Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 9/11/25

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they react to hot Quinn Hughes audio from the most recent 32 Thoughts Podcast, as Hughes speaks on his future in Vancouver, plus they chat the latest 'Nucks news with Canucks Talk host & The Athletic Vancouver's Thomas Drance. 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. And the pitch on the way to Leo. Not buddy, swinging, fly ball, deep right field down the line. Walk it off, Leo Rebaughes. walk up to run home run that ball's drilled high and deep to left field

Yider Diaz gives the Astros a 3-2 lead in the night Just shit next time just you know you can talk trash and stuff but keep your hands to yourself Good morning Vancouver 6-1 on a Thursday Happy Thursday everybody It is Halford and his breath

It is Sportsnet 650 We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios In beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver Jason good morning Good morning. Adag good morning to you Good morning Ladi good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and breath of 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-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 to you live from the Kintech Studio, Kintech, footwear and orthotics working together with you in Step. Oh my, do we have a lot to get into on a Thursday

show here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. We will begin with the guest list. It begins at 630. Adnan, Verk's going to join the program from MLB Network. A lot to get into with Adnan as we get closer and closer to the MLB postseason. Tough loss for the Jays last night.

Huge win for the Mariners last night. Yanks keep getting caved in by the Tigers. We'll talk to Adnan about all that at 630, about 20, 8 minutes time. 7 o'clock, Gareth Wheeler from one soccer is going to join the program for a little Canadian footie talk. We will discuss those

wins over Wales and Romania during the most recent international window. Key takeaways, thoughts on the job done by Jesse Marsh, the gaffer, and what's next for Canada to round out 2025? Gareth Wheeler is going to join us at 7 o'clock to talk about all that. 7.30

Brady Henderson, our Seahawks insider from ESPN, is going to join the program. The Seahawks are away. Sunday to take on Aaron Rogers and the Steelers in Pittsburgh. No, D.K. Metcalfe and the Steelers in Pittsburgh. That's right. I mean, the reunion. I mean, they're both there, but this one for me is about D.K.

The kickoff is 10 a.m. our time. The Seahawks are three point dogs on the road. And the total, which I will now be paying attention to for the remainder of the year, is set at a whopping 39 and a half points in Pittsburgh. And Pittsburgh almost scored 39 by themselves last week. So take that into consideration. We'll look back on what happened against the Niners. We'll look ahead to the Steelers.

That's all coming up with Brady Henderson at 730. She Brock Purdy's out too? Yeah, the Niners had some health issues, had some kicking issues, had all kinds of issues, yet still managed to win in week one. We're going to talk about Rieke Wullen, too. Yeah, we do. 8 o'clock, the Drancer, Thomas Drance. He's going to join the program. I'm telling you this right now.

There's going to be a lot of Canucks news today, folks. There's a lot of Quinn Hughes content out there. including some hot audio that we've got fresh this morning. There is going to be a lot of Quinn Hughes discourse throughout your Thursday. I'm just preparing you for it. It's going to start with us. It's going to continue on throughout the day. There's a lot going on with Quinn Hughes and the Vancouver Canucks.

A lot of it emanating from what he had to say about his future in Las Vegas during the ongoing NHL media tour. So Drancer will join us at 8, but rest assured, we will be doing a lot of Canucks talk throughout the program today. This is SportsNet 650. You're home of the Canucks. So, working in reverse on the guest list. 8 o'clock, it's Drance, 7.30, Brady Henderson, 7 o'clock, Gareth Wheeler, 630, Adnan, Verk. It's a loaded show.

We got a lot to get into. So without further ado, Laddy, let's 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? Miss 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 BCCSA.ca.ca. So yesterday, we got our first look at a good majority of what Quinn Hughes,

Vancouver Canucks captain, had to say in the most recent 32 Thoughts podcast with Elliot and Kyle. It was recorded live on location in Vegas, sorry, Henderson, November. for the ongoing NHL media tour. There was an article written about it on Sportsnet.com. You can download the podcast if you like. I guess what those clever guys at 32 Thoughts did, though, Jason, is hold off

on some of the juicier stuff that Quinn Hughes had to say specifically about his playing future in Vancouver. And we've got that audio now that we can share with the masses. So he went down there. Yes. Was in Vegas and talked to the assembled media. He talked to everybody. yesterday. And then maybe said, shared some, some real good stuff for Frege.

