Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 9/24/25

Episode Date: September 24, 2025

Mike & Jason look at the previous day in sports, plus they set up tonight's 'Nucks pre-season matchup versus the Flames in Abbotsford, as Canucks Talk host & The Athletic Vancouver's Thomas Drance 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 Halford and Brough. That two-n-n-dun-dun-dun-dun-n-dun-dun-twing and drive. Deep into the gap with the up, center field, now for active bases. Rayleigh will score, Crawford will score. He's waving in Julio. Here comes Julio routing third.

He'll score. Swung on line to third. Caught by Ramirez. Ballgame. The Guardians take over the Central Division lead. Jose Camayero. With the victory for the New York Yankees as they quits a playoff spot.

Good morning, Vancouver. Six o'clock on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford in his breath. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming live from the Kintech Studios. It was a beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning. Hey, dog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Alfred and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick. No more interest, much lower payments, and financial peace of mind.

Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycle. 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. We're really emphasizing the sports in SportsNet 650 today on this show. We have a very eclectic, very diverse sports show. And we've also got a Canucks game tonight. 7 o'clock from the Abbotsford Center. It's going to be the Canucks and the Flame. So we're going to try and do as much as we can across the world of sports. A lot of baseball and the intro, very well done, Laddie.

The guest list today begins at 6.30. Joe Smith is going to join us. He, of course, covers the Minnesota Wild and the NHL for the athletic, but he's got a new feature piece up at the athletic on Utah Jazz and Mammoth owner Ryan Smith. The title, what Ryan Smith's building in Utah, is much bigger than the mammoth and the jazz. Part of this movement, of course, is the new 146,000 square foot practice facility in Sandy, Utah. For the mammoth. There's a lot of references.

The Canucks just love it when we talk about this stuff. They just love it. Joe Smith has a lot of details on this practice facility and everything else. They're like, well, get this guy up here to build some rinks. There's a lot of quotes from the players about how much they love the practice. Is it state of the art? It is a state of the art. Wow.

We should have an entire practice facility show where every guest has a different angle of practice facilities. Yeah. Like four different architects or something? A practice facility Friday? anyone? There's some alliteration there. Anyway, we're going to talk to Joe Smith at 630 about not just the practice facility, but everything that's going on in Utah. Very exciting times for a very otherwise boring state. Seven o'clock, Frank Sarah Valley is going to join the program. NHL insider Frank Sarah Valley. There's lots of Canucks adjacent stuff going on around the National Hockey League. News out of Edmonton yesterday, former Canuck, Vasilipod Sloven, also known as Vasilipod-Colesan, signed a three-year extension with the oil. Apparently, another... Another Canuck favorite, Jake Wallman, could soon be next for a contract extension.

How about some updates on some unsigned RFAs with ties to the Canucks? Mason McTavish out of Anaheim, Luke Hughes, out of New Jersey. And Frank also has a bit on teams who could sell if they get off to a slow start. Can I just start with a little bit of trivia? Yeah. Okay? Yeah. Todd Colson has played 219 games in the NHL.

Okay. How many goals does he have? 219 games How many goals does he have? I think he had eight last year I saw that floating around I'm going to say in 219 games I'm going to say

39 goals He's 26 goals I was way off 26 goals I was ambitious unlike Pod Colson at times okay yeah that's that's not a lot

it's not many is it like that's always been that's always been the issue with Pod Colson like everyone loves his work rate and that sort of thing and he seems like a good kid

he cannot finish he cannot score like he does not he's a bit like in that in that sense he's a bit like McKayev where you liked a lot of things

about McKayev his speed but he couldn't finish we can talk to Frank about that and a whole lot more at 7 o'clock this morning 730 this is kind of cool Will Owen is going to join the program

last minute add to the show If you don't know Will, he is the co-host of the Squidge Rugby YouTube channel. Squidge Rugby, which apparently his brother, that's his nickname. So that's where the YouTube channel's got about 250,000 subscribers. It's one of the biggest rugby content creating channels on the market. We're going to talk to him about the Canadian women's rugby team taking on host England in the World Cup final on Saturday at 8 a.m. our time. Okay. And Adog, how did we come across?

this guest. I mean, I know you spent a lot of time on YouTube watching rugby highlights. Yeah, big rugby guy. But it wasn't you, was it? No, it was a listener that recommended it. They DM'd me and it was like, hey, this guy is like the go-to. If you're looking for a rugby guest, because I guess we mentioned it on air that we were.

And he's like, this guy is like the go-to rugby content creator online right now. So he's like if you want to a goat rugby. Go-to. Oh. So if you want a rugby guy, I recommend him. And so I followed up on the recommendation. And there we are. So, yeah, we tried to get him on later.

