Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Lock Up Hronek

Episode Date: June 19, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk the Oilers forcing a game six with last night's victory (6:00), they go over the Filip Hronek signing (15:00), plus they go around the NHL w/ Sportsnet's Jeff Marek (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na- What a brilliant piece of work. McDavid to Perry. And it's 4-1. I'm not feeling deflated. A little grumpy. Why are you so pissed? It definitely was important for us to get locked up. What do you want me to say? You have holidays in two days. I think what happened in Vancouver did a number of things to me. I think it pissed me off, first and foremost.

Good morning, Vancouver. 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It's Alfred. It is Brock. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintex Studios

in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey, dog. Good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well.

Hello, hello. Alfred and Brock for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help you with anything you're looking for,

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Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews sore feet what are you waiting for Kintec that's what I'm waiting for I'm also waiting for this show to get underway because we had a lot to get into today guest list begins at 630 Jeff Merrick's gonna join

us well well well look at the Edmonton Oilers. They dragged Florida back to Alberta. There will be a Game 6 in the Stanley Cup Finals after a big, big win by Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers last night. Jeff Merrick will join us to talk about that at 6.30.

We're going Stanley Cup Finals heavy today, folks. I know the Canucks landed a deal with Philip Hronick, and we will talk about it. But at 7 o'clock, we're going to be joined by David Dwork from Florida. We'll get a sense of how these Florida Panthers are feeling. Do they match the emotion shown by their general manager, Bill Zito, who was caught on camera chucking a water bottle in anger after they lost game five?

He's now a meme. He is a meme, which is great. That's what the kids say. That's a meme. That's a meme right there. You with the hand claps. Immediate meme. Yeah, exactly.

Zito, Bruff, both got memed. David Dwork's going to join us from Florida at 7, 730. We're going to go to Edmonton. Jason Greger, 1440 Sports Talk Radio in Edmonton. The Oilers have to be over the moon and how the last two games have gone and how unbelievably good, unbelievably good Connor McDavid

has been in elimination games. A cool eight points in two elimination games. Is that good? Is that good? Seems good. That's pretty good. Jason Greger is going to join us at 730.

Eight o'clock. That's where we're going to dive deep into the Philip Hronik contract extension, an eight-year deal, in case you missed it yesterday. 8 o'clock, that's when we're going to dive deep into the Philip Hironik contract extension, an eight-year deal, in case you missed it yesterday. Satyar Shah, who was on the air during Canucks Central when the news broke,

he will be joining us at 8 so we can go through not just what the deal means for the Canucks, but what's going to come next and possibly what it means for going after Jake Gensel when free agency opens on July 1. So working in reverse on the guest list,

8 o'clock, it's Satyar Shah, 7. reverse on the guest list, 8 o'clock it's Satyar Shah, 7.30 Jason Greger, 7 o'clock David Dwork, 6.30 Jeff Merrick. We've got a loaded show. We've got a lot to get into. So without further ado, 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 busy. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? This 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. Conor McDavid had four points again.

Second consecutive game. And the captain led four points again, second consecutive game. And the captain led his team to a second consecutive victory. Five, three, the Edmonton Oilers defeat the Florida Panthers in game five of the Stanley Cup final. Well, well,

well, all bets are officially off. The Oilers have forced a game six back in Edmonton. That game's going to be on Friday. And in Edmonton, the Oilers will be the betting favorites to tie the series at three. And if they can pull that one off, we'll have ourselves a game seven back in Sunrise next Monday. Yes, there's two days off before each of these games, assuming there are two games and not just one. This game reminded me of a lot of things.

It was reminiscent of game three, except with the teams reversed in that one. Don't forget. Yep. The one that put the Panthers up three, nothing in the series. The Panthers got out to a four, one lead and they held on to win four to three.

The only difference in game five, besides the teams being switched, is that the Oilers added an empty netter last night to make it a 5-3 final, but they got out to a 4-1 lead, and then the Panthers got a couple of them back, made it a little bit nerve-wracking

for Oilers fans, but then Connor McDavid scored into the empty net after a brilliant recovery by Matthew Kachuk that went for not. And a less brilliant recovery by Oliver Eklund-Larsen. Yes. Although OEL did score last night.

And he could have had two. For Canucks fans, it might have been more reminiscent of Game 5 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. When New York was all set to celebrate at home at Madison Square Garden, the Canucks spoiled the party, though. They got off to a 3-0 lead in that one, and then the Rangers tied it, and then the Canucks scored three more.

Dave Babich scored the game winner in that one. Quite strong. The Canucks went home to win games. He is strong. He is strong. The Canucks then went home to win game six, which the others are going to try to do. Alas for the Canucks, they went back to New York

for game seven and lost to the Rangers. It's natural for our brains to compare and contrast the present with the past. Our brains are designed to recognize patterns. So we're like, this reminds me of that. But really, there's no telling how this one will play out. There are two teams that have fought back from a 3-0 deficit in a Stanley Cup final to force Game 7.

