Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Dominated The Windy City

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk a dominant Canucks road win over Chicago (6:00), plus they look back at a busy night around the NHL with Sportsnet's David Amber (28:05).  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.

Whoa, wait a minute. Huh? Hold up. What? Oh, okay. Did we just lose to the f***ing Canucks? You're listening to Halford & Brough. Shocker traffic tip, they score! Danton Heinen to the side of the net. I think we're giving up too many opportunities in the middle of the ice, but overall, I mean, scoring six goals, I'm happy. There's a massive buck coming here, guys. Close to first, double play!

Fernando Valenzuela has pitched a no-hitter. If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky. Good morning, Vancouver. 6-0-1 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It 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.

Hey, dog. Good morning to you. Good morning. Glad to good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Alfred and Brougham 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 1

of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Well, they pay the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling, they recycle, metal recycler. Well, they pay the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar 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, Canada's favorite orthotics provider,

powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sorfy, what are you waiting for? Kintec, poof, what a night. 16 games, 32 teams. The notes are expansive for today's show. So games, 32 teams. The notes are expansive for today's show. So much to get into. A lot of goals in the Canucks game.

A lot of goals in the Canucks game. Very exciting night on the ice. We got a lot to get into in today's show. We have a lot of guests to speak to today. It begins at 6.30. David Amber, Sportsnet, Hockey Night in Canada, NHL host. All the Canadian teams were in action last night, so we can get into what the Vancouver Canucks did in Chicago to end their road trip.

Very nice way to end the trip with a 6-3 victory against the Blackhawks. We can talk about what the Oilers and the Flames and the Jets and the Sens and the Leafs and the Habs all did last night as well. Sens are 4-2 under Greener. Sneaky. They're up to third place in the division. They passed the Leafs last night, actually. No old mark either.

First team to ever win a game on the road in Utah. Oh, wow. That's a feather in their cap. Way to go, Ottawa. They have to make the playoffs now if they've managed to beat Utah in Utah. Are we all forgetting they used to be Arizona?

What? Utah's this dominant home team. They have been for years and years. Yeah, they're crazy, man. They're a wagon. You know how the NHL just wiped Arizona from the record, just canceled them? That's what I did in my brain. I don't believe that that team ever existed. It's the brand new team in Utah. We're better off for it, really.

730, Randeep Janda, who was on the call last night for the Canucks and Blackhawks. We'll talk to him. Also, Randeep is going to go to Game 1 of the World Series. What a lucky guy. Why? Why is he going? Because it's a big sporting event.

I know. He's a big Yankees fan. It's very exciting. He's a large Yankees fan. And there are two massive markets in it and two very storied baseball franchises. He's making more money than I thought he was. Yeah. And I've seen those.

I was thinking this won't be cheap. I've seen it. Randeep's got that truck money coming in. That's real good for him. So 7.30, Randy Jand is going to join us on the program. 8 o'clock, Vanni Sartini, the manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Whitecaps are in action tonight, 7.30 from Portland in a game that, as we all know, they're very well established,

including the many people who listened to our show yesterday and called me and said, wow, you were really harsh on BC Place. Vanni Sartini will join us ahead of tonight's match. If there is a silver lining, Jason, it may have happened last night because the lower seed in the Eastern Conference, Atlanta, had to go to Montreal, which is the way it's supposed to be. Anyway, bottom line, the road team won the wildcard game in the East yesterday. Montreal's out? Montreal's out. Montreal's out. Atlanta's on its way to take on one of the top seeds in the East.

Sometimes I forget Montreal has an MLS team. They do. They were in the playoff yesterday. There's a very Canadian flair to this play. I walked by their stadium one time. I'm like, oh, yeah. Stada Saputo. They do have a team.

Yeah, they do. Not anymore, though, because they're out. But they did have one. They had an active MLS team. Also, we are giving away a $50 A-Dog, a $50 gift card to White Spot for the third consecutive day. That'll go to caller number three. We're just going to announce it on a whim.

Whatever we feel like in the show, whenever I have a moment to take callers, we will do it. If you're the third caller and you have not won anything from Sportsnet 650 in the last 90 days, you can win a $50 gift card to White Spot. So stay tuned. Don't touch the dial. Keep it on Halford and Brough the entire day. So that's the guest

list. Vanny Sartini at 8, Randy Jand at 730, David Amber at 630. That's what's happening on the program today. 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 was...

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca.

JT Miller, a goal and two assists. Danton Heinen scored twice. Vancouver Canucks 6-3 victory over Conor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Tuesday. Nice little way to end the road trip there. Three wins on the trot, including one in Chicago. Yeah, it's funny what a few games,

what a difference they can make. The Canucks have gone from winless in their first three games, that's bad, to three straight wins and just one regulation loss in their first six games. That's pretty good. It's good. It was a wild first period with six goals scored. The Canucks must have listened to Ray Ferraro's hit yesterday because they scored on the power play after Quinn Hughes ripped a shot wide

and JT Miller pounced on the loose puck. Just shoot the puck. What did I say? Shoot the puck. Sometimes you just get a broken play. You get a bounce. It's a fortuitous bounce. Just give it to Quinn.