The week is obviously with the game being on Saturday. We thought let's do this Thursday or Friday. But only availability was today. So we're going to give it a whirl at 7.30, some rugby talk with Will Owen from Squidge Rugby. That's at 7.30 at 8 o'clock to Drancer, Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks talk is going to join the program. I already mentioned it, but I will reiterate tonight. 7 p.m. from Abbotsford. It's the Canucks and the flames in the second iteration of the preseason for both.

We will talk to the Drancer about what to expect from tonight's lineup a little bit more NHL heavy. We're going to go over that in what happened as well because the Canucks did practice in two groups at UBC yesterday. So working in reverse on that guest list. 8 o'clock Thomas Drance, 7.30, Will Owen from Squidge Rugby, 7 o'clock Frank Sarvalley, and then 630 Joe Smith from the athletic. 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'm... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Miss it?

What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies invest in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. As mentioned, the Vancouver Canucks did return to practice on Tuesday at UBC, split into two groups with the first group, the group that will be suiting up in Abbotsford tonight when the Canucks take on Calgary out in Abbey. Yeah, so a couple of notes about that because the Canucks already advertised that the following players

would be in the lineup and who were some of the guys that they said, who were the vets out there yesterday? The first line featured Nils Hoaglander once again skitting alongside Philip Heedle and what would be the de facto first line. Their winger, 31-year-old H.L. veteran McKenzie McKeckern. Okay, but Tyler Myers is is expected to play, I believe

and Thatcher Dempco maybe is expected to start. One of the guys that was mentioned is Connor Garland, but he will not play because he's dealing with a minor injury and he wasn't, he didn't skate yesterday. Adam Foote said that Garland, who was

slated to play in the exhibition game tonight, was battling through something minor, but if it was the season opener as opposed to the second game in the exhibition season, Garland would be good to go. So I think tonight in Abbotsford is going to be, yes, an NHL exhibition game. But I also think it's going to be kind of like a salute

to the star players on the Absford Canucks that won the Memorial Cup last season. Calder Cup last season. Because you've got that line of Sassan, Carlson, and Baines together. You know, you've got guys like Kudriyatsov playing. So I'll be curious to see how they play tonight, but I've got to be honest, like, I'm kind of looking ahead to Friday.

Yeah. Because that exhibition game at Rogers Arena, I believe it's against Seattle, the rematch, is when the Canucks stars will be out there. And obviously, we're all waiting in anticipation for the first preseason game that Elias Pedersen plays. Yeah. And, you know, I don't know, I don't know what to expect. I think what we've heard from camp is that, yeah, he's been fine.

Like hasn't stood out in a bad way, hasn't particularly stood out in a good way. But everything that the Canucks are saying and that, you know, what's been said is ultra-positive, right? Like they, you know, it's it's operation positivity right now when it comes to Elias Pedersen. And, you know, if Pedersen doesn't play well Friday, you know, it's not the end of the world. But it would be nice. It would be nice if he showed something when he does make his preseason appearance. So the preseason is all about the dress rehearsal for the regular season. So not to gloss over what's going on in Abbotsford tonight.

I'm kind of with you. I feel like this is all an exercise in just waiting for the next thing to happen. And then when the next thing happens, start waiting for the next thing to happen. For example, as excited as I am about seeing the Abbotsford line of, Archie Baines, Max Sasson, and Linus Carlson playing tonight. I'm more looking ahead to what we got a glimpse of yesterday with the power play, because Adam Foote kind of unveiled what the power play might look like when the Canucks drop puck for game one of 82 this season.

The coach had Quinn Hughes, Elias Pedersen, Brock Bessor, Jake DeBrusk, and Evander Kane working as what many were rightly to assume as the first power play unit yesterday. PD was set up on the right boards Besser in the bumper DeBresque net front Cain on the left and then of course Hughes

manning the point. So Cain on the left side will be interesting I think a lot of people probably thought oh he's going to go he's going to go net front but DeBress net front has the hands right I mean we saw that a lot

and maybe some people thought oh maybe they'll try cane in the bumper and Besser on the left flank now it should be noted and some of you may not want to hear this but Adam Foote mentioned yesterday he's like hey

Garland is still part of the equation when it comes to the power play so you know Evander Kane is a good goal scorer but he's only had one season in his career where he scored a lot of power play goals and that was one season he played in San Jose and they had a pretty lethal power play

He didn't, given the veteran guys they had on it. Yeah, he didn't do much on the power play with Edmonton. And you can say, well, I mean, they had a pretty full power play, full of talent there. But, I mean, he didn't find a spot on the number one unit there. And now he's, I think, being expected to play a rather big part of special teams, the power play in Vancouver. And I'll be curious to see what it looks like. Because, you know, not just because you're like a good goal score doesn't necessarily mean

that you find a place on the power play like Alex Burroughs scored quite a few goals for the Canucks. Not really a power play guy though. So I think the big thing for me is going to see the Hughes Pedersen connection, which we've talked a lot about on this show, about them needing

to carry this team in a lot of different ways. I think if you want to boil it down to its individual parts of the game, them being a dynamic, effective duo on the power play. Obviously, I don't think anyone's going to ascend to the heights of what we've seen with McDavid and Dreyson. Settle on the power play in Edmonton, but to become a de facto version of that,

maybe what you see in Colorado alongside of Kail McCarr and Nathan McKinnon, they're going to need that this year. With all due respect. And they need it from Hughes and Petey. And Petey's the guy, right? Like, you know what? Yeah, that's what, like, they need the duo. Yeah.

