Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 9/16/25

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports, plus they react to the news of JT Miller getting named captain of the New York Rangers, as Canucks analyst Landon Ferraro joins the show.  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. Braden Fischer with an unbelievable job here in extra innings. Hands off the white over the guard, spins, Court screws in, and it is a touchdown. It is a touchdown for Tampa Bay. You know what? You're spoiled.

Give them some respect. How about that? I grabbed some dicks on the way back. Good morning, Vancouver. 601 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It is Halford and his breath. It is SportsNet 650.

We are coming to live from the Kidd Tech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you. Morning. Laddie, 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-trustee.com. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 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 Studios. studio, Kintech, footwear, and orthotics working together with you in step. Got a lot to get to on a Tuesday show. Guest list today begins at 6.30. Matt Verde-Ram, NFL staff writer from Sports Illustrated, is going to join the program. We will look back on Monday night football, the double header last night. Baker Mayfield led a late, dramatic fourth quarter touchdown drive to steal the win for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Houston.

And then in the nightcap, Justin Herbert, MVP, maybe. He and the Chargers were of the 2-0 with an impressive win over Vegas. And Gino Smith, not the MVP and the Raiders last night. So we'll talk to Matt about all that. And hey, this is what I love about football season. Just when you think that the week is over, don't worry. We're only two days away from Thursday night football. We can talk to Matt about that as well.

7 o'clock, cool one here. Nice get for the program. is going to join the program. Former NHL are now currently Seattle Cracken TV analyst. The Canucks have and will continue to see a lot of the Cracken in the early days of this preseason. Prospects tournament just wrapped down in Seattle. And on Sunday, the Canucks and the Cracken will face off in what is both their exhibition season opener. It's a 5 p.m. puck drop from Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday, going directly up against Sunday night football. I know where my eyes will be.

Neil McAvoy is going to join the program at 730 this morning. BC Lions general manager is going to join the program. Lions coming up a big win on Friday against the red blacks. They're going to look to climb back to 500 this coming Friday, but it won't be easy. They're on the road against the 8 and 4 stampeters in Calgary. We'll talk to Neil McAvoy about that at 730. Finally, the guest list ends at 8.10.

Landon Ferraro is going to join the program. Former NHL are now Canucks Analyst. We are just days away now from the start. of training camp. On ice activities begin Thursday at the South Okanagan events center and everything wraps up basically on Saturday with the blue white scrimmage on

Saturday, September 20th. We'll talk to Landon about positional battles to watch going into camp storylines for the season. That's all coming up at 8.10. So working in reverse on that guest list. 810 Landon Ferraro 7.30, Neil McAvoy, 7 o'clock, Eddie Oldchick, 630, Matt Verde Ram. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened.

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. 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 of tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca. With everything that's going on in the world of sports, we are going to begin with the Toronto Blue Jays. in a season where so much has gone right. Another thing went right yesterday.

Their prize prospect, Trey Yassavage, struck out nine. Maybe, maybe the best MLB pitching debut for a rookie in franchise history. Springer, tie-breaking single in the 11th, and Braden Fisher with a clutch save. Jays beat the race 2-1 on Monday night to open up a five-game lead in the AL East. Let's hear what the close sounded like, because it was for a bullpen that has a bullpen that has, been under pressure and at times underperform this year. One of the best saves of the year from the rookie, Braden Fisher. Here's what it sounded like Dan Shulman on the call. One two. Got him. Braden Fisher with an unbelievable job here in extra innings. Two scoreless

innings. What a major league debut for Trey Yassavich. Think he had any fun here in his first day in the big leagues. And the Blue Jays find a way to win. win this game. So you savage for those that don't know was the 20th overall selection in last year's MLB amateur draft. One of the best prospects in all of baseball

finally got to make his debut yesterday. Again struck out nine. He was great. A little bit of a wobble at the start of the game, but like almost a veteran pitcher, settled in nicely. Laddie? He pitched a Nat Bailey this year. How cool was that? It's pretty crazy. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So

I'm looking at fan graphs now looking at playoff odds I mean they're going to make the playoffs but they've got a 97.1% chance of clinching a buy which is huge for the Blue Jays considering the playoffs have cuts how about we just

skip that whole part we've had trouble with early part of the preseason really risky it's just bypass that their magic number is 7 they lead the ALE East by 5 if the Js goes... Hold on a second I want to talk about you savage Okay.

What role could he play in the postseason? Well, I mean... Is he starting? We already have a text into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket, by the way. From Berkey Boy, already calling for Yesavage to take Brios' spot in the rotation going into the postseason. Now, that might be a bit much, Berkey Boy. It's one start, although it's an impressive start. He's got a splitter that he threw a bunch yesterday, which apparently is unhittable.

