Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks' Best Players Need To Dig In

Episode Date: October 16, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they discuss yesterday's Canucks loss to the Lightning (6:00), plus they look around the NHL with Sportsnet's David Amber (27:50). 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.

Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na- Pops one-timer for point. Who scores? You got to come to the rink every day trying to get better. And that's what we're going to do. We got to dig in. Dig the pit! You need that second line. You need the Pedersen line, whoever he's playing with, to start driving more play. Would you say it's time for everyone to panic? Yes, I would, Ken.

No, no, no, no. Good morning, Vancouver. 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford and his brother up at his Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintex Studios, the beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning. Hey, dawg. Good morning to you. Good morning. And Lighty, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brother of 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,

be it sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar 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. So, what are you waiting for? Kintec. Guest list today begins at 6.30. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host is going to join us. There were nine games last night that we need to look back on, including the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 loss in Tampa Bay

to the Lightning. Tonight on Sportsnet, only one Canadian team in action on a Wednesday. It's the Toronto Maple Leafs. They will be hosting the Los Angeles Kings. Three other games on the slate as well. We'll talk to David about all that at 6.30. 7 o'clock, Frank Cerevalli from Daily Faceoff will join us.

We'll go around the NHL, look at some of the big stories that are happening. And then at 8 o'clock, Randy Janda is going to join the program. He, of course, color analyst for the Canucks right here on Sportsnet 650. He was on the call last night for, again, I mentioned, Vancouver's 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay in Tampa Bay yesterday. So we got a lot of hockey talk today. A lot. A lot of Canucks talk.

A lot of reaction. Dunbar Lumber text line is already popping. If you want to get way in on anything, 650-650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. I won't even tell you who the main character is in the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket. You might find out. If not, you can contribute.

650-650 is the text line. Working in reverse on the guest list real quick. 8 o'clock, Randy Pjan to 7 o'clock, Frank Cervalli. 6.30 is David Amber. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, 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 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 braden point brandon hagel theel, and Anthony Sorelli all scored for the Tampa Bay Lightning yesterday.

There was also an empty netter. 4-1, the Lightning beat the Vancouver Canucks at Amelie Arena in their home opener on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay. Yeah, Rick Tockett had said prior to last night's game that he liked the starts the Canucks had had in their first two games, just not the third periods and how the games ended. On Tuesday, it was the start that doomed the Canucks.

The Lightning had the legs in their home opener and the Canucks did not. Tampa led 1-0 after the first period on a Nikita Kucherov goal that started with a Noah Juleson stumble. We'll talk a little bit more about Noah Juleson later and the defense as a whole. The Canucks came alive in the second, but it didn't make a difference on the scoreboard.

In fact, things got worse. After, as Halford mentioned, Braden Point made it 2-0 on a nice one-timer that beat Archer's Seelovs. Talk a little bit more about that goal. I think everyone on the Canucks got caught backing up on that one, including maybe Seelovs. But that's what a line of Braden Point, Jake Gensel, and Nikita Kucherov can make you do. You end up playing on your heels. They're a pretty good line, Jason.

We talked about that line yesterday and we said, oof, that's going to be a good one. And, you know, you saw what Gensel can do and you saw what Braden Point, who might be one of the most underrated players in the league, can do. And Nikita Kucherov who is well known you know he had a good game last night and the Canucks top players did not the lightning made it three nothing early in the third and it looked like that would be curtains but the Canucks didn't quit I suppose to their credit Connor Garland scored a much deserved goal for him and they even killed off a very

impressive kill, a four-minute high-sticking penalty to Jake DeBrusque. But even after Rick Tockett shortened his bench, and I think Shorty was like, I think there's like two lines for the Canucks right now. There's six players playing. The Canucks couldn't muster another goal. The Lightning added an empty netter. And that was it. The Canucks are now 0-1-2. How do they count it? 0-1-2. So that was their first regulation loss.

I tweeted out after the game, while everyone was panicking about Petey, no wins in three games for the Canucks, but nothing has really changed, in my opinion, in the three games. And really, heading into the season, I'm still wondering about the depth on defense, whether or not the Canucks are going to be able to replace, essentially, Zdorov and Ian Cole with De Arne and Forbort. We're still waiting on Demko,

and we can talk a little bit more about how Silas played last night. And I still think, yeah, I mean, I still think Petey needs to find the magic again. But last night, I think you have to credit the Tampa Bay Lightning for getting that win. They were playing for their fans. They were playing for their community. They were playing for their community.

Home opener. They're still a good team. And their best players showed up. I would say that if yesterday's game hadn't come on the heels of blowing two leads, and obviously the most egregious one was the opener against Calgary, probably look at it differently. But we don't really have that benefit because those two games happened and they unfolded the way that they did.

And I think, you know, as much as Ray likes to chuckle at the notion of a full 60, the Canucks haven't had it, as a matter of fact. And now Talk, it's got a whole new problem because it's like, now it's not how we finish games.

