Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Did Not Embrace The Hard

Episode Date: December 31, 2025

In hour one, Brough and guest host Josh Elliott-Wolfe look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss last night's Canucks home loss to the Flyers (3:00), plus they talk the latest hockey stories with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber (26:10). 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.

Dan-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough. The Philadelphia Flyers come into Vancouver and double up the Vancouver Cadux. They sweep the season's series. And former head coach Rick Tockett has the last laugh. Well, you all know what laughter sounds like. A good leg, but after that, I don't know. It slipped a little bit away, so, yeah.

It must be wonderful to ring in the new year over and over and over. Please kill me. Welcome to the Halford & Brough show. No Mike Halpert still. It's Josh Hulley Wolf filling in, but Jason Brough is here. Good morning, Jason. Good morning, Josh. A-Dog, good morning.

Good morning. Laddie, good morning. Hello, hello. Halpert & Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates, score debt freedom hatrick, no more interest, much lower payments, and financial peace of mind, visit sands-trustee.com and the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a duick deal since 1926. Visit Duick GM on Marine Drive, downtown in Richmond, and at duikato group.com. Make 2026 your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech custom orthotics

because we are coming to you live from the Kintech Studio. And it's almost the new year. Happy New Year's Eve, everyone. You can text in 650-6-50 is the Dumbar Lumber Text Line. And on the show today, 630, David Amber from Sportsnet's NHL coverage, is going to join us and we'll get into, he had a podcast with Elliot Friedman, the 32 Thoughts podcast, where they talked about Olympic rosters yesterday.

And so we'll get into some of that, because Canada announces their Olympic roster at 9 a.m. today. You can watch it on SportsNet. You can hear it here on SportsNet 650 at, like just after this show, on the fan hockey show. At 7 o'clock, we'll talk to Frank Sarah Valley more about that, but also about everything going on with the Canucks as well. And trade options around the NHL. 730, Brady Henderson will help us preview the Seahawks Niners game.

Brady Henderson, of course, covers the Seahawks for ESPN. Very big game. Very big game Saturday night. Not only for the Seahawks, but for Sam Darnold's legacy. Because last year he had the same situation, and he faltered. This year he won't. I believe in him fully. 8 o'clock, no I don't.

8 o'clock, Randy Janda. Canucks game analyst. He's a Vikings fan, everyone, all right? He's a little bitter. Canucks, I am. Canucks game analyst on SportsNet 650. He will join us and we'll talk about last. night's game. That's what's happening on the show. Laddie, 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 we know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You miss that? What happened? Well, Josh, it was another home loss for the Vancouver Canucks last night in Rogers Arena, 6-3 this time to Rick Tocket and the Philadelphia Flyers It was a great start for the home team We'll always have that start The first 10 minutes

Might be the most dominant 10 minutes I've seen from this team all year It scored one goal I think they won the Stanley Cup With that start They got themselves a 1-0 lead When David Kamp scored less than three minutes in

But Dan Vladar Tough to beat him Kept the Flyers in it With some sharp saves and that allowed Noah Cates to tie it despite a huge advantage on the shot clock for Vancouver at the time. The period ended, tied at one

with a 10-5 shot advantage for the Canucks. I believe at one point the shots were 10-0. Yeah. For the Canucks. They were playing so well. Jake DeBresk, he was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch. Noticable in the first,

thrown his weight around, wringing one off the crossbar, and he wasn't the only Canuck that looked ready to go. And then came the same. second period. It was a different story there. The Flyers came out with a much better effort and made a two-one on a goal by Carl Grunstrom,

one of my favorite names, that Thatcher Demko maybe should have stopped. Demko did not look particularly sharp last night, and he didn't look great on the next goal. He allowed, courtesy Travis Kineckney, who probably won't be on Team Canada. When they make the announcement today, he was on the Four Nation squad, but he scored a nice goal, put his own rebound past Demco, and to be fair to Demko, and to be fair to Demko, his teammates did not defend very well on that play either. So after that terrific start, those first 10 minutes, man,

the Canucks found themselves down 3-1 after two periods. They came into the game with a 4-11-1 record at home, and they were clearly motivated to stick it to their old coach, Rick Tockett, but they couldn't put the flyers away earlier. And at the end of the day, the Canucks just aren't a very good team. So motivation can only take you so far. The confline did strike again early in the third

comp. A healthy scratch against Seattle returned to the lineup and played with Drew O'Connor and Kiefer Sherwood and it was O'Connor that shoveled in his 10th of the season. That line was the Canucks best last night which is great for that line but not so much for the team. And at any rate

the flyer struck back seconds later when Matvey Mitchcoff set up Bobby Brink one of my favorites for a tap-in and it was a two-goal game again. It was Mitchkoff's second assist of the game. He played well on a line with Brink and Cates. The Flyers eventually scored into an empty net on a Canucks power play. Power play was no Bueno last night in the waning minutes. And then Tom Velander scored a meaningless one to make it 5'3. So the Canucks pulled the goalie again. And the Flyers scored into the

empty net again. I'm watching this team and I'm watching the remaining core players. I don't I don't even know if you can call it a core anymore, but let's just call the veterans that they've got signed long term, including Brock Besser and Elias Pedersen. And I just don't know how they're going to justify bringing back a bunch of these guys for next season. I don't see it. I don't understand.

