Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Played A Hockey Game Versus The Avs

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss yesterday's Canucks road loss to Colorado (3:00), plus they talk the top hockey stories of the day with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber (27:57). 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. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Clear it across the Vancouver line. Myers knocks it down. It comes to Landiscagg on the right circle. He was poach-checked by Marcus Pedersen. Got it up right for McKinnon. Who scores? He's going to get bigger and stronger, like he's going to get thicker.

As time goes by. as he gets, you know, more girth, I think he'll do some good stuff. Shed, whipping it to... The eye along the baseline near side. Free under the tin for a two-hand jam. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford.

It is Brough. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey, dog. Good morning to you. Good morning.

Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brought in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are an hour one of the program. Hour one 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. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to live from the Kintech Studio. Now is the time to maximize the benefits of custom or orthotics before the year runs out. Visit kintech.net. It is time now for the Duick morning drive.

Our guest list brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 6.30 this morning. David Amber Hockey Night in Canada. SportsNet NHL host is going to join us. Wednesday night, Scotia Bank hockey tonight on Sportsnet. Two struggling Canadian teams meet in Montreal as the Habs host the Jets. And then in the nightcap, Alex Ovechkin and the caps take on Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks in the late game in San Jose.

That's at 6.30. David Amber is going to run through all that. 7 o'clock Frank Sarah Valley, our NHL insider from Victory Plus. Lots has happened in the National Hockey League since we last spoke with Frank. Last Wednesday, we'll get into all that. It's 7 o'clock with Frank Sarah Valley. 7.30, Carl Valentine is going to join the program, Jason. Vancouver White Caps legend. Now a club ambassador.

The white caps are off to the MLS Cup final this weekend. We're going to go take a trip down memory lane with Carl all the way back to the year of my birth. 1979 also the year they won the soccer bowl Carl was a mere wide-eyed rookie back then for the caps So you are a big white caps fan And you follow them very closely How much do you know about the 79 run Only the stuff that I've read and been told obviously

I don't remember the run being zero Yeah it was tough My memories have faded over the last 46 years No no no but have you put the effort in to learn about it Yeah. Of course. Okay. No, I don't know. Some people haven't. Yeah. I mean, totally different time. You've talked about the impact that team has had in terms of like the growth of the city, for example, which is a very interesting tale. The number of players and a lot of like a lot of Englishmen on the team, obviously, Carl being one of them.

And of course, Alan Ball. Alan Ball. And of course, Ball Arena is named after him, the great English soccer player. Not many people know that. I thought they named after Rick Ball. Not many people know that either, yeah. And I actually got to know the manager of that team, Tony Waiters, later on in life when he was a club coach at Cliff Avenue, the club I used to coach at. So yeah, I've got a couple connections to that team.

Very cool to speak with Carl Valentine this morning at 7.30. 8 o'clock, Randy Jand is going to join the program. Canucks color analyst right here on SportsNet 650. Canucks lost yet again last night, 3-1 to the avalanche in Colorado at Ball Arena. That's now nine losses in their level. last 11. That's very bad. Randeep's going to join us at 8 to talk about all of this. That's the guessless part of things. We're also doing our giveaways today. 730. We're giving away a $50 gift card to White Spot. Caller number 5 at 730. We're doing that every day this week.

604, 280, 0650. At 8 a.m. We are doing the latest iteration of Halford & Brough's 12 days of Christmas. It's now day three. Yesterday we gave away a $200 gift card to Kintech. Today, this is the beauty of the contest. You don't know what you win until you call. Could be a life-sized African elephant. Could be. Could be a boat. It's not a boat. Caller number five at 8 a.m. 604, 280650. I will remind you throughout the show

of our contests today, including the Halbro 12 days of Christmas. It's a big guest list. That is your Duick Morning Drive. It is over. So without further ado, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action.

because I will be. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What happened is Brat's you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance? Making safety simpler by giving construction companies to best in tools, resources and safety training.

Visit them online at BCCSA.C.C.A. Last night at Ball Arena, Nathan McKinnon scored twice for the Colorado Avalanche. They extended their point streak to, I think, every game this season. And they beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 in Denver. Nathan McKinnon is an absolute machine. Of all the players in the NHL, I think, is this a hot take?

I think I'd pay the most to watch him in person. I would take watching him. This is a hot take over McDavid, but all right, it's too early for that horn. Stop coming in with the hot takes. I would pay more money to see him than Lucas Reichel. I just think McInnan. I just think McKinnon is the perfect hockey player

He's got talent, power He plays the game with rage Like he's got the rage on McDavid Yeah, he's got the rage factor He's a rageaholic He is always in attack mode Imagine being a young guy on the abs A rookie player

McKinn would be a terrifying teammate You'd be like Mr. McKinnon You would have to call him Mr. McKinnon Where should I sit? I like the Murph did an interview with Gabe Landisog, which they played on the post-game show as well. And the guys were talking afterwards about the importance of having Landisogg back on that team

because he provides a bit of a not McKinnon. Right. For the team, you know? It's like good cop, bad cop. Yeah, yeah. Now don't let Dad yell at your kids. Yeah, he's terrifying. He even scares me sometimes, young man.

