Halford & Brough in the Morning - The New-Look Canucks Are Back At It Tonight

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), the boys look at these new-look Canucks and try and put a bow on the Miller vs. Pettersson saga (6:00), plus they preview tonight's Canucks matchup vs. the Avs with Colorado Hockey Now's Aarif Deen (25:56). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- They got a lot of great players, but the biggest thing is they play great together Hartman intentionally uses his forearm and body weight to drive Stutzla's head directly into the ice 2024 Stanley Cup champions the Florida Panthers and it was a tremendous championship and watched by all Good morning, Vancouver 601 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. It is Halford, it is Brough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey dog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service or parts.

We are in hour one 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 you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics, working together with you get paid. This is the 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step.

A lot to get into on the show today. We got a big guest list ahead. We have a Canucks game day tonight, seven o'clock Rogers Arena. It is the Vancouver Canucks and the visiting Colorado Avalanche. Speaking of the avalanche at 6.30, Arif Dean is going to join the program from Colorado Hockey Now.

Talk about an Avalanche team that's won two straight and three of their last four on Laddie. Not only have they won two straight, both of those two wins have come via shutout from Mackenzie Blackwood. So we'll talk to Arif about all that. Love to see it. Also, the last time the Canucks played the Colorado Avalanche, a slightly different team. They had Miko Rantan in the lineup, no longer. It's Marty Nacius and Jack Drury now. So we'll talk to Arif about that. Blackwood's got the Canucks number as well. I wonder if he'll play tonight.

I think he will. I was looking at their schedule. They've got a back to back coming up in Edmonton and Calgary. So they'll probably split there, but I would suggest that yes, it would be Mackenzie Blackwood. Who has the Canucks number apparently tonight for the Avs. Seven o'clock Ray Ferrraro is going to join the program, lots to talk to Ray about.

Now he was on the call over the weekend for JT Miller's New York Rangers return in Boston on Saturday. So we can talk to him about that. He's going to be calling the Canucks Avs tonight as well. Yeah. I'm also going to, we're also going to talk to

Ray about playing under pressure. Ooh. And the tips that he developed. What did you just get the shivers or something there? I'm excited talking about playing under pressure. Yeah, like a guy finishing off at the urinal there. It was just shivers. Just a little shake, just getting excited.

It's just Ray Ferraro, man. Just ready to face the day. Just getting excited. Jeez Louise, okay. Ray's gonna join us at seven o'clock. Brendan Batchelor at eight o'clock. Reminder, it is the Canucks and the Avs. Our list today of fine Canucks programming

begins at four o'clock. Canucks Central, you got Sat and Dan from four to six. Sat and Dan will then take you through the pregame show six to seven. Batch and Randee, puck drop at seven, they are on the call. And then Sat and Bich Nizar are gonna be doing intermissions and postgame right up until 10 p.m. That's at eight o'clock, Brendan Batch and Randee, puck drop at seven, they are on the call. And then Sat and Bick Nizar are gonna be doing intermissions and post game right up until 10 p.m. That's at eight o'clock, Brendan Batchelor.

Then at 8.30, Jason, this is exciting. Five time Pro Bowler, five time All-Pro, Super Bowl champion, one of the keynote members of the Legion of Boom. Richard Sherman is gonna join the program at 8.30. He, of course, is the guest speaker at this year's JCC Sports Dinner. So we got a bunch of questions that we'll ask

Richard Sherman about his time playing in the NFL, current state of the NFL. Do you think Richard Sherman like is fully prepared for every one of these interviews? He's like, yes, we did not like Russ. Uh, yes, that was controversial when he threw an interception in the Super Bowl. Yes, that did screw up the team a little bit.

How many times do you think he's answered questions about that? Did Russ get preferential treatment? Yes. It's on the Mount Rushmore of Richard Sherman questions. But you are going to ask them today, right? I don't know what direction we're going to go. You know what we like to do is because we're such good radio host all that stuff has been established Yeah, we could ask him some different. Yeah, but I want to hear you harass him harass Richard Sherman. Yeah, these questions

Yeah, I think he'd I mean, here's the thing Love the Legion of Boom love those Seahawks teams He was such an important part of it and he's got this entire cool second chapter of his career now where he's doing Thursday night football for Amazon and everything else. So we'll talk to Richard Sherman at 8 30. Now you'll note we've got a guest at 8 30. Not a usual thing for the Haliford and Brough show. So we will try and weave some what we learned into the program. We've got an open segment at 7 30. So that feels like a good time to do it. A good time to send them in is right now. Dunbar number text line is 650-650. Get your What We Learns

in. Tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports. There was a lot that happened. We will get into it shortly. Real quick, working in reverse on the guest list. 8.30 Richard Sherman, 8 o'clock Brandon Batchelor, 7 o'clock Ray Ferraro, and then 6.30 Arif Dean. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, 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? 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. So yesterday Vancouver Canucks had a day off, but Vancouver Canucks news and stories certainly did not have a day off.

