Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Are Finally Embracing A Rebuild

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

In hour one, Mike & Jason look at the previous day in sports, they discuss how Canucks ownership is finally embracing a proper rebuild (3:00), plus the boys chat with Montreal Hockey Now's Marc Dumont (28:35), as the Canadiens find themselves one game from elimination. 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 Halford and Brough. Blake over the line, steak open and front. He scores. That's hockey, baby. What a play on a transitional rush. It's criss. The game's going to humble you. You know, whenever you get humble, you just stand tall.

There's a lot of crows pecking at our neck. But all you can do is spread your wings, keep flying high until those crows fall off. and suffocate from the inability to breathe. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. It is Halford and his breath. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to your live from the Kid Tech Studios in beautiful Mount Pleasant in Vancouver.

Jason, good morning. Good morning. Ada, good morning to you. Good morning. Gladdy, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford, inbrough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. They're open seven days a week and open late to help you get debt-free.

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online today. Where was that clip from, Laddie? I've never heard that one. We played it before. We played it before. Yeah. Where is it from? Robert Sala, I think. Oh, it's Robert Sala. Yeah, right. What a great clip. Okay, we got a lot to get into on the program today. We're going to begin with the Duhick Morning Drive. It's our morning guest list, brought you by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 630. Mark Dumont is going to join us for from Montreal hockey now. The Habs are on the brink of elimination after our 4-0 loss to Carolina at home

in game four of the Eastern Conference final last night. No other way to say it that it was an ugly night in Montreal. The hab season could end as soon as Friday. Will it? We'll ask Mark about all that at 6.30. 7 o'clock Adnan, Verk from MLB Network is going to join the program.

Laddie, decent little run. The Jays are on here. They've won six of their last eight, despite I think everyone on the roster being injured, pretty impressive. Lots of other baseball stories to get into as well. Do we need to talk about Otani? Probably. Almost had a no hitter last night.

Well, not almost, but pretty good. Another good performance. I feel like every time we have Adnan on him, like, I have another historical benchmark of Shohei Otani's to talk about. Lo and behold, we do again today. He needs to chill out. Yeah, Otani hit a baseball to the moon last night. Didn't see that coming since tungsten O'Doyle.

Yeah. Adnan's going to join us at 7 to talk about all that. Then we're going back-to-back, Kinnock's guest at 730. and a Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks Talk is going to join the program. He is the author of a new article, The Case for the Canucks taking Caleb Malhotro

with the number three pick in the draft. We can also talk about Caleb's dad, Mani, who may or may not be hired as Conucks head coach this week. Dranx is going to join us at 7.30. 8 o'clock, IMA is going to join the program. Canucks reporter for Sportsnet.ca. He too has a new article out there.

We believe in the plan. Henrik Siddeen says the Canucks are locked in on the rebuild. Lots of really intriguing takeaways from IMAX piece. He's going to join us at 8 to talk about all that. Also at 8 o'clock this morning, we're giving away the fourth of $5.50 gift cards to White Spot this week. Caller number 5 at 8 a.m. 604, 2800.650 will win a $50 gift card to White Spot. Quality family time, well, it isn't always easy to come by you guys, but it is at White Spot, where BC goes for that family feeling. So call her number

5 at 8 o'clock this morning. We'll get some quality time with the fam and 50 bucks to go buy food at White's butt. Okay, we got a lot to get into on the program today. 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? Missed it? You miss that? Whoa! We begin in Montreal last night where the Carolina hurricanes moved to within a single game, a single win of the Stanley Cup final

4-0 victory for the Cains or if you're a Habs fan, a disappointing 4-0-0 loss at the Bell Center on Wednesday night. Series now shifts to Carolina on Friday where the Cains can close it out and go to their first Stanley Cup final since 2006. But I think the story last night, Jason,

is how ugly it was in Montreal. So I was on the golf course and was not watching this game and I'm kind of glad. Best in the business, folks. I was doing that because it was a beautiful day to play golf and I was listening to the game on the course and the Montreal broadcast sounded forlorn and just out of ideas and you could hear that there was no energy in the bell center there was it was nothing happening there and it's crazy that the habs have gotten as far in the

playoffs with a pretty dreadful record at home but they've been good on the road so they've managed to do it but you know, we wondered after game three, and that would have been two straight, fairly dominant performances by Carolina, suffocating performances by Carolina, we wondered what the habs have left in the tank. And I think last night we got the answer, they've got nothing left in the tank.

They're done. They're cooked. There's no way that the habs are coming back and winning this series. Clip it. Clip it. Okay, fine. Yeah.

Great. You know what? They're not winning three in a row. There's no chance. There's absolutely no chance. This team is... Most tepid hot take of all five. Well, yeah, it's not...

Yeah, it's not like... You never know. I don't know why. It's like they're down 3-1. They can't get a shot on goal. It feels like they're going to probably lose this series. Yeah, it does. They're done.