but yeah he is a terrific player and I'm glad he's Canadian and we'll get to cheer for him at the Olympics soon. As for the game, you know, you can look back on that game and I guess analyze it like a typical game and you say you pick on guys like P.O. Joseph on the first goal or Max Sasson on the second. But it's kind of like, yeah, that's what the avalanche do to teams like the Canucks. they were first to almost every puck last night they play with such frenetic energy they are clearly a team on a mission right now that second period last night was domination by the abs the connects actually played pretty well in the first

and I know Adam foot had his common phrase we were right there but look you're watching that game and it never seemed like the Canucks had a real chance. It was only a matter of time before the Aves started to click after their so-so first period and then the third period, they protected the league.

It's not, it wasn't an embarrassing performance by any memes by the Canucks. They've had far worse performances this season, but I do think it shows how far they've got to go. Yep. Although I think most people knew that already. You know, it was good to see Linus Carlson

score again. He's one of the guys that really taking advantage of, or he did take advantage of having the Siddines down in Abbotsford and, you know, he used their services and they were happy to provide them to him. And now we're starting to see him become a, you know, a full-time NHL player. He's up to five goals on the season. It's the same as a Vander Cain, one fewer than, you know, Connor Garland, I think. Glass half full over here, you know, Alford and Brough show. Quinn Hughes broke Sam.

Malinsky's ankles at the point, but unfortunately he missed the net after he did. That's okay. That's okay. His one shit, there was another Quinn Hugh shift, though, where he decided to just kind of watch the play. He's probably just tired. Yeah, and he was just like, oh, wow, the outs have a scoring chance here. I'm just going to get a good look here. And then for some reason, he became a left winger on the breakout. You know, you know, the boss, body language and all it was it's it is

odd I don't know how many people listening right now actually saw that I know Bick threw it out on social media and it was

pretty jarring to watch to be perfectly honest with you and you know Max Sassen stopped skating on the winning goal

but Quinn Hughes didn't play that well either and it was kind of reminiscent of the winning goal a few weeks ago when the Canucks played

Dallas at Rogers Arena and there was an aggressive pinch by Quinn Hughes' partner and, you know, Quinn went too far to the outside of the ice and got burned inside. Now, on that goal, there was no Max Sassen who just decided to stop skating for whatever reason,

but I don't know. The team is, we all know this Canucks team is, they're kind of dead in the water this season. At the 2017, I was happy to watch McKinnon at the 27 game mark it's crazy crazy that we're here but it's also not because we've watched it evolve over the course of 27 games last night shouldn't have really come as a huge surprise to anybody the way the game played out the Canucks did some nice things for some small stretches they made too many big mistakes against a team that by the way 27 games into the season is now 21 points clear of the Vancouver Canucks. It is hard. It is hard to have that big of a gap between two teams and the standings this early

in the season, but I think it's indicative of not just the gulf in points and in standings, but in the gulf between the two teams. And if you want to be that person that says, well, that's what the best team in the NHL looks like. You can't possibly be expected to be on that level. Fine. Have it, you know, yell it from the mountaintops that there's one team and you can't be that team because that's where the standard is with this organization right now is

you're not shooting for the stars. Well, that's impossible. You can't do that right now because you have too many injuries. You're shooting for somewhere in the middle. And I'll remind you, if you want to be a mid-team in the NHL right now, let's say you want to be the 15th place team in the NHL right now, that's the Detroit Red Wings on 30 points.

And the Canucks are still seven points back of that mark as well. It's time for another death mark. We were doing, so I listened to Sat and Bick on the post game. show yesterday. And by the way, if you want your usual AM fill of angst and anger and frustration and negativity, I highly recommend you download the post game show because they are in it right now. I feel for those two guys because they are 27 games into an 82 game regular season knowing that they've got to do this several other times this year. And they're already at the stage we're breaking down the constituent parts of the games like sassin not

kicking it doesn't matter i will say that this is where the money calls come in like they start pouring in at this point and it can get pretty entertaining well drans and dodd were excellent yesterday too i was listening to them and um by the way yeah bick and sat were excellent they were very astute and their anger was well placed and their frustrations were well earned but um yeah sorry not to cut you off i just didn't want to sound like they were doing a crappy job or anything no i don't think you did. I mean, I thought the station was on point yesterday, except for our show, which is never on point. But, yeah, Drans and Dodd, if you want to download their podcast, and they just, you know, I know Drans for The Athletic went back and just looked at the Jim Rutherford error and all

the decisions that Canucks have made under his watch and some good, some bad. And I think he kind of nailed it when, you know, this is hard to say. But I think there's a character issue on this team. There's a character issue. I think there's a lot of issues, though. You can't have your captain playing like that. Like, I don't know what's going on with Hughes. I don't know if it's an injury or what, but man.

