Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Need To Target Distressed Assets

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports including an explosive night from Mikko Rantanen (3:00), they talk the Leafs going up 2-0 over the Panthers as Sportsnet NHL writer Luke Fox (26:24) joins the show, plus they discuss how the Canucks can improve their top six forward group this off-season (44:00). 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-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- He scores! He scores! He's done it again! When you smell something, he's there. That goal is just as high-end as it can get. Sets it across, Rantanen in front! Scores! Rantanen again! It's a hat trick! Deja Seppi has it! Takes a shot and he scores!

Scores! Good morning. Welcome to Halford and Bruff here on Sportsnet 650. But no Mike Halford today. I'm Jamie Dodd filling in for Halford for the day. I will see you about tomorrow as well. Bruff, what's going on, man? Good morning. How are you, buddy?

I'm feeling great. Halford's just a little under the weather, so, uh, we might give him today and tomorrow off. We'll see. We'll see if he takes the weekend as well. Adog? Good morning. Hello. Laddie, what am I supposed to say to you? Hello?

Just my name. Hello, hello. Just Laddie. You don't even want hello. I don't have to, honestly. Sure. I don't know, like, Halford does. He just says Laddie. He just points at you.

Yeah, he points at me. You. Talk down. Hello, hello. Well he just says laddie. He just points at you. Yeah, he points at me. You. Talk down. Hello, hello. Well, hello, hello. You got it in the books. Well done.

Well done, laddie. Howlford and Brough, brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first untrusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit sands-trustee.com. And this hour of Halifax and Breath is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling. They recycle, you get paid.

1170 Powell Street. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. 650 650 is the D Dunbar lumber text line and we got a lot going on on the show today. First, I'll run through the guest list here. 630, Luke Fox from Sportsnet. Of course, he covers the Leafs who are up to nothing

in their series against the Florida Panthers with another win last night. So we'll talk to Luke Fox about that. 7 o'clock Adnan Virk from MLB and NHL Network will get into the world of baseball with Adnan. Maybe a movie question for him as well. 7.30, looking forward to this. Derek Lalonde, former NHL head coach who's been doing some great work on these Sportsnet, Hockeynet and Canada panels during these Stanley Cup playoffs. That's at 7.30 at 8 o'clock. My regular co-host Thomas Drance from Canucks Talk here in Sportsnet 650

and the Athletic as well, of course. Now, beyond the guest list, we've also got a pair of giveaways. So first, we're giving away a pair of tickets to the Vancouver Canadiens, the Saturday, May 17th game I believe it's the women in sports game Hazel May will be there in attendance So you get to see the Vancouver Canadians and Hazel May if you want those tickets again for the Vancouver Canadians Saturday May 17th caller 5 at 815 the number is 604

280 0650 caller 5 at 815 gets the tickets for the Cs. And Adog, just seconds before we went on air, told me, we're also giving away a pair of tickets to see The Who. The Who? The Who? Very exciting, The Who. What?

And I have no information. When is this? This email literally came in at like 5 58, which I now don't have in front of me. All right, well anyways, at some point in the future. How old are those guys? Seriously, what is it Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey still still with the their final North American tour September 23rd? That's what they say. Yep. Well September 23rd of them's 81 23rd of those 81 They just brand every every concert is

It's a September 23rd at Rogers Arena Alright, so and a pair of tickets to see the who September 23rd at Rogers Arena And these are early tickets were given out because the actual tickets don't hit the box office until May 16th There you go. Seriously. Is there like a doctor that is keeping all of these guys to her two of them are heads and jars doctor that is keeping all of these guys going. Two of them are heads in jars. ACDC just came through, and they're on this crazy world tour. And the energy it must take. I mean, I saw, this is a couple years ago now, I saw John,

he had incredible energy. Like, how did these guys do it? I saw it. Rolling Stones still do it? How did they not have the stones? How do they do it? I saw the Rolling Stones in like 2005, and I was like was like wow these guys are old. Yeah, right 20 years ago, and they're still doing it these guys are all still doing it

I thought you were gonna say like is there a doctor on tour with them just in case like standing by No, I thought there is there like a doctor's like it's like take this what is it just you need it Ten seconds before they go on stage, just tore it all. Push them out there. Right? Anyway, so September 23rd, the Who are coming to Roger's Arena. You can beat the box office.

We're giving away a pair of tickets today. Caller five at eight. Caller five at eight for the tickets to the Who. 604-280-650. So, if you want the tickets to the Who, you're caller five at eight. If you want the tickets to the Vancouver your caller five at eight if you want the tickets to the Vancouver Canadians be caller five at eight fifteen and again six oh four two eight oh zero six fifty is

The number all right. I am going to Ignore Halfords normal routine of doing the guest list in reverse and instead we're gonna go right into what happened. What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training visit bccsa.ca and of course we start in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs two games on the schedule last night and if you're a Leafs hater and I know a lot of our listeners are it's time to start getting concerned because they took a two-nothing lead in their, thanks to a four, three win over the Florida Panthers. Mitch Marner scored the winner just 17 seconds

after Anton Lundell had tied it in the third period. And they held on to win. And as I said, lots to be concerned about from the perspective of a Leafs hater. Yeah, I was listening to this, uh, this game in the radio, coming back from the golf course yesterday and Joe Bowen was very excited, especially when Marner scored right after Lindell had tied it.