They're just... I think they've either... I think two things have happened at the same time, and they're both against the habs. They've run out of gas. They played two seven game series while Carolina has been resting and they do not know

how to get through the checking of Carolina and this conference final on both sides has been the, it has been the year of checking. Yep. Because Vegas checked Colorado, an incredibly dangerous offensive team into the ice. Yeah, there were injuries, but they were checking unbelievably well

to the point that they swept Colorado. and Carolina has checked their way all the way to within one game of the Stanley Cup final, and that includes what they've done against Montreal. Don't forget, they swept Ottawa. They swept Philly. It's just like...

They've lost a grand total of one game. Like, I mean, the HABs are going to make the trip, I imagine, to Carolina. But, you know, if the Bell Center is, you know, the Bell Center probably has to reserve the space for game six, but I don't think it should bother.

Like if it wants to book a concert in there for game six, you might as well, because they're not going to need it. They're done. Yeah. So I don't think anything should take away from what's been a very impressive season. I'll stop short of saying magical, but a very impressive season for the Montreal Canadians. For a young team in its maturation and growth,

they took great strides this year, right? Of course. One not one, but two. Incredible story. However, I just want to say that. But they're not there yet. The way this has ended. And the other part of this, too, is the most, I think the most disappointing part for me,

if you're going to look back over the course of this entire playoff run, is how disappointing the Montreal Canadians have been at the Bell Center this postseason. They have not been good. I think they have two wins or something like that. Two wins at Le Sant-Rabelle. And yesterday, and a couple of the more savvy journalists pointed this out about, what a terrible look.

This is, if it is indeed the last game of the year at the Bell Center. The fans in the third period began to chant, shoot the puck, shoot the puck. After the kind of, the Canadians weren't only outshot 19 to 3 in the third period of a game. They were trailing by 3 and then later by 4. Nick Suzuki got their first shot of the third period, 17 minutes into the third period. Like it was unbelievable how much the Keynes were basically playing keep away with the puck at times. I want to play the audio here. good on Chris Cuthbert, Sportsnes-Dave very own,

for trying to put a glass half full, kind of take on what was going on in the third period. But here's what it sounded like from the Bell Center yesterday with the fans serenating the Canadians to shoot the puck. Cycles it around for Anderson behind the net. He'll get it. Fans try to pick up their team one more time. Fans trying to pick up their team more time.

That's one way of looking at it. Yeah, I don't think it was that. He was trying. Yeah, yeah. You know, there was a Bronx. picking them up and then placing them in front of the net so they can shoot the puck. There was a Bronx cheer too when their first shot on net finally occurred. I want to play.

But it's not always so easy. I feel like, do you remember? I feel like we're not so easy. To get shots on goal against a team like Carolina. But you're saying shots, plural. I think they wanted shot singular at a certain point. I realize that. But I think we as Canucks fans have seen what it looks like when you struggle to even get

shots on goal because that's what happened to the Canucks when they went to the playoffs. And a lot of people just blame Tockett's system. And that was part of it for sure. It was a limiting system. But they eliminated Nashville and they had trouble getting shots on goal sometimes. You remember all the times that Drans would come on and say fronting? Nashville's fronting the Canucks. I was like, yeah, walking shots.

Yep. And it was the same in the series against the Oilers because I think the Oilers side, look at Nashville did. We should do that against the Canucks. Shot blocking is massively part of the game, obviously now. And it is a way to really frustrate a team that,

especially during the regular season, was really dynamic and probably felt like we can do anything out here at times. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, if you commit as a team to constantly getting in shooting lanes, people will say like the fans, what's really frustrating for the players,

I'm sure is the fans are like, shoot the puck. I'm like, if I shoot this puck, it is going to go directly into his shin pads. Craig Ludwig style. Like it is just, there's,

it is easier said than done when you've got a team that knows what they're doing and is dialed in defensively. And this is what happens at this stage of the season. There are teams that are dialed in defense. They can smell a trip to the Stanley Cup final, and that's only going to increase their focus,

their sacrifice, and their relentlessness defensively. That's what we saw as the Vegas series against Colorado wore on. It got even harder for Colorado. And then in this series, I mean, it's just been, I mean, outside of what someone texted in, outside of one period, this series would have been a sweep. So I want to play audio now from Marty St. Louis post game and then talk about Marty on the other side. Here he is addressing what the fans had to say.

I actually think the question might be longer than the answer here. But here's the clip. Marty St. Louis talking about what has been an issue all series long and really reared its ugly head yesterday, the lack of shots compared to the amount that Carolina are getting especially. Here's Marty St. Louis after a 4-0 loss in game 4 of the Eastern Conference final. Marty, I think we're seeing why the Hurricanes swept their first two series. I guess you heard the fans third period. They're yelling, shoot the puck, they're frustrated,

your players are frustrated. How do you deal with that frustration when the guys can't get a shot? Stand tall. Is there something different? The game's going to humble you. You know, whenever you get humble, you just stand tall. It's not fun to hear that, but they're not wrong. So a lot of people didn't love that answer,

the stand tall answer in the aftermath, because they were like, well, maybe like something a little bit more strategy that we could use standing tall. It's like where they tell goalies to be bigger. Just be big. Here's a thing. Stand tall.