Like, he still made some nice plays. You know, he still made some nice plays. You did, but you can't even do that once. But you can have, you can't. As an NHL player, let alone as your captain. I disagree. I'm pushing back on this. I'm going to go down with the ship.

Our beautiful boy, he can do whatever he wants. They've done wrong by him. They've done wrong by him. It just looks so bad, though. It looks terrible for him. The team stinks. You can't stop skating. You can't stop skating.

Yeah, he can. He can. But he did. Okay. Well, then you're, I mean, whatever. We're not going to agree on this. But, like, I think this thing, you know, I think there's been a real issue in identifying character players on this team. And it extends, I mean, it started with Benning, picking for Tannan. You could even throw in Ulevi.

Not that Ulevi was like a bad person. person, but he wasn't a worker. And, you know, when you have two of your best players, have a big fight and one of them has to be traded, I think that's probably a character issue right now. And, you know, I know it's difficult. I know it's really, really difficult. And if I were on this team, I might have character issues, right? There might be like, there might be like, that guy is not a team player either. You know, like, I get, I understand it. But, um, I think the Canucks have been, here's our favorite word again, juxtaposed in a really bad way on a few different instances in the last little while.

One is against the white caps. And then one was last night when Nathan McKinnon played like overall, he was like, he was fine for them. Like, yeah, he took advantage of his scoring chances. But like he wasn't, he wasn't unbelievable last night. I've seen them play better. And I think the abs for, you know, like it was the Canucks coming into town. They're not going to be like, we've got to be ready for this one, right? They're kind of sleepwalking through the first.

They were a little sloppy, and then they found their game in the second. They played a good 20 minutes last night and still managed to win the game. But McKinnon was still the difference. And then you look at the Canucks top players. Pedersen had a few chances, but couldn't convert, only ended up with one shot on goal. And I feel like, you know, there are some people out there. that they're almost treating Pedersen like he's Manning Mulhulture or something now.

It's like as long as he's good defensively, it doesn't matter if he does anything offensively. It's like, well, it doesn't work like that. I will say that on the list of problems for this year, he's probably on the lower end of concern. That's how bad the year's been. There's far more concerning things with this team. But long term, I think he's still right at the top.

Yeah, I will say this. I mean, yes or no. Long term, he's still right at the top. Depends on who's here long term. I suppose, because I'm ready to kind of move on from all of it. I don't know if the organization is, but I also didn't want to, here's what I kind of wanted the one thing that they were talking about on the post game show last night that I thought was important to bring up when we talk about Hughes and the concerning body language

and, you know, why are you thinking I'm a pass on this stuff? There's like, because he's the best player that they, they've had in the last 20 years and the team that is around him stinks. And he can't lift it out and he's frustrated. So I'm going to say, yes, best defenseman the team has ever had and an amazing player throughout the course of his time in Vancouver, over a 27-game sample size, he was pissed off and it showed frustration on the eyes. I just won't bury him on it.

I won't. That's it. I mean, I don't think I'm bearing him. I don't think I'm bearing him. I'm just pointing it out as like a, it's like a, it's jarring to watch. Well, you know what else is jarring to watch? Half the team, two-thirds of the team. The coaching decisions, the management decisions, the injuries that have befell the team, where they are in the standings, right?

They were bringing up on the show last night. Again, I was very enamored by the postgame show last night because when we watched the game, you and I were both like, hey, not bad. Not a lot of whistles. It was over in two and a half hours. Can he split? Do whatever. I did not realize that there were guys other than had to talk about that game for almost the same amount of time that the game was playing. But Nathan McKinnett said the opposite in the post game.

Did you hear what he said? Yeah, he said there were lots of whistles. You said it was a boring game. I have the clip. Do you want to hear it? Correct me if I'm wrong. Was the game not over in like two and a half hours? He was very fast.

He called it a muck. Didn't you need to, like you were looking for a whistle? You were looking for a commercial break to do something and you're like, I can't get one here. Yeah, I wanted to wait for the next commercial and it was like nine minutes to the whistle. Here's Nate. It was just kind of a boring game. A lot of whistles and iceings. Guys getting kicked out of draws.

It was just a one of those nights, just a muck. So it happens, though, you know, they're trying to place Dengi, obviously, obviously trying to check hard. So, you know, we did what we had to do. That's the most dismissive. That's so dismissive. Just a muck. He's like, they're trying to check hard.

It's like, no, they're not. They've given up 100 goals. They're trying to check hard. So one of the things that Sat and Bick brought up, which was interesting, was is there any one particular thing that the Canucks have done well on the ice? This is sort of an Adam foot critique. this season? Like, is there one particular facet of their game that you would say, and I'm talking about

it being like a consistent, sustainable thing? There has not been one thing they do well. The power play statistically is mid, but the Canucks only got one power play last night. I thought it looked fine. Didn't score. But no, there's not one thing they can hang their hat on. Not one Sam, wow, there's not one thing they do well. I can't think of it.