There are a lot of Holy Mackinaws coming out of the broadcast last night and Joseph Wohl got a couple as well. He played very well in replacing Anthony Stolarz and we'll have to kind of keep our eyes on the goalie situation. But if Woll is going to play fine, then the Leafs are going to be fine. And frankly, if I'm concerned about any goalie in this series, it might be Sergei Bobrowski. Certainly there were concerns last night with the one he led in.

Well, Paul Murray said he didn't really like his game one either. And, uh, his game two wasn't terrific. Um, but you know, overall the feel for me, and maybe this is just me talking up Craig Borube too much, maybe I'm projecting a little bit, but I think he's the perfect type of coach for them because I think the word composure comes up over and over when I think of how Craig Borubei just handles his business and handles his team business. And we talked yesterday on the show and a few people were wondering, well, I wonder if they'll

do anything for Sam Bennett. And I'm saying that is not Borubei's way. Maybe if the game gets out of hand, they'll do something, but this is a guy that I remember when he was the head coach of the St. Louis Blues. I thought he handled things perfectly when it came to things that didn't go ideally your way in these games and that is going to happen in the playoffs.

And he just says, accept it and move on to the next task because there's nothing really you can do about it. That's going to help your team. No. Right? Like, what are you going to do? What, get suspended? You know, what are you going to do to Sam Bennett?

You know, if the game's out of hand, sure, go up and say, oh, I'm very happy with what you did. Or maybe even drop your gloves. But when you're trying to win a hockey game and when you're trying to win a Stanley Cup, that sort of stuff is a total waste of energy, a waste of focus. And the best thing to do is win the game. And that's what the Leafs have been doing.

Um, and I think he, I've been noticing in, uh, in the analysis and people, what people are saying on social media, Barube is finally getting his dues. Like people are saying, maybe this guy really did change the culture here, right? Maybe, and now look, there's still time in this series left and Florida is going back home, so I don't want to, you know, throw a parade for Craig

Berube or the Leafs quite yet. Um, but you know, even though the Leafs had a good regular season, I didn't hear Craig Borube's name much in the Jack Adams conversation. Like it just, I don't know, it just didn't come up. And maybe it's because the Leafs have had plenty of good regular seasons. But don't forget, they won their division, right?

That, that, that's quite an accomplishment when you're in a division with Tampa Bay in Florida. And Florida had some injury issues, sure. But Toronto, maybe they didn't look all that impressive during the regular season, but the results were there. And I think it's just like, it's the consistency. They just, there's no huge ups and downs anymore.

And we didn't talk much about the Leafs this season because there was nothing much to talk about. It seemed like they just, to steal a phrase from torts, they just went about their business. Even the Martin, like Marner's a UFA and even that didn't really become a big distraction or a big story or anything without. No, Tavares too.

Yeah, well Tavares is going to stay. Right? Yeah. You know what I mean? I know. Oh yeah. Okay. Whereas Marner feels like there's more, there's more uncertainty. And I wasn't that impressed with the Leafs in the regular season to stay. Yeah. You know what I mean? I know. Yeah, OK. Whereas Marner feels like there's more uncertainty.

And I wasn't that impressed with the Leafs in the regular season, to be perfectly honest. And I feel like part of the reason there wasn't more discussion about Craig Borubei was, as you said, they've had good regular seasons. So the test was really going to come when the playoffs rolled around. And so it was hard to say, like, hey, Borubei's

done this really impressive job until you see it in the playoffs, until you see it look different for the Leafs in the playoffs. And that's exactly what we're seeing now. You know, you brought up the composure. I think that's a fantastic point. How many teams, I think especially teams that have the reputation for, Oh, are they big game performers? Do they get it done in the playoffs?

Do they have that dog in them? Would feel the pressure to go make a big stink about Sam Bennett, right? And would let, because they have that reputation, they would think, well, we've got to go prove that we're not like that. We're tough. We're big, tough guys.

Just like the Panthers. They've been trying to try to prove this nonsense for years and years and years. And they always get distracted by it. And they always get their backs up because of the criticism. Just go win the game guys. Yeah. And the fact that they didn't do that at all,

really impressive. The other thing that stands out to me, I mean, one, they trailed in that game a couple of times, fought back and tied it both times. The immediate response goal from Mitch Marner, right? No hanging their heads that they've given up the lead in the third period.

