Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Are A Top 4 D-Man Away From Being Truly Elite

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk yesterday's OT Canucks loss to the Canes (6:00), plus they discuss the top hockey stories of the day with ESPN' Greg Wyshynski (25:48).  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.

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to you live from the Kintex Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and bruv in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff

that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. 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 Kintec studio.

Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sorfie, what are you waiting for? Kintec, got a lot to get into on today's show. Guest list begins at 6.30. Greg Wyshynski from ESPN is going to join us. He was in Tampa Bay last night for the Steve Stamkos return game. So too was our 7 o'clock guest.

Ray Ferraro is going to join us. So a lot of Tampa Bay talk early in the show. We'll get to some other things as well. Don't worry. Don't freak out. But both Ray and Wish were in Tampa Bay for the game last night. Just happens to be a funny little coincidence on the Halford & Brough show. 730 Rick Campbell, head coach of the BC Lions,

is going to be joining the program. The Lions are in Saskatchewan, Regina to be exact. This Saturday, 3.30 kickoff, our time in the Western Semifinal. We'll talk to Rick about all that. 8 o'clock, the other half of Ferraro Tuesdays here on the Halford & Brough Show. Landon Ferraro is going to join the program. We will recap the Vancouver Canucks' 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes with Landon, who was on the panel between intermissions last night

on the broadcast. So, obviously, it was a sports equinox yesterday. Big day, lots to get into, lots to recap. That's your guest list. Without further ado, Laddy, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training.

Visit them online at bccsa.ca. As Laddie played in the intro, Sebastian Ajo just 40 seconds, 46 seconds into overtime, scored the game-winning goal, erasing a very exciting comeback by the Vancouver Canucks in the third period. Canes win, Canucks lose 4-3 at Rogers Arena on Monday. So I guess the good news is still just one regulation loss in eight games for the Vancouver Canucks.

That was the loss in Tampa Bay against a very good Lightning team. Well, a very good Carolina team came in last night. And look, it's all well and good that the Canucks came back and forced overtime, but I don't think that was a particularly impressive performance by the home team, especially the first half of the game. Thank goodness for Kevin Lankanen, who made a couple of spectacular saves to keep the Canucks in the game.

I wonder if you go with him again on Wednesday, or are they risking tiring him out a little bit? We can have that conversation a little later on. The power play is not good. The power play is not good. And Rick Tockett said afterwards that there are going to be some changes to the power play. Should be mentioned, just 16.38 of ice time for Pedersen, who played less than guys like Baines, Heinen, and Sherwood at 5-on-5.

Petey did have some power play time on the aforementioned power play that is not very good. He also had a chance to play hero late in the game when he rolled out from the corner unimpeded, but he tried to deke and he got blown out of the water by Spechnikoff before he was able to get a shot away. It was a mixed night for Quinn Hughes and JT Miller, two points each, and they were creating things offensively, but a little loose defensively and a few issues managing the puck that cost the Canucks. Jake DeBrusque, still goalless. He did come close with about five minutes left,

then went to the bench and destroyed his stick, suggesting he is frustrated. I wouldn't be surprised if De'Arne came out on Wednesday against the Devils. I don't know if Derek Forward's going to be ready to play. I don't know if they'd look at moving Eric Brandstrom over to the right side or if they were bringing in Juleson, but I don't think De'Arene is going to play on Wednesday against New Jersey because he was not very good last night. And finally, the Canes, after we had spent so much of yesterday talking about the uh

the speed on the canucks forward lines especially the bottom six and how different that is and how it's not necessarily a heavy bottom six but it has some speed the canes might be the fastest team in the nhl yeah it's um so look i think the interesting thing here is that um we'll talk about context contextualizing things a little bit here on the halford and brough show on sportsnet 650 as jason pointed out you could say hey a lot of good things that can be taken away from the first eight games of the season still just one regulation loss last night's game was it a great start no but there was a very very good push in the third period. And I thought for the final 10 minutes of that period, the Canucks were at times dominant.

Did they lose? Yes. Was the goaltending good? Yes. So you kind of bounce back and forth. And I think this is interesting because the listeners do this a lot as well. Right? I remember, I'll cherry pick this one,

but the win that the Canucks had on their opening road trip in the game in Florida, some people contextualize that as saying, what a great win. You're on the road, you go into the house of the defending Stanley Cup champions, and you grind out an overtime. What a great win. And then some other people were saying, that's a great win. You're playing a Florida team that's without Barkoff and Kachuk, and times was down to nine forwards,

and you needed an extra frame to beat them. So that contextualization oftentimes leads us to say, well, who's the definitive voice on this? And oftentimes, that guy is Rick Talkett. So I was very curious yesterday after the loss against Carolina to hear what the head coach was going to say. Because I'm like, okay, it'll give us a good idea of him taking the temperature of the team

and what he feels and what players stood out to him, good, bad, or otherwise. We're going to start with a very interesting exchange in my eyes. And of course, Elias Pettersson is in this. So too is Nils Hoaglander. So pay attention, okay, kids? There'll be a test at the end of this. Talkit was asked about the deployment of the Hoaglander-Pettersson-Garland line. You pointed out on Twitter

that Pettersson's ice time after the first period was what? 3.46 or something like that. Didn't play much. Neither did Garland or Hoaglander. The line, essentially. The line did not play much. So Thomas Drance,

