Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Need More Curtis Doulgases

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss what the Canucks can expect from Tampa Bay tonight with Lightning reporter Erik Erlendsson (1:25), plus the boys get the latest news around the Oilers with Sports 1440 Edmonton's Jason Gregor (24:40).  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.

Thursday, everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halper and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have payday loan debt? If you do, Sands and Associates can cut your debt by 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. Eric Erlinson from Lightning Insider.com is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 2. Hour 2 is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason.

Dot mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. Dom Mortgage. We are broadcasting live from the Kintech Studio, Step Strong with Orthotics and Footwear from Kintech. Guests on Sportsnet 650, call in on the ABLE Auctions hotline.

Email sales at A, B, L-E, Auctions.C.A. to get your business assets sold and your building cleared. You know what, Jason, let's go now to that ABLE Auctions hotline. Our next guest is from Lightning Insider.com. Eric Erlinson joins us now on the health. Offord & Breff Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Eric. How are you? I'm good, gentlemen. How are you?

We're well. Thanks for taking the time to do this. So my first question is, if I'm not mistaken, please correct me if I'm wrong, but you have been on this Tampa Bay Lightning Beat since 2000, correct? Yeah, not to make myself feel old, but yes. I'm trying not to do that. There is a point to all of this. So you started when you were 11 years old, right? That was crazy.

You must have been a genius. So the reason I ask is because you've seen many head coaches during your time covering the team. If I'm not mistaken, it goes Luzik, Tortorella, Melrose was in there for a bit, Tocke was in there for a bit, Gie Boucher. But that was the first half of the beat. The second half over the last decade and a half has been all about John Cooper, who's been in charge since 2013. What has been the key to John Cooper's longevity is the head?

head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning? Well, as any coach, it starts with success, right? If you don't have success, you're not going to be around as long. But I think the biggest reason he has had success is he's just got this knack, this ability, and it's a strength of his. It's probably the biggest strength of his as a coach is a way to relate to the players on a personal level and be able to tap into that and build those. relationships and build a trust with those relationships that, you know, I mean, there's a reason why

his name comes up a lot in these like player polls every year, right? Like, who would you most want to play for? His name is usually at the top of that list. Just because of the way he goes about handling himself, the way he deals with players, he can get a point across without belittling guys, right? Like, he can build you up without having to tear you down. And he has built up that trust over the years, and I've used this example many, many times, and I'll use it again. The 2020 conference finals, Blake Coleman makes a mistake against the islanders, blows the zone too early. Islanders keep the puck in and they tie the game. Rather than being irate about it, angry over it, benching a guy,

sitting a line down, he throws that line right back out on the ice, and Blake Goldman goes down and scores the goal. Right. So he just, he has this ability to understand. mistakes are going to happen. This is how I'm going to deal with it. Let's see how you respond. And generally the players respond the right way. I think that's the biggest strength he's had that's led to his success, but also led to the relationships he's had with his players through the years.

Do you think the fact that he never played the game at a high level, he has almost turned that into an advantage because he realized that if I'm going to be successful in this job, I'm going to have to have a ton of respect for the players and the paths they took to get to the NHL. And if I'm not empathetic to them, if I don't have a good relationship with them, it's pretty easy for them to say, well, what did you ever do? For sure. There's no doubt about it. I mean, we know how the modern athlete thinks, right? It's probably something he learned through the years. I mean, I mean, he was a lawyer. He was a practicing lawyer. and then he turned into his job by, you know, painting lines in Texarkana.

You know, so he certainly evolved and matured beyond the X's and O's of a coach. So he learned how to develop those relationships. I mean, you think about it, like he stood at the wedding for Eric Condra, right, a former NHL player, and Eric spent a little bit of time here when Koup was here. I believe he stood for Pat Maroon's wedding as well. Like you see those relationships that he built at the lower levels. And, you know, it's evolved. and I think it's a little bit different when you're dealing with, you know, the highest level of athlete.

But you just see that's how he's developed those relationships through the year to earn their respect. So I think that's the big part of it is you have to earn the respect of today's modern athletes. You have to know from an athlete's point that the coach is on your side. Right. He's there to help you and get the best out of you. But if he has your back, I think we're learning in today's professional sports, not even just hockey in professional sports. that when the coach has trust in you, you're more likely and more willing to play for them.

So it's been three straight first round exits for the Tampa Bay Lightning, one against Toronto and the last two against the Florida Panthers who went on to win the Stanley Cup in both those years. Florida is not going to qualify for the playoffs this season. How much pressure is on Tampa Bay and John Cooper and Kutjav and all the players on Tampa Bay to make a run this year? I don't know if it's a lot of pressure. I think there are expectations this year.

I feel that they were kind of there last year. We talked about how, you know, Tampa Bay was maybe built a little bit different for that series last year against the Panthers. And I think a lot of people, including myself, felt that whoever won that series was probably going to represent the East in the Stanley Cup final.