And then I thought closing out the game six on five, uh, Florida having the empty net and Florida is a really good team with the empty net. They were great. Just very calm, controlled. I mean, we've seen like, look, St. Louis gives up a goal with a couple of seconds left, right? Like we've seen teams panic LA or lose their heads in these situations, uh, in these playoffs and the Lord didn't do it all for like three minutes with the goalie out. And although, you know, they had the puck, so there were nervous moments. I I'm sure for least fans, you're right.

There were never even a lot of like great, oh my God, like what happened to one where a wool like poke checked it away from our Sean. So he didn't even get a shot off. There's a couple of their looks, but it wasn't hair on fire, like how did that stay out type defending, it was just pretty much calm and, and in control, which is not what we're used to from the Leafs.

Uh, okay. So, um, uh, I don't love saying all this nice stuff about the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I, and I don't love the idea that this could be the Leafs year or could be the Oilers year. Um, so I want to have one negative and I'm going to read it from superintendent Steve who texts in to the Dunbar Lumber text line.

Can we all agree Toronto's playoff crowd is one of the worst in sports? Yes. It is horrible. And again, I was listening to the, to the radio call and Joe Bowen is like, this place is hopping. The people are on their feet. Oh, they're on their feet.

Oh my God. People are going nuts. They're applauding. They must be exhausted. People in the front rows looked up from their phones for the first time in the 20 games. This guy said, I got to call you back on this deal. It was absolutely amazing. It's pandemonium in there.

The Leafs crowd is not great. I've actually never been to that rink, but maybe there's something about the rink. But it's the crowd. Don't give them excuses. Okay, all right. Just put it on them. All right, so that's the one negative about Toronto.

And by the way, Justin in Tawasin says, don't worry guys, it's in the script. The Leafs are going to blow a three nothing lead and losing game seven. That would be a new level of, of playoff misery for the Leafs. That would be awesome. I do want to play, um, one bit of audio and it's not praising Craig Borube, but it's, it,

it is Craig Borube praising one of his players. And that player, I mean, I was very, I thought he was the best Leaf last year in the playoffs. And his ability to deal with the Toronto market is very impressive and he just does his thing, doesn't feel it. And I think he's become one of the leaders on the Toronto Maple Leafs and it's Willie Nylander.

Everybody knows the talent level that William Nylander has, but it's another thing to do it on this stage at this time of year, the way he's doing it right now. What have you, if anything learned about him? Just leave him alone. Nothing gets to him. I mean, I think of anything like he doesn't feel pressure and there's no too big a stage

for this guy. Like he thrives on this stuff, in my opinion, and he looks forward to it, and he wants to be in all those critical situations. When he smells something, he's there. That goal is as high-end as it can get, in my opinion, with hands. He's a high end player. He really is. I don't think that he feels pressure or anything like that.

He just plays and he doesn't want me to talk to him. So, just leave him alone. I probably should just leave him alone. So that's Borube on, on Nylander. Uh, we got a text in, you guys are fine with Toronto walking away and not sticking up for each other, but you guys get all upset when the Canucks don't stick up for teammates.

There is a massive difference between the regular season and the playoffs. Yeah. And you, it's just, it all comes down to situational awareness. I don't, I don't know what to say. Like we were joking yesterday. It's like, we were talking about the mistake that, uh,

Byfield made not getting the puck out. And it's like, well, you know, sometimes you rip players for just putting it glass and out, uh, instead of making a play with the puck. And at the end of the day, the right move is just the one that works. That's right. You know, like, and I just think you just have to, in the moment, be able to balance

what is good for the team. Sometimes there's moments where you need to stick up for a teammate and you have to weigh everything. There's a lot of things that go into that. And there are other times when you just come together as a team and you say, we're not going to let this bother us because this is what they're trying to do to us.

This is what they're, this is, they're trying to get us off our game. I think the other big difference. So let's not play into that. Is being in the moment versus the next game. You know what I mean? Like if you're on the ice as a Canucks player and Quinn Hughes gets blown up, you want to see a response.

You want to see an emotional response. And it doesn't have to be something that's going to be suspension worthy, right? Or an eye for an eye, but you want to see a response. But once the moment passes and now you're into a new game. And as you said in the playoffs, like there's no point proving. There's no like, Hey, we're going to send a message about how, uh, you know, how much we stick up for each other on this team.

You're trying to win the game. And in the worst thing you can do is let it carry over into a new game and become a distraction and make that the focus of your efforts rather than just winning the game. So I'm going to be laughing at you. Yeah. It's a massive difference doing it in the moment on the ice when it happens versus letting it continue and carry on.

I think that's one of the reasons you want to see the in the moment reaction is because it finishes it. It's like, okay, we stood up, it's over, now we're moving on and we're doing the rest, we're trying to win the game rather than letting it carry over from game one to game two in the playoffs. What did you think of that Bennett play on Stolar Center? I didn't think it was that dirty. To be perfectly honest, it was like, first of all, I was like, oh, he elbowed him in the two in the playoffs. What did you think of that Bennett play on Stolars? I didn't think it was that dirty.