Sportsnet 650's very own, noticed this, asked Talk what he thought about the trio's game in the aftermath. It's a short clip. It's only 13 seconds long, so pay attention. Here's what Tocant had to say about Hoaglander PD, and then that's it. Well, it's obviously when you change,

you don't like it, right? So I didn't like a couple things there. I didn't like Hage at all. PD's, you know, listen, I'm not going to pick on that line. I just felt that I wanted to make a couple changes. I'm not going to pick on that line. I just felt that I wanted to make a couple of changes. I'm not going to pick on that line. That's JT Miller's job. So, now, you're like, it kind of drew my attention.

I was like, oh, okay. Like, makes sense. You know, I don't think Hoaglander had a, was credited with a shot on net, I don't think. Like, and he was, for wherever wherever and then they mixed the lines up hoaglander uh went and played with i think i want to say suitor and sherwood and then baines came up with elias petterson so now we're down the road of okay well head coach is being critical of his team so now we get back to what you were talking about off the top the power play and talk it was very candid in his remarks about the power play, what he liked, spoiler, not much.

What he didn't like, spoiler, quite a few things, and change is coming. Here's Rick Talkett on the power play following a 4-3 overtime loss to Carolina last night. Yeah, we're going to have to make some changes. Not working hard enough. Very lackadaisical, and it's a high-pressure team. We had the odd time when we had a couple looks actually the game plan worked uh when hughes threw at the net we had milsy almost scored in front that's the key against this pressure power plays being able to make one or two plays

and get it to the net i thought a couple of guys there were playing slow um you can't play a slow slow against a high pressure peak up uh pk you just can't so we're a high-pressure PK. You just can't. So we're going to have to make a few. I think I'm going to make a couple of changes. We'll talk tomorrow. So the Canucks practice today at Rogers Arena, 12 o'clock practice. Would he take Petey off the power play?

Would he take him off PP1? If he he does that that is one hell of a story so pd was responsible for a fair number of turnovers on the power play last night so the second question about the power play came right after that clip we played where he started complaining about hoaglander's play he was almost going to say and then pd and then and then he caught himself, and he's like, I don't want to criticize that line. But right after, they were like, I already got my criticism out for Hoaglander. It's too late for that. Right, and he's like, it's fine.

There's some guys you can criticize. There's some guys you can't. So now you look at it, and you're like, okay, the power play comes next. And some people kind of inferred that that was maybe what you're suggesting, that the change would be, do you drop Pedersen from power play one down to power play two, or do you make even more wholesale changes? I don't know. Bigger picture, head coach wasn't super happy after that game yesterday.

And I could probably understand why. They had a, you would say a tired Carolina team at the end of a lengthy Western road swing and everything they went through where they weren't able to fly up to Vancouver after the Seattle game. They had to hop a bus and they got into... The key? They went to McDonald's.

They did go to McDonald's. Yeah. Cheeseburgers. Allegedly. Allegedly. Brent Burns would not confirm if they ordered 100 hamburgers or cheeseburgers, whatever the case, from McDonald's.

There were two cheeseburgers in his beard. Right. He only eats like... That's how he hands them out. He just pulls them from his beard. I could see him ordering them and not eating them, because I think he only eats like venison that he caught on a Wednesday. Anyway, but we're getting...

Point being... Give me 700 Krusty Burgers! You want fries with that? That was actually Brad Burns right there. I did find it interesting. I always find the coach's remarks after a game interesting because we played the ones from Pittsburgh on the weekend and Talkett was full of praise for his guys, loved it.

And this one, he was a lot more harsh and a lot more critical. And we're kind of seeing it reflected in the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket now I think a lot of people are trying to wait and see if this team is going to take that ascendancy that next step because right now I'd say good not great with a few not red flags but there's a few areas of concern for sure right I think that's fair to say yeah however it has been sort of glossed over by the fact that it is just one regulation loss in eight games. Lankanen has been outstanding, and he was again last night too, right?

Tuckett said he probably should have been the first star and probably was the only reason that they got the point in overtime. So there's been some glossing over and papering over some of the issues. And when the head coach expresses his frustration that's when your spidey sense kind of goes up and the antennas go up you're like okay so i will also be very curious to see what happens at practice today because um i like you think that there might be a change on the blue line day harney got walked yesterday by it was jackson blake son of former NHLer Jason Blake, on a spinorama

where he spun one way and then so did DeJarne, but they spun the other way, and DeJarne did not follow the spin. You have another clip from Rick Tockett. Yeah, and this is interesting because according to the head coach, as the criticisms from last night's game continued, they're still not getting all the buy-in that they need

from all the guys, and I think maybe some of the new guys who either aren't up to speed or aren't figuring it out yet. He used this, and the foil for his comparison was Carolina, who have had the same style, have the same system for a long time, and there's a lot of guys that have been there for a long time that are bought in and committed and know how to play it. So perfect time to bring up what the Canucks are trying to do. Here is Rick talking on needing more buy-in from

guys on the style that they play. Caroline's been doing it for seven, eight years, right? So most of her team has been together. So that helps for them. We just need more guys to buy in when it comes to the way our game plan. Sometimes you don't have a play,

you've got to punt it and you've got to win your battle. It's okay to do that through stretches. Everything doesn't have to be clean sometimes. I know everybody wants clean plays, but there's 10 guys on the ice. It's not going to be clean sometimes, so that's when you need the effort and things like that. So we'll get better at it.