Was he at the golf tournament then? Was he at the, was he at the milf and then just didn't talk because they were saving him for Vegas or something? He did mention during his interview with Frege and Kyle that he was really tired because his travel schedule was loaded. So I do believe that that's what happened here. But that's almost the appetizer to the main course. We're going to jump right into this year. So do we, I haven't, actually listened to this clip as clipped and I'll I'll reiterate what Frege's question is in case it's not in the clip. Frege posed

the million dollar question to Quinn Hughes about staying in Vancouver. Frege framed it as I got a buddy in Vancouver, diehard Canucks fan. He asked if I was going to speak to you, Quinn, and his question is, do we have a chance of keeping this guy in Vancouver? That

is how the stage was set. We'll let the audio roll right now. Here is Quinn Hughes about his playing future in Vancouver, courtesy the 32 Thoughts podcast with Kyle Friedman, or Kyle Friedman, Kyle Buchascus and Elliot Friedman. Let's take it away. I mean, I've really enjoyed Vancouver. I'm very thankful. I mean, when I came to Vancouver, I don't think anyone thought I was going to become my, I have become. And that's happened because of the people in Vancouver management, coaching. You know, I've had three great coaches. which is between Bruce, Greener, and Rick.

So, and management's been, you know, kind of gave me the keys to the kingdom a couple years ago naming me to see and very grateful. As far as this year, I just feel like last year was a failure and I want to propel my game even further and propel my teammates even further and see what we can do. And as far as that question, I mean, I'll answer that, you know, with my actions next summer. But, I mean, you know how it is. Anything can change. If we have, you know, a terrible year this year, that's probably not going to be very fun.

But if we have a terrific year, you know, that's what we want. That'll be really fun. Like two years ago was really, really fun. So just leave it at that. That's what I said to him. I said, I guarantee you this year is going to tell the tale. I bet you that's what Quinn's going to say. Yeah, yeah, which is true, I think.

So the line that's going to be replayed, I would say about a thousand times. today is I'll answer that with my actions next summer. That's about his But it's one of the explanation that he gives after that. Of course he's going to answer it with his actions next summer. He could have answered with his actions right now. No, no, no, whether he signs or not. But what I think he's laying out is, and if you want to simplify it, Canucks bad this year, Quinn go bye-bye. Canucks good this year, Quinn stay. Ah, the referendum season. I love it. Which is kind of what we all assumed, right?

I mean, it's nice to hear you say, Ed, but it's just like, yeah, Canucks bad, Quinn leave. Canucks good? Well, you know, yesterday I was saying, like, I don't even know if Quinn knows himself. I think he just confirmed that he might not know himself what he's going to do, and a lot of it's going to depend on how everything comes together this year and how certain players look, certain players that are signed to long-term content. contracts and, you know, maybe they're in the number one center, how some of the younger players look, because he's looking at his future, how Adam Foote does as head coach.

I mean, look, if the Canucks are a disaster this year, I think the management group might change. You know, there have been one and done coaches in the NHL before. A lot of things might change. To use a drance phrase, this is a very high leverage season. It is. I asked him, him, I'm pointing it. He's pointing at Halford. Yeah, there's no camera. Before the show, like, what is a bad season in Hughes's mind, though?

Like, if the Canucks make the playoffs say, but they get swept in the first round, is that a bad season or is that a good season? Like, what's the bar? Like, I would have loved, I mean, obviously he wouldn't give it, but I would have loved more specificity in terms of what he considers to be a good and a bad year. But here's the thing. He can't tell you. Yeah. It's a feeling that you get at the end of the year. It's a feeling and it's ultimately going to come down to that gut instinct.

like are things going the right direction here? Because you can make the playoffs and you can make the playoffs and even win around. But if if there are certain players that aren't playing well and you're like we're not going to win a cup here.

We're not going to turn into an elite team and I don't see a path to that then he'll probably decide to go elsewhere. So you should have just said if we win a Stanley Cup next year, I will say. No. Let's, no. If he sees the potential for it. I'm bugging you. I know, but it's too early for that

and it's too big a topic. It would have been funny though. Let's, if we win a cup, I'll stick. Let's look at this in terms of what could have been said or what could have been done. Because you're bringing up, in a rare moment, you're bringing up a good point here is what constitutes a good season. Ackhanded compliment there. Yes, very backhanded. Some would say it wasn't even a compliment. There's something to be said for what you're talking about because the merits and the markers of what a good season are are entirely up to now one individual because it's his decision, it's his choice, and it's his vision as to where the team's going to go. You know, you're talking about high leverage. He's got all the clout

and he holds all the cards, to use a very popular phrase, when it comes to where this is going to go, including judging the success or failure of next season. That's an entirely individual analysis there. Hughes could have said a lot of things yesterday. He could have said, I'm the captain of this team and I'm committed to it long term. He could have said, I'm not ready to make any decision about my future now. And he said, and I think which is probably the most fair and quite frankly clever thing is, I'm going to wait until next summer.

And he did the good year, bad year analysis. And then Frege confirmed it. Frege kind of put it in plainer terms. and then Hughes said, yeah, that's about it. It's a dicey situation for this market without question. They've had the opportunity to build a team, a prospect base, an active roster around Hughes that would keep him here for the long term. They failed to do that.