You mentioned what we saw in the similarities between the Eastern and Western Conference finals and that you had this defensive clinic that one team threw on the other team in blanket and with it. One of the criticisms of Jared Beddnard during the course of that sweep was the abs never found

another way, right? They never unlocked the code. They never solved the riddle. They never came up with any alterations. or game plan adjustments. And instead they just kind of threw their hands up and said, well, this is what we do. This is how we play.

And if it's not going to work, it's not going to work. And there's some, look, there's some validity to that. You build an identity of a team. You build a style of play. And as Rick Tock used to like to say, non-negotiables, and guys know where they're supposed to be and where they're supposed to do. Tactically, it's tough.

But some of the best coaches, and I think the guys that immediately spring to mind or like Peter DeBowr, a Bruce Cassidy, they are able to look at things and make adjustments in game and in series to unlock certain defensive fronts that are going on. And right now, the repetitive nature of the losses that the habs are facing,

that is going to be a criticism of Marty St. Louis. He should be credited largely for what he's done this postseason. So as we go into, I don't disagree with what you're saying, by the way. Yeah, thank you. But as we go into the off-season, yep. It's also going to be on the general manager

to address some things because sometimes the best way to get through a really tough defensive system and I think this is the Florida Panther way often is a smashy, smashy. Yeah, like smash it. Smash it with big players. Yep.

And, you know, I think if you look at the Canadians forward group, we have seen a time. times that Josh Anderson has had success in this playoffs, but he's not, he's not able to play a top six role. Slavkovsky is a big guy. I don't know if you'd describe him as playing super big. He isn't play big.

Not at all. Right? Well, a little bit. Now, maybe he can, maybe he can build on that. He's still a young guy. But I wondered if this would come up at some point about the Habs being a little too small, Up front. Sure.

Cofield, Suzuki, you know, Demandov is a terrific talent. And by the way, I think Demandov is going to get way better. Like, way, but he is going to be an unbelievable player in this league. But the top six at five on five leaves a little something to be desired. You're just talking just the forward group here. Yeah, the top six. Yeah, because you were talking about Demadoff and Hudson.

No, I didn't say Hudson. I said, I said, Caulfield. Yeah. Yeah. The top six. I mean, Hudson, Hudson, I don't care about. He's like, he's a, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's getting Quinn Hughes out of this series. Like, they are targeting him.

Sure. I mean, that's going to happen and he'll learn, but, but you're still going to, you still want. Hudson still managed to make plays. Because they're back. Because if, I think collectively, they are on the tinier side. Yeah, yeah. Like, their blue line's not huge out of which is why I was bringing it up, right? No.

And I think. But if we're talking about creating shots. Yeah. I'm not so, yeah, I'm talking about the forward group. Yeah. And it's interesting that you bring that up because I thought in the first round against Tampa Bay, which was a real slobber knocker at times, I thought the Habs actually did a really good job of being physical.

You haven't really seen it since. And it's a different kind of physical, right? Like, um, I think Tampa Bay like to, to- It's exhausting, man, to be physical. Well, that's the other part of is I wonder, like Josh Anderson, the first round is a lot different than Josh Anderson in the third round, right? Like, I think he might be running on fumes. but I think there's a difference in physical.

Like, you wouldn't classify Carolina as being nasty and mean and dirty, and they don't do a lot of stuff between the whistles, but they're still physical. They're more of like a check you down, wear you down, you know, death by a thousand cuts kind of physical. Yeah.

And that's hard to match because you need an energy level that I think to your earlier point, I'm not sure Montreal has right now. They wear you down like there are a bunch of A-Dogs talking about the draft. It's a very good comparison. That's like, you mean they pump you up is what you're trying to say. You're doing it again.

No, no, no, they just wear you down with their insolence. Yeah, like yesterday where Brough was like, fine, let him talk about Bedard. And I was like, okay, he's going to go for it. No, that's a good point, though. They wear you down. And there's that element of it as well. Okay, let's turn our attention now to the Kodak stuff. How dare you?

Let's turn our attention to the Kodak stuff now. So yesterday, and we mentioned this right as we were going off air because the article dropped late during our show. There was a Q&A of sorts. It's an interview that Ian McIntyre did with Henrik Siddeen as the Cedines media blitz continues. This was up at Sportsnet.com.com.com. And the headline of the article was, we believe in the plan. Hendricks said the connects are locked in on the rebuild.