We'll chip away at it. So a few things to keep watch for today at practice, I suppose, is the power play units and who's on them. You'll remember last year, they did split up the top players on the power play.

Actually, I think it was right before the Pittsburgh game. It was JT Miller on one and Petey on another. There is precedent for doing that. We'll see if they do that. I'm more curious about what happens on the blue. Well, I'm not more curious about the power play. I'm equally curious about what they're going to do on the blue line.

Derek Forbort, unfortunately, his father passed away, which is why he was away from the team. He's back now. We'll see if he's ready to roll at practice today and what position he takes on that. Again, I just don't see De'Aaron A back in the lineup on Wednesday against New Jersey, but there are many questions about what would comprise the bottom

pair. Maybe Rick Tuckett makes changes to the second pair too. Hughes and Hronik, no problem there. Hughes had another game last night where when he was on the ice, for the most part, the Canucks controlled play. Now, I don't think Hughes was perfect last night, and I don't think JT Miller was perfect either last night. Defensively, puck management issues. But at least they were contributing in some areas. Now, do you know what I mean? Like there was some good to their game.

Well, it's called impact. That was the word they were using on the postgame show when you're talking about. Well, here's the thing. And this is, again, we're beating that horse. All apologies. We're beating that horse. That horse is, again, we're beating that horse. All apologies. We're beating that horse. That horse is dead and we're beating it.

But when you talk about impact on games, and the Canucks are now eight games into the season, there's the three guys. I'm almost ready to put Lankan in that conversation too in terms of very important players making impact. But there's three guys on this team. It's Hughes, it's Pedersen, and it's Miller. And that's by skill set, that's by playing ability,

and that's by also, and I hate throwing it out there, but money matters, it's the three highest paid guys on the team. And those are the guys that are... I think you could throw Besser in there as well at times. Sure. Yeah. Sure, Besser's been great to start the year. Actually, we probably should talk more about the Besser point streak,

which just continues to roll on. And it is something that we're guilty of in media, is that when guys are doing their job and playing really well, we tend to gloss over that so we can focus on the thing that needs to be fixed. Yeah, exactly. Never-ending search for perfection, just like our show. But, you know, Besser's been great, and he has been a regular and consistent contributor.

Another highly paid guy that isn't doing that so far is Jake DeBrusque. I know you mentioned him in the notes, and I think that... Or Texter called him Jake DeBust. Yeah. Oh, that's fun. Yeah, that's where we are now. So, the reason I bring that up is I want to dovetail into this question that you've got for the listeners here,

which is what has been the best Canucks win of the season? Because you could have made the argument that last night, game eight of the season, was the Canucks toughest opponent of the year so far. With all due respect to Calgary, Philly, Tampa Bay, Florida. I think Tampa Bay was tough on the road. Tampa Bay was tough on the road. I think Carolina might be a better team, but playing in Tampa Bay in the opener was probably a tougher task. But there are some people that are trying to figure out,

with this new-look Canucks team, with the five new forwards that are in, with the new depth defensemen, and a new goalie, where do they stack up among the NHL's elite? If you go back and look over the first eight games of the year, never mind the toughest competition, their best win of the year. I already mentioned the Florida game, which again. But they didn't have Barkov and Kachuk there, right? You can contextualize it either way you want with that game, right?

And then the rest. I thought they fought hard though, because Florida played a very physical game and the Canucks matched that. If I were to say, I would, I think it was, it was that game. But, you know. Like I love the – No Barkov and Kachuk is a pretty big deal. I loved the game on Saturday against Pittsburgh.

Yeah, but Pittsburgh's a mess. From an entertainment standpoint and from all the narratives that came out of it. And, again, I defer to the head coach, Rick Talk. It was full of praise after that game, right? I don't know if it's because he's got such a reverence for the Penguins organization and Sidney Crosby that, you know, he took something extra out of that one. But he was very happy after that game, right? I don't know if it's because he's got such a reverence for the Penguins organization and Sidney Crosby that he took something extra out of that one, but he was very happy after that game.

But it is interesting because Wednesday night, that's another very difficult opponent and one that has given the Canucks fits in the past. I think it's interesting that we're seeing reports from Frank Cera Valley that the Canucks are already making calls on the defense. And this isn't surprising for two reasons. Jim Rutherford and Patrick Galvin are always making calls.

