Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Clinched! (Last Place)

Episode Date: April 3, 2026

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss a Canucks road loss to Quinn Hughes' Minnesota Wild that saw Vancouver clinch last place in the NHL (3:00), plus the boys chat a big win and all the latest news around the Ottawa Senators with Coming In Hot Sens podcast host Brent Wallace (27:21). 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. Former Kanox Captain Quinn Hughes gets the last laugh. His Minnesota Wilde defeat the Vancouver Knox by a final score of 5 to 2. That was a good effort there. We had a great effort, especially back-to-back, against two good teams like that. Big heavy team in here. The guys competed until the end. You tried your best, and you failed miserably.

The lesson is, never tried. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning, Vancouver, 7 o'clock on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody, sweet, sweet Friday. It is Halford and his broth. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios in beautiful Mount Pleasant in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning. Ad, good morning to you. Good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Bradford for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. If you have payday loan debt, if you do,

Sands and Associates could cut that debt by up 80%. with no upfront fees. Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We all already an hour two of the program. How did that happen? This hour of the program is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason. com. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around. To find the perfect mortgage for you, visit them online at jason. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio. Step Strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech.

It's Ask Us Anything Friday. So get your Ask Us Anything's into the Dunbar Lumber Text Line at 650, 650, trusted by contractors and DIY champions across Metro Vancouver. For generations, find them at three convenient locations or visit Dunbar Lumber Online today. So it is a holiday. We're only doing a two-hour show here, which is why we're starting at 7 a.m. We've got a lot to get into on the program. A reminder, if you're listening to us on this holiday, as Jason mentioned, Dunbar Lumber, text line, 650, 650, show us a note.

Just say, hey, what's up? How you guys doing? Howard, thanks. I'm listening. I'm here. We do have a lot to get into. It's a very busy day in the National Hockey League yesterday with 14 games. Our guest lists this morning, our Duick Morning Drive, brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. Just two guests today. Brent Wallace is going to join us at 7.30 this morning.

He's coming up next. Co-host of the coming in hot Ottawa Senators podcast. Yet another eventful day in Ottawa yesterday. It began with a lot of attention paid to the remarks made on the Kachuk podcast. And then it ended with the Sends getting a big win over Buffalo. and moving back into a playoff spot as a result. Brent Wallace is going to join us at 7.30 to break it all down from Ottawa. At 8 o'clock, Rick Dollywell is going to join the program.

Intrepid Canucks reporter, Donnie and Dolly on Czech TV. We're going to talk about Quinn Hughes. We're going to talk about Patrick Alveen. I'm going to ask, should the Canucks get a tough guy on July 1? Can't wait to hear what Rick has to say about that. We'll get in some other things as well with Rick at 8 a.m. Also at 8 a.m. We're doing a giveaway today.

Vancouver FC kicks off its CPL campaign tomorrow. We're giving away a four pack of tickets to the opener. It is Saturday, April 4th, 4 p.m. from Willoughby and Langley. Caller number 5 at 8 a.m. this morning, 604, 280650. We'll get the tickets. Also, because it's Friday, we're still doing ask us anything Friday. So as Jason said, get your AUAs in. Hashtag him, AUA.

Put a pizza emoji into your text. We'll read them throughout the show. and the winner, we'll get a $100 gift card to AJ's pizza on East Broadway. Okay, we got a lot to get into on the program. Without further ado, Laddy, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No.

What happened? I missed all the action because I'm losing. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened is always brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Okay, we got a lot to get into yesterday.

We are going to begin with the Vancouver Canucks who have officially clinched. dead last and 32nd place in the NHL. Hey, they did it with seven games to go. That's quite an accomplishment, guys. It came after a 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wilde and former Captain Quinn Hughes at the

Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Will there be a banner? There will not be a banner. I don't think they're going to do a banner. There will be no banner. They win the pick, maybe. Ooh. Yeah, it was, I would say it was another good effort from the Canucks who came

came up against a better team than them and the better team won the game. But if you think about this road trip that they went on, they went into Vegas and they had a pretty solid first period. And Vegas looked nervous, not because they were playing the Canucks, probably because they were playing their first game with John Torteronez, their head coach. But Vegas took over that game in the second period, but the Canucks, you know, they hung around. Then they went out to Colorado and they beat the abs in a wild game, eight, six wins. for the Canucks. The very next night, they got to go to Minnesota

and play a wild team that was rested, had a bunch of practices in, and again, like they're trying to dial in for a very important playoffs. I'm talking about the Wild, not the Canucks,

and the Canucks hung in there. I thought they played fine. There were some mistakes. Like there were some outside of P.O. Joseph, who is a veteran player, who made a big mistake early in the game, there were mistakes by the young defenseman on the Canucks.