A lot of girth. No, it's eventual girth. Oh, that's more of, I was out of foot talking about Jonathan Lekker-Macken. Yeah, looking forward to the girth. You got to wait for the pills to kick in, eventual girth. Terrible bad name. No, like, eventual girth is not a bad band name.

That's all right. That's all right. Anyway, so I was thinking about this. they really don't do any one particular thing well. And of all of the condemnations of the coaching this year, that's got to be right at the top of the list. If you can't hang your hat on one particular characteristic or attribute that you do at least above average,

you have to turn to the coach and it's like, hey, what do you do around here? Like if this team, which lacks talent, can't really compete with the elite teams in the league, you would think that anyone would say, well, let's give them a puncher's chance on a nightly basis

and do whatever it takes structurally, strategically, deployment of minutes to try and give us a fighting chance. Like, as Bick was pointing out, the goal that they gave up at the end of the first period, the Canucks,

which in a tight game, you could consider that goal a bit of a deflater or a bit of a backbreaker because it happened with like a minute left in the first period and everything. And he pointed out like,

P.O. Joseph, got caught out there against the McKinnon line. And he's kind of pointing to behind the bench being like, it might not matter in the grand scheme because you're the 30th place team in the NHL and you're probably going to lose this game anyway. But if the games mattered and things were tighter,

that's a move where you could probably take, you know, point to the coach and be like, that shouldn't happen. Yeah. In the final minute. Well, McKinnon's two goals were not against the Pedersen line. Right. Yeah. And those are minor. It is harder on the road to get your matchups. But good coaches find a

way. Bad coaches don't, or they find a way to get it wrong. And so now you go back to my larger point. They were right there. They were right there. Right there. I'm not even going to play the foot audio that we're talking about. So several people have pointed out. He needs to stop saying that. Several people have pointed out. They're almost the last place team in the NHL. Over the current run that they're on, in which they have two wins in their last 11 games, I would wager that at least 80% of the 11 post-game, media availabilities, Adam Foot has said that the Canucks are right there. By that he means, like,

the game was a coin toss. It could have gone either way. They had a chance to win it, but they didn't. Did you ever think, like, the Canucks were going to win that game? Like, even when they were up on nothing, I was like, this Aves team is first to every puck, and the Canucks just feel like they're trying to hang on in this game.

The odds were a little sloppy. They had a couple turnovers that could have cost them, but the quality of that team, the energy that they play with, the attacking mode that when they want to turn it on, you know, the connect can't even come close to that. They can't.

No, I thought they had a decent chance to win the first period yesterday when they went into like minute 18 up on nothing. And that was optimism. And they didn't win it. They tied it. So there was that.

And that's not the game. And that's just the first period. First part. But I go back to the large skill, what does this team do well? Not having really good coaching in a year where everything else has gone wrong is just something else on the pile.

Here's a question I had and I was wondering about with going back to the Hughes and the frustration level. I wonder if he regrets or is having buyer's remorse on being so flowery in his description

and so pleased with Adam Foote being elevated from the guy that coaches the defense to being the head coach because you remember that was a big part of it. Brotherford and Alvin, we're like, you're the one who chose him. Now you're not even playing for him.

Like, that's kind of the thing that I wonder about with all of this. I really, really disagree with you on the Hughes thing because, you know, I don't think that you can have your captain giving up on plays for many more games. So if he was playing hard, consistently hard, then I'd be like, well, You know, wait until the trade deadline to deal with this, but this is, it's not good.

It's not good for anyone. It's not good for the Canucks. It's not good for Queen Hughes to have these shifts where he's, you can't give up. You can't give up in hockey. And that shift last night. He's just conserving energy for the 30 plus minutes he has to be every night. Guys, go find it if you haven't seen it.

And go to, I retweeted it as well. I saw it. I saw it. Well, I'm just, I'm not talking to you. I know. I mean, he's, the puck turns over. Quinn is in the neutral zone and the aves come back on the attack.

I think poor Tyler Myers was back there trying to defend an odd man rush. And Quinn, he like never actually plays defense. He comes back. It's 3-1, 12 minutes left. Like the game isn't over. And then he button hooks. The puck is still loose. The puck is still loose around his net.

Reminder, he is a defenseman, and he button hooks, turns away from the puck, which you don't do in hockey, turns away from the puck, and button hooks up the left side, like he's the left winger trying to get a breakout pass, but the Canucks don't have the puck. If you watch this play, he turns away from the puck twice, once in the neutral zone, and once, when the puck is loose around the net, he skates away from his net when the puck is loose he is a defenseman he is the captain of the team

he had no desire to battle at all and i understand you giving him a pass i understand it but what i'm watching here is i don't want to say like it's unacceptable but it is jarring it is stark to watch this and i think if most people looked at this um You know, NHL head coaches around the league, they'd be like, damn. We can get them for cheaper now. That's what they're all thinking. Okay, we've got to go to break. Before we go to break, I need to remind you that this entire first segment was brought to you by the Duick Auto Group.

Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal since 1926. Visit Doick, GM on Marine Drive, Duick downtown, Duick and Richmond and online at Duick Auto Group.com. Coming up on the other side of the break, we'll get into the rest of the NHL story. David Amber, Hockey and Canada, SportsNet, NHL host. 10 games last night, five games tonight, including the Wednesday night Scotia Bank Hockey doubleheader on Sportsnet. It's all coming up next.

You're listening to The Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. Get your daily dose of Canucks Talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. is on the hotline baby. It is time for David Amber. He will talk some hockey maybe. It is time for David Amber. He is on the hotline baby. It is time for David Amber. He will talk some hockey maybe. I'm on the hotline baby. I remember what I was doing at 23. Cooping in my pants. There's a massive butt coming here, guys. No one's fighting Rick talking. No one wants to fight Rick talking. I'm on the

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Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at Sands. That's trustee.com. We are now still in hour one of the program. David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada. Sportsnet and NHL host is going to join us

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As mentioned, our next guest is a Hockey Night Canada, SportsNet NHL host. A regular on this show every week, David Amber joins us now on the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, David. How are you? Hey, gentlemen. I just had a good chuckle with your producer, Andy. I hope he doesn't mind me saying, but he said, how you doing? And I said, oh, we're out of November, thankfully.

And he said, yeah, only 60 more Canuck games to go. He kind of sighed. I said, oh, man. 55, to be exact. Not that we're counting. Last night was great. We got to watch Nate McKinnon. Man, is he good?

Yeah, it's a weird time for a few hockey franchises, for sure. But a lot of hockey left. And, yeah, Nate McKinnon's a treat to watch, that's for sure. Yeah, the Leafs have turned it around a tiny bit, and Dakota Joshua has showed up. Yeah. you know, and we'll never know if this is exactly what sparked him, but Craig Baroube did healthy scratch

Joshua last week, and he came back, and then he had, I think, five or six hits the following game, and he has scored the previous, the next two games, and been physical, and sometimes that's the wake-up call. They had a nice debate on Hockey Night in Canada, Kevin BXA, Kelly Rudy, Jen Botterall

about, you know, is it a valuable tool for a coach, the benching of a healthy scratching of a player, and, you know, Kevin was really adamant that that's the one thing that coach can do, that's the one control method. And Jennifer made a pretty good counterpoint as well about, you know, well, there's other

methods, though, that doesn't motivate everyone and that, you know, sometimes it's got to be something more positive as opposed to maybe hurting a player's confidence. And it probably really depends on the player as well. There certainly would be some guys who sulk and there'll be some guys who probably reflect on what they're not doing or doing

and come out and change things. And with Joshua's case, it looks like it's worked pretty well. Well, Dakota Joshua, I'm not sure if you know this, David, but like the season that he kind of had the breakout season in Vancouver, it didn't start out while, you know. It was the coach basically said

and then it was Rick Tocket at the time was like, he's out of shape. He didn't come to camp in shape. And so there needed to be some tough love for him in Vancouver as well. So maybe it'll turn around for him in Toronto. What did you think of Brad Marchand's comments? He seems to love to butter up his opponents

before playing them. And, you know, he was talking about Toronto and how hard it is to be in the market and that anyone who thinks the Leafs are out of it, they shouldn't have a job. Brad Marchand is a master of psychology, specifically with the Maple Leafs, a team that he has eliminated, you know, single-handedly five times. He's been on the right end of elimination series versus the Leaf. You know, he knows how to play it up. He knows exactly what he's doing.

Do I think he means any of it? Probably not. But I think he knows what he's saying, what he's saying it. And specifically who he's saying it too, and then he knows it's going to get out there. You know, I can't wait until he retires only because if he does decide to get into media, he will be an incredible addition where every, you know, lands, hopefully with us, you know, at Sportsnet. He just, he's a smart guy and he knows how to poke the bear. I mean, that's been his whole career, right?

Licking faces and doing all the things he's done. He knows how to do it on the ice with the officials, with the fans, and I think he loves it. He probably turns to his buddies and says, watch what I'm going to do in my scrum. Said something. Immediately leaves and goes, all right, I just ignited the fire. Now let's just sit back and watch it.

The NHL needs so many more guys with that. Screw it. Watch what I'm going to say. I'm going to make a headline here. I'm going to have some fun here. There aren't enough guys like that. And sometimes I wonder if that's why half of them are like, I'm going to go, I want to go play not in Canada.

Well, a couple of things. One is he can say whatever he wants. He has a Hall of Fame resume at his disposal. So I think that makes it a lot easier. Take a lot of pressure off. Secondly, we are to be, you know, we're guilty in the media. Not all of us, but, you know, as soon as someone, does say something, anything that might end up as billboard material.

We, we, oh my God, this player said this and this player said that, and we kind of, we do encourage the 110% pucks in deep, one shift at a time, God willing, will win. We do encourage that, because that's the easy, but that's my point, but that's my point. There are too many players that will be put off by the blowback to their, to their comments, and I don't necessarily think that happens in other sports. as much as it does in hockey. It happens, certainly, to a degree, but not as much in hockey. I was at the Raptors game last then.

