Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Continue To Be Consistently Inconsistent

Episode Date: January 15, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk last night's disappointing Canucks loss to the Jets (6:00), plus they preview tonight's NHL action with Sportsnet's David Amber (26:45). 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-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- takes care of Vancouver meeting the Canucks for the sixth time in the last seven meetings. Six won the fun. You know, I'm in favor of execution. Maybe our entire team needs to be executed after tonight. They're faster, they're bigger, they're stronger, they can shoot better, they can pass better, they can do everything better. I'm better than you! Good morning Vancouver 601, on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. This is Halford, it is Brough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Regular Zach, good morning to you as well. Good morning. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking

for, be it sales, financing, service or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. And we are coming to you live from the Kintec Studio. Kintec Footwear and Orthotics working together with you in step. Yeah.

Okay, we got a big show ahead on a Wednesday. Guest list begins at 6.30. David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet NHL host is going to join the program. He worked last night's debacle in studio. Alongside Justin Bourne as the Vancouver Canucks lost 6-1 is going to join the program. He worked last night's debacle in studio alongside Justin Bourne as the Vancouver Canucks lost 6-1 to the Winnipeg Jets in Winnipeg. We'll talk to David about that. We'll also look ahead to tonight's action. It's a quiet night in

the National Hockey League, but Sportsnet Wednesday Night Hockey does have one good one on tap as the Oilers travel to Minnesota to take on the wild. Two top five teams in the West go toe to toe on Sportsnet tonight. David teams in the west go toe-to-toe on sports net tonight David will join us at 630 to talk about all that 7 o'clock Frank Sarah Valley from daily face-off is going to join the program His trade deadline objectives for each team in the Eastern Western Conference are now online We'll take a look at what the Vancouver Canucks may or may not do going into the March trade deadline Frank will join us at seven o'clock. We can also go around the league from last night, 13 games in the National Hockey League

on Tuesday evening. Eight o'clock, Randy Pjanda is going to join the program. He also worked last night's debacle in Winnipeg. For us, Sportsnet 650, he was on the call. We'll ask him all the hard-hitting questions like what's up with JT Miller? Why did they start Lanken and over Demko? Who knew what time it was when the first clock was ever made? All the hard-hitting questions we will ask Randy at 8 o'clock in the morning. Does he know the answer? I don't know if he knows the answer or not that's why we're gonna ask him. I'm excited. Finally another announcement we are giving

away a pair of tickets and a $50 gift card to join Sportsnet 650 on Sunday February 9th for the big football game at the Clayton Public House Caller number 3 at 815 this morning will win two tickets and a $50 gift card the number to reach us here 604 280 06 50 that number again 604 280 080-0650. The Clayton Public House. Good food. Good people.

Good times. Okay, that's what's happening on the show today. Zach, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how missing your life can be.

What happened? You missed that? What happened? What happened 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. I have yet to check the Dunbar Lumber

text message in basket at 650-650. I am waiting until after we get through our rundown. Kyle Conner scored a natural hat trick in the first period last night. The Winnipeg Jets crushed the Vancouver Canucks six to one ending the Canucks. I'll say it very disappointing five game road swing. I will now dive into the Dunbar lumber text message in basket. Dear God, this is awful. Actually don't think it was a very, very

disappointing road trip, but we can argue about that later, it was a very disappointing night. Last night it was the Kyle Conner show in the first period as maybe the most underrated or underappreciated player in the NHL scored a natural hat trick for his 24th, 25th and 26 goals of the season. It's nice when your top players show up and score goals.

The first goal was off a terrible turnover by goalie Kevin Lankinen. The second was off a pretty brutal rebound by Lankinen, not to mention some questionable back checking by the Canucks. And the third was, well, it was ugly. Tyler Myers fell in the offensive zone. JT Miller didn't see that Myers fell or didn't care. And Connor was easily able to sneak behind the entire Canucks team for a breakaway, a nice move.

And then came the hats, the Winnipeg hats. It was over at that point. Let's face it. But just in case you thought the Canucks would come out strong in the hats, the Winnipeg hats. It was over at that point. Let's face it. But just in case you thought the Canucks would come out strong in the second, the Jets made it four nothing. 39 seconds in when a long point shot by Neil Pionk beat Lankanen. The rest of the game was meaningless. Unless there's meaning in the Canucks showing absolutely zero pushback while

the Jets continue to dominate. Come to think of it, there might be some meaning in the Canucks showing absolutely zero pushback while the Jets continue to dominate. Come to think of it, there might be some meaning in that. It was a terrible performance by the Canucks. The Jets are good, but not that good. It was yet another concerning performance by the Canucks who haven't won two straight games in a month and a half. They haven't won two straight in regulation since late November when they won in Ottawa, remember that fun game? Yep. And then Lankton stole them one in Boston. That seems like a long time ago. Consistency has been the issue for these

Vancouver Canucks. And here's Rick Tauket talking about that issue of consistency and how it's hard to be consistent. It's hard to be consistent. It's hard to be consistent. It's hard to be consistent, right? It's hard to do the right things all the time. It's hard. It's hard to go through people. It's hard to serve properly. It's hard to reload properly. It's hard to get the pucks out when you need to. It's hard to take pucks than that. And you can't do it once in a while if you want to be a good team. Um, that's really the, that's what it is. Yeah.