That's plain and simple, right? It hasn't done. The success hasn't been there where this was a no-brainer to stay, right? So they've left the door open for this. I thought another interesting part was when he talked about what he's become and giving, you know, that we give me the keys to the kingdom by giving me the C. It's that I do think there's an element of, hey, I've held up my end of the bargain here. Like I've done everything that I could have possibly done for the organization that he's very grateful to the organization.

I don't think there's any question about that. But he's also delivered in terms of developing as a player. emerging as a superstar in the league becoming the captain of the team and doing a very good job of it and I think at a certain point not unlike McDavid in Edmonton when you're on that level

you do start to look around and say what else do I got here and how am I as an elite player with aspirations of winning a cup going to get there with the current group that I've got and McDavid has dry sidle and McDavid's gotten a hell of

lot closer. Yeah. So, I mean, it's tangible for him. He's literally been in a cup final. But that doesn't mean he's going to stay in Edmonton because the Stanley Cup finals are in the past and he's looking forward and yes, he's got McDavid. But I do think that they're... Dry saddle.

Sorry, he's got dry saddle and yes, he's also got... He does have McDavid. He got himself. In a very appropriate statement, he does have himself. But he's probably looking at the prospect system there and he's looking at. at some of the players that are getting a little bit older and wondering if he wants to sign their long term. So they both have good reasons to wonder if they should commit long term. And you're right. Both of them have held up their end of the bargain. You know, I really, I really don't

believe that Quinn has made up his mind fully what he wants to do. Well, he's made up his mind that this year is going to decide it. And part of it is designed for him. I think he's very astute and understands that by saying, I'll answer with my actions next summer, he's not anticipating going into the final year of his deal being like, I'll give him one more kick at the can here, right? Like, I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to go into the last year of my contract and, you know, have this be a distraction

all year. Next summer is the referendum. He's got two years left on the deal, but this year is the one that's going to matter and is going to count. And there's so much that goes into that right now. I think that this is a notification to the guys in charge of negotiating that contract, Patrick Alvin, and

Jim Rutherford, that if they haven't stepped on the gas with regards to particular positions that need to be strengthened, that now might be a good time to do it. I don't know if there should be any soft shoeing or we're going to take our time or we're going to be patient going into this season. The start becomes that

much more amplified. Everything becomes that much more amplified. Now, I also want to pivot to, look, we're going to have this conversation throughout the show, but there's a lot of Quinn Hughes stuff I want to get to here. He spent a ton of time, a ton of time talking about international competition, the four nations, and how disappointed he was that he did not get to play. So you want to talk about the disappointments of last year, and he's mentioned it a couple times, but the deep dive on this is that his disappointment last year wasn't just in the fact that the Kinnock sputtered,

missed the playoffs, and took a step back. backwards. It was also that he did not get to participate in four nations. Something that he said, Jason, is still bothering him now. Like this summer, it was a thorn in his side that he didn't get to participate in four nations. Well, of course it was. When he's been a player in the NHL, there hasn't been better hockey than that played. And he didn't get a chance to do it. So let's go to some more audio here. We're going to play the first clip where talks about still being angry about missing the Four Nations. There's a second

clip as well about how the Canucks come into all of this and what might be a good sign moving forward for the organization in Hughes. But we'll start with Quinn Hughes, how upset and angry he was this summer about not being able to play in the Four Nations. It's a good question because obviously you want to say you're looking forward to the year and everything's behind you, but you're still

like, I mean a lot happened and you're disappointed. That never goes away, I feel like. I'm still in the summer was angry about missing four nations felt like I missed a cool opportunity there but you just have to you have to move on take what you saw from last year

what you learned and try to find ways where it made you better and how you can use it this year to improve so now there's a really interesting part of the 32 Thoughts podcast where Fridge poses that his absence

from the Four Nations tournament might have had something to do. He called it a rumor, Frege called it a rumor, that the Canucks were the ones that blocked him from participating. Hughes goes on to explain that that was not the case,

that it was actually the NHL's intervention that prevented him from going, because he was ready to go. We'll let the audio play. Any parts that are missing, I've got the notes here so we can fill in the blanks, but here's Hughes clarifying

about the Canucks not blocking him from going to the Four Nations, maybe putting a Band-Aid over what could have been a bad situation. there's Quinn Hughes from the 32 Thoughts podcast you know I'm glad you cleared this up because the rumor was the Canucks didn't want you to play I don't I mean I don't think they didn't want me to play um just because they wanted me to be fresh right and they knew I wasn't 100% so I mean I can't really blame them for that they didn't block you though no no no

okay um sorry go ahead no I'll just leave it at that there's that they didn't block me they didn't That's the truth. Okay. Jim and Patrick were very respectful. So what happened was, but I'm sure they. Oh, I've got it all here. Yeah, okay. So it would be able to be in your best interest not to play.