Yesterday was very much how we started. He was very, in a very brief and amended presser after the game yesterday. Well, there's no media on the road, so it's all pretty friendly media that's covering the Canucks right now. And even with that, he was still pretty disappointed and sounded pretty frustrated. Let's hear now, Laddie, from Rick Talkett,

talking about how they need some guys to dig in, maybe play a little bit harder, maybe win some battles in the corners, maybe do a little bit harder, maybe win some battles in the corners, maybe do a little bit more. Rick Tockett following a 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay. Well, we've got to start on time, and we've got to start to win some battles. There's pockets of the game I like

and some pockets of the game I didn't, but we need some guys to dig in a little bit. We're kind of in the corners or the ends of our stick. It's been happening a couple of days, games now, and we've got to make sure that we get a little bit. We're kind of in the corners or the ends of our stick. It's been happening a couple of days, games now. We got to make sure that we get a little bit grittier in the corners. Dig the shit! He added that. Digging, I guess, is a new thing in the NHL.

I heard them making fun of that on the postgame. Dig in? Yeah, dig in. Yeah, dig in. They were trying to compare Tockett's dig in to McDavid's dig in, and they were like, if McDavid's dig in was a 10 talk, it's was a, what? Maybe a two walls,

two or a three, a dig in. Speaking of terminology, that's sweeping the league. Andrew Burnett dropped a summer hockey yesterday. Oh, okay. Yeah.

The show, the Preds lost seven to three and he's like too much summer hockey in our game. I'm like, that's talk. It's line. You can't use that. Okay.

Let's discuss some individual players. And we're not going to start with number 40, because we will get to that. Because we're saving it for later. We're not... We're going to enjoy this. Mr. 11.6, as people have started calling him. Is everyone just catching up to this, by the way? Yes, they appear to be.

Everyone except Jay Janauer, apparently. Mount Brough, Mount Brough appearing. You're not watching the last half of the season and into the playoffs? Like what's going on? I don't know.

Okay. I want to start with Seeloff because I was a little bit surprised that he actually did get the start and I know that Rick Tockett wanted to go back to him

at some point on this in these two Florida games but I thought Maybe just not this soon Rick. I thought Kevin Lankanen might get the start, but he went with Seeloffs,

and Seeloffs did make a handful of really nice saves, and it could have been much worse in the first period except for Seeloffs. The Lightning were buzzing, but in two games that's now... Why did you get your finger up? You're ordering something at the restaurant. It's now nine goals allowed on 54 shots for a save percentage of 833 833 uh i expect we will see lankanen on thursday in florida

for all that i i liked silov's first period and i think he did really well keeping the canucks in there um you know the second goal to Braden Point, I don't know, it didn't look great. And even Talkett said after the game that that didn't look great. And, you know, the third goal, you know, you can blame Tyler Myers for letting Sorelli get position on him. But I don't know, that one didn't look great either. I guess long story short, I kind of missed Demko okay let's I want to okay good look did you hit did you I don't think I

heard this once last year from Talkett when he was speaking about his goal is quick it's brief I think it's seven seconds long but Talkett was asked about Silov's here's what he had to say yeah I think he was fine I you know I think the second goal I'm not you know I gotta take a look at it i wasn't i don't know if i like that one but in the most part i think he was fine spoiler alert he he looked at it and he didn't like it he was just saying that so i don't i that to me i know everyone wants to talk about peter uh peterson peterson and i know we want to move along to me right now if you're gonna base anything on a small sample size that's the biggest problem yeah well the calgary game they should have a win already. Yeah.

They should have a win. Yeah. It was funny because Tuckett said after that game, you can't spot a team like that at a 2-0 lead. I wanted to put my finger up again. I'm like, what about a 4-1 lead? What kind of team defends that one? Because if you can't spot teams' two-goal leads,

then you definitely can't spot good teams three goal leads, right? That would be the math. And somehow Calgary, who by the way are now 4-0-0, so maybe they're better than we all thought they were going to be, but I digress. Go on with the rest of the players. Conor Garland, the best Canuck. Yeah, he was the best Canuck,

and he continues to work his butt off and win battles all over the ice. He's not a guy that needs to dig in. He's already dug in. And, uh, and I just wanted to mention that he's playing well and I don't know, um,

if he might find his way onto a line with Elias Pettersson. Maybe you could put together Hoaglander, Petey and Garland on a line. Um, but you know, sometimes when I hear that, I'm kind of like, well, is that good for Garland?

No. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like who? Like a poor Jake DeBrus career right now. Yeah. Yeah. So I just wanted to, you know, I think Garland

has been terrific so far this season and, you know, he's got two goals. That's two goals in three games. Pretty impressive. Arsh Baines. So I heard. Pretty impressive. Arsh Baines. So I heard Shorty call him Arsh Baines. Oh, you're going to go with that now? So I'm going to go with that.