But sometimes when you've got a young guy full of confidence, that doesn't really know any better. You've got to take advantage of it. And the book's not out on him. A lot of guys haven't seen him. A lot of Major League Baseball pitchers have not seen him. Even through the rotation, sorry, through the batting order yesterday. You could tell that they were still flummoxed.

I'm sure he was nervous for his first ever Major League Baseball start. So you can sit there and say like, oh, well, is he going to have the mental fortitude to pitch in the postseason? Well, he just had the mental fortitude to make his Major League Baseball debut and it went really well. So, like, this might be a secret weapon for them. Well, almost. Sorry, go ahead. A lot of the talk post game was how, what's his usage going to be towards the end of the year?

Because you don't want to show that hand too much, but you want to get him involved enough that he feels comfortable pitching in the playoffs. So it's a fine line that they're going to have to balance. Jason actually had a good point there. I don't know if you listened to the audio from John Schneider or not, but we have it here. You sounded very much like Schneider talking about not just the pressure of his first start, but all the extraneous stuff is family and a bunch of people in attendance. The nerves going into it. Here's what John Schneider had to say about his rookie chucker after a very impressive MLB debut and a 2-1 win over the raise.

I thought he was really good, man. Really good. I mean, first got out of the first inning. We made some really good defensive plays. Him he played a hell of a game at shortstop today to kind of keep that inning where it should be and handled himself well. As he was coming in after the second, third, fourth, you can see he had taken a little bit of a deep breath, you know, and rightfully so.

he was getting a ton of swing and miss and, you know, I think he gave up three hits, two to Yondi, and settled in pretty well, you know, hard to do. You know, he's got a bunch of people right behind the dugout, screaming for him, cheering for him, but really happy with the way he settled in. So the numbers, as we mentioned, J's lead the ALE East by five, their magic number is seven. Really all they need to do is go 500, six and six and six over these final 12 games. That's it. The Yankees would need to go a perfect 12 and 0.

over their final 12 to catch a Jay's. And they're at the point now even if the Jay's falter a little bit, the Yankees would still have to have a pretty good record to overtake them. The Yankees very much have to win out, I would say, to catch him. And this has just been a pretty magical

storybook year, adding another chapter to it with the Savage thing. Now, you've got some news that you want to pass along, Jason. Well, we don't normally get breaking news on this show at six in the morning. But when the New York Rangers come to town

on October 28th, which is not too far away, J.T. Miller will be the captain of the New York Rangers. The Rangers just announced this. Chris Drury, the Rangers president with the quote, we're pleased to announce J.T. Miller as the new captain of the New York Rangers. Since his arrival last season, J.T. immediately became a leader for our group and exemplifies how we want to conduct ourselves, both on and off the ice.

Congratulations to J.T. and his entire family on an incredibly meaningful achievement and we're confident he will continue to represent our organization with class, commitment, and integrity. The story.

I had a feeling it was going to go this way. The storylines that J.T. Miller keeps providing he is a sports radio gift. I had a feeling it was going to go this way in New York. I had a feeling.

When they acquired him, they made a real concerted effort publicly to talk about how they wanted the team to play more like J.T. Miller and how they needed J.T. Miller's presence and his attitude and his fiery nature to spark life into a team that had flatlined. I wasn't 100% sure they were going to go to this move this quickly, but it doesn't surprise me. They're doing it well ahead of the start of the rest of the rest. regular season. A lot of teams will want to get this done before training camp starts. The

storylines, I agree, it's delicious going into this year because a guy that was traded from one team for being, let's call it what it is, a locker room problem was quickly acquired by another team and given the highest leadership position you can give a player in the National Hockey League. That is a very, very tasty dynamic from a sports radio. And for the Rangers to come to town so early in the regular season. JT. That's going to be, and look, let's face it, this won't necessarily go well for the Rangers. It could, but the Rangers are a team that was just as dysfunctional, honestly, if not more,

than the Canucks last season. I think they were about tied in dysfunctionality. Sure. Yeah? We're going to allow it. You know what? Let's do that. We're going to use it.

And, you know, there were times that J.T. Miller got out of control last season in Vancouver, and that's coming from very good sources. And one of the things that I've heard multiple times is that because the Canucks didn't have a guy like Zodoroff or Ian Cole that was willing to be like, hey, man, shut up, you know. When there's not that voice in the room. and now he's the captain so he's going to be even more unencumbered

however on the other hand so what if that goes badly what if it goes really well for the Rangers it goes down as one of the great in-season trades in recent memory but I'm not talking about I don't care about the Rangers what if it goes well for the Rangers and things aren't so good in Vancouver yeah people would have to give leas Pedersen the captaincy Just to spark it

Just to make them feel better And hopefully Change things up Okay, this This only adds to the pressure On number 40 shoulders That's all it does Right?