I won't block you, but these guys over here. No, we're not mad. We're just disappointed, speech. Hughes tore a ligament in his hand in January. He was playing with a cast on and he said the cast was amazing. And then he shouted out the doctor that gave it to him. Then he got hit by, if Jenny Dattanoff, in a game in Dallas in late January,

which later revealed that on the hit, he tore an oblique. So he's dealing with torn ligaments in his hand and an oblique tear after an MRI. He still thought he could play through it, but after a few games following Dallas, and I think you remember this, it's where he was out of the lineup,

and he would take the warm up and then wouldn't go in. Yeah, and he didn't look right. It's because he couldn't move, essentially. Yeah. He said that he didn't want to show up the team USA camp ahead of the Four Nations and then either be unable to play or try and gut it out and then get hurt in the tournament,

like what happened to, for example, Matthew Kachuk. Then things changed during the tournament when Charlie McAvoy got hurt. Initially, Hughes thought that he was going to be able to join Team USA. And that's why Mike Sullivan kind of famously said, Quinn is on his way. The NHL intervened, and they said that the situation with the U.S. adding a player was different than Canada's with Thomas Harley, because Canada had multiple departures on the blue line,

whereas the U.S. only had one. So they couldn't bring a new player into the tournament. So this was put at the feet of the NHL. Canada was like legitimately short a player. So he wanted to make it like a bundle of like this was a league decision. It also sounded like he was going to try and give it a go, despite the fact that he had been off ice for 20 days by the time that call came from USA hockey and Bill Guerin.

Now, Hughes did say, that he spoke with Rutherford. And Rutherford said, you're probably not going to be up to speed because you're getting thrown into the middle of this tournament. Yeah. So that gives you an idea of where the Canucks were at. I guarantee you the Canucks probably said,

this is not a good idea. They're not going to block you from going, but they're also going to give you their opinion. Remember, you're the captain of the team. And you know what? Hughes did mention that. He's like, I am the captain of the Canucks. And he did point out that at the time of his injury,

they were still in a playoff spot. It spiraled out of control after that, but they were still hanging on to that final wildcard spot. So I go back to this year. In addition to everything else with Quinn Hughes, in terms of this being a referendum season and how high the stakes are, this year with Olympic competition,

he's more motivated than maybe any other guy out there to get in the mix and to be on that USA team. And I guarantee you he wants to be, in top form and I think most importantly wants to be 100% healthier as close to going into the Olympics in Italy you know the Canucks coaching staff in the past has if there this isn't really criticism of Quinn Hughes but one of the things they said he needs to learn is that um especially in the playoffs but this goes to the regular season too you cannot do it all your yourself and you have to be smart with your decisions because the more that people realize

how much of a game changer Quinn Hughes is, the more they're like, okay, get the body on him at all times. And I just wonder, you're looking ahead at this season, he's hopefully going to play at the Olympics, not for Canada's sake, but hopefully for his sake, he's going to be able to go and play in the Olympics and he's hopefully going to be able to stay healthy. Did he talk at all about his off-season training and whether or not he needs to do anything differently? As a matter of fact, he did, Jason. We don't have the audio for this, but it's okay.

I took notes diligently last night while watching the Mariners walk it off in 13. Yeah. Nice. He said, I didn't try to grind my body as much during his off-season training. And that's why he changed up the types of action. activities that he was doing. Interestingly enough, he said he did, quote, more stuff to be athletic and to be a better athlete.

I wonder if he started playing some other sports. You don't try to be a multi-sport guy? Pickle ball. Yeah, pickleball is a great one. He also said he did, quote, more purposeful things that would relate to hockey more. So I guess that means doing athletic motions and movements that might replicate things he's doing on the ice as opposed to let's go lift. Yeah.

That's, I mean, and this isn't really anything like groundbreaking. He alluded to some of the work that Nathan McKinnon was doing, which I think a lot of guys do now, because it seems like some pretty good training. It seems like a pretty good player. I think resting the body is the big takeaway for me because that was a tough year for Hughes health-wise last year. He's had health issues, not major ones, but minor ones in the past,

but that was a year, let's put it this way. The second half of his season was almost entirely interrupted by health issues. When you're dealing with a torn ligament in your hand and a torn oblique, it's very difficult to play anywhere close to 100%. It'd be difficult to play 100% with just one of those injuries, never mind too. And when you're pushing through, you're not allowing those injuries to heal. You're basically finding ways to work around them. And usually that means not doing everything to the fullest of your abilities, right?

You're cutting corners here and there. And maybe you're trying to find different ways to move that don't make you as dynamic. it all leads up to a guy that along with his team last year didn't hit the expectations that they wanted. Now, in Hughes's case, he was still amazing, right? He still had an unbelievable season production-wise and was still an elite-level defender and all that kind of stuff.

