll be like oh god Hoffman's coming out I'm cool and not nervous it's just I know that's how baseball is my bullpen is always kind of a crapsion unless you have like a top tier best bullpen

in the league you can't you never have tons of confidence in your boyfriend as someone who witnessed the greatest closer in MLB history with my favorite team the Oakland days back in the day even Dennis Eckersley from time to time would blow up quite famously I might add in the playoffs yeah but

yeah because we're there two famous home runs off him, Al-A-Mar, and Kirk Gibson. And you're talking about one of the elite closers in history. So I'll give some credence to what you're saying here. However, I don't think we were wrong in saying like Hoffman's August was atrocious by any closer standards, right? And that was something that's, especially because it happened late in the year,

you look at it and you're like, what happens if we have to deal with this in October base? What's Hoffman's record? It's like five and six or something. When you, Closer has a record like that. It's usually not a good sign. He's 9 and 6. 9 and 6. Yeah, yeah. Which is the opposite of 6 and 9.

Because they keep coming back. Nice. Okay, we got to go to break. When we come back, we'll get into more. I guess the 96 would be the same as a 69, though, right? Let me look. No. No, because they'd be facing backwards.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, no. This guy. It's early. This guy gets nowhere. We'll workshop it. What are we doing here? We will not workshop that.

to use some baseball parlance. He's stuck at first base, okay? We got to go to break. I'm not enjoying this. This feels weird. I need an adult. When we come back, we're going to talk to Ben Nicholson Smith. Not about this at all.

We're never going to mention this again. Yeah, we were 96 in last night. It was great. It was great. Ben's like, I've canceled my hit somehow. Ben Nicholson Smith's going to join us for Jay Stock. Also an update on the Bo Bichette injury situation. We got a lot more to get to. on the program. Don't go anywhere assuming we're allowed to come back after the break.

Tones text in. That's called sleeping. Yeah, sleeping. That is sleeping. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. 8.1 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody, Halford Brough, SportsNet 650. This is the music that Sats working out to right now. Some leg lifts One of the things

A dog No, he's on the elliptical to this Yeah, 100%. 100%. Arms and legs. I can't do that. It feels so foolish. The elliptical?

The elliptical? I love the elliptical. It's great. The elliptical in a gym where there's a mirror is tough because you're just looking yourself like.

Oh, yeah. No mirrors. I look like a dork. Lims flailing. I challenge you. Challenge anyone to take a video of yourself looking cool on an elliptical.

It's impossible. Not even the coolest Hollywood actor. You can. You just have to squint. Nope. You have to like jump from one elliptical to the next. Yeah, that would be cool. Parkour.

Yeah. I just flail my arms and legs wildly until people just leave me alone. The reason I bring this, I can see people coming over to the gym going to be like, if you keep doing that, you're really going to hurt yourself. What the hell is wrong with that guy? Sir, please stop. The reason I bring up the timing in Sat's workout is Adog. A-Dog, if he's dedicated to one particular,

particular thing, it's the time in which a guest has to join the program down to the minute and exits. You're very good at making sure to the minute. So I'm like, oh, we got sat joining us at 8 o'clock this morning. Just trying to improve the lives of our guests. And you said, no, easier for them. Not 8 o'clock, 8.05. Oh, he requested that. I know, but you held up the request. I wasn't just like, hey, I got an idea. Let's throw these guys for a loop and start the interview at 805 today. And I said, why, A dog? And you said he needs time to decompress after the gym. So I imagine that when we came back at 8 o'clock,

he was putting the final touches on his elliptical session to that song. And soon he will join us. Soon Satyar Shah will join the program. We got some business to take care of before we get the sat, though. We are an hour three of the program, by the way. You are listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford in the Morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free

in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. Our three of this show is brought to you by Campbell & Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell dash pound.com today. We are coming to live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Guests on Sportsnet 650 call in on the hotline powered by PowerWest Industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at powerwest.ca. Today they keep the lights on. So real quick, before we to Satyar Shah on the Halford and Brough show on Sports 9650. The Canucks

did release their prospects roster. This is the group of prospects that will be going to Seattle this weekend. The Young Stars is no longer. The Canucks and the Cracken are now engaged in an annual affair where their prospects will take each other on in some sort of mini tournament. It's in Seattle

this year. I believe next year will be in Abbotsford, not Vancouver. So the roster's got some familiar names on it. Jonathan Lechromacki's on there. Braden Coots, this year's first round draft pick. Tom Vlander, Kirill Kudriatsev. D.P.D. is there.