Didn't turn out the way for the lighting fans, for sure. But, you know, you look at them now, they're more balanced, they're a little bit deeper. You know, they've found some, some young players through all the injuries they've had this year who can provide depth for them. So I think the expectation level is a little bit higher this year, especially when you look at how wide open the East is.

And certainly the run before the Olympic break had everybody thinking, oh, this is the team. It hasn't been as great coming out of the Olympic break, but they're still a very good team. But in the East, I think it's just going to come down to the matchups, right? Florida of the previous two years were a bad first round match. up for Tampa Bay, and it proved to be the case. So we'll see what it looks like this year. There's so much unsettled in the East right now. Everybody is so close in points.

All it takes is a bad week, and you could drop from first to fifth, right? So, but I think the expectations are there. I don't know if it's necessarily pressure, but I think there are definitely expectations, and maybe with those expectations come some pressure. Tell us what it's been like watching Nikita Kutrov, especially lately. Oh, man. And we were talking about this yesterday on another show here locally and just trying to come up with one word to describe Nikita Khrushchev and ridiculous and brilliant. And like it's just incredible to kind of watch the run that he's been on this year in particular. He's just like he's not flashy, right?

Like he doesn't jump off the ice at you. Like he's not McDavid. He's not McKinnon. He doesn't do it with speed and flash and dash. He does it with almost a chast. test-like approach. He thinks the game so fast, he slows it down, right? Just some of the plays that he can make, pulling pucks off the wall,

the passes that he can make to set guys up. I mean, it's ridiculous. There's that word again on what he can do. I think he's so underappreciated in his talent because it's subtle. It's subtle brilliance watching this guy play hockey and everything he does. you know, what is he at, 111 points in 62 games. I mean, we haven't seen this since, you know, the open era of hockey when Lemieux and Gretzky were getting

150, 200 points a year in terms of the average points for game that he's putting up. It's just, I'm going to say it again, it's just ridiculous what he's doing this year. Isn't it funny how sometimes the littlest decisions? I mean, Kutrov was a second round pick, and I know teams, put a lot of work into their draft list. But a lot of the focus is usually on making sure that you nail your first round pick. And then the second, third, and fourth rounds, you know, you're kind of like, yeah, we've got this guy in our list.

Like, let's take him. I mean, Kutrov was the 58th overall pick in 2011. And he is by far the highest scoring player out of all the players that were drafted, including guys like Mark Schifley and Jonathan Hubertow. Mika Zabanajad, that was J.T. Miller's draft year as well. Do you remember when Kutrov was drafted and was there much said about the decision at the time? Well, it's crazy. He wasn't in the line's top pick that year. Vladimestikov was their first pick in that 11 draft.

Kuthorov was in the second round. You know, when he was selected, like right around that time there was what they call the Russian factor. you know, people were a little concerned about, well, if we draft a rush in this high, are they going to come over, right? Because he wasn't in Quebec yet. You know, so there was that concern. So I think that's a part of the reason he dropped out of the first round. There were question marks about, oh, was he lazy?

He doesn't want to play defense, right? There was a lot of those type of questions that I think that drug him down in terms of his draft stock, which is, again, crazy to think because the work ethic on this guy. is off the charts. He might take a week off when the season's over, and he's back out on the ice, and he's working on pulling pucks off the wall, and, you know, he's working on his skating.

And, I mean, the reason he is so good at what he does is because he puts in the work behind the scenes. But that's kind of the thought process when he was drafted is that, well, maybe he just doesn't work hard enough, and, you know, maybe he's not even going to come over. And, you know, and that didn't even get dispelled, right? Like, he lasted with Patrick Wall and Quebec for about two.

weeks before they traded them, right? Because whatever reasons that Patrick Waugh wanted to get rid of them. And yeah, that's why, you know, we put so much with the draft, we put so much stocking guys who were drafted and everybody develops at their own rate and their own pace, right? Like, you have to show a little bit of patience sometimes with young players to give them a plan. And, you know, you look at the history from when Steve Eisenman took over in 2010 and certainly now with Julian, their track record with their player development program is among the, you know, the best in the league. You look at the players who have come up through it.

And he's kind of at the top of that list because he was drafted in 2011. And they just give him the tools, let them work. It's up to the player to respond to it. And, you know, Kuturov answered any and all questions pretty quickly in his career. Like, his first year it came up was when Stancoz broke his leg, was right after that happened. And, you know, he was getting breakaways left and right. And he saw that part of his game.

But, like, he was scratched in that series against Montreal in 14. he was scratched in favor of Cedric Pocquet, who was a rookie at that time, because of some of the stuff he had to work on defensively. So he's put in the work to improve his game all around. And boy, we've seen the benefits of it. What's Kutrov's personality like? In front of the cameras, you see it, right? Like he's a little standoffish.