And that just goes to show how good and how important a player he is. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. I think one of the interesting dynamics and probably by extension narratives that's going to I think play out this year is how often

is this going to be brought up will the conversation wear itself out will it be exercised to the point where everyone's good and satisfied with the questions and the answers does every win and or loss circle back to

does this strengthen the Canucks chances of keeping Quinn Hughes in the bowl. They were like, oh, that P.K. won't help keep Quinn Hughes in town. If they lose to Columbus on a rainy Tuesday night, we come in on the Wednesday morning and being like the Quinn Hughes percentages went down three last night. It's going to be like the Dow Jones. Is it seriously, though? The Quinn Jones. Seriously, though. I know you're, I think you're joking, but all, all seriousness is this is what

we set ourselves up for. I also wonder if he's going to have to come out at some point and just be like, I'm not going to answer questions about my contract. That's fine. That's fine. But on the road, you can't do that. But also, I don't even know if you necessarily need to ask the questions. It's just that this season is, I mean, that might be the catchphrase. They might have to put it up.

It's the referendum season. Like, this is the one. What if he doesn't say that? And then every day it connects reporters, you don't even have to ask a question. You just like, you're like, eh? What are you thinking? What are you thinking Quinn? and then when I get like three game win streak

yeah is this helping and then four getting losing streak how much does this take away from the three game win streak yeah it's just going to be it's just going to be sounds interviewing him they're like ah when things are good and then and then when things are bad they'd be like oh

every time they connect score every time all season Adam foot looks at Quinn Hughes and gives them a big double things are going great can't wait for next summer and every time they get score on foot looks away tries not to make eye contact with Quinn it's like a running gag for the whole year it is

I mean it's I guess it's somewhat predictable but it is also crazy when you take a step back and you realize this is the scenario yeah this is we're gonna have I just want to prepare our listeners and Canucks fans for this because this is a whole year of this it's gonna go on all year it's not gonna stop it'll be the number one narrative

other than maybe PD all year is what you're not gonna be able to bury this it's I'm kind of laughing actually because I saw a lot of response on Canucks's Twitter yesterday. Yes, it's still a thing of people being like, this is such a non-story, crazy media making it up, like it's not an issue. Who is saying that?

Lots of people, man. Who is saying it's a non-story? Lots of fans. We're hearing it more and more. Yeah, lots of fans don't, I think more so because fans don't want to live in a world where they think Hughes might be on a different team. You know what I'm getting tired of? People that don't want to live in reality and then just convince themselves that it's not reality?

I get that, though, because I don't want to imagine a Canucks team without Hughes on it. be awful. I mean, I don't, I, I totally understand that, but you're a big enough boy that you can, like, I'm fully preparing myself for it. Yeah, it might. That might. That might. But now, based on. And life will go on. It will. Well, the added dynamic here. But now with that, obviously, I was just to say now with that audio from today, I don't understand how people could have that reaction because he's even now set it himself. Like, look, we'll have to see how this year goes. And because of that, all season now, this is going to be a talking point. My pushback to anyone that says like this is a non-story and this is a non-factors are like okay just consider

this he is a top five player all time in the history of the 50 plus years of the franchise I think you could say that right you put him in the pantheon right now for sure he's the best defenseman that's ever played for the vancouver canucks period end of sentence no sort of addendum that in itself is unique now throw in the fact that when's the line time that this organization has had this sort of like you know going to the summit of a contract not dispute but a negotiation that's this profoundly important the peterson one wasn't even this important because they were toying with the notion of trading him but doesn't it also feel like this is about two players too because if number 40 bounces back then there's a very

good chance that the connects will keep Quinn but if he doesn't bounce back then there's a very good chance that they won't be able to keep Quinn and you're in a situation where are you are you stuck with Pedersen or do you trade him then and is he tradable at that point? So this is like this is high, this is high stakes. We're talking about number one D number one center. Right. And with the Pedersen contract, you got to remember that what made that one a little bit more nuanced was that there was different avenues that they could have gone down. They were entertaining the idea of trading him.

They did want to get him to give them an answer on a contract. But they were like, we can go in different directions here. With Hughes, there's two directions. They want him to stay. They don't want him to leave. Yeah. That's it. Like this is the most black and white kind of argument or debate that you can have.

There's no gray area. There's no like, well, we could imagine life without him. They don't want to imagine life without him. I know it's kind of hyperbolic, but with the Canucks lack of center depth, much of this season's success or failure rides on Pedersen. Yes. Like, he's kind of the focal point, even more than Hughes in that way, because you know Hughes will be great.

It's probable the goaltending will be excellent, and it's probable the defense will be excellent. But if PD isn't on his game, they don't have the depth to carry them along that season. And it affects the wingers, too. Totally. It affects the winners. It affects what Brock Bessler is going to do.