I mean, it's my job. I'm going to get some guys committed. It's on me. So remember the beginning of the season where we were optimistic about the team and we had some laughs about the Kinnucks slogan of the year, embrace hard. I don't think they're embracing it. Does it sound like it? Not based on what the coach is saying.

Some of the guys might be embracing it, but the top players have not been embracing it except for Quinn Hughes. JT Miller last night, a lot of talk about his ice time. He had a few flashes where he looked interested, but you know, I tweeted out JT Miller's ice time after the second period and it was like nine minutes and multiple people replied to me that dude looks checked out. Oh yeah. And it was hard to disagree.

I mean, I think that's a hell of an allegation to put out there, but you're kind of like, you know, if he's not checked out, what is it? Because there's something going on there. He wasn't on Power Play One, and he isn't skating with Besser anymore at Evans. He was on a line with Nils Holglinder and, uh,

Connor Garland last night. And I wonder what he thinks about that. Elias Pedersen has now been held pointless in eight of his last 10 games. This is a guy that got $11.6 million cap hit contract and lot of term because he's a hundred point guy. Hard to score a hundred points when your pace is,

I get points in two out of 10 games. He had two goals against the sharks, then he got hurt and they needed one secondary assist against Toronto. Now, of course he also won the Sel needed one secondary assist against Toronto. Now, of course, he also won the Selkie in that game against the Leafs. So that's a feather in his cap. But look, this is the bottom line with this team. If Miller and Petey aren't going, the Canucks are toast.

They might make the playoffs with only one of them going, but they won't go anywhere in the playoffs, as we saw last year when Pedersen was not going. And if both of them aren't going, as we've seen lately, they could easily miss the playoffs. They're currently on the outside looking in. We're talking about their two best forwards. They're one C, they're two C, however you want to stack them. They're one C, they're two C, however you want to stack them. Obviously they have to get going. This is not complicated.

And what Rick Taukett is talking about is specifically those guys. Yeah. When he's saying like, it's hard to be consistent. It, you know, Oh, GT Miller had a great game in Montreal. Two goals, two assists. And we're all like, wow, that's awesome. Great game. Haven't really heard from him since. No, you haven't heard anything.

It's been, it's been four games since that Montreal game. Petey, winning the Selkie in Toronto. All over the place, blocking shots, looking engaged, people saying, he's engaged, he's engaged. He's like, yay, he's engaged. Didn't even notice him last night. Did he even play? He was out there, so too was JT Miller.

Here's, okay, so the reason that I said I thought it was a disappointing road trip and the Canucks finished a five game swing at one, two, and two. First off, thought it was a disappointing road swing because they won one of the five games. Granted, it was a three, nothing shut out in Toronto and the second of a back to back

under less than ideal circumstances, it was good. But I go back and look at the totality of it and there were so many, so many concerning moments throughout the trip that I look at the, you know, collective, and I'm like, I fail to see how you can be anything other than disappointed with that. The blown lead against the Habs and giving up five goals. Washington was fine. Carolina was a complete. Washington was more than fine. It was pretty good against Washington. What happened though? Yeah, they lost. And how many goals did they score?

seven one Carolina was an absolute egg. It was a dud although some will say it wasn't that different than the Toronto game Which all the for me really just throws the Toronto game into more arrears because after the Toronto game a game in which It was so painfully obvious that this team needed to bring a lot if not all of what they brought to that Toronto game into Winnipeg they did the exact opposite. The Winnipeg game and I know everyone's gonna say hey it was at the end of a five game swing the Jets are really good you're in their barn that's a tough game. Sure. I cannot believe that this team again laid a gigantic egg in one of those, Hey, this game should mean something type games. Hey, this is an important game.

Philip Peronik must be so happy that he flew to Winnipeg for that. Like, wait, you have talked at length this season, fans, media, coaches, general managers, players about how great it's going to be when everyone finally gets healthy and you get your, you know, 23-man roster back to full, full health. Well, they're almost there. Yeah, Dakota Joshua's not there, but he's been a passenger this season for a multitude of reasons. Anyway, Horonick comes back in. Hughes is all excited at the practice yesterday in the morning skate. Everyone's excited about getting Hironic back.

They go out and they're down three buzz midway through the first period. A lot of that was on Lankton though. In whatever the case. But it was, but it was. Second period comes around, you're down three, nothing, what do they do? They give up a goal, seconds into the second

period, ghetto shot 20 to 10 in the second period. That goal was also on Lankton. Six one final. And you go back and you look at this and you're saying, at what point is this the team's identity? I tweeted this out last night when Patrick Alveen, the Q&A with Ian McIntyre, I've gone back to it numerous times because I do think it was pretty illuminating about what Alveen thinks of this team. He openly asked the question, like, what are we as a team? What's our identity? What's the reason that we have these great games

followed by these duds? And I think the answer might be that that's your identity. That it's a team that for some reason or another, can't maintain the good times and the good vibes, and most importantly, the good play. And I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's because they get cocky or arrogant. I know sat through that out there yesterday in the post game show.