Like, that's what, like, it's not going to be Hughes and Besser. It's not going to be Hughes and DeBresk. It's the two best players, the two most skilled guys on the man advantage. And also just the way they're set up. Yeah. Right? I mean, you got Hughes. They got to figure out a play.

Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Like all these guys have that one. Have a play. And you can be like, well, it'll get too predictable. I was like, well, you know what? It still works if you use it effectively. And you do have other options.

But they got to figure out something. And I think the play is most likely to be some sort of one-timer for Pedersen. But it's got to be dynamic. you know feet have got to be moving out there shooting lanes have got to be changing passing lanes have got to be changing there's got to be there's got to be you know other options that you can at least fake to yeah because the blueprint for the team this year I think is going to be like we said a hundred times on this show relatively low event defense first built on the strength of the blue line and the goaltending despite the fact that Adam foot is putting in and implementing some things in practice where they might be a little bit more aggressive I don't think they're going to be a high school team, especially at Evens this year. Prove me wrong, children. Prove me wrong. But that means you're going to rely heavily on a few things.

One, good defense. Two, good goal tending. And then the usual math on this is that you have to have really good special teams. And we've seen bad power play sync teams. I mean, God, we had Eddie Olchuk on the show last year or last week talking about how bad Seattle's power play last year to the point where he thought it cost them the season. Well, Pittsburgh missed the playoffs a couple of years ago because their power play was terrible. Like you can't, what it does.

not reinventing the wheel here with our analysis, but it does two things. One, keeps you from scoring goals, which is a very important part of winning hockey games. It is very important. I think the mental part of it, the failure and the continued struggles, I think sometimes that bleeds over to other parts of the game

where all of a sudden you start chasing offense and chasing goals in other facets because your power play is not getting it done. The worst is when there's a sense of dread when you get a penalty. And we've all felt it before, especially with certain Canucks team where you're like, no one's excited about the prospect of sending that group up. Here comes a momentum killer.

Right. Here is like the least effective power playing. Now I'm not saying the Canucks have this, but it's just something to monitor. What about the PK? The PK is going to be interesting to look at as well just because they've lost some key guys on that, including Pew Souter.

I kind of wish we would have got to look at that yesterday as opposed to the power play. Because when I saw the power play guys that were rolled out yesterday, there were no huge surprises. Kane, maybe, but you could have argued that Kane was. just merely filling a spot that Connor Garland might fill, right? And that spot was kind of the one that was up for grabs anyway. The PK is a lot more interesting in terms of deployment because you either have to have guys

that have done it before and they've lost a few of those guys or you have to have internal candidates that either foot trusts or have been recommended to him because he's like is the person going to kill penalties? I don't know. That's a great question. Like he's got the instincts for it for sure. And it is a way. want him in that situation.

Might be a way to get him out there, get them more involved. And a way to get hurt, right? That's the flip side of it. I never subscribed to that theory. He blocks a lot of shots, though. It's one of his skills. He is positionally very sound,

so the puck ends up hitting him. I'm sort of an all ice time is good guy. Like the more that you're out there, the more you have an opportunity to do things. And for a guy that maybe last year, and not maybe, but maybe last year, struggled to make an impact on the game on a regular basis?

I didn't notice that. Giving him different venues and avenues and opportunities to do it might be the way to go. Let's get into the baseball here. I have a question. It's for Laddie. Laddie, what is your

concernometer right now when it comes to the Jays? You're so cool. Zero. I didn't go into the season expecting them to win the division, you guys. Yeah, but expectations change, Laddie. You're always too cool

to be worried about the Jays. I'm not too cool. I look at the bigger picture at every scenario when it comes to baseball because you have to. Well, how about the picture right now in that they looked very, very certain to be getting this first round by that we can all acknowledge, I think, is pretty important or at the very least a good advantage. Oh, you just shook your head. It doesn't matter to be too cool for the first round by. I don't even want it. I don't even want it. You're not worried at all right now.

So if they, if they, if they. As long as they get in. As long as they get in. If the Yankees pass them and they go into the postseason, having blown the division, you're going to be like, still equally excited. Yeah. Still equally optimistic. No.

Okay, well, then that's something. That's two different words. Those are two different things. But that's something. Doesn't your optimism affect your excitement? A little bit, but I've had so many years of Blue Jay's fandom where they didn't even come close to making the playoffs. Or they had no. It's not one of those years, man.