There was some very interesting reporting from Elliot Friedman in 32 Thoughts about another story coming out in the aftermath of the Elias Pedersen, JT Miller rift, now that JT Miller is a member of the New York Rangers. So what was the new story that came out? The timeline really. Everyone was talking about, well, when did this situation become untenable? That was one of the big questions when Jim Rutherford finally did the interview with the Globe and Mail and kind of acknowledged like yes, this relationship is broken and it's probably not gonna get fixed and According to Freage this dates all the way back to very very early in the season. Remember that

Eastern road trip they took through Florida, but what three or four games into the season, right? Yeah, cuz they started off with the Calgary game. Correct. And then they played Right, yeah, because they started off with the Calgary game. Correct. And then they played Philly. Two unforgettable games. Yeah. My friend here can barely remember the Philadelphia game.

And then they went, and they hadn't won. Yeah. And then they went on to the road. So they needed a meeting that early in the season? What was the meeting all about? There was a conversation with a small group of players, Friedman said, and it was asked that Miller and Pedersen try to solve this. But here's the kicker, as Fried writes, it just didn't get any better.

So was this, I'm not expecting you to answer this. No, I can answer everything. Oh, okay. No, I can't. So did this go back to training camp or did this go back to the playoffs? How far did this go that they needed to call a meeting three games into the regular season? So JT didn't even play a lot during the regular or sorry,

during the preseason, right? Play at all, really? At all that final game of the preseason. So there here's the thing. A lot of the reporting that's going on right now is of the I'm close on this, but I don't have it nailed down variety. There's a lot of, I've been told different versions, I've been told different varieties,

and I think part of that is I've been told different timelines. A lot of people have suggested that this dates back to the prior campaign and around the time that you've, on numerous occasions, pointed out where it felt like everything changed for Pedersen, and that's when they leaned on him to sign the contract and then he ultimately signed the contract and people have suggested that that was a real flash point in a negative way

in the relationship. Now part of it obviously has to do with the fact that when you sign a contract of that magnitude, the richest contract in the history of the Vancouver Canucks, you're going to be held to a higher standard. And Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alveen have talked about this in the aftermath, right? That the expectations are raised. Life is going to get harder. Things are going to get more challenging for you.

I think where a lot of people's frustrations and possibly even JT Miller's was that, uh, Pedersen did not seem to rise to the occasion after the contract was signed. That there was almost a deterioration in the game as opposed to, you know, meeting the challenges and rising to the level and, and embracing the hard as Brick Talket likes to say. So, okay.

There was the, the meeting and then, well, let's fast forward a little bit because that meeting apparently didn't solve anything. Didn't solve anything. was the meeting and then, well, let's fast forward a little bit because that meeting apparently didn't solve anything. It didn't solve anything. And then would you say that the flash point in all this was the Nashville game? This season, yes.

The Nashville game was the one that I think everyone counted points to. So that was the game, you'll recall, where JT Miller was benched in the third period. And then it was the one that preceded his leave of absence, which lasted 10 games in total. Now, this is where in his article I

could just read verbatim from the article. They, the Vancouver Canucks, had the national game and whatever happened after that game, I've heard a couple different versions and nobody will confirm it. So I'm not going to say it.

But whatever the case was, J.T. Miller went on his leave. When Miller came back from his leave, things just didn't get better in terms of the relationship and stress and everything like that. I think everybody hoped he would come back and things would change, but they didn't. Yeah. This is actually from the 32 Thoughts podcast as to transcript of what Fried said on the podcast. So if you want to download the podcast, you can. Um, yeah, something did happen after that Nashville game and then when he went on the leave of absence, I remember Rick Tocket went to the media and said, guys don't speculate.

It's not about the benching. Okay. And then the Canucks throughout the mental health reason for the leave of absence and suggested that JT was getting help in something. Working on himself. And said something like, you know, like we're all a family in here. So I don't know, I don't know if they were just using that for cover or if there was some mental health aspects to that, but I think we all know now that it wasn't just as simple as that.

It wasn't just like, there's a mental health thing going on, that's it, right? It wasn't. There was a bunch of things going on. And again, Freach doesn't have all the details on this, but goes on his leave of absence. They hope things can cool down after that, comes back. Things haven't cooled down. The relationship hasn't cooled down. Conversations happen between the Canucks and

JT Miller and his agent. And all sides agree that the best thing for everyone, including JT, is his agent and all sides agree that the best thing for everyone, including JT, is to get traded. And from what I've heard him, from what most people have heard, JT wanted to go to the Rangers. That was something that, um, appealed to him. He's got a really good friend there in Vincent

Trocheck. See, they're living together right now. Really? Yeah. JT Miller moved in with Vincent Trocheck temporarily. I hope it's temporarily, but yeah, he's living with Vincent Trocheck right now. Okay, so that just shows how good a buddy he is. And that was it, really. That's the story. I just wanna reflect a little

bit. This isn't me sticking up for media or, for, for media or anything. I just want to reflect on what a crazy story it's been to cover. Yes. And to talk about, um, I remember getting plenty of heat for, um, bringing up like, Hey, why is, what, why is this JT Miller? What's going on with this JT Miller leave of absence anyway?

Like this feels like an elephant in the room that we're not talking about. Like there was that 10 game absence and it was kind of like, it felt, it felt like we were going to get in trouble if we talked about it. Because, because we're so sensitive to mental health and that's not a bad thing. We should be more sensitive to mental health. But it was clearly not just a mental

health leave of absence. Uh, I don't think that the way that it was handled in the aftermath, um, was fair to a lot of the parties involved. Uh, JT Miller coming back and then he sort of leading the charge of shutting down all lines of questioning about what was going on or what happened.