To be perfectly honest, it was like, first of all, I was like, oh, he elbowed him in the back of the head. It was more like the glove. Yeah, it's like a goalie interference penalty. Yeah. It was. It sucks for Stolars.

It's a minor. It sucks that he had took the shot too, so that's bad, but it wasn't that dirty. He was going to the net with the puck. Yeah, it was weird. The whole thing was weird. Yes, it was. And I think there was more to it

than just that one play. Let's talk about, uh, Dallas getting a win in Winnipeg last night, the Stars win three, two, and obviously the story is ranted in. Um, but I just had this quick thought that, um, you know, on the show, we, we talk a lot about us not wanting the Canadian teams to win. Um, could Dallas be our savior?

Oh, absolutely. Cause they could take out Winnipeg and then Edmonton next round. And then Toronto. And then Toronto. They're the only team still alive that could take out all three Canadian teams, which would be ironic because Halford and I often say like,

we don't care about Dallas. Like Dallas is boring too. I don't know for whatever reason. We have two ungrateful guys. Yeah. And now we're like. Coming to the rescue. Yeah.

We're coming crawling back and it was like, come on guys, get it done. Come on Dallas. This Rantanen story is incredible. The natural hat trick yesterday coming on the heels of this incredible performance in the first round against the Colorado Avalanche. He's the first player in Stanley Cup history with

multiple three goal periods in the same postseason. Yeah. And he did it in back to back games. First player in any history. He's been in on, did I read this correctly? The last 12 Dallas goals. 12 straight Dallas goals, which is a playoff record. The previous record was Mario Lemieux at nine.

Do you think Chris McFarland in Colorado is just like, I'm going to take a quick vacation. So I need to get away from, I need to just unplug a little bit. I've been thinking about this a lot. Imagine if this was playing out in the Canucks or in the Colorado position. Like they had traded not just a good player, like they didn't even trade Brock Besser at the deadline and they weren't going to the playoffs. Right.

But imagine if they traded like a guy who had been elite in the league you also have to imagine that they'd won a cup with him which is hard because the Canucks haven't won a cup he ends up back in your division eliminates you with a game seven hat trick against you in the playoffs and now like might be the front-runner for the Con Smythe imagine if Dallas wins the cup and he wins the cons might is that like are people going to look at it as the worst trade in NHL history is one of the worst decisions in NHL history and I don't like I think the process is still

defensible. The idea behind it is defensible. It's not like on its face laughable from a value perspective like some other bad trades, but if that happens the same year, he eliminates you and goes on to win the Con Smythe, it's got to be up there. And I just can't help thinking like, if that was happening to the Canucks, what would the conversation be like in this market? What would the reaction be? Would a GM here in Vancouver be able to survive? I don't even think the process is defendable.

Yeah, they're a playoff team. Why would you trade Mikko Rantinen if you're a playoff team? I don't even think, because I think Neches, he's a good player, but I don't think he's. Too big a drop off. Yeah, it's too big a drop off and it puts Neches in a tough position as well.

Um, he's not Rantinen. And the way, the one thing that I took out of all of this was, and it's carried through with me was how upset, um, McKinnon was when Rantanen was traded and how he looked like, what the hell just happened? We traded Rantanen and then Rantanen goes and signs a deal. Now granted taxes might've had an impact on that deal, but if he signs the deal

in Dallas that he got in Colorado, isn't everyone happy in Colorado? I would think so. Right. It feels like the number one thing that happened there is they made a bet that it was like 90% McKinnon and McCarr driving Ranton in success. You know what I mean? And they were like, ah, he's good, but you know, we can plug any other really good forward

in and it would happen. And now you're seeing it. And then it looked like they were gonna be right, right? Where it struggles a little bit in Carolina, struggles when he gets to Dallas initially. And now you're seeing what he's capable of doing on his own. Like he goes to a team that already had good forwards Jason Robertson Rupay hands, and you see the difference. He's making

Again if that happens in Vancouver or really probably any Canadian market I don't know how the GM survives like I don't know how the person who makes that decision survives a trade like that when it immediately bounces back on you like this how's this for context for that as well well when it immediately bounces back on you like this. Well, how's this for context for that as well? Well, Miko Rantunen got the hatcher yesterday. He moved into seventh all time in points per game in the playoffs in NHL history. Sixth place is Nathan McKinnon.

So Colorado could have had the sixth and seventh all time points per game in the playoffs players and they decided to trade one of them? Yeah. That's tough. That's a weird move. It's not ideal. Um, texting in McFarland slight defense, Rantanen cannot be paid more than McKinnon,

but that's, he's not being paid more than McKinnon. Yeah. And I guess the report is. His cap hit came in under McKinnon's for, for Dallas and, uh, JD and Coquitlam, yes, Vegas could also eliminate all three Canadian teams, but I was just thinking about the way

things are trending. Right. Don't give up hope on Vegas. They look slow, man. They look slow. A Edmonton man. Yeah. McDavid and Dreisaitl.