But like guys love him. I think if you could, and I've had plenty of these conversations with Akita through the years, he's got a great personality off the ice. Like he, you know, what was the TNT national broadcast? And I asked Yanni Gorda, if Nekita Kutrov, if ever smiles, he's actually a pretty good jokester. He just doesn't show that on camera. You don't see that person out because he's so serious when he's on the ice

in the moment, in the room, everything like that. But you talk to his teammates, you know, and he's a great guy to hang out with. He's a great guy to have conversations with and everything else. So it's just we don't get to see that side of him. because he's such an ultra-competitor. And let's face it, like some guys, you know, in profession sports, the media is not his most favorite thing to do.

Right. Yeah, fair enough. Let's move on past Kutra. I don't want to talk about how the lightning blue line has evolved because I was looking at average ice times last night, just doing a little prep for the show. And Victor Hedman is like a 17-18-minute night guy now, and the top pairing is Darren Radish,

JJ Mosier. Can you just provide us some analysis on how the lightning blue line has evolved and maybe talk about what they're going to do with Darren Radish because he's a pending on restrictive free agent.

Yeah. So Victor Headman and Ryan McDonough both got injured at the same time in November and both missed about 30 games. They both came back for two or three and then they were gone again.

so it forced the coaching staff into having to find different combinations and everything. And even Eric Chernak missed four or five weeks as well, who had around that same time. So at one point in time, they had no headman, no McDonough and no Chernak. So they put Moser and Radish together, and they've been fantastic ever since. I mean, you look at some of the advanced numbers and the pairings and everything else. They're among the top defensive pairings in the league, which just kind of happened by accident. But they've been so good together. and Moser, who played right side most of last year with Victor Hedman, is back on the left side,

and obviously Rattish on the right. And Rattice is fed off of the power play for sure. It never hurts to take those nice perfect passes from Nikita Kuturov to kind of bomb off a 98-mile-an-hour slap shot from the center point. And that's kind of how he's accumulated some of those points this year. So when that happened, you know, Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonough both came back around the same time. and now you had to integrate two veterans who were a key part of your defensive core back into it, and they've tried to kind of

ease those guys a little bit. Right? And Victor, in particular, right, he didn't play in the semi or the quarterfinal game against the U.S. and the Olympics, dressed and didn't play. You know, so he's probably, he won't say it. Nobody said it, but you wonder if there's something else

bothering him in terms of his, you know, health and everything like that. So I think that's kind of contributed to some of the drop on ice time for him. But that has, because of that, that has a lot of other guys to step up. I mean, you know, Max Crozier, who's on IR and Declan Carlis, who's on IR, both kind of got in big minutes this year because of the injuries and that's helped the depth a little bit and push guys into elevated roles that they've been able to handle.

What does that mean for Darren Radish? That's a great question. You know, Julian Breezeblaw was asked that when he met with us about the midseason mark, and basically he said, we're going to want to. wait and see how it goes, right? Because Darren throughout his entire career has been a decent defenseman who had deficiencies.

This year he's put up the offensive numbers. He's been better. Certainly in his defensive zone. He's made some really good defensive plays this year as he's you know, there was some nights he was playing 27, 28 minutes, which you know, this was a guy who's basically a third pairing defense. He was a healthy scratch at the beginning

of the year before the injuries happened. So there's a question of whether which is the real Darren Rattis, the one we're and now or the one that he was before has his game evolved enough to get that life-changing money, what he's going to get, whether it's here or somewhere else. So it is a big dilemma on what the lightning are going to do with Darren Radish moving forward after the end of the season. Okay, a couple more guys I want to get to, and we've only got a few minutes. We talked a lot about Kutrov, but I'm glad we did because I've actually admitted recently that,

you know, like I don't appreciate Kutrov enough, so I'm glad we did that. Andrei Vasilevsky. Is this guy going to win another Vezna? I think it's going to come down between him and Serochin. Like you go deep inside the numbers and Seroquins a little bit better in terms of the high danger chances and everything like that. So we'll see what it looks like at the end of the year.

But the fact that he's put himself back in this conversation a couple of years after the back surgery, again, a credit to what he's been able to do. So we invent himself a little bit as a goaltender. He's not the super athletic bendy guy. He's a lot more proficient in his movements nowadays, and that's kind of helped him become a more technical goaltent. He was always technical, but he's kind of narrow that down a little bit.

And to put himself back in the conversation, that's a credit to him. Okay, Curtis Douglas, he's a member of the Vancouver Canucks now. What are your memories of him in Tampa Bay? Great personality, great young man. I was so happy when he ended up here and got a chance to be in the NHL for the first time. You know, obviously the fights there, the size is there. The skating is with a lot of guys of that size

needs to have an improvement on what he does. But his teammates loved him. I'll tell you what, again, not only for what he did on the ice, but just the way he handled himself and, you know, the smile he had on his face every day. It's great to see him still in the NHL. Eric, this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time.

time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight. Thanks, boys. Be well. You too, thanks. That's Eric Erlinson from lightning insider dot com here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I wonder more and more of Curtis Douglas is going to be playing tonight. Wouldn't Adam Foot put him in there? You'd think so? Against his old team. The Curtis Douglas grudge match? How do you not put him in there? Who are the fighters now for Tampa Bay? I'd have to check. I don't think Brandon Higel's going to go with Curtis Douglas.