Like if he, J.T. Miller just got named captain of the Rangers A lot of people in this market You know, I know there's some people that are like, never talk about JT again I'm like, well, I'm sorry, we have to We have to Because this is part of the narrative

of sports and so you know if it goes well for the Rangers and it's not going well for Elias Pederset and the Canucks, man like the stakes for this season are incredible

unfairly what you're saying is right and true what do you mean unfairly it's perfectly fair oh it's not because this organization has made a point of saying we didn't choose one over another and not one didn't solve the other right they've always maintained

that that it wasn't a choice between Pedersen and Miller and choose to keep Pedersen and trade Miller like they wouldn't have... Yeah, Miller eventually wanted out. Right. So there's... And they actually did try and trade PD and Carolina shopped it to Colorado. But this is just the Canucks perspective. I think

that when you can't control other narratives and the way people think, it's inevitable, Jason, obviously that people are going to say, you pick the wrong guy. If everything that you say does happen, J.T. Miller becomes the captain, has this magical season, leads back to the playoffs. Let's say they go on a run.

It's going to be an inevitability that people are going to say, wow, the Canucks chose the wrong guy. I don't think it's, I mean, I don't think it's fair and I don't think it's right. Well, they did, they did choose, I mean, they did make a decision at one point to lock them both up long term, knowing that there were issues there. Yeah, because they thought that, you know, the two would be able to overcome. And then a year later, it was very evident that they weren't going to be able to do that. It was even less than a year.

Yeah. And this is where we're at currently. So there's been some great questions into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket. Three Putt Shane wants to know what does the J.T. Miller tribute look like when he comes back to town in October. That is a great question. Fascinating. That is a great question. What do you do?

What do you do knowing what you know as an organization? Can you roll out the red carpet and throw flowers and have a tribute video? They will have a tribute video for him for sure. With his arch-enemy on the ice, on your bench, on your home ice, that's tantalizing, isn't it? Another question just came in. Does Evander Cain have to fight J.T. Miller on site the moment that they start playing that game? I will answer it this way. Wouldn't hurt.

I mean, talk about ingratiating yourself of a fan base. That's a good way to get going. If you want to pick a moment. Would J.T. go with him? Yeah. I don't know, man. Evander is very, very tough. I mean, I think he would reluctantly,

but he wouldn't want to. You know what, in terms of like ready to go, like that mentality, Miller really showed something at the Four Nations. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I remember thinking, and this is a total aside, but whatever. He fought Pareko, right? Yeah, but do you remember...

Punched himself. He did. He tried his best. Quit hitting yourself. Quit hitting yourself. You remember when we had Miller on the show prior to the start of last season and we asked him about international competition?

And he was like, man, he was, he could not be less interested in one, the interview and two, playing international hockey. He had no, he hadn't thought about anything. So I was like, if he goes to the four nations, he'll play, but how emotionally invested will he be? Well, it turns out he was riding shotgun with the Kachuk brothers on the group chat to make sure that they were ready to fight at the start of the game. So I would say, yeah, I think he could, you know what I think he understands? Yeah. I think he understands like the theater and the moment and the emotion that goes. into it really well. Sometimes I think maybe

he's like one of those method actors that takes it too far, but I think he understands that this is just more than a sport, that there's a real entertainment aspect to this. And he loves it, right? He loves the emotional highs. He loves the energy. I think sometimes he likes being the villain, too. Okay, I'll read a text from Sean.

Do you really think PD is sitting there reading this Miller News and thinking to himself, wow, that's more pressure on me now, geez, that sucks? No, of course not. That is your perspective. of how you would feel, not necessarily how Petey would feel, lay off him at 6.16 a.m. before training camp even kicks off. He's got enough real pressure on him. Let's not make up fake pressures to add to the storyline. Well, I also don't think he's listening to the show, Big Shoots.

So calm down. Like, it's, it's an obvious narrative that's out there. Yeah. We didn't make it up. Big Shoots. Yeah, like, calm down. I wanted to read that just to give Sean his chance to be heard because, listen, there is a real perspective. I was like, did you just call me big shoots? There's a real notion out there. And I think there's some projecting going on. Like, he's not, he's not nervous or is like, you know, like you're nervous.