This is one of those years where it's pretty. wide open. I still can't believe what they're doing this season. The fact that they have 90 wins is incredible to me. It still hasn't hit yet. Maybe Laddie just doesn't want to jinx it. You don't want to think of the possibility that they could win the World Series. When you get to the playoffs, it becomes a whole different game. It becomes all about your rotation. The Blue Jays have a very fine rotation. I'm happy with their chances, even if they get in without winning the division. Follow-up question. That's what it comes down to.

Follow-up question on the Concernometer. How concerned are you about the grand conspiracy for the umpires to continually screw the blue jays on a near nightly basis my dad is all in on the conspiracy theory yeah he's he's after the foul ball yesterday like the umpire yesterday was like he was watching that ball come down the line super fast very tough and he's like and his brain went don't forget the directive for major league baseball to screw the jays foul ball it was amazing that he did it in time for those of you that have no idea we're talking about Blue Jays lost yesterday, 4-1 to the Red Sox. The slumping Blue Jays had just three hits and lost for the fifth time in six games.

However, they were robbed of a hit, a what would have been basis clearing at least double. I don't know, George Springer's old. They probably wouldn't like that into a triple. But whatever, here's what happened. Springer thought he had hit at least the two-run double in the second inning. But third-based umpire, Scott Barry, all part of the conspiracy, called Springer's ground ball foul. despite the fact that the ball bounced in fair play before the third base. Yeah, and so if it goes over the third base.

And I'll say this, he was in perfect position to call it. You could not have probably overturned it on a replay, even if it was reviewable, which it's not. Laddie, you pointed out, what's the rule with replays on foul balls? If it's in front of the umpire, you are not allowed to review it. That's all on the umpire. But if it's behind, you are. You are. Okay.

They have to turn around, I guess. they can we can they're like I gotta turn around it's always been tough for an umpire I want to play the sequence because not only did Springer get robbed of a double which again if you're certain angles will look fair

I'm not robbed as I'm just throwing it out there to amplify the conspiracy theory but right after that he then struck out looking on a strike that looked like it was a ball that was worse so here's the entire sequence from Dan Shulman on the sports net call yesterday Jays Luz

4-1 to the Red Sox. Certainly done that a lot this year. It's it foul, says third base umpire. Scott Barry. Not a reviewable play. John Schneider doesn't like it, and he's coming out to talk to the home plate umpire and the crew chief, Doug Eddings,

to say, can you guys talk about this? Are you sure? Here's a look at it from George Springer's perspective. One bounce in front of the bag. and then it looks like it goes over the bag and then the third baseman dives and mary was very confident the way he called it he had a pretty good look at it's it's tough to know for sure but i'm with you it looked like when it went over the bag it was over the bag but it's a strike and again not reviewable oh boy and then that call goes against them and the blue jays are not getting the brakes

Springer incensed and had a right. That ball, a good three inches off the outside corner. So not to pick on Laddie because I know he's trying not to be stressed and he's trying to remain excited. But I wanted to read this from Eastwood and New West. Laddie drank a nice warm cup of cope this morning. Every Jay's fan's concern meter is redlining right now. Okay. I'm going to let you off the hook, Laddie.

Because I know one team's fan base, that is for sure freaking out right now. And that is the Detroit Tigers. And this is something that we haven't really focused on too much because we've had the Blue Jays to focus on. We've had the Mariners to focus on. And on this show, it's like, that's enough baseball. But what's going on in the AL Central is incredible because you've got one incredible collapse of the Detroit. Tigers, and at the same time, which is a problem for the Tigers, the Cleveland Guardians, it still sounds weird to say that Cleveland Guardians are surging.

It was a crazy night last night between the Guardians and the Tigers. So Jose Ramirez drove in a run with a swinging bunt Cleveland rallied in a very weird sixth inning yesterday against Detroit and their ace, Terrick Scoobal, which we'll get to in a second. So the Guardians beat the Tigers five, two. that moved them into a tie for first place in the Central. That's important because on July 8th, Detroit was leading the Central by 15 and a half games. That is insane! The collapse over the last two and a half months has been crazy.

As a matter of fact, the Guardians trailed by 12 and a half on August 25th. They sold at the deadline. They gave Bieber to the Blue Jays. They have since 1.11 of 12. They're 17 and 5 in September. Tigers, who I think their fans are having an even bigger cup of copium than you, if they're somehow not freaking out right now, have dropped seven straight into their last 11. They're drinking bleach. So what happened yesterday?

And this isn't funny because this was actually a fairly serious moment in the game. But in that sixth inning that I mentioned, Terrick Scoobel threw a 99-mile-an-hour fastball to Cleveland's David Fry. Fry had squared around to bunt, and the 99-mile-an-hour fastball hit Fry smack in the middle of the face. there was no deflection, nothing that slowed it down. It was awful. It didn't hit the bad look like. It might have... It may be glanced, but that thing came in about as fast as it could.