It's a bit out of his weight class, man. Vasilevsky. Vatsilevsky. Just run them? Yeah. Yeah, that would be a good idea. I have heard good things about Curtis Douglas that apparently he's a great guy. And that's the type of guy

that connects are going to need in the room for the next few years. His skating is a bit rough to look at. But having a guy like that on the team who's a good guy that guys love that brings energy to the group every day and is not afraid to stick up for his teammates or drop the gloves. Like that's a perfect rebuild guy.

And there's an opportunity for him in Vancouver as well, as opposed to, you know, in Tampa Bay where you're fighting with the waiver wire or you probably know if you get into the playoffs, you're not going to play. You know? So I'll be curious to see if Curtis Douglas plays tonight. And if he does, I would imagine that Hoaglander would come out again. Normally, I can't think of anyone else who really would. Normally I would say the guy that Curtis Douglas would fight on the Tampa Bay Lightning is

Curtis Douglas, at least based on the Tampa Lightning fight card. He's fought some big dudes this year. He fought Olivier at Columbus, McDermott in Ottawa. He fought Tom Wilson. The only other guy that's fought with regularity is Emil Lilleberg, who I know absolutely nothing about. What about Zemgus? Doesn't he fight sometimes? Yeah, but he's not the problem with fighting.

It's a fighting name. The problem with fighting Douglas Zemgus Gorgensen The problem with fighting Douglas is you You have to Godzilla villain You have to have someone

You have to have someone that's got the physical stature Yeah You know what I mean Like you can't be Just an average man A simple man An innocent man You have to be a towering guy

Which is usually who he takes on Or legit heavyweights Okay we got three more guests to go In The Halford Abrupt show Jason Greger out of Edmonton Thomas Drantz our very own And then Elliot Freeman is going to join us at 830.

Any questions you've got for Elliot, text in to the Dunbar-Lumber text line at 650-6-50, and we'll try to get those questions if they're good across to Elliot Freeman. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go to break, I need to do the One to watch, brought to by Limitless AV,

Vancouver's most trusted audio-visual integration experts. Aside from Curtis Douglas on the Canucks side of things, let's make Nikita Kutraoff our one to watch tonight. Five points in his last game in that 6-2 rumb. over the Seattle Cracken. And we'll see what head coach Adam Foote does to try and match the line of Sorrelli, Hegel. And of course, Nikita Kuturoff.

A lot of different options there. None of them overwhelmingly great, but we'll see what Adam Foote has in store to try and slow down the Tampa Lightning's top line. That is the one to watch, brought to you by Limitless AV, specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces.

Book your personalized tour of their experience center today at Limitlessav.c.a. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. It's Canucks Central on SportsNet 650. From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. Thursday.

Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Broughbts, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brub for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Are you getting collection calls? If you are, Sand and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80%. and stop those calls. Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program

with the midway point of the show. Jason Greger from Sports Radio 1440 in Edmonton. It's going to join us in just a moment here. Hour two of this program is Brad to buy another Jason, Jason hominock at Jason.orgage, the most medal of all the mortgage brokers. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around

to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.orgage. The 36 annual Canucks for Kids Fund Telethon is tonight when the Canucks play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Go to Canucks.com slash telethon and donate today. Donations of $100 or more, Halford, will receive an 8x10 black skate themed photo collage. Cool. Featuring Jake DeBresk, Philipperona, Elias Pedersen, and Brock Besser.

And they went with a sexy theme. Nice. It's like one of those firemen's calendars. Whole body suits. Yeah, it looks good. All right. All right. Yeah.

Something for all of us, you know? Something for everybody. Okay. A reminder, Elliot Freeman's going to join the program in an hour, and I mentioned that after that read, because Elliot, of course, is going to be hosting the Canucks for Kids Telethon tonight during the Canucks Lightning game, 7 o'clock in Rogers Arena.

Some pictures of him, too. Yeah. I was going to say, is he on the calendar? Elliot's like, I didn't agree to this. To the Able Auctions Hotline, we go. There's another Canadian. team playing another team from Florida tonight. It's Edmonton and the Florida. Panthers from Edmonton, joining us now to set that one up and talk about everything that's going on with the Oilers.

Jason Greger from Sports Radio 1440 in Edmonton joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Jason. How are you? Pretty good, fellas, you? We're well. There's a lot to get into with this team, but I kind of want to start with the game tonight because under different circumstances, this is a big, much-bally-hood rematch of the Stanley Cup finalists from two years running, but we saw Florida the other night, and I don't want to say they're a shell of last year's team, but they're very clearly in let's get this season over mode. So what's the mood going and what's the vibe going into this game from the Edmonton side of things? Well, they need a win. Right now it seems that every game that has playoff invocations is a three-point game. It's kind of ridiculous the amount of three-point games there are in the NHL this year.

but um so the orders need wins but more importantly like tonight if i was evanton orders like the florida panthers have uh have basically ruined your dream two years in a row like you can't tell me that that doesn't linger and you got matthew kachuk who you know mous off at any point about your team and your players like the emington orders they should be motivated tonight and i think they should take a page out of the panthers book and try to bully them I almost forgot about the Matthew Kachuk, Leon Drysidle chirps at the Olympics. It still continues, but I guess, I mean, I guess, obviously dry-sidal not going to be a part of things tonight and for the foreseeable future.