I think everyone's, I think everyone's at the very least, if you want to call it nerves or excitement. If it's not that, extremely curious to see how this plays out. Well, you know, these are very divisive, divisive, divisive times. and you got the PD camp and you got the Miller camp and one camp will fill one way about this news and one camp will fill the other way about this news and they won't necessarily react, you know, normally. And listen, we love talking about big games, okay?

This game is October 28th in Vancouver. That the Rangers will play. and Miller's going to come in there wearing the captaincy of an original six franchise and who knows how they start who knows how the Canucks start regardless it's like it's like we love these storylines

maybe some people don't they don't they don't want any they don't want storylines that you know that that that add to the stakes of the game they don't want the drama they just like can't everyone get along Yeah, I know, but like, isn't the drama why we watch sports? Yeah, that's the whole premise of it.

Like, that's the best part of it. This won't just be a Vancouver thing. This will be people all around the NHL being like, you know what? I'm going to tune into this game because I want to see what the crowd reaction is. This will be a national news. I want to see what Miller does. I want to see how Pedersen plays, you know? Like, do you think Rick Tockett will be watching this game?

I guarantee he will. He wants to see how this goes. Yeah. No, it's, and it's going to be a test of both teams who went through a terrible seasons last year to see how they rise up to this occasion. Isn't that why we watch sports? Yes. I don't think some people why, like, I watch it for the Michigan's. Right.

Sick sellies. Sick sellies. I don't think we need to justify content all the time. But I appreciate you reading Sean's text. I guess there's that element to it. But as we also pointed out in this segment that that narrative is. partially maybe fully unfair to Pedersen because as we pointed out

he didn't ask to choose one of the other and the Cucks have maintained that it wasn't a choice between one of the other. They did not choose one over the other even though it appears that way publicly. And there is an unfair element of them being pitted against each other for the remainder of their careers

and the move on narrative from some of you totally valid. But to ignore it entirely. But we're not going to. But to ignore it entirely is kind of a bigger issue today where if you don't hear something or if you hear something you don't like,

you try and rebel against it just because you don't like it, not necessarily because it's based in fact. So I want to throw that out there. We'll move on once Petey has a great year and Miller will sort of be forgotten and the Canucks do really well and, you know, it'll figure itself out.

Like hopefully Petey has a hat trick, Miller gets zero points, Kane fights him, and we just all collectively move on as a nation. And I know that we're not focused. I know that we're not focused on the Rangers as a nation together. We got to come together. Yeah, it's horrible for our country,

but this is great content. I know that we're not focusing on the Rangers part of this, but to me, I think that there's an equally fascinating story for what this does to this organization because this is not a team and a roster that is bereft of veteran presences.

There are guys that have been there for a long time. Now, I know some of you will say, well, Miller was already a range. Yeah, but that first chapter doesn't really relate to this current one because so many of the guys weren't there. There's a lot of guys, I bet, that thought they might have been in line for that captaincy who have served a lot longer under the current regime that aren't that guy. Miller was brought in for this and it's fairly obvious right now because you got to remember, the guy that just named him captain of the Rangers was also a captain of the Rangers. Like Chris Drury understands. And he clear, and Jerry clearly hated his team.

Yeah. But he was like, I mean, he beat kind of blew it up last season. As much as he could, right? And I'm sure. And honestly, I wonder about his judgment, to be perfectly honest with you. Naming J.T. Miller captain, it's a huge risk. But look at what he's done, right? Moved out Truba, moved out Crider, moved out Miller, took big pieces of that team,

kicked him to the curb, and brought in J.T. Miller ahead of last year's deadline. And then within six months, named him the captain of the team. Mark from Calgary, Texan, if Vince McMahon, was involved in the NHL, this would be a storyline. Correct. It would be a bigger storyline. Vince would know how to play it. You probably wouldn't read texts from Sean either, but I digress.

Okay, we got to get going here. Sean would be watching wrestling and he'd be like, do they have to just involve so many theatrics? I'm here for the wrestling. Why is everybody so mean to each other? Just the purity of the sport. That's what I'm looking for. You're listening to the best

of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Here's a question that I'll throw out for the listeners. I'm not saying, just let me preface this with, I'm not saying that your captain should be just like this, like fiery out of control guy that's just always yelling and freaking out. Like I think one of the big aspects of, or one of the big characteristics of a good captain is composure

and showing composure in the big moments and showing, sometimes quiet confidence but I do think that every team needs a spark plug or an emotional leader. If you want to go back to 2011, it was

Kessler. But they had a bunch of guys. You know, like the Seneens were quiet leaders but they also had Kessler and Burroughs. They had very much had players that played with emotion. Yeah. That's right. We can't have anyone freak out out there.

okay yeah you've got to keep our composure that was queen you're too far there's too much to lose it's not keep our composure so it makes me laugh every time though what's the question who is the connect's emotional like who who who's it going to be because it's not i think you know who it i think you know who it is and who i'm going to say it's yeah you're going to say evander yeah yeah it is there's no question about it actually i mean who else could it be it's him that's he was brought in It's not going to work? I just finished saying, like, think about the inspirational part of the J.T. Miller story, which was this was the team that drafted J.T. Miller, and this was the team that brought him into the NHL.