It's a lot for any team to deal with. I know. I don't know if Dallas is going to be able to deal with it either. Don't you think though that Vegas looked slow? Yep. Yeah. I think Florida's slow? Yep. Yeah. I think Florida's looked slow too.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. I don't love it. God, don't like this. Leafsoilers. Do we just panic a little bit? We did, we just froze up. We're like, oh my gosh, what are we gonna do here?

Another Ranton and stat that was going on, making the rounds on social media. I don't know if you guys saw yesterday, but four players in NHL history have scored multiple one period hat tricks in the playoffs and Renton of course just did it four days apart. Yes, like second of games. Yeah ridiculous Incredible by the way, just a quick update from the a HL as well Calder Cup playoffs Abby Canucks beat the Coachella Valley Firebirds

Three one in game three of that series last night in Abbotsford So they'll have a couple of chances to close out their second game series at home. It's a best of five. They just need to win one more. And it was Nate Smith, Kyril Kudryasov and Phil DiGiuseppe. Remember him, Phil DiGiuseppe, getting the empty netter. The goal scorers for the Abbotsford Canucks and Lekr Maky was back in the lineup.

He was back in the lineup. He had an assist on the Kudryasov goal. And Arthur Shilov's played well again for Abbie in that one. All right, we will take a break here. Luke Fox from Sportsnet will talk more about the Leafs, more glowing praise for the Toronto Maple Leafs here coming up next on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. It's into the middle, spin across, Paul what a stop!

As Wall comes across and saves the day! Oh what auff by Wall! Welcome back to Halford & Brough, your Sportsnet 650. I'm Jamie Dodd, filling in for Halford for today. Thrash Thursday on the show. Halord and Brough this hour brought you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling. They recycle, you get paid. 1170 Powell Street and of course Halford and Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest.

Visit sans-trustee.com. 650-650 is the Dunbar Lumber Text Line. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com and you can send your What We Learn submissions in now to the Dumbar Lumber text line, a hashtag WWL, what you learned in the last 24 hours of sports, we'll read them at 8.30,

but right now we go to the phone line and all guests here on Sportsnet 650 call in on the hotline powered by Power West Industries. Luke Fox, who covers the Leafs for Sportsnet joins us now. Luke, how's it going? It's going pretty good. You know wild game last night probably one of the most entertaining ones of the Leafs season playoff or otherwise and almost now but they have a 2-0 series lead in round two. You know Leaf fans are getting, trying not to get ahead of themselves, but

there's lots of reasons to be excited that they have a chance to knock off the champs here. Yeah, there was actually an environment in the arena yesterday in Toronto. The fans were actually cheering. Sometimes they actually stood up. It was electric in there, Luke, let me tell you. Yeah.

Um, what, what is the big. It was the best crowd all year, it was. Yeah, no, I know. Well, it should be. It should be. It should be. What's been the most impressive thing about the Leafs for you so far in these playoffs or more specifically in this series?

Well, I think there's a couple things. One, I think it's how strong they are defensively, even when the Florida Panthers pushed hard, both towards the end of game one and in game two, they held the fort. They're just way better defensively than they used to be. And the credit for that goes to GM Bradshaw Living who brought in Chris Tanev, who your listeners probably know very well, and Oliver Echman-Larson, who I know he didn't have the greatest ride in Vancouver, but as a third pairing guy, he's slotted properly here in Toronto. And then he goes out and picks up Brandon Carlo, big right shot. Finally the partner Morgan Rielly needed. They just have a solid six that they feel comfortable rolling out in any situation.

So defensively they've been great. And then the last three games, what's impressed me most is their response when things could go sideways. So there's a big goal by the opposition and in games one and two within 20 seconds the Leafs go down the other way and score a goal and kind of put out any fire that may start to blaze there. So in the first game it was Seth Jones on a power play goal. Leafs take a Dumbo, too many men on the ice penalty, and Morgan Rielly goes right back and scores on the next shift.

Last night, the Panthers push, their Wicked third line gets a goal, and Mitch Marner gets the winner the other way, less than 20 seconds later. So that's the thing, like in previous editions of the Maple Leafs, when things started to go sideways in, in the playoffs, they would get in their heads, things would snowball, one mistake would lead to four mistakes and things would unravel. Uh, there's more composure and more response

immediately with this group. What does the fan base think of William Nylander now that he's producing at these levels in the playoffs and Craig Burbey is talking them up as a guy that just loves the big moments. I feel like the consensus opinion on Nylander might've shifted in the last couple of years.

