Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Jays Even Things Up!

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk last night's big Jays Game 4 World Series win to even things up with the Dodgers at two apiece, they discuss yesterday's Canucks home shutout loss to JT Miller's New York Rangers (3:00), plus the boys go around the NHL with Sportsnet's David Amber (28:40). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to Halford and Brough You're listening to Halford and Brough. Head well to deep left center. And this one will go. Hello. He's not over yet. We are a team of uncommon men. I think a normal team would have folded today.

And we're not normal. We're just normal men. We're just innocent men. J.T. Miller and his teammates are victorious in his return to Rogers Arena. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford, it is Brough. It is SportsNet 650.

We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adon, good morning to you. Good morning. And Lottie, welcome back. Good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halford and Brumph of 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 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, Kintech, footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. Big show ahead on a Wednesday. Three guests on the Halford-in-breath show on Sportsnet 650. The first is at 630, David Amber is going to join the program. Hockey Night Canada SportsNet NHL host. We will look back on a wild Tuesday night in the National Hockey League. 16 games, including that scintillating 2-0 loss for the Vancouver Canucks to J.T. Miller and the New York Rangers.

There's just one game in the NHL tonight, classic NHL. It is Wednesday in hockey on SportsNet, Leafs at Blue Jackets. We can get into all that with David at 6.30 this morning. 7 o'clock, Frank Saravalli. Our NHL insider from Victory Plus is going to join the program. Frank did a bit this week, so we will ask him more about the Canucks plans at the center ice position moving forward. He's also got an update on what Calgary has in store for Nazim Codry. maybe those two things are related

we'll talk to Frank at 7 o'clock about all things NHL 8 o'clock Randy Janda's going to join the program Kinnock's color analyst for Sportsnet 650 as mentioned as you saw or you heard the Kinnock's lost to nothing to the Rangers at Rogers Arena last night. First time

the Kinnucks have been shut out this season and they saved it and managed to do it on one of the biggest nights on the calendar Canucks fly today in advance of Thursday's game in St. Louis against a struggling blues team. We'll talk to deep about all that at 8 o'clock. Two more giveaways today.

7.30, we're giving away a $250 gift card to Golf Town. I will pass along all the information for that during the show. And then at 8 o'clock, it is our final Foo Fighters. Foo Fighters. Final giveaway for Foo Fighters tickets. That concert isn't until 2026, way in the future,

but we're giving away a final pair of tickets today at 8 a.m. Again, I will give away the information for the call-in later on. in the show. Working in reverse on the guest list, 8 o'clock, Randy Janda. 7 o'clock, Frank Sarah Valley, 630. David Amber, that's what's happening on the program today. Greg, to tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night?

No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed that? You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance,

making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. We had an internal debate here at the Halford & Brough Show last night. We asked to each other, who are we going to start the show with? Is it going to be the Vancouver Canucks as I look at the SportsNet 650 wall and see the sign that says SportsNet 650, your home of the Canucks? Do we start with them or do we start with those plucky, resilient, Never say die, Blue Jays.

I think the Blue Jays deserve it. You did it. We acknowledge winners on this program. Except the guy's hosting it. Otherwise, we encourage and we promote winners right here. And it was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Two-run Homer off Shohei Otani, Shane Bieber, another terrific outing for him.

And the Blue Jays shook off. Remember that 18-inning loss the other night? Shook it off. Don't worry about it. They're fine. They're like a wet dog. Don't even worry about it off. Get that water off your back.

6-2 victory over the Dodgers last night to force this series back to Toronto and move this past the game where I thought a lot, I think a lot of people thought this series would be over. A lot of people were calling for a sweep. It's now a best of three, and the series will definitely go back to Toronto.

Well, I think at the very least, a lot of people were calling for this to be over in five. I'm sure that was a popular prediction. You know, you give the Jays one, and then the Dodgers managed to clinch at home. Well, the Dodgers, you know, This series won't be clinched in Los Angeles. It'll be clenched by someone in Toronto.

And if you want to think about it another way, it's a best of three, and the Jays have home field advantage. The World Series trophy will be won at Rogers Center. We just don't know who's going to win it yet. And what a performance from the Jays last night. We played that Ernie Clement clip in the intro talking about uncommon men, not ordinary men. And I will say this.

I had no idea what to expect. in yesterday's game after that 18-inning epic the night prior. It's very hard to try and predict what's going to happen coming off a game which set World Series records. It's just it's unprecedented. You don't really know. But the Js have this remarkable ability to just go out, and as Buck likes to put it, play Blue Jay baseball.