Wasn't how they drew it up but it worked but then the Canucks later in the game also scored an absolutely beautiful power play goal that was in the third period when Quinn Hughes who has been incredible absolutely no drop off from his Norris Trophy season last year. In fact, I don't know, he might be playing better. With the perfectly weighted drop pass for Miller at the blue line, Miller feeds Besser for the redirect. That was, I think, was probably the nicest goal the Canucks have scored this season. I don't know, maybe there's a nicer one.

It's in the conversation. It's high in that conversation. Credit to Petey for drawing the penalty as well. He tried to beat a guy. The guy tripped him. And, you know, the Canucks got a power play out of it. I just wanted to kind of go on a little bit more about Quinn Hughes, though. He is so, so good. The numbers, I know Drance has been talking about this a lot,

and it is a worthwhile conversation. The numbers when he's on the ice versus not on the ice are ridiculous in terms of what the Canucks are doing in terms of like expected goals and expected goals against. It's like when he's on the ice, cup contenders. When he's not on the ice possible lottery team right like it's it's it is it was i mean look let's be honest it was a tough night at times for the susie myers pair

they were on the ice for the first two goals against and uh didn't look good doing it right there was a miscommunication on the first goal against where Soucy just kind of shoveled the puck behind the net. Maybe he thought Myers was going to be there, but ultimately Brock Besser had to come down low into his zone. It didn't work out well. It was in the Canucks net pretty quick. The second goal, Tyler Myers just over-skated a puck or the puck bounced over his stick.

It was quickly on to the Blackhawks stick and they scored. So not a great night for that pair but, you know, that's House of Negativity stuff. Yeah. Quinn Hughes, he is just, I hope everyone appreciates how good he is. Like, in my mind,

I have time for a lot of players on the Canucks. Quinn Hughes, head and shoulders the of players on the Canucks. Quinn Hughes, head and shoulders, the best player on the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah. Easily, easily the best player. And that's with some pretty serious challengers. Yeah.

JT Miller is putting up a hell of a fight to try and be that guy with being the, you know, emotional heartbeat as we've described him on the team. But hey, I'll tell you what, don't just take Jason Brough's word for it. Let's hear now from the head coach, Rick Talkett, and pay very close attention to the player comp at the end of this clip, because Rick Talkett only breaks out the Sidney Crosby comp

in very certain circumstances, and only when it's called for. Here is Rick Talkett on Quinn Hughes, talking about Hughes' chase for perfection i think huggy is a type of kid or hughes's type of kid where he's chasing perfection right he you know i don't think he ever sits back and you know he's thinking of like okay like teams are in a game plan so what do i do if they do this like that's how he thinks that's you know we actually talk about that like if a team's gonna be high on him what's the next play um and that's why he thinks. We actually talk about that. If a team's going to be high on him, what's the next play? And that's why he's chasing perfection.

And, yeah, I mean, he's always looking to get better. Is that common to other great players that you've seen? Well, I mean, 100%. They're never satisfied. You know, the most recent guys, and it's like a Sidney Crosby, he's always trying to, you know, how do I, you know, I come to the most recent guys, like, and it's like a Sidney Crosby. He's always trying to, you know, how do I, you know, he changes workout. You know, he changes his patterns. He changes what he does at practice.

And I think that he just would change to perfection. And Hughes is the same type of guy. They have that mindset. We're all very lucky to be able to watch Quinn Hughes on a nightly basis. The Canucks have, you know, rather famously never had a defenseman like Quinn Hughes, and now they do, and you can see what happens when you have a guy out there who can essentially control a game for half a game. A couple other guys deserve their kudos.

Another win for Kevin Lankanen. You know, we talk up Quinn and we say he's clearly their best player. And yet I think Kevin Lankanen has a good case for being the MVP so far. Given the circumstances. Just given the circumstances, right? I shudder to think where the Canucks would be. I mean, last night, listen,

the Canucks have not been great defensively overall. Compared to last season, if last season was what you're comparing them to, the Canucks have not been as good as last year in terms of defensive zone coverage, moving the puck cleanly out of their zone, and boxing out in front of their net. It just hasn't been as good, and I don't know why exactly that is. Maybe they got some new players. Maybe they're trying to do some new things.

Maybe they were focusing on other things at training camp, but there have been some rough moments for the Canucks defensively. Kevin Lankanen has been there for the most part to help that. I mean mean he's playing at a level that Thatcher Demko would that you would expect Thatcher Demko to play I don't know how long

he's going to be able to do this maybe he's just a really good goalie and he's flown under the radar and he's finally found his stuff in Vancouver but you know the Canucks don't play again until Saturday versus Pittsburgh so there's another easily rest up. I realize that Rick Taka will probably want to get Seelovs into a game sooner rather than later.

But right now, I don't think you can go with any other goalie unless you've got an issue with maybe Lankanen getting worn down or you're worried about overplaying him. You certainly don't want to overplay him. But again, the Canucks don't want to overplay him. But again, the Canucks don't play again until Saturday versus Pittsburgh. The Pens, by the way, will be the tired team in that game. They have to play in Edmonton on Friday. So not to jinx anything, but that's what you would call a schedule loss for Pittsburgh, that Saturday game in Vancouver. I don't necessarily always believe that sort of thing

because when you come into a Canadian market and you're Sidney Crosby and you're playing Saturday night, like that's a big game and you get yourself up for it. But it should be a game at the very least that the Canucks are favored in. So good for Kevin Lankanen. Let's talk about Connor Garland because I sent out a tweet last night that I think a lot of people responded to.