I don't know if talk, it can't push the same buttons on a night to night basis. I don't know if they just don't feel like playing two nights in a row, but it's not like they went into Winnipeg and tried their asses off and lost 3-2 in overtime They went into Winnipeg and got blown out Destroyed and here's the thing Someone tweeted at us last night if we were to put together a Mount Rushmore of the awful disappointing dejecting and blowout connects losses this year You know the Mount Rushmore meme is that you're supposed to find four of them awful, disappointing, dejecting, and blowout connect losses this year.

The Mount Rushmore meme is that you're supposed to find four of them. I had like eight. But that's what makes it so... I had two Mount Rushmores. Okay, do you want to hear my Mount Rushmore? Yes. Of bad losses? Yes.

So I got to pick four and it was tough. It was tough. Okay. Despite me kind of playing devil's advocate with Halford a little bit, I'd go with last night because it's still very fresh in my mind and frankly, it was embarrassing. It was pretty bad. It was pretty bad.

It was pretty bad. And Lankin is part of the team and wasn't ready to go after the coach made him the starter over Thatcher Demko. Which we can get into later. Uh, the blown lead versus the Kraken. That one was bad. Four one, they had them up four one. With five minutes to go in the third period.

And they lost the game. The blown lead versus the flames in the season opener. That kind of set the tone for the season. That was a bad one. Yeah, you can blame it on Sea Lodge, but come on. That set the tone for the season. Um, and probably the five two home loss to the Islanders, which a lot of people may have forgotten, but that

was a dreadful performance by the Canucks. They've lost. So like these, so these are the games that I left off in order to pick those games. Six, nothing to the devils at home. I just left that out there. Cause I was like, well to the Devils at home. I just left that out there because I was like,

well, the Devils are good. Seven three to the Oilers at home. Five one at home to Boston. Three nothing at home to Nashville. The connection lost twice at home to Nashville. And I remember that game, the loss they had to Nashville was not good and it followed up or it was like two games after the loss to the Islanders. So I'm leaving some really juicy score lines out of my Mount Rushmore because I think the blown leads against the Flames and the Kraken deserve to be in there.

And that 5-2 home loss to the Islanders I think was, it was a terrible performance by the team. If I was to be convinced to take one of them out of there, I might take last night out of there, but it's so fresh in my mind that I'm just like, I'm putting that in there. I mean, it deserves to be on there. And here's the thing, a lot of these losses, they need the proper context behind them.

So last night, the Canucks are coming off this great win over Toronto. They get Philip Perona back in the lineup for the first time in seven weeks. As mentioned, they got as close to their full healthy rosters they've had all year. And everyone was preaching about the need for consistency and how important it is to string together results. So with that context, they go out and lay an egg. You mentioned the Islanders game. You know what else the Islanders game was? That was Dakota Joshua's season debut after his emotional return recovering from testicular cancer.

A game that you thought that the team would have had some kind of lift, or at the very least, like, hey, it's great to have Dak back in the lineup, let's get some energy tonight. Yeah. They played terrible against the Islanders. A very mid-team, dare I say, sub-mid. And do you remember they made us look bad too, because we were making fun of the Islanders before the game. That was the worst part of it all. Yeah, they made us look bad.

They made us look worse. That never happens. Never happens. That never happens. How about the 6-0 loss to the Devils? The Hughes-a-Palooza game, where Quinn Hughes' entire family, both his brothers are on the other team, his family's in the stands. Do you know I've been shut out twice in games that I've been to this season as a fan?

You went to the Devils six nothing in the national? And I was at the Preds game. That's fun going to two games and not seeing a single goal. What was the game that we went to? When they beat the Flames. Was that the Flames game? Yeah, we saw a win. Oh, that's good. Yeah Yeah, that's when we took our young son Yeah, yeah, it was all me though. I canceled brough out. So the six nothing lost against the Devils I mean that's one where Hughes gets a chance and you know, they're gonna be in the spotlight

It's nationally televised and they go out and again, lay a complete egg. A lot of these games come with zero pushback, zero fight, zero intensity. They fall behind and there's a real, real damaging thing with this team where when they fall behind, they fold and they're just like, well, we didn't have it tonight. Yeah.

And then it's like, all right, move on to the next one. We tried for a little bit, it didn't go very well, and then we didn't try, and now we're just gonna go to the next one. We tried for a little bit, it didn't go very well, and then we didn't try, and now we're just gonna go on to the next game. This team has given up five or more goals 10 times already this season. Do you know how many times it happened last year? Nine.

So at the halfway point of this season, they've already given up five or more, as many times as they did through 82 games last year. We're at game 43 of the season. This is probably what this team is. Is that anytime that they're gonna go out and give you a good effort and remind you that they have a ton of talent and can be a good team,

they're probably gonna come back with a stinker the next game. I wanna read a couple texts into the Dunbar Lumber text line just to show you some of the differences of opinions that are coming in. Jeremy and Abbotsford, guys, even the devils missed the playoffs last year. Maybe this is just one of those years where nothing goes right. Here's another one. I just, I want to jump in.

Here's another one. Unsigned text. I'm ready for the Canucks to trade Miller and Pedersen and Besser and whatever else for pennies on the dollar. This team ain't good. I'd rather root for a really bad team instead of an inconsistent team whose best players don't seem

interested whatsoever. I think both are good points and that is the decision that the management group is going to have to make about this team and they're going to have to be honest with themselves. They might have to check their egos, considering they were the ones that decided to sign JT Miller and Elias Pedersen to long-term contracts.