Happened a long time ago. One of them won Game 7, the 1942 Leafs against Detroit. The other one lost the 1945 Red Wings against the Leafs. That was back in the 40s when the Leafs used to win Stanley Cups because there was only six teams, so it was a lot easier. A few things have changed since then. You're allowed to pass the puck forward. Goalies wear masks.

Right, but aside from that, same thing. Which is a good idea. I think we've all agreed. Of course, we've seen a couple of other teams overcome 3-0 deficits in the earlier rounds. 75 Islanders, the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins, who bounced back nicely the next season. And most recently, the 2014 LA Kings, who did it to the San Jose Sharks.

So we know it's possible. And I said it Monday and I'll say it again today. Wouldn't it be remarkable, not necessarily enjoyable if you're a Canucks fan, but remarkable if this is the way the Canadian drought gets broken. If Connor McDavid, arguably the greatest talent we've ever seen in the game, text in if you disagree with that. I don't really care. Puts the Oilers on his back and wins the whole damn thing.

Yep. Eight points in his last two games, as Halford mentioned. Eight points while facing elimination. We have not seen a player put up these kind of numbers in the playoffs since the days of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. It is truly remarkable. McDavid's assist on Corey Perry's game winner last night could go down as one of the most famous goals in Stanley Cup final history. And I say could because I think it'll be even more famous if the Oilers come back and win this series.

On that goal, he beat practically the entire Panthers team out there, allowing Corey Perry to be like, well, nobody's watching me. I'm just going to sneak in here and get open for a brilliant cross-ice pass. That's one of the best goals you'll ever see in a big game. And I was thinking last night, I was watching Connor McDavid. I was like, it'll be nice to cheer for him when we finally see him suit up for Canada in best-on-best competition. The only time it'll ever nice to cheer for him when we finally see him suit up for Canada and best on best competition. The only time it'll ever happen.

I'll say this. So earlier in the week, I when I believe it was after the Oilers were down to nothing in the series is the day of game three. So they were facing the possibility of digging themselves a really deep hole. And I use the phrase like referendum. This is going to be a referendum on McDavid because up to that up to that point he had been quiet he wasn't producing offensively and i said you know people are bending over backwards to trying to figure out why you know what's going on with the oilers and how can they reverse this and to me it was simple mcdavid was either going to lead them and pull them out of this or he wasn't and that was going to be the referendum and you push back i think rightly so

it might have been the right terminology but i think the point stood and i think it's even more illuminated now because what he's done in the last two games is kind of exactly what i was talking about like if guys are banged up and you know you're not getting production from your depth scoring and you need someone to make a difference everyone in the room is going to look at 97 and be like you do it yeah you get us out of this and he did it which is a remarkable thing eight points and two elimination so good man he's just like i don't even think he looked bad early in the series he just the puck wasn't going in for him and things weren't happening for him he was still very noticeable out there but he's taking it to another level in these last two games and the way you push back

against my like referendum point was astutely pointing out that, you know, well, Gretzky and Lemieux in their first Stanley Cup finals, it didn't go great. They learned from it and they moved on. McDavid learned from it after three games. He's like, OK, that is why this has actually been a referendum in the positive form. He has cemented whatever. There was no overratedness. There was no additional hype.

Everything that you can say about Conor McDavid as being the best player and one of the greatest, maybe if not the greatest players of all time, is happening and unfolding right in front of our eyes on a game-by-game basis now. Because I've seen guys, I've seen heroic performances before in playoff series where guys will their teams. Sure. I've never seen two games,

elimination games, down 3-0 when mentally you're beat. You're deflated. You're seemingly defeated. And he comes up with otherworldly performances where the staunchest defensive team in the National Hockey League,

I would say, the Florida Panthers, have no answers for him right now. That's crazy because this series was done and dusted at 3-0. There was no signs that they were going to be able to, I mean, they went from being down 3-0 in this series to scoring nine consecutive goals in this series. One of the biggest things that we've talked about on this show for the last few years is that Connor McDavid, for all that he's accomplished in the NHL,

has never really played in a big game. We never had. You know, the conference finals is, I mean, it's a big game. We're talking about like the biggest. And there were two reasons for that. The others had never reached the Stanley Cup final. And best on best hockey was on ice. You know, the players weren't going to the Olympics.

And, you know, we don't count that World Cup. Was he on the young guns team that year? He was a young gun. He was a young gun, right? Like that's not big hockey. That's not like everyone getting nervous about it. That's not where legends are made and your legacy is written, right? Team North America is legendary.

I don't know why. Okay, never forget. Yeah, you guys have way too much Team North America slander going on right now. But this is what he's doing right now is going to go down in the history of the NHL, especially, especially if the Oilers come back and win the series, which is totally possible. So I'm not going to sit here because I want to talk about the Panthers for it.