I'm having trouble picturing Brock Besser on the team for much longer this season, let alone seeing him in a Canucks uniform next season. these performances at home are embarrassing. 4, 12, and 1. And this is a record that came after they were awful at home last season. I cannot count the number of times. They have had a home game where it's like, all right, guys, come on, we got a home game.

Let's come on, let's pull it together. You know, like when J.D. Miller returned with the Rangers earlier in the season, absolutely dead, lifeless performance by the Canucks and you know yeah they had a good start and but they completely folded their tents when things got hard and that's that's that's that's a sign of a team that has no belief and it's a sign of a team that is just doesn't have enough talent and it's a sign of a team that in my opinion needs to be broken up and there's a question of mental fortitude as well so you mentioned the 412 and 1 record at home for the Canucks so far this season.

Adam Foote was asked about it after the game because they do have a bunch of home games coming up in January. Here's what Adam Foote had to say about how they're playing at home right now. I think the main thing I've done a lot of thinking about this is just when things don't go our way. Like you saw in the second, we're rolling and we've had control of teams. Detroit and here, Utah, there was a stretch where there's three or four in a row. when things don't go our way for a couple shifts we fall off to whatever i'm not going to tell you what i think of that it's more if we get off our game and um we're trying but we go a little bit rogue or we we you know we turn or we we try to get the the breakaway pass or just come out of

structure um i think they want it so bad and they hear the noise around them that they get a little frustrated and and maybe do too much at times or get off the structure and that's where you know our group's got a like I said earlier about this game is when you have a couple shifts where they you know they're playing against good hockey teams they're going to get a couple good shifts and we got to just stay balanced and stay in control of our emotions longer because I mean it was whether they didn't have their legs early we were we had our legs we were rolling I mean the first 12 was even 15 minutes after that goal we were just we were hungry and we were, it could have been up three nothing.

And it seems like we've seen games like that a lot this year at home. And then one or two things go, don't go our way. And we get a little bit out of sorts, I would say. And we're going to have to correct that. Yeah, that looked a lot like the performances early in the season. When people were saying, wow, they're still learning the new system. And you had players, not just young guys, the veterans. And that happened last night, especially on the Kineckney goal.

you know, Tyler Myers and Connor Garland didn't look good on that goal. And, you know, the connects a few weeks ago looked like they'd kind of turned the corner, and they weren't allowing as many shots on goal. They weren't running around in their own end. They weren't getting out of their structure as much, and they had some decent results because of that. But now, you know, the last two home games,

this is a San Jose game where they give up a ton of shots to the sharks. So, you know, that I kind of threw out the trend where they were keeping the shot clock down. And then against the Flyers last night, it was the running around in their own end and, as Adam Foote puts it, going rogue and maybe hearing the grumbling from the crowd and thinking like, ah, I got to make something happen. And then you start running around and you get out of your position and then someone's

running around trying to cover for you. And then, you know, you've left your man. And it's just, it's like a mess. That's what happened on the, on the Connectney goal. And that Connectney goal, that was it. That was 3-1, it was over. It was done. The Connection were not going to come back from that

because it's a team that doesn't have enough firepower. And they don't have belief right now. And they have a number, I'm going to keep harping on this. They have a number of veterans that are signed long term, and they were in the lineup yesterday. They were there, and they didn't. you know, Besser, Pedersen, those are the two main ones that come up. They didn't do anything. They didn't say, okay, guys, all right, I've been here a long time. I've been in the

NHL a long time. I know how these things go. I'm a highly paid player. I'm one of the leaders. I got you. I got this. It was a line led by a guy who was on the scrap heap earlier in the season in Toronto. So this guy said, you know what, I'm going to cancel my contract and then I'll come to Vancouver because they're going to give me a chance. So it was him. It was Drew O'Connor, who is a bottom six guy who's played well this season, had a bit of a rough start, but he's played well. And it's a Kiefer Sherwood who's probably going to be traded. And probably at this point, he's like, any time you want to trade me, you can go ahead and pull that trigger. Because, you know, Kiefer Shirwood wants to be in the playoffs and he's going to go to a

playoff team and he's going to be in the playoffs. So for him, he'd probably rather go to that team now and get comfortable with that team. But when the Canucks do end up trading Kiefer Shirwood, that's their leading goal score. That's their leading goal score that's no longer going to be on the team. So who are they going to look to for a goal? They're going to have a bunch of guys with nine goals left over. and I don't know

there's so like look maybe they pull it together and have a better home record for 2006 for the second half of the season but you got all these long home stretches and if they don't vastly

improve not just a little bit vastly improve their home record it's going to get ugly at Rogers Arena it's going to get real ugly it's either going to be jerseys on the ice booing fan protest or it's going to be what's probably even worse, apathy, empty seats, people just leaving early, not using their tickets, and then you've got to come into the off season and sell a hybrid retool

where a bunch of those guys are coming back. I just, I don't see it. No, and I don't see fans being super, super pumped to be sold that either. The thing about, like, in a season like this, where you are tanking, and I think you've obviously acknowledged that it's, you're a rebuild or hybrid retool, whatever you want to call it, whatever each individual member of management wants to call it, you still want to see the highest paid players on your team perform. And you still want to reach a level of, you want to hit a bar of competency in your top six, especially from guys like Elias Pedersen, who you mentioned.