I mean, he just flat out refused to talk about it. And so too did the organization. And in the aftermath, if you have to piece together, which is, I think what we've done here, that the 10 game leave of absence was kind of the, the last salvo, I suppose, in trying to salvage this relationship,

which is what it clearly looks like in hindsight. When Jim Rutherford did the interview with Gary Mason, the global man said, like, we tried a lot of things. We tried a lot of different things to mend and fix this relationship. And now the details are coming out of all the different things that they tried. Numerous meetings with Rick Tauket and the players.

The players intervening on this Florida road trip to try and have the players come together and sort their issues out. Then essentially banishing Miller from the team for a while in the hopes that things would cool off. It was clear that these were all steps with one ultimate goal and that was to mend the fences between Pedersen and Miller.

Now. I just didn't like, I didn't like that people out there, the fans, I'm not talking about the media, I'm not talking, I'm talking about the fans were kind of like, there was a lot of, you know, earnest, legitimate, I hope JT is okay. You know, I hope his family is okay. You know what I mean?

And maybe there still was an element of that. Like I'm sure this was difficult for Miller to go through, right? I'm sure it was, but the way it was framed, I guess I probably need to know even more details about this, but you know, people were worried about JT Miller and I felt like almost they were using the mental health angle as cover for the

story, that's all. Yeah. And I mean, look, with the story of this magnitude in a market that's so frenzied, it's very complex and it's very dynamic and at times it can be all consuming. I think this is an interesting time to pivot off into another thing here is, and I'll ask you

the question, two-parter, just how screwed up was this team? Oh my God. Through the first 40 games of the season. And with the benefit of hindsight, do we go down the road of, do the Canucks deserve credit for keeping their heads above water during what was clearly a very tumultuous time? Yeah. I'm not sure if I want to credit the Canucks for staying in the playoff race since the

Miller-Peterson feud was self-inflicted and the organization has not exactly looked like a well oiled machine the past few months. They've been the talk of the NHL. People have been going like, what is going on in Vancouver, but I guess I'm kind of impressed of all the guys that weren't involved in this, that they never collapsed completely. At times it really did look like they were teetering

on the edge of destruction. There were little mini collapses. Especially with all the injuries. But little mini collapses. But they never let the losing get out of hand like it did in say Buffalo, right? Then they had their 13 game losing streak and you know, that seems like, you know, kind of, I don't

know if you're going to praise like, Hey, way not to have a 13 game losing streak. It'd be like Buffalo, but the Canucks, I mean, all the, the stuff that they were apparently dealing with, with Miller and Pedersen's relationship and how awkward that must've been around the room, plus Demko's injury and, and his struggle to work return from it.

Plus Silov's not playing very well at all early in the season. Hronik's injury, Dakota Joshua's cancer scare and his, I would say struggle to get back into form. Sure. Not to mention like, even though they were responsible for the losses, cause they were the team playing it, like it must've been hard, all those embarrassing home losses, like that

must've been difficult to handle. And yet like they had the win in Toronto that went over the Oilers, the Saturday night wins, right? Like, and recently a three game winning streak, including a win over Washington, which I believe was on Saturday night, right? They always pulled it together for Saturday nights.

Yeah, they just found a way once in a while to get some much needed wins and even though yesterday we were bemoaning their overtime loss, they would still get a point out of those games that they managed to get to overtime. Shorty would say, manage your losses. If you're going to lose, lose in overtime. And the Canucks have done a great job of managing their losses this season. Fantastic, really. So I think what I would throw out to the listeners now is, what does a good season look like now? You have to accept that everything has happened. JT Miller is no longer part of the team.

What does a good season look like now? Because Rick Tuckett has said, this is kind of like a fresh start for not only the new guys on the team, which are getting definitely a fresh start with a, you know, new team, new city. but he kind of said like, let's start at zero for some of the guys that haven't had the season that they wanted. So obviously top of mind, you think about

Elias Pedersen, but I would also include Nils Hoeglunder, Dakota Joshua, probably a few others. So what does a good season look like? Is it, is it making the playoffs? Is it fending off Calgary for that final wildcard birth? Is it making a run in the playoffs or is it just about calming the noise down and getting guys like Elias Pedersen back on track? Is that what a good season looks like?

I think they go, they're part and parcel. I think getting Pedersen back on track correlates to getting in the playoffs. and parcel. I think getting Pederson back on track correlates to getting in the playoffs. I was on with Kip Burnborn yesterday, Fan 590 in Toronto, and they asked a very similar question. And I said, go look at the standings. It's not out of the realm of possibility that the Canucks can jump the flames. And then at that point, it's like the Kings are within spitting distance as well. The Kings are on 60 points, the Flames are on 59, the Canucks are on 57.