I'm not going to sit here and say that all the pressure is on the Panthers now because it's, that's a dumb thing to say. The Oilers will still be facing elimination in game six and the Panthers now because that's a dumb thing to say. The Oilers will still be facing elimination in game six and the Panthers will not be. But I think it's fair to say the pressure is about equal now. The Panthers were supposed to be

the veteran team that learned their Stanley Cup lessons last year. They were supposed to be the 1983 Oilers. Or no, no, they were supposed to be the 84 Oilers this year that learned from 1983 and they seem to have such confidence about them as they built that three nothing

series lead. They had a swagger to them. Now, I don't know if that confidence veered into overconfidence. Maybe that's unfair to the Oilers because all of a sudden you're not crediting the Oilers for what they've done and Connor McDavid for what they've done. Maybe it's just all about the goaltending. I don't know. Bobrowski looked unbeatable for the first three games and now he looks very beatable. I was thinking about Paul Maurice during last night's game.

Here's a coach who's been in the league for a long, long time. And he's never won the Stanley Cup as a coach. He lost in the finals with Carolina over two decades ago. That was back in 2002. He lost in the finals last year with Florida. He gets back to the finals. He's got a 3-0 lead in the finals. And now he's at risk of becoming that coach uh let's hear now from florida panthers head coach paul maurice after his team lost two consecutive games and now

has to go back to edmonton for a very pivotal game six paul it's if you go by home ice it's supposed to be three two i know it's not what you wanted but it's supposed to be three two as there is that going to be somewhat i don't know not definitely not cut but yeah it's supposed to be 3-2. I know it's not what you wanted, but it's supposed to be 3-2. Is that going to be somewhat I don't know, definitely not cut, but it's supposed to be hard. I'm not pumping tires. I'm not rubbing backs. I don't think we need that at all. Everybody feels

probably exactly the way I do right now. I'm not feeling deflated. Neither is the hockey team. They're not feeling deflated neither is the hockey team they're not feeling deflated a little grumpy I think for teams that are in this situation

the best thing to do is to lean into the situation and don't try to lie to yourself sure say that wow we're we're angry about this not nothing about you don't have to be like the one thing i always hate is whether like people will say like well if you told us in september that we'd be leading the

stanley cup final three to two i think we'd all be happy about it yep oh yeah well what if we told you in september that you'd be leading the series 3-0 and then you'd go on to lose the series 4-3? Would you be happy about it? Just be honest with yourself. Just be like, hey, it's gut check time for us now. They'd be the third team in NHL history to do that. Is that correct?

Okay, so no one's done what Edmonton's done in a Stanley Cup final before. No one's gone on the road and won Game 5 after being down 3-0. No one's done it beforemonton's done in a Stanley Cup final before. No one's gone on the road and won game five after being down 3-0. No one's done it before. So we are talking about there is an unprecedented nature to this. And with Paul Maurice and the Panthers, I don't really put stock in anything they say

because no one's gone through this before. But just my point is that if you're the Panthers, own the situation. It's kind of reminiscent to the Canucks at the beginning of this season. They didn't make excuses for things that hadn't even happened yet. You know, like they weren't, how do I put this? They just said like, yeah, there's pressure on us. So let's meet pressure with pressure. And like, I think that was absolutely the right way to do it.

It wasn't like, hey, we can't put so much pressure on ourselves that if we get off to a bad start, everything's gone. Just be like, yeah, we need to get off to a good start. Okay, but you know, just own it. My counter argument to that would be that I think that they are genuinely shook right now. So say, say within

your room, just be like, yeah, we're a little bit shook now. You don't necessarily have to say it to the media. Just be like, hey guys, but just own the situation and then just i think what's happened over the last two games is that if you want to use a boxing analogy is the panthers landed so many blows that they thought they were on the verge of a knockout and then the others came back and threw a counter punch that didn't just land but really like maybe made him take a knee or a standing eight count. And they're like, wait a minute. This fight isn't over yet.

And the punch is McDavid, right? I mean, there was a lot of people that were saying. This is awesome. I mean, this is awesome for sports fans. It really is. I know I'm a little worried about the Oilers are going to win this thing, but this is fascinating stuff. Oilers have to win game six. They have to win.

This has to go to a game seven in Florida. I mean, I know a lot of people listening don't want to see the Oilers win the Stanley Cup. I know a lot of people listening would be terrified at the prospect of them going back to game seven, having won three games in a row. I don't even care. This has to go to seven. And the Oilers have to go to seven. There would not.

And the others have to lose. Yeah. If it goes to. Well, good try, guys, but you still lost. Do you understand what game seven would represent from a historical standpoint? We will never see a game seven of a Stanley Cup final like that maybe ever again. Yeah, this is good. This is good for the game.

This is this is this is. And I know people are like, I don't care if it's good for the game. I want the others to lose as soon as possible. Gary Bettman's looking at Adam Silver right now. He's like, ah, this is, and I know people are like, I don't care if it's good for the game. I want the Oilers to lose as soon as possible. Gary Bettman's looking at Adam Silver right now. He's like, ah, we got one up on you guys. See, our teams don't fold. Sorry, we talked about it before. So Edmonton would only be the second team to ever do this if they do this.