I think he had a good game against Seattle. And I was like, okay, can he carry it over into the next game? And he did not. I think he had a really bad game last night. Brock Besser, he has one goal in his last 21 games now, I think it is. I think he had one good chance last night that got blocked. Yes, yeah, right in front. You're like, okay.

Is that it? That all you got? And that was it. Keep trying. That was it. And yeah, so like when your best line is your third line of a guy that you found midway through the season because another team didn't want him. And then your two highest scoring forwards, Kiefer Sherwood and Drew O'Connor,

who should be on your third line, but shouldn't be leading, the team and goals, it adds to the frustration of, like, if this were happening and the team were like, hey, we know, we're going to rebuild. Like, this sucks. We'll figure it out. I think fans would still be frustrated, but there'd be a level of, okay, just got to have patience. Yeah. When they come out and this is happening while they're also saying, hey, don't worry, it's just a hybrid retool. That's where fans start to get incredibly. Like a lot of these guys, a lot of these vets who are not showing up, they're going to be back and showing the young guys how to play. Why? Why is management invested in this veteran corps? Like, how are they watching these games

be like, this is a veteran corps we could win with? Like, how are they, what's the logic there? I don't get it. Because these players should be here. Because they already made the decision to sign these guys. So a lot of the time when you make those decisions, you got to dig up with that. You're kind of stubborn. You're stubborn because you've made, you've made the case to give these guys the contract extensions, right? And so... Well, just admit it was a mistake and trade them. Yeah, then you're going to get fired, right?

Then you're... Seriously. Like, that's... That is a major issue right now. And, you know, Drans was on the show yesterday, and Josh and I were chatting with him, and I was like, I was like, you know, the hybrid retool is the plan right now. Could that change? Could that change if this keeps happening at home?

because there's half a season left. Is there more than half a season left? There's more than half a season left. And what reason would there be for the Canucks to turn this around? What reason would there be? Like this season? Yeah. No, no, no.

Just like what reason would there be for the Canucks to have a better performance in the second half of the season and make people a little more comfortable with a lot of these vets coming back. Like, do you see, do you see Pedersen bouncing back? Do you see Besser bouncing back? Do you see anyone on this team that is, or any factor on this team, that's going to be like, oh, they found something here.

They've found something here, and they're coming, it's all coming together, and maybe we're going to feel a little bit better about their decision to bring a bunch of these guys back next season. The thing that would have to happen that I guess both Besser and Jake DeBresser are capable of or late season runs where they just score in bunches and you're like, okay, you know what, the end of season total wasn't too bad.

And maybe you can make the case if you're Kinnock's management that these guys, these guys are complimentary players and you're going to find the players for them to compliment. I don't know how you're going to do that in the off season because, again, we talk about how free agency isn't looking too good right now. We talk about how difficult it is to make trades around the league, especially if you're trying to get young premier talent and the Canucks have been, or we're trying for months over the off season,

weren't able to do it. I can't see that getting much easier over the off season. So I don't know. I don't see a world where I come out of the season going, you know what, it's all going to be better next year, outside of, hey, you get a top three years. I got an idea. How about a coaching change?

What if they brought in Manny? What if they brought in Manny right now? Is that something you could sell? because they're always... That affects the tank, though. No, no, no. That's a good idea. Okay, I agree.

I agree, but... Yeah, that would be the easiest thing they could do. But this team always wants to have something to sell into the off season, right? Reason to... Every team wants that. Something to sell in the off season because the business is to sell tickets, right? The coaching change is always the easiest thing. Like, that's always the first thing the team does.

I wonder if they're considering it right now because they're... They're running out of answers to provide any semblance of optimism for next season. And I agree, you know, when you say that ruins the tank, I know there's a lot of, there are some people out there that are like, no, I just want this to keep happening, keep happening. And I get that. Like, I understand. I don't, you know, I don't want the connects to go on a winning street because I want them in the top three picks or top five picks or whatever. There's also no guarantee

Manny coming in will do anything. But, but, but this whole tank thing is complicated, again, by the fact that they've got all these guys on the team that they plan to bring back according to all the reporting that's done out there. And it just seems, it seems insane to me.