And number two, I think you look at the defense right now and you go, I don't know about this De'Arene guy. Sorry, but he was a project when he was signed, and a lot of people wondered what the Canucks were doing when they did sign him. This was a guy that could not stay in the lineup for Edmonton during the playoffs last year. He's not exactly 23 years old or anything,

and I think you just watch him play. He looks a little lost out there sometimes. And he had a couple of good games with Brandstrom because Brandstrom, I think, helped him out with his puck moving ability. But, you know, I don't know. I watch him sometimes and I'm like, oh, you just look out of place.

You look out of place right now. And you don't know. It doesn't look like you're playing a confident, direct game, and I do wonder if he's one of those guys that Rick Talkett is talking about when he says sometimes you just got to punt it because forwards aren't doing a lot of punting, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes you just got to get that puck on your stick

and high off the glass or flip it out. There was a time in the game last night where Darnay got it, and he just kind of like, I don't know, over stick handled it, and then it was kept in the Carolina end for a while. Yeah. I don't think Carolina scored, but it wasn't – it just really, really wasn't a good performance from Darren A last night. And I don't want to pick on the guy, but I think right now you're looking at this team and saying,

I mean, yesterday we spent so much time talking about how much we loved the depth of the Canucks forward lines. And I don't think that changes based on one game. Not at all. But I think the defense, we've been consistently like, I don't love it if this second pair has to play a lot, and that second pair has to play a lot if you don't have a third pair that you trust. So part of the reason that I brought up the bar, and Carolina in particular, because they've been a perennial top 10 team in the NHL

for the last five, six, seven years. When you are doing the measuring stick game with the Canucks and what they look like, I think we're all sort of realizing right now that the blue line is probably what's keeping them from being in that conversation of like the robust, legit top elite tier teams in the NHL, because the defense is missing a top four guy. We can say that, right?

That's pretty obvious. I don't think anyone's really going to argue or quibble with that. Deharnais, I think it's unfortunate for him because i think he was signed as a project at a time where they don't really have the patience or interest in watching the project build itself up on the ice that's fair you know it's almost like you know go work with that i think is the the goal is for adam foot to turn him into something more than he is but they are not really in a space where they're going to let that play itself out on the ice. Well, there's limits.

There's limits too. I mean, you can have a project and that can be a work in progress on the ice and you could accept a few mistakes, but I don't know. I just thought last night he had a really tough game. That's all. No, no, it's fine. I think big picture, you're talking about a team that is, I mean, the report with Frank saying that the Canucks are already, like,

checking out the trade market. One, it would be in lockstep with what they did last year, because they tried to address that blue line early and got the shopping done with Zdorov early in the season, comparatively speaking. And the other thing, too, I think you realize right now, looking at it, is that what we've said from day one, Soucy and Myers would be a really great third pair for a contending team. If you're not a contending team, they'd be a really great second pair, right?

If you were a team that was in a rebuild or you're on the outside looking in, and it's just the reality. I think they will try and address this as quickly as possible. And maybe, maybe through the first eight games the day hard a thing has kind of become more of an issue than they maybe they thought they could paper over it or that we can play this guy and he can learn on the job but it's a struggle right now and they've got a found money with brandstrom i don't think anyone expected eric brandstrom to come in and be as good and effective as he's been after they picked him off the scrap heap from

colorado but uh it's not going to cover the fact that there's still a top four defenseman away from being truly elite. So Greg Wyshynski is going to join us next. And believe it or not, there are other NHL stories besides the Canucks. There's a big one potentially brewing in Edmonton because Connor McDavid, oh my God, was hurt in his first shift in Columbus last night, and the Oilers went on to lose 6-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Tampa Bay Lightning won in overtime last night,

and Wish was there in Stephen Stamkos' return to Tampa Bay. So we're going to talk to a couple of guests that were at that game actually today. Wish and then Ray Ferraro was working that game. So Ray has let us know that he hasn't had time to really watch the Canucks game. So I don't know how much we'll talk about the Canucks with Ray, but his son Landon was very much watching the game last night. He was on the intermission panel with Sat and Murph last night.

So we can talk to Landon about the Canucks and what he saw last night. So it's a busy show full of guests that were in NHL rinks last night. Wish is coming up next on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post-game show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays

and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 631 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program.

Greg Wyshynski from ESPN is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the phone lines we go.

Greg Wyshynski joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Greg. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. I'm in the Tampa airport, ready to head out after Stephen Stamkos' night last night. And it's definitely the Tampa airport, I'll tell you that. It was an emotional evening last night in Tampa Bay. I was reading your piece on ESPN.com. Steve Stamkos moved to the verge of tears.

Fans in attendance. So, too, was his former head coach, John Cooper. It was a big cry fest yesterday in Tampa Bay. What was it like, Greg? What was the night like? Well, you know, the last time I did one of these was John Tavares' night on Long Island, which was a very different vibe than Stephen Samko's night. I mean, you know, in the case of last night, I'll start with what kind of surprised me.