Yeah, but it hasn't been suddenly. I think it's been growing because the last couple post-seasons, even though the Leafs have been eliminated much quicker than they or the fan base would have liked, there was always the, yeah, but Willie Nylander looked good in that series. Yeah, but Willie Nylander produced. So he had kind of become the exception over the last couple of springs. And then this this year he's just taking it to another level. So I you know, he's on a multi point streak right now. Scoring beautiful goals, coming up clutch. And now he's tied with Connor McDavid of all, for the playoff scoring race lead.

So, you know, the fan base is fully on board. There definitely was a time where people were divided on him. And even when he signed his monster contract extension, some people were like, yeah, it's probably too much, but I guess we got to keep him. But he just keeps getting better and better. So he had his best regular season. He's followed it up with a bit of a star turn here, kind of distracted from the fact that Auston Matthews hasn't been lighting the world on fire in these playoffs offensively.

And that's kind of flown under the radar because William Nylander has been so good. And in his line with John Tavares, who's rejuvenated and they seem to have found something in their other winger, Max Patoretti, who since he's come out of the press box has just been on a tear and has been a really nice compliment for those guys, just getting them the puck.

So the second line has chemistry, Nylander is the engine of that second line. And we haven't always been able to say that. I know there were a lot of people that said, uh, the Leafs wasted a golden opportunity to get some rest in the first round when they couldn't sweep the Ottawa senators. They have a three, nothing lead.

They lose, uh, game four and overtime, and then they get pumped in game five, but they took care of business in, in game six. And I wonder if that slight scare or testing of their resolve and testing of their composure in the first round might serve them well going forward. I think so. And that's a really good point because, you know,

when you zoom out and, you know, they you know they always like to say we've battled adversity this team hasn't battled that much adversity there's been the odd short-term injury that they've weathered they all through the season they never had a four game losing streak nothing longer than three and even and even those i think there was only two of them. Like they didn't have any like deep slumps or real funks or off ice controversy. It's been relatively smooth sailing. So I like that point that you make that maybe a little bit of a fright,

a little bit of a wake up call, hey guys, don't get comfy. Just cause you have a three-oh lead, you still got to finish the job. And I think they were too casual in games four and five in that series. Craig Gourvet said at the morning of game six that there was a more business-like approach. And what I liked even more than them taking care of business and eliminating the senators before it got to a game seven was how they conducted

themselves afterwards. So when they won their their first series in 23 against the lightning, you walked into that dressing room after the game and you thought maybe they'd won the cup. It was they treated it like the way baseball players treat winning a series like they were they were drinking and partying and cranking music. And it's like, Hey guys, it's the first round. I know you haven't won a first round, but the, the joy of getting over the hump felt a little excessive. That wasn't the case at all when they beat Ottawa, a team they were supposed to beat. It was very much, okay,

we're thinking about Florida. It was very much turn the page. That's just one step of four we need to accomplish it. And I think that speaks to maturity. And I think it speaks to the tone that Craig Groubet setting. The coach has done wonders here. Yeah, we were talking about the coach in the first segment and a bunch of the things that you just listed, right?

It's the composure in these big games. It's the response goals, right? Not hanging their heads after they give up a goal. There's so much you can see that looks different from previous iterations of this Leafs team. And I don't think Barube got a lot of national attention necessarily during the regular season, but he's starting to now, what stood out to you about covering Barube and the way he's approached this

team on a, on a day-to-day basis throughout this season? Just his demeanor, his calmness. Nothing seems to bother him. He's very even toned after a win, after a loss. He will smile. He produces a relaxing aura Like I get why the players like him, because even as a media member, he's pleasant to deal with. You know, he doesn't always give you the most insight. He's not going to give away state secrets or break down certain plays and get really mini-gritty with it. But he gives you straightforward, honest answers, both to the media and to the

players. His messaging is very simple. And I don't want to knock Sheldon Keepe. I think he's a good coach. I just think he was a little bit inexperienced and he was almost trying too hard. So he would really drill down on the opponent and try and figure out the opponent's weaknesses and the matchup game and almost get a little bit too caught up in the weeds. Borube is more like, no, we have an identity we play with, we're going to impose that on the team. It's a very simple game plan. If you have space,

skate. If you don't, chip and chase. And you know, there's a consistency and a calmness about them, uh, that is really kind of permeated through the guys. I asked Mitch Marner actually post game, I, and I said, what's the, what has stood out? And he said, he's the perfect blend of calmness and intensity. And, and I think that's really trickled into how

the Leafs play. There's a, there's a calmness to them, but they're intense between the whistles. How many people in Toronto are like, we should have gotten this TANF guy earlier. All of them? Like, I don't, you don't give the MVP to the guy, a guy who doesn't have like good, you know, box

score stats, but you could make a case that he has changed this group more than any other player because not only is he just quietly awesome defensively and it's not physical. He just makes the first pass. They dump it in. He'll take a hit to make a play, the shot blocking everyone knows about, but there's like a trickle effect where, look at this guy, he's blocking everything, maybe we should too. It's almost like you feel guilty if

you let him be the only one playing defense. So there's a quiet leadership, whether it's by example or you know, I've heard that he even speaks up quite a bit in the room and his, his words carry weight because he backs it up. He plays the right way. He's phenomenal. And he's, and I, like I was saying with Brube, he's really a good guy to deal with.