Thomas Dranx joins us now on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Drancer. How are you? Good morning, gentlemen. Is there anything new in the Canucks world that you would like to start this conversation with today? Well, I assume we're going to talk Quinn Hughes. We are, my friend. I mean, the Quinn Hughes story hangs overall.

I see we're doing a little bit of relitigating to what extent Jim Rutherford's commentary from, what, six months ago, made this the story that it is today. A thing I don't buy, by the way, partly because, I was talking about it before. I think we were all talking about it before. Sure. I think we all talked about this at length in the wake of the J.T. Miller trade, right? And everything that went down this season and that sense of, you know,

what I kept calling sneering joylessness that hung around this team last year, you know, this guy wants to win. Like, period. This guy wants to win. And that's going to loom larger than anything else in shaping the decision that he makes a year from now. I think we were going to be talking about that regardless because that's what we do, because it matters, right?

And, you know, we were talking about Quinn Hughes's, or sorry, Elias Pedersen's, Canucks future two years out from, or a year out from his extension eligibility. We would be doing the same thing with Quinn Hughes. This is something that people in hockey talk about all the time with all the star players. And we're seeing that play out, you know, with some guys who are closer to unrestricted free agency, obviously Caprizov and Eichol and McDavid among them, but also guys that are in

Quinn Hughes's class. And I'd add this, it's an extra mega large story because that class of player on July 1 is still going to be able to sign an eight-year extension, right? And that's the last time that that's ever going to be an option for these guys. So this is going to be, this was going to be talked about. This was going to hang over this Kinnock season referendum like regardless of what was said you know by Jim Rutherford at the end of last year at locker room cleanout day

I don't even think it amplified the story in my opinion honestly gentlemen if like I think the Rick Tocket departure was sort of a bigger a bigger like the analogy that I'd use as like an insider selling their stock

right like for me that was a bigger eyes furrowed moment than Rutherford's commentary a month prior Canary a lot prior Canary in the coal mine? Canary in the coal mine, yeah. Yeah.

Well, okay, I think there's been an interesting dynamic throughout the show, is that we came in and we had, you know, all of this audio from Hughes speaking to Elliot and Kyle and, you know, the line about, I'll answer all questions with my actions next summer and then, you know, Frege sort of succinctly putting it at the end of the clip saying, so this season, you know, we'll tell all. And Quinn's like, yeah, that's a good way of putting it. it and now it almost feels like we have to go back and I think maybe erroneously but

explain to people why this is a big store or why we're talking about it so much instead of just acknowledging it's a big store and talking about it a lot because there's a lot of different avenues it is a big deal I don't think we need to explain that part to people and the people that don't like hearing about it well tethered swimming because this is a big big story we went back and looked at look at the history of this organization he's the best defenseman in franchise history. He's a top five player in franchise history and there's never really been this kind of summit for contract negotiations where the club is so desperate to keep him and wants nothing other than to retain his services, but he might start entertaining the idea of leaving

and this season's going to play a huge role in it. It's very unique, it's very unprecedented. That alone should have us talking about this over and over and over again. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, the truth is too is I think this, you know, the unique considerations that Hughes will have, right, in terms of two of his brothers play for a team that's viewed as a fringe cup contender in the Eastern Conference. That does add to the uniqueness of the situation, for sure.

And that's been on, you know, the team building radar from a Kinex management perspective for years, like for long before this was a talking point. And that's probably appropriate. I mean, that's just knowing your people, right? the truth is and there's a variety of sort of key truths that undergird this as it were or like are our assumptions that we can work through right and that's number one Quinn Hugh is super competitive wants to win more than anything that's like number one

wants to win more than anything so you know that gives you a pretty clear picture about what matters in terms of the stakes of this season from a Canucks perspective. Like, it's probably not enough to just make the playoffs. You probably need to make the playoffs and have one of those years where at the tail end of it, whether it's because Le Caramacki looks like a guy or, you know, Valander and Elias Pedersen are incredible. And, you know, Adam Foote seems like one of the hot up-and-coming young coaches in the sport, young for head coach in any event, right?

Like, you probably need a bunch of things to hit. that don't just hit this season, but hit in terms of convincing a guy that, hey, I can win here. Elias Pedersen, right? Like, I mean, man, he better bounce back if you're going to be as smart a hockey guy as Quinn Hughes and look at this roster and be like, I can win there. Right. That's a team I can win with, right? In deciding my future, that's on the table for me in Vancouver, right? You got to get there.

So that's like, number one, we know what the stakes of the season are. and thinking through this helps us understand that. Two, if it comes down to money, the connects are going to be able to offer the most and buy a lot, by a massive amount. And they're going to be willing to do it. Like, they're going to be willing to do it. They know this.