Zeve Bouillon had a puck hop over a stick at the blue line, gave a breakaway to Matt Boldie. 40 goals on the air for Matt Boldie. Yeah, man, he's a good player. DPD had a pass to nobody that didn't help and caused a goal against. And then Tom Velander in what was expertly broken down by Ray Ferraro

on the broadcast, he just couldn't make life uncomfortable enough for a pretty big dude. and Ryan Hartman, who tipped a point shot home. And that has been an issue, I think, for a lot of the young Kinnuck defensemen is like, what do you do you do when you got a guy in front of you in front of the net? Do you try your best as Vlander did to just move them out of there? Well, that's easier said than done when it's Ryan Hartman.

Do you try and tie up a stick? You know, that's also easier said than done, sometimes without taking a penalty. So these are just learning experiences for the young defensemen, puck management, boxing out. Hopefully, as we've said, a number of times that these are experiences that are going to pay off down the line. These guys on certain teams would not be in the NHL. They'd be in the AHL. I think, you know, even Boo-Yom, even Booyam could possibly on a really, deep team spend some time in the

HL. Not full time, but maybe they're like, they're going to send you down for a few games. If you're on a really good team and you've got a deep defense, but definitely DPD and VLander, but they're hanging in there and they're battling. And I do want to say one thing after this road trip has been completed. What's that, Jason? I am starting to enjoy watching the team play. I know that I have been very hard on this team

and I don't feel badly about that. I think it's been an abject disaster for the last couple of years and there have been numerous mistakes made but this younger group of players has played with the type of enthusiasm that I've been looking for. It's full of mistakes but there is that enthusiasm. Don't forget, I started watching the Kinecks when I was a kid

in the 80s and they were horrible, but I still had my favorite players on those teams and those teams they were, again, dreadful, but they had their gamers. And then they eventually, after a few years,

they had some good draft picks. They picked up a guy like Pavel Burra and Trevor Linden and they turned into a pretty good team that nearly won the Stanley Cup. I don't, even know if guys like VLander and DPD or, again, as Drance puts it, part of the next great Canucks team. But I don't, it doesn't matter in this context because we're still going to have to watch these games. And all I want to watch is a group of players that's going out there and playing with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the right word. And wanting to win and

some pride in the jersey and understanding that the fans are invested in in them and they should be invested in their own careers. And the young guys, what I've really liked is they seem to have, whether they were told or it was just obvious to them, they had a choice. Am I going to join the rest of the veterans in Team Pout? Or am I just going to say, hey, I'm in the NHL. I've got an opportunity here. This is a pretty cool job, even though, you know, we're not on a very good team. Let's go out there, try to get better, embrace the process. Remember that we're in the NHL, living our dreams. Let's play with some enthusiasm. I feel so full of, what's the opposite of shame? Pride? No, not that far from shame. Less shame? Yeah. Yeah. Less shame. Less shame.

It's nice. It's nice to watch your hockey team and feel less shame. And honestly, another one would be less rage. Yeah. I don't, I'm not. You're not choking on your rage as much as you used to? I'm not. I'm not choking on my rage as much.

Like, I barely have, I don't think I choked once on my rage last night. You know, I have, I have not cared for this team. Yeah. I have. You made that abundantly clear throughout the year. I've, as I. I still love this team, but I have not liked this team for frankly the last couple of years or a few years before then that I didn't like it.

I'm glad that I only kind of liked the team. I only kind of liked the team when they had that good year. Because I think, you know, we were still like, oh, is this, this still feels off. And it was interesting that Quinn Hughes had an interview with Drance for the athletic. Yeah. And he kind of said like, and even when we were winning games that year, it still felt fractured. I think that came across. I think that came across to the fan base.

Like, we're like, yeah, this team's good. And we're having fun. We're having fun. I think we're having fun. They might not all be in it together, though. They're not because you had contract uncertainty. You had, you know, it just, it just, you can feel it. You can feel it as a fan.

And it was almost like, when is this going to fall apart? and the types of personalities that were involved, there was some volatility there and it just felt like it was going to fall apart and maybe not to the extent that it did because it fell apart so spectacularly. But anyway, back to the positives. I am liking what some of these young players are giving.

I don't know if these young players have it in them to be part of big parts, big parts of a really good team. know if they can improve that much. But right now, like, I'll take, I'll take this. I am enjoying watching the games again. I think it's way too early to tell. I mean, we're still in the infancy of the rebuild.

And the, I mean, the rebuild part isn't even really underway yet. So I get what you're saying. Like, you're, you're optimistic and you're happy about what you've seen recently. And if you don't know the future, I think that's okay. I think it's okay not to know exactly what these guys are going to be right now and just kind of live in the moment and enjoy it. And try and find the positives where you're going to be. can. For example, Tom Velander got his 20th point of the season last year. That's no small

feat for a guy that is now. If you look at it, fifth in the NHL among rookie demand scores and he's the first Canock defenseman as a rookie to hit 20 points since Quinn Hughes did it all the way back in 2019, 2020. So there are some very small but important building blocks along the way here and personal marks for guys that are important. Speaking of Quinn Hughes, just another night for him last night plus four set a Minnesota Wilde defenseman record with his 46th assist of the season. He spoke with Murph after the game