The Kings are not playing good hockey right now. They did win their last game out, but they're three, six and one in their last 10. They've sputtered basically since the calendar turned to 2025. These are, when you talk about what the Canucks can do moving forward, I think what Rick Tauk had said after and around the Detroit game on Sunday was very instructive

because I think he genuinely believes what he said, which is we're starting from zero, it's a fresh start, we've got new players in the door, and it's not quite a different team, but in terms of a mid-season shift, you don't get many in the modern NHL more profound than when the Canucks have gone through. The departure of Miller is a huge change in their identity

without question, right? It was a leading, like emotional leader, point getter. He was a big part of the team and he's gone. Then you bring in some new faces that are going to bring things to the table, including a shot in the arm and new energy, but also the sense that, Hey, we are kind of starting fresh. This is almost like training camp for these guys. Like we've got to come up with a nickname for the third Pedersen. We don't know what we're getting with Heidel. We like O'Connor. Like there's

these things that you can kind of buy into if you're at the one that we're now we're past the midway point, but that break going into four nations, where you're like, when we come out of this, we are kind of a different Canucks team. Now, the biggest challenge of all of this, we talked a lot about this yesterday, is Pedersen. And in a very, very weird way for a guy that's just signed a $96 million contract extension, however much money it is, to me, it almost feels like

he's gonna be on like a 30 game trial and then however many games they get in the playoffs, if they make it there to almost sort of reprove to everybody in the organization, Rutherford, Alvin, and all the way down that it's going to be okay. And that the contract is going to be all right. That's what, and if it's not. Starts with him really does. It, the, it's hard to say that the primary

focus of a team in a playoff chase over the final 30 games is one player, but that is the dynamic at play because. Remember we kind of went through this before when Greener got fired, right? And we were like, what is the number one goal for Bruce Boudreaux? And that was to get Pederson back on track.

Am I remembering that correctly? Yeah, you are. That was, I mean, it was like a number. We put it, it was top of mind, right? Yeah. Cause everyone was like, what's going on here? Cause when green got fired, there were two reasons that I remembered why, you know, like a lot losing, but, um, the penalty kill was terrible, but also Pedersen

was not playing well. Like he, he was in one of his funks, right? And then Bruce, there it is, came back and. So racking up the points. And Pedersen hit rock bottom in Carolina and he, and he came back. So is that possible this season? I don't see it.

I hope I'm wrong, but like watching him skate the other day in the last game, JT Miller wasn't there. Right now his skating is just, it's not there. So they asked. It's not even close right now. Kipper asked me yesterday, he's like, if the status quo is maintained, like the way he's playing right now,

would the connexious say like, this is it, and we're moving forward with this? And I said, I can't imagine they would, because Rutherford and Alvin have been very outspoken, very outspoken about how Pedersen hasn't met expectations. And the important thing to note is that that's not just talk from these guys. Like when they come out publicly and say something,

generally speaking, there's a move that follows. I mean, I think the whole Globe and Mail and then trade three days later scenario was a very illustrative point that they know what they wanna do and they know where they want to go and they're not afraid to make moves to get it done. What they did and again I'm not heaping a ton of praise on a management group that kind of dug their

own hole on this one but you don't see a lot of groups do what they do do what they've done midseason to not just try and salvage the season but you know a lot of moving pieces on the chessboard too, okay, we got to solve this JT Miller situation and we got to upgrade our blue line and we're going to do it all in one night. Like it was a lot of action and a lot of movement. And I think it was representative of a group that one knew it wasn't good enough and two knew that it was imperative to fix it and fix it right away. Don't let it fester. Don't let it linger anymore. Don't let it hang around till the off season.

Like there's a problem, something's rotten and you got to fix it. Now the question is, did they fix it in time for this season and is Pedersen ever going to return to the form where he got an 11.6 million dollar a year extension? I think the playoff thing is very possible. I'm starting to have major doubts on the second one.

Araf Dean is going to join us next. We'll talk about the Canucks opponent tonight, the Colorado Avalanche, who just made a big trade themselves, ranted in no longer with the Avs. Martin H.S. is part of the Avs. What else is Colorado going to do ahead of the trade deadline?

Before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro from waiting rooms to exam rooms, exam rooms and everything in between. Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected. For a free quote, visit JanPro.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance will dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks Listen 12 to 2 p.m. On Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts The scores, Morgan Nichols! Top band talent delivers a top band goal. 6.31 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650.

Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Arif Dean from Colorado Hockey Now is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour one. 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. It's the Canucks and it's the Avalanche. Seven o'clock tonight from Rogers Arena. Joining us now to break things down from the Colorado side of things, Arif Dean from Colorado Hockey, now here on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Arif, how are you?

I'm doing well, thanks for having me on. Thanks for coming on, we appreciate you taking the time. So Colorado comes in here, a different team than the Canucks last saw them in mid-December. Obviously there's no Miko Rantanen, there is Marty Nacius and Jack Drury in the lineup. Also, this is a Colorado team that's really tightened up defensively, two shutout victories back to back

coming into tonight's game. So, uh, what's been the biggest difference in the post ranted an arrow with this Colorado team, Arif? So they, they, number one, they have a lot more depth. Uh, they finally have 12 playable forward. I think, uh, for all but three or four games this season, they always had at least one or two, sometimes three, sometimes even four guys that were playing five or six minutes.