Give us and the listeners a rundown of everything that you know about the dry-sidal injury situation, regular season and playoffs. Well, my understanding is that, you know, they expect him to be ready for the playoffs. So, you know, Dry-Sythel, everybody remembers a few years ago. He's got a pretty high pain threshold. was playing on one leg and scored like 17 points in five games against the flame. So obviously it's not ideal that one of your best players is banged up. And I say it every year, the playoffs, the Cup winner a lot of times is one of the best teams,

but also usually the healthiest team, right? It becomes a real battle. You can go through almost every year when you get to the Cup finals sometimes. You know, a key injury when usually the two best teams are there, at least the two best teams for two months. And if one team is missing a few guys, well, that's usually the difference, right? like you look at Florida when they lost to Vegas, Cichuk was out and a few other guys were out,

and then when they won, Eminton was hurt. Now, maybe if those teams are all healthy, it's still the same result, but I do think injuries factor. So, you know, dry-siddle, if he has to start the playoffs banged up, my understanding, it's a, I'm pretty certain it's his knee. If you watch the play, just before contact, funny enough, his knee kind of buckled a little bit. So I know a lot of people thought it was a hip pointer,

but I'm like, he's not going to have surgery on a hip, right? So Stan Bowman, when he said his surgery, I think that kind of maxes with what I'm hearing about the knee. So I think it's a knee, maybe a slight strain. And you know what? Maybe you'll have to play with a brace. You know how it is in the playoffs. It's like Fort Knox for any team. You're never going to know what a real injury is.

So the orders, guess what? You've got to find ways to win without one of your best players. Look at Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh. Everybody thought, oh, my God, there's no Karasby. And then Malcon gets suspended for five games. They're still in the hunt. Right?

The Dallas Stars went like 14-0-0-1. and Rantin and Rupert Hintz missed half those games. So I don't buy the excuse why Eminton can't win without dry-saddle. Like they beat San Jose. And San Jose is a great story, but they're not a playoff team. Like they can't defend. And so, you know, it's a good win for them. And now you've got to go, like, the orders will try for their elusive third win in a row.

They've only done it once, for God's sake. It's kind of embarrassing. Like that epistemizes the order season. They haven't been able to find any consistency. How do you only win three in a row once all year? I don't know. The Canucks can tell you probably. Well, they've done it twice. Can the, I mean, you mentioned the sharks can't defend and they can't.

Can the oilers? Yeah, when they decide to. I'm not a big believer that you can just flip a switch guys, but the orders now, they did change some things defensively, structurally coming out of the break. They've packed the house a little bit. They'll give up point shots more. But they've decided, hey, you know what? it's not a great strategy to give up shots in a slot all day.

And so that's what they've reduced. And the other thing is they've decided to back check on a regular basis. And wow, shockingly, their goals against, like, if you look at Connor Ingham's last six starts, he's allowed 14 goals. So anytime you're under two and a half goals a game, it's pretty good. Right? And you go back even December 1st until the end of January, the orders have the third best goals against average in the NHL at 2.56 for a 20.

game span. But then before that, they were 30th, and after it, they were 32nd for a 10-game stretch. So they can, no one's better in Jekyll and Hyde than the orders when it comes to defensive hockey. So when they decide to play it, they can do it. I really think that Dickinson and Murphy additions have really helped them. You know, Dickinson is a defense-first guy. He can still chip in, but he's a defense-first thinker. And Connor Murphy is a right-shot defenseman who plays in your second pair, is good on the penalty kill, and has a defense-first mentality. And so Emmington needed those two guys,

and I think that with the change in the system has helped the orders, and the numbers excluding that Dallas game, have backed it up. Why has it not worked for Tristan Jari? Well, that's a good question. Well, he came here. His first two games were good, then he got hurt. And when he came back from his injury, well, when he came back from the injury,

was right at the time where the orders decided that defense was optional. So that wasn't a good combination. I think Jari's got to, he's got to work through it. You know, Kevin Woodley had a good point afterwards. He said, you know, he kind of has a checklist for goalies and what I mean, you know, is this goalie first time he gets traded? Lots of goalies historically first time they get traded. They're not great, you know, especially if it's during the season.

And that, and then you look at the system like Jari is, he's not like a Sorokin, or, you know, Vasaleski, who, if there's a defensive breakdown, he can make a few heroic saves. Like, every goalie can make a few of them, guys. But the truth of the matter is if you're exposing your goalie to too many slot shots, it's not going to work. So I think it's a combination of Jari. He came back.