Fry went down obviously immediately. Scoobel, his reaction was almost worse because he realized what had happened and he was beside himself on the mound and it was tough to watch him and he was clearly right. He was rattled before. Then he was having a tough inning and he was absolutely rattled after that. So to add to this Detroit Tigers. misery, their ace and Sy Young candidate. In a game

where if Scoopal goes out, you're pretty much expecting to win that game. They lose again. That's now a full-blown race in the Central. If you look at that race and then the race for the NL wildcard, these final few days of the regular season are going to be amazing. The Diamondbacks are hanging

around in that wild card chase. The Reds are still very much in that wildcard chase and the Mets who have been another collapse, not quite to the Tigers variety, but in a way, their own version of the Tigers collapse. It's going to be a really exciting final few days of the MLB season. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. What we just have to call Thomas Dran's erotica. Thomas Grant's erotica. Of course. Thomas, Erotica. Expecting goals. Thomas Grant Erotica.

Todd Motton. Thomas Transerotica. Rush. Thomas. Dr. Dr. Dr. Geronica. P.O. Thomas. Errantonica.

8.4 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford, Brough. 6.50. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Get out of the penalty box of debt and back into the game with a financial fresh start. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are now in hour three of the program. Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks talk. It's going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three. Hour three is brought to by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the

expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-Dashbound.com today. Drance is going to join us for some Kinex preseason coverage. All Canucks preseason coverage here on SportsNet 650 is brought to you by Big League Sports Excellence. The BLSC, they call it. They don't call it that. Score the Sports Excellence exclusive Bauer Vapor L-TX Pro lineup of gear at Big League Sports Excellence.

Your go-to for everything Bauer in store at 2151 Burrard in Kitsilino. I got to go there today and get this cage sharpened. To the BLSC? They don't call it that. They always ask me like... Is the BLSE? Get out. Please leave.

I'm always the worst. worse with that. So they're like, how do you want them sharpened? And I'm like, sharp. What options are there? See, I don't know. I like them. But like, I guarantee we'll get a bunch of texts in like, if I were to say like, how do you like your skate

sharpen and people will be like... Mediumer. We are coming to you live from the Kintech studio. Kintech footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Guests on SportsNet 650 call in on the hotline, power by power West Industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most.

Visit them at powerwest.ca. Today, they keep the lights on. To the PowerWest Industries hotline, we go. Thomas Drance joins us now on the Halford and Brough Show on SportsNet 650. What up, Dranser? Gentlemen, good morning. We need to start with some retirement news before anything else. And I understand that you, Thomas Drance, have retired from being an I told you so, bro. You're hanging up your white. That's your entire identity.

You're hanging up, your backwards hat and white rim sunglasses and saying, I'm no longer a bro. I'm no longer, and I told you so, bro. What is, what's going on here? I'm just trying to turn over a new leaf. I'm trying to let the takes speak for themselves. I'm trying not to be that obnoxious guy. I realized, you're right, though, like, bro, you're right. That has been my entire identity.

I'm just trying to, I'm trying to grow as I get older, you know? I'm approaching 40 now. I want to, I want to take a step back. I want to brag a little bit less. You know, I don't need to do this anymore. So I've just asked Jamie to help me out. And I think at the very least, when I fail, it'll make for a fun source of tension on Connect Stock.

I admire that. And it's good for your mental health, too. No, I like it because, you know, it's not trying to always throw the take in someone's face in the aftermath. It's letting the take speak for itself. It's what I do, because most of mine are wrong. And if you're right, you're right. And if you're wrong, you're wrong.

It's okay. It's all right. it's all how it's all how it plays out. See, I'm at such a war with myself that you're like, if you're right, you're right, then if you're wrong, you're wrong. I'm like, I'm wrong. What do you mean? Like, I feel it's bubbling up.

Sometimes you're wrong, buddy. I know. Sometimes. Oh, sure. Yeah. Absolutely. I know. I know.

Okay. And I'm cool with that. And it's not a problem. Sorry? How many points are the Canucks going to finish with this season? Oh, right off the hop. I'm just joking, buddy. Okay, good.

Let me start with one. Let me start with one. Because this is from your most recent piece in the athletic, which I recommend. Everyone go check out what you're hearing about a variety of guys to either make or not make the Canucks roster, including Braden Kutz and Tom Malinder. Let's start with the first question.

Can Braden Kutz really, really earn a nine-game look in the NHL? The opportunity is there. The opportunity is there. The club is open-minded about it. You know, not only has he come into camp and looked fast and, you know, brought a high work rate. And that shot is pretty special, right? I mean, it's, it's, he's got a sort of like in-tight snapshot that's deceptive

that looks a little bit funky in a good way, like complimentary, non-derogatory, that's hard to reap for goaltenders. And so he's brought some NHL tools to camp, some tools that the league or this club needs and values and weights. specifically the fact that he's a credible center who's also right-handed, right? That's a big part of this. And then, you know, he's also carried himself the right way. And that's part of this story.