Quinn Hughes knows this. One of the other key assumptions here, or key things sort of underpinning this, is the connects are going to be able to offer Quinn Hughes the most money. And I guess I'd add this too. because of that power dynamic in talks, because of the hammer that the Canucks hold from a compensation perspective, they at least will have leverage if this goes pear shape on them, even next summer, right? There is going to be less ability in terms of how the player views it and how the player drives things through the process,

which as we've seen with Mika Randen and Alex De Brinket and, on and on, a million guys in this situation in previous years, this is a tipping point leverage-wise. This is a moment where players can begin to call their own shot in terms of their playing future, right? The connects are going to have some, like, serious ability to play some cards and at least do your best with, you know, you're never winning a Quinn Hughes trade if you ever have to make it.

But you're at least going to have, you know, some skin in the game in terms of that side of it. That's the other part of this. And here's the last one. You know, yes, we haven't seen the Canucks go through it with a Norris trophy winning defenseman, but whether it's, what's Roberto Luongo's future going to look like in Vancouver?

Or the twins, are they going to leave and go to Toronto? Or Elias Pedersen himself, J.T. Miller, Pavel Burray. I mean, for the most part, the Canucks franchise through 25 years, but certainly through the, the last, you know, through the cap era, we've always fretted about this franchise's ability to keep star players. And the history of the franchises is that they often find a way to get it done. Truly, they have. They often found a way to keep their top players. And so, you know, that's not to say that history will always 100% lock it in, dictate what happens next. But

we often see in these situations like things get good players change their minds like this is not set in stone and and I think more than anything that this season will tell the tail thing makes sense as sort of a way to think about this because yeah I mean there's a decision to be made in 10 months but minds change all the time yeah in hockey and in jobs and in careers and And so, you know, whatever way the lien is today does not mean that's where the lien will be when when decision time comes about whether that's, you know, and then it could happen at any number of different points along the way here, depending on how this season goes and how things unfold. But most likely next summer. The only difference, sorry, just to jump in, the only difference, and I'm glad you brought up the historical references because they're important. the only difference there is that none of the aforementioned historical Canucks

had two brothers that were plying their trade elsewhere in the NHL at the same time and were seemingly actively recruiting the third brother to join them that's what makes it that's what makes it unique I don't this isn't like a spin or you know trying to reframe it like that's exactly what's happening right now in the case of Daniel and Henrik they were already playing together so they got to decide where they were going to go whether it was going to be Toronto or staying in Vancouver that's what makes this one so unique. Like, you know,

and Jackie, Jackie's framed it by saying, well, like Rutherford's already talked about it. And then I think you brought up a good point. Like Rutherford was already talked about it because some media members were already talking about it. So if it was already out there,

why not just go the full nine and do the recruitment job? Well, and of course, you know, the thing that's often ignored about the Rutherford quote is Rutherford noted that they've talked about it in the past. Right. Right.

Like, so, just a just a hilarious loop of you know like it's like it's like a bunch of people retweeting each other is really what's going on the yeah I mean I think the one thing one thing too that I wouldn't be shocked by like I wouldn't obviously the New Jersey factor looms large in this discussion but I don't know that I'd be crossing any team that's not the devils or Vancouver off either this is a right wildly intelligent guy who wants to win more than anything and who has played at an extraordinary

individual level, especially across the last four or five seasons, really since his defensive game took that step in 2022. He's been one of, if not the best, you know, like, and honestly, best defensemen in hockey, best, most impactful two-way skaters in the game. That's the level that he's been at across the last three, four years, and he's barely got an opportunity to play in the playoffs, right? You know, you heard in that interview with Elliot, um, on the 32 thoughts podcast, like how badly he wanted to play for Team USA, how much it like stuck in his craw that he didn't, what does Quinn Hughes want? He wants to be tested on the biggest stage at the highest level because he's one of the best in the world at what he does and he doesn't get, he hasn't had a chance

to play on that stage. Like, that's, I struggle to imagine that there's not going to be. be other situations if they appeal to that side of him more, right, that like he's just not going to consider for family reasons. I mean, the family thing, I'm sure, again, you'd love to play with your brothers. Obviously, we don't need to go over this. But the idea that it's, you know, New Jersey or bus, like, I would be shocked if that were the case. Um, training camp opens next week. I don't know if you're hearing anything about what Adam foot is going to focus on. I remember at this time of year, we were talking about rush chances. And, you know, the Canucks tried it. And then they were like, oh, we don't have the defenseman for this. And

from what I heard, Quinn, from what I heard Quinn went to, went to Rick and said, we got to get back to basics. And they did. And then, anyway, the season played out. How do you think? Because my concern, I think, with a, and I share it with a lot of people is, how is this team going to score goals, are they going to activate the defense more? Or do they lean into we're going to turn back the clock and try and turn this into a 2-1 league anytime the Vancouver Canucks are playing? Just any thoughts on how the coaching staff is going to tackle the issue of scoring? Tackle the issue of scoring. Oh, boy. I mean, it's a big one. The

here's what I have a better sense of. Like what I do think we are going to see at training camp through the preseason and in terms of how the Canucks look to play next year is I do think we're going to see the Canucks play a different style of hockey than they played last season in the year before that under Rick Tocket. And I think this is worth noting because Adam Foote, of course, was Tockett's top assistant. And because this is his first time. as the head coach of an NHL team,