And yesterday, one of the big things that they were able to do, they couldn't do in that 18-in-game, was neutralized the effect of Shohei Otani. It was an ordinary Otani yesterday. And that was one of the major reasons why the Jays were able to do what they did. They managed to tag him for six hits and four runs. They chased them in the seventh. Yeah, he managed to get his strikeouts,

but they were able to put up runs on Otani. And if you look at them now, they have been able to get after the Dodgers starting pitching, minus Yamamoto, pretty effectively in this series. And then at the plate, I thought that might have been the biggest, if there's such thing as in-game momentum or making a statement, going after Otani, not issuing walks like crazy, Bieber's ability to get him out.

I know he walked him in the first app bat, but strike him out in consecutive at-bats and leave him in the on-deck circle in the ninth inning. I think it really spoke to this Jay's team just being like, okay, yesterday was yesterday. Yeah. He killed us yesterday. We acknowledged that, but today is a new day.

We're going to go out and attack him and get after him. Also, Otoni gave up his first home run of the postseason, and it came courtesy, the big bad of Vladimir Guerrero. film run of the year, cool. Pretty impressive performance from the Jays yesterday. Okay, so I know that originally we had said, all right, Jays, you just got to find a way to get it back to Toronto.

Just get it back to Toronto, then anything can happen. Now I'm starting to get a little bit greedy because the prospect of Yamamoto pitching what would he pitch, would he pitch game six for the Dodgers, right? So tonight, you got

you Savage versus Snell. The Jays of already beaten Snell once in this series. The odds of them doing it twice are pretty low, but the odds of them winning this World Series are low. Let's face it, right? They've got to do something that is unusual or that the odds

are against. And you savage he was a starter in game one. He didn't get the win, but they won that game. You know, this one to me, now I'm getting a little bit like, okay, you know what? I know you did get it back

to Toronto, but let's not waste this opportunity. because Yamamoto, it wasn't just a one-time performance. He's the best pitcher of baseball right now. Yeah, yeah. It wasn't like the time that the Jay saw him, yes, he was great. But it wasn't like, wow, he'll never do that again. Like, he might because he's done it a few times in the postseason already. So it'll be a Savage's first postseason start on the road, correct?

I mean, obviously they were trying to shelter him a little bit. I think he's only had two road starts, period. in his very brief MLB pitching career. So it's going to be hostile, it's going to be tough. He wasn't great in his first start against the Dodgers, but he was okay. I think you're right. The answer is going to be,

what are they going to do against Snell? I think the other thing here, though, is that the Jay's Penn yesterday and what they were able to do behind Bassett, or sorry, behind Bieber was really impressive. And I spoke early because I mentioned Chris Bassett. What a story, Bullpen Bassett, going from an 11-year MLB career

where he's exclusively been a star. suddenly comes in as a middle and relief guy, pitches in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, and goes out last night and puts up another impressive performance after Bieber. I mean, the amount of incredible performances this team has gotten from non-stars all season long is what's made them, for me, at least, so likable. You know, like they, you know, the other night, Eric Lauer comes in and pitches amazing, right? and you know the Jays didn't get the win

but it was a terrific performance and it just seems I think we all wondered is this going to continue into the postseason or is it going to be like that that magic will run out and then it'll just be up to the stars to get it done now

the Blue Jays biggest star Vladimir Guerrero has got it done but what's made this so fun and I think what's given the Dodgers more than a lot of people expected the Jays would give them are the unexpected.

You know, these, they are, they really are a true team. And it is, you know, the people were going to get behind the Js, however they did it,

right? I mean, they're the Jays, but, you know, I, for me, like,

this team is very, very likable. And I, and I, you know, do you know what I mean? Like, there,

there are teams that are just good. Mm-hmm. and then they're like the dodgers like the dodgers very team yeah like the dodgers but you know i i i wonder um i mean the rest of the baseball world must be cheering for the jays in this all mariners fans i can tell you that okay whatever bracket's i've heard it from them a few times i've got i've got mariners fans buddies that are cheering for the jays really yeah so it's not it's not it's not all of them okay but but i i i would imagine that you know like if you want to talk about like spiteful like i'm pretty sure podre's fans are cheering pretty hard for the blue jays because um not that the dodgers are like super unlikable or anything

like that oh tony oh tony's not unlikable you you're making that you're making that like who's unlikable to make a case yeah okay well who do you who's who's unlikable to anyone but you on on on the like there might be on the dodgers yeah who's who's unlikable Dave Roberts. Training. I don't like him. Trinen is such a goof. But you know what I mean, right? Like, I think the J's are a true underdog here.