Like he's come in and handled himself in a way that, you know, I think that has the club, again, expanding their view of how ready he could be, how quickly. Now, that said, it's a fool's errand to say he's going to make it at this point. He's going to have to keep earning it. like the real opportunity that he's earned himself is just that the team is open-minded enough that if he keeps performing the way he did at camp and the way he did in his preseason opener down in Seattle, you know, he's going to get a chance to keep playing games. And that could extend into the regular season and it could extend nine games.

And we'll be having a very different and very much higher stakes conversation at that point if he continues to sort of jump over these bars that are, that are in front of him. But to this point, he has. And so, yeah, this is a situation that I think genuinely bears monitoring over the balance of camp. How many defensemen are the Canucks going to carry on their roster? Yeah, so some discussion still going on on that front. There's some debate.

The club has a lot of road games very early on. And usually a West Coast team with an affiliate based in the West Coast will bring eight defensemen for a road trip like that, especially with like a back-to-back in Dallas and Chicago, you know, in the middle of it, right? You just don't want to get caught where you're down one guy and then another guy gets hurt in that game in Dallas, right? And now you're scrambling to make sure you have a sixth defenseman for that, for that game in Chicago.

Because certainly you don't want to be looking Chicago on the second leg of a back-to-back. You don't want to be looking at that game as like, it's easy, Chicago, right? I mean, there's a lot of danger. especially for a team that we know kind of needs to get off to a hot start. So, you know, I think ultimately that's going to be intention for this team across the next, what, 10-ish, 10 to 15 days leading up to the home opener on October 7th, but really leading up to sort of the day that they have to set their opening day roster,

which would be Tuesday, so that's the 5th of October. But, you know, I think there is sort of more than anything, an internal conversation happening among Canucks management and the coaching staff about, you know, how they are best positioned to develop this trio of sort of young roster aspirants, right? Two or three or one or two of whom are almost certainly going to make this roster depending on whether they go seven or eight D. obviously I'm talking about Elias Peterson I'm talking about Tom Blander I'm talking about Victor Mancini and you know the stock of these three gentlemen has sort of gone up and down across training camp and into the preseason game

you know Elias Pedersen was a much bigger standout than Tom Blander at the prospect tournament environment I thought he was slightly more composed looked to readier at camp but then Blander outperformed him in the preseason opener and that's the biggest test yet Mancini's been you know very good but there's some off-puck stuff that he's going to need to iron out,

both in terms of the neutral zone, which Adam Foote talked about after the preseason opener, but honestly, I've been thinking the offensive zone moving without the puck. He's great with the puck on his stick, but some of the stuff off-puck in terms of being an outlet and being available can be a little bit crunchy sometimes with him. So still some work to do there. In any event, the club's really excited about all these three guys,

and I think there's a real push in terms of how their view, building this out to make sure none of them are really like a locked in eighth defenseman at the NHL this season, right? That you don't want to end up in a spot where one of these guys spends two weeks sitting in the press box, right? Working out during the first period, grab some popcorn, right? Watch the third or the second half of the second period and some of the third in the press box.

Like no one wants that for players, you know, all of them U23, all of them promising, all of them viewed by the club as as important parts of the future. And so there is the ability, because all three are waiver exempt, right, to sort of have something of a rotation where you make sure that, you know, like a guy who is playing as a six, seven defenseman at the NHL level, like, hey, let's make sure that he goes back to the American League here and gets, you know, a week of games playing 25 minutes a night, you know, playing top pair dominating at that level. And that's going to impact

certainly discussions about whether or not to carry seven or eight. If P.O. Joseph is the opening night R.H.D., like, I think they're going to lean toward having seven guys because they're not going to want multiple of these three defenders gathering cobwebs, as it were,

at the fringes of the lineup. They want them to be, they think they'd be better served being core pieces down in Abbotsford. So that's the discussion that's ongoing that's sort of going to impact this particular roster battle and it's really a reminder that like these guys kind of aren't competing

I mean they are competing with each other obviously but really you have to kind of leap beyond P.O. Joseph and Elias Pedersen or sorry and Derek Forbert if you're going to have two of them make the team right like they kind of have to be in the opening night

lineup as opposed to just being on the 23 men roster for two of these guys to end up on the team. And that's sort of some organizational thinking that I was able to catch wind of while work in the phones on Monday. Yeah. And you never know. There could be injuries, but

so we'll see how this plays out. Of course. I mean, it's early in the process, right? Like injuries will shape 23-man roster, like the opening day roster, you know, for almost every team, right? Like, this is hockey. And we know this.