And the quote that we read yesterday that a lot of people focused on is just how locked in the the Cedines are on the rebuild, in part because the decision to rebuild was made well before the Cidines even came aboard. So we're learning a little bit about the process in which the Siddins jump to the presidential role, but also how the plan was in place to do this thing properly when Jim Rutherford announced that he was stepping down as president back in early May. I'm still celebrating the fact that I got to read Henrik Siddine say, and they here is talking about ownership. They were tired of missing the playoffs year after year while at the same time trying to win.

and that was the most frustrating part of the Canucks over the last decade and a half. They were doing their best to win. Trying as hard as they could. And I wonder how many people in the fan base and the media, not to name names, are doing their best right now to be like, don't say I told you so. don't say I told you so a million times.

Don't say I told you so after every major deal that they made in order to win now. So we're not going to say, I told you so. I told you so. You just did it though. Yeah, I did. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think that for a lot of the fan base, what Henrik Sidin said in this article was validation.

and maybe that is why in fact I know that's why what we've heard from the Siddins and Ryan Johnson but the Siddins I think in particular has been so well received because it has been validating it has felt like the Siddins have been

on the same wavelength as a lot of the fan base yeah they've been putting their work in Abbotsford, part of the organization, but quietly they've been like, this isn't going to work. Like I'll go to work with Linus Carlson or whoever down here in Abbotsford and I'll go to work. But like what the team is doing, it's not going to work. You know, this is, this is, I mean, the same thing with the culture, right? They saw something that, in fact, that they built that just went away.

And that culture, by the way, started to go away when the Cines were still. in the room. Yep. But maybe they didn't have, maybe they didn't still have the same weight with some of the younger players, or maybe it was that the organization was trying to force young players into the group that weren't ready. And I think there were times you could tell that the Sineans didn't agree with it. Certainly the head coach at the time, Willy Dajardin didn't agree with it. You could tell that. And, you know, so I think some of these comments that the Seneens are making, even though nobody is guaranteeing that this is going to work because no rebuilds are guaranteed.

You still got to get really lucky. You still got to make a bunch of good decisions. Like, I think that line, they were tired of missing the playoffs year after year while at the same time trying to win. It just covered everything for me. Yep. Everything. It's like they would have like this past season, right?

And this past season wasn't an anomaly, really. But this past season, the funniest thing about it, frustrating but also kind of hilarious is like, you're watching a team, especially at the beginning of the season when they still had Quinn and you're like, they're doing their best.

They went into this, they went into this season trying to win. They did everything they possibly could to convince Quinn Hughes to stay. And the decision for Quinn Hughes, first of all, sound like it'd already been made. And it was like so easy for him to be like, no, like absolutely not. You've asked me a hundred times and the answer is still no.

I'm not staying here. And even though we're having a good time kind of being like, we hate Quinn Hughes. He was a puck hog here. I think most of us, you know, deep down are like, I don't blame you, man. And I was the same way with Rick Tocke and I was like, man, I don't blame you. There's a reason. There's a reason people laugh. You go take that Philly job.

Yep, there's a reason people left. It's going to be better for your career because there's no hope here. But now when I hear what the Sidians are saying, I have hope for the first time in a while. It's long-term hope, but it is hope because ownership finally recognizes what everyone in this market or a lot of people in this market were screaming. But I'll say this. I think when it's all said and done,

and it is all said and done, but years from now, we're going to look back on the 2025-20206 campaign. As I have said countless times, as a real waste of an opportunity to even further kickstart to rebuild. Because what Sidene's and Johnson are dealing with now is starting from about as scratch as you can get, right? We've talked about this numerous times. we're not reinventing the wheel here.

They're starting not in even a similar position to when Montreal started their rebuild four years ago with some pieces in place. Like they're starting ground zero, blown to smithereens, back to the studs, not even back to the studs. The studs got ripped out. They got nothing to work with. This year really

should have been an identifier of where the organization was at and, okay, we need to start this now. But as you brought up, it's comical to think that for the first couple months of this will be gotten, you know, I can't believe this happened type season. The connect still had a lot of people

the highest reaches of the organization that thought they were going to make a push for the playoffs. Even Jim Rutherford in his exit interviews was still saying, well, you know, we got off to that start. I think we were seven and seven at one point. I can't believe you're talking about the record. I can't believe you're talking about the Demko injury and Hughes wanting to leave.

And the heedal injury, the heedle injury. The Heidel injury was brought up. So that's why I was like, this year, the foot decision, the Vander Cain decision, the chasing of fourth line setters across the league from David Compton. Who's the other guy they brought in? I can't remember his name. Lucas Reichael. Yeah.

I would hear stories early in the season of like, you know, people would tell me that, you know, there are people in the organization that still believe things would have been way different if Heedel had stayed healthy. And Demko. Yeah. And I'm like, if those people are around, you're like, go, leave now. Get out of here. We're starting fresh. I do wonder if any of the other ownership factions weighed in on this was a people beyond Francesco.