talking about how it was a little weird, maybe not as weird as it'll inevitably be when he has to face the Canucks in Vancouver. Here's Quinn Hughes and his walkoff interview with Murph yesterday after a win over Vancouver Canucks. Wild win 5'2 and Quinn, after a few days off your team, it looked like you guys were ready to start on time,

not just second and third. Yeah, I mean I think two lucky bounces are on the first. I'm credit to them, they played hard. Like you said, we had four or five days off that we needed, and hopefully that'll propel us into the playoffs. You said it wasn't going to feel real until the puck dropped, so what was it like for you out there against the former teammates? Yeah, I mean, definitely a little weird, but I think that, you know, you move on and I'm happy to be here right now, and, you know, probably being in Vancouver would be a little bit weirder than this,

but yeah, like I said, it was nice. We got the win, and we got a big weekend coming up. Maybe a little bit easier with no Myers or even Demko or Garland out there? For sure, for sure. I mean, it's a lot of, I mean, a lot of those guys over there only played with for a couple months. So obviously still some close friends over there, but definitely a lot of change. The numbers would say you've assimilated well,

50 points now in 43 games. Are you more comfortable now than you were in mid-December? Yeah, of course. I mean, the more time you have with the guys, you're going to be more comfortable. And I think, you know, that process isn't done. I think it'll continue to grow. I'm just trying to hit my strive for playoffs,

and I think the whole team's trying to do that too. That's the last question. You guys kind of treaded water in March. Do you feel like the next couple of weeks now is to try to hit the ground running for wherever you guys are playing against Dallas? It's really important because, you know, you don't go win. If you go on limping, it's hard to turn it on. But it's also hard when you have eight and nine guys at the Olympics, too.

I mean, it's a lot of travel, a lot going on, you know, the emotional highs and whatnot. So, I mean, try to have some grace to their group, but also now that we have eight games, off, seven games off. It's really important to make sure that we're playing our best. Best luck down the stretch in the playoffs. Thank you. You appreciate it. So, you want to weigh in on Quinn Hughes at all here? No. It's been a pretty crowded space. I don't. I don't either. I'm over with it. I'm over it.

It'll be interesting when he comes to Vancouver next season, but I didn't think Quinn Hughes was a factor much in the game. He played well. I think he was plus four on the night. He was. And he had to say he was good. That's a good team. They've got a good team. I'll be curious to see what they've done, what they do in the postseason can it's going to be a tough road if they want to get, geez, just out of the first round. Okay, then we should definitely move on to what happened in the National Hockey League last night. Okay, who were the big winners last night? Ottawa was a big winner and San Jose was a big winner.

Are those the two biggest winners? They were a big winner, too. They won their fifth in a row and they are now tied to top the Pacific Division. Now, they're not there because they have more games played, so their points percentage is lower, but they're tied on 87, I believe it's 87 points with the Anaheim Dex. We got to start with Ottawa, though. Yeah, we have to play this audio. So we played the initial audio yesterday of Keith Kachuk, getting a very difficult get for the show,

I imagine, on his kids podcast, Brady and Matthew Kachuk, on the Wingman podcast, I'll paraphrase as quickly as I can. Keith Kachuk started going on about the modern NHL players not playing hurt. And, you know, whenever they have an injury, they don't play through it. And they're taking nights off in the second of a back-to-back. And he said it was disgusting. Now, when we played the audio on the show yesterday, we were trying to figure out exactly who he was talking about.

And us, like a lot of different outlets, thought that Keith Kichuk was talking about Brady's team, the Ottawa Senators, because he talked about players not playing in a back-to-back because they're tired and then it spun off into a conversation. We mentioned he was also talking about the Panthers. Right. Yeah, we mentioned that maybe it was Evan Rodriguez's finger injury.

Sure. I think a lot of people, though, thought that he was talking about the Ottawa Senators, because what was going on with Linus Olmark. Sure. Right. Well, it's when he brought the goalie. Correct.

That was, right. I think it was less the senators than Allmark by himself. Exactly. So Brady Kachuk, after a very important win yesterday, which we will get to in a second year. We'll talk about this with Brent Wallace at 730. Brady Kachuk was asked about the comments made on the podcast. And he answered it thoroughly.

I believe there was three questions asked. I'm just going to run the entirety of the media availability because this was a big deal, both in Ottawa and really everywhere yesterday. Daily Faceoff, TSN, the hockey news, they all wrote and covered this, stemming from the Kachukh podcast. Here's what Brady Kachuk had to say about what his dad said on their podcast prior to that win over Buffalo, here's Brady Kachuk. Yeah, I mean, being a part of it and rewatching it,

I mean, I think it was pretty clear he was talking about Florida. But, yeah, I just, I don't know how that got turned. and misconstrued, but know what happens, but I mean, I know in there I thought it was clear as day. He was talking about Florida, but all that other stuff and just people taking it and twisting it, just nothing I can do about it. So you don't think your dad made a shot at Linus at all? I don't think, and I talked to him after. There was not one shot, so yeah, I don't know how that got twisted and have to talk about it now,

but I thought it was clear as day. He's talking about the floor of pants. Or any of the clips about ice time? I know you've answered twice now. So I mean, it's nothing I can say that what people twist and say, I know what I was a part of it. And all those things didn't come out of my mouth. And I mean, I completely respect my dad.