It was his first club. It gave him his shot at this professional career. And now he's coming home. And what's been kind of the narrative with Evander Kay in this summary? He's coming home. I just love the idea of when I'm signing him, sitting down with him. So, Vander, when the Canucks play the Rangers on October the 28th, we're going to need you to beat up J.T. Miller. There's been a lot of talk about him coming back home and where it all started and back around the family and back to an organization that he always wanted to play for and back for a team that he cheered for when he was a kid. So when you talk about the emotional leadership, I mean, he was signed to put the puck in the net and to, you know, provide the fist of cuffs and get in a forecheck and be tough to play.

Size and strength in the top six, which they desperately needed. But he was also brought in to give them an attitude and to give him an emotional lift because that's what he does. it's a fine line with the van der kane you've seen that in the past right and is and is he able to is he able to get his teammates going guys that bring that profile can do that but like miller you always run the risk of it going too far and it turning bad i don't see kane and miller is the same same in terms of i've seen kane no no no you're not listening it's in terms of the risk and i'd say Kane has a history of being a far more risky proposition.

But with Miller, what you've seen now is a guy that can go over the edge. Well, I think Kane can go over the edge too. He's completely laxed discipline. But what I'm saying is that Kane is different because he's not always, he's a bit of a lone wolf. Sure. I think he just, like, his issue has been that he hasn't fit in in dressing rooms. Like, Miller, Miller was well liked by the Canucks.

I know not by one of them but he was more than one well liked by the Canucks yeah but come on man like who well like there's

there were people that had issues with what he did but it was kind of like yeah JT went too far but I really like him but there was obviously a faction in that room I mean I want to say how big was the faction he divided that locker room

J.T. Miller did it much like he divided the fan base you had your J.T. Miller fans in the locker room? And you had players on the team that did not care for him as much. So other people have been texting in that Garland could be the emotional leader. Sure. 100%. I would actually, I think that's a better shout than Kane.

You know, Sherwood. Yeah, he's going to provide energy for sure. But Garland, to me, would be the, let's call it, louder culture setter. Sure. You know what I mean? Like he's not afraid to speak up. And he plays with a style that you want all your players to emulate. And what a story for Garland, by the way?

There were Connor Garland chants at Rogers Arena yesterday. Or not yesterday, but last season. And I think that's quite a story from coming over in a very controversial trade. And let's face it, Garland did some good things. I don't think delivered early on, maybe didn't find quite find his role with the Canucks until Rick Tocket came and then has become an integral part of the team. So I think Connor Garland very much is, I would probably choose him as the emotional leader for the Canucks over a Vander Kane. Now, Kane is a wild card that can add to it. But I think, you know, after thinking about it a

little bit. He's the guy. Yeah. By the way, I think Zavid just pointed out. I think I said that he was cheering for the Canucks in 2011. I meant 2001, not 2011. 2011, he was fully immersed in the national hockey league, like an active NHL, so I doubt he was cheering for another team. But the point being, the growing up in Vancouver, the coming back. And it has been one of the talking points, both with Kane and with the organization. And then as we tie it back to the emotional leadership part, I think there's a handful of candidates I think you do need one I don't think people are either

I don't know if it's one guy I think it was Rager that's not listening or you're not getting it but there's we're not saying that the emotional leader has to be the leader because some teams as you pointed out

have quiet lead by example type guys said take your pick Hughes I think would be a good example of that not super vocal most of those teams though with that kind of guy in church also have, I don't want to say a leader riding shotgun, but someone

alongside that's either the foil or the alternative one that does provide that. And you need one of those guys in every room, I would argue, because sometimes if it's too flat and no one's bringing it up, the energy, the attitude, it affects the on-ice play.

And there are a handful of guys on this Connect's roster that I think can do it, but I do think that Kane was brought in like almost specifically for that role. I'm just going to end all this discussion with the plea and the hope that the Canucks can come together and meet the challenge of this season.