The last team and the only team ever to do it. In the 40s. 1942. Yeah. Toronto. Which, I mean. So if they'd be the second team in NHL history to win a cup after being down 3-0 would be bonkers. It's not even apples to oranges. It's apples to... I know.

It's a completely different era. But I'm just saying that's an incredible... Yeah, the Leafs did that one in the second round. Yeah, like those guys were taking off their day jobs as plumbers. You know what I mean? It would still be absolutely insane, though. I don't want to make it... Of course it would be insane.

All the goalies were nicknamed Tiny. Three players died of dysentery in the offseason. I respect the both comebacks. We're going to need him. Yeah. They had to take trains everywhere. I mean, come on. What are we talking about here?

This is going to be... Can we also talk about, because West End Mike said, Maurice and the Panthers aren't feeling deflated because they have an experienced tire pumper on staff. A-Dog, you were the guy that was like, aren't you excited to see this for Luongo? Can you imagine? Oh, man.

Can you imagine Roberto Luongo right now? Now he's going to be like, well, I'm not on the team. See, if they're smart, they'll make a Luongo cam for game seven and you could switch your channel and the entire entire camera's just on the Luongo game. Oh, I just want Zito. I want Zito. Oh, that'd be great, too. That was the guy.

In your reaction cam. He stood up. It came right after the game, right? Or after McDavid scored into the empty netter. There's still time left on the clock. But McDavid scored into the empty netter, and then Zito got up, and he was like, all right, I'm going gonna try and maintain my cool

now and then that water bottle looked at him and went like and weren't you up three nothing recycle me what the hell did you just say water bottle uh so we've just spent uh 20 minutes of the opening segment talking about this series um I think everyone listening right now knows about the Philip Hronik news from yesterday the station station had plenty of hours to discuss that topic, but it is still one that we want to talk about. There was an order of things that the Canucks wanted to get done in the offseason, and Hronick was number one, clearly. And I remember talking on the show and going like,

they need to get some sort of answer on this before July 1st, before the draft, because you can't go into the draft and be like, we don't really know what we need or free agency and be like, we don't know if we're going to be able to sign Hronik. And if you get past July 1st and you haven't signed him and you haven't replaced him, then all of a sudden Hironic's like, oh, I really got you over a barrel now. So Hironic's deal, an eight year extension with a $7.25 million cap hit. That means the Canucks have locked him up until he's 34 years old.

Let's hear from Patrick Alvein now, because Alveen laid it out quite nicely about how this was a priority. A pecking order, if you will, for the Canucks and getting Hronik's deal done was atop that priority list. This was something that we have talked with Philip and his agent Alan Walsh for quite a time here.

And I think although that we had his rights for not a year, I think this was important for our team. And knowing his contract number leading forward and also a younger defenseman on the right side that we feel that we can continue to work with. And I think there is more to come there.

So it definitely was important for us to get Philip locked up here. And when he expressed his interest of wanting to stay in Vancouver and be part of this group for long term, we were extremely pleased to get it over the finish line here. So reading between the lines, they knew they had to get this deal done ASAP. It was important to get it out of the way early. It's the first domino to fall, and it gives them a lot of clarity heading into July 1.

And that apparently is of great significance because Jake Gensel's name is now being tied to the canucks from every major insider that works the game and the league yeah um so do you like the deal it's fine yeah i just wish we knew that he could carry his own pair well but here's the only thing that that in the back of my mind like I'm glad they signed him, and I think the deal was fair based on the season that he had and his fit with Quinn Hughes, and if him and Quinn Hughes stay together next season, it's not the end of the world. It means the Canucks will have one of the best defensive pairs in the league.

But if you're committing that long to a player at that money, I just want to know that it's possible that you can move him to another pair and he can help carry that pair because he's getting paid at least like a number three defenseman. The similarities to the Devon Taves extension in Colorado and the situation are pretty eerie and pretty similar. Like it's a very similar situation where he's obviously the number two. In this case, Taves would be the Heronic to McCar's Quinn Hughes,

right? The numbers, this very similar. The age is very similar. The term, all of it. So it makes sense. And I think sometimes we forget that Heronic was almost a perfect,

near perfect compliment for Hughes on that pairing. Like they were great. Yeah. They were incredible. There's no denying it. a perfect near perfect compliment for hughes on that pairing like they were great yes here i think sometimes we want more is a natural thing with anyone that follows sports is you always want more you don't ever want to be satisfied but he was hurt he was hurt at the end i know there's a reason he uncorked like a grand total of one shot from the point that was at the very end yeah i mean i was i was hearing things that obviously i can report but like he couldn't even lift his arms above his head right because his elbow was and he couldn't shoot and you know maybe that got better by the end of the playoffs

but probably not right like i mean you're in the playoffs and uh you know i know he denied it and quite forcefully right but. But he was hurt. Now I'm just looking forward to some other stuff happening for the Canucks because Hronik got done. So there's like two main things that they really, really wanted to get done, I think. Resign Hronik and go out and find another winger. So we might have to wait until July 1st.