He's going to be a Hall of Famer. So I mean, I'm not going to put words in his mouth or explain what he said. He's just, you know, if you know him, he's an outgoing guy. says kind of what he thinks and I know it comes from a good place. Why did you look so uncomfortable then, Brady? Look, that would have been

an interesting question. Yeah, well, okay, there's so many different sort of ramifications from this now. People are always just misinterpreting. He's like, I have a grumbling, uncomfortable face. I don't like to talk about it. I think what we have to do those, you have to take him at his word. Sure, sure, sure, right?

I mean, that's the only way you can go. You can't be like, well, he's lying. then you're no better than anyone else is just hurling accusations and unfounded claims of people. If he says it, he says it. What are you going to do, right? But there's still a very uncomfortable dynamic

going on in Ottawa right now. Exactly. Regardless, it is uncomfortable for Brady Kachuk because he's probably feeling like he's been under the gun. I know I've been reading the comments underneath some of his interviews with the Ottawa media. And the fans are like,

you're going to run him out of town. Yep. You're running about a town. Is that why you guys want? Would you say it's a fracture? And would you say that fracture is anything like the Canucks fracture back in the day? I don't know. We don't need to compare it to the Canucks.

But I think there's something going on there. I mean, you know, so I'm like played well yesterday. I know Travis Green went to bat for him before. And he said, you know, he's our guy.

But for how long? Yeah, he is their guy. Yep. Right now. But is he going to be their guy next season? or did they bring in he's also our guy

like our guy B 1A you know like because Allmark It's been a trying year for him It's been really hard Yeah It's been really hard

And then You know I felt I felt good for him That he was able to go out And have a good performance The Sends are The thing is The Sends are a good team

Like they should be in the playoffs And they are right now By the skin of their teeth Yeah But they might not be like tomorrow Right on the cusp And there might not be a team whose future is dictated more by making or missing than Ottawa. I'd say they're in a conversation at a very exclusive club with like Detroit right now

where there's so much riding on getting into this postseason or not. Because here's the thing. I know Andy alluded to Quinn Hughes here. You saw Quinn Hughes flee for an American market. You saw Matthew Kachuk, flee for an American market. And it's only logical to apply that narrative to Brady Kach. Now, I know he's signed. long term in Ottawa.

Other guys have asked out, I understand, here's the thing, I understand when fans are piling on in the comment section about like, they're going to drive them out of town. I understand where that comes from. Totally. Because it is non-stop drama in Ottawa.

Some of the Brady Kachak's fault, some of it not. It's a very, very... The sons are still a soap opera, right? Very dysfunctional still. I thought when, when their owner passed away, Eugene Mellick.

That might, things might kind of, calm down a little bit with Handlauer in there. Yeah. But it hasn't. It hasn't really. Like,

there's still a lot of drama around that team. Yeah. And I don't know what it is. I don't know if there's something in the water. I don't know if it's bad vibes at the building. But you're right. It's not like a change in ownership

just automatically solves everything. And to be the captain in the Canadian market, everyone will say the same thing. I'm not reinventing the wheel here. This is no breaking analysis. It's at times a difficult thing to do. You have to answer a lot of questions. You have to talk frequently.

There's a lot more pressures and a lot more responsibilities involved. Quite frankly, some of the smaller American market. There just is. I won't deny that. And I think what we're seeing in this player empowerment era is guys pushing back against that. Now, what I'm not sure of is if the dynamic will ever change because these markets are frenzied and they're passionate. and there's a lot of people very invested in the teams. I don't know if that goes away.

You know what I mean? Here's the thing. I did not find the questions that Brady Kachuk was asked after the game yesterday unfair. No. It's what all the fans were talking about. And he didn't do pre-game media availability. So they couldn't ask them before the game. So the only opportunity they had to ask him was after the game.

They're like, how are you sullying a big win by the senators by asking about this nonsense? It's so disingenuous. It is. But these are the dynamics that are at play. when a lot of people care about the team and there's a lot of media covering. Okay, we'll talk more about the Sons with Brent Wallace, but I do want to mention that the San Jose Sharks have won four in a row. We left them for dead.

I left them for dead. I thought, you know, they fell apart a little bit and it's like, yeah, those guys are done. And it was one of those, that's fine. They had a good season. It's probably best for them if they miss the playoffs anyway or, you know, I don't know, get more prospects. in there. Do they still have their first?

Yeah, they don't have their second this year because that belongs to the Vancouver Canucks. Right, okay. So the San Jose sharks keep winning. Yeah. And they beat the sad sack Toronto Maple Leafs 4 to 1 yesterday. The Leafs are just...

I watch that game. It was super boring. Yeah. I mean, the sharks, I don't want to say the sharks were all over them, but they just have so much more speed and frankly, enthusiasm. Adam Goddette scored again. Yeah, he's on fire for the sharks. Yeah, he's on fire for the sharks.