Again, this Rangers team is going to come in to Rogers Arena, one of the first handful of games at Rogers Arena this season. I don't know what it is, like home game number five or six or something like that in Vancouver. And I just hope that they can come together because they're being presented a massive challenge but sometimes

when you're presented a massive challenge that's when you do come together as a group and I think about that season just two years ago Rick Tock was a fairly new head coach he'd come in halfway through the previous season and we all talked about the start

we all talked about hashtag the start and then got off to one of the best starts in franchise history and we're pretty much able to carry it through the entire regular season save for a few blips here and there I just hope they can they can use like as opposed to

one of the things that I always admired about talk it and I know people are tired of the talk at love on this show but one of the things that I always admired about talk it

whereas he'd just be like we're not going to run away from challenges you know I mean meet pressure with pressure kind of lost all meaning because we made fun of it so much

but that's what you need to do and you don't need to do and you don't need to to talk yourself out of this being a thing. Like you don't need to go into, I hope I don't hear anyone say like, oh, this game against the Rangers is just another game. Fifth home game of the season, by the way.

You're correct. So it's one of 82 games. We're just going to go out there and do our thing. That's running away from it. No, it's not. Your fan base doesn't feel that way. So go out there and, you know, play like it means something to you,

because it should mean something to you. Especially on how nice. Because a lot of these guys too, guys like Garland and Bessor, have chosen to stay in Vancouver. So you have chosen to remain in the fight with the Vancouver Canucks. So go out and show it. Because that's all fans want. They just want to know that you're in the fight.

And they want to know that you've come together as a group and you're going to do your best. The biggest turnoff from last season, and I don't I'm not even going to take sides here the biggest turnoff was that two of the star players couldn't get along and and you know you can say well this guy had this guy was this guy's fault or this guy's I don't you know at the end of the day I don't really care whose fault it was

it was that two of their star players couldn't get along and to me that as a fan that's just such it's you know like gross it's come on guys like we want you guys to be successful so you've all everyone on that team or a lot of those people on that team, the star players have made the decision to stay in Vancouver and fight for this team.

So do it. Go out there and show it. He is a former NHLer and of course now with Canucks analyst Landon Ferraro joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Landon, how are you? I'm doing pretty good. How are you guys doing? We're good. Thanks for taking the time.

Do this. It's been a while, but we're getting closer and closer to the start at Canucks training camp. going to begin on Thursday up in Penticton at the South Okanagan Events Center. No shortage of storylines going in, although I think we're kind of past the days of someone winning a job in training camp and coming out of nowhere to make the team. That being said, positional battles in hierarchy and who's playing where. What are you going to be looking at over the course of the three days in Penticton, then of course culminating with that blue-white scrimmage at the end of camp? Well, I mean, we'll start at the bottom of the lineup and what you, young guys that, you know, went through the Calder Cup playoffs last year and had good runs in

Vancouver, but especially through the playoffs in the American League and built that confidence and had a full summer of training, what they look like coming into camp, what type of confidence they have, you know, like the, you know, Carlson and Baines and Sasson and, you know, like those guys, like, can they take that next step to where it's not, you know, we look good for for a stretch of games, but now it's, like, we're taking that spot, and I'm not giving it up. Like, it's a completely different mentality. You know, I think Carlson, he was so good through the playoffs last year. He's got the bigger frame.

He's really good around the net in his hands. Like, I'm really excited to see what he can do at training camp and what type of opportunity he can carve out for himself, for sure. All right, Halford warmed you up with an easy question. What did you think of J.T. Miller being named Captain of the Rangers this morning? I'm going to be honest. I was really surprised that it took you two questions to ask that. Yeah.

We had to warm you up a little bit with a training camp one. To me, it makes sense for that group there. They've had some very good teams. They have some really good talent. And they haven't been able to get over that hump. And it seems that, you know, a guy like J.T. You know, this market obviously knows well and the type of mentality that he brings that, you know,

like he's intense and he wants to win and he's not afraid to let his teammates know that. Like, you know, like it's a bit of a voice that that room probably needs. And, you know, he's gone through a lot since the last time he was wearing a Rangers jersey, and he can bring that back in. And they're hoping that, you know, again, that intensity is the answer to really kind of get

that group moving. So I'm not surprised at all. I think it makes sense. Get a load of this three games in four nights set. In late October, all of these games at Rogers Arena, Saturday, October 25th, Montreal comes to town. Always interesting, and I think the habs are even more interesting this season. The very next night, Sunday, the Edmonton Oilers. And then Tuesday, October 28th, you get the Monday off. Tuesday, J.T. Miller, the captain of the New York Rangers,

returns with his new slash old team to play the Vancouver Canucks. I mean, if that's not going to get you fired up, I know, I don't know what will. I mean, just the stakes of those three games in four nights, it must make you pretty excited, Landon, to be able to be part of that. For sure, it does. There's nothing better than early the season games that actually have way more meaning than just another game on the docket. But what I would say in that at the same time is even if there was no drama last year off