Lice Pedersen, the defenseman. So there's some guys that you'll know going down to Seattle and something that you won't. Alexei, Medvedev. Yeah. Laddie, what do we think about Alexei Medvedev? Are we excited about him? I don't know how much, a lot about him.

He lost his starters role during the season with London, but they're kind of a team that makes changes all year long. Yeah. It's sometimes hard to judge the guys from London. Don't you think? It really is. Because they're in such, especially goaltenors. It's like a vacuum, right? There's nothing that gets through to them most of the time. So it's tricky.

But a lot of the scouts I've talked to really do think there's something there. They like them. Oh, that's good. Okay. So training camp, just a reminder, September 18th, that's the start day in Penticton. There's usually medicals the day before on the 17th. So this weekend we got, or sorry, the 13th and the 14th, is that this weekend? Yeah, in Everett and Seattle.

You've got the prospects exhibition games, I guess, against Seattle. And then next week is when training camp starts. Let's go now to the Power West Industries hotline. Satyar Shah joins us here now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. What up, Sat? What's going on, boys? A hockey season is upon us. Almost.

Almost. So, too, are the rumors. And we got a good one yesterday. Not even a rumor. It's just Jack Hughes telling everyone that he wants to one day play with his brother. I do appreciate that Jack stopped short of saying that he wants Quinn to join him in New Jersey, but that was about all he stopped short on because he made it very clear yesterday at NHL Media Tour in Vegas that he's aware that the talk is out there.

He knows it's going to cause headlines in Vancouver. He doesn't seem to care, and he yes did confirm that he one day wants to play with Quinn and Jack and Luke altogether in some NHL destination. What did you think of what went down yesterday, Sat? Jim Brotherford's, like, I told you guys, I was trying to tell you the brothers want to play together. I mean, you know, I mean, but honestly, I don't think it was anything, any surprise, right? Like, you know, I was actually happy he answered it earnestly instead of giving some BS answer about, oh, you know, we'll see what happens or whatever. But I think as far as the thing he mentioned about whether it's in New Jersey or however long it takes, I think he was careful to not say Jersey or elsewhere now.

I don't think necessarily that means Vancouver. But one thing I think that we also have to keep in mind is within the course of a week, two weeks, a month, a year, or a year and a half, things can change rapidly in the National Hockey League. And that's not to say that the brothers will want to come to Vancouver, but what's not to say that in two years or a year and a half, something happens and they end up in different destinations and they end up in a third city at some point. So I think, you know, as much as we're talking about New Jersey, I think this is something

that could really expand to more teams down the road, depending on. on how the devils go about things. The one thing to keep in mind with Jack Hughes is he's super talented. He's done a great contract, but he's slight. He's had some injury problems, and there have been questions in New Jersey about can they get the best out of him? So I don't think it's a situation where you're looking at it and saying it's a certainty that the brothers will play in New Jersey, but it may not be in Vancouver either in a few years.

What do you say when people go up to you and say, where do you think Quinn Hughes is going to end up? because I usually say like I don't even think Quinn knows I just say I don't know I think anybody who says otherwise is really just guessing and I know there is a sense that Quinn wants to leave Vancouver

a lot of fans believe this and I know there's no rumors about it but who are men when you talk to people in the organization they've never heard Quinn say he's not coming back and everything he mentioned about to IMAC about hey we'll see what happens this year but I'm focused on winning I want to be

here. And even one thing Jack mentioned was he did say Quinn really likes it in Vancouver. So I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Quinn is gone. I think it really does depend on not only how much success they have this year, but ultimately do you have a path to victory. And I think for a player like Quinn Hughes, especially in a Canadian market, if you have a path to victory and you have a legacy on the line potentially, I think those things do matter to players. And I think it matters to Quinn. Now, I'm always, I am still, one thing I've wondered about is as much as there is, they have a year to figure out if you want to stay here long term or not, is an eight-year deal really what he's going to go after? If that's what he, if that is what he's looking to do, then, you know,

maybe there's a bigger conversation to be had about where he wants to spend the next 70 years, or I guess it would be in the next 10 years we're talking about an eight-year extension at the end of next season. But I think if he does see a passive victory, what's to say that he wouldn't want to consider a shorter-term deal to see if he can push this team over the line at some point. I think having this team have some sort of success and doing something in the postseason matters to Quinn. It just comes down to, does he believe there's a path to doing so in the next two or three years? And whether you're a playoff team or not this year, can you look at this team by the end of this season and say, we're maybe one move away, maybe two moves and wait, wait, wait, but we're really knocking on that door.