Let's talk about the power play a little bit. Yesterday Now Garland was absent And Adam Foote did mention That he was absent And he could be part of the power play But I think a lot of us Are wondering where Evander Kane is going to fit

In all this Where do you think he will Well, you know I don't think on the flank Right? I mean I know that seemed odd That seemed like a position where Garland would be If he's on it

If he's on Yeah Which hopefully honestly I don't know I don't know if he's the greatest Pee guy but whatever. Yeah, I sort of agree. I mean, I don't, and that's fine, right?

Like, there's lots of guys for whom five-on-four attacking situations, the stationary attacking situation, like, isn't their game, right? Garlands at his best, I mean, I think Garland's the best five-on-five playmaker on this team, right? I think there's a world. Yes, I agree with that, too. Well, not Hughes. Forwards, yeah. Yeah, forwards, of course.

Yeah. I mean, Quinn Hughes is a different, yeah, Quinn Hughes is a different monster altogether. But the, you know, like I think there's a world, for example, where if Pedersen, like, if Pedersen doesn't bounce back, are we prepared to live in a world where Conner Garland is this team's best forward? Because we already did. We already did after the J.T. Miller trade, right?

Like, that was last season. But you know what? I didn't care for it. I didn't care for living that way. You know what? I don't blame yet. But, I mean, that's the scenario we're looking at. if Pedersen is not, you know, a credible top of the lineup driver and point producer, because Garland was a credible top of the lineup driver and point producer throughout last season.

So, you know, this is less commentary on him and more commentary on, you know, we know that he's not the, you know, highest efficiency one-shot goal score. So, you know, yeah, I think that would be Garland spot, though, right? because the left flank, you kind of want a righty, ideally, especially if you're having Pedersen on his offside. And you probably want a distributor up there, right? You probably want a distributor. And Evander Kane, like, even in the years where he's had 18 power play points,

it's been 14 goals, right? Like sort of a past first player, past first offensive weapon, is not really Evander Kane's game. And that's kind of something you're going to be looking for especially if you've got a left-handed forward playing his downhill side with shooting options like Pedersen and Besser on the ice. So yeah, I mean, I sort of took it as a placeholder

but if not, then you've kind of got three guys in Besser, DeBrusk and Evander Cain on PP1 all of whom I think are best used at the net front. Yeah, no, I agree. I agree. It's sort of an odd fit. It's sort of an odd fit. The other part of this that, you know, I think is worth noting, you've got, if you've got Debrusk and Bessor in the middle, as the sort of down low guys, right?

Debrusk of the net front, Bessor and the bumper is how they lined up for that, for that practice session. UBC, according to batches lines, I was on the air, so I didn't see it. You know, I think very much like playing them both with Pedersen. I do think it puts a big onus on them to sort of be like puck battle winners, right? I mean, those are the guys that are going to need to, you know, dominate on retrievals if you're going to have an elite power play unit. And, you know, I think in both situations, it's like how many puck battles can DeBrasch

and Bessler win this season just feels really essential in terms of allowing this offense to function with some of the ways that the team has rolled it out to this point. It's sort of an interesting dynamic. Like, I just feel like there's going to be a lot of a lot of emphasis on. on or a lot relying on those guys playing like, you know, major league dogs to open the season given sort of how they've been aligned so far. Transor, can you think of anyone in the NHL who is going to have more pressure on them this season than Elias Pedersen? And I asked this because up at Sportsnet.ca, there's an article,

eight NHL players under the most pressure in 2025, 26. Now, of course, it leads with two players with with Toronto angles, Mitch Marner, Austin Matthews, but then it's Elias Pedersen. Then it's Stephen Stamcoast, Trevor Zegris in Philly, Connor Bedard, Jeremy Swamon, and Boston, and Stuart Skinner and Edmonton. Oh, George Skinner, that's a good one.

Yeah, so there's a good one. He might be my first. But you know what? If he fails, won't there be more blame for management? Yeah, I suppose. But, I mean, at the end of the day, he's the, like, evident weak link in a chain for a team that, you know, we all think should be winning Stanley Cups, right? I mean, that's, that's tough. And so, yeah, and, you know, that team's also historically a slow starting team and on and on, right? So we, we sort of know how the decibel level can rise there. And, you know, because they haven't really minded their goal. goaltending depth. When he loses his job, it's like, you know, Stuart Skinner is backing up Ben Scribens for the next three weeks or whatever, right? It was insane to me that we were in the Stanley Cup final and going like, is Calvin Pickard healthy? Like, that's not a question

that should be asked in a Stanley Cup final. No, especially not against, you know, this Florida Panthers juggernaut, right? Like, it's like, geez, guys, come on. So, yeah, I mean, I think Pedersen's absolutely at the apex of the list. You know, I think like the idea of Mitch Marner being on the list is absolutely heliocentric navel gazing from the center of the universe. I mean, that's ridiculous. By the way, I don't know if you guys are talking about this, but just a bugaboo that I've had where like Mitch Marner talked about hiring private security for his family after

the way that the fan base reacted to his performance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yeah, and the reaction of the Toronto commentary, it was like, well, he brought up this interview, he did this. Can you imagine if a Canucks player had said the same thing about this market, what the conversation would be like in Toronto? It'd be ballistic. Yeah, like, that fan base, bro. They're the worst.