It seems crazy. Like, these are the guys that you're going to keep around, these guys? The ones that have been, frankly, how run down must the, guys be mentally. And do you think they're, do you think they're going to be like, oh, in the off season, I'm going to get recharged, and I'm going to be back in Vancouver. I can't wait, can't wait for training camp, and like, things are going to look up. Don't, don't you think

Brock Besser at this point is just like, I'm done. I would like, I would like, I would like to be traded. Now, the question remains, too, is like, if you put Brock Besser on the market, how many takers are you going to have? I don't know. I still think you're going to decent amount. I think I'm not sure what the return would be. Yeah, I don't know what the return would be, especially with the season he's having, but I do think there are teams out there for almost

every player we look at on the Canucks and we're like, hey, I don't know if this is a guy you can build around, or at least be part of the core moving forward, whether it be Besser or DeBrusk or whoever it is, I still think there are teams out there that are like, hey, yeah, he wouldn't be part of our core either, but he can be a compliment to what we're

doing here. We've got a half decent and center for him to play with. Yeah, exactly. You know? Also, going back to Mani, would he even want the job? Yeah. Would he be interested in it? I think so.

It's an NHL job. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Honestly, I just threw that out there. Oh, I know. I'm just thinking of things where the management group, I'm not even saying this is the best thing for the team. I'm just thinking if I was a team and I needed to sell tickets for next season.

That's my only thought. You know, what would I do to, because you need to start selling that narrative, right? That things are going to be better next season. So you should buy tickets and stuff. You know how you sell tickets next season? You draft Gavin McKinnon. Yeah. That's how you sell tickets.

Like that's like, or in the top three of the very least. No, no, no, no. But Gavin McKinnon's the only one. Well, he's definitely the main one. Gavin, no, no, no. He is the only one that you could really sell tickets around. Most people don't know the other guys Right?

People would be excited about Stenberg But it wouldn't be But it would be like Oh That Swedish kid Right Yeah No no no

They're like Gavin McKenna Yeah A hundred in the terms of selling power And then Was it Fraunberg or whatever You know

Stenberg? No no like Frondel Oh Frondel You know I don't even know These guys Well because I'm not a prospect's guy

but I know Gavin McKenna Okay, let's talk about the Fronberg Canada Does you make it up to Swedish names? Why not? Canada roster announcement is coming right after the show

for the Olympics Sydney Crosby, Nathan McKinnon, Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhardt, Brain and Point and Kail McCarr have already been named forwards on the bubble include Bedard

Shifley, Sorrelli, Seth Jarvis, and Bo Horvatt, who I would love to see make Team Canada. That'd be amazing. Nick Suzuki had himself

a night for Montreal last night in Florida, and it sounds like he'll be on the team, no guarantee. He was in the marketing drop. Right. So he's definitely going to make.

Some controversial picks could include Mark Stone just because I think people wonder about his speech. his ability to stay healthy. Sam Bennett, just because he's not having a particularly good season for Florida. And Tom Wilson, because I think there are some people that might be a little bit worried

that he's going to go out there and do something dumb. We'll see if they switch up the defense at all. Matthew Schaefer would be the name. Yeah. Like I don't think a guy like Jacob Chikrin, although he's having a great year, I don't think he's going to make the team. but Schaefer would be the guy but there's a couple of reports out there

I think Elliot Freeman is suggesting that and maybe Frank Cerevelli are suggesting that they might just bring back the same eight guys that they had for the Four Nations and then come the goalies Jordan Binnington has been

bad this season but based on what's been reported he's expected to make the team Logan Thompson McKenzie Blackwood Scott Wedgwood and Darcy Kemper are all candidates to fill out the other two spots.

So we'll talk to Frank Saravale. Actually, we'll talk to David Amber coming up next about the roster announcement. As always, we'll go around the NHL with David Amber with a focus on the Canadian teams. Leaves had a nice performance last night without some of their key players, including Austin Matthews,

who's going to be making the American team, but I don't know what his form is right now. It doesn't look all that good, and he's not particularly healthy. So David Amber is going to join us next. Sarah Valley, right after David Amber, Brady Henderson, talk a little Seahawks, and Randeep, talk a little Canucks. You're listening to The Halford & 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. It is time for David Amber. He is on the hotline, baby. It is time for David Amber. He will talk some hockey, maybe.

It is time for David, Amber. He is on the hotline, baby. It is time for David Amber. He will talk some hockey, maybe. I'm on the hotline, baby. I remember what I was doing at 23, pooping in my pants. There's a massive butt coming here, guys.

No one's fighting Rick talking. No one wants to fight Rick talking. I'm on the hotline, baby. It is. It's David. It is. It's David, Amber, it is, it's David, he's on the hotline. Welcome back to Halford and Brough, no Mike Halfer, Josh Elliott-Wolf filling in,

still trying to figure out when I start talking for all of the Adog's changes. One day I'll get it, one day I'll figure it out. You probably won't, actually, because even Halford still gets tripped up once in a while. All right, so good to know. Halford and Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Only a licensed insolvency trustee can cut your digital. debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees to learn how visit sands dash trustee.com. You can text in 650-6-50 is the Dunbar-Lum text line, and we're coming to you live from the Kintech studio.