Who knows, right? But we did hear about Dax being more involved. and I do wonder if there had been parts of the family that have been like, this is crazy. And, you know, maybe Dax Aquini's young guy, maybe he knows his way to like Reddit or,

you know, or like, you know, he's on, he's online and reading some of the fans. Yeah, he's like, I've been a part of Knoch's Twitter for a while now.

I am damaged. Please fix this. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's possible. I mean, we did hear that Dax was more involved. So maybe he's had some influence on this.

maybe, I don't know. But I do find it interesting. Doesn't anyone else find it interesting that we've heard about this new member of the family who was part of the process and all of a sudden now we've got this new

way of going about business? It's fair to speculate. It's fair to speculate. Sure. Certainly fair to speculate. Okay, we've got a lot more to get to on the Halford and Brough show on Sports 9650. Coming up, we're going to Montreal. Tough scenes last night at the Bell Center. Mark,

Dumont from Montreal hockey now is going to join the program. Habs season could be over as soon as Friday. Will it? We'll find out from Mark on the other side. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with

the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2pm on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcast. At the hash mark. Near point Gosses bear, cruising through the slot Gielers, Aho. He scores. Sebastian Ajo. with a bullet on the near flank,

just inside the top of the near circle. It was a blast. And with 501 left to go in period one, Carolina breaks the I. 633 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford, Braves, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Bob of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

They're ready to give you the financial fresh start that you deserve with no judgment or upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands-Trustee.com. Still in our one of the program, Mark Dumont from Montreal Hockey now is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour one of this program 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. Tough night at the Bell Center last night in Montreal, a 4-0 loss for the Habs at home to the Carolina Hurricanes. I don't want to call it serenating, but I'm going to use the word anyway. fans serenating the haves to shoot the puck in the third period of a game in which the habs yet again had a very difficult time generating any sort of offense let's go now to the able auctions hotline our next guest has mentioned from montreal hockey now mark dumont here on the halford and breath show on sports net 650 what i'm mark how are you i can't complain guys for you know for the longest time i was part of the group that that you know always said that the people that yell shoot there are

a nuisance, but they're now officially important parts for the Montreal Canadians organization. So I apologize to all the fans at the Bell Center. My bad. They're going to be on the coaching staff next year. They're going to have one guy that's in charge of yelling shoot.

So here's a question for you. What were the Florida Panthers able to do against Carolina that the Montreal Canadians have not been able to do against the Carolina hurricanes? Well, other than generate shots, I think set the physical tone has been one of the issues.

You know, it's funny, we look at the Carolina Hurricanes. We think that's a fairly soft team, you know, quote unquote, but they've been really putting the screws to the HAB. So I think one of the issues is once they got beyond the Buffalo Sabres, the Tampa Bay Lightning, they thought, okay, it's clear sailing here. We can play just clean hockey, but there's no such thing as clean hockey in the playoffs. The Florida Panthers are the perfect evidence we need for that. there is no clean playoff hockey.

So I think the Habs kind of got away from, you know, matching it physically, picking away guys like Arbor Jackai, who I'll be honest, you know, not the cleanest skater, but again, I think he would thrive in the playoffs. So I think really physicality has a big part to play with it and all this. We all know Florida, they got dirty, right? Every single shift. That's how you win games once you're in the playoffs. In the top six of the forward group for Montreal,

is there more physicality required there? Because, you know, look, we're big Brendan Gallagher fans here in Vancouver, but we're not going to pretend that adding galley into the lineup is going to change everything. I do wonder. I have wondered if he, you know, been a consideration to go in. But, you know, going forward, I think most people are like, this series is over. Like, Montreal is not winning this. So I think we're pretty much going into the off season in our minds, at least.

and wondering what can be done to address the issues that Montreal is facing against Carolina right now. Because if Florida's back in it next year and Barkoff's healthy and they're ready to go, they're going to present a problem too. And oftentimes it does come down to a team's size and strength and ability to be physical in the playoffs. At least that's one of the big factors. Yeah, and I think Martin St. Louis yesterday recognized that because he actually, well, I mean, eventually you have to make a change, but he pulled his lines apart after the first period, and the first thing he did was add Josh Anderson to that first line.

Now, he's smaller than Slavkovsky, but I think we all know he works a little bit harder, you know, a little bit in the energy department. So I think they were conscientious that their first line was struggling. And it's a side effect, too, right? Don't forget, this is a first line that was running roughshot over the league during the regular season, but now you have that extra little bit of attention that's given to you, right?

So Nick Suzuki is leading the team in school. as we all expected, Jirae Slavkovsky and Cole Cofield have one point at even strength, one point each. So I don't know if the physicality is necessarily with holding them back there, but I think also just a lack of experience, just knowing that you have to take that extra gear, go a little further, you know,

put your body on the line. And that's not necessarily, they're more of a finesse type of line that doesn't work off quantity. They work off quality. And it's just not there in the playoffs. So if anything, guys, I think it might be a realization that the recipe in the regular season is not necessarily going to work in the playoffs. And it's not the first time that the HABs last year, their first line struggled as well. So there might be time for an honest conversation and say, hey, this is built for the playoffs or built for the regular season.