Yes. Part of the reason why the Dodgers have this sort of not Yankees-esque evil empire, but the evil of these two is because Dave Roberts, prior to the World Series, had those remarks, which I think in retrospect, he'd probably walk back where he said, well, if we're going to ruin baseball, let's win four more and really ruin it. I'm paraphrasing what he said. But the idea is that the Dodgers are. ruining baseball because they spend more than everyone and any time a big free agent comes

aboard they add them to the pile and they're spending egregious sums of money it's not like other MLB teams aren't but they've also won the World Series last year and they're going for their back-to-back ones so they are very much positioned as the Goliath in all of this and the Jays are very much positioned as the David which

is hilarious because the Js spent a ton of money as well and one of their players makes half a billion dollars but and they're owned by a multi-billion dollar corporation just those nickel and dime jays getting by the mom and pop operation. It's funny that it's positioned this way, but that's how it's been positioned. Roberts had a lot to do

with that. Now, the Jays have given the Dodgers, as you put, more fits than I think anyone thought. The Dodgers have played 14 games this postseason. The Dodgers have lost three games this postseason and two of them have been to the same team. They ran through the National

League, which quite honestly, I think a lot of people saw as their coronation, because a lot of people said, well, the NL is the real, more tougher the two leagues, right? Milwaukee had the best team in baseball, at least record-wise, during the regular season. Everyone thought this might have been Philly's year, and then there were the defending World Series

champions in the Dodgers. It's a fraud league, clearly. Fraudulent. Fraudulent. Well, they might have also thought, like, if any team's going to beat it, maybe it's going to be the Yankees in the World Series. Yeah, but it's proven to be this Jay's team that, as you mentioned, has different guys stepping up all the

time, and it's really impressive, and it's crazy to think that this thing is going to go back to Toronto, it's going to be decided at Rogers Center and the Js now have home field advantage in a best of three. And it could very easily have been 3-1Js going back. I threw it out. I wanted to throw it up there on Twitter for some real rage bait.

I said all they were were Yamamoto and Freddie Freeman heroics away from this being a sweep and it's already over. That's a bit of a stretch. That's a stretch. Yamamoto's not having a dud game. That's just not happening. If they were able to get to just a little bit and if Freddie Freeman didn't have the most heroic home run of his career, I digress.

Let's go to the Vancouver Canucks now. One of our listeners from Euclid is foaming at the mouth, frothing, if you will, that we haven't talked about the Canucks or given a Quinn Hughes update yet. The listeners are in a bit of an ornery mood this morning. I don't know if it's us starting off with baseball or whatever. There's some, I mean, Dawn and North Van, I want to read this, but this isn't that bad because he's dead right. Looks like your predictions of something happening at the Canucks game last night was way off,

If anything, it was a yawn fest at best. Everyone involved in it seems to have moved on. I think that is pretty accurate, and it surprised me a little bit. The lack of emotion, I apologize for hyping that game up because it didn't deliver even in the least. It wasn't very fun. It wasn't very exciting. There didn't appear to be much emotion on the ice.

the building kind of fell asleep. The Canucks didn't score a goal, and they lost Connor Garland to an injury. I guess it was kind of exciting late in the third, kind of. The Canucks had a few chances to tie it, but the news that Garland wasn't returning to the game loomed over any excitement. The Canucks were already without one of the best defensemen in the game

and the one they couldn't afford to be missing in Quinn Hughes. And now for a little while, at least, they're going to be missing Garland, who's almost certainly been their best forward this season, I barely noticed J.T. Miller outside of the video tribute. You know, I think he played a solid game. He was out there. He played a solid game, but, you know,

I think the Rangers of his team played a solid game. I thought Pedersen played well and was trying to lead out there. No goals is no goals, though. And it was a little bit hard to watch the empty netter when he thought it would be icing and it went straight in the net. So it wasn't a super night for Elias Pedersen, although he did play well. And if you're looking for any other positives,

I thought Lucas Reichel had another good game. Four shots on goal looked dangerous at times. And Tom Velander made his NHL debut and did quite well. He even got some power play time, which I didn't expect to see. But, you know, I didn't expect to see Quinn Hughes hurt and Connor Garland hurt. And, well, maybe I expected he'll be hurt, but not so early. You know, the caducs are now five and six. And you can say that, well, injuries are the reason they're five and six.

And it's surely a contributing factor. But five and six, and it's not going to get any easier because they are right back on the road to play three games starting tomorrow in St. Louis. They don't even get like this schedule. I know everyone's playing it. but it is very, very difficult, especially for a team that's running into injuries for very key players.

Eight injuries now that Canucks are up to. So on the note of the injuries and because people are texting into the number, our number text line at 650, 650, asking, the update on Quinn Hughes, per the head coach, Adam Foote, is that Hughes is going to be evaluated today before the team travels to St. Louis. It is a lower body injury.

He is listed as day to day. Foot was asked if this injury was related to any, the myriad of injuries that Quinn Hughes suffered last year, Fultz said no. There's your Quinn Hughes update. Your Connor Garland update is there is no update. Foote said that he was still being evaluated after the game

he exited prior to the start of the third period and did not return for that aforementioned third period. Garland, it was confirmed, suffered the injury on the hit from Sam Carrick. That was maybe the most emotional part of the game was the big hit that Carrick laid on Garland and then in response and good on him for doing it, Marcus

Patterson dropping the gloves in defense of his injured teammate. Outside of that though, the game was bereft of as you put it, emotion, excitement, juice. There was no boost. It was boostless.