Uh, I said, uh, I've gone from worrying about how many years are left on Garland's contract to worrying about how many years are left on Garland's contract. Right. Like, yeah, yeah. Like, you know, not too long ago, it was it was like oh my god like Canucks can't move this guy he doesn't seem to be a fit in Vancouver he just hasn't found his role the Canucks want to clear cap space and he's an obvious guy but you know he's got what has he got three years left on his deal it's gonna be hard to move and now he's been such such a key player for the Canucks that I'm like, wait a minute,

he's only got one year after this one? What? Oh my God. Can they get him to sign to an extension this summer? Is it going to be too expensive? It just makes everything work out there. One of the more remarkable turnarounds in recent memory for a player in Vancouver that, let's be honest,

was not exactly widely loved by the fan base, was not exactly unscrutinized by the media, and a lot of people wondering what exactly were the Canucks targeting when they acquired him in the OEL trade. Obviously, a lot changed when Rick Tockett came in the door. I think that goes without saying. He figured out a role and a spot. And I think he really got Garland to hone in on the things

that make his game unique and make him an effective player. And I think maybe some of that got lost in his early tenure in Vancouver. I wouldn't be surprised if some of it had to do with signing the biggest contract of his life. Like maybe he felt

he needed to do something else. But when he is at his best, not only is he incredibly effective, I go back to the word unique. There's just not a lot of players at his size with his motor, but with the ability to, he's nifty. He's very nifty when he does these things. There's guys with great motors in the NHL, but they don't have either the cerebral level

or the skill set to pull off some of the things that Garland does. Well, here's something he's actually doing now. Actually scoring goals. Right. I mean, that was one of the things that when he came to Vancouver, you can maybe point at. We knew he worked hard. You could see that.

And we knew he won some puck battles. But when he first came to Vancouver, he didn't have that chemistry with Dakota Joshua. we knew he worked hard. You could see that. And we knew he won some puck battles. But when he first came to Vancouver, he didn't have that chemistry with Dakota Joshua. That was one thing, right? Yeah, that's another good point. He didn't have that. And I think he gained a lot of confidence with that. So that carries on even while Dakota Joshua is out.

But he wasn't really scoring either. And lately, he's been scoring a lot of goals. He's already up to three goals on the season and he finished last season strong and he scored some goals in the playoffs too. So, you know, remember last season, the Joshua Garland line and Bluger, they were playing well, but they weren't necessarily scoring. There wasn't necessarily a bottom line and especially for Garland, but now he't necessarily scoring. There wasn't necessarily a bottom line, and especially for Garland. But now he's starting to put the puck in the net, and I think he's been excellent for Elias Pettersson because, like I said,

I think there's two main drivers of offense on the Canucks up front right now. There should be more. Petey should be one of them, but I still don't think up front right now. There should be more. Petey should be one of them, but I still don't think he is right now. I think Garland, if you're talking about who's driving play on that line, it's Connor Garland. And Petey's doing a good job

of being a complimentary player and making some nice passes out there, but it's Garland driving that. And on the other line, it's JT Miller. That guy creates chances and he rushes the puck up the ice. And, you know, sometimes he can be a little bit reckless with the puck. We all know that, but that guy is a guy that can drive

a line. Now let's talk about another line because Heinen, Bluger and Sherwood have been a great line and they got the Canucks off to a great start last night. It's been impressive, right? Like the way that they've been able to move things around and figure out like, can we put, I mean, to be honest, like I did not see this trio of all the line combinations that we were doing preseason and even through the first few exhibition games that this would be a fit. Bluger has been such a good player for this team through the first six games of the year.

He's had a rotating cast of wingers. They've tried him out with different guys. More offensive flair than I think they probably expected when he came over in the first place. I know last year wasn't a huge offensive year in terms of counting stats, but been a good play driver. That was the, I mean, Dan Heinen's game, that's the best game he's had in his short tenure

as a Vancouver Canuck, right? But Sherwood, steadily, I've noticed him more and more and more as the games have gone along, which is a really good thing, right? Some of the other team's defensemen. Yeah. He had 12 hits last night. We thought he had a lot. It was like, wow, 10 hits the other game.

12 last night. What's he on? 7, 10, 12, I think, in his last three games. Yeah, next game is going to be like 30. Yeah, you can't keep going at this rate. You have to slow down. And I mentioned the other day, when Joshua comes back into the lineup, suddenly you're looking at it and you're like, wow,

what an embarrassment of riches outside, especially if you could put him and Sherwood on a line together, which would be a nightmare for opposing defensemen, or if you want to put them on different lines and they're bringing the same thing to the table, then you've got two, you would assume, bottom forward groups that are going to go out there with a very, very assertive forechecker,

which is going to be a nightmare as well. Kyle, the bus driver texts in, isn't what you're describing about Quinn Hughes essentially the argument for a heart trophy if he keeps it up? He makes such a difference to his team versus when he's off the ice. I mean, Kyle, you're preaching to the choir here, man. I think it's ridiculous that defensemen don't get more attention for the heart trophy.