It certainly doesn't happen in the NBA. Yeah, no, you're right, and it's too bad because it's fun. It really is. And when players, you know, that's what's so refreshing about Matthew Schaefer. It also doesn't have to be insulting and putting the other team down and inflammatory. Just show some personality, right? And I'd like to think if Matthew Schaefer was playing in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, all, you know, the toughest of tough hockey markets, if you will, he'd be the same kid because

that's just his character. You know, I couldn't believe it when I met him at 17, and I was just like so wowed by him. You know, he spent the night with us in the sports and studios. He and his dad came by, and we just hung out, and I was like, you're really 17? And he's like, yeah, I was 17. I'm like, wow. And this is why I really do think he could be the face of the NHL in five years. He's going to have to continue playing at an elite.

level, obviously. But he has the personality. He embraces it. He wades right into it. And, you know, so some of it's about the specific character of the person and just who they are and some of it against the hockey culture, right, which beats down. You know, it's not about you. It's about the team.

You know, how many times we interviewed a guy? Oh, great hat trick. What I win. Yeah, well, it was a team effort. They got me the puck in the right places. And they might be, you know, and that probably sure was true. But it's also okay for guy to go, yeah, man, I saw I had two. goals. I was desperate to get that third one. I've never had a hatcher before. I wouldn't mind

hearing that. I wouldn't say that guy's selfish. I'd be like that's a very real response. I think you can be a team player and also interesting in the media and willing to say things. Like I don't think anyone sits there and thinks that Brad Marchand is not a team player. I think he's a great team player. Speaking of Brad Marchand, who I think is going to be on Team Canada, Have you actually kind of gone, I haven't done this yet, but have you gone through and tried to make a roster for Team Canada? Because it is getting more and more difficult. Tom Wilson keeps scoring.

Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini keep putting up huge numbers. Former captain of the Vancouver Canucks, Bo Horvatt, has many goals as Tom Wilson. Like there's so many guys making cases. There's obviously going to be. a controversial player or two left off this team because how could there not be? 100%.

I think on next Wednesday show we are doing our sort of excuse me, our mock draft of the Canadian team, I think. So that's going to happen certainly. The teams are being revealed, I believe, on December 31st. They have to be in on the 31st

and will be revealed on the second or whatever it is, the first or the second. Yeah. I mean, is going to be incredible disappointment. You know, Wyatt Johnston, Bo Horvatt, Nick Suzuki, Mark Sheifley, Mackinselaubrini, Connor Bedard, Tom Wilson, those seven forwards alone, and I'm probably forgetting a couple, have made, who weren't on Four Nations, have all made an incredible case to be on Canada's Olympic team.

There's a zero percent chance that more than maybe two or three of those seven will be on the team. right i mean it's just yeah and i'm missing some guys did you see badard's goal last night oh did you hear did you hear badard's goal last night i mean the shot and off the post and he had a pretty nice shootout goal too and the move against theater right just to create that space right like it was a it was a very typical one-on-one and he's going in essentially on his backhand cuts to his forehead creates a tiny gap i mean just enough of a gap to wire a perfect shot to beat the goalie like oh man it i i love the season he's having uh because he's i mean

he's a vancouver kid that there was so much hype around him and even on our show you know the first two years we were like he's good but was it i don't know was the hype was the hype worthy and then from what i heard this off season he was like dedicated to getting better and he worked his butt off, he didn't run away from anything, he just went to work and he was telling everyone around town basically like, I'm going to be better next season. And, you know, to me, that is to, because he experienced adversity. Let's, let's all, let's all face the facts. There were serious adversity in Chicago. There were times, how many times last season did we talk to he's, ah, he looks so miserable in Chicago. Like, you know, there was talk about, oh, do we try and

try and get this guy out of here, and he's like, I'm going to go to work, and look at him now. But just so we're clear, it wasn't that the previous two off seasons, he wasn't working. It's how he was working. A bit's been made of this. He was doing a whole bunch of waitress. You know, like, oh, he's undersized. He's going to get manned off the puck, blah, blah, blah. So he was really focused on putting on strength and adding power and bulk, if you will.

And which I think served him well on, you know, phasos and one-on-on-on-battles or whatever. to a degree but he the one knock on him I kept talking to people in the NHL and going what's going on with Bradard because I always stood by my ground and said this guy's a 50 goal score I've seen too much of him

to see he's going to be a 50 goal score and they said skating's not great and look at how explosive even on last night's goal right just getting to that park area getting to that extra space that extra stride his skating is improved

measurably he's always been an assassin It wasn't the, he always came into a camp out of shape or blah, blah, blah. He's always been too, if nothing else, you talked about him being miserable on the bench. The knock I heard about him was he was too invested in being great. And it was, it was hard for the teammates to relate to him at times because he was just very so uny focused, right? Like you've seen with other superstars in the league. And now he has some other players around them who are fitting in nicely, who are getting better. and he's focused on the one area of his game he really had, too,

which was his skating, and it's all coming together, and he is, it's amazing to see. I hope he's on that team, guys. I really do, with all due respect to the other guys we named, I do hope he's one of those three two to three guys that make it out of that group, but I'm not sure that's going to be the case, which would be incredible disappointment

because he's a legit star right now. We're speaking to David Amber, Hockey Night, Canada, Sportsnet, NHL host here on the Halford & Bruff Show on SportsNet 650. We've got an all-Canadian matchup. Two very struggling Canadian teams tonight in Montreal, the HABs and the Jets. Before we get into that game,