I was a little bit surprised there wasn't more animosity towards management and the way that they handled this thing. You'd figure with the amount of outpouring of affection there was for Stamkos and his return to Tampa that there might be a little bit of more of a critique or a protest towards Julian Breesbaugh and the way the team handled his contract. But outside of a couple signs and one T-shirt, I didn't really see much of it. And then, you know, it took a while for the the crowd to really you know spark with chance and stuff it was after the video tribute around uh you know seven seven minutes into the game and then after that they were pretty well engaged um but it was also funny to hear them boo sam coast in overtime when he was ragging the puck

which goes to show you that if there's one thing that trumps any affection for any player in this league, it's not attacking in the three-on-three. So, you know, that's the golden rule, I suppose, for the NHL. Do you know if there's a segment in the Tampa fan base that supported the move and liked the fact that they essentially chose Jake Gensel over Stephen Stamkos? There definitely is.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I mean, I think anybody who's seen the top line operate this year knows that it's still as lethal, maybe even more, with Jake Gensel playing with Braden Point and Nikita Kucherov. I think there's also a sense of Gensel's four years younger. I think there's also a sense, and definitely a sense within the organization, that they got a little bit better defensively by not having steven samco is playing those minutes on the top line so you know listen i think one of the reasons why there isn't this like there wasn't this protestation against julian

breezewell last night is because they know inherently you know the team's done a pretty good job winning championships and a pretty good job staying competitive and there's a certain amount of trust they have in the organization to have made the right move and i think it also helps that gentel's been great i mean like you know as much as it was exciting to see sam goes pick up a couple helpers last night by the way tripling his point outputs for the season for the national predators in the process um they were you know gentel had two assists as well including the assist on the game winning goal in overtime so i think the fact that he's played as well as he has has certainly, you know, lessened the blow

for what could be an embarrassing situation for the Lightning if they, you know, bet on the wrong horse. Before we move along, what did you see or maybe not see from the National Predators? It's obviously been a tough start to the season for them. I know they've righted the ship a little bit, but curious what your thoughts were from the visitors last night, this sort of non-Stamcoast division part of this whole thing.

They had a really good second period. That was when you kind of saw what they're going for, which is to play with pace and to control play and to not have the opponent dictate terms, which is a really tough thing to do against Tampa. But I spoke for a while with Brady Shea before the game yesterday just about this influx of veteran talent that they had in the offseason and how hard it is to graft that new DNA into existing DNA.

And, you know, one of the things people forget is, like, yeah, they had a preseason, but in many ways, a lot of these teams are still kind of figuring each other out. I mean, Brady Shea, for example, to go from a Rod Brindamore system to an Andrew Burnett system is to, like, relearn hockey. You know, so, like, not only is he learning, you know, a new partner in Roman Yossi, not only is he learning what it's like to not all of a sudden snap back into playing man-on-man defense

in a game and instead play with the Predators play, like, he's also adjusting to a new market and all this other stuff. And I think the same thing goes for Sam Coates to maybe a greater degree, and the same thing goes for Marcia So. So I think they'll be fine. I think they're really talented. And their power play, my God, to roll out Yossi, Forsberg, Marcia So, Sam Coates, O'Reilly is a pretty formidable fivesome that I think is going to be real good

by the end of the season. So they'll be okay. They're just kind of still figuring it out, as a lot of teams are in the league right now. Are you hearing anything about Connor McDavid and the lower body injury he sustained last night in Columbus that forced him to head on back to Edmonton? I know the Oilers only have, I think it's one game left really on their road trip

because they got two games left, but one of them's in Calgary, so he could easily go and play in that game if everything's okay. Well, I mean, I could make a joke here about how he'll go on

long-term injured reserve until the playoffs and he'll trade for Canada. It's a lot of cap space. I probably shouldn't joke about such things, especially in another Western Conference city and also when it has to do with McDavid's health.

I mean, I heard the same things you guys did. I saw the same things you guys did. I mean, Brian Rashad reported it wasn't considered to be too serious at the time. Him going back to Edmonton for further testing tells you it probably is a little bit more serious. In just putting eyes on the play a few times, it kind of smelled like high ankle sprain, you know?

But I don't mean to doctor, so don't take that as gospel. But hopefully he's okay. And I mean, you know, it wasn't as if he needed to be, like, helped off or anything last night. So that's a good sign. But hurry back, man. Like, this league is in need of a healthy Connor McDavid at all times. Columbus has had a few impressive wins this season.

They're 4-3-1 with a plus-8 goal differential. They beat the Leafs 6-2, and they beat the Oilers 6-1. Is there anything there, or is this just an early-season blip? It's an early-season season blip i don't think that's a very good hockey team they've got they've got some offensive talent on that squad to be sure and i'm sure that you know once you fight past the incredible emotional weight you're carrying in the first few weeks of the season you know you're going to have some wind wind in your sails and they've clearly had a couple of wins against impressive opponents but you know what i'm looking

for them this season is not for them to be a contender because I don't think they will be. But, you know, show me, you know, some growth, Adam Pantilli. Show me some growth, Kent Johnson. Like, I think they're going to have a good season in the sense that there's going to be some promise bubbling under the surface. But, you know, I think in those wins,

they've been punching above their weight. I don't expect them to be in the playoff picture in the Metro division. Speaking of Greg Wyshynski from ESPN here on the Alfred and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Greg, another article up at ESPN right now is where you and the rest of the NHL writers went back and looked at your preseason predictions through the 20-game mark. What was the one that you had the biggest amount of regret for so far? Does it involve Winnipeg? It might.