But right now we go to the hotline and we bring in David Amber from SportsNets, NHL coverage. Appreciate it taking the time, David. How are you? Josh, Jason, great to talk to you guys. Happy New Year and it's freezing here in Toronto. It's like, not that you guys care, but it's, it's freezing. It's probably sunny and beautiful in Vancouver, isn't it? Oh, yeah, it's, it never rains here in the winter.

I heard that. Which is nice. So, well, is the heat of a Leaf's very unexpected win, in my opinion, with the guys they had out? One of their better games of the season, how are fans feeling about that, that result last night? Well, I think it's given some fans some hope that, you know, if they can, if they can pull together and play, you know, the style that Craig Baroube wants. And for so long, it was sort of like, how far can we go is going to be the core for, the core four, you know, that whole, you know, Neelander, Mariner, Matthews, Tavares, how far can they take the team? And you're missing, well, Marner's gone and you were missing Neelander and Matthews last night. And they honestly pulled together.

They got great goaltending, which was such a key part of their success. last year, and it was a good win for the team. So, listen, it's a massive hole to dig out from, and I think the reality for a lot of fans is Buffalo was dead last in the east about a month ago or three weeks ago. They won nine games in a

row, and they're still out of a playoff spot. When you think about that, you win nine in a row, you climb past a bunch of teams, but still you're not in the playoff spot. The Leafs are 15th, you know, in the east, and it's not a matter of how many points they're out, but they've got

a lot of teams to climb past. So they're going to have to get on a significant hot streak here, and it'll be interesting if they're actually able to do that, especially missing some of their key players. How worried do you think USA hockey should be about the form of Austin Matthews and the health, really? I'm sure that's a concern. One of the big talking points I've heard in hockey circles is

is Austin Matthews going to be the captain. And it's not a matter of like we're stripping the captain, but it's just, you know, is he ready to lead? Team USA on an international level, and you have so many captains, himself, one of them, but obviously Quinn Hughes was a captain of Vancouver, Brady Kachukuk, a captain, you know, J.T. Miller, if he makes the team a captain, you have all these other guys who've been in leadership roles and will he wear that C for Team USA? I don't know if that's been decided upon yet. You know, it's not like Canada, which is just such an obvious situation. Sidney Crosby is

the ultimate leader, really, in sports or one of them. So, yeah, there is some concern. He was starting to show some signs, too, of being sort of vintage Austin Matthews. The game before getting injured, he scored one of those vintage, you know, changed the angle of the pox, snap at home. He looked great in the game previous. So it was sort of like, okay, that's the Matthews that everyone's been waiting to see. Then he blocked a shot, and we're not sure. They are calling it day to day.

So, I don't, you know, we have, what, six weeks until the Olympics begin. and you can make changes all the way up till six weeks. And that's the thing. We're going to announce the teams today, guys. And everyone's going to be like, oh, this guy didn't make it, and that guy didn't make it. Well, there's going to be substitutions. There's going to be injuries in the next six weeks.

And who's named the 25 guys named today, chances are for each and every team won't necessarily be the 25 they take to Milan in six weeks. I mean, the Americans are going to have a good squad over there. And having Quinn Hughes is going to be a big help for them compared to the four nations where they didn't have. have them and that could have been the difference between them winning and losing at the four nations. That being said, you want your guys to be in form heading into this tournament. And I would

just worry that Austin Matthews, who's such an important player for them, he's either their first line center or their second line center with Eichol, right? Like they would have to be. I can't think of anyone else. And then you've got, you know, you're going to have a good blue line, especially with Quinn Hughes there, but, you know, your goaltending, which is supposed to be a major strength, is, where is Connor Hellebuck's game right now? We actually haven't talked much about the Winnipeg Jets, but they are really struggling right now. I don't know, you know, Hellebuck was hurt for a while, so that didn't help, but what do you think about, just in general, if you're Bill Guerin, are you like, man, we could be in better form? Some of our

key guys can be in better form heading into this. I mean, I probably don't have to tell you guys this, but Winnipeg's dead last in the NHL. Think about that from first to worst. They win the president's trophy a year ago, and now they're dead last. And they're a point behind Vancouver for dead last of the NHL. That's, you know, no one would have predicted that. Yeah, I, it's interesting to see because, yes, you have Ottinger, you have Swainman, you have Hellebuck, you have sort of an embarrassment of riches, and you have a whole bunch of other guys who've played really well as well, you know, Spencer Knight.

John Gibson's been playing better of late, and I'm not even naming some of the other great American goalies. So there's a lot to choose from, but you're right. You do want to be riding your hot hand. You know, I don't see a scenario where Connor Hellebocka reigning MVP and what three-time Vesno winner or whatever it is isn't on the team. And I don't see a scenario where Ottinger is not on the team either. You know, Dallas has been great all year.