I look at both of those teams in the standings, Montreal and Winnipeg, both out of a playoff spot. As a matter of fact, if you look at the standings right now, December 3rd, 2025, there is a grand total of one, one, one Canadian team

in a playoff spot. Ottawa, who got to win last night. Winnipeg just had a closed door meeting. Edmonton gets shut out last night. We were doing this conversation right after American Thanksgiving. Brough set the over under at Canadian teams to make the playoffs at two and a half. And I think I went over just as a knee-jerk reaction. Because I'm like, there's no way there's going to be less than two and a half.

But it's not getting better. It's getting worse. Like if you look at the standings in the east, I think three of the or two of the bottom five positions in the east are currently held by Canadian teams, Montreal. Toronto, and then you look at the West right now, and Edmonton and Winnipeg and Vancouver and Calgary, they're four of the six worst teams in the West. Winnipeg and Montreal all the way up tonight. They're both 12th in their respective conferences.

First of all, I'll take the over, and if we're putting some money down, I'll comfortably take the over. I really will. Okay. Because that only tells part of the story. Yes, Winnipeg is 12th in the West. There are two points out of a playoff spot guys, and, you know, they have two games in hand on Sanos. say, which is occupying one of those playoffs.

If we want to get really super technical about it, you know, Edmonton lost last night, it was actually one of Edmonton's better games. They got goalied. This, yesper Walsh did, pretty good. He might win rookie the year. We can talk about Schaefer.

Yeah. Six-star, he has four shutouts. You know, if he does that for the next five months, you know, he might, he's going to get some strong rookie the year consideration. This one rookie the month in November. So he, um, they got goalied. that happens. And McDavid was a little pissed off after the game,

just sort of saying, you know, I passed up some opportunities. I probably should have shot. There was a lot of backdoor opportunities. You know, against the Minnesota team, guys, that's really streaking right now. That's the one concern for Winnipeg. It's not necessarily about making the playoffs,

but securing a top three spot in that division is starting to look like a much taller task, right? Colorado, Dallas, and Winnipeg are the hottest three teams in the NHL, collectively in their last 30 games, Colorado, Dallas, and Winnipeg, sorry, in Minnesota, I'm sorry, you know, have won, I'm just looking at it here, have won 24 of their last 30 games. They have one regulation loss, those three teams, Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota, one regulation loss in their last 30. Think about that. So that's the bigger problem for Winnipeg. But I really do think Edmonton and Winnipeg are our playoff teams, if not both, then at least one.

of them. I look at Montreal, Toronto, if not both, then at least one of them. And there you got to three, because Ottawa, I think we'll stay. So I think that's, you know, it's easy to have the doom and gloom. We talked about this last week, guys, there's such parity. It's so tightly bound. It has not been a great start. I'm interested to see the pushback for Winnipeg. They had that closed-door players-only meeting. There's no Hellebuck right now. Eilers is gone. You know, they're not nearly as dynamic as they were, you know, last year. but there's a lot of hockey to be played, and I'm not totally concerned about the Jets,

but I'd love to see the pushback tonight against Montreal. Okay, the nightcap tonight doesn't feature a Canadian team, but that almost doesn't matter because of the star power on display. You've got Alexander of Etchkin and the Washington Capitals going into San Jose to take on Macklin-Salbreni and the Sharks. Sharks, as you mentioned, holding that first wild card spot. They play more games than mostly everybody. But I will say this about San Jose.

I've watched a bunch of their games this year, especially their home games. they are a tough out in San Jose. As a matter of fact, granted they've got nine wins on home ice. The only team that has more is who we saw last night, Colorado, who's got 11. And it's probably too much too soon for them to be a playoff team this year.

But when you go in that maturation and evolution of a young team getting better, one of the things that they start to do is they start becoming really difficult to beat in their own barn. And that's kind of what San Jose has done, especially over the last six weeks where they've been very good at home. I agree with all of that. that. I actually was in San Jose and saw Celebrating the Sharks play two Sundays ago against Boston. And first of all, like, he's fantastic.

Like, you just watch him on the puck, watch him away from the puck. He's mesmerizing. He was sensational in the game I went to goal and an assist and just, you know, first started a game. And it's fun. The Shark Tank is fun again. It was a cemetery the last five-plus years. when I was there it was a Sunday and it was pretty full and the crowd was into it and you know a ton of celebrini shirts

and the fans they've been rejuvenated so it's become a tough barn to go into again so there's that and the maturation of the team is taking place you know it really it really has taken leaps and bounds and

got to give guys like Tyler to Foley a lot of credit right they've stuck there the last couple years and we're really showing these young guys how to be a pro, you know, how to be a pro and what it's going to take. I'm a Stanley Cup winner, you know, follow my lead, and how to have fun. And then, you know, they add Ryan Reeves, who's the perfect teammate, right? Ryan Reed's been loved everywhere he's been.