A couple other scores stuck out to me last night. The Kings losing at home in a shootout to Nashville. That game was crazy. That's a bad loss for them, though. They were down 3-0, they were down 4-1. They rallied to send it to get a point. So them, Nashville, and San Jose all now have 79 points. Okay.

And Seattle's done. Seattle's code. They're done. They lost at home to Utah by a score of, six to two. So I think throw the cracking in in the very interesting category to see what they're going to do this offseason, especially as the return of the Sonics starts to heat up.

Yep. That was a they, that's such a disappointing team. The Seattle Cracken because post-Olympic break, they have absolutely cratered. It was time to start winning some games in a conference where that That race for that final wildcard spot is so wide open and anyone could have grabbed it. Seattle absolutely flatlined and just never could come up with like two wins in a row. They couldn't string together wins. They couldn't get games into overtime or to the shootout. They've had completely cratered.

They've had two four game losing streaks. It's been awful. And right now they're on a three game losing streak. That is after the Olympic break. Yeah. Okay. We got a lot more to get to on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. We're going to go back to Ottawa for this story with the Senators.

Brent Wallace is going to join us, host of the coming in hot Ottawa Senators podcast. Big Day in Ottawa yesterday. We'll talk to him about it coming up next on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. It's Canucks Central on SportsNet 650. From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 732 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody.

Halford Brough, SportsNet 650. Halford and Brum of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Hey, are you getting collection calls? If you are, Sands and Associates can cut your debt by up to 80% and stop those calls. Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We're in hour two of the program. It's two-hour program.

Hour two is brought to by Jason hominock at jason.com. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. Dom Mortgage. To the ABLE Auctions hotline we go. Our next guest is the co-host of the coming-in-hot podcast, Ottawa Senators podcast, Brent Wallace here on the Halperton and Brough Show on SportsNet 650.

Morning, Brent. How are you? Gentlemen, nice to hear your voices. Good to hear yours as well. And it comes at a time. I was going to say where things aren't boring in Ottawa, but things are never boring in Ottawa. Walk us through yesterday from the reaction to the comments on the Kachukk podcast to the game itself, huge win for the Sends,

and then Brady Kachuk having to address the comments on his own podcast. Big day yesterday in Ottawa. So is there an extra hour being added to their show by chance? Sure, go for it. It's a holiday. We can go as long as we want. I'll try. In order to do this, you actually have to go back to Saturday.

Linus Allmark doesn't start. Travis Green says he needs some rest. And that just snowballs into, they lose in Tampa. and then Linus goes back in, loses in Florida, after you give up five goals and 16 shots. And then comes the podcast. Like, it's been a long five days. So the morning skate, Brady Kachach says he's not speaking till after the game.

So now everything, and Linus Almark doesn't speak on game days. So now everything is pushed to post game. So instead of just celebrating or just talking about this victory and all that's going on with it, you need to get these questions out of the way. and then there had been a firestorm about the podcast, if you will, because if you listen to it closely and you, if you want, you can hear what you want to hear,

but the thing is Keith Dichuk is talking to the Florida Panthers when it comes to injuries. They had eight guys in the lineup. All that stuff was on Florida, but it got misconstrued as Ottawa because of the timing of Allmark. But there's two other spots in there where Keith mentions ice time, that Brady's not playing enough. And he is down two minutes compared to two years ago. And then there was the comment about how long is your contract?

Brady, you got two more years. Yeah, we'll talk about that later. So it just feels like, oh, okay, what are we doing here? And then post game, Brady doesn't really want to address it, right? He says, well, the comments aren't about the Florida Panthers, then we asked about ice time, and he's like, I already answered the question. And so

it has been a long, long week. Sorry, my microphone cut out there. What do you think the future has in store for Brady Kachuk? And I guess the follow-up question would be like, how important is making the playoffs this year to the future of both like the Ottawa Senators and Brady Kachukes staying there?

The future of Brady Kachuk in Ottawa is a hot button topic. As you can imagine, he's the captain, he's supposed to be a heartbeat of the team. He may not be the best player on the team anymore. We'll probably credit Jake Sanderson as that. But this team goes the way Brady Kachuk goes. And now there's a feeling, especially after the Olympics, even four nations, but after the Olympics,

that maybe Brady Kachuk's not staying here. Maybe he's going to say it might be time for me for new scenery. I don't know. I've never had an indication. No one's ever sending to me. It's all pure speculation. But there seems to be a growing wave of this may be it for Brady Kachuk and the Ottawa senators.

And if that's the case, yeah, the playoffs are huge. The playoffs are enough to keep him. I don't know. He does have two years left on his deal. Let's make sure that that's clear. But I don't know if the playoffs are enough. It just seems like there's a big disconnect right now with Brady and the Ottawa Senators. So, like, you know, you're in a room.

You can feel the energy. And Brady's energy has completely changed from eight months ago, 10 months ago. It's just different. He's very quiet. Doesn't really hang around. Doesn't talk to the media. Like, you ask for him to come out. He comes out.