They're certainly putting the news out there that they're going to be willing to back up the Brinks truck for Jake Gensel. Gensel will be like, oh, I was reading Daily Faceoff today. Or Elliot Freeman on Sportsnet 650. Sounds like we should take Vancouver's call on July 1st.

Can we call them earlier? That's some good light. No, that's illegal. That's some good old-fashioned light tampering, though, and

I respect the hell out of it. So good job to the Vancouver Canucks for getting all of that done. We've got to wrap up this first segment.

Before we do, I need to tell you about the BC Lions. The roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th season. Get your tickets now at BCLions.com. Coming up, we're going to talk to Jeff Merrick, host of the

Jeff Merrick Show and the 32 Thoughts Podcast. Him and Frege did a late night, overnight podcast talking about Edmonton dragging the Panthers back to Alberta for a game six. We'll talk to Jeff about all that coming up next on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canuck 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. It is now time for Jeff Merrick. Jeff Merrick is joining the show. Get ready for Jeff Merrick. Now it is time for Jeff Merrick live from Dulcab. It is Jeff Merrick on behalf of the Brough Show. 7.32 on a Wednesday.

Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough for the morning is brought to you by Pacific Honda. Pacific Honda is North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one

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Not Dusseldorf. The fictional Bavarian town. It's a place. Just don't look it up. It's not my fault. That's Merrick where it is. I have Dusseldorf on the mind because I'm also keeping an eye on the Euros. The Euros, Andy. The Euros. They're live from Germany right now. Yes.

To the phone lines we go. Host of the 32 Thoughts podcast and the Jeff Merrick Show. Jeff Merrick joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Jeffrey. How are you? Good morning. We have a series. I'm very excited about this. Have you ever, ever seen

anything like what Connor McDavid has done over the last two elimination games? No less. Wow. No, my gut instinct is no. I mean, we've seen some great performances in the playoffs. I mean, I always flash back to goaltenders specifically in the playoffs. But as far as, you know, a forward lugging his team back into a Stanley Cup final here,

like, I know we're talking a lot about Reggie Leach and 1976 and all the goals and the Codsmite Trophy and a losing cause, but he couldn't get the Flyers anywhere in that series. Like, he could not get the Flyers anywhere against Montreal Canadiens at the end. Conor McDavid's gone, you know, pretty much wire to wire here leading the playoffs in scoring, and he is, with all due respect to the Yanmarks and the Browns and Stuart Skinner, et cetera, et cetera, I mean, he's lugging this team into a position where they could win the Stanley Cup.

So I'm talking myself into no, and I'm just doing it live on your show. But yeah, to me, it's no. And what we're seeing, I remember talking to Jay Woodcroft, what was it, two years ago, the first time we had him on 32 Thoughts. And one of the points that he made, and I thought it was a really good one, because I had never thought about it like this. Although it's really true.

And we probably think about Wayne Gretzky like this and thought about Wayne Gretzky like this. He said, whatever you do, don't become numb to this. Like, don't become numb to what you're seeing just because you see it often. Like, how many times have you looked at a Gretzky stat, looked at a Gretzky record, and just kind of shrugged and went, like, oh yeah, a Gretzky thing. Ho hum. And we've kind of done the same thing with Conor McDavid. And every now and then we get reminded what Woodcroft was talking to us about a couple years ago, that this is outstanding, this is incredible, in a lot of ways it's unprecedented and we shouldn't become

numb to it at all like what we're seeing here is something that's going to go down in hockey history um one of the other guys that i was thinking about last night was Paul Maurice, who's been in the league a long, long time. Lost in the Stanley Cup final in Peckin 2002, over two decades ago. Scotty Bowman! Yeah, and then lost. Yeah, right? I mean, and then lost last season in the finals,

and this was supposed to be the season where, you know, the Panthers were supposed to be the 84 Oilers, and they learned all their lessons, and, you know, they were going to supposed to be the 84 Oilers and they learn all their lessons and, you know, they're going to get over the hump. And I was just, if you're the head coach of that team or you're the part of the leadership group of that team, do you just, like, this is a long question and I apologize for it,

but I kind of wanted to bring you up to speed on the conversation we were having. Like, there's nothing that bothers me more than when people say things like, well, if you told us in September, we'd have a three, two lead in the Stanley cup final. I think we'd all be pretty happy. Like that's just like, that's lying to yourself. Right. That, that, that's almost like, that's, that's just,

that's ignoring the reality of what's happening. And, you know, I think in some ways the best thing to do is just tackle it head on and be like, yeah, like, wow, what a situation we're in. We're going to find out a lot about ourselves because we don't want to be the ones to blow a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup final. Let's see how we do.

There is a time and place for greater perspective. You're 100% right. It really bugs me too. It's like, I kind of look at it like the silver medal. Like when someone wins a silver medal, generally they don't want it because that's not the one that they came for, right? You don't want, but then like some time passes and you have some perspective and you look back and you say, oh, you know what? That was a pretty huge achievement. I'm pretty proud of everything that we're able to accomplish.