And then that third spot, I guess there could be some debate. But, you know, these are good problems to have compared to Canada. and some of the other countries when they look at their goaltending trio that they're going to be bringing. So I'm sure that might be a concern, but Bill Garan, you know, you have six weeks

and you can run with whoever gets hot also closer to the date. And you also might get a situation where a guy starts the Olympics but doesn't play game two. You know, if Hellebuck starts game one and struggles and you go to Ottinger or Swayman or whoever and they win game two,

then you can run with that hot hand. We've seen that. Canada's won a couple of Olympic gold medals using a tandem of goalies and not necessarily the guy who starts game one running the gauntlet for them. So I'm not worried about Team USA's goaltending. They arguably have the strongest goaltending of any country. But you're right. I think there is going to be something about riding a guy with momentum and that's going to be a key part of sort of the coaching aspect of it and how they manage their bench and their players. Well, the Matthews thing is massive for the Americans, in my opinion, just because if you look at this Canadian 4,000,

group that's going to be assembled and we're all going to argue and debate about who should be on and who should be off. But if you take a step back and you look at the group that's going to be assembled, I don't know if there's been a more talented Canadian Ford group than this ever assembled. And I'm getting pretty old. So I remember 87 with Gretzky and Lemieux together and they were incredible, right? And I, you know, 2010, 2014, they win the gold medal but I I think you know 2010 the strength

of that team if you were to ask me what's the strength it was the blue line the blue line was incredible you had you know first ballot hall of famers all over that that blue line you know the forward group obviously was good but this one when you've got

Connor McDavid Nathan McKinnon Cindy Crosby celebrini who I expect to be on the team like I don't know how you defend that? So the goaltending better hold up. But I mean, just some thoughts on the forward group that's going to be assembled.

Because we'll all be debating around the edges of it today. But, man, take a step back and look at it. It's an incredible group. Yeah, it's unbelievable. Honestly, Jason, I think the greatest strength Canada has is the forward group. And there are going to be some incredibly disappointed players today when their names are not called. by Doug Armstrong and who are deserving. I mean, you know, we could see guys, Shifley, Suzuki, Bedard,

you know, Horvatt, Wyatt Johnston, you know, Tom Wilson, you know, these are all bubble guys. Think about that. Bubble guys, right? And they'd be a lock on almost any other country. And these are all deserving guys. They've done everything in their power with the first half they've had to this year. And there's just an embarrassment of talent up front for Canada.

and there's a lot more coming up the pipeline. So that's great news. That's clearly the strength. And you're right, the argument that it might be the greatest collection of forwards we've put together on a single team. You know, we'd have to take a closer examination of that. 87 was incredible, certainly at the top as well.

You know, kind of vintage prime, Gretzky and Lemieux and everyone, Dale Howard, Chuck, et cetera. But you're absolutely right. This is going to be, it's going to be quite a spectacle. come six weeks from now and Canada's strength and not just to score goals and the creativity, but also the way these guys are dogs, you know what I mean? Like if you just think about guys who are just dogs on the puck, Calabrini and Crosby, you know, they just battle so hard.

It's going to be, it's going to be a lot. And you're right. The U.S. has a formidable forward group, but they're going to have to match the firepower of Canada and are they ready to do that. You know, the U.S.'s strength might lie more. as you said, in net, if these guys can be hot. And certainly, it's shaping up to be a fantastic tournament. It don't sleep on Sweden either.

When I looked at Sweden's blue line, you know, you could argue Sweden has the best blue line of any team there, just top to bottom, right? And they're not big, they're not guys who get a lot of ink, the Foresleens and the Brodines, but you talk to players and you watch them play, and you go, holy crap, these guys are just so good. They move the puck well, they defend well,

they're all big and strong and long on the puck, and it's going to be fantastic. The next few days will be really fun to see how these rosters take shape and starting today with Canada. It will be, and the debate around Canada has kind of been the few young guys, right? Celebrating throughout the season, I think we can all agree,

has earned himself into law category, but pre-injury, it was, Connor was more out there. Matthew Schaefer has obviously had a great rookie season, to, with those two specifically, do you think they find their way onto the roster? Well, all the early reports, and, you know, I'm not an insider, but all the early reports you're hearing, if you believe what you're seeing on Twitter and, you know, on social media is that Schaefer is not going to be there. And you can understand that. I'd like to

see him there because I just think he's so dynamic and I love the kid and I just think he's, you know, I think he would take in a lot there. And quite frankly, if you're the eighth, defenseman, and we saw this. I was in Sochi in 2014. P.K. Subban, P.K. Suban, I think, only played one game. And he was a Norris winner, you know,

as the eight defensemen. So even if Matthew Schaefer went, barring there being a number of injuries, it might have been in a limited role, which I thought, you know, wouldn't, I would have no problem with him on the team. But all signs indicate he won't be, you're not all signs, but a lot of social media, you know, speculation is that