Yeah, that works. Did not really take advantage of his opportunity. No. Ended up getting just three shifts in the third period as Tocantin, as mentioned, shortened the bench. Early in the game, he went to the net and had a good scoring chance, but he couldn't bury it. I think he was a little close in on Vasilevsky.

And Vasilevsky, by the way, was really good last night. He was definitely the better of the two goalies. Yeah, he's just solid. Top marks for Vasilevsky? Top marks. A lot of people, perhaps in an attempt to deflect blame for Petey, set their sights on JT Miller last night. And the energy, I think, is there with Miller,

and that is the difference. Also, he scored a big goal against Calgary, and he picked up an assist on Garland's goal last night. He also had a nice pass to Brock Besser, who redirected it, and Vasilevsky made a good save. But I do think he might be gunslinging a bit much out there. You do have to take care of the puck, and yes, Miller's going to get a bit more leeway because you have to let him gunsling.

You have to let him take some risk. He can make some passes that other guys don't, but I do think some of his passes, especially on the man advantage, have been emblematic of the way the Canucks have been a little bit careless with the puck. Yeah, I mean, Miller kind of exists in his own category of players sometimes

because, like with Hughes, you say, you know, let that horse run wild, right? Let him do what he's going to do. And for the most part, you love the results. With Miller, you can apply the same approach, but you have to almost bake into the recipe that there's going to be an error or there's going to be a turnover. There's going to be a mistake as opposed to with Hughes. It's not there. And it's fine.

I mean, on the list of things that are discouraging, and again, I want to use the word discouraging because I don't want to use panic or worrisome. Nobody's panicking. Just discouraging. JT Miller's not on that list right now. For me, it's been a very loud start to the season in the sense that there's been good energy

and there's a lot of things that have happened. Gordie Howe hat tricktrick in the first game. Yeah, he's notable. He's present. He's got the energy that you want. He doesn't have that lethargy that a lot of people bring in when they're playing summer hockey in the fall, right? Final guy I want to get to before we get to you-know-who

is Noah Juleson. I thought he had a pretty rough game, and I wonder if we'll see De'Arne back in Thursday. I actually wonder if we'll see all three of the healthy scratches back in on Thursday against the Panthers. Day-Arne, Nils Amon, and Daniel Sprong were the healthy scratches, by the way, last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. But Noah Juleson, you know, he stumbled on the first goal. The puck turns over to Tampa Bay. They put it in the net pretty quickly.

He had a few giveaways. He just looks rough. And I think the right side defense, and Tyler Myers played last night. Like, wow, didn't expect that when he was injured. And it looked like he was going to miss. That looks like a three-monther right there based on how he left the game with absolutely no weight on his right side, I think. But he ended up playing.

But Julsen, this right side of the defense, it's not looking good. And I wonder, are you comfortable with De'Arne in the know, are you comfortable with Darren A in the lineup? Are you comfortable with Julison in the lineup? If the Canucks had a stronger second pair, you might be fine with it, but they really don't. And it's why we talked a lot about it, you know, at the beginning of the season,

are they going to spread these pairs out? Are they going to break up Hughes and Hronik? And ultimately, they decided not to, and Quinn Hughes wants to play with Philip Hronik. And when that pair is out on the ice, things are going pretty well. So you don't know if you do want to break up that pair. But I think this is something that management might have to look at. And I know a lot of people are saying,

oh, Rasmus Andersen out of Calgary. now, Calgary is like going to win the president's trophy. So I, you know, like, and that's not going to be cheap. You know, do you have to get a little more creative? There's no right side defense options down on the farm, really that scream an obvious call up. So that think overall like i'm not going to discuss this too much it's just something they may have to address they may have to go out and add something on the right side or they might may have to experiment with something like guys like playing on the right side they had they had two lefties last year that occasionally went over to the right side and zudorov and, but they don't have those guys anymore.

I don't know if Forbort can play the right side if they call up, I don't know, Wolanin or Eric Brandstrom and get some more puck-moving ability in the bottom four. But right now, if I was the other teams, I'd be like, when that Juleson-Forbort pair is on the ice or whoever's playing, target them, four-check the heck out of them, they might turn the puck over. So of all the moves that Tuckett's made early in, it's been, for three games in, it's been pretty active, I would say.

I haven't monitored the ins and outs of every lineup across the National Hockey League, but between the line changes and the ins and outs with the healthy scratches and guys coming in there's been a lot of changes the one and i and i kind of pointed to it being um a reflection of the lack of patience that he and maybe the team has about you can't we're not just going to sit here and let mistakes happen with that said i thought that it was maybe a bit premature to drop de harney out of the lineup after the first game even Even Daniel Sprung got a second bite at the apple. Yeah.

Despite having a rough opener. I just want, maybe, maybe they wanted him to watch some games. Maybe, but you know, it was a better way to learn is I personally, I think it's to play in them as opposed to watch them because here's the thing.