So what you've seen over the last half decade was very much apparent, you know, for most of the season where you had Nathan McAnon, Arturi Lekhanen and Miko Rantunen playing 24, 25, 26 minutes and not a whole lot of depth behind them. So that was corrected, obviously, with the trade getting Marty Neches and Jack Drury for Miko. And also at the same time getting a little bit of health, you know, Jonathan Drewan recently returned, Miles Wood recently came back. And now you're hoping for Schillington on defense, you're hoping for Val on offense after the Four Nations. So quite a bit of depth re-entered the lineup. The other big thing, and this is the one thing that I keep talking about the avalanche knocking out of the park is Marty Mitch's on the power play

has completely changed the outlook of the avalanche on the manage advantage. And it's something they were struggling with for several weeks, if not months heading into that trade. Uh, and you can tell they needed some kind of a shake up and they were finally forced to do different things with Neches because of two reasons. Number one, he's a much different player than Miko and number two, he's a right shot forward, just like Nathan McKinnon. And for whatever reason, over the last, you know, five, six, seven years of this avalanche era, they rarely ever have right shot forwards outside of Nathan McKinnon. So because Miko is a right winger, but he's a left shooting right winger. So to finally have another righty on that top

power play, and he's a puck possession guy and a guy that likes to move around with the puck, him and Nathan McKinnon on the power play, be sure to puck possession guy and a guy that likes to move around with the puck. Him and Nathan McKinnon on the power play. Be sure to kind of, you know, keep an eye on that tonight if the Avalanche get some power play opportunities. They kind of both set up on the same side. They move around quite a bit. It's a much different look and it's something that the Avalanche very much needed.

So they're finally scoring on the power play as well. You know, Ranjit may be a left shot, but he's a hell of a player. What was the- Yeah, he's one heck of a player. Yeah. I mean, what was the reaction from Avs fans? As an outsider, I was shocked that they actually did trade him. Yeah.

From someone within the team and the realm of the team, I was very much shocked to see him go as well. So that's one thing that I've been trying to kind of get across with all my points is it's okay to question the trade and, and, and, you know, miss what Miko ran and brings to this team while also trying to look at some of the positives of having initiatives on the roster, but, uh, I could not believe for the life of me when that deal went down, I don't think I've ever been stunned like that.

It was, uh, not surprising that they made the trade. There was a lot of smoke around that. Eating up to it, especially in the month of January, it felt like every other week, somebody was reporting if they don't sign them, they're going to trade them and it's like, well, that's nonsense. Nobody ever does this, but then they did. So, uh, it was kind of a complete shock to see it still kind of really hasn't settled in that. Nico Rantin, who has been a huge

part of this team for so long and is still 28 years old, not here anymore. In the aftermath obviously there's two pretty big developments. There's one that Rantin essentially said that he was willing to take a discount to stay in Colorado and then two, we got the new cap numbers and it certainly seemed as though the cap was going up to the point where maybe the avalanche could have afford afforded him. How much of this had to do with the fact or if it is even a fact that you know Nathan McKinnon's cap number was one that Rantnan wasn't going to exceed? So I think it had a lot to do with that but but not for the simple reason of, you know, this is our best player, so nobody can make more for him more than him.

It was because of the reason that the Avalanche the last three years, like they're not winning with Niko and Kale being the only players on their team that are kind of giving you some kind of an impact. Like the reality is with McKinnon at 12-6 and this season and last season, Miko Renton at 9-2-5 before the trade and Makar at 9, those three salaries together make up somewhere We're around 35 to 39% of the salary cap, of the salary cap right now. And the way the Avalanche have played the last three years, it's been, you know, Valnichushkin suspensions two years in a row, the one in Seattle, the one in Dallas. And both times that was way more than enough

to completely sink the team. Obviously they're missing Gabe Land, the scog depth issues. We've all kind of heard the story over the last couple of years. And the simple reality was even with the rising cap, you know, you're paying Nathan McKinnon 12 stick. Let's say Nico talks 13 or 13 and a half, which his comments about taking a pay cut there, they're kind of taken with a grain of salt to me because taking a pay cut from market value, well market value is 14, 14 and a half, 15 at this point. So

what's a pay cut? Is it less than Nathan McKinnon? Is it 12? Is it 13 and a half? So it's hard to really say because he never got into the numbers, but Nathan McKinnon at 12, six, even if you paid Nico exactly 12, six, those two guys plus Kailh McCarr at nine is still between 35 and 39% of your cap. And in a couple of years from now, when the salary shoots way up, so does Kailh McCarr's salary. He's going to go from 9 million to probably 15. If not more than that, by then, uh, you're still going to be between 15 and or between 35 and 39 percent of your cap so I feel like the Avalanche looked at their roster the last three years they looked at McKinnon, McCarr and Ran and making 35

to 39 percent of their cap and they said we're not good enough we're not deep enough we constantly have forwards playing five or six minutes per night we're constantly juggling goaltending and trying to you know take the cheap easy way out until we got Mackenzie Blackwood. Enough is enough we need to spread the wealth. The difference between the Avalanche and the Oilers is when when the Avalanche paid dry sidle there was only one other guy on the team that they had to worry about making that much and that's Connor McDavid who's you know up for a new deal and is going to get 15, 16, 17.