the ice and the team had the season that they had anyway, like they have a lot to prove this year. They have to get out to a very good start. So like by that point they'll have already played a handful of games, hopefully that they're, you know, off to a decent start and feeling good. And yes, like, I'm not trying to downplay, like, especially the Ranger game. Like, that is going to be a very rowdy night in Rogers Arena, I assume. Everyone's going to be excited. They're going to want to see, you know, they're going to want to know how is PD started and wow as JT started. And when they meet, what's going to happen and how that's going to look. it's going to be an emotional game

but for the Canucks as much as it's a cliche it doesn't matter who what team is coming in like they need to take a really good step right out a training camp and to the start of the season to make sure that they're getting this organization

back on track here Is your biggest worry like me how they're going to score goals or do you have another concern no that that is the main concern i'm right with you on that and i think the way that it softens a little for me in my view is that they are good defensively and their defensive unit is very solid and now you're dropping a healthy thatcher dempco back into there with kevin lankenen you know

you obviously have to wait and see a bit on on how dempco looks and how he holds up playing more games and being back in that regular, you know, rotation, whether they do, you know, two games for Demko, one for Lankin and split those games up. But, like, they should be a very good defensive team. And I think with the way the forwards are going to be trying to kind of reprove themselves and show them, not even just the team, but themselves that they can take a step, they can have more offense there. You know, we had Jake DeBresk on our podcast, and he's talking about, you know, we had a very good, you know, if you look at just the gold numbers, like he had a good season, and yet he still thinks that he has a lot more there. Can he be a guy

that really kind of grabs the reins and scores a bit more? You have a healthy of VanderCain coming into the lineup and, you know, listening to him talk about, you know, the possibility of playing with Pedersen and, you know, opening up space for him, letting him get back to using his speed through the middle of the ice and creating off the run. Like those things are going to have to have to work to really give them some more offensive punch. But I think this is going to be a team that we're going to have to get used to games being 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, like some low-scoring affairs. What else did DeBrusk have to say? Because I think if you look at the goal totals last season, you were pretty happy and you're happy with his play around the net.

He's got great hands and he's got a nose for the net, good sense for scoring. goals, but I think most of us watched and maybe Jake played and felt this way that he could have been a little more involved in kind of like everything else. Yeah, and he really did talk about that, about how he needs to bring in his shot more, not just waiting for the opportunities, but creating it himself. And, you know, we're talking to him specifically about, you know, when you're on the ice with Quinn Hughes, you obviously want the puck in his hands. He's like, I deferred too much.

He's like, I can add some bad turnovers where, because Quinn wants it, he's, you know, getting himself and talking, and he just blindly makes the play and turns it over. You know, things like that where Jake's got a really good shot. If you watch some of his goals, especially back to his last season in Boston, like some really good odd man rush with a longer shot, getting it at the tops of the circles and really using it. so like trying not to defer as much and you know it's a shooter's mentality you have to be a little selfish at points and that doesn't mean you know not passing to a guy that's completely open but you know trust your own abilities find ways to create for yourself and not just overly look to be in the right spot and before you know it you've got yourself into an open area but you're kind of by the boards like he's got he talked about getting himself back into the guts of the ice and actively looking and finding lanes, trying to open up things for his line mate. So, I mean, all the ways that he was talking, I really enjoyed and liked how he was talking so much about,

like, yeah, I had goals, but a lot of those were off rebounds, and that's great getting to those areas you have to. But I have more to my game. I have ways that I need to be able to get a puck off the half wall and take a couple strides and get into a good shooting spot. let that go myself. Landon, doesn't this get to the heart of the issue with the Canucks forward group is that they need guys that have the confidence and the ability to make things happen.

They need playmakers. And I think if you look at the group they've got, Pedersen, when he's on, can certainly make things happen. And Garland makes things happen. But then you maybe struggle to find another guy that isn't more. than a good complementary piece. Yeah, no, like, I definitely see what you're saying, and I think a lot of it was, you know,

just going back to last year and watching, like there were so many times where even a guy with the puck was waiting for someone else to kind of blow through an area to get open. Or, like, there was just a lot of, okay, if I wait another second, I can find a play here instead of just, kind of putting your head down and driving. And I think that's going to be a real emphasis with Adam Foote as the coach now

and the new coaching staff coming in. Like, you know, they watched and saw the same thing. A couple of the assistant coaches were coaching against Vancouver last year and would have been watching a ton of video and seeing that firsthand as well when they were playing against them. But I think there are guys that can take that next step and have a little bit more selfishness in their game that only makes the team better, right?