So why did that game suck so much? Well, I think the eight injuries have something to do with it. But I'll also say this. You know, this show we like do we like to have a good time? It's fun. This team is not fun.

And by that, I mean, they don't play in a way that makes it fun. They don't approach the games in a way that makes it fun. They don't seem to have any of the investments that you need

to make it a good time to watch. Last night... Do you think they just wanted this game to be over with? Like both sides. Like J.T. Miller was happy to get the tribute, but it also seemed like,

I don't know if you saw how Leeus Patterson interviewed in the morning they were like, you know, what are your thoughts on playing JT and he was like, I played him last year. Do you think, do you think that's why Adam Foote bag skated them prior to the game was to get it all out of their system? Like, you know when you take a dog?

I have no idea why he bagscated them. You know when you take a dog to the park and then the dog comes home and it's still a little restless and you're like, back to the park with you, we got to get you calm down. I don't think that's why. I think he probably skated them just because they'd played two games, Saturday, Sunday. Monday, maybe, you know, Monday you get the day off. and then maybe you tighten up a little bit. And maybe he just wanted to get the juices flowing a little bit.

I don't know if it had an impact on the game, but I know the people watching the morning skate were like, well, this is unusually. You don't see that very often very, you know, and morning skates, especially for a team that's playing his third game in four nights. Yeah. I don't, was Adam Fudd asked about that? I don't know.

I don't know if he was. I was kind of focused on the J's stuff, to be honest. That was fun. Yeah. And look, we are in a very competitive sports landscape right now in terms of drawing attention. There's no shortage of things going on right now. There were 16 NHL games last night. The Canucks and Rangers had the opportunity to be one of the major talking points on a night

where the NHL dominated a lot of conversations because every single team, all 32 of them, were playing last night, but the game was a dud. And again, I don't think it was through any fault of the players who made a push in the third period and did all the sort of usual rote exercises that teams do when they're trailing one nothing, but the Canucks were kind of a average to above average team coming into the season, and now a third of their lineup is out with injuries,

and they're just trying to get by, and they're just trying to do the things you can do to survive what is eight injuries to some very important players as well. So further to the why did that game suck? I mean, you have to credit the Rangers, too, right? I mean, they came in and played that road game. Yeah, they came in and made it a dour affair. I think that they played their part.

Do you want to talk a couple minutes about Evander Kane? Because no goals now in 11 games. And, you know, I think there's a lot of people that dislike Evander Kane for numerous reasons. I think most of you will remember my reaction when they traded for him. It was not positive. Did you say something? But, you know, I try to watch him on the ice and just, you know, assess him on the ice. And I think he's done some good things out there, I really do.

He's made some nice passes out there. He's drawn penalties, but he's also taking a bunch of penalties. And, you know, in a tight game like last night, it was hard to ignore the fact that on the one, you know, non-empty netter goal that was scored in that game, he was gliding on the back check, wasn't moving his feet. and Sabanajad was able to get position and scored the goal. Like that is, I know he's a winger. It's not a defenseman, but Zabanajad was right there for him to check. Sure. And he was gliding.

So, I mean, that's not good. And if he had five goals already, you'd be like, all right, well, he's got five goals. But, you know, he has a lot of shots. I think he's third on the team in shots or something like that. He's got almost 30 shots on the season. But, you know, he's supposed to be a goal scorer. And I remember when he was signed, people were like, he's coming home. He'll love it.

It's a contract year. He loves money. And then, you know, it's like, like, he's going to be great with Pedersine. He's going to score 30 goals, maybe 40 goals. Well, he's got none in 11 games. And I know math genius, but none in 11 games is not on pace for 30 and 82. Let me check. He's on pace for zero, zero goals.

Yeah. Yeah, that's tough. I remember when the deal was at. initially struck to acquire Van der Kaine saying at 34 years old and having missed the entire 2024, 2025

regular season campaign, it's going to be a bit of a long shot to think that he can reclaim the form that saw him score like 30 in San Jose or 20 multiple times earlier in his career. It's just not easy and I know that last year

he came back and played 21 games in the playoffs and scored six goals, but a lot that, a lot of the energy that he brought, a lot of the goal scoring that he brought, happened in the early stages of that playoff run. As that playoff run went along, you started to see a guy that missed an entire entire year season, did not play an entire regular season. And now you're looking at it. And I think that at 34 and given the amount of time that he missed and given the wear and tear on his body, you're seeing diminished returns on a guy that is not the same player that he was. He still has it in flashes. But I don't think. Yeah, he can still hit

hard and he can still shoot the puck. But I think it was probably unrealistic to expect him to be an 82 game contributor when he was a zero regular season game contributor last year. Again, I understand that he came back in the playoffs. And yeah, he made a nice impact for the Oilers to get to the Stanley Cup. But if you look back on his splits between the first two rounds and then what he did in the Western Conference final and the Stanley Cup final, there was a pretty big difference, right?