For the Avalanche, Mikko Rantinen is the top 10 player in the NHL. Unfortunately, he is far and away the third best player on the Avalanche. I don't think anybody can argue that. So it was harder to pay him knowing you have another one in McKinnon and a third one coming in, Kel McCart who's going to blow both of them out of the water. We're speaking to Arif Dean from Colorado Hockey Now here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Two-parter here for you Arif. General Manager Chris McFarland, do you think that he's done after what's been a very busy first half of the season for him in terms of

trades and acquisitions? And two, why do I keep seeing Casey Middlestad's name in trade rumors? Oh goodness. Okay, let me start with the first question. No, I don't think he's done. He's going to do something. Number two, the Casey Middlestadt rumors. Number one, he's had a tough season. He's got 19 points in his last 44 games. That's just not going to cut it.

But the reason why I think the avalanche, the avalanche is centered finally, his name started to surface is because it's kind of, it, it, it's been well documented by a lot of sources at this point that the avalanche checked in on JT Miller and, and that would have been an incredible fit for them. It would have been nice kind of like McKenzie Blackwood to not only bring in a second line center, but to bring one who's locked in for five years, who you know what his salary is, it's cost certainty, it's player certainty. The reality is any trade for JT Miller would have involved Casey Middlestad. There's no other way around it.

The Avalanche aren't going to send Vancouver, a Ross Colton or some defenseman and have Middlestad for two more years, making 5.75 and JT Miller at 8 million. So any deal for JT would have involved Casey. And I think that's kind of where it started. And now it's, well, if the Avalanche are willing to upgrade their second line center, then clearly middle stats on the board. And I agree with that.

The part that I struggle with, and I wrote about this last night is someone like JT Miller. Yes, that was, you know, I don't want to say a once in a lifetime, but that was a unique opportunity for a centerman who can be number two behind Nathan McKinnon, who fits what you're doing, who's right around that age and is coming off 103 point season. We, you know, we all know why and what's been happening in Vancouver this year and why he's been struggling so much with JT Miller off the board with him going to New York. I don't know unless there's a player completely off the board, which, you know, is very traditional of the avalanche to operate that way. Unless there's a player completely off the board, I don't see any other second line centers who have caused certainty who are not rentals that readily are available before March 7th.

So if you're going to go out and get a Brock Nelson or before he was traded to Dallas, someone like Michael Grandland, uh, trading Casey for someone like that would be really tough, especially Brock Nelson, who's, you know, creeping up on his mid thirties and would be a rental. Uh, I don't think you're trading the guy that you shipped Bowen Byrum to Buffalo for, unless it's somebody like a JT Miller who's got years left. So it's a very tough situation. I don't know exactly what they're going to do there, but like I said, the Avalanche are traditionally known to be a team that operates under the radar.

The Miko Ratanin deal stunned us. The Byrum for Middlestad deal last year was a shocker. They might have somebody else in mind that's not Miller who, again, fixed the bill and someone that you're willing to give up Middlestad for. I would like to see JT Miller and Nathan McKinnon in the same dressing room. Me too. Can you imagine, can you imagine some of the yelling matches that would happen? And all the other players just sitting around going like, what, oh my God, should we just leave? That would be incredible. Has what, what is Nathan like as a, as a, as a, as a leader, like there was that narrative out there

that he was kind of, let's say out of control a little bit at times, and then he had to calm it down a little bit at times, and then he had to calm it down a little bit. Does that still hold true? Like is he, I know, I know you're not in the room, but we've talked a lot about leadership in Vancouver this season and what does leadership look like?

So what does leadership look like to a guy like Nathan McKinnon? Uh, leadership to Nathan McKinnon looks like a guy who expects nothing less than the best out of his teammates. Uh, and I think with his teammates, he's, he's started to do a good job. You know, every single time you ask players about

him on the record, off the record, they'll admit he's a fiery guy, but, but you know, it kind of comes off like, I guess the best way I can explain it is like the players who are pro John Tortorella. Oh yeah, he's a tough coach and obviously I don't think the Vancouver players are ones that were pro John Tortorella, but the ones that like him, like the Ryan Callahan's and players like that who have played for him in the past always say, yeah, he's a tough

guy, but he expects nothing but the best from you and he does great things for you in your career. That's kind of the vibe that I get from Nathan McKinnon. I don't think he snaps at players as much as he just has a very grumpy aura to him where he expects the best. And that's kind of what he does. And, you know, we've seen every time new players get traded here, Middlestat is one, Marty Nischis is two, and obviously Jonathan Druhan is another example. Granted, they have a past relationship. Those players are very, very quickly gravitating toward Nathan McKinnon at practice. They stay on the ice with him extra. McKinnon's always the first one on the ice.

They're always on the ice with him, working on one-timers, working on puck handling drills. After the team leaves the ice, those guys stay out there. They all gravitate toward him. And I think, you know, people, people know that he's kind of a different customer. He's kind of a little bit of a grump, but, but he does it. It seems like from the goodness of his heart and, and players love that because like you said, maybe in the past he would kind of get out of control, but now it just seems like he doesn't snap as much as he's just a fiery personality and a fiery type of guy who expects the best out of his teammates.

Now with media, different stories. Uh, but with his teammates, I think he does a pretty good job at it. What is he like with the media? Um, he doesn't always love to talk to media. So I kind of respect Nathan McKinnon because he does not like fluff questions. He hates everything about them. Uh, he avoids the media as much as he can at home on the road. He's a little bit more open on at home.