They're going to have to be really honest about themselves because that who don't seem interested whatsoever is not just some random guy texting into a radio show. I mean, that part is, but like the coach, his message after the game last night was, we're not embracing how hard it is to be consistent in the NHL. He's saying like, it's hard.

It's hard. He's not saying like, it's hard. So, you know, you don't have to do it every night. He's saying like, it's hard. And that's the point. And this is also a team whose general manager came out and like ripped the top players and said specifically of Pettersson, he thought it was going to be easy. So it's like, are you

guys willing to do the difficult stuff? The whole bloody slogan of the season was embrace hard and we're halfway through it. And do we need a new slogan? Probably. You need a midway point slogan. It's like embrace the heart occasionally. That's just more what you are. Well, that's the reality. But that first text, I don't think that's right.

Like I don't think that's accurate. That it's one of those seasons where nothing goes right. Like they started the year seven, two and three, which included, remember when they went down to California and they swept the entirety of it, including beating the Kings in the finale 4-2? They were 7-2 and 3 at that point. They've got two wins against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in their barn, and then here.

They've got wins over Colorado. They've won games in pretty impressive fashion. And then you look at the peaks and valleys of the team, the correlation is there's peaks and valleys with their best players. JT Miller started this road trip with that four point game in Montreal, where he was the best player on the ice,

scored two goals, had to assist, was the best player out there, driving force. After that, pointless in four straight games, and his ice time crept all the way down to 13 minutes. Pedersen had this selkie winning performance against the Leafs on Saturday and followed it up with nothing in Winnipeg. The highs have been there. They've just been followed by stunning lows.

Stunning lows. Not even just like mediocre play. It goes peak and then real valley. And that's the maddening part. It's like we're getting catfished by this. Yeah. It was like, stop sending me all these hot selfies. I can't handle this. Here's a text.

I will be the first one to keep JT accountable for his lack of effort, but I'm having less than less confidence in the coach. His deployment is questionable. His emotion isn't there, or at least I don't effort, but I'm having less than less confidence in the coach. His deployment is questionable. His emotion isn't there, or at least I don't see it when we're watching it on TV. He doesn't seem to want to call time out when we go down three nothing.

He doesn't want to challenge the refs. Uh, the team needs to see their coach stand up and show some emotion to back his boys up. Um, the coach takes some responsibility. Yeah, you know, sometimes I feel that way. Sometimes I would like to see Tauket just blow a gasket. I think he's just trying to keep it together. I think he's trying to keep his composure.

I think he's trying to not make it worse. I think Rick Tauket is a pretty savvy guy and he knows that any sort of, even a mini meltdown, a mini meltdown is going to get played up, is going to be talked about way too much. And he's probably a guy that wants to work after this somewhere, right? It's a lot easier to be the coach that is remembered as the guy that kept it together in the face of adversity and kept it calm and collected when things were going off the rails than a guy that went off the rails with it. Right. That's kind of where I'm looking at this. I don't have a problem with the job the talk. It's done this year. I think this is entirely on this team, on this group. And I know people brought it up. So I'm not the first one to say this on this core. Look, they've had, this is their third coach.

They had Travis Green. They played well for a while under Travis Green and then they didn't. They had Bruce Boudreau. They played well for a while under Bruce Boudreau and then they didn't. I hope the same thing isn't happening with Tocket. But right now you look at it and you're like, there is way too much inconsistency to one, predict what they're going to do on a nightly basis. And then two, have faith that they're just going to figure it out,

that they're going to suddenly be consistent because the first half of the season, the only thing they've been is inconsistent. That's all we can count on. Problem is we just don't know what night they're going to show up and what night they're not going to show up. And we've got a lot more to get into on the program. David Amber is going to join us on the other side. We'll talk about last night's game him and born were They're the guys you need there the bridges over troubled waters

They were very calm and cool and collected while the rest of us were freaking out after the game last night they said all they needed to do is is get home the Vancouver Canucks and get back to The friendly confines for sure is where they've been awful. Yes great home team the Vancouver Canucks So we'll talk to David Amber coming up next before we go to break finds for rogers where they've been awful. Ah, yes. Great home team, the Vancouver Canucks. So we'll talk to David Amber coming up next. Before we go to break, I need to remind you that you can reserve your spot for the big football party at the Clayton Public House on Sunday, February the 9th, hosted by Sportsnet 650. Visit theclaytonpub.com for more Clayton Public House.

Good food, good people, good times. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Stop sending me all these hot selfies. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satya Arshah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post-game show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand

through your favorite podcast app. and through your favorite podcast app. Hey. 6.32 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Brough Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough 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. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. David Amber, Sportsnet Hockey Night in Canada, NHL host, is going to join us. Just a moment here.

Hour one of this program is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the phone lines we go, David Amber joins us now on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Morning David, how are you? I'm doing well, and I had a good chuckle last night. I get home from the studio and I go on Twitter, which is never a good thing to do before you go to bed. And I see Jason is whipping up the Vancouver, you know, fan base into a frenzy.