He talks, does his interview, and he's gone again. There's no waiting around. There's no, hey, everything's going. That's when I noticed things have changed. as Brady good shock. So we were talking about this earlier, and I want to be careful because we're talking about someone that passed away, not too recently, but recently enough.

It feels like this organization has been dysfunctional for a long time. There's always drama coming out of Ottawa. And Jason and I thought that, you know, with the passing of Eugene Melnick and then Michael Adelow are taking over, that maybe that would steer the course in a different direction. But it seems like this organization is always got something dramatic going on. Is that a fair assessment? And if it is, do you have any idea why? I would love to know why. It is wild of how much attention there is. Like, it just, it seems

like there's always something. And I don't, I don't know. I don't understand why. Like, I've been in the market since 98. Like, there's very few seasons that are quite like this one. And it just, actually, you're right, it's probably been two years. Like, as soon as Michael Landlauer took over, I believe there's the, Well, there's the Dadanoff thing with the Dadov thing with the trade. There's the Shane Pinto suspension. Like that's just as he got going. And so it's never really settled.

And the one thing I guess the problem right now is Brady Kutchecks your captain. And he's the one that's supposed to like settle things down. He's the one that's supposed to, you know, take the heat if need be. And that's not happening with this podcast. It's creating too much white noise as Travis Green. like Travis Green likes to say. Like there's too much inside here that doesn't need to be addressed, doesn't need to be out.

It's creating their own environment. And that's the problem right now. This is a team that's fighting for a playoff spot. They're fighting just to remain near that. They don't have a lot of season tickets. And right now the season ticket base, the cell is on. They're trying to get more. They're trying to generate more.

And it's constant noise. And it's not always generated from the outside. What is the future of Brady Kachuk in Ottawa? Well, that's right. That's the question going to this summer. It's the noise, as I say, the noise is getting louder that this could be it. This could be the summer. They move on.

If they, listen, if they move him now with term on his contract, they get certainly a lot more back than they would if they wait until he goes in to his final year. So I don't know what the future holds with that. It just, it seems like at some point there's a divorce coming between Brady Kichuk and the Ottawa senators. That's interesting. say that because I imagine there are some senators fans that would just like have no time to even wonder about that

and you know what we just went through in Vancouver with reviews there was there were moments when kind of the fans would stick their fingers in their ears and be like la la la la la la la la you know like when the media it would be like I don't know if he's going to stay here in Vancouver

especially as things started to go really badly on the ice for the connois maybe just your thoughts on on the factors affecting what Brady is thinking like has he said any like I guarantee I'm committed to this team I don't want to go he hasn't said that has he? No so that's I get like and you know when you're so I don't I want to be careful like you can read into anything you want to the way you want to but I've noticed of late especially after Olympics like rarely does he say the office Ottawa senators. Really does he talk? Like it's just my team or the boys or the group. It's just little words that I'm just picking up on it. Maybe I'm overthinking it. But it's a different Brady Kuchuk. He's never said anything. He's never disparaged the

organization. None of that stuff. It just, he hasn't quieted any of it down either. How's Travis handling all this? You know, Travis, this is probably no big deal. He'll probably just got his feet up. I think he's probably super frustrated. Just like, he has a really good hockey team that he's coaching right now. Like if you look at all the metrics outside of goaltending, this is one of the top defensive teams in the league. They're tied for fewest in shots.

They just, if they had better goalteting at the beginning of the year, this would be a team that's in the playoffs, probably fighting for a top spot in the Atlantic, not the top spot, but a two or three spot. And because of it, they've never been able to get under themselves right now. and Travis is like beside himself like I've done all I can we're now using our 13th defense another season and we just managed to claw our way back into a playoff spot like he's done an awful lot of work to get this team to where it is

I don't know if people outside can understand and appreciate it but if you just had some average goaltending early on this team would be a whole lot different and all that noise as you guys know when you win none of that noise matters winning cheers all and unfortunately with the way the season's gone the noise just continues to pile up the Florida game was a shocker the first period five goals allowed and I wasn't watching the game but I saw that all market started and I knew that there was some controversy when he he needed the rest and didn't want to play or said he wouldn't play the Tampa game whatever

happened there maybe you can clarify that but then I watched the game and or the highlights of the first period. And I'm like, I don't know if Allmark was the cause of this. Like the Sins were a disaster defensively. Like the Panthers scored a bunch of East-West goals where Allmark, I don't want to say he didn't have a chance. And maybe one or two he wanted back. But the Sins were a disaster in front of him. And I just kind of wondered like, what's going on in that room there?

So 100% true. It wasn't, the first period wasn't his. his fault. However, the first goal was eight seconds in where he should have played the puck, he doesn't, ends up in the net, and that just starts to snowball everything. Hey, if they have an early lead or if they just get out of their period,

better off, basically, then maybe the whole game changes. But because of that one goal, then it just starts, they just never got under themselves. And then they gave up two goals in the first minute. So we still don't understand fully of what happened in Tampa with.