You know what Noah Juleson is for your team. I mean, I think they've pretty much established that. So he, and they liked some of it. Right. But that's, that's, that's why he's in there. Right for your team. I mean, I think they've pretty much established that. And they liked some of it. Right. But that's why he's in there, right? Yeah, but I mean, I don't know if you need to be throwing.

And it's also a bottom pair defenseman. I just thought it was an odd change because one thing is. Taka might have not liked what he's seen at him at all, right? Maybe. Also in that game. Preseason, training camp. Yeah, and also in that game. He's a project. Also in that game, the Calgary game, which is what he eventually got sat for.

I go back to saying like the goals that were allowed, all due respect to the leaky defensive coverage in front of Silas. Sometimes Silas was on the hook for a lot of that. I just wonder if they need to let some of these guys figure it out, play in the spots, work through the rotations. It doesn't seem like they're going to be afforded that luxury because it seems like Talkett is kind of putting pedal down to the ground and saying, hey, we got to get going. If our starts are good, our finishes have to be better.

If our finishes aren't okay and our starts aren't good, that needs to be better. I mean, think about the things okay and our starts aren't good, that needs to be better. I mean, think about the things that, you can do a checklist already of the things that he's name-checked afterwards. All right, let's get to the elephant in the room here. Elias Pettersson. I'll start with the positives. I thought he got better as the game went on last night.

Maybe started to find his legs like the rest of his teammates, but overall more of the same, give or take a few flashes. I don't know how much more I personally can say about him. I'll try. I have no idea what's going on there, but he's not the same assertive, confident player we've seen in the past. New line mates don't seem to have helped. Again, I thought he got better as the game went on last night.

It looked like he was finding some energy, but it wasn't a significant improvement. And it's hard because I know people want to talk about this, but I've been on this for a while now, ever since basically the all-star break last season. I don't know if a bunch of people are finally catching up and starting to worry, but I've been worried for a while now because I said last season that this is not like a typical slump in the NHL. This isn't, you know, a guy who's been snake bitten or the bounces just aren't going his way. And this isn't, by the way, also a matter of, it's been three games relaxed. For the team, you can say that for sure. I'm not

worried about the Canucks as a team. I'm not worried. I think they should have a win by now, maybe two. They played a very good Tampa Bay Lightning team last night. It's not a shock that they lost, right? They got a good opportunity to get their first win of the season on Thursday against a Florida team that is missing Barkov and Kachuk and lost some players in the offseason, even though they are the cup champs. But for Pedersen, his play has drastically fallen off. And it's anyone's guess whether he finds the magic again. He is not the same player he was halfway through last season. And you can go through the possible reasons.

Maybe it's the tendonitis. Maybe his body just isn't feeling right. His skating looks off. He's never been a beautiful, graceful skater, but it doesn't look like he's able to garner any speed out there, create much off the rush. He looks like he's totally lacking confidence with the puck.

I don't know if he's yippy out there with the puck. His finish isn't there right now. His finish isn't there right now. Hesitancy to shoot the puck. The shot, frankly, doesn't look the same. I don't know if it's an injury. I don't know if it's confidence. I don't know if he's unhappy in Vancouver.

I do like to point out that his play started to dip the moment the Canucks started talking pressure or putting pressure on him to sign with the Canucks. And he looked kind of miserable last season, even after he signed his contract. I don't know what's going on with this guy, but it's something that I think can turn around i hope can turn around but if it doesn't there is a big big problem here so the reason i brought up uh the the litany of moves that talk it is made lineup wise roster wise in out press box line shuffling defenseman in and out is because i want to keep hammering home the lack of patience and the sense of urgency.

And now I want to kind of apply it to Pedersen because this is going to go now as a coaching staff, one of two ways, either they accept the current state of affairs as is and accept what he's providing them as a player and just keep rolling it out. And they just hope that it's something will either change or they just come to grips with the fact that this is what he's going to give them or they're going to apply the pressure that comes along with a lack of patience or a sense of urgency do you get what i'm saying like you there's one of two ways it can go it can stay the status quo where everything around him changes and

you just kind of get back out there with debrusask and today your new uh other winger is sherwood let's see if that'll get you going or hey connor garland's up and it's not talked about and addressed or it is and that's to me the more interesting of the two is if it be it either talk it or alvin or someone and i'm not talking about coming out and blasting in the media or coming out and explaining it to the talking heads with cameras and microphones. I'm talking about decrease in ice time, talking about a drop in the rotation in terms of what kind of minutes

and what kind of situations that you get, who you're playing with, all of those things that go along with are you a productive player or are you not a productive player? And I think more importantly, are you living up to the standard that we as an organization set for you as a player or are you not? And that's where I think patience and most importantly, like urgency. Like it needs to happen ASAP because we've got a season

that we want to get on track here. We want to get a win. That's a very important thing. And we want to start doing the things that made us a 109.50 win team last year. So that to me is a really interesting thing moving forward. David Emmer is going to join us next.