I was just like, the double standard here is crazy. Anyway, um, well, hold on. My takeaway from all of that was it was reflective of how, it was more about the Mitch Marner and I know the perception in Toronto was focused on him and maybe like we should have been like

I can't believe the fans of that insane there but it felt like the entire thing was about like it was another referendum on Marner and how much he was liked or more specifically disliked yeah well I mean I do think he was you know he's our generation's Larry Murphy like he was run out of town and unfairly blamed and he's going to go nuke because he's

really really good like I don't know what else to say I think I think he also just rubs people the wrong way. Like his personality just rubs people the wrong way. I mean, and that's sometimes that happens with players. I wonder what that's like. I was waiting. I was waiting for someone to take it.

Good one, buddy. Anyway, I don't really buy that he's under a ton of pressure. I mean, he's in Vegas. He's going to be a 90-point guy. Like, I don't know. This is a very consistent player who's like generally pretty, durable in a market where you know he'll be both a big deal and and somewhat anonymous right i mean totally it's perfect like i don't i don't buy the he like matthews to me is under more pressure

way because i do think it's i do think it's reasonable to wonder you know can he score at those ovechkin like clips um without you know the best playmaking winger in the league outside of kuturov you know on his flank i mean i think that's a reasonable question uh so yeah i mean i i would i would put Mitch Martner well down the list. I think Matthews, especially with the Olympic year angle and some of the missed opportunities in the four nations, right? The fact that he was, you know, along with Adam Fox, like Adam Fox should be on the list, right? I think Adam Fox is a fair inclusion on the list. I think J.T. Miller is a fair inclusion on the list. Definitely. Given sort of where the New York Rangers stand. So, I mean, I think there's a lot

of players you could put on the list. Pedersen, I do think Pedersen belongs near the top of it just because of how much of this season hinges on him and how complicated the relationship is with this, like this fan base is skeptical at this point. Yeah, and Quinn Hughes's future is tied to Elias Pedersen, too. Maybe. Maybe. I mean, I think, I think that's probably, that's probably an optimistic take for me. No, I'm just saying like if Pedersen plays at a very, very high level this season, I don't think it'll hurt the Canucks chances. of resigning Quinn Hughes.

And if he plays at a level like we saw last season, Quinn Hughes is probably looking at the future of the Canucks and going, I don't know. Yeah, he's got to be able to be at a level where more important than the points, more important than anything else, really. I think it's like a qualitative thing where when you watch this team play, you're like, this is the guy who can be the offensive driver of a team that wins. It's what Connor McDavid said.

It's a feel thing. Like he said, it's like, I can't, you know, like I got in a bit of an argument with A-Dog the other day because he was trying to like come up with a point total that defines what a good season would be for Pedersen. I'm like, I'm not giving you a point total. It's like it's like it doesn't, it's the, it's the whole picture. Like if he sells out all of juice. Yeah, it's a first. There's a lot of juice in there.

There's a lot of juice. A lot of juice, a lot of burst, a lot of gushers. Patrice Bergeron never had 110 points in a season, but man, it was pretty good. Well, he was the man. Like, he was the guy for that team. I think that's part of it, too. Like, you have to be at a level where you contribute to, and the corny word is inspire, but it's more like your presence on the team has to make people believe that they can win on any given night.

Like, that's fundamentally the job of the game-breaking. offensive player paid $11 plus million a year in this league or paid nearly $11 million a year. Like that's what it is. It's like we're going to win because we've got this guy. And so that's, you know, about how you carry yourself. It's about how you produce. It's about how you look when you're attacking whether you finish or not.

It's about where your shifts are spent, right? It's about what matchups you win, what matchups you draw and how you perform in them. And so, yeah, I mean, I think there's a lot of pressure on Elias Patterson. And I think you're right. I mean, you know, more than, more than like, I mean, making the playoffs is critical, but more than like how deep you go or how it all plays out, like, I do think it's important if you're going to make for, make for, if you're going to put yourself in a position to be a difficult decision for Quinn Hughes next summer, yeah, I think you need to be able to look at this roster

and say, like, we've got a credible path to winning and winning big here. And, you know, that absolutely starts and ends. with Olius Pedersen being, you know, back to being the imperious force that he has been in previous seasons of his career. Dranser, thanks, buddy. Enjoy retirement. Thanks, boys. Cheers.

Bye. Thomas Dr. Drans from the Athletic Vancouver here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.