And that, to me, is what has to happen for Quinn to really consider staying here. Well, I think it's the same situation with McDavid and Edmonton. You know, he's not just looking at, you know, obviously there are a good team. I've been to the Stanley Cup finals back-to-back years. But I think what he's doing there is he's not looking like, okay, what are we right now? He's what are we right now, but also what could we become? And I think in Edmonton, he might be worried about what they might become because they don't have many prospects. Some of their better complementary players are getting a little bit older.

You know, the goaltending situation still hasn't been solved. but I'd be more worried about, okay, who's going to replace Matias Ekholm on the blue line or, you know, what happens when Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent Hopkins age out a little bit? I wonder if players are getting a little bit smarter about that and maybe wanting just to leave their options open a little bit more, even though they are balancing that out against getting the security that you would get with an eight-year deal.

Absolutely. And I think for McDavid, especially, when you look at the players that they have lost, there were younger players kind of knocking on that door to replace some of the older players, Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway, they're no longer there. And I think part of the problem is instead of having a succession plan built up, it's kind of like a do-or-die roster the next few years and then it's going to fall off a cliff. So you can see there's an existential problem coming for Edmonton in a few years potentially, whereas in Vancouver, the existential problem is going to be whether Quinn stays or not.

The question, however, is do you have enough young players coming through in the full? board rank, but you can look at this year and say, Braiding Pooch, Lechromacki, Ratu, we got something here. And if you look at Pedersen finding his game, you got Brock, you got, you know, DeBrusc and some of these other guys, we're not that far away from being a contender. So I think for Vancouver really comes down to not only the young guys you have, but also whoever else you add to the roster.

And I don't know if you can get all those answers of one year. Like, are you going to find out of Brady Kutz is going to be the guy if he's not on the team? I don't think you can get that answer. Ross is going to be the big one, Lechromackie at some point. We know defense should be good, but it ultimately comes down to do you have enough firepower up front? And I know Quinn's a smart player, even he himself, when talking to IMAC mentioned, we're not going to be the most talented team. We're going to be all about working hard.

So he's very aware of what this team is. Do you have enough time to reinforce that forward rank? Do you have enough promising players up front to feel good about this team taking the next step? And a lot of this comes back, too, guys, to number 40. And if you find this game elevates the line and shows it can be a superstar, well, then that gap becomes a lot easier to bridge. I do wonder about that relationship between Hughes and Pedersen because Hughes has spoken about the similarities that they've had

and maybe some of the ways that they approach the game. And I mean, now it's going to be a test of the on-ice product that each brings because Hughes is more than delivered on his end of the bargain. I do wonder if there's going to be a looking across the room, like your turn to step up now. And the added element of, like, if you don't, it's really going to dictate the future, not just Hughes's future, but obviously the future of the entire organization.

Well, it really will, because Pedersen has a tough year and you're looking to trade them. You're getting nothing back in return, and now you're looking to find two centers in a superstar center. And now you're talking about the past getting even longer to become a contender. And that obviously, I think, tells you what's going to happen with Quinn. And I think even a bigger thing, even if Pederson is good,

can Quinn look at Pedersen and say, he's going to be a dog? him and I, we're going to be pushing the pace. We're going to be the two guys that are going to take this team to the next level. It'll be, can we be McCarrow McKinnon to some extent? Can we kind of be, I know there are two fours, but Dry Saddle and McDavid? Can we push each other? Can we become the best versions of ourselves and be two of the best players in the league? And can we be the type of duo that is always pushing the mentality to move forward.

That I can't answer. Neither can any of us in terms of being on the outside, but I think that's going to be a big part of it. It's not just going to be about, hey, competitor to put up some points. Can you be the type of player that kind of. Quinn can look at and say, we can win together. Him and I being the two best players, we can be the guy that set the standard here. And I think that's a question that has to be answered.