It might. Well, we talked about that before the season, how I thought Utah was going to be a playoff team, and if Utah was going to be a playoff team, somebody in the playoffs last year had to fall out, and I thought it could be Winnipeg. I was not extremely impressed with their roster. I thought they were going to regress with Rick Bonas not being there.

What I've come to find out is maybe Scott Arneal was the reason they were good as the associate coach. I mean, for all the talk about Hellebuck and how well he's played and the offense really churning this season. I mean, obviously last night against the Leafs was

undoubtedly predictable when we were about to blow smoke at him in an article today on ESPN. But Arneal did a really smart thing in the offseason, which is to kind of take a deep dive into the analytics and figure out what was working, what wasn't working, figure out why they flopped so hard in the playoffs last year. And I think that helped increase an understanding of the roster

and helped increase the communication within the team. But they've just been so good offensively. And the foundation for your team is the best goalie in the world. And you can also put the puck in the net. You're going to do pretty good for yourself. So, you know, they're going to come plummeting back down to earth at some point so far as, like, not being a 160-point team this year. But the start is great.

And in that division, you know, a strong start could be all you need to really carry you for a while. Well, I mean, you mentioned Utah there and the wheels are sort of spinning out of control for Utah. Tons of injuries on defense. That hot start to the season has kind of cooled off. They lost last night to the Sharks, which nobody has done yet this season. So also kudos to the Sharks for being the last team in the NHL to finally get a win. I watched the tail end of that one. But I do wonder if between the injuries and then coming back down to earth, that the reality might be setting in for Utah.

Well, as a rule, when you lose a critical early season game to the Sharks, you then have to hire one of Connor McDavid's former coaches, I believe, is the rule. I don't know who's left. He's probably got an Adam Pitcher. I mean, technically Jay Woodcroft. Exactly. That's the coach, I believe, is the rule. I don't know who's left. He's probably got an Adam. I mean, technically, Jay Woodcroft. Exactly. That's the first one I was thinking, right?

Yeah. No, listen. I mean, the Sharks are going to beat somebody at some point, so I don't feel too embarrassed for Utah. But, you know, they had such a great start. They were really, really playing well offensively. They were flying around the ice. It's kind of hard

to keep your footing for that long when you're A, a younger team, and B, you didn't have Marino to begin the season. Now you're not going to have him maybe for the season. And then losing Sean Dursey was just a critical, critical loss for them. So, you know, this team was

going to be, the reason I thought they could be a playoff team was built on the foundation of the improvements they made on the blue line. And now two of those improvements are going to be, the reason I thought they could be a playoff team was built on the foundation of the improvements they've made on their blue line. And now two of those improvements are going to be gone for at least half a season. And then maybe, you know, that just kind of comes home to roost at some point. Their goal setting hasn't been nearly as good as I think it can be. I think that'll probably level out at some point. But, yeah, they started real hot and now they're a below 500 team, which is kind of a surprise for anybody who watched them early in the season.

Wish, what do you make of where the Pittsburgh Penguins are right now? You mean purgatory? Yeah, man. I mean, I don't know what to do. I mean, I don't know what to say. It's just, you know, it's kind of, you know, Ovi and Sid are forever linked, right? Obviously.

And it's, you know, because of their draft years, because they were both rookies at the same time, because of helping to revitalize the sport after the canceled season with their rivalry. And so, by that virtue, the Penguins and the Capitals are forever linked. As long as those two guys

are on those teams. So it's kind of, I just can't get over the fact that the capitals kind of found a way to reload and and uh and and be relevant i mean maybe not championship contention relevant but definitely like flirt with the playoffs relevant and you know it took a coaching change it took some pretty bold moves uh to bring in some veteran players. And so I might take a deep dive on that at some point as far as, like, why they were able to resuscitate the body better than the Penguins are. And maybe it's just by virtue of the fact that they're just trying to surround one guy while the Penguins are trying to surround four guys, make a ton of money.

I think that's it right there. We just saw Eric Carlson play in Vancouver and it was not good. It was not a good performance and I still, I'll be honest with you, I still don't get that trade.

I really don't. I get that trade. I do. I can defend that trade. I can defend that trade in the sense of they needed to bolster their offense and bolster their defense. And so the idea that Carlson could do both, and they also needed to bring in star-level elite talent to play with Sid and Geno and Letang.

So I theoretically understand it. And also, I don't think it necessarily cost them that much to get them well it costs some cap space that's the big thing it cost some cap space but i mean like it's going to cost you cap space no matter who you bring in it the issue at the time of the reserves was how do you acquire that type of player without with with a a prospect pipeline that was like in the bottom you know five of the of the league and not a lot of assets to trade. So I remember at the time it was kind of like, this is the best they could do.