He doesn't like to, because he knows he's going to get five cameras in his face and he's going to get the questions like, how does it feel to score on the power play for the first time in three months and what do you think he I I overheard a media member asking and it wasn't somebody that I know so I kind of feel bad I think it was somebody from like a local news station the other day at practice was asking, uh, Marty niches, what it's like to join a team with expectations of winning the Stanley cup. And we all know who Marty nature came from. And I was sitting in the corner.

So the scrum was around nature's and McKinnon stall was kind of hidden behind it. And beside McKinnon is land is God stall, which is obviously not being used. So I was standing in the land discx stall area, just listening in. I just wanted to see what Nishas is like. I've never heard him talk before. And as soon as that question was asked, McKinnon looks at me and goes, what the

heck do you think they were doing in Carolina? And he starts huffing and hawing. And he was so upset with the question for two or three minutes. He couldn't believe it. Like he's just, are you serious? Like they just got Miko rented and they're not trying to win the Stanley Cup. And, he couldn't believe it. Like he's just, are you serious? Like they just got Miko Ran-Tinen. They're not trying to win the Stanley Cup and he just couldn't let it go.

So that's the kind of guy Nathan McKinnon is with media as well. He expects the best at the end. He's not going to take these fluff questions. I wonder what he's like with management. That's a very curious question. Yeah, because if I was him and I lost a player like Rantanen and it was over money, even if I

kind of understood the situation, I still wouldn't be very happy about it. And he didn't look very happy about it. He didn't, but he looked a little bit more like heartbroken and sad. I think, I think he, he trusts management. Um, I can't say about his relationship with Chris McFarland because I've never kind of seen it play out,

but especially with Joe Sackett, who's obviously still there and running the ship. Like there are certain players and certain people that Nathan McKinnon has trust for. The problem with the Avalanche locker room is three of those names are Gabe Landisgog, Eric Johnson, and Andrew Cagliano, and none of them are around anymore. Landisgog, kind Johnson, and Andrew Cogliano, and none of them are around anymore.

Right. You know, Landeskog, kind of, and Cogliano's in management now, and E.J.'s obviously off in Philly now. So Joe Stackic's another one of those guys. He really, like the people that he trusts and believes in, he has a little bit of a Sidney Crosby-esque type of personality to him where he will trust those people and believe in what? They do and I think that Nico trade caught him more By surprise and it kind of broke him a little bit more like you he looked heartbroken in his post

Gamer talking about it more so than he was upset and mad because like you said I think he does kind of get it Arif real quick before that you go two things on the game tonight. Uh, one are we anticipating it's another McKenzie Blackwood start given he's gotten a two game shout out street going and two, uh, is Oliver Schillington now that he's activated off IR, when is he expected to play? So starting with Blackwood, I think so. Scott Wedgwood is day to day with an upper body injury right now,

but he's on the road trip. I think the avalanche are hoping that Wedgwood could get healthy for their back to back in Edmonton and Calgary on Thursday, Friday, right. Uh, and, uh, or Calgary Edmonton, I should say, so that he can play one of those. But yeah, they're going to ride Blackwood today. They're going to ride him in one of the back to back. And I wouldn't be surprised if Wedgwood cannot go. It's back.

Blackwood plays all three of these three games at four nights, given the fact that it's going to go right into the four nations break and he's obviously not playing all of her Schillington reactivated yesterday. Uh, the avalanche did not practice. They haven't been on the ice since their one o'clock game against Philly a couple of days ago. Uh, so because of that, we don't have a clear answer, but before the game against Philly, we were told that Schillington is getting close and will likely be reactivated at some point and will likely play at some point before the Four Nations break. So I, given when he was reactivated, I think he will play tonight, but if he doesn't play tonight,

I think he'll be an option on Thursday. I do talk to Mackenzie Blackwood at all about not making the Canadian team for Four Nations because. My goodness. There are two goalies right now in Logan Thompson and Mackenzie Blackwood that probably make a better case to be the starter than any of the guys that Canada picked. Yeah, and Darcy Kemper as the third guy. So a little bit about me.

I was born in Ottawa. I lived in Canada for half of my life and I'm Canadian. I'm very upset. So that's number one. Number two, I got Blackwood one on one and I'm Canadian, I'm very upset. So that's number one. Uh, number two, I, uh, I, I, I got Blackwood one-on-one and I'm still going to write something out of it, but I got Blackwood one-on-one a week ago to, to reserve this conversation for the four nations so I can

write about him not making that roster. And for as outspoken and as wonderful of an interview that he's been, I don't know if you guys have heard Blackwood and Wedgwood, they've completely changed the locker room to great personalities. He would not give me anything on the Team Canada stuff because it was just like, oh I don't know when they call me, if they call me, if I make it great, if not whatever. And I was like, okay well the Olympics and same thing, I don't know if they call me. And he finished his interview and he's like, dude I just don't know what to tell you. Like, this is not something that I think about all the time until it happens.