We're speaking to Satyar Shah here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. I wanted to talk about something you mentioned the other day on Central with regards to Atu-Ratu, and where you thought he might have been with regards to trade talks during the summer and how the organization might have been loath to include him in any package. Now, first off, am I afraid? framing that correctly that, you know, if these talks did happen, that Ratu might have been a player that was available? Yeah, I think, you know, availability is always one of those, you know,

questions, but players are always available for the right price. And I think generally, definitely that's something that every GM is going to say in terms of a get out of jail for free card, if conversations come up. But I think it's not lip service when they talk about, they feel like Rother can play an important role for them. And I think the main reason, I know this is very boring is he's the only centering the organization right now that,

whether it's short-term, outside of Bluger to some extent, but especially long-term, that has any chance right now or has a realistic shot at being a legitimate two-way centerman that can take some tough duties, win some face-off and play on the PK, and potentially, if he can pick up his pace, play a bit of a match-up role. Now, if you look at the players that are available on the trade market, for instance,

and let's just for an example use Marco Rossi. Rossi's super talented, but if you look at how the Knessner Center group is built, you had Heedel, you have Pedersen, you add a guy like Rossi, and if you had to say have to trade a Rothschu to get Rossi apart as part of a package, do you feel good about those three being a top three centers and those three guys handling all the duties and Blugher, just being a key guy playing fourth line minutes,

you're probably not going to be the type of thing you need to be. So if you look at the Canucks and their desire to get better, it's not just about finding a center. It's about finding a center that can do the things they need to do, and if they can do those things like play the PK, play some matchup minutes, win some faceoffs, and produce a little bit of offense, well, maybe then you don't feel too bad

about perhaps moving a guy like Autru-Rotu or somebody of that type of caliber. But if you look at the players that are available, like who is available that can do all those things for them? And if you look at what Baker requires and the assets they have, I think they're in a position where do you trade Velandor, do you trade DPD, and then you're short

on one of your best young prospects and players, or do you take a big swing and expose yourself when it comes to some of the issues you have to try to find a player that you're making a projection on. I think when the Canucks were faced, we were trying to make these deals, they looked at Ross, who has said his importance to us in terms of what he can do, it's probably too good to pass up unless we get the type of unicorn player we need. And if you look at the players were available, like, how many guys were available that you

looked at and said, hey, this guy can play tough minutes? Like, the only guy you looked at was maybe Pabble Zaka, but then that creates a whole other list of issues with Connucks fans wondering, is he good enough for you to trade away a first drop picking a prospect to get? So I think when the connection are looking to make these deals and as much as Rutherford said, he's going to be aggressive, they're going to do whatever it takes. You do whatever it takes if it exposes bigger holes for you,

and when you look at the Kinect's lack of prospects up front and lack of center prospects outside of Brady and Kruz and Ratu Ratu, it wasn't that easy to just go and move a Ratu and get a center because it creates all these other problems for you if you do. Totally valid. And I get where you're going and it makes a ton of sense. The only thing I would say, and I'm not questioning your analysis of this.

I'm kind of going back to the statements at Rutherford, in particular, put forth about in order to address this situation at center, I think the line was it's going to be expensive to solve, but it'll be even more expensive if we don't solve it. And then in the face of that, to say, like, we don't want to part with all due respect, Atu, Ratu, I'm like, well, but you laid it out that it's going to cost. It's going to be a give to get.

So even if it is a marginal, grade. Like, you've already established that you're going to have to pay to get it. And, you know, of all the pieces, like, I think Ratsu could be a fine player, but he's not established as an NHL. He's played 48 games at the highest level. And it's more speculative his value and worth to the team than anything else because it hasn't been proven at the NHL level yet. And that's completely valid. And I think that's kind of the pickle that Canucks find themselves in because as much as, you know, we look at the Abbott's for a run, they have some nice players that can play depth defense.

And even, you know, higher up the lineup, DPD, Mancini showed potential, Kudriasa showed a lot. I mean, there's a lot to like about it. But when you go through the forwards, whether it's Linus Carlson, R.C. Bain, also, Lickramacki, Max Sassen, all these guys project to be down the lineup type players. And none of them really project to be centers to play tough minutes. So, and I'm completely with you. And I think you have to take a role. But the Canucks are going to be built to play a defensive style of hockey this year. So hockey play defensive style of hockey and then make trades for players that do.

don't fit what you're trying to do and you're kind of left with an imbalance forward group. And going back to what Rutherford said, whether it was being too cavalier or whether it was being too optimistic, I do think that it was a lot harder than they expected to find the players they needed this offseason. I'm not, I don't have a problem with you not making a trade because you don't want to make yourself worse or just make a trade for the sake of making a trade. But I think that's a problem with being so cavalier about your ambitions. especially in a Canadian market.