I mean, you guys probably knew that firsthand, but you just, when you talk to him, you feel like you're, you're not getting the, a cliche guy. He thinks about your question. He gives you an honest answer. Um, you don't feel like he's not getting a cliche guy. He thinks about your question. He gives you an honest answer. You don't feel like he's trying to spin you or anything. He's just a straight up blue collar guy. I have all the respect in the world for him.

And he looks like a drifter. He looks like if he walked through your town, you'd be like, call the sheriff because we've got to get this guy. Okay. There's been a lot of positivity about the Leafs. Um, but, uh, do you imagine that, uh, the Florida Panthers are going to, uh, give them quite a test in game three?

Yeah. I mean, they're the champs. They've been the back to back cup finals. Yeah. They're a little banged up, but a little tired and their goalie is a little makey and Matthew Kachuk looks like he's playing on half a groin but they're not gonna just roll over. They're gonna deliver their best punch and if you're Toronto you should be a little bit scared that the goals have come

a little bit easy on a guy that's probably headed to the Hockey Hall of Fame when he finally hangs them up. Like I can't see him giving up four every night. So Florida is not gonna go away quietly. I think if Toronto can escape with one win, they should feel good when they head to sunrise today. Luke, really appreciate the time. We'll see if it continues to look so different for this version of the Leafs.

Thanks for doing this. All right, thanks for having me on. Have a good day, guys. That is Luke Fox from Sportsnet covering the of the Leafs. Thanks for doing this. All right. Thanks for having me on. Have a good day guys. That is Luke Fox from Sportsnet covering the Toronto Maple Leafs and to bring it back to the Canucks a little bit here. And we got this text in unsigned, huh, the Leafs have a high paid Swede that produces. Cool.

And one of the notable things, of course, with William Nylander who faced a lot of the same questions, right? Early in his career. He's thriving in high pressure situations. He sure is, that's interesting. That's interesting, that must be nice. One of the interesting things about the Leafs this year

is, of course, and we know the close relationship between Craig Berube and Rick Tauke, and a lot of similarities in how they coach, and you heard Luke Fox say it right there, hey, it's a pretty simple system, right? If you have space, that's great, skate into it. If not, chip and chase, okay? They dump and chase a lot. This is actually a, this series is a battle between two of the teams that dump and chase the most often. Florida is famous for it as well. The

Leafs at least- So wait a minute, Florida- Yeah, they won the Cup. Hold on a sec. Yeah. So, so Florida won the Stanley Cup. I know. And yet sometimes they dump it in.

Sometimes they dump the puck in. Actually quite often they dump it in. Yes, quite often relative to the rest of the league they all got it in and then they for check So almost like a lot of gore checking is actually a way to get yeah possession. Sometimes. Yeah Yeah, it can actually be a really smart play the Leafs. I thought only dinosaur coaches did know fifth most frequent dump in team this year the Leafs and I don't think it's coincidence that all of a sudden we're having this conversation about how different they look in the playoffs. And also I want to note, like, Nylander having a very successful season in that system, also in the playoffs

now having a very successful postseason. Marner, another very successful season in that system. So not only can it work generally when you have, you know, Sam Bennett and Matthew Kachuck, you can do it with William Nylander and Mitch Marner on your team. And you can have success if everyone's bought in. Yeah. I think it just goes, it's a, it's pretty simple when you're going, when you're talking about when to

dump and chase and when not to, if there's space, attack it. If there's not, you can chip and chase and go find space to attack it. Yep. You know, and I think, you know, it's, uh, listen, there might be a better coach for Elias Pedersen out there.

There might be. I'm hoping there is. You know? We really. Fingers crossed. Let there be some coach out there that can unlock whatever is missing from Elias Pedersen. I personally think it's just going to come

down to Pedersen himself, but I'd be happy if some coach came in and was better with Pedersen. But, Tocket wasn't frustrated with Pedersen's in, you know, it wasn't that he wasn't dumping the puck in, it wasn't that he wasn't for checking, it was that he wasn't attacking space when it was right in front of him. He wasn't making plays.

He wasn't making plays. It was all the things, so it's funny because all the things that Taukett's critics were criticizing Taukett for, Taukett was probably frustrated with Pedersen for doing those exact same things, right? This team is too boring, right? And he's like, yeah, isn't it? Right? You know, like it's so funny.

I feel like if Taukats critics and him could get in the room and talk about it, they'd actually be on the same page. Well, a lot of things. And that's not even, I don't think you even needed to have a sit down. You just have to listen. How many times did he talk about that?