And it clearly hasn't worked. And he's clearly not the player that he was maybe even three years ago. So they're in just a terrible place as a franchise right now. And yet at the same time, they have the satisfaction of not seeing Evgeny Balkan wearing a Kings jersey or Sidney Crosby wearing a Colorado jersey. There is probably some solace in having kept the band together even if the results just aren't there. We heard rumblings through Elliott Friedman that Conor Bedard is not a particularly happy

player in Chicago right now. Not surprising, I guess. Every player likes to win games, but it is a little early in his tenure in Chicago to hear these stories of frustration. Who gives a flying monkey crap about Conor Bedard's happiness at this point? You're a second year player on a team that literally had to strip down to the foundational bolts in order to be as bad as they could be to draft you. You knew that when they drafted you,

they've incrementally gotten better year over year where I think they're definitely a more competitive team. What does this kid want? What does he want to jump to Stanley Cup contention on a rebuilding team? Like, I don't know. I think of stories and I think of non-stories, and I think of stories I simply could not care less about. And Conor Bedard's happiness in year two on a on a original 16 that's still

trying to build around him is is paramount on the list of things i could not care less about feels like you care about it a lot we started conor bedard watch yesterday and make her just so we're clear uh and i i made i made mention of the fact that it used to be you had to wait seven years before a guy hit unrestricted free agency and you could go get him. But, Matt, you could tell that down to six now. Good thing him or his handlers don't have to deal with him being like a European player. Because, God forbid, in year two if a European player was like, I'm unhappy because the team that's stripped down to nothing is overbuilding.

I couldn't even imagine what the response would be. But luckily, he's a Canadian golden child, so he's all right. He's very humble. The local product. You did bring up a good point, though, because when I saw the remarks, and then Freed and Kabukowskis, for those that missed it, they were talking about it on 32 Thoughts. I was of the same mind as you, sir.

It's like, well, what did Chicago expect? Because they're not a good team. The reason that they bottomed out. It's kids today, man. They're impatient. Hold on. Because at the end of last year, I remember Foligno going nuclear and saying, I'm pissed.

There needs to be changes. Thing needs to change around here. And I remember saying the same thing in response. Like, well, what did you expect? You were designed to be changes. Things need to change around here. And I remember saying the same thing in response. Like, well, what did you expect? You were designed to be bad. This is the byproduct of it. Like, you're a bad team and you're not winning hockey games. I know they went out and signed a bunch of guys in the offseason to make them more

competitive, but... For Bedard. Like, let's not make that parenthetical. They signed guys for Bedard. 100%. To insulate him and to make his life easier. And I just think maybe it's a, God, how would I put it? An organizational naivete that it was just going to all get better because you signed Tyler Bertuzzi and Patrick Maroon.

I'm just wondering where this is all coming from, though. Because they're losing games and they're bad. I know, but like. They're bad at hockey. I know, but where is the frustration showing? Well, he said it post-game after the loss to Dallas on the weekend. Oh, okay. But is it more to it than that?

And then they won yesterday. Sorry, go ahead. I didn't even see the quote. Was he just like, I'm tired of losing or something? Because I don't listen to hockey podcasts as a rule. He's like, no, neither do I. So, again, okay, great. You're tired of losing. course you are we're all tired

of chicago being a you know a disaster too it's the league is better when its best markets are good but you know this i there's a difference between being tired of losing and being like frustrated with the direction of the team you're in year two you're in year two of a team that had to basically become ahl level in order to acquire you. And they have a decent pipeline of prospects right now. They've signed some veteran players to make the team better than it was last season. I mean, I don't know what to tell the kids, but patience, my son. Patience is a virtue. Not everybody gets to have Malkin and Fleury on the team with you

the minute you enter the league. And not everybody had the collection of players that Connor had when he came into the league and it even took him a few years to figure it out too so I mean he'll get his dry saddle at some point, he'll get his Nick Backstrom at some point and then off they go

just be terrible for a couple more years dude, then win all the cups that's how it works in a dumb league Is there a team out there that you think is feeling impatient right now as opposed to patient kind of seems like it's boston i mean depending on the day right like that the results aren't necessarily there and and you know the pressure is being turned up on montgomery it's not turned up montgomery um it's it's kind of a weird they're in a weird place, it seems like, this season

where they know that there's maybe an opportunity to contend. Maybe they don't like everything they've seen so far, and maybe they're the team that blinks first. I don't know. It just, maybe I follow too many Boston people on my feeds. Maybe that's it, too. It's possible. Well, I

know we've got to let you go, but just to be clear, is Sullivan safe in Pittsburgh? So I've asked that question of a lot of people in Pittsburgh, and the answer I always get back is that the people who own the team love him. Okay. And that's been a thing that's insulated him. And also, like, he has a very significant contract.