Because when you set expectations and you say you're going to do something and that doesn't happen, all these questions become fair. And in turn, it creates more pressure on the young guys and the players here already to show that they can be the players

that they need to be pretty quickly here to justify not making that move. Now, that's not to say that they won't trade these players. I just think it's interesting that they're not going to trade a guy like Rathu, for instance, unless they get a player that can really do the dirty work for them.

And I think it goes back to they don't have a ton of players that have a lot of value. And if they move one or two guys for imperfect fit, where else you find that player? And I think you've got to be careful a bit, but you also can't be in a position where you're frozen out of fear of making a trade.

You know, I was thinking about when you were talking about, can Hughes and Pedersen be Vancouver's version of McCarar and McKinnon or McDavid and Drysidal? And I know what you're saying, but part of my brain went right to the power play. And I was like, they need to find a connection on the powerplay. Now, I heard from a very good source last season

that some of the power play meetings were like totally dysfunctional. Like certain guys, guess who, wouldn't even talk to each other in these power play meetings. And, you know, and I believe it because I watched the power plays and I was like, I don't think those two want to pass the puck to each other.

And, you know, even though the power play put up okay numbers, it was not a functional power play. I guess Brett McLean, new coach is going to be in charge of that. Is there, have you thought about this too? Like, is there a way? Like, I thought Quinn also was honestly, in some ways, part of the problem there, because I think he became predictable. And not that I don't blame him, but he kind of was like, I'm going to take the puck. I'm going to do some stuff at the blue line. And then I'm going to shoot. right like I'm going to rip something you know you watch macdavid and dry sidle you know they've got that play that one timer that they set up for dry siddle that everyone knows is coming but you know you

still have trouble stopping can those two create a connection like that on the power play I think that's going to be the big question because I do agree what you mean about coin I think a lot of it came from him being the captain and him for wanting to take charge for a power play that didn't have anybody really, you know, dictating the way it needed to do, and especially when you're talking about half the ice being split between two players that they didn't want to pass to each other,

but I do think as much as, and I know Woodley talks about this a lot, but that shot from the point with layered screen is one of the most dangerous shots. It's boring, but especially on the power play, they go in, I don't remember the percentage, but it's a really higher percentage

is one of the higher percentage opportunities you can create outside of an east-west pass, like the one you were talking about with McTavent and Drysidal. But that also comes in, down to trust, does it not? Because there's trust and also having faith in both players because they're willing to be decoys for one of one another and create and have the gravitational pull from one another to create those opportunities. And that doesn't mean you're always going to pass the puck to the other guy. But you're willing to put yourself on a spot and take

space to create space for somebody else. And I think that's a type of unselfishness and trust you have to create between players to be able to get to that point. And I do think these guys are capable. I think Pedersen and Hughes, you know, have a relationship. And And obviously, Jews talks about how they like each other. Ben Pedersen talks about that, too. It's not like they have an acrimonious relationship or whatever, but can that trust be built where both players are willing to sacrifice one another to create those opportunities?

And I think that's what the best power plays do. They're willing to be decoys or take some space up and take on some attention to get opportunities to somebody else. And are you just looking to get your own shot off or are you looking to create the best opportunity? And I think that's what I really want to see happen. Okay, Sab, before we let you go, what's up with Central this afternoon? You guys are live on location? Yes, sir.

We're going to be at Rack, Steel, and Langley. Go visit Get Operating Faster.com. We're there from 11 to 1 sitting, myself and Josh Elie Wolf doing the show. There is an exclusive open house pricing for Racksteel. So if you have any forklift needs of wide variety, you have racking needs, come and check it out. If you just want to meet the crew, it's fantastic, there's a barbecue on hand. It's 11 to 3. We're there from 11 to 1 to come and check out the Racksteel show room and Langley visit Get

operating faster.com. Good job, buddy. Thanks for doing this. We appreciate it. Enjoy it today. We'll talk soon. Anytime, boy, chat soon. Yep. Satyar Shah from Canucks Central. Live on location at Rax Steel and Langley today here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.