We'll talk a little bit more about the Canucks and we'll go around the NHL. The Flames are undefeated. The Oilers got off the schneid last night, but it was dicey for a bit. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go to break, I need to tell you a little bit more about the BC Lions. The roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th season. Get your tickets now at bclions.com.

It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the postgame show. Listen 4 to 6 p.32. 6.32 on a Wednesday. I didn't see that coming. He zagged when I thought he would zig. You're so professional hitting the post again. You are listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

The beacon of professionalism. Halford & Brb of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff. They can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts.

David Amber's going to join us in just a moment here. Kick off hour one. Hour one is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar 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. You're staring at me. It's creeping me out. What's up? I just like the way you look. I was trying not to make eye contact.

I'm like, I can feel him staring at me. If I don't look him in the eyes, maybe he'll go away. I like the way you look. It didn't go him in the eyes maybe it'll go away you look it didn't go spoiler it did not go away are you you're reading the in basket aren't you no no no i'm just you're reading the in basket yeah you're reading the in basket i love you there it is there it is finally said it finally um i think you guys just need to embrace the chaos we are just embrace it so if you have no idea what we're talking about

right now one I don't blame you it's very difficult to navigate two there's a lot going on in the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket right now a lot right I want to ask it's a busy morning I want to ask David Amber a question okay let's go to the phone line if the highlight of the Canucks season

was when they went up 4-1 versus the Canucks. No, no, no, I get a question. David Amber joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, David. How are you? I'm concerned. What have I stumbled into this morning?

You guys are pretty giddy. It's 6.30 in the morning. I want to ask you, okay, we are in Vancouver. The Canucks are in Florida. Can you feel the heat on Eliias petterson in toronto well i know my colleague justin bourne was bringing a little bit of heat on uh on petterson last night in the intermission yeah listen and there's there's a bit of there's a heat on a bunch of stars right now and i'd say petterson is certainly front and center there's there's a bit of there's a heat on a bunch of stars right now and i'd say peterson is certainly front and center there's big expectations there and you know we saw a similar situation happen here in toronto when nylander mid-season signed his big contract and the

production fell off almost immediately and that seems to be what happened peterson peterson was one of the best players in the league until last January and then the production tailed off a bit and then we saw what happened in the playoffs where it was really mysterious how ineffective he was and it didn't really make sense and Justin was saying

man, I really thought he was going to be shot out of a cannon this year and I said the same thing. I really was like oh, he'll have a bounce back, he'll be the guy from the first five months last year so I think in hockey circles Pedersen he's not alone listen there's a lot of there's a lot of not question marks but there's a lot of sort of where's the production I mean Conor McDavid hasn't been producing and I know they had that great win last night Austin Matthews you know granted I'm not really concerned about him he's had a few posts and he's put up a lot of scoring chances, which is more than

Pettersson, but there's been a lot of superstars who've yet to produce. It's very early. I mean, you've got to... It's not early for Pettersson, though. I understand what you're saying, but this goes back to the All-Star break last season. That's what I'm saying. I can't put a finger on it, and yeah,

if I'm Rick Tockett, I'm Patrick Alveen, I'm that leadership group, Quinn Hughes, whomever, I think you are wondering where is the guy? Where's the dynamic guy? And you know what else, guys? I wonder if there's a bit of a dark cloud. Remember, well, he's going to

get traded to Carolina. Either it takes us off or we're dealing. And I wonder if emotionally that set him back. Me too. Me too. That's my number one thought. I wonder if he's happy here. Yeah, I just wonder if he sort of said, well, man, it really hit him in the face that

this is a business and there's not the loyalty and da-da-da-da. Maybe he's an emotional guy and that just struck him. We're guessing here, but it's inexplicable that a guy with that much talent. When Justin last night sort of put a string of his first period plays together and that

streaking down the right hand boards and that weak backhand that looked like you know it just didn't look like a star player it was a bit alarming I do want to turn our attention to Edmonton if only briefly.

We can get back to the Vancouver conversation a bit. But I watched that game last night, and you know, I'm thinking now, what everybody might need as a spark is a little Troy Stetcher in their life. Because when we look back on his season, and we talk about that awful start that Edmonton had, it was Troy Stetcher sticking up for his goalie, which I hate drawing a line between a fight and a win, but there was definitely a change in that Edmonton team

after Stetcher did what he did, and then Edmonton went out and had that big comeback victory, 4-3 over the Flyers in overtime. You know what? And you talk to guys who play the game at the highest level. You talk to the Kevin BXs, and those moments mean something. It's funny, like we're sitting here wondering if that moment of almost rejection

by the Canucks to Pedersen set him back. Moments of Troy Stetcher sticking up for a teammate does galvanize teams. We see that, and I agree with you. You can't turn, the game doesn't always necessarily turn on that sort of type of play, but often it does. It wakes guys up.