I think right now, obviously, I think that first line is probably built for the regular season. Do you think Slavkovsky has the ability to play bigger? he's the smallest big guy in the league isn't he right he has this clipper the big red dog at size advantage but he's not there in his mind so he's never played big he's never i don't think he's ever going to play big he can use his size a little bit better you know he's uh his albatross wigginspan but it's just not in his mind to play big and and you know we've seen it with other players his size not all the big guys are tough it takes a little while accepted but he's just not he's just not just not that, you know, rough and thumble type of player.

You know, I don't want to act like I am condemning the HABs or anything like that. I mean, what they've done this year has been incredible. And what they've done over the last few years has been incredible. We're here in Vancouver and we're just finally starting a rebuild. And, you know, we'd love to have this success that Montreal had. But this is all part of the, this is all part of the narrative about a team. most oftentimes you don't emerge out of a rebuild and whoa we won the Stanley Cup awesome that was easier than we thought it would be right you have to make adjustments as you go on um how do you think management assuming Montreal goes out to Carolina here how do you think management is going to respond do you think they're going to be aggressive or are they going to continue along on on their philosophy of patience did okay first of all did they use the the the rebuild the word in Vancouver. Oh, they finally did.

Even ownership, believe it or not. Believe it or not. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Listen, fans aren't idiots. They know what's happening. So that's good. The open line of communication, number one, most important. Number two, if teams try to emulate the haves, it's going to create chaos in the NHL because let's be perfectly honest. Yes, they did a lot of good work. They also got very, very lucky, and it's impossible to replicate, you know, what they put together. 30 from behind victories this year.

That's just chaotic. The haves are a chaotic mess that are. exciting and fun and I hope other teams try to do what they did because it's just going to lead to a lot of failure in that respect. But the key here is that they're already way ahead of schedule and I think the fans know this,

management knows this, and Kent's his MO has really been patient, straightforward. If it doesn't work, we'll revaluate, but we're not going to take any shortcuts. They're not going to go the Detroit way and try to fill it with old old veterans. They're going to keep the plan like

as it is, and they might pull back a little bit, guys. But the key here is don't lose focus. It's so damn hard. I think the lesson here is so damn hard to win the Stanley Cup. Yeah. Did the Carolina Hurricanes? How bad have they been in the conference finals? They've been getting their ass kicked and sticking around in the conference finals since, what, 2018?

So, yeah, I think that's the lesson here is hold pat because it's very, very, you know, improve your team as you can, get aggressive when you can. But the Canadians have been lucky. They've been smart. and it's not time to change the plan. And thankfully, Ken's Hughes, I feel there's no risk that he's going to pull an Izerman and lose patience. We're speaking to Mark Dumont from Montreal Hockey Now here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. I do want to ask and talk a little bit about Marty St. Louis in all of this, Mark, because we played the audio yesterday where St. Louis at the podium was asked about the fans yelling,

shoot the puck, and, you know, what was his response to trying to generate more shots on net and he kept saying stand tall, stand tall. And a lot of people's... A few people giggled. Yeah, and a lot of people's response. Because he was saying it. Yeah, it was like, one, that's funny. Two, also, like, maybe there's some more technical aspects

or some strategy that we could utilize here. Anyway, we can get into the bigger picture stuff with St. Louis first, but how much, if any, criticism, should be lobbed towards the head coach, given the fact that this is now three games on the hop where the haves have had real issues generating shots on goal. There haven't been a ton of chances aside from shifting the lines in the second period of game four.

Well, first of all, you know, that's the other part of the equation here. You're never going to find a coach that you can just plug and play that went from what he was Huey, right? Right in the NHL? We all raise an eyebrow there and you'll never be able to replicate it. But I think Martin Saint-Bee, what we lose

sight of here, he's what the fourth longest tenured coach in the NHL. but he still has very, very little experience. He's still learning on the job. We make very few in-game modifications. The fact that he actually changed the lines yesterday when the halves were getting absolutely dominated was a huge change for him.

So he's learning. He's learning. And sometimes it feels like it's vibes only, kind of like that stand tall stuff. That's really Martin Saint-Louis is a fantastic quote. He's an amazing motivator. He's probably not the best exes and all those guys out there. So, you know, and when you're looking at how the Canadians are run, maybe a little more technical,

maybe a coach that has a little more, a better grasp for the technical aspects of hockey would be, you know, absolutely valuable. But here's the other thing, guys, these players are ready to run through the wall from Martininui within the drop of a hat. Like, he's so quick to motivate them that, you know, he's half psychologist in that locker room. So, yeah, he's a vibes only coach, and sometimes it seems really, really silly. but the way he gets guys to row all in the same directions, that's what you want with the youngest team in the NHL. So yeah, vibes only, not always ideal, but it works for the HABS.