The order is optional with defense, and he played brutal. I really don't think he adhered himself to his teammates very well when his first home start he comes in. And after the game says, wow, the guy got to commit better to deal. defense and he had allowed two soft goals. And I remember being like, oh, my God. Usually you'll say, hey, we got to play better defense. Follow it up with that, I got to make more safe.

Like, it's pretty standard because usually it's true. And he didn't do it. And I think that probably wasn't the best plan for him. And then the other, about two weeks ago, I was watching practice guys. And I've watched, you know, like you, I've watched a lot of practice over the years. And as people say, it's practice. He went, I'm no joke. I want to say, I think I lost count at 13 straight shots that went in.

And I'm not talking breakaways. I'm just talking, you know, the guys come down the wing, shooting from the slot, shooting from the top of the circle, goal. And I'm like, what is going on here? And he, I think a part of it's in his head now. And Ingram's, Ingram is a starter. So Jari is going to get one out of every four, one out of every five. He's got to figure it out.

He's got to play better in practice. And I think he just, you have to battle through it. think for him it's a little bit of mental. And the funny thing was, like last week, when Ingram got ran over by McKinnon, Jari came in, late in the second period, and made two huge saves, and then it was good in the third. And I was like, okay, maybe he's going to now sometimes you just need one good game. And then the next game he got lit up for seven. So I was like, well, I guess I was wrong.

So honestly, I don't know. Like, I asked the question yesterday, when should the order start Jari? Because you can't play Ingram forever. And it was the answers, of course, you had a few funny guys in the minors, but, and they can't go to the minors, so that's not even an option. But, like, honestly, I don't know when you start

them. Like, they play Florida tonight. Like, I would argue, Florida's 15th in the Eastern Conference. This is probably the game where you would play your backup. But, they need a win. And so, I don't know when you play. I'm like, I think it might be Utah next week, but we'll see. Because

Ingram tonight would be his four start in a row, then five. Even the best starters don't go like six, eight, nine starts in a row very often. It's like Helibuck does the odd time. So I don't think you want suddenly having Ingram starting seven or eight in a row. I don't think that's ideal either. I got to ask you, is Stan Bowman's job on the line this season? Because, you know, Jari was his big acquisition. And I realized that was it. There was a, there was a, there's been in a tough situation. You know, it's, it's tough when you, when you don't have the goaltending. And you got to

go out and find one. He took a, took a swing at Tristan Jari. And so far, at least it, it hasn't worked. I'm also looking at, you know, all the pending on restrictive free agents up front for the Oilers this offseason. Do you trust Stan Bowman to go and plug all the holes this offseason if the playoffs don't go well for the Oilers? I think it's a very fair question because there's like Eminson's in a window to win. There's no one debates that. Everybody knows it, right? McDavid's got a new contract that starts next year. It's a shorter term deal.

It's two years. so people say, hey, they got two years to stay competitive. And, you know, luckily this year, the Pacific Division isn't very good, so, you know, the orders could still win the division. If Emerton gets to the conference finals, which isn't unrealistic, like Anaheim first year in the playoffs forever, I would take Evanton against them. You know, Vegas has just as much goal-pending problems, and they don't have McDavid and Dry Settles, so I probably would take Emmettin against them.

So you get to the third round, and then who's standing will see. But I look at the orders like, their USA's Adam Henrique will move on. Jason Dickinson's a guy I think they'd like to sign. You know, Jack Roscovick and Casperi Capitan, those are guys that Bowman brought in for nothing. And they've worked out very well.

So, you know, how much of a raise you're going to give them? That's the key, I think. So, the Jari trade obviously looks terrible. There's no debate. And that. I was, you know, I was one of the few guys in the market who actually thought Skinner thought way more of a blame that he really ever should have

deserved. He had a few bad games. no doubt. But he also had an ability to bounce back and play great. And he did it in the playoffs. He did in the regular season. And, you know, when the orders had decent defensive play in front of him, he was actually pretty good, right? Everybody forgets that, yeah, they got blown out by L.A.

the first two games of last series. They gave up 28 high-danger chances in two games guys. Like, Tristan, sorry, Stuart Skinner isn't Basilevsky. He ain't stone in the team. So I was kind of curious. The Jari trade to me was, you're trading for a guy who has no pedigree in the playoffs who makes twice as much money.

I didn't love the trade before he even played a game in Emmington. And people, oh, you just love Skinner. I'm like, no, I just know Skinner at $2.6 million was a really good value contract, in fact. Guy, it's a Stanley Cup final twice. Sure, he didn't win, but he wasn't the main reason you lost in either one of those finals. So, Bowman, the goalie is a big question mark,

but we go the other way. What if Connor Ingram plays really well? Well, he got Connor Ingram for nothing. Like literally, he got him for nothing. Utah retained, I can't remember what it was, $600,000 or whatever to make the cap work, and they gave up futures, which we know is nothing. So if Ingram plays well, it's kind of like, yeah, the jari trade sucks, but Ingram really worked.