What did you tweet out? I thought it was, you know, you're like, that was way worse than we can't ignore this anymore. Or something. I said, I don't want to overreact, but that was embarrassing. And then I said, actually, I kind of want to overreact because it's fun. I don't know. I mean, listen, the thing is, is that we've seen a lot of these games from the Canucks this season.

Halford and I actually just did a Mount Rushmore of Canucks bad losses and we're able to argue about it. Like you got to have the six nothing lost in New Jersey in there. And I was like, yeah, but I want to get that bad loss to the Islanders in there. And I was like, yeah, but I want to get that bad loss to the Islanders in there. And there was the blown lead against the crack and in the blown lead against the flames and last

night and you know, they, they got shut out three nothing at home to Nashville. You know, it's an argument that you can have. And this team is just so inconsistent. They go into Toronto and they, they play well. They shut out the Leafs three, nothing. Elias Pedersen, you know, his teammates are yelling selkie at him. And then nothing from him last night.

And JT Miller on this road trip has a four point game in Montreal and then four games of pretty much nothing from him. It's the consistency with this team. It's not just win one, lose one. It's win one in very impressive fashion, like beating the Florida Panthers four nothing, and then lose one in horrible fashion. Like don't even show up against a bad team

or get blown out by a good team. How are we supposed to react other than like kind of unhinged because that's the way the Canucks are playing? Yeah, that's all true and fair. Um, that, listen, you hit it on the head. You know, I was taking the approach of that was a bit of a murderers road road trip.

You know, you, you've taken on three of the best teams in the East, Carolina, uh, Toronto, Washington, you start out against a very red hot Montreal team and you finish up with a team that's really trying to make a point that they're a legitimate Stanley Cup favorite. And right now they might be, or one of the favorites in the Winnipeg Jets. So I was picking the glass half full approach, but I hear what you're saying. And if it had just been for the injuries this year, you can kind of say, wow, the

Canucks are sitting in not a bad spot considering Demko's only made nine starts and Miller missed a whole bunch of time and Pedersen's missed time, etc. Ronix missed a bunch of time, but when you add in all the noise surrounding this team and all the drama and all sort of the BS for lack of a better word, it does give you some reason to have some serious questioning of the team and where they're going and as mentioned, the lack of consistency. So at their best, they're still an elite team, but we haven't seen their best on a night in night out basis. That's for sure this year. So fair enough, but it still made me, it still gave me a good chuckle last night to say,

here we go. We're getting everyone whipped into a frenzy, but I don't, you know, they probably already were whipped into a frenzy because that last loss. They didn't need me to do it. They did not need me to do it. Yeah. Straight up, like people were pissed off. Yeah, I think you could count us as two of them because, you know, the amount that the players and coaching staff have spoken about the importance and need for consistency, it just never materializes.

And it feels like at the midway point of the season, the only like identifiable characteristic this group has is that they're consistently inconsistent. You have no idea what you're going to get from the group on a night to night basis. Like how else do you really explain going into Toronto with all the adversity that they faced losing on Friday night, having their plane delayed so they don't fly into the day of the game, and then blanking the Leafs three nothing, and then following it up with that last night.

Like no one can explain it. It would have been easier, David, if the team just stunk consistently, because at least you would have some expectation. But I went back and pointed out, like this is also the same team that twice has beaten Florida this year, in Florida's rank and then in Vancouver, pretty emphatically.

They've taken care of Colorado. They've had good stretches where, you know, they started the seasons seven, two and three. Like, there's been enough highs, because they're a talented group, that it makes the lows that much more frustrating. I think I agree with you 100%. And I think it's fascinating, you know,

we're now two months, less than two months away from the trade deadline. Really, what are Patrick Alveen, what are Jim Rutherford going to do? Because you're a little bit in no man's land and it's not so much for the Canucks to make the playoffs. Obviously that's sort of the goal right in front of them knowing where they are in the standings,

but they'll have to take a serious long look and say, is this a group that could lead us to a Stanley Cup championship? And if it isn't, and what are we going to do to make improvements moving forward? You know, who is the nucleus? What is, you know, what group do we feel comfortable running with? Yeah, I mean, listen, everything you said makes sense. You can almost describe what you're describing with Vancouver with about 15 teams in the NHL this year. You don't have to look any further than all those teams fighting for the last wild card in the Eastern Conference, you know, and even Boston is in the first wild card, like from

Boston all the way down every team, Ottawa and Pittsburgh and all these teams have been middling up and down and up and down and, you know, to slot Vancouver in with, you know, lump them in with that group isn't the greatest company to be keeping because this was a team that came into this year with some pretty lofty expectations based on what they did last year so that's all fair it makes for interesting story like certainly makes our jobs a lot easier because there's a lot to talk about and you know I'm here in Toronto and I can tell you the Leafs have slumped with three straight losses and the narrative

after the Vancouver game was very different here in Toronto. The narrative after that Vancouver game in Toronto was, wow, the Leafs were horrible. Like people kind of gave some credit to Vancouver. You know, they played a smart road game, da da da da da, and on the travel, et cetera, but they kind of were just like, wow, the Leafs, it was a kind of a no show for them. So every fan base within their city is kind of doing the same hand wringing and the same sort of questioning of their team when they don't see the production that they want to see. Who's the scapegoat right now in Toronto?