Is there anyone in Montreal right now that is willing to just tip their cap to the Carolina Hurricanes and say, you guys are pretty good right now? Damn, are they good? Like from top to bottom, I think you're seeing yesterday, you know, when you're coming out with solutions, Here's the solutions for the HABs internally, Arbor, Jacki, and Brendan Gallagher, as we mentioned. And you know what?

They probably could help. But they're not going to win you this series, right? They're not going to. I think they're going to move a needle whatsoever. Jacob Dolbyshon's been excellent, and he's hardly moving the needle. So when you look at this, it took the Carolina Hurricanes, what, eight years to get here? I think that's a lesson. And they are a damn good team.

I can't wait to see what happens in the next game. I'm not saying the HABs are out. But I'd be surprised if Vegas was able to. to even instill their own physicality, their tone in the game. Because Carolina, up the bottom, might be one of the most perfect hockey teams I've ever seen. I know that sounds exaggerating or, you know, some hyperbole, but God damn, they're a good hockey team. Yeah, it's funny. Like, when I think about the answer to getting shots through, I think about puck movement in the offensive zone, right?

You're going to move the puck around and create shooting lanes. either that or Lane Hudson has to just dance and dance and dance and then get a puck on. But I think what Carolina does is doesn't even allow you to set up to make those East West passes. Like you think about basketball,

right? How do you find the open guy? You just ball movement, right? The quick ball movement ombud shot, you know, it goes down. It's a similar, it's a similar idea in hockey but if you aren't able to actually possess the puck without getting stapled to the boards,

it's pretty tough to get that puck movement going. There's been no speed in transition for the hubs. And this starts from, you know, obviously be great to create off the cycle in the offensive zone. But right off the bat, just from the forecheck, there's so much pressure on the defensemen. And the forwards who usually fly the zone, that's the Montreal style, they're not supporting, right? So you have defensemen that are pinned down. You can't even start the breakout. So, you know, you're running through molasses when you're into the neutral zone and even gaining the zone during the power play.

I clipped a video yesterday, I was looking at it. These guys, they defend better than most professional standing armies. You know, they have had no chance to get in there. And that's the difference between a good team and a great team. The Carolina Hurricanes are a great team. Everyone gives 100% every single shift. And you know what? Valuable lessons for the Canadians.

They're watching this. They realize, okay, this is what it takes to get to the next step. And it's a very, very big step. Mark, thanks for taking the time to join us. they're still alive, but only barely. And let's check in with you again in the off season to see how the habs adjust, barring a miracle. And if there is a miracle, we'll check in with you before the Stanley Cup final.

Well, I'll tell you right now, people are much friendly in Montreal when the habs are playing playoff hockey. So let's hope it continues. Thanks, Mark. Appreciate this, man. Have a good one. All right. Thanks a lot, guys.

Have a good one. Mark Dumont for Montreal Hockey now here on the Halperdon Brough show on SportsNet 650. If you have a different direction to go in fine, but I kind of wanted to dive back more into this Henrik Siddine interview and article with Ian McIntyre the Q&A because we only really got. I had four big takeaways from the article and we got to the one. Why don't you just read the four takeaways? Sure. The first one was ownership wanted the rebuild before the Siddins even became a board.

We talked about that prior to speaking with Mark Dumont. The second one is that they did not consider. assault Trevor Linden before taking the co-presidential role. The third one is that they're no longer planning to go back to Sweden. Right. And the fourth one is that they have no issue in a world where Mani Malhotra is the team's head coach and Caleb Malhotra

is the team's first round pick at this year. First pick of the first round. Okay. Why do they not have an issue with Mani and Caleb being together? The quote is you can't disqualify a player that you really like at that spot just because, and I'm talking theoretically here, because his dad might be the coach, Henrik said. That would be wrong for everyone, and that would be wrong for our organization.

So if Caleb is there and our scouts really love him, then that's a non-issue. So I guess in a way, it's warming and it's comforting to know that there will be nothing, nothing that stands in the way from the Canucks taking what they consider to be the best player available conceptually. However, sometimes I think that all rules need a caveat. In this case, it would be do not, do not put so much emphasis and fortune of the rebuild in the

hands of a father-son duo. I'm sorry, I'm not going to change on that stance. No matter how much the Cedines make. total sense and logic and explaining it. You're allowed to disagree with them. But I like them so much. I know. What if it works beautifully, though?

What if it's just like a magical thing? Maybe it'll be magical. Yeah. And I will have been wrong. And I will gladly admit that. There can be some sort of like wacky a.m. morning show thing. And we'll be like, shocker. Alfred was wrong.

Yeah. The stakes are incredibly low. Let's make that. Yeah. I mean, it's just, it's just an opinion. So what I want to know is what is going on with Manny Mahotra because it's now Thursday and we had set Wednesday. Wednesday was Panic Day.