It makes guys more accountable. Watching other players, Troy Fetcher might be the smallest guy on the Oilers, right? Like, think about it. And there he is defending his players. So it makes guys, watching other guys being uncomfortable, it makes them say, okay, well, I got to be uncomfortable. I got to be ready. I got to be ready. I got to stand up.

So there are those moments. I wouldn't diminish that. And when you talk to guys who play the game at the highest level, they'll tell you that those moments mean something. So, yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head there. Your thoughts on Alberta's other team, the better of the two teams, at least in terms of the standings right now, the perfect 4-0-0 Calgary Flames.

They remain undefeated with a win over Chicago last night. Dustin Wolfe playing well in net. They're playing hard as a team. We kind of joked that maybe we need to look back on Vancouver's first game of the season as a moral victory because they were able to take a point off this juggernaut Flames team. I got to admit, I did not see this coming. I can't imagine you did either. No, I didn't.

And it's a great story. Listen, let's see how long it lasts. But right now, you've got to give Ryan Huska a lot of credit. He has this great mix of veterans and young players. And the young players, I think, have injected some energy, whether it's Kirkland or whether it's obviously Coronado last night. And there he's been very good. He's been, Sam Cosentino says he expects him to be the breakout player

in the NHL this year. I mean, that's pretty big praise there. And Dustin Wolf, like, this was the question. Okay, well, they traded Markstrom. What's going to happen now? And between Wolf and Vladar, their goal team has been more than serviceable, and they've played just a good, fast brand of hockey. I don't want to compare them to vancouver last year but there wasn't the hugest expectations for vancouver and we saw the

incredible start that canucks got out to and it kind of propelled them into having a really great season it's way too premature to expect that at calgary and and quite frankly calgary the expectations were much lower for them than they were for Vancouver last year. But it's been a really nice start, and I think they deserve nothing but praise. And the player that's really, at this stage, resurrected things is Huberto. And listen, we've rightfully criticized this guy incredibly over the last two years when he's been basically a no-show. And here he is. He's found some chemistry on his line. He's looking like a guy who's playing with some purpose

and a guy who wants to assert himself as one of the star players in the league. Maybe he's trying to work his way somehow miraculously back onto the Four Nations face-off roster discussion, because I think he's completely fallen off. Three years ago, he would have been on there for sure. So maybe who knows what's driving him, but he's looking a lot like the Jonathan Huberto that they traded for from Florida three years ago.

I'm kind of cheering for him. I'll be honest with you. I don't think I've ever cheered for a Calgary Flame in my life, but it would be a good story. I don't want the Flames to make the playoffs or anything, but if Jonathan Huberto can turn it around anymore. You hate to think that a player of his quality would just be trapped in a situation like he seemed to be.

I know being trapped by that millions of dollars is a little different than most of our trapped, but do you think he can keep it going? I don't know. I mean, it's funny you use the our trapped, but it's, do you think he can keep it going? I don't know. I mean, it's funny you use the word trapped and one thing, you know, if I was an agent or a family member of someone figuring out a contract, I always would say, you know, be careful. Like you can't chase happiness.

If you're happy in a situation, don't try and chase dollar signs. Right. And, and, and the cautionary tale of that was James Neal, who Vegas offered him a four-year deal. It was, you know, that great story, the Misfits. They'd just gone to the Stanley Cup final, and Calgary offered him a fifth year, and he went to Calgary, and his career never was the same.

And that's not such a knock on Calgary, but he just, I think he had such a good thing happening in Vegas. And, you know, he sort of was chasing that extra year under advisement probably from, you know, his agent or whomever, and, you know, he sort of was chasing that extra year under advisement probably from, you know, his agent or whomever. And, and it just didn't work. And he ended up bouncing around and then that was it. And Hubert, I was a different circumstance. He was traded,

but maybe it just took him a little while to acclimate. I, I'd like to think, you know, he walked out of a situation playing with guys like Barkov and he just had incredible chemistry and he walked think, you know, he walked out of a situation playing with guys like Barkov and he just had incredible chemistry. And he walked in, you know, to a market with low expectations in Florida, to a market with high expectations and a spotlight in Calgary. And it just might have just been a massive acclimation process for him and longer than anyone could have imagined.

And maybe now he's found some chemistry, he's found some comfort, and away he goes. So I'd love to think this is a story that will sustain. But, again, every time we start thinking big picture, I'm like, well, we're nine days into the season. And I know Canucks fans don't want to hear that. But at the end of the day, the Canucks are three games into the season. The Oilers are four games into the season.

There's a lot of hockey left to be played. But I'd love that story to work out for Jonathan Huberto. By all accounts, he's a really good guy. Teammates speak really glowingly about him, guys. When you talk to his teammates, whether it was in Florida or in Calgary, they love the guy. So it's not like he's one of those guys out doing his own thing. He's right there.