It's like, yeah, you got your award, defenseman. You got a guy out there that's playing. I mean, last night they were able to keep his minutes down again because the Canucks had that game in the bag in the third period. So I think he played like 20 minutes. I think Tyler Myers was the high minute guy again. But here's a guy that you can put out there if you need to for 28, 29, 30 minutes, and he's going to give you his best game.

Now, I think Quinn Hughes is such a driven guy and such a confident guy right now that he looked at what happened in the playoffs and said, I may have won the Norris Trophy, but my season wasn't perfect. I still got some things to learn, and I've still got some ways that I need to adjust to the way that other teams are playing me. And I don't want to say that the playoffs last season was a wake-up call for him, but I think he learned a few things. And he learned, you know what you learn?

You're like, I'm the best player on the ice. Yeah. And obviously, I'm going to be a huge part of the other team's game plan. And it is different when you're playing a series. Right? Because if it's a one-off, you know, Chicago's not going to be like, man, what are we going to do about Quinn Hughes the next game? They're like, whatever, he's gone now.

Thank God. It's over with. Thank God. He's done. So it does change with the playoff dynamic, and obviously we're a long way from the playoffs, but assuming the Canucks get there, I'll be curious to see how he adjusts because I think Nashville and Edmonton did a really good job

not totally shutting him out of the series, but limiting him. I'd say just trying to wear him down. Yeah, that's what happens. Targeting, that's all it is. That's what happens, right? That's what happens to these puck-moving defensemen. And especially if they're undersized guys,

they'll send in two. And they'll just say, for the first few games of the series, they're like, we're blitzing you, basically. And we're going to hope to wear you down. And I think he did get a little bit worn down. And I think, you know, listen, he's just going to have to make some adjustments into the playoffs. But I have every confidence that he's going to be able to do it

because he doesn't look like it, but he's such a student of the game. He really is. On the subject of the blue line, as we work through some other things from last night, I do want to carve out a couple minutes before we go to break. Eric Bronstrom, on two fronts. One, the player himself. And I think I might have been, maybe I talked to the wrong people or I was a tad erroneous in my assessment of their assessments, but I was not assuming that he was going to be

a functional member of the Vancouver Canucks in the early parts of the season. I thought the plan was to keep him in Abbotsford and then break in case of emergency. Maybe that's what the Canucks... Well, I think the plan was, and Derek Forbert had to leave for personal reasons. Right.

I thought maybe it would be another defenseman that would go into the mix. I just wasn't sure. That being said, I was cognizant of the fact that he played close to 300 games in the NHL, so he had the experience. I want to throw very quickly to Rick Tockett because Rick Tockett was complimentary

of Branstrom's play last night, in fact, calling it the best game he's had in his short tenure as a Vancouver Canuck. Here, Rick Tockett on Eric Branstrom after the 6-3 win in Chicago. I thought it was his best game. I thought he distributed the puck well. He was really good.

He skated the puck out. A couple of nice passes. I was pleased with his game tonight, especially on the breakouts. Gurp from Surrey writes into the Dunbar-Lumber text message in basket at 650-650. Brandstrom has been a pleasant addition to that bottom D pairing. Got to see more from him. Got to see more from him. Got to see more from him.

And against tougher competition. All I'll say is this. If, and it's with an asterisk and a big but, as Laddy likes to use that clip, there's a big but on this. If and but this works out, they're going to have Lankanen and Brandstrom on completely like low-end, cheap, come-in-late deals and be very important additions to this team.

There's a massive buck coming here, guys. At a time where they need them. Because I do wonder if Branstrom can play his way into that void in the bottom pairing that we've talked about where you need a puck-moving guy and you need a guy... I just don't know if he's going to replace Forbort. And then I don't know if you can go... If Forbort comes back, when he comes back,

are you going to go Forbort and Branstrom? Are we going to go lefty-lefty on there? Maybe, but Talkett doesn't like to do that. I know he doesn't like to do it, but he might be forced to do it because you know who else has had a real tough start to the season you mentioned this already briefly carson susie it has been yeah but then you're not going to take him out of the lineup you can sit down anyone for a game yeah at this point i don't think anyone outside of hughes and haronic who are i mean you said it yourself when. When Hughes is on the ice, Stanley Cup contender.

Listen, I understand the appeal of Branstrom. I do. I mean, we're just lauding Quinn Hughes, who's one of the best puck movers, might be the best puck mover in the world. And to have another guy that has those types of characteristics and it's talking about moving the puck up the ice and skating well, that's great. But I just don't know if that's how they pictured their blue line.

No, they didn't. They didn't. That's why I'm assuming, because that's why I said, like, he started right in Abbotsford. It wasn't like, come hang out with the team for a bit and practice. It was go to the American League. I don't want to take anything away from it. I think he's played well.

And it is, like, he made some really nice plays, moving the puck up the ice, using his skating, getting his head up, making nice passes out there. But, you know, it's like Daniel Sprong, right? You can see what he brings, but then sometimes you also see where he falls short and why he's bounced around so many times. I think the point, the larger point for me wasn't, again,

necessarily the player, more the acquisition and the job that this management group has done is that... Yeah, I'm just not willing to put him up on Lankanen's level right now. Lankanen was... Considering Lankanen might be the team MVP. Just an incredible addition and a great piece of negotiating by the Canucks to get him at that salary when Lankanen was asking for $2 million

and he essentially signed for less than $1 million. So we got 26 minutes of uninterrupted Canucks talk here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Coming up, I do want to get to the rest of the Canadian teams because they were all

in action yesterday and there were some very noteworthy story, including the NHL's only perfect team, the 6-0-0 Winnipeg Jets. We'll talk to David Amber, Sportsnet Hockey Night Canada NHL host,

coming up next on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the postgame show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. We'll be right back. 6.33 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford and Brough, Sportsnet 650.