Because don't forget, they went into Carolina before that Canucks game and all their top, well, who was it that was like minus six, minus six, minus five, Matthews, the top line. Matthews line, yeah. Yeah. And then they get shut out by the Canucks. And then last night there were some boo-birds

at the arena in Toronto because they lost four-one to Dallas. So goal scoring has been a problem for them. Their top guys are not going. Who's getting it the worst in Toronto right now? Um, that's a good question. I mean, people, scapegoats, maybe not the right word, but people are a bit like, wow, what's going on

with this group? William Nylander has been incredibly quiet, uh, you know, over the last 12 games or so, he's sort of just fallen off the map as far as producing and just his overall play has been questionable. Um, you know, Stolarz is out and not to make him sound like he's the next Patrick Waugh, but Stolarz was a real rock for Toronto until he got injured. And Joseph Waugh has been very good this year too. So this would

certainly not to be putting it on the goaltenders, but in this last little stretch here, and you guys got Hildaby on Saturday night, but on Thursday against Carolina and last night versus Dallas, Joseph Wall looked very, very ordinary. I'd call that a very much of a mini slump, but I don't think that, you know, listen, they've lost three in a row against good teams, Carolina, Dallas, and Vancouver. No one's hitting the panic button or anything like that, but it's certainly been a bit of a lull for the Leafs. I wouldn't say anyone's being scapegoated, but it's maybe just showing some of their

flaws, how top heavy they are offensively. Jake McCabe's been out with an injury and Jake McCabe's been a very, very solid rock on the blue line for the Leafs. The Leafs have been winning with goaltending and defense this year, which is a new identity for them. And Jake McCabe's been a huge part of that identity along with Chris Tanev and OEL. So you know, I think there's one of those things where they're seeing their lack of depth

both offensively when the big guys aren't filling the net and also defensively when one guy goes down, you know, it's like a house of cards. So that's something I'm sure Brad Trey Living has taken recognition to, and I'm sure he's going to try and address like the Canucks going towards the trade deadline. See what we need to do. We're speaking to David Ember, Hockey Night Canada Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. A couple more here for you David, we're going to preview some stuff tonight. Wednesday night hockey, it's a light night in the National Hockey League, but we do get a good one between Edmonton and Minnesota, two top five teams in the West.

We should pay attention to Edmonton because the Canucks are gonna see them an awful lot over the next week, Saturday and then the following week as well. Edmonton, seven, two and one in their last 10. They've won two straight. They had a real good victory over the Los Angeles Kings the other night and now they've got a Minnesota team that's right near them, like I said, top five in the West. So set up tonight's game, Wednesday, excuse me,

Wednesday night hockey, Oilers Wild from Minnesota. Yeah, I mean, it's a good matchup. The Oilers last time they were in Minnesota, which was less than a month ago, they spanked, you know, the wild seven one. And I'm sure that's something that isn't lost on, on the wild as they head into tonight's game. The one problem from Minnesota is they're banged up. Kaprizov's been out for a stretch of time with a, with an upper body injury. Jared Spurgeon had that slew foot from the player on Nashville, LaRue. He's been out.

Faber, the great young defenseman we'll see in the foreign nations faceoff, he's been out. So it's hard when you move your best score, your best defenseman and your captain, that's asking a lot of a team to pick up the slack. To their credit, you know, Minnesota's still finding a way to accumulate points. You do wonder, or at least I do wonder when or if the trap door is going to fall on Minnesota

and they're going to start to plummet a little bit. They've overachieved, I think, by anyone's estimations going into this year, and are they going to kind of come back to Earth? Are they legit top-tier team in the NHL? So I think this is one of those sort of mark on the calendar games for them. But it's, again, it's hard to judge them without their star players.

On the other side of the ledger, and I know there's a huge candidacy for Quinues to win the MVP. And I think he would be right there, you know, right in that mix to win the MVP. For Edmonton, it's Leon Dreisaitl. On a team that has Connor McDavid, it's been Dreisaitl that's really Connor McDavid. It's been Dryside that's

really carried everything. We have the NHL in plus minus, we have the NHL in goals, we have the NHL in even strength goals. I think he has as many even strength goals as like the third highest goal score in the league. Like that's how good he's been. He's not just been the sort of powerplay merchant as he's been known sometimes in the past to just accumulate the points with demand advantage. He's been just exceptional. So, you know, I think that's a guy we're going to keep a really close eye on tonight. We're going to really probably key in in our pregame show as well. And I think the question again with Edmondson is, is Stuart Skinner and that blue line, are they able to hold steady and carry this team when they need to carry this team? And I can tell you, Skinner has been

really, really good. One thing that we're gonna do tonight, guys, is, you know, of all the guys left off the Team Canada for the Four Nations faceoff roster, who would be most deserving to jump in if one guy goes down? And there's, you can make an argument for Shifely, you can make an argument for Matthew Shane,

you can make an argument for Skinner. There's a whole bunch of, you know, Logan Thompson. So I think that's an interesting story we're gonna keep following. Shifely. Shifely is the answer. Yeah. Well, Logan Thompson, if a goalie goes down.