Green just said, Lena said he needed a rest and he's not starting. Sorry, he didn't say Lena said. He just goes, he needs a rest, he's not starting. Something that effect. And so the argument is, well, did he ask for it or was something else? It clearly wasn't planned.

That's all I know. But Lena said you had to answer to it. I asked him last night about after the game, he said, I'll talk to you tomorrow and he's not talking today. So we'll continue to see what happened. But that Tampa game was wild. So then you're hoping the next game after when you've got two days off in between

that you're going to come out and you're going to steal this game basically because you need to playoff hopes are on the line here and you're facing a Florida team that's without eight regulars and everybody's other line and they just couldn't find their way through that one it was it was arguably their worst performance of the season by far and you start to like okay like maybe this team isn't going to make the postseason but they and then they lose another defense in last night like they continue to find ways to win

after what was a debacle in Florida for sure. Brent, this was great, ma'am. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Seven games left in the season for the Sends. They hold the wild card spot as of right now, but we'll see what happens over the next seven games. Thanks for this, man.

You're welcome, guys. Brent Wallace, co-host of the Coming in Hot podcast, Ottawa Senators podcast here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. There's some good races down the stretch. Mm-hmm. Like, tight, tight, tight, tight. not necessarily amazing teams involved.

There's better teams in the East. But this is the easiest way to put it. In the East, for that final wildcard spot, there's three teams currently tied on 88 points. And then the West, for that wild card spot, the final one, there's three teams tied on 79 points. It is as razor thin a margin as you can get right now. And I will say, despite all the hand-wringing

and all of the complaints about the playoff format, at least this part of it, the wildcard chase has played itself out this year pretty well. It's been a good chase, and it's going to go down to the wire, right? I mean, you can't, right now, let's say, if you're Columbus, who, by the way, have absolutely hit the skids and might miss.

But if you're Columbus, if you're Washington, if you're Philly, you're in it, right? You're right in the thick of it, even though that you've got teams to jump over to get into that final spot. And in the West, I mentioned the team's on 79 points, but the Jets are still on 70.

I think they consider themselves still in it. I think Seattle's cooked and St. Louis is cooked, but outside of that, it's going to be a fun last couple of weeks in the National Hockey League. Winnipeg and Columbus tomorrow in Columbus. The bonus bowl, they call it. The Bones Bowl. Yeah.

Let's do some Askes-An-Anything. I think it's Askes-N-Thursday Friday on the Halford Inbruff Show. Jay, would then ask us anything. What is the greatest golf shot you have ever hit or have ever seen in person? Okay, I'm going to take the ladder because I don't think I've ever hit a truly great shot.

My buddy got an albatross on a par five, and that was pretty cool. Because I was, so hit it, so that's two shots on a par five. Yeah. Hit a great drive, and then an incredible second shot. Shout out to Elliot. That was a hell of a shot. I still think about that. It was like I was standing next to it at the time.

No, I wasn't. I was actually 100 yards up the fairway, probably looking for my ball. Probably my second shot or my third, who knows. I was the only one that saw it go in. And I was like, oh, my God. And I immediately felt this dual feeling of happiness and incredible envy. I was like, yeah, I wish I could do that. I wish I could do something cool.

I wish I could do something great like that. And I'm sure Elliot will be happy to know that, yes, I was a bit jealous. Colin in Tuosan, ask us anything other than Christmas Day, what is the worst holiday to have to work on. I was thinking about this. And you know what? I don't know if this is an unusual answer, but I would say Labor Day.

Ah, yeah, that's not an unusual answer at all. Labor Day is like the bonus summer holiday day. That if you are working and everyone else is trying to get that last day of summer in, Yep. And they're like, I gotta go back to the grind and, you know, the kids are going to be back in school.

The schedules are starting up again. It'll start to rain soon. And I'm going to really just, I'm just going to really pack in a lot of fun on this Labor Day. And then you're at work. And you kind of feel like, wait a minute,

I'm not even getting this bonus day. And I've got this. That's a good one. These nightmare months ahead of me. That's a good one. not a holiday yeah it's a holiday okay not not a holiday yeah i mean it would be nice to have a whole Halloween off it sure would not have to work

yep same i appreciate the direction you've taken ask us anything here where you're just opining but again not a holiday it is a holiday i have you ever worked christmas day at a job because i have no i i had to when i worked security at the Sutton place hotel i said the hotel i had to start at seven o'clock in the morning on christmas day how's that few things more depressing than that drive-in Right, right?

I've worked a beer store on Christmas Day at home. Let me tell you that first hour, some of the people. You know what it was? It was the drive. Holy, holy, holy. Hello, Andy. The drive-in, because you would see the households where the kids got up really. Because it was 7 o'clock start.

Yeah. What were you peering in the windows or something? Oh, no, it was hard to look between the tears. But I saw. Is that Santa? No. No. I'm like, I saw.

I got to see everybody else, like, experience that joyful. waking up and the kid, you know what I mean? Like you can feel the energy and then you're going in for an eight hour shift. Of hotel security. And there's nothing going on because it's Christmas, right? It's probably the quietest day of the year. So also a runner-up. You'd be busy if the Grinch had stolen Christmas.