And he's actually, you know, he didn't really fight with the Leafs. And that got under some fan skin. But he has certainly, as soon as anyone has taken any liberties with Celebrini, Eckland, Will Smith, Dickinson. He's gone in and, okay, now you're dealing with me. So that's also something we might see tonight is a Wilson. Wilson Reeves, yeah. So, yeah, I mean, you just never know, but it wouldn't shock me. So, yeah, it's great.

You hit it on the head, man, the sharks, the ducks, the hawks, the bottom of the west is really pulled up, you know, it's just different. We've sort of seen a changing of the guard, and that's what's making these playoff races interesting is it's not a rubber stamp like it's used to be for the Edmontons and Winnipeg, etc. They are going to have to battle and earn their spot. Sharks have had the biggest bump in attendance in the NHL. They're up by, I was reading in The Athletic. They're up by 2000, which is a pretty significant bump. And I think, Maclin Celebrating might have something to do with that. David, it is always fun to chat with you.

You're always so optimistic. Am I? Yeah. Yeah, well, compared to us, which is, you know. That's a very low bar. It's a very low bar. Yes. It's not our fault.

put in this position. We are Vancouver Canucks fans. Well, listen, I'm hopeful for the Canucks still. I'm not sure what I'm hopeful for, but I'm hoping. That's it. Thank you. Thank you for that. Dude. Enjoy the games tonight and have a great week, buddy. Thanks so much. Yeah, we're on it.

4 o'clock Pacific, all Canadian matchup, Canadians, Jets, and it's really fun. And Montreal, I should lump in as one of those kind of must-see TV teams because they certainly are electric with Suzuki, Demadov, and Cauffield. And Hudson, of course. Thanks so much, guys. Have a great day. Thanks by David Amber, Hockey Night, Canada, SportsNet, NHL host here on the Haliford and Brush Show on Sportsnet 650.

Bill Simmons used to do, I think he still does it too, the NBA League pass rankings. So everyone knows Bill Simmons, right? Huge NBA fan. So back in the day when you used to have to buy the full broadcast package so you could watch all the out-of-market games, he would do the rankings of the teams that he would go out of his way to watch. Not because they were great, because they were fun to watch. So, like, this year he was doing it, and he said he would watch every Charlotte Hornets game. They're six and 15, but they're, they just go out and they try and do, like, sick dunks and they got, sure, yeah, yeah. Lamella, uh, what's his name, the youngest ball, long, I can't remember, there's Lanzo, Leangel, Lamele, anyway, whatever.

Rick. Rick, ball. Yeah. Also, one of the namesakes of ball arena. I would put San Jose, maybe number one in my NHL center ice package in terms of the, they're very fun. Well, there's so much fun to watch because we'll probably put Colorado, but. But I like the debate. I mean, the thing with San Jose that's different than Colorado is that they're still not good enough to lock down games.

That's the fun part. The fun part isn't the winning. The fun part is the chaos. Like if you want to see a game where the sharks are leading six, three with five minutes left and then they have to win at 7-6 in overtime, you might get it on any nightly basis. It's really great. Okay. Before we go to break. I must be so stressful, though, imagine.

Playing for the sharks. Like, oh, God, oh God. No lead is safe. I don't know. It seems pretty fun to me. It's fun because the expectations still really aren't there. Maybe because they're so young, their kids are just awesome. Their blue line stinks, right?

They need to fix it. And everyone's like, yeah, we know we need to fix it. And we'll do our best. And in the case of the coach, like, he knows that when they get good, he's not going to be the coach. He's the training wheels coach, Orsovsky. This is his first job. You know, he learns along with them. And then when it's time to get real.

It's shorty, right? Right. Okay, before we... They do look similar. I've mentioned this to Shorty several times. Not exactly at light. If you were to tell me he was Shorty's brother, I'd be like, yeah, I see it. I was like, Shorty, your hair is exactly the sent in here. Before we go to break, I do need to tell you about the Feed the Kids 50-50 raffle that's on right now serving the greater Vancouver Food Bank. You can visit them online at Feed the Kids 50.

5050.ca, the greater Vancouver Food Bank provides healthy food to those in need. The food bank sees approximately 16,000 clients weekly, receiving over 800,000 visits from clients throughout the year. So they need your help. They need your support. Ticket pricing goes all the way to single tickets for $5 to a 500 ticket pack for $100. There's a bunch of other price points in between. Visit them right now.

Feed the kids 5050. CA. There's 25 days left, so you've got plenty of time. We'll be mentioning it throughout the course of December. But again, feed the kids 5050.ca serving the greater Vancouver food bank. Hour one is in the books. Hour two is on the horizon. You're listening to the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet, 650.