He's with everyone shoulder to shoulder, and I'd love to see him have success this year. Do you think the NHL would be a better league if they had a max limit on contract length of five years, like in the NBA? I mean, it'd be interesting if they... What I'd like to see them have? No, I don't. Only because I think there's nothing worse than when fans invest in a player and then the player leaves. I mean, look at the NBA. And, you know, aside from the Steph Currys, who are the anomalies, you know, even the star, star, best, best players play on three, four, five teams. I don't like that. I like where there's loyalty. I like when we have, you know, Sidney Crosby and he's so identifiable as a Pittsburgh Penguin for life, Alexander Ovechkin and so many of the top players in the

league. I like that part of it. What I would like is some sort of franchise tag where you can somehow, it's not such a hard cap. And I know this is, you know, I'm speaking Alan Walsh's, the agent's language right now, but it'd be great if you could designate a player or two outside the cap and we have a bit more flexibility and teams could go after other players and try and, you know, I like the fact there's parity in the league. I think that's nice. But I also hate the fact that as soon as a team gets pretty good, they have to completely dismantle the team because that's the nature

of how it works, whether it's Tampa now and Florida. You know, even though they're holding on right now, you know, they're going to feel that attrition coming down the pipe. We saw it in Colorado as well. I do wish there was a bit of more cap flexibility because most teams now are owned by multi-billionaires and the cap's not as big an issue as, you know, when the NHL was owned by a bunch of guys just barely hanging on to their franchises. I think there's a lot of stability in the ownership group, and I think there'd be an opportunity now for teams, and most teams, I think, would have a player or two designated franchise player outside the cap, and it would just make for a better

situation. And it would allow the Connor McDavids and the Austin Matthews, et cetera, to make their $20, $ 25 million a year. And I have no problem with that, quite frankly. You know, it seems a shame that there's, what, 100 NBA players making more than Connor McDavid. I say, wow, I get the revenue stream's different, but it's a little insane if the seventh man on Sacramento can make more money than Connor McDavid.

We're speaking to David Amber, Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. David, before we let you go, I did want to discuss last night in Columbus, an incredibly emotional scene when on the opening face-off, the Columbus Blue Jackets only iced four players, leaving the left-wing position open. And then they and the Florida Panthers let the first 13 seconds run off the clock to acknowledge and to pay respects to Johnny Gaudreau.

I'm sure you saw it. Everyone saw it. It was an incredibly, like I said, emotional moment. And for me, what it really sort of hit home and crystallized is how difficult this is going to be for those guys on the team. Now, I say this knowing that, first and foremost, the Goudreau family, no one is going through what they're going through and is hurting more and has been, you know, ripped apart more.

I understand that the family dynamic is first and foremost and the most important. That being said, you know, the players, you could just see it in their faces last night, that this was something that in terms of processing grief and loss and tragedy, it's still very much going on, and it's an incredibly difficult thing. I'm proud of everyone that contributed to last night, that moment that they had, but I also know that it's going to be a very long and very difficult road for a lot of people.

Yeah, and you know what? This organization and this fan base has gone through this now in different ways. Three times there was many years ago, that young girl in the stands was hit with a puck and that's why we have the screens now that was in Columbus. And you know, it was a fatal shot that was deflected and killed a young girl. A few years ago, there was the goalie with the fireworks incident, on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

A young man lost his life in a freak accident. And now the Goudreau brothers. I mean, we're talking about three sudden, unexpected tragedies to befall the same franchise. For many of the players, they remember the goalie from three years ago, you know, who passed away suddenly. Like it's, it's been, it's been really tough. I will echo what you said though. It was such a beautiful emotional tribute to the family. It pains me every time I see the Goudreau family,

Guy Goudreau just looks so devastated and so broken as a parent myself, I can't even imagine what he's going through. And, you know, the fact that there's going to be tears. And last night there was also some cheers when the banner went up for, you know, number 13. It really was beautiful. Our Kyle Bukowskis was there. We had him in our pregame show last night.

And he was talking just about the emotion in the building and and just the fans wanted to pay their respects in such a in such an emotional and you know beautiful way i think it's been really nice but i agree 100 i think for these players and many of them are young men in their 20s you know for sean monaghan think about what he's going through you know johnny goudreau talks to him come to come to Columbus, we'll play together, we're best friends. And he gets there and Johnny's gone. You know, like, how do you even reconcile that? You know, I couldn't even try to put myself in his shoes.

And the other teammates there in Columbus, and obviously all of the teammates he had in Calgary as well, are still quite struck by this. It's one thing about the hockey community, guys, and we all, you know, we crap on each other sometimes, the different fan bases, everything. But at the end of the day, there really is a closeness in the hockey community and a caring and a passion and a compassion that's really beautiful to see.

And we witnessed that last night in Columbus. Oh, it's always hard to move on from a topic that heavy to something else but I will note that there's action tonight. The league continues to roll on and you guys obviously you've got the Leafs and Kings tonight. Slate of four games on the ledger with you've got the

Sabres and Penguins. I hate to say it but the Leafs look pretty good under Berube. I hate to say it. David, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight.