But at the moment, you can't think like that. Nobody's saying things like that. I don't think anyone on the floor of the Panthers is having the great perspective check here. They're like, well, look how far we've come. We should be proud of ourselves and each other. Shouldn't have had six taps for everybody. No, not a chance. I have thought a lot about Paul Maurice through the last few days,

and specifically last night. Now, I got to know him back in 2005 when I was doing, John Marley was a color analyst for the Toronto Marlies radio broadcast when they moved from St. John's to Toronto. So I got to know Paul and travel with Paul and sitting on the bus or in the coach's office before or after games, you sort of learn who the person is

and who the coach is and how he thinks. And we always talk about hockey lifers in this game and paul is one of those hockey lifers and he's really he's taken on a lot of different emotion you know in a lot of ways he you know paul maurice is a really nice bunch of guys um because we've seen like the loving joking you know friendly you know must watch, after-game, press conference guy. But right now, part of him is seething. I think part of him, too, is, I don't want to say confused, because Paul Maurice has seen things like this before,

but maybe a little bit bewildered. I think that Paul Maurice now is like that, in some ways, the kid at the zoo whose balloon has just left and he's reaching to the air to try to grab it, to try to bring it back, knowing that it might not be coming back here. But I think Maurice said something really interesting. I still think he's wildly entertaining at these pressers. I still think this is must-watch television. Because there's the joking Paul and the fun Paul and the life of the party and all of it, the guy that you want to be around.

Like, there's two different guys at the bar. There's the happy-go-lucky friendly guy that everybody wants to be around, and then there's, like, the cranky guy at the end of the bar that's just seething with rage, and nobody wants to be around that person. We've seen Paul Maurice act as both those guys. And yesterday in the postgame, he said something really interesting.

You know, right away, they were talking about the Panthers and letdown and all this, and he said, Oilers only had six shots in the third period. We're playing well. Right? And I can't help but thinking, like, that is the attitude. Like, teams will take their lead from coaches. And when I saw him say that, he talked about how halfway through the second period you know the florida panthers

were a different team and turned it on and we're playing well it's interesting how the role of the defiant team has now flipped florida was the confident team up three cob here we go smooth sailing it's either going to be a sweep or a gentleman's sweep take your pick now they're Florida was the confident team, up three cobs, here we go, smooth sailing. It's either going to be a sweep or a gentleman's sweep, take your pick. It's either done in four or five. And the Edmonton Oilers were the defiant team. You have Conor McDavid saying, you know, I can't wait for people to underestimate us again,

and we're going to drag them back to Alberta, all of that. Do you not get the feeling now, coming off that Paul Maurice presser, that that's what Paul is trying to sell to the Panthers? Now we have to be the defiant ones. Now we have to be the ones that have their backs up about all of this. And in some ways, inside of two games here, the position of both teams, from an emotional point of view, has completely flipped.

Like, I don't think Paul Maurice does anything frivolously. I think everything he does has a purpose and is very deliberate. And the way that Paul Maurice handled the media yesterday, I can't help but thinking, part of that is how he's handling the Florida Panthers. And he's selling the stiff-in-your-spine guys everybody has quit believing in us, maybe including his own general manager, who you saw have a little meltdown episode yesterday as McDavid put that empty netter in. To me, this is one of the most difficult coaching positions

I think anyone has ever found themselves in because there's no playbook and there's no precedent for what the Panthers are dealing with right now. No team that has gone down 3-0 in a Stanley Cup final has ever gone to Game 5 on the road and won it

and then, as McDavid said, dragged the series back home. No team's ever done it before. So, I mean, I don't, like, Maurice can't fall back on past history and be like, well, this is how you deal with this, or this is how we deal with that. And then the other thing is I don't remember a time where your Vezna-nominated, likely consmite-winning goalie gets ventilated in two straight games

and goes from being the guy that can't be beat to the guy that can't stop. You can't recall a moment like that in two straight games? Nope, not at all. It definitely didn't happen here, and it definitely didn't happen in 2011. I can't recall. I remember once. I can't recall it ever happening. So there's no precedent there either.

There's nothing for Paul Maurice to fall back on. We were joking about that. You know what? We brought it up after. On Monday's show, we brought it up. And Ruff was saying, he's like, well, at least he didn't leave Bob in there for all eight. I was like, oh, there's that. So it is unique in the sense that he gave Bob a break.

But I'm looking at this and I'm saying, so with all these things. It's nice that we can laugh about this now. I'm just going to go outside and have a cry. With the backdrop of all of it. With the backdrop of all of it. I do wonder if Maurice is like, I don't exactly know how we should deal with this. You know what?