Yeah, but there's a lot of guys. Yeah. Yeah, so that's the key for tonight. And I'm wondering before, I know you guys are gonna let me go soon, but Saturday is Hockey Day in Canada, which is a great celebration. We were in Victoria last year, which was awesome. And this year we're going to let me go soon but Saturday is hockey day in Canada which is a great celebration. We were in Victoria last year which was awesome and this year we're going to Canmore and one thing to keep

an eye on is Elliot and Kevin VX are heading out to do biathlon and if you're not familiar with biathlon, it's where you like to go. Oh my god. Yeah that's what I would say, you cross country ski and then you shoot targets I guess right that's how it works. Yeah. And anyone who knows Elliot so we have these mic packs you guys might have well you're in a radio studio it's a little different but we're in a TV studio so we have these mic packs you attach to your to your belt essentially and the little lav mic so it's very inconspicuous and you've in it you get mic'd up every single show Elliot walks off the set and drops the mic pack on the

ground to the chagrin of all of our audio technicians. You're going to hand this guy a gun? I mean, what the hell? I was more thinking about the, uh, what you wear when you do buyout. That's, that's a slim fitting suit. Where's he going to put, where's he going to put the mic? I don't want to know. I don't know how this is going to work. I just hope B.X. and Elliott go out for Biathlon.

I hope both of them come back. That's the only thing I'm concerned about. That is going to be very funny. I'm looking forward to that more than the games, frankly, especially the way the Canucks have been against the Oilers. Yeah, so are we. It's going to be, it's fun. It's such a good celebration of the game and a really cool thing.

This is supposed to be sort of where every Canadian hockey fan can celebrate, you know, the love and passion for the game and how it means a lot. You guys are in a big city. I'm in a big city. Maybe it doesn't resonate as much, but when you're in these smaller communities and my first TV job was in Sault Ste. Marie, I can tell you that hockey is what gravitates, you know, everyone gravitates to that sort of the focal point of the community. And we're going to be in Canmore. I know that's a big, you know, a big thing there with in Canmore with the Canmore Eagles. And we're going to be broadcasting in nine different languages. So I mean, it's really going to

be one of those, you know, wherever, whatever your background is, we know you love the game and you can hear it in your native tongue. And I think that's really cool. It's going to be it's going to be a fun, you know, 12 plus hour marathon of coverage with Ron McLean and the gang. And we're all excited for that. And listen, we, you know, Canucks Oilers is a pretty good I know there's other things than the games,

but that's a pretty damn good, you know, final game for the night as well. Boston, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Winnipeg, and then you mentioned the nightcap, Edmonton, Vancouver, the 25th anniversary of Hockey Day in Canada, which is very cool. David, thanks a lot for doing this today, man. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight and enjoy everything on Saturday.

It should be a lot of fun. Thanks, fellas. I look forward to it and I'll talk next week. Sounds good. Thanks buddy. Uh, David Amber from hockey night, Canada, sports net NHL host here on the Haliford and brush show on sports net six 50. Let's get right back to the Vancouver Canucks.

Another pressing question that we need to ask in the wake of last night's six one debacle, a loss to the Winnipeg jets in Winnipeg. Why did the Vancouver Canucks start Kevin Lankington and goal over that your Demco? So it was a five game road trip. Why? How many games did Demko play?

One or two. One. Just one? He played the game in Carolina. Sorry, I had to rack my brain there. Yeah. My mind grapes. Yeah.

One game of the five. He went January 2nd, he was in there for the Canucks shootout win in Seattle. And then he got the Carolina game, couldn't score any goals, unfortunately, they allowed two and the Canucks lost two nothing to Carolina. Lankenen got four out of the five starts and last night, clearly the coach just determined that

Lankenen was their best shot at getting a win. And Lankenen. Got a shot at getting a win and Lankton. He got a shout out in Toronto. And Lankton, yeah, he did. And Lankton had one of his worst games of the season. So in hindsight, so look, hindsight is easy, right? Should have started Demko. But we also, you know, I'd be, I'd be a tiny bit

curious just to be, you know, if I was with talking in a scrum, I'd be like, Demko's good though, right? Like he's healthy. He's good because I don't know if you've heard, he has been a little bit injury prone and he had the popliteus that kept him out for a while, but then he had the back spasms, right? So some of the problems that we're seeing, frankly, from an information perspective is that when the

Canucks go out on the road, there isn't as much Vancouver-based media out with them. A lot of the questions that need to be asked don't get asked. perspective is that when the Canucks go out on the road, there isn't as much Vancouver based media out with them. A lot of the questions that need to be asked, don't get asked. So with the Canucks returning to town, I anticipate that there will be more questions for Rick Tocket.