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. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour three, or hour one of the program. I'm so excited I fast forwarded to hour three. It's the music. Hour three is brought to you by...

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Where's my applesauce? All right. Let's focus here. We got so much to get into. It was a very, very busy night in the National Hockey League yesterday. All the Canadian teams in action here to break it down for us. David Amber, Sportsnet, Hockey Night in Canada, NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Morning, David. How are you? Hey, guys. I had a chuckle when you said Beverly Hills Cop 7 because you're playing that music and I'm thinking it's not like from Weird Science or it's one of those like late 80s, early nineties movies. It's hilarious. Weird science. What did you think of all the games last night? Did, how did you,

how did you do it? Were you just flipping around or did you just focus on a few games? Well, we have in our little viewing green room, we have, I think eight screens. So there's a lot going on. And I was just constantly updating the game,

sort of as the game would get out of hand or less interesting, we were like, all right, what's next up? Because to be honest with you guys, I think the NHL should do this a couple times a year at least. I think it's a great idea. I love the staggered starts. You know, there's a lot of compelling storylines. I think it's a really

good way to promote the game uh espn did something called frozen frenzy where they basically were in studio from puck drop at six o'clock to the final you know buzzer in vegas at whatever that was i went to bed by then but uh close to 2 a.m eastern so that's a full day of hockey uh you see every player you know it was a couple things came to mind it was only the fourth time ever we've had all 32 teams play there's never been a day when all seven canadian teams have won on the same day and granted there hasn't been that many opportunities but um i was sort of we went into last night but maybe there's a chance there and that ended pretty quickly when when montreal got throttled 7-2 and then the Leafs got throttled 6-2 um but yeah no I loved it guys I think it's a great way to

promote the game and it was exciting there's a lot of really you know interesting storylines all playing out at the same time so it was neat um you mentioned that Rangers Habs game and I don't know whether to look at this from the Rangers' perspective or the Montreal perspective. I only watched Montreal play once this season. That was the first game of the year where Montembeau was unbelievable, but the Leafs badly outplayed the Habs despite the Habs winning. Are the Habs a pretty bad team right now? Well, Montembeau was less Trebo last night, that's for sure. He was out of the net by the middle of the first period, allowing four goals.

So, yeah, it was a rough game for him personally. You know, to describe the Habs as a bad team, I mean, what are the expectations there? They're a young team. They're already banged up. They've already, you know, like Slavkovski missed yesterday's game. Gouli's been hurt. We also, you know, obviously the line injury in the preseason. You know, what are the two expectations there?

What they do have, guys, is a lot of draft capital. They have a bunch of draft picks. They did a really good job of collecting draft picks as they traded away some assets. And now I think they're at a stage where just like Patrick Laine, they observed him and said, here's a guy that could help us right now. They've got to identify a few other players and say, let's bring in some other players. I don't mean this minute. It's just more next year to me is the year that they need to make that push. Next year is the year they should

be saying we need to get to the playoffs enough already. So this year, I think it's another year of growth. You want to see Suzuki, Caulfield, Lane Hudson, who's a pleasure to watch. I think I talked about him last week on your show. You know, I'm not going to anoint him the next Quinn Hughes, but man, with the puck, he is just magical. He has such incredible poise and so much creativity. He's very fun to watch. He's got some of the Quinn Hughes, Adam Fox in him. So they do have a bunch of good young parts, but to describe them as a bad team, yeah, they're a team certainly rebuilding,

not with their eyes on necessarily being a playoff team this year, and that's what we see on a fairly consistent basis. We noted earlier in the show that Ottawa went into Utah and got a win. I think it's the first team to go into Utah and get a win. The Sens are now 4-2-0 under Travis Green, and they actually passed the Leafs in the standing. So they're third place in the division right now. What have you seen from the Sens under Travis Green?

Well, yeah, it's funny. And you guys know Travis Green does, you know, he's all about structure. He's all about discipline. He's all about accountability. And I think that's what Ottawa needed. They also need a goalie they can count on. And last night, Anton Forsberg was that goalie. We're still waiting for Linus Allmark to play. And that's the big storyline here because, you know, much like you guys are waiting for Linus Allmark to play. And that's the big storyline here because, you know, much like you guys are waiting for Thatcher Demko, they're waiting for their guy.

And Lankanen obviously has done a great job in Vancouver. And, you know, until last night, it had been a lot of question marks surrounding, you know, Forsberg and Matt Sogard who's now also injured. So Forsberg was good last night.

I think the team certainly seems more mature. They went out, they added three Stanley Cup winners and David Perron and Amadio and Nick Cousins and guys to sort of help provide some of that leadership and maturity on the team alongside Claude Giroux. And I think sort of the makeup of the team's a little bit better and the structure is a little bit better.