And it's because he's older. the games start to drag on you know fatigue starts to pile up and it's scary to say this stuff 11 games into the season because you know you do the math there and there's like there's still a lot more to be played this season

he probably in a compressed schedule yeah like it could be one of those years where he's playing some version of catch up the entire time well I remember Adam Futsing in training camp he's like he's like yeah you know

vendors like out there in practice and just, you know, he kind of said, like, he's starting these practices slow, but I don't have a problem with that. He's got to find his legs, and, you know, he's a veteran and all that sort of thing. And I was like, that's interesting that he said that, though, because you can obviously see in these practices that Kane isn't, you know, doesn't have the level that maybe others have in terms of just like...

That's a good point, though. You know, getting up to speed, and he does, I mean, he's old for the NHL. But it's a good point to bring up, because if he is, in that mode where I'm going to, you know, kind of work my way back into being where I think I could hit my top form halfway through the season. That's fine. But with the amount of injuries the Canucks have right now, like he's a frontline guy and they need him to perform right now. Like, fair or not, unrealistic expectations or not, they need Kane to deliver more than zero goals in 11 games because they have eight injuries and so many significant injuries at the forward

position, including now Connor Garland. I'm actually terrified to see what they look like without Garland and Hughes in the lineup. Yeah, I know. I mean, those are their two main play drivers. Those are the guys that get the puck from one end of the ice to the other. And they often just do it by themselves. They're like, how about I just

do this? Now they can't. They're both hurt. I mean, what does your top six look like without Connor Garland? You've got... Pedersen, Bessor de Brusk maybe back together? Well, I don't know. Pedersen, yeah. And then what? A second line of Evander Cain, Lucas

is Reichel and Kiefer Sherwood? Yeah. Yeah, that's it. By the way, I like Reichel, and I know he had a ton of chances last time, but every time I watch him play, I can't help but think, like, this was a guy that could not get in the lineup.

For a Chicago team that's getting better, but it's probably still in the bottom third of the league. And then he comes to Vancouver, and he's a 16, 17 minute and second line center. And they're like, buddy, I know you just got here, but you're playing in five minutes. Yeah, a lot. Desperately need you.

Put down that hot dog from Portillo's. have to play a lot. He's like, okay, I'll do it. All right, we've got to go to break. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about the BC Lions. This Saturday, November 1st, your BC Lions. Take on the Calgary Stampeders in the West semi-final. Want tickets? Secure them today at BCLions.com. On the other side of the break, David Amber,

Hockey Night and Canada, SportsNet, NHL host is going to join us. 16 games in all 32 teams participated last night. Tonight, a grand total of one game. We'll talk to David about all of it coming up next on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet. 6.50. Happy Wednesday, everybody, Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Get out of the penalty box of debt and back into the game with a financial fresh start. Visit them online at Sands. trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Despite the lack of intro music, nobody's fault here. We're just having technical difficulties. I know. Sportsnet 650, technical difficulties?

No kidding. In this economy? How? Don't know. Anyway, we do have David Amber patiently waiting on hold. We just didn't have his intro music. We will press on. Halford in Brough of the Morning Hour 1 is brought to 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. To the phone lines we go, our next guest. SportsNet, Hockey Night and Canada NHL host, David Amber, joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650.

Morning, David, how are you? Good gentlemen. I think they're contractually obligated to play my intro on the station at least once a day, so we'll have to tee that up later, maybe. We'll just play it randomly at like 3.45 this afternoon. There you go.

fuse people. How are you guys doing? Yeah. We're excited about the Jays. We're a little worried about the Canucks because the, I don't know if you've been even noticing what's been happening in Vancouver. I wouldn't blame you

if you'd kind of put that on the back burner or the back burner to the back burner. The Canucks are now without Queen Hughes and Connor Garland. Arguably they're two best play drivers, one a defenseman and

one a forward. They just got shut out by the Rangers. The game really didn't have much juice at all. Did you happen to catch any of it, or were you mostly focused on the Jays? I'm not sure how to take this. Maybe you missed our intermission segments with Sam Cousantino and I. We were watching the game. We were doing the game.