He'll be so happy to hear them. But I would, you know, I'd be curious to get his thoughts just on the goaltending situation as it stands right now. So I was surprised when I heard that Lankton was getting the start last night because when we were previewing the game, including talking to Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet 650, I threw out the line. I anticipate or assume it will be a Demko start tonight. And part of that was the narrative with last year, the top two American goalies in the

National Hockey League, two of the Veznas, two of the three Vezna finalists, also guys that would theoretically be vying for a spot on the four nations face off team. Remember one time there was a debate, you know, who's going to be on that team? Demko was firmly in the mix. Demko was firmly in that conversation next to Connor Halliburke, especially since both got nominated for the Vezna last year. I just assumed that that would be a Demko game. I assumed that it would be a game that Demko really wanted. Now, did health prevent them from getting that game? We don't know. Question never got asked. Was it as simply the case of, Lankton

had a really nice shutout against Toronto and we want to let him roll with it? We don't know. It was never fully explained, but looking at it yesterday, objectively, just in terms of what that game meant in a vacuum, I thought it was going to be a Demko start. And I know in hindsight, sure seems like it should have been a Demko start and hindsight's easy, but I even felt going into it that that was going to be one where Demko is going to get the nod and he didn't. Um,

I would love to know a little bit more about the goaltending dynamic. Yeah. A lot of people texting in wondering why didn't they pull Lankinen after the third goal? He had looked shaky on the first two and then he couldn't come up on, come up with the save on the Kyle Connor breakaway.

That was a nice move by Connor. He's a good player, but a lot of people wondered why they didn't pull him. Well, again, we can't say a hundred percent that Demko is healthy. The fact he only played one game on this road trip and he had been dealing with those back spasms and back spasms can be as inconsistent

as the Vancouver Canucks, right? You just don't know what to expect for them. So maybe that, listen, I don't know anything right now. There's some of the clip, but I, you know, it just, it struck me that on this five game road trip, Thatcher Demko is back. He only played once. Yep. Also I have noticed, and this might just be me cherry picking or anecdotally remember things, Tuckett's not a big pulling the goalie guy. I've noticed that over his time. I, there have been a number of games where I thought the hook was ready and was going to come

from the head coach and it hasn't. Yeah. Um, I just wonder if part of it is he knows that the team sunk and he's not really that concerned about a goalies goals against getting beat up or confidence being further shattered, almost like let them play through it. Like you got yourself into this. You got to get yourself out of it. Like last night, you know, Lankton was a big reason for the amount of goals that Lankton and let in. He didn't have a good night. So it's not

like it was one of those mercy polls where the guys in front of you weren't giving you anything. Like I didn't have a good night. talk it left him in there. Here's the the goalie situation without getting too much into the minutia big picture I wish quite frankly that I could be more enthused about the potential goalie controversy But when I look at it, it's like eighth on the priority chart In terms of things that we have to talk about. Would this seem like in any other year Demko versus Lankton would be like red meat for sports net six 50 hosts. We'd be all over it because it's such a compelling story. But in this season, forget about it.

It's way down the list. Like no one really seems to care. Honestly. Yeah. It's like just like the Brock Besser contract extension. There's so many other issues that are like- I can't, I don't know. I can't pay attention to that.

No way. I got so many other things I got to be concerned about with this team. Lankton and Demko, it's like, well, you know, well, I mean, we could also add in the whole, Ian Clark's not there. If Ian Clark was there, would it have been a different starter last night?

Would he have had a better feel for the goalies? All these things, but we can't talk about them because we've got so many other things we've got to focus on. Can we stop texting in about, uh, Tauke and needing to call a timeout after the three nothing goal? He got one, there were hats on the ice.

They had to bring, they had to bring the carts out to clean up the hats. If you want to tear into the team, tear into them then, you know, like that's, that, that was a hat trick timeout last night. I understand sometimes a timeout is required, but they really did get a stoppage in play. Yeah.

Also they had that huge stoppage in play called the first intermission where he had ample opportunity to say whatever he wanted. Then they came out after the first intermission and were awful to start the second period. They gave up a goal right away and got outshot 20 to 10. Like I, I don't think that talk at tearing a strip into the guys are going

into the room and tearing a strip of paint off the walls would have made a lick of difference last night. They weren't into the game. Does it concern you that, um, because that's where player leadership also plays a role, right? Does it concern you that two of the three Canucks, quote unquote, leadership group are so under the radar right now with Pedersen and Miller.

I mean, those two guys that wear A's. Yeah. I mean, the, the, the captaincy part of it or the- Forget their play, but like the, they don't, they're no, they don't seem to be leading. No, well, they're not. They were invisible last night. Those are, last night. If you're talking about all the cliches that we love about leadership group, culture carriers, leaders, being the guys that

other players look to in moments of crisis, it's really hard to suggest that Pedersen and Miller are doing anything to back up Hughes. And at this point, it's like Quinn Hughes can only do so much. I would love to get Quinn Hughes hooked up to a lie detector and be like, what do you really think of this group? I'm sure he's super frustrated right now. Yeah.

Right? Because this is his team. He's the one that's out there answering the media with regularity and being held at times responsible to explain what's going on with the group when everyone watching knows the one thing that isn't an issue is number 43. So like Hughes can't go out there and be like, I got to be better. Although he did whiff on a puck before that fourth goal. Fair. I mean he could.

That's not leadership. That's not leadership. I fourth goal. Fair. I mean he could. That's not leadership. That's not leadership. Anyway, I'm joking. Hughes, I'm not going to criticize him. We got to get going though. Frank Ceravalli is going to join us next. Halford and Brock show on Sportsnet 650.

Real quick before we go to break, reserve your spot for the big football party at the Clayton Public House hosted by Sportsnet 650. Visit theclaytonpub.com for more Clayton Public House good food, good people, good times. I don't know anything right now.