he won't be on the team. Same with Connor, Bard. And Bedard, maybe the injury did open up an easiness for them to omit him from the team. I'd love to see Badard there. I think he does so much. I think he's a one-shot score. I think he did everything in his candidacy, namely, you know, score, you know, put up top five points in the NHL. And the way he was playing, the way he was scoring goals, wasn't on the periphery, he was driving harder than that. He did everything in his power to showcase that he's such an improved player in an elite, elite player. It'd be a shame for him not to be there,

but there's also lots of indications that he's going to be omitted as well. But as I said before, guys, it could be one of those conversations where Doug Armstrong is talking to a Conor Bedard and saying, look, you're our first man in. If there's one injury to our 14 forwards and they're unable to participate,

you're number 15, you're the next guy on. And that might be the scenario. And that might be a way that we see a Connor Bedard or a Mark Schifler, or whoever is, you know, that bubble guy find their way to Milan. It wouldn't shock me if that happens. Six more weeks of hockey guys with this compressed schedule, there's going, unfortunately, there's going to be injuries.

We've never seen a season with this many injuries and significant ones, right? And like right across the board, team to team to team. So there's going to be some more attrition, and by virtue of that, there's going to be some more opportunities for some guys. You know what I love seeing as a Canadian? You open up the NHL stats, and you got Connor McDavid, who has been on fire. the last month leading the way, 69 points in 40 games. Nice. Nathan McKinnon's 66 points in 38 games,

and then Macklin-Cellebrini, 60 points in 39 games. Now let's talk a little bit about McDavid in the month he's having because it seems to me that he said, all right, enough of this. I'm putting this team on my shoulders, and he has carried them a lot of the way up the standings because the Oilers, like I don't, Did the, in your opinion, do you think the Tristan Jari moved did anything? Or was this, has this oiler's surge been mostly about number 97? Yeah, I mean, even pre-Jari. And quite frankly, Jari played three games and then got injured, right? McDavid just, he's unbelievable.

And I've said this on your show before. Like, we're witnessing something special here. And I know in Vancouver specifically, there's not a ton of oiler fans. I get all that. And, you know, I grew up in Toronto. Mono, a Leafs fan, and I wasn't a big Oilers fan in Gretsky's heyday, but I still kind of had an appreciation like, oh my God, this guy is just ridiculous. He's out of this world, and that's what we're watching with Connor McDavid. He is just, you know, because call him generational isn't

even the right term for him. Like, he's just, he is an all-time superstar, right? He'll probably go down with the second most points of any player ever, second only to Wayne Gretsky. He's just that good. He's that dynamic. He just can do things that other people. players can't do. And then you have Leon Drysidal, who's riding shotgun with them. And if Drysaddle were on any other team, we would talk about them, you know, in the same vein as we talk about McKinnon or, you know, Matthews a couple years ago, and that type of player. So they're just dynamic. And I think Edmonton finally found its footing. Some of the support groups sort of stepped up to what they needed to do. And, you know, Edmondson, again, they look

like they're going to be right there, one of those teams to beat, to come out of the Western conference. But what we're seeing from McDavid, right, a 13-game point streak, 33 points during that time. He's on pace for 140 plus points now. Like, it's really unbelievable. And, you know, it's one of those things where hopefully people can kind of just appreciate what we have in front of us because it is something you don't see very often. In terms of making up the gap, though, you look at Colorado and they're just having an all-time season, led by Nathan McKinnon, 29, like two regulation losses so far this season is crazy. Their home record, 16-0, and 2.

That's better than Vancouver's. That's a little bit better than Vancouver's. Is there any team that can make up that gap between wherever they are and the Colorado Avalanche? I mean, I don't think so. Things happen, but, you know, I mean, Dallas, it's funny, if they were in any other division, it would already be over, right? Like, if they were in the Pacific, they'd be 19 points in front of badminton so you can afford to go on a five-game losing streak and still feel pretty good about

things 19-point gap they'd have in in one division and and just about the same in the other two divisions the one division they're in though has the next two best teams in the nchel this year and that's Dallas and minnesota so nothing's set in stone and i'm not even sure colorado cares i mean we saw boston have that um historic regular season a few years ago only to lose in the first round to florida there you know i don't think a team is one the president's trophy and then gone on to win the Stanley Cup in more than a decade, right? So I don't think Colorado is sitting there going, we need to be the president trophy winners like this matters to us. I think they'd like the home ice advantage. I think there's

actually a legitimate reason why you do want to win your division in your conference. And that's helpful. And we saw that with Winnipeg who won the president's trophy last year. And they had game seven at home. And remember that first round versus St. Louis, the home team won all seven games. If If that game seven had been played elsewhere, not in Winnipeg, the Jets might have been eliminated. So there is a discernible reason to try and win it, and they are lapping the field. But because they're in a division, you know, Dallas, 39 games in has only had seven regulation losses, which is pretty amazing in its own right as well. So it's going to be a bit of a dogfight.