And if they can get their number one goalie healthy you know again i picked ottawa to make the playoffs this year so i i have you know i'm i'm buying i'm buying what they're selling right now and and it's good to see them get off to a good start because what's effectively happened in the last five years guys if you take a closer look at the ottawa senators is they've completely ended any opportunity of making a postseason when they started out with two wins in the first 15 games and four wins in the first 20 games, etc. It's impossible to dig out of that hole, especially in that division.

So it's nice to see them getting off to a good start so far this year. Okay, I'm going to leave Calgary and Winnipeg until the end of this hit because they are the two best teams in Canada record-wise. Don't yell at me, Canucks fans, but record-wise, they're doing the business. I want to focus on Edmonton a little bit here. Conor McDavid had a breakout game last night. Unreal goal. He finished with two, but the Oilers blow a 2-0 third period lead.

They lose in overtime in a very entertaining overtime, but they still lose. There was a real sense of frustration from McDavid and other guys in the room last night because they're still in a bit of a funk. They're 2-4-1 now, and it's another slow start to the season. It seems like anytime something goes right for the Oilers, something else goes wrong, and they just haven't been able to put it together yet in Edmonton.

Yeah, and maybe we shouldn't be shocked. You saw the emotion, and we saw what it took those two months to get to the Stanley Cup final and to lose in a heartbreaking one goal game in game seven of the cup final it's hard then to get re-energize yourselves the next year right away when there's you know seemingly less on the line and there's it's just you know it's human nature to not maybe view game one or two or three or four in October the same as you're viewing the Stanley Cup final. Having said that, what's shocking to me, guys, is how they're losing, you know, the power play,

which regardless of what emotions there, they just have so much skill. To think that it's clicking at 6%, right? They were, I think they were one for 18 or some god-awful number like that. You know, Zach Hyman last night, I don't know how close he watched the game. He had a two-on-one great pass from McDavid.

He made a great move, and he just needed to wait a split second more to put in the empty net, but he kind of went onto his backhand and shot it a little prematurely, and the save was made by Freddie Anderson. It's those little plays. It's literally little plays like that that seem to be costing

the Edmonton Oilers their PK and their power play, which remember how amazing their PK was in the postseason, right? 94%. It's barely at 50% right now. I mean, it's a little shocking. And maybe we shouldn't be shocked because they did lose guys like uh you know warren fogel guys like that who who were on their pk um and did help them in the pk they lost a few of those players and maybe that's now sort of you know holloway maybe that's sort of showing itself so they got to get their pk organized i imagine their power play is going to come back to being you know one of the top units in the national hockey league but right now it's been struggling So it's a bit of a surprise to me how they're losing the games. The fact that maybe it's hard to get that energy the way it was in June isn't such a shock.

But am I worried about the Oilers? I'm not worried about them, but I can imagine there'd be a certain level of frustration within that locker room right now, understandably. Do you think all is well with the Boston Bruins right now? There was that altercation between Jim Montgomery, their head coach, and Brad Marchand on the bench that got a lot of attention.

Last night, they go into Nashville and they lose 4-0 to the Preds. That was the first win for the Preds, so good for them, but the record, the Bruins are 3-3-1, so it's not a disaster, but something feels off there. I've watched the Bruins a little this season, and they don't look like the Bruins of old. Yeah, you know, and maybe this is what a lot of us had expected

when Krejci and Bergeron and these guys retired. We said, all right, well, that's it for the Bruins. It was a good run. And then they came back, and, you know, they still seem to have it. But maybe the attrition is starting to take its toll. You know, there's no love lost between the Vancouver fan base and Brad Marchand, you know, going back to 2011 and all he's been is one of the best players in the league since then.

But maybe this is the year that Brad Marchand is deteriorating a little bit. And it's understandable, 36 years of age. He had three off-season surgeries right that's a massive toll that's been taken on a guy who plays the game so hard and in an undersized body you know having to compete the way he does so um i'm not putting this all on i'm just saying maybe this is sort of the start of a little bit of attrition generally on that bruins team because it's funny you mentioned three-3-1 is a very serviceable start. It doesn't get you knocked out of contention or anything like that.

But they're relying on their fourth line to carry the water for this team. They're relying on the Trent Frederick types to be carrying the team. It just hasn't been their star players that we necessarily are used to them relying on. I'm interested. That's a really good question. Guys, I do think this could be the year there's a little bit of slippage there, and that would

serve very purposeful for the Buffaloes and Detroit and Ottawa's who are hoping to jump into a playoffs fight. They need a team, whether it's Tampa or Boston or whomever, to slip a little bit so they can surpass them and have a legitimate chance of the playoffs. And Boston could definitely be, you know, that team. Plus the drama, right?

The whole goaltending thing. You know, Swayman was in that last night, lost that game to Nashville. You know, you just wonder, you know, he missed camp. What does that mean? Is it going to take him a little bit longer to get acclimated and up to sort of world-class performance, et cetera? So there are distinct question marks.

And that moment with Marshan and Montgomery certainly caught my eye as it did yours. Yeah, and they don't exactly have a trustworthy backup in Corpus Allo. So that could be a situation worth monitoring. We're speaking to David Amber from Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, Winnipeg. I want to start there with the final two Canadian teams that we're going to talk about.