And I think that's going to be a big talking point of training camp in early parts of the season is like it's great to make plays, but there's nothing wrong with taking it yourself and driving, like putting your shoulder down and driving to the net. You draw another defender. You know, say you're making your drive off the half wall,

kind of cutting around the bottom of the bottom of the net, the circle. Like now you're drawing that net front defenseman. Is he going to come attack or is he going to sit in front with the guy that the other fords that's sitting there? Like start making defense have a harder time in their defensive zone having to make some switches, make decisions. And that's where guys end up getting open. And pucks, when you play the right way like that, like pucks do bounce for you from time to time. And that's what they need to have a little bit more for sure. We're speaking to Landon-Ferrero here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650.

I'm going to go glass-half-full with this one. Let's say that the Canucks have a successful season, Landon, and they get back into the playoffs. If that happens, let's project out here. Which positional group is going to have a more profound effect on the success? Is it going to be the defensive group, or is it going to be the goaltending? I mean, that's a tough one. I think the, because it's kind of both, right? Like, to me, it's the goalies are going to, like, Dempco is going to have to be himself again,

and Lankan is going to have to be able to replicate what he did last year. And I think that he will, because he was so good, especially in that first half of the year before four nations. And then his game total started to crawl up there, you know, 20 games past what he's ever played before. And he talked the other day on our show as, well of this summer really kind of retooling how he trained to be able to play more games and handle that and not kind of gas out a little bit. But like the goalies are going to have to do that. But, you know, it's funny because at the start of training camp last year, a lot of

the talk was about getting the D involved and really kind of having offense come from there. And it did not start very good. They were turning pucks over and and allowing a ton of odd man rushes against. But I think what. this D group now, how you look at it, like there's a lot more skaters in it. I think that they can advance the puck a lot cleaner. And once they can get out of their end, advance the puck cleaner moving up the ice, well, now it's into the forward's hands to make something happen. And the quicker it gets into their hands, it puts the defense of the other team on their back foot. So I think the D are going to be a massive part of this year, not only being good defensively, but really

kind of being that springboard for the forwards to be able to go up and do what they're supposed to do. It is a different mix on defense, isn't it? I mean, I think we all look at back at the beginning of last season and look at some of the defensemen

out there, Susie really struggled. Day or A wasn't a fit and they probably reached on him or they definitely did reach on him. And now you've got expectations for DPD

and maybe even Tom Willander do you think they looked at kind of like having we're going to have a bunch of tall long guys and maybe overlooked the importance of moving the puck a little bit but I think a bit of that was trying to

you know by a little short and hopefully some of those guys hit and then they just it just didn't it didn't work last year but you know bringing in a marcus peterson who is a tall lanky uh defenseman that is very good defensively but he does skate really well you know there wasn't really any stretches where he got to be in the lineup with queen hughes healthy so to see you know a hughes and heronic pairing and you know a marcus Pedersen and Tyler Myers, like, those two, like, who's getting around them? Yeah.

It's still long. And even when they do, yeah, right? So say Pedersen gets beat off his side, well, Tyler Myers takes one step to the middle and puts his stick over, like, he's already got that covered, right? So already, just looking at it, it's what they tried to do last year in training camp, or before the season with how they made up their team. But they have, they have better personnel this year that, I think can accomplish what they were trying to do last year.

Like, again, like last year, that Susie had a pretty good year the year before, but right from the get-go last year, it just didn't work. And he was making a lot of mistakes, and you could see him trying, but he just couldn't write the ship. And this year, they've filled those spots with guys that are really proven, and I think can really, again, kind of springboard the forwards because they're going to need as much help. mean that as in I don't think

that the forwards are going to be able to take a step this year and be more it's not even about being like a way more offensive team just a more consistent in the right type of gameplay that they want but I think a lot of that's going to come from the D Landon this was great man thanks for taking the time to do it we appreciate it enjoy the rest of the day

in training camp we'll do this again next week all right sounds good it was good to be on guys having good one great having you on but thanks that's Landon Ferraro Canucks analyst here on the health and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. I asked him that question because someone pointed out to me the other day a very telling stat that I don't think

gets mentioned enough when we talk about one of the biggest differences from two years ago to last year. Save percentage? No. Just a real straight. I know goal he wins

and Laddie's going to roll his eyes. When the Canucks had that great year two years ago and they made it to the playoffs, Thatcher Demko won 35 games. Can you guess how many he won last year? Tell me. Ten. Ten, yeah.

I mean, and Laddys, gesturing with a throat slash right. And so I'm going to kill you for bringing up. But their save percentage was one of the lowest in the NHL. Demko was a huge part of what they did two years ago. And he was a virtual non-factor last year. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.