I apologize. I apologize for that. That's an oversight. But honestly, even if you were working the game, I'd be like, what's going on with the Jays? well you know what last time it was a crazy night because we had 16 i mean every team was playing it was frozen frenzy so i'm not going to sit there and pretend i watched 60 minutes of the connects game but i did you know we know the big stories we watched you know it certainly caught the connor garland hit and the fight that uh you know and good on on marcus peterson for stepping in

and doing a role i wasn't sure he had in them um but bigger picture who cares like heedles out we don't know when and if he's coming back, Garland's out, Quinn Hughes is out, four birds out, Mancini's out. I mean, we put a graphic up. I mean, it's a mass unit there. And this isn't a team that just next man up. Like, you're running out of bodies at this point, and these are key bodies. And I think we're at the time where you need the Evander Cain's,

the Jake DeBrus, you need the Brock Basters. I mean, you're going to need more from other guys and how much more Adam Foote can squeeze out of them? It's the big question, but I can understand there'd be a ton of concern, and you're getting pretty solid goal-tending on most nights, but the scoring is going to be a real issue, and who's going to drive, as you said,

who's going to drive the offense, drive the plays, and that's a massive concern. What were some of the interesting games that happened last night? Oh, man. That Colorado Jersey game was insane. and it was 5-0-0 Colorado, and then Jersey stormed back with four straight goals. And then, you know, finally Nathan McKinnon

and the guys put sort of the clasps down. And Markstrom was in that, by the way, and it was not a pretty night for Jacob Markstrom. And, you know, Markstrom, as you guys saw when he was with Vancouver, at his best, he's fantastic. But when things don't go well, they really come unglued. And it certainly did yesterday for him. You know, maybe the best finish of the night was the Montreal-Seattle game.

Montreal is up 3-0 in full control. Third period, Seattle just chipped away. You know, Shane Wright's really playing well. Brandon Montour had two goals. Goes to overtime. I don't know if you've seen the goal by Cole Caulfield. I think it's third overtime. We're like, what, three weeks into the season?

The guy has three overtime goals. It was a great play. Just a great play. So there were some really good, exciting finishes. I was good. Did you guys see Caulfield? Saw the Caulfield goal. I also, and we're bearing the lead here,

North Vancouver's very own Connor Bernard with his first NHL hat trick last night, three goals and an assist. That was a wild game. The Hawks beat Ottawa 7-3. When it was 6-3, Ottawa trailing by 3, obviously, there's math. They pulled the goalie with

seven minutes left in the period, which I've never seen before. That's the earliest goalie pull I've ever seen. Greener was like, my goalie's not stopping bucks anyway. I 100%. I have an indictment on Lena Saulmark more than anything. I mean, Chicago had a 4-0 lead. They'd scored four goals on their first nine shots.

You know, they need Allmark to be like a Vesma guy like he was in Boston, not someone completely unreliable, and you don't know what you're getting with him. I think Ottawa is the worst or second worst, save percentage in the league. Like, it's not good. And Travis Green, I think it just said enough of this, F this. I don't think he was necessarily trying to humiliate Allmark, but he's basically saying, do we have a better chance to win five on five with him in that right now, or do we have a better chance to somehow

pull off a miracle six on five without him in that, and I'm going to take my chances. Well, yeah, because on a night where all 32 teams are playing across 16 games, you get to see every storyline unfold in front of you, and one of the ones out of Ottawa, and it's, they're not alone. There's a few teams that are in the throws

of frustration right now, but you saw it boil over at the end of that game with a full-on scrap where Ottawa just seems like the amount of goals that they're bleeding and they're not getting the results and Kachucks out of the lineup, they're extremely frustrated. But you saw in a couple other places as well, but just the follow-up on Ottawa, I do wonder right now how worrisome things are because the goals against is inflated. It's ballooning up there.

And you mentioned Montreal and what they've been able to do, especially on this Western Road Swing, where let's be honest, they should have won all those games. They should have beat Edmonton. There was no reason they should have lost that game. They got screwed over by the refs and they all mentioned in the aftermath. But I kind of compare Montreal and Ottawa because those are the two teams that took that step forward last year and got into the postseason. But now you look at it, Montreal seems like they're going on that more linear route forward, whereas Ottawa, I know it's early. I know we're only 10, 11 games into the season,

but I'm not exactly sure where they're at because they just can't keep pucks out of their net. Yeah, that's been the big issue. And they can score. I mean, they've got such great young offensive stars. They just put up seven goals the previous night against Boston. they'd scored seven goals in their previous game before that. So, I mean, they can score. But if you're Travis Green, he recognizes this is not going to be a long-term recipe.

Let's just run and gun and see who we can beat 7-6 on an average night. So he's been trying to instill in them what other teams. And, you know, Vancouver, to their credit, Adam Foote has the team playing pretty well and sound defensively and the goaltending's there. Ottawa still has a long way to go. And I wouldn't even say it's the system in place. Again, it's just, Allmark was so sloppy. Sam and I are watching, and he's giving up massive rebounds

and slowly sort of laterally moving to the other side to try and stop a rebound that he's given up. And it just wasn't good enough, quite frankly. They didn't really have an option as what to do. They played the night before and traveled. So it's not like you're going to pull Omar and put the goal you had in the night before in Maryland and back in net. So it was Allmark's game to sort of win or lose,

and that was a very winnable game. and I'm sure Travis Green's probably pulling his hair out as they get ready for their next game, you know, thinking this isn't going to be that recipe. We need to be more solid, more consistent, certainly from the back end and in our goal-tending situation. Montreal conversely, guys, what a great start for them. And I said this, I think I said on your show last week, like I look at them as must-see TV. They're just so fun to watch. Suzuki, by the way, guys, like I don't know how you leave them off the Canadian Olympic team.