So they have a perfect 6-0-0 record. Only team in the NHL with a perfect record. You mentioned how bad Edmonton's power play has been this year. The Jets are coming in now, after last night's game, 44.4% with the man advantage. What? That's the best power play in the NHL. Not only that, they have the fifth most goals in the NHL with 27,

the fewest goals against in the NHL with 10. They pretty much do everything right. The only thing that isn't great is their penalty kill, and it's still like top 15 in the NHL. They've earned this because they have been dominant. When you go 6-0-0 and you outscore your opponents 27-10, everything is firing for you, and that's exactly

what's happening with Winnipeg, and they got another win last night against the Blues, 3-2 in St. Louis. It's been fun to watch. You just rattled off some pretty impressive stats. Is that sustainable? Probably not. I listen, it's been fun to watch. You know, you just rattled off some pretty impressive stats. Is that sustainable? Probably not. I mean, they're not going to end the season with a 44% power play. But having said that,

you know, this is that strong, balanced team that had 110 points last year. I mean, maybe this shouldn't be a massive surprise. We all remember how badly they lost in that series to Colorado where they were embarrassed, allowing at least five goals in all five games in that series and so we're kind of left with this well the Jets they're pretenders or whatever at the end of the day they're a balanced team they don't rely on one guy

they kind of have what I would say you have the superstar in that and Connor Hellebuck and then you have both Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele are kind of two understated you know I don't want to call them superstars because you, you don't look at them like Conor McDavid or Austin Matthews or whomever, but they're stars, right? Like Mark Scheifele is a point-per-game guy for the last, like, 10 years. Reliable, kills penalties, plays on the power play,

takes, you know, can take big face-offs. You know, really reliable guy. And Kyle Conner, all this guy does is score goals. You know, he's like Brock Besser and maybe even a better's like Brock Besser and maybe even a better version of Brock Besser and hopefully that's not going to get me in big trouble but you know I mean it's what five straight 30 goal seasons I believe or something along those lines like he legitimately you can just pencil this guy in for 30 plus goals every year so they

do have you know star players but the best thing about the Jets is their balance. You run that third line out there and they are the identity of the team. And they're a hard, big team to play against. And it proves them well. I mean, it serves them well. And then you have Connor Hellebuck, who's a two-time Vesna winner. When you do make mistakes or you do give up some chances, he shuts the door. So they're a

really solid team it's been fun to watch uh and i know you want to get to calgary and to me calgary is even a better storyline because unlike the jets where you maybe could have seen this coming no one could have seen what's happening in calgary right now at all yeah my question for you is when is this calgary nonsense gonna end that's a great question i mean Some of us thought it might have, you know, it was going to end last night, right? And what do you know, in the last minute, Nazem Kadri scores. Did you guys, were you watching that shootout? Were you watching that overtime last night? Yep.

I saw Kadri score with 43 seconds left, and I'm like, here we go again. They're just, they're on vibes and, like, unheralded. The stars of the shootout were Justin Kirkland and Dustin Wolfe. That's who won the shootout for them. Yeah, it really is a fun story right now.

To me, it might be the best story in the league right now. It really is. You know, a team, you know, it's not the Vegas Misfits or anything like that, but it's just there wasn't a lot of high expectations on this team. And they are this mix. And we kind of highlighted this last week on Hockey Night. You know, we go, oh, they're such a young team. They're not that young a team.

Like, they have a bunch. You know, you look at Backlund and Huberto and Kadri, Rasmus Andersen and Wieger. Like, they have actually a good core of seasoned veterans. And then they have this mix of young players that are just, like, so excited right now. And, you know, Ryan Huska is using all the players and he seems to be pulling all the right strings it's been it's been a really really good story because you know once they got rid of Markstrom

and Mangiapane you know all of us you know myself included sort of said okay well this looks like a lottery team this looks like a team rebuilding and and listen, we're only six games in. I don't want to overstate this. But they're seemingly playing with a looseness and having fun and playing together. And there's these great storylines. You mentioned Justin Kirkland. That might be the most fun,

unanticipated storyline in the NHL so far this year. It's been really cool to watch. Dustin Wolf has provided excellent goaltending, right? How long was that shootout last night? Seven rounds, six rounds? Six. Yeah, you're staring down Malkin and Crosby and all these guys coming in on

shootouts for you. I mean, listen, it's been a really cool story. When will the bubble burst you off? I don't know. It could burst next game. But enjoy it while it's there. And I think we've seen this in other markets. Oh, I'm not enjoying it, David.

Well, we saw it in Vancouver a few years ago, right, where the expectations were low and things weren't going well, and then the team just found itself. And it was such a fun run. And I know Vancouver didn't make the playoffs, what was that, three years ago? The whole when Boudreaux came in. Was it two years ago or three years ago? It's all a blur. But, you know know I think when teams have these kind of fun runs and they're

unexpected it really makes for an interesting storyline and if nothing else the vibes are good there Huberto seems to be feeling you know a lot more like the guy we saw in Florida than the guy we've seen the last two years in Calgary he's not a hundred point guy let's let's not exaggerate but he you know they'll be happy if he's a 75-point guy, not a 50-point guy like he was the last two years. So, right now, it's fun to watch in Calgary. We'll see when and if that bubble bursts.

David, this was great. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate it, as always. Enjoy the rest of the week. There's only one game on the schedule tonight, although it's a pretty decent one with the Flyers and Capitals, a rematch from last night's game. So enjoy that, and we'll do this again next Wednesday. Thanks so much, guys.