That's true. Because that's when security has to figure out what happened. It would have had to awaken for my mid-shift nap. That'd make a good movie. Yeah. Like a security guard, like catching the Grinch steal Christmas and it's like in real life. Paul Blart. Paul Blert meets the Grinch.

Like, let's go. Thank you. We got a copyrighted the idea quickly. Kind of more like a hotel cop. There's a scriptwriter listening right now. He's like writing this all down. Working on New Year's Day is miserable too, especially if you've gone out the night before. Yeah. Just miserable.

Well, it's not for me anymore. Yeah. I think I'm in bed by 10 o'clock on New Year's Eve now. Juan from Colmocks. Ask us anything. If you were guaranteed to see the Vancouver Canucks win the Stanley Cup in your lifetime, when would you want it to happen? in your life. Early in life is option one, ages 5 to 18. In your prime years, 20 to 50,

Juan says, so I guess I'm finishing up my prime here. Or later in life, Juan says it. 50 plus. 50 plus. That's a really good question, actually, because. So ages 5 to 18, you've got the magic of the magic of being a kid. Yeah, sure. And it's funny because I've actually, so I was 17 or I was graduating from high. I was a grade 12 when the Canucks went to the final in 94. That would have been, that would have been good, but I'm not picking that one because it's too early in life.

In my quote unquote prime years, I saw them in 2011, and that was the one I really wanted. Yeah. You know, that was cool too because like you have the, like I traveled back to Boston for games three and four. And part of it was work was,

but part of it was also just like, I want to do this. and I can and let's do it. Later in life, 50 plus... You'd appreciate it more. I think, well, that's the option I've got. I don't think they're going to get it done this year while I'm still in my 40s.

Who's to say? You know, after being eliminated and clinching dead last overall, it doesn't seem... You're not going to see it. It doesn't seem like they're going to win the cup. So later in life, I hope that's the answer. You know what it'd be really tough? Is if you're just...

Never? Answer, well, never, but also if you had one more 2011 style opportunity and you were like right at the end and you were just hanging on and then they don't get it done and you're like yeah you idiot's god not again there's a really you idiots there's a really important existential element to ones ask us anything though because if you see here's the thing if it had happened early in your life between the ages of five to eight the entire trajectory, quite frankly, of your life would have been different. My career.

I couldn't get a sad club. You know, there would be no sad club. That's a really profound thing to think about because there will be, I'm assuming. Are you a monk right now? I've never thought about it like this before. If you got to experience winning a Stanley Cup between the ages of 5 and 18, your entire understanding of what it is to be a Canucks fan would be a 180, the polar opposite of what the majority of Canucks fans have felt,

which is a lifetime of misery and losing. And that would shape you for forever because you would never have to wonder what it's like. You would never have to have that waiting for Guffman type thing, where you're just constantly waiting for next year. And your entire existence would be happy, not sad, because you got to experience early. The foundational memories of your Canucks fandom would be like,

I remember when I got on board with this team, it's when they won the Stanley Cup. Well, I've always, I've always said, that when the Jays won the World Series in 92 and 93, I kind of lost a bit of interest. Now, was that because they finally got over the hump? And believe me, the Jays had to get over the hump. And a lot of you probably don't, if you're like,

people don't remember it. Like they went through years and years of being a good, and frankly, they choked a number of times, either at the end of the regular season or in the playoffs. and then they finally did go to the hump. And it was almost surreal. It was like a Canadian team just won the World Series. It was incredible.

I definitely felt the Seahawks first Super Bowl win more than their second one, which was just recently. Like I was happy with this Super Bowl, but it wasn't like, oh my God, like, Seahawks won the Super Bowl. There's a lot. The Seahawks won the Super Bowl. They did.

a lot different. They did it. It was a lot different. And now I think about there are two teams that I have never seen win something major, and that is the Vancouver Canucks, and the reason I say something major is the other team is England. You know, they won the World Cup in 1966, but they haven't won a World Cup or a Euro since. And they've come very close. And they got to the Euro final at Wembley. They've reached semifinals of the World Cup and now there's another World Cup

coming up. So there's something to be said for cheering for a team that you personally have never seen win. Okay. Our one of the program is in the books. Keep sending your Ask Us Anything's in though

because we're going to do these after Rick Dollywall at 830 and we're going to announce the winner of the $100 gift card to AJ's pizza for the best ask us anything. Dunbar number, text line is 650, 650. Rick Dollywell is coming up on the other side of the break.

We're also giving away a four pack of tickets to the Vancouver FC season opener. We're going to take calls at 8 a.m. caller number 5 will get a four pack of tickets to see tomorrow's game. Saturday, April 4th, 4 p.m. From Willoughby in Langley against Halifax. It's Vancouver FC tickets. 604-280-650. That number again, 604-280-650.

Be caller number 5 at 8 a.m. and you will win the tickets. We got one final hour to go. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.