And if it happens, then I'll be honored, but like, I can't really like project, but like, I'm with you, Mackenzie Blackwood, obviously Logan Thompson and Darcy Kemper. Like if they took Aiden Hill and Jordan Bittington, cause they want to stay on the cup, why the heck is Darcy Kemper at home? He won a cup and he's rejuvenated his career in LA. So I, I cannot believe the options they took. The Sam Montembeau one still irks me the most. Yeah. It almost feels like they made those decisions

a while ago and just refuse to change their mind on form. Did they take Montembeau as like a young goalie that could maybe build on that experience or something? Like he's not going to play. But he's not young either. Like McKenzie Blackwood is 28, Logan Thompson is younger than that.

Uh, Sam Montembeau is also 28, if I remember correctly. So. Yeah, I'm just trying to figure it out. You know, like I think honestly, I feel like they made choices a while ago and then didn't consider the guys who were in the best form as the NHL season went along.

Like I think that's what they are impossible. Yeah. We've heard from Logan over and over again. He didn't get a call, like at least Blackwood, when the rosters were announced, what was that? December 4th? Like he got traded to the Avalanche four days later. Yes, he was playing well in San Jose

But you know what to do is you're facing 44 shots tonight in San Jose. You're making 40 saves That's still a 900 safe percentage. So like they couldn't really gauge what kind of player he was Logan Thompson was puzzling Darcy Kemper was playing good in LA and has only played better since And then hearing Logan say that he didn't even get a call it kind of Hints that yeah, they made a decision. Jordan Bennington is their guy. Aiden Hill just recently want to stay on the cup and for whatever reason Sam Montalbaugh. I mean, the only thing I can think about with Sam Montalbaugh is he's been kind of like a, a good soldier with the world

championships in recent years and they're rewarding him for that. But then they didn't take John Tiberius and they took guys like Seth Jarvis ahead of him and they were supposed to be rewarding him for being a world championship soldier so I don't quite get it anymore. Arif you're very good at this buddy we really appreciate you taking the time to do this. Enjoy the game tonight and the rest of the games leading up to Four Nations will do this again on the other side of the break. Yep sounds great you got it thanks for having me on and go Canada. Thanks for coming out we appreciate it that's Arif Dean from Colorado Hockey Now here on the Haliford and Brush Show on Sportsnet 650.

What a tremendous guest to break down everything that's going on with the Colorado Avalanche. Yeah, he knows his stuff. Who I will remind you, the Colorado Avalanche are in town. They will take on the Vancouver Canucks tonight, seven o'clock from Rogers Arena. A reminder to the pregame, the postgame, the actual game, all right here on Sportsnet 650. And we have Ray Ferraro coming up at 7 o'clock. He's going to be on the call

tonight. He's going to be working with Shorty. At 8 o'clock, we've got Brendan Batchelor. He's going to be on the call for the radio tonight as the Canucks take on the Avs. We got Richard Sherman joining us on the show today. That's going to happen at 8.30. Of course, Legion of Boom, Seattle Seahawks, five time All-Pro Super Bowl champion. So because Richard's joining us at 8.30, we're going to do what we learned at 7.30, assuming we get some into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket.

It's on you, the listener, the send them in, hashtag it WWL and tell us what did you learn over the last 24 hours in sports. It can be about anything. There was only one game in the NHL last night, so it was a late night in hockey. If you want to spread your wings and talk about some other stuff, it's your chance to be on the radio. What we learned, hashtag it WWL. Dunbar Lumbertex line is 650. 650. Finally, before we go to break, I need to tell you about the big football party at the Clayton Public House. You can reserve your spot still for the big football party.

It's just a handful of days away. It's this Sunday, February the 9th. Visit them at theclaytonpub.com for reservations. Clayton Public House, good food, good people, good times. Another reminder on the Super Bowl stuff, we are going to be doing most of our Super Bowl preview later in the week. Uh, Mike Tannier is going to be joining us.

Nick Shook is going to join us live from New Orleans. We're also going to talk to Moj, who is like the unquestioned early star of Super Bowl media. Did you see all the guys he had yesterday? He had Solomon Wilcox from NFL Network. He had, uh, Thomas Demetrov, the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons. He got into Travis Kelsey's press. I saw that. He was asking about Zach Kilaros general manager of the Atlanta Falcons. He got into Travis Kelce's.

I saw that. He was asking about Zach Kolaros. Moj is everywhere. Yeah. He cannot be stopped. So Kelsey and Zach Kolaros were college roommates? University of Cincinnati. Go Bearcats.

Okay. The proud football tradition at the University of Cincinnati. Does it always feel like there's a star tight end that's on the verge of retirement heading into a Superbowl? Yes. Like there's always that question out's a star tight end that's on the verge of retirement heading into a Superbowl? Yes. Like there's always that question out there

for a tight end. Is this your last Superbowl? So Kelsey was asked that a few times yesterday. He said he feels like he's got a lot of good football left, but I would not be surprised if they win. He's done. He retires on the field and then proposes to

Taylor Swift also on the field. That's the trifecta. And that would be the most viral moment in the history of the world. In the history of the world. It would break all social media, snap it in half. OK, we got to go to break. The marriage was annulled a month later. Right. It was mostly a bit.

It was an act. It was good for ratings and for clicks, but it didn't last. OK, we are going to go to break. Already did the Clayton Reid. Stop yelling it at me. When we come back on the other side, Ray Ferraro is going to join us on the Alfred and Brub show on Sportsnet 650.