Like, look at the Pod Colson trade. That's an unreal trade for evidence. Right? So I always like to look in, the jari trade is bad. there's no debating it. But he's also made other good moves like capping in for nothing. Pod Colson for a fourth rounder,

which they actually got back in the Evander-Cain trade. So really, they didn't have to give up much for Pod Colson. And, you know, Jack Ross, a free agent signing at a buck and a half. It's really worked out. So he's had probably more hits than misses. The problem is his one miss right now

looks like a massive miss. And that is, like if Jari, let's say, has to play in the playoffs and sucks, yeah. Darrell Cates, I don't know how patient he'll be, to be honest, guys. Like if the order's losing the first round, then I think it could be an off-season filled with lots of question marks. If they get to the conference final and lose, it's, yeah, it sucks, but I don't think it would be the same reaction that if they lose in the first or second round.

Jason, thanks for taking the time today. Always fun to catch up with you. Boys, enjoy the end. I hope you guys raise a lot of money today. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Jason Greger from Sports Radio 1414.

and Eminton here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. Busy night in the National Hockey League by the way, 11 games including two Canadian teams, Vancouver and Emmington taking on two Florida teams and of course Florida and here the Tampa Bay Lightning. And it's a busy final hour on our show

we got Thomas Strance and Elliot Friedman so we are going to do what we learns right now. So Laddie, if you're listening, is Laddie listening? Can we print out the submissions into the Dunbar-Lumber text line at 650.6.50. We'll read a few of them.

An early, early. Matrix. What we learned, human-nard edition brought to you by A.J.'s Pizza on East Broadway. You got to try the bar pie. 14 inches of cracker thin crust topped with tomato sauce, matza and cheddar. Only at A.J.'s pizza. Order online at a.j's. Our buts, Omar, what we learned, the Whitecaps should steal the Canucks postgame German win song and make it their goal song. Maybe. but also how did the white caps do yesterday? Not in Seattle. They were in Spokane on the second leg of their series against the Sounders.

So they played in a very tiny stadium in Spokane. Spokane 1 stadium, I believe it's called. You should see the size of Spokane 2 stadium. I saw one. 5,000 cap. Did you see any of the game? I saw the first goal. It was a nice goal.

camera angle looked like it was about a billion yards away from the field. It was, and what you would expect from a smaller stadium. Anyway, it was actually from Seattle. White caps lose 2-1 to lose 5-1 on aggregate, but both scorelines, I think, very deceiving in terms of how well the white caps actually played.

However, the number that stands out is that one, one goal across two legs, and it has been a concern on various, nights this season, the final third has been a problem for the Vancouver Whitecaps. I know. I know. I know. But

the regularity is not there. It seems like there's a lot of peak in valleys when it comes to scoring. Did they dress a full lineup yesterday? It was five changes. I thought they might have just kind of give it up. Mueller played 90. Yeah. Oh, we played 90. Yep. Wow. It was a... Do you think that was a dream come true to play in Spokane?

I think he cherished it with every fiber of his being. He... Where is this? Yeah. Why am I here? So speaking of a problem finishing in the final third, there's a guy you got to look at. It was not good yesterday.

Things are not falling as easy. How dare you criticize him? How dare you? On the pitch, things are not falling to him as easily as they have throughout his illustrious career to the start this season. It's early. The White Cups have had a fantastic start. To be perfectly honest, I think he's bad. I think bowing out of this competition right now might be the best in the best in

long run because they still have the MLS regular season, they still have the Canadian championship and they still have Leagues Cup, which they have to participate in this year. So there's no shortage of competitions and games to be played. I don't think they'll be completely heartbroken at bowing out of

this competition. But right now, if you're looking for a couple things that might be a wobble on an otherwise strong team, that's what I'm not. That being said, I know we've got to go. Jeevan Baudwall, who we're going to try and get on the show a great local sports story. The 20-year-old from Surrey

had an outstanding goal that you alluded to yesterday, a terrific finish. And he's been a guy that is playing so well. Esper Sorensen can't keep him out of the lineup. He's playing him with pretty good regularity. So we're going to try and get Jeevan on the show next week.

That's a great local sports story. Tatiana and Langley, what we learned, the Vancouver Golden Eyes are so back. They finally won a game after losing the first three coming out of the break. Yeah, they beat New York. to two. That's a barn burner for the Golden Eyes.

Scoring five goals, that's a rarity for them. Snapping that four-game losing skid. I know they nearly beat Ottawa over the weekend, but I guess surrendered a late goal and then lost in overtime. So good for the Vancouver Golden Ice, who continued to be just a great story, at least off the ice

in terms of the atmosphere at the Pacific Coliseum and the support they're getting. Didn't seem like the officiating was as big of an issue last night. Because I wasn't there. They waited until I wasn't finally didn't go to a golden ice game and they Your dog yeah that meant Rosie didn't get a chance to chastise the referees afterwards either no not this time not this maybe next time next time no oh we stay riffs

retired steve in north sanage what we learned i learned that the first round march madness matchup between arizona and long island will be known as the ice tea bowl long island ice tea Arizona iced tea that's great yeah speaking of Arizona iced tea Ladd Arizona could win it this year couldn't they yeah they're great I actually that was going to be my smart decision. Stay tuned for that. Laddie, you found a Rizler-flavored Arizona iced tea the other day and you shared it with the group. I got to pull up the picture now. Yeah, it doesn't actually taste like the Rizzler. Well, who you hope not. How do you know? How do you know? Who they're marketing. It's like Raspberry Jam or Jasbury Ram or something like.