I'm glad you brought up Zito. Because I don't, like, whatever. Zito reacted in the moment. I don't even know if he knew he had a camera on him or whatever. But that snapshot was pretty telling to me. Because you could say, like Jason said, oh, we're good. You know, we're still up three two in the series and everything but there's no way that anyone in the florida panthers organization

is feeling any anything other than a lot of angst right now well you have to get i mean pierre dorian got caught caught like this once too i mean pierre dorian had his you know famous water bottle moment as well um i've always found the most frustrating position in the playoffs is that of the general manager. Because essentially, when you think about it, like your job is done on trade deadline. And then you just sit back and you can you can affect nothing. Like your job is done. Now you just sit back and watch what happens. Like you're powerless. The coach makes the decisions on who's in or who's out. The players are the ones that are on the ice performing. As a general manager, you are powerless.

And it has to be an awful feeling, especially when you're right there and you're that close. That's the team that you've assembled. And the last three years, it's been one of the best teams and at times the best team in the NHL. And right now, you can do nothing to affect this team whatsoever. You know, just because you wear a suit doesn't mean you're not competitive and you're not a competitor. And you saw that with Bill Zito. Like, to me, the water bottle part, it's interesting.

The water bottle part, to me, isn't even the biggest part of what we saw with Bill Zito yesterday. Because to me, that's just a release valve. Like, everybody needs a release valve. For some, it's a scream. For some, it's like, you know, punch a pillow. Or for some, it's, you know a go for a run or whatever like everybody needs a release valve for moments i'm gonna throw a water ball everybody needs that so i get that like i understand it you guys probably have your own release valve in your life that uh that that

you use as well to me it was that that the the the pictures of zito just like in a rage, like just staring. Like, you know, I talk about like, oh, which coach has the best death stare in the NHL? Like Mike Babcock always had like an incredible death stare. No one had a better death stare maybe in the history of the NHL than Joel Quenville. Like when you saw it, like, whoa. And I don't know that I've seen one quite as solid um as bill zito's yesterday that to me was when you look at it and you can tell everything that's happening between the ears and the level of rage that is coming along with it that is the proverbial picture um you know uh

picture tells a thousand words that That was that moment yesterday. The water bottle to me is the release valve, but the shots of him sitting there and seething and understanding that he can do nothing to change any of it. He can go to the room and yell and scream, very unprofessional, probably doesn't happen. Like you just don't do that um you could um uh not highly advised certainly not at this very sensitive moment but that that's the moment where i said oh man this is really bad for the florida panthers everybody including the gm are wearing it and feeling it we're speaking to jeff merrick host of the jeff merrick show and the 32 thoughts podcast here on the halford and brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Let's step away from the Stanley Cup Final for a moment here, Jeff. Locally, big news. The Canucks sort of defied convention and made a big move in the middle of the Stanley Cup Final, signing Philip Hronik to an eight-year extension, $7.25 million cap hit. I didn't get a chance to listen to all of the 32 Thoughts podcast on my drive into work this morning. So let us know what you and Freedj discussed about the Hronik contract

and what comes next for the Vancouver Canucks, potentially Jake Gensel. Yeah, I think they'll take a big swing here at Jake Gensel. We all know they tried a trade deadline. We had this conversation on the pod that came out this morning. They tried, and I think they'll take another hearty swing at this one as well. It's funny, too, because on the pod, Frege is like, you know what? I'm done starting fires here. He's on with me every day.

He's on all these other shows all the time. He gets asked about Vancouver, and when you mention anything about the Canucks, it's like mentioning anything about the Maple Leafs, like just times it by a thousand. And that's the fire that you start. He's like, I need a Vancouver break. I need a Canucks break. Anytime I say anything about the Vancouver Canucks. I get it.

I get it. Yeah. I mean, you guys are right there in the middle of it. You guys understand this. Like it's an awesome, I always say like fan bases like Vancouver, like Toronto as well, as much as they get derided for being reactionary and too overly emotional that's what every single, trust me, that's what every single

market wants, like you want that many people to feel that emotionally attached either positive or negative to your team but you want that many people engaged It's worth hundreds of millions to franchise values and it's the reason why guys like all of us have jobs 100%, you know there

used to be there was a mark i'll tell you one quick story there was a marketing campaign for the maple leaf years and years ago this would have been like 15 20 years ago and it was all over the city billboards the whole deal when leaf tv was still a channel and then the catchphrase was the passion that unites us all and someone at at Leafs TV had doctored up a poster inside Leafs TV. So when you when you first walked in, there was one poster that said the passion that unites us all. And on the other side of the hallway, it said the passion that pays us all. And it's true. Like that's what like that's what you want. Like you want that that level of of passion and engagement. Anyhow, for the Philip Verona contract,

I think it's as simple as Elliot's point was that both sides dug in their heels and said, you know, this is my line, and the other side said, this is my line. And then as you get closer to free agency, on the one hand, you never want to let a player get too close and have a chance to look over the side of the hill. But it seemed very much as if both sides dug in as much as they could. And then once both sides come to the realization that the player wants to stay and the team wants the player to stay, things kind of thaw a little bit, and each side kind of gives,

and it feels like this is what happened here with Philip Vronik, and that's how they settled in on the 7.25. The other thing I think that went on here is most likely, I think the Vancouver Canucks looked around at free agency and said, like, look, like, I don't know that we're going to be able to find what we want. And we already know we already have someone here that, you know, that really that can really complement Quinn Hughes. Why are we why are we even entertaining the idea of just trying to replace him in free agency instead of trying to find a way to make this work and trying to find a way to make this fit. It's a really good deal for both sides. It puts them at the $15 million mark or just a little bit under for him and Quinn Hughes.