I think he has to be there. 100% of great. Yeah, like he's just emerging as a superstar in the league. Another three assists last night. He takes face off. He scores big goals. He sets up. He plays defensively.

He's Jonathan Taves, the light from, you know, when Taves was a superstar. So I just, I think that's going to be an interesting storyline. Cawfield, is he going to be added to the U.S. team? That's a great storyline. And they are just a real treat to watch right now. What is different about Badard's game this season? He, you know, he took it to heart.

It was a regression in his sophomore year. He took a lot of criticism. He's pretty sick of the losing. I mean, it's been a really, you know, Chicago finished what dead last and second last in the two years he's been in the league or whatever it is, something along those lines. It's been tough.

And I think they sat him down and sort of has real heart-to-heart about what he needed to work on and he knows he takes he's one of these guys he really he's off the ice he is mindful of what he's eating and he's mindful of his training he's very very he focused on his personal ability to help the team

he's very conscientious and the one knock on him he has an incredible shot which we saw last night it's just the skating needs to improve and it has improved he looks more dynamic more powerful and part of that's probably just getting older he's finally 20 years old. Like, we keep forgetting how young these guys are.

You know, I've never lost faith that this guy's going to be a multi-time 50 goal score in the NHL. Like, that's how good he is. He has an ability that guys don't have a one-shot scoring ability. And he's made strides and the team has made strides. Jeff Blasheal deserves a lot of credit. And Frank Nazar, his running mate is, you know, looks like a burgeoning young star in the league as well.

and there could be some positive days ahead for Chicago. You know, listen, right now they're sitting on playoffs. Do I look at them as a playoff team? No, I don't. But do I look at them as making literal, you know, the types of progression that teams who are going to be a playoff team in a year or two make? This is that sort of season, apparently, for Chicago. And Bedard and his progress is a massive part of that.

Apparently, Baderd all off season here in Vancouver, you know, anyone that came up to him and was like, hey, how's it going? He'd be like, I'm going to be better next season. I am going to be better next season. Like, he was dialed in. I want to get back to the Colorado because, you know, I'm looking at some of the issues

that the connects are having, scoring goals, and I am jealous of the Colorado avalanche. I mean, an obvious question would be, like, is Marty Nietzsche's going to get paid and what's the contract situation going to be there? But more specifically, I think, like, what have you thought when watching Colorado? this year because they seem to be on a bit of a mission.

Yeah, I mean, I think the one question mark is do they have the goal tending to pull them through? And certainly when they won the title a few years ago, they did. You know, I'm interested to see with Blackwood and Wedgwood, is there enough there? They have the superstar power. And I think you hit the number one storyline on the head, the NACIS thing. You know, here's a guy, you know, hasn't wanted to sign in the markets he's been. been reluctant to do that and the question is what's going to happen now and you're kind of in a damned if you do damned if you don't like you're not trading for futures he's too good to give

up when your when your goal is to win the stanley cup so maybe he just run this out and you just say screw it we'll worry about that problem when we worry about the problem we have too good a situation here with the chemistry he brings and the and the scoring ability he provides and you know we'll cross that bridge when we come to it and certainly if he helps lead them to a championship and he wants more money, he probably has earned more money. So maybe it's not that big a problem. But I am interested to see how they navigate through that

and whether a deal will be struck at some point during this season that keeps him in Colorado. But yeah, you talk about a team on a mission. I mean, McKinnon is just, he is, I can only imagine when people went up to him in the offseason and sort of said, how's your off season going with his response was? Nobody went up to him in the off season. He's too scary.

You're right, fellas. I was like, I thought he winning a championship would keep to lose that edge. But my God, like anyone who's dealt with with Nate, he's just very, very intense, right? On the ice, off the ice. And I mean, I think that's what makes him the champion he is. But there's no sort of niceties. There's no sort of lightness to him, right? Like Brad Marchand win the championship and he's cut all smiles after and Matthew Kachuk.

And they're embracing the moment. He just feels like, okay, we've won and now what? we need to win again. And that's great. You want that kind of player on your team. But, man, he's just locked in early. How did the Oilers look last night? I know they were down 2-0 early,

and they came back in 1, 6-3 to 3. You know what? There was two teams that came into last night with massive winning streaks. New Jersey had an 8-game streak. Colorado dusted them, off-scored 8 goals. Utah had a 7-game winning streak. They had a 2-0 lead against Edmondson.