Arizona Ice tea. Yeah. Oh, I see. Yeah. See what they did there. Yeah, because he's got Rizz. He sweats into it. A few droplets per can. We're moving on. Justin and he's Van. We learned the Masters Club dinner menu has been revealed in Rory McElroy was particularly excited to reveal the wine list. Here's a quote from McElroy that. I feel like you're going in the same direction as me on this and I'm glad. Sometimes I love Rory. And other times I'm like, you're a little much, buddy. He goes, I wanted to be really intentional with the wines.

He did it with the menu too. It's something that I'm really into and passionate about and started. to collect wine probably over the past decade, I would say. I wanted to be really intentional with the wines is one of the most pretentious things you should say. It's right up there. He also wanted to make sure that he, so he has like a peach and I can't remember that cheese like feda made.

Rocotta. Ricotta flatbread. Yeah. And he wanted to take peach to honor Georgia. Can I ask you something? Mm-hmm. That's fine. No, I know.

But he's also got bacon wrapped. dates. Those would be an interesting match in my stomach. Yeah. Do you care about this at all? Because it seems like every time the master's dinner comes out, I don't care about it. I'm not going. But you're a golf guy. It seems like golf Twitter rushes to the computers to weigh in and be like, this is so cool and this is so neat. I'm like, it feels like it's jumped the shark to me because why? Why? Why? Why do they like it so much? Because it's the tradition of the Masters. You know how this works. So the Masters champion

plans and pays for this dinner, including the wine. Right. And it's tradition. Like, the Masters is very... It's just a nightmare with John Daly's bar bill. Yeah. $7 million. Do you think Daley is intentional with his wines?

McDonald's again. Yeah. Is John Daly even, like, Jay... Well, Daley doesn't get to go. I don't think he ever won it. I don't think he ever won the Masters. No, he won the PGA, right? No, but why are...

Why are fans? So, I mean, I mean, I know what it is, but why are fans so into it? I don't know. I don't get it. Because there's not much you can really, you don't much you can really say. I'm just trying to think of it from a hockey perspective. Like if the Stanley Cup champions had to take out whatever to dinner, I'd be like, I don't care.

Well, you wouldn't. No, you wouldn't. We argue about food all the time on the show. That would guarantee to be a topic among hockey fans. If there's a tradition, what's on the menu? And then you can just say you either like that or you don't. And you can say things like, I don't know, Would Matthew Kachek be like, I'm very intentional with my light beers.

I'm trying to pair a bud light with the appetizer. And then I think we're going to bring in the Coors lights for the mains. And then I've got a bit of a sweet. Natty light. Natty light for it to pair. Yeah, that's like the natty light is the ice wine for dessert. Yeah. The aperitiv beer.

Okay, I got to do the smart decision brought to you by Crow. I have officially finished my March Madness bracket, and you alluded to it. My smart decision, as I have taken Arizona to win it all over Duke in the final, here's the smart decision if you've got, you've got like an hour left to fill out your bracket. Just go chalk. It's the easiest way now,

because upsets are so limited now, and it's got to do with a ride. But you got to pick an upset or two to give yourself a chance to stand out. You can't. You can't. If you want to try and win some money, you have to go pretty chalk. The final four is almost exclusively one seed, and then the occasional two seed gets in now.

The upper levels of college basketball are so much better than the second and third tiers now. So you're not in a pool where... It doesn't reward upsets. Yeah, that's the one I went in for years. You'd get triple points for an upset. Yeah. Like the whole... really be incentivized to pick them.

The only non-one seat I have going to the final four is Iowa State and there are two. Other than that, it's just, and this is just how it goes now. Because the elite programs that have been able to keep as many upperclassmen as they can and then reload in the transfer portal, like the good stay good. And they've got these vet. So, like, I mean, Duke's always going to be. I hate that reload in the transfer portal. But that's what they do.

I know basketball fill is going to be hurt any time that I dare say that I'm not all, interested in any sort of college sports or basketball, like March Madness for me. I know it's for you, for you're really into it this year. I haven't watched one bit of college ball this year and I haven't even followed it. The other cool thing, and I mentioned this the other day, you know, the ice tea bowl between Arizona and Long Island. Long Island. Long Island has the most Canadian content in the entire tournament. We talked about this earlier, four Canadian kids on that Long Island team. Why are we saying it like that again? It's just sometimes that that's the way they say it. We're going to,

We're going to Long Island. Not Long Island. Long Island. Long Island. Okay. That is the smart decision brought to you by Crow. Your trusted accounting and tax advisors for over 55 years. Crow, smart decisions, lasting value.

Learn more at Chromachai.com. CA. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650.