That's central. I don't think we've seen a division guys where the top three teams were in one division. I don't remember that happening. We've seen some top heavy divisions, but the top three. teams all residing in one division. And what it means from a playoff standpoint is if you are the Jets, if you

are Utah, Nashville, or St. Louis or Chicago and you are gunning for a playoff spot, you know it's only it's wild card or bust. Because that group of teams has no ability to find its way back up to where the big boys are. So we're probably, you know,

we're staring down a situation now we're to be five teams from the Pacific and three from the Central, but the three from the Central of the big dogs that we just talked about. It's going to be fun to watch. David, really appreciate you taking the time, and happy new year. Yeah, happy new year, guys. And by the way, we're going to be on at 2.30 Pacific Time,

breaking down Team Canada with Elliot, Luke, Colby Armstrong, Sam Cousentino, setting up our games tonight on Scotia Bank Wednesday night hockey. So a good early start before you head out to the clubs and the bars out in Vancouver. Come check us out on Scotia Bank Wednesday. night hockey. So thanks again guys and best of 2026 to you guys. Thank you for believing

that I would be heading out to the clubs and the bars tonight. I'll be heading to my couch. Enjoy David. Happy New Year, buddy. Hopefully you may get to midnight. Take care. I probably won't. See you, buddy. See you. There is David Amber from Sports Nets NHL coverage and again you can watch

and listen to the Canada Olympic roster announcement at 9 a.m. if you just stay on this radio station. hear it on the fan hockey show at 9 a.m. or you can watch it on Sportsnet at 9 as well. And then, as David Amber mentioned there, they'll break it down at 2.30, our time on SportsNet ahead of Wednesday night hockey. Canada opens the Olympic tournament February 12th against Chequia. The other countries in their group are France and Switzerland. Not too worried about those

teams. USA is in a group. Switzerland always plays well against Canada in the Olympics. So USA is in a group with Germany, Denmark, and Latvia. Lafia is notably strong. Yes. Sweden in a group with Finland, Slovakia, and Italy. The Finns always show up, but, you know, I think this is probably a three country tournament. With the Canadians, the Americans, and the Swedes. Of course, there are no Russians at this tournament.

February 12th, though, that's a month. month and a half away. So you're looking at the Canadian roster and going, please stay healthy, Connor McDavid, Nathan McKinnon, you know, all these guys. And then on the American roster, look, I think the Americans are going to have a good team there. I'm just saying that if I was Bill Guerin, the general manager of USA hockey, I'd be like, what is going on with Austin Matthews right now? Because this guy is a huge part of our team. If you're talking about the second line center, does that mean Dylan Larkins,

you're to see if he's not, if Matthews either isn't up to par? It's not horrible, but it's not, it's not close to what Canada can bring. Austin Matthews at his best can match what Canada can bring. And so can Jack Eichol or close, come close to matching it at least. Like Dylan Larkin, you'd rather him down in your bottom six probably, right? Austin Matthews was, and I guess still is, a genuine superstar, like a heart trophy candidate, one of the great goal scores of this generation, and he looks like a shell of himself right now. And he didn't play last night, and the Leafs had maybe their best game

of the season. Yeah. Yeah, I do think there's, even outside of that, I think there's a level of what seems to be overthinking from the American side, because from, from, all the reports it seems like someone like Jason Robertson isn't going to make it and the stars tweeted this out a couple days ago he's for American skaters he's tied for first in points second in goals

tied for first in power play goals power play points leads all American skaters in scoring since the start of the 2223 season so if we're talking about form going into the Olympics and concern about it you think you would be like hey you know what let's take the guy that's hot right now

even if he wasn't on your roster heading into the season. The Americans tend to towards overthinking. Yeah, with the roster. And it's all, and it's understandable, but it's all a reaction to Canada. Like, how do we beat Canada? Maybe they just don't see Jason Robertson as the type of guy that you can put out in those situations where it is super intense. Every inch of the ice is, is you have to compete for it, and you have to be really, really good defensively. because they might see their way of beating Canada as we're going to win 2-1.

And we're going to try and shut these guys down and we're going to rely on our goal-tending and we're just, we're going to physically battle. I don't know. I think trying to win a 2-1 game with Canada might be a little risky concerning all the firepower, but you might also think, okay, are we going to open it up against these guys?

You know? Your strengths. It's tough. It's tough. This Canadian team, this forward group is loaded. and hopefully the goaltending doesn't cost them because they should, you know, you look at this roster and you're like, you guys should win.

There's no reason why a team with that much star power and a guy plus a guy like Kail McCarr on the back end. And frankly, the goaltending, some of the guys that they're going to pick today, you know, outside of Jordan Bennington, you look at them and they're like, you know what, they're having a pretty good season. Yeah, Logan Thompson, especially.

It's like, hey, that should be your guy. Their numbers are good. Okay, Halford & Brough is brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats the Duick deal since 1926. Visit Duke GM on Marine Drive, downtown in Richmond, and at Duick Auto Group.com. It is Halford & Brough. Josh Elliott will filling in for Mike Alford on SportsNet 650.