Enjoy the rest of the week. We'll do this again next Wednesday. Yeah, guys, be well and let's hope when we talk next week the Canucks have a couple of W's under their belt.

Fingers crossed. Thanks, David. Thanks, David. Appreciate it. David Ambers, Sportsnet Hockey Night in Canada NHL host here on the

Halford & Ruff Show on Sportsnet 650. So we've got a few minutes left in this segment, but we're going to talk to Frank Saravalli coming up next. And after we talk to Frank, we can go into the Dunbar-Lumber text line and read some of your texts. And there are a lot of texts coming in. 650, 650. The Bridge Street, Dunbar Lumber and Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's

Industrial Park. More room, more product, more awesome. Details at DunbarLumber.com. Rocket in Langley texted in and he said, Huberto hired a trainer and worked real hard this offseason and I think that's the biggest thing for him is that he got himself in

great shape. Yeah, I was reading an article about Jonathan Huberdeau and this quote stood out for me. He said, if you get yourself feeling good physically, I think it helps you mentally. And, you know, Petey did just mention or not just, but he mentioned when training camp started that the tendonitis was still an issue in the offseason. And he had to, I think he used the words, work around it in his offseason training. And I wonder if he's still not feeling 100% physically and if that is affecting him mentally. I realize we're throwing out all sorts of theories here. Is it physical? Is it mental? Does it have something to do with the contract negotiations last season with the Canucks? We might be grasping at straws, but I think the whole thing with this is that this is not a typical slump.

Would you agree? That this is not a typical, well, the guy's just going through a little bit of a tough moment. Maybe he's a little bit snake bit and the puck's not going in for him right now. This, to me at least, feel free to disagree if you want, feels bigger than that. The only thing I'm going to push back on is that I, and it's perplexing, as to why the decision makers, both behind the bench and in the front office, have not responded in kind. If this is as... What do you mean by that there's been i there's

been nothing i saw the one thing that they did when i talked about this a thousand times over the summer the one thing that this team went out and did was they got someone to ride shotgun with pd and that was debrask right that was like we're gonna get you a winger you're gonna play with them you're not gonna have this rotating cast anymore now you'll say well if that's the case you got to give him more than three games to try and find his footing or find some chemistry and I'll say well last night like you know if you want to be dead honest like DeBrusque set him up twice in pretty good positions and the puck didn't go in and then you'll go back to well he was in the position to score so that's a good thing and the chances are coming and eventually they'll land and i'm saying okay if all of these like addendums

and you know counter arguments are legitimate then everyone's just hoping that this funk will end yeah while acknowledging that there's a funk going on but that doesn't seem to be the case because to me and again this is just my personal opinion based on what I've seen in the past, that if a player is struggling to the degree that many think that he is, there are more fundamental changes on a night-to-night basis.

Like, you're moving down the lineup or you're, I mean, you're not playing stretches of the game. You're sitting in, let's say, a hypothetical game where we're chasing a lead and we've shortened our bench down to two lines you're not part of those two lines remember when talk at bench jt miller for a couple shifts after he freaked out right that was a tangible result of something that happened on the ice that the coach didn't like and the coach said there's

going to be repercussions for that that dynamic isn't there well i mean i thought it was interesting when when rick talk had said we have a plan with petterson and it came after a practice where pd went on the ice early and stayed late maybe that's part of it maybe they maybe they think he's just got to put more work in maybe but it's it in. Maybe. But the more complex and more interesting thing for me is how Tuckett is handling this and what the moves are going to be or if there are going to be any. Because the other option is you just keep rolling them out,

tap them on the shoulder, you're up. That's an approach, but it's not going the shoulder. It's you're up. Like, you know, that's an approach, but it's not going to, I'll tell you one thing. It's not going to silence the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket at 650, 650, because we are 54 minutes into the show and we're averaging about a text every, I don't know, 20 to 30 seconds. Yeah.

About this. About Pedersen. Yeah. Yeah. And it's not for, majority of them are not, you guys are piling on or you guys are trying to light a fire that's not for majority of them are not you guys are piling on or you guys are trying to light a fire that's not there you guys are doing this for clicks even though again we get no clicks on this show um it's it's a dynamic that's there and it's unavoidable and you can't just ignore it as much as we don't want to talk about it

sometimes you do have to talk about it we got another hour of the show coming up though frank sarah valley is going to join us next. He's our 7 o'clock guest. 8 o'clock, Randeep Jandu. We can ask Randeep about this because he's watched the first three games as close as anybody. Maybe he's got the answers. Maybe he's got the solutions. And he watched all the games last year as well.

He was calling them for us, Sportsnet. So Frank at 7, Randeep at 8. And keep getting your What We Learns in. We'll do those at 8.30. Hour one in the books. Two more hours to come. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet at 6.50.