And, I mean, you know, when you fire a coach with a significant contract, the wager you're making is that someone else will take it on. And in Mike Sullivan's case, it's a reasonable bet to make, considering his pedigree. But every time I've asked somebody about him, they all tell me that he might be laughed out the door. But at some point, though, the results have to be there. And,

and the bottom line right now is that they're, they're a mess. So, I mean, the other, the other question to ask boys is like, does a coaching change fix anything there? And the answer obviously is no,

but it would show an engagement with the current product that maybe the fans are looking for. Wish fly safe, buddy. Thanks for doing this today. I'm glad you got to see Stamkosas return to Tampa Bay. We'll do this again next week. Yep.

Go Dodgers. Thanks everybody. See buddy, uh, Greg Wyshynski from ESPN here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. That's a good jumping off point for, if you want to spend two and a half minutes talking about the world series,

which is all this world Series deserves at this point. Yeah, AJ. What a disappointment. If you missed it last night. It's just setting up for the Yankee comeback. The slumping New York Yankees fell behind 0-3 in this much ballyhooed World Series with a 4-2

loss. Freddie Freeman, who someone texted in yesterday, right, that Freddie Freeman's already wrapped up the MVP. And I'm like, oh, that's early. Then he hit another home run last night. And I'm like, no, that guy was right. So, Freddie Freeman, 4-2 win for the Dodgers over the Yankees. He didn't homer at all in the playoffs. Sorry? He didn't homer at all

in the playoffs until the World Series. And he's at three. He's a good Canadian kid. I believe that he has five home runs in his last five World Series dating back. Yeah, it's remarkable. And his limp was noticeably less yesterday as well. He's walking on air now. He's walking on something.

Kaiser Sosa, man. He's walking on something. Probably tortle. So the Yankees are behind 0-3 in this series. You don't have the audio from... Oh, you do have it? So in a nice little... This series has been all about the past, right?

The ghosts of the past. Fernando's very sad and tragic passing right before the series started. The ghost of Kirk Gibson, who's still alive, by the way, coming back in the form of Freddie Freeman. All of this stuff. Well, just so happens that the Yankees are down 0-3 and the guy who manages the team that's up 3-0, Dave Roberts,

has a very close connection because he of course, when he played with Boston famously when they had their 0-3 comeback against the Yankees, he got it all started with the stolen base. I actually saw a funny tweet last night and it said, just remind Yankees fans that 3-0

deficits can be overcome. They love to hear about it. So you know who didn't love to hear about it? Dave Roberts, when he was asked about it after the game yesterday. Here's the LA Dodgers manager on coming back from 0-3, if you're the Yankees. You're one of the few people on earth who know what it's like to come back from a 3-0 deficit.

Don't talk about that. Wrong guy. Way too early. What do you remember about your mindset going into that and what maybe did you learn from that that you can take into it now that you're on the other side? I don't want to divulge any secrets, but from the other side, I just think that we have got to stay focused, stay urgent. I think offensively, to be quite honest, we left a lot of runs out there tonight. Still found a way to win a ball game. And there's just got to be urgency.

I just don't want to let these guys up for air. He's the perfect manager for this, right? They're not going to blow this, the 3-0 lead. Not now that he divulged any of the secrets of how you come back. Speaking of leaving offense on the table, someone jumped out at me. It was Steve Politi from NewJersey.com. He's been a longtime writer for the Star-Ledger.

If you're wondering about are the knives out for Aaron Judge, the headline, Aaron Judge's pathetic playoff no-show will damage his Yankees legacy. Anytime. So, yes. Any time that someone wants to talk about difficult markets to play in and unrealistic expectations

and the weight and scrutiny of fans and media, I want to remind you that Aaron Judge, one of the greatest and most prolific hitters of the modern era multiple mvp winner um has got an article three games into the world so they're not even dead yet they didn't even wait for the toe tag to be on the body to write that aaron judge's pathetic playoff no show pathetic playoff no show will damage his yankees legacy that is a tough crowd that is a tough market. That is a tough market. And that is a tough media.

Did you think that, did you get fooled too? Like the announcers did when he flied out to left, but the ball hit the end of his back. I have that clip too. I have that clip too.

Oh man. I thought that was gone. I was like, that's a moon shot. That's going to leave the stadium. Okay. So, oh my God.

Sterling's voice actually cracked. Okay. So there's a couple of things here. One, there's so many home runs. Sterling's voice actually cracked. Okay, so there's a couple things here. One, there's been so many home runs in this series that you were right to think, like,

well, Judge had to get in on the party eventually. Second, there was a lot of projecting here where people wanted it to happen, including Sterling.

Do you have the audio here? This is John Sterling on the Aaron Judge homer that wasn't. And the break... Oh, there it goes! Deep left center field and Kay Oscar is there to make the

catch oh did i get fooled on that i did too so don't feel bad about it ray ferraro is going to join us next we might have a bit of a repeat of the interview we had wish because ray was also working the tampa bay nashville game last night from tampa the Stephen Stamkos return. But we will get into some other stories around the NHL with Ray. Rick Campbell, the head coach of the BC Lions, going to join us at 7.30. And then Landon Ferraro. It's Ferraro Tuesday on the Halford & Brough Show. We'll talk at 8 o'clock.

And Landon was at Rogers Arena last night, so we can really dive into what he saw from the Canucks in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Lots of hockey talk and some football talk coming up on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.