We got, we got to make plays. There's plays there to be made, right? Sometimes you have to hold onto the puck and make a play rather than just off the glass. Don't fling it away. Rather than immediately getting rid of it. Back to the point. And that again, with Nylander and Marner, I'm

sure the message from Borube is if you have space, make a play. You guys are elite players. If you have the room, if you have time and space, make a play. It doesn't have to be bad. No, for sure. But you know what I mean, right? I know. Yeah. But if you don't, there's a really simple thing I want you to do and it's going to be easy. It's going to be consistent and we're all bought in and we're going to do it. And everyone on your team knows you're going to do it. So it's predictable, right? Exactly. Now, Jason from Burnaby makes a good point. He says it also helps if you actually have team speed from Jason the killer goalie.

And that's a great point. The Canucks are slow. We're a slow team and I wonder, like I always thought with Besser specifically, and we'll see about it with P Pseudert, right? Cause two notably slow forwards. With Besser specifically, how much of the unwillingness to get a deal done was not

just about value and all that term, but specifically we want faster players. I think it was a lot. When they made the trade for the trades for Phillip Heidel and Drew O'Connor, and you just immediately saw the difference of what those guys looked like relative to the rest of the team, that's when I started thinking like, I don't know if they're going to bring Besser back because we know how much Jim Rutherford loves speed. You saw the difference those guys made. And if there's any way to increase your team speed, moving on from

Brock Besser is, uh, is one way to do it. Yeah. And it's funny, we were talking about how Vegas looked a little bit slow against the Abinton Oilers. Um, and, and look, it's only been, it's early in the series. Yeah. But I remember when Vegas came into the league, how they just came at you in waves. And I think that's what they want to build in Vancouver. Faster waves,

like when the Canucks were rolling. Faster and bigger. Yeah, faster and bigger. Um, you know, we've actually haven't had a show together since, um, the end of the season. What do you think about this notion that the Canucks are going to add two or three top six

forwards and they're going to do it not liking the unrestricted free agent list and they're going to do it with kind of limited assets in which to deal with. They've barely made any first round picks over the last little while or second round picks for that matter and you don't really want to trade away your few blue chip prospects. And yet that's what they're going to, that's what

they said they're going to do. Although you also listed, and I know Drance has kind of reported this, like they, you know, he had the piece of the athletic this week, like DPD, probably untouchable. Yeah. Right. I don't know if they have a lot of appetite to

deal with Vlander. We'll see about the standoff where that goes. Maybe he becomes an asset, but Volander or Leckermacky. So it's like you start taking, you don't have a ton of assets and then you're taking some off the table, which makes sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they're good. I don't want them to trade DPD either. Promising young players.

He's awesome. No, absolutely. He's awesome. I get why, but you're also taking your best trade chips off the table and then you factor in Minnesota, who we might talk about later, they're in the market for a center, for center help. You look at Montreal, probably in the market for center help. Those teams have more assets to work with than the Canucks, so it's going to be difficult to outbid them. When you start to really do the calculus and look at it,

I think where I land is it is going to have to be distressed assets. It's not going to be, oh wow, this guy had a great season last year and we just acquired him. You know what I mean? It's going to be the capitals essentially, like okay, we'll find, we'll take two. And that's why, and people get very angry when I bring this name up, but like the name I've brought up a lot is Trevor Zegris. If you're just like, we gotta take a swing a swing I know well and so it is like go great he'll bring his cellies here the people on shell but I understand it

in 12th place but did you see that gritty yeah I understand it though right like because and it's not like that's their first choice but you're gonna get outbid on your first choices if If they, if those guys even move. And those get, and the, and the perfect guys won't be available. That's the thing. There, there's going to be something about these players, probably something significant where a

team is willing to give up a center that's 23, 24, 25 years old. It's not going to be like he's perfect. Yeah, no, he was great. We love him. We hate ourselves. We are, we're ourselves Yeah, we have no Leader he was productive last year. No injury concerns, you know actually on a really team-friendly contract, too

Do you guys want him? It's like oh, yeah, sure. Absolutely. Yeah. No, that's not happening There's going to be a lot of boxes that are not checked for the player and that's the market you're shopping in and you hope that They can turn it around. You can unlock them here. That's what it's gonna look like. Now, can they do that? Add two or three players of that ilk? Maybe.

And then you just gotta hope that you find the right coach who can figure it all out and go from there. But it's an uphill battle, I think, to say the least. Yeah, and I'll throw this question out to the listeners. You can text in on the Dunbar Lumber text line, 650-650. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and runner warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve

you or online at dunbarlumber.com. If there's one team out there in the NHL that you're looking at and going, I think they're going to make some big changes this off season and they could involve the Vancouver Canucks. Maybe that's a team you look at and you say, okay, that's a team that the Canucks could trade with. Text in that team and why you think the

Canucks could be involved. We're going to talk to Adnan Ferg, do a little baseball talk, but then we can dip into the Dunbar Lumbertex line and talk about that on the other side of hour two of the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.