Seemingly, they were in full control of the game, and then in the second period, Edmonton just exploded, scored five goals unanswered before, you know, Utah could even get sort of spin his head around and Edmonton won six three. If I'm an oiler fan, the number one thing I enjoyed in watching that Euler game

was Connor McDavid scored twice. Once was an empty net, but it was funny. Sam and I are watching, he kind of broke past the blue line of his own zone with the puck. Usually with the empty debt, this is when he starts looking around. Like, who can I get the puck to, you know,

who can I make a few? feel good. He had his head down. He literally was, I'm going to shoot on net and score, which he did. From outside the red line, like he was pretty like, I'm ready to score. I think he's obviously heard all the narrative. Why isn't McDavid scored? What's going on? Yeah. I have a goal in the first six, seven games. So he's up to three goals now. But the idea that he scored a couple goals,

Drysiddle found the back of the net, that they came from behind, that Skinner played pretty well. You know, it was by and large a good win for a team that's looked incredibly, you know, at times disinterested and disjointed and kind of just like, let's just get to the playoffs already, which you can fully understand as a team that's been in the cup final in the last year. Do you think it's that, David, or do you think there's, like, actual personnel issues? Because, you know, Mike and I were talking about, I mean, without Hyman, it's really takes something off their wings.

And, you know, I know it looks like I wasn't able to watch the game, but it looks like Dyke Howard got a goal last night, which is big for them. But I just, you know, I know any team with McDavid and Drysiddle is going to be a playoff team and they're going to be good. But you also need other contributors. And I think maybe what we're seeing right now, the lineup right now is why Connor McDavid just signed a two-year extension and didn't go, you know, fully into it because he knows that, you know, there have to be some guys that are going to take the torch

from the likes of Ryan Newton Hopkins and, you know, even Hyman, those guys are getting a little bit older now. Jason, I think that's a great point. Listen, there's a lot expected. They, you know, they trade for Savoy, they trade for Howard. You know, they need, they go and they get Mangiopani.

They are looking for this collective group to really help out 29 and 97. And thus far, it's been kind of mixed reviews at best, right? You know, Zach Hyman is a very big glue guy because he does so many things. He drives the net. He obviously has such great presence.

He finishes. He retrieves the puck's with whatever line he's playing with. So that's not an insignificant guy to be out of the lineup. But as you're saying, they're going to need the depth to be there. They've made some massive changes. I mean, for anyone who was paying attention, and they moved seven players out all in their 30s, right? Perry, Skinner, you know, Connor Brown, Arvetson, et cetera.

And they wanted to be a little bit younger, a little bit more dynamic. And Savoy and Howard and Tomasik, they're still feeling their way into being everyday players and with this group and everything else. So there's a jury out there. I mean, they're not alone, right? Guys, how many teams have been Vancouver out of them to the list? They would love to have another top six forward. Leaves. We'd love to have another top six forward, and Edmonton's in that same group.

So there's very few bodies available and very, you know, many teams, you know, looking, scouting out and trying to find a quality forward to add to their lineup. I would say Edmonton is certainly one of those teams. Well, bring on expansion, you know. Let's thin it out a little bit more. David, I apologize for forgetting about you. I think I'm still feeling the 18 inning game. Like that one, that one, that one, I know we're on the West Coast, so, you know, it wasn't as bad for us, but we have a six in the morning show. So there's been a lot of sports on.

I haven't been able to catch everything. Listen, no apology needing because, quite honestly, last night of all nights, as soon as one period would end, I wouldn't be watching the admissions either. I'd be jumping into, like, what else is happening, especially with that Jay's game there. So no apology needed, I was doing the same thing. I just had the luxury of having like 10 screens in front of me the whole night, right?

Thanks, buddy. Thanks, David. Oh, it's very gracious. Enjoy guys. Hey, Jay's tonight, and I got tickets for game six. Nice. So I am pumped, and what a story. It's been fun.

Are you going to dress up? It's Halloween. I know. I don't know. I'm kind of old now for that, aren't I? No. I mean, just go as David Amber. That's a pretty cool costume, too.

Let me know. If you have a good costume idea, let me know. But, yeah, I know, I'm pumped. I think it's going to be really fun. And if somehow your Savage can pull it off tonight and the J's have a chance to clinch on Friday, that would be absolutely just amazing. The city's on fire right now and all lies on Jay, so let's go. Awesome.

Thanks, David. I appreciate this, buddy. Thanks, guys. I always love being on the show. Take care. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet, NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Our one of the program is in the books. Hour 2 is on the horizon. Frank Serra Valley. Our NHL Insider from Victory Plus is going to join the program on the other side. 730. We've got an open segment. So if you want to weigh in, Dunbar-Lumber text line is 6-50, 6-50.

You can let us know what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports with what we learned. We won't do those until 8.30. But if you want to weigh in on anything, last night, the Canucks game, last night's Blue Jays game, anything. We get an open segment at 7.30. But before that, Frank Sarvelli coming up on the other side of the break, you're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.