I don't think we'd be, I don't think we'd have been shocked if we were watching some like Rick Tocke's systems karaoke, right? Like if we were watching some cover band work in terms of how the Canucks look to play and win this upcoming season. I don't know that we'd like it,

but I think we'd at least, I mean, I don't know that I'd have been enormously critical if the Canucks had come into this season and said, look, last year went badly for us, but we liked a lot of what we did off the puck. Look at how well we hung around, even when our lineup was completely depleted down the stretch. I mean, there's some positives there that we can hang our hat on,

and we want to stick with that. I mean, I don't know. I don't know that I would have been, like, offended by that personally. Do you have a take on that? Would we have been annoyed by that? My take is that of all the phrases you've come up with, Rick Tockett Systems Karaoke is right here. right near the top

as an amazing amazing collection of words and thoughts and phrases. I've never even thought in those terms before. You know what I mean. I know exactly what you mean. I don't think I would be offended but I think there's a lot of people out there

that don't want to see Rick Talk at hockey anymore. Well, they're not going to. So all I'm saying is Adam Foote's going to swing the bat here. We're going to see something different. And I think that, you know, what does that look like offensively? I'm not exactly sure yet, but I do think that it's going to include more down ice pressure

in terms of how this team looks to play in the neutral zone, right? I do think you're going to see a more aggressive, right? Or at least a, yeah, a more aggressive neutral zone forecheck. Okay. I think that's going to be one thing that we've seen. And look, this has been an interesting dynamic that the Canucks have sort of work. through across, you know, the transition from Green to Boudreau to talk where, you know, Travis had a super aggressive forechecking system and then the year he got fired, he wanted

to be more organized defensively because they were too reliant on their goalies. And then they couldn't generate any offense, in part because they could move the puck from the back end out. When Boudreau took over from Green, it was, let's go on the forecheck, we'll lean on that, we'll dine out on that, to win game. and they did obviously in that first season and then didn't after sort of the defensive floor fell out on them and then with talk you were you were living in a world with that neutral zone wedge right with where the Canucks were trying to herd puck carriers into big

bodies surfing on the defensive blue right and the the down ice pressure was far more muted than it had been you know in the Bruce there it is season and you know I don't know that we're getting back to Bruce, there it is, smash mouth. If you beat our forecheck, we're giving up an odd man rush because our defense isn't mobile. But I think we're moving, you know, I think there's going to be

a dial turned here toward a more aggressive forecheck. And I think that makes sense when you look at and think about what this team could and should and is anticipated to look like on the back end. You can afford to take some more chances with down ice pressure

in part because, you know, this isn't the Zedorov Susi back end. This is, you know, probably the Elias Pedersen, Marcus Pedersen, Tom Volander back end, outside of a Hughes-Heronic. And so you can, you have some mobility back there. You can cover up a few more mistakes, right? You can do some more things in terms of being aggressive. So that's one thing that I think we're going to see. And I also think we're going to see. And I'd imagine that we'll see a lot of this, given that talk feels and said so over the summer explicitly that the focus on rush attacking at training camp

was a mistake and that they needed more like drilling down on defensive zone work and systems and structure. You know, I'm sure Adam Foote's not going to make the same mistake. And so I would be shocked, actually, if a lot of training camp wasn't spent on DZ work on the team, you know, really putting in thought drilling down on how they want to play in the defensive zone. And I would think that that's another area that they're going to be more aggressive.

Like I'm not going to be shocked if we see this team, you know, move on from the sort of hybrid man zone way the Talket wants his team to play in the Deasy and instead decides to, you know, maybe even swarm. Like I won't be shocked by that. I won't be shocked to see this team go hyper aggressive in terms of trying to leverage the mobility of their back end and make that the real engine of this team right and up

the pressure on attacking teams when they're set up in Vancouver's end and look there's risks with both of these approaches right like huge risks especially because you know like if you move to a swarm I mean we we saw

in Edmonton with Dallas Aikins and on and on he's wide open in front of the that right it can there's some risks inherent there, but also, you know, there are huge rewards if you can play in this manner. And especially if you're able to cover up for, you know, what we certainly all perceive and the connects themselves think is a lack of center quality up and down the lineup by sort of really making the defense the engine of this team.

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