To ask the question. Now it's freaking out Thursday. What's going on there? I wonder how many other candidates they're talking to right now. Because I know that they said like we're going to focus on Mani and because Ryan Johnson was asked how big a net are you going to cast or how wide a net are you going to cast

in this coaching search and his answer basically suggested well that depends on how our talk with Manny goes which signal that they were kind of laser focused on hiring Manny Mahotra and all of us were like all right cool that's good that's probably what we expect but now in the last few days

since we haven't had an announcement and it's possible that man he's just building out his staff and that takes time. That's what I'm wondering. But I also wonder if they've reached out to a few other guys just in case

maybe even some guys that they were going to talk to anyway about the staff. Sure. Like one name I keep coming back to and there is a relationship there is Jeremy Colleton. Good call.

If Jeremy Colleton, who has experience as a head coach with the Chicago Blackhawks, and then, of course, was the head coach in Abbotsford before Mani Mahotra took that job, and generally, we thought did a good job, right?

Had a winning record down there? I always liked him. And I remember when it sounded like he wasn't going to be back, people were like, oh, that's kind of a loss for the organization. Now he's in New Jersey as an assistant. Is he still there?

Associate. Associate. Okay, whatever. Yeah, he's still there. But I do wonder about a name like Jeremy Carlton and whether or not he'd be a candidate for head coach, just in case things didn't work out with Mani Mahhotra. I think he'd be an excellent option as an assistant coach or an associate coach with the Kinex.

Yeah, that's an option. Or even a head coach. But I kind of want Manning to get the job of a point taking. But he would know right. And he would have a relationship with Ryan Johnson and Ryan Johnson would, look, if he approved him, he'd be like, yeah, he was a good coach for us. Sure. So he would know.

I can't really think of many other candidates because none of the candidates that are really being kicked around for the other vacancies around the NHL. The situation is just so different. Like maybe Jay Woodcroft. Woodcroft, yeah. If he doesn't land, but it sounds like, it sounds like he wants to coach a team that's a playoff team.

Or maybe, me, I don't know, I might be putting words in his mouth there. But, you know, if you're Jay Woodcroft, would you want a job like the Vancouver job?

You've already, you've already had one job, head coaching job in the NHL. Do you want to go to a team like Vancouver that is almost certainly going to be a losing team? do you want to be associated with that? I don't know. It's hard because if I were him,

I might be like, I'd rather if, well, if I can get the Edmonton job back, terrific. And maybe even L.A. I saw someone float the idea of Jay McKee, who is Caleb's head coach at Brantford and has been a head coach in the Ontario League for an awfully long time.

Now, this is more like a guy that could potentially join the staff type thing. I don't know if that's a great idea. I don't know how much you really want to place around the Malhotras of it all. I just think it's important in a rebuild to not have so much emphasis on a singular player. And it's going to be unavoidable because you're at the high end of the draft. And that first pick is always going to be, it's going to be symbolic too, right? Like that was the guy that we got at the beginning of the rebuild.

Yeah. But I do wonder if like diversifying it a little bit. out Jake Vertan and kind of personified Why did you have to bring him up of all the people? We're going to build around this guy. Yeah, he's a cornerstone, franchise type. You know what I'd like to know? I'd like to know the scouting process

that led the Canucks to draft for 10. A long time ago, man. I know it was. Yeah, that was 12 years ago. Just out of interest. I'm trying to remember who was around. Because I remember some of the comments. I mean, look, it wasn't a long time ago,

but I still find it funny. It wasn't like it was like a reach or anything. They could have gone other ways, but Vertainer... I remember in the moment people were screaming like, what are they doing? But I remember... He was supposed to go around that spot. I remember some quotes from Jim Benning

that were like, when you get into the playoffs, you need a guy like Jake Furtan who's willing to go to the dirty areas of the ice. And then like, even for a non-power forward, Vortanan never went to the dirty areas of the ice. Mm-hmm. And I find those, because we're talking about the draft now and, you know, one of the conversations we had with Daniel Seneen is like, how, how much work do you have to do to get to know these guys?

Who do you have to talk to? And I'm talking about character, right? And he was like, yeah, there's a ton of work. You talk to their old coaches. You talk to anyone you possibly can about this. And I just, it just baffles my mind. after having watched his career and his practice habits and just the way he played on the ice, it still baffles my mind that that organization decided on that player as like,

this is going to be our hard-nosed power forward that we're going to need in the playoffs when the going gets tough. And he would not even bring the puck to the front of the net in a regular season game on a Tuesday night against Buffalo. Okay, we got to go to break. We're up against it for time. Good times. Good times. Before we go to break, I need to remind you that the Duick Auto Group is the official automotive

sponsor of Halford & Brough. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal and why nobody has since 1926. Visit Duke GM on Marine Drive. Visit them downtown. Visit them in Richmond. Visit them online at the duik Auto Group. com. Coming up on the other side of the break, Adnan Verk from MLB Network is going to join the program.

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