And I know Hughes has another whopper on the horizon, but right now that's in Kael McCarr, Devontaeve's territory as the pair. And look at it. They're one of the top pairs in the NHL. And you get that for $108 million. To me, that's a win for the Vancouver Canucks, and it's a really nice payday for the player as well. Game six of the Stanley Cup final.

Didn't think we'd be here, but here we are. It goes on Friday. It's pretty great, Jeff. Okay, here's my question to you guys. Yes. Regardless of what happens Friday, is McDavid your clubhouse leader for the Consummate Trophy full stop? Yes.

Yes. Dang. He has 40 points. Yeah, he's the – We all. Nobody's in the clubhouse yet, but – I think win or lose, McDavid gets it. I think he deserves it. Like, Bobrowski's

blown it in these last two games? Yep. Yeah. He has. He had it going into Saturday, and then it softened, and then after last night... Listen, I'm sure you guys have people on your timeline as well saying, like, do they start Stolarz? Like, what?

Well, I actually wondered how short the leash is going to be in game six well and that and that's it too like even the fact that we're having the conversation and as much as initially it may sound crazy uh we're having the conversation about which tells you volumes about how things have gone here and if he plays badly in game six uh cory schneider will start game seven for the Florida Panthers. Oh, dude, like, honestly, I have to be really careful because I'm driving,

but thanks for the biggest belly laugh I've had in some time. It's what we do here, Jeff. It's what we do. We're self-loathing and dark human. That was, like, Chris Rock-ass. Well done. Bravo. You earned yourself a corner office on that one.

Take the rest of the week off. All right, perfect. I will. Thanks, Jeff. We'll talk next week. See you, a corner office on that one. Take the rest of the week off. Alright, perfect. I will. Thanks, Jeff. We'll talk next week. See you, buddy. Jeff Merrick, host of the Jeff Merrick Show and the 32 Thoughts Podcast here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I had a lot of people texting me or on Twitter yesterday that

if the Panthers lose this, do they get fast-tracked to the Sad Club? That is a good question. The commissioner might have to make a decision here. Again. Like a special exemption into the SAD Club. You move past the 40-year. Oh, if it happens to the Panthers, they get bumped up to the 30-year plateau.

Which is? They get special permission. Special exemption. Yes. Which is again. It's like you're hearing out like tiger woods gets uh he might get an exemption for the rest of his life into all the signature events on the pga tour no matter his form which is again why we need edmonton to win on friday and force game seven an entire franchise's

existence do you understand i don't think anyone understands i know i want to see the drama but i'm scared of the actual result because if they win in game six could you imagine though oh i can't imagine i can imagine being very sad and jealous but you couldn't imagine how sad and how jealous i don't think anyone understands how it would be that's an all-timer like Just as a fan of sport, I would want to see that, even at the risk of what could happen. You're telling me that no major sport in North America in its championship series, best of seven, have ever had that happen.

It would be incredible. It would be incredible. It would be back in Florida. It would be... I couldn't imagine what Paul Maurice would say ahead of it, what Matthew Kachuk, what would these guys say? How would they feel? What would you be thinking, staring the biggest collapse in championship final history in the face?

Well, Paul Maurice, what about a guy like Matthew Kachuk, who's so confident and so cocky? And what happens if you lose? Is Kachuk going to give another guarantee? Like, okay, this time. No, but this time for sure. We definitely got it in the bag this time. Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

Speaking of Florida, we're going to go down there and speak to David Dwork from the Hockey News. We had him on, I believe, about a week and a half ago. It was Jamie Dodd and I when you were on your golf trip, and it was an entirely different narrative going around the Florida Panthers

then as it is now as the series shifts back to Edmonton. So we'll talk to David at 7 and 7.30. We'll go to Edmonton. We'll talk to Jason Greger from Sports Talk Radio 1440 in Edmonton. We'll get very different perspectives on this Stanley Cup final

from those two guests. I can guarantee it. At 8 o'clock, Satyar Shah is going to join us on the program. We will talk about the Philip Heronic extension and what might come next for the Vancouver Canucks. Is it going to be Jake Gensel on July 1? We'll talk to Sat about that at 8. There's a lot of hockey talk to come.

We are loaded right until 9 o'clock. Oh, and by the way, at 9 o'clock, we're going to apparently stick around for a little while longer because we're going to take you live to Philip Hronick's media availability, which is scheduled to go just after 9 o'clock this morning. And that one could go on forever, right? Like, he's a talker. Yeah, I can guarantee you that it will be minutes long.

You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.