Always appreciate you having me on. Talk to you soon. Talk soon. Thanks, bud. That's David Amber from Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

You know another surprise team that we haven't paid much attention to? Who's that? Washington. Yep. They're 4-1, and if you look at their numbers, their underlying numbers,

they're actually playing pretty well. And that's despite Pierre-Luc Dubois doing really not much of anything. I think he's got two assists in five games. Future Team Canada forward, Tom Wilson, leading the team with five goals. Did you see that going on online? Freed threw out his, one of his thoughts

from the recent podcast, 32 Thoughts, was that he thought that Tom Wilson was going to make Team Canada for the Four Nations face-off. He'd make it interesting, wouldn't he? That was received well online. Certainly not a polarizing figure at all. Yeah, but can you imagine him just laying a big, big hit on one of the Americans? I loved it because...

I have time for that. I have tons of time for it because i when you're building out these fourth line guy when you're building up these rosters i think there's this and i don't blame people for doing this there's this inherent sort of fantasy hockey way to do it where you've got uh four forward lines and three forwards on each line you just pick the 12 best forwards yeah right it doesn't work like that and it never has well to push back i think there's a lot of people that saw how canada used to do it and they would almost go too far to the other side they were like all right well rob zamner no no no i

know you're on the team right now and and I think there are people that think, like, just take the best players. But I do think it has to be – you do have to have certain guys playing a role. Do you remember Brendan Morrow and the role he played for Canada? Of course I remember Brendan Morrow. Dallas Stars legend Brendan Morrow. But in 2010, like, they had that line where they were just, like, banging and crashing.

And, like, these guys are super talented guys that, on on their nhl teams they're some of the best players but you do have to have those guys that'll just go out there and accept a role and if tom wilson plays you know 10 minutes a night but he makes one massive hit during the game and you know like i it's just one of those things where you have to consider it the guy has won at the highest levels before. So you know how I was talking about yesterday that I was in the lab, the kitchen, cooking up some hot takes on the roster. So this is one I think you'll all like. Also mac and cheese.

Yeah. There was a lot of food. I ate a raw potato. Look, this one I may be pandering a little bit. I may be trying to get some Canucks fans on my side, but I'm, I'm cooking it. And I think it's ready. It's the souffle is ready to rise. Connor Garland should be on team USA.

Oh, that's a possibility. The way he's playing right now. Okay. What are you doing with your, with your, with your guns and stuff? He's a good hockey player. Why would he not be considered? Yeah. Like that's not, no, he should be on team USA. But that's not like the hottest take in the world.

He's playing really good hockey right now. Find me a roster right now. I think Nathan McKinnon should be on Team Canada. Yeah, nice, nice. We're going with hot takes here. That's not the same. That's not the same. That's a bad take.

Find me one roster right now that has Conor Garland on it, and I'll say, okay, that was a bad take by me. Yeah. No, Halford's got a point. I don't think he's... I think he's heavily in consideration. I don't think he is. You don't think so?

No, I don't. And he should be. And not only should he be in consideration, he should be on that fourth line. That's what I'm saying. You need guys like that. By the way, I just pictured, I'm like, wait a minute. Tom Wilson is going to like hammer Quinn Hughes.

Yeah, that's the thing. Oh, God. No, I don't want Tom Wilson on Team Canada. You got to think. No, no, no want Tom Wilson on Team Canada. No, you gotta think. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You gotta think big picture here, right? Anyway, that was one that I was working on and I was ready to

bring it to the forefront. I think that in these short tournaments, you brought up a good point. You need guys to accept certain roles. You do. You need a guy accept certain roles. You do. You need a guy that's normally a frontline player on his NHL team to say, hey, you're not that guy here.

Brandon Morrow was a great example at the Olympics. There were countless other guys that have done it as well. Some of them begrudgingly. Some of them don't like it. All these guys have egos. All these guys are really high-end, talented players. But they want to be part of the team. Secondly, you also need guys that that comes to naturally and inherently and they don't have

to go out of their skin to try and become a banger or a crasher exactly you know what i mean so you find a guy like a wilson or as i say connor garland and you say hey can you do what you do for your team at a really high level in a really small role on our team? I think it'll be interesting to see what happens. It's going to be fun to put these rosters together because remember this Four Nations tournament, don't think of it by itself as this super important tournament. It's essentially a warm-up for the Olympics.

And we're all going to want Canada to go out there and play well and win the Four Nations because anytime best-on-best hockey is involved, you want Canada to go out there and play well and and win the four nations because anytime best on best hockey is involved you want Canada to win but this is kind of the appetizer for the Olympics when it really matters and I'll be very curious to see how they put this roster together and the Americans as well for that matter okay we got lots more to get to on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Open segment coming up. We will go around the NHL and try and get caught up on the non-Canadian stories from yesterday

because there was a lot of those as well. We can also dive into the Dunbar-Lumber text message in Basket and read some of your texts as they pertain to the Vancouver Canucks and their 6-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks yesterday. Dunbar-Lumber text line 650-650. Get them in. It's your chance to be on the radio. Start getting your What We Learns in as well. Hashtag them WWL.

Tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports. We'll do those at 830. It's your chance to be on the radio. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.