Halford & Brough in the Morning - The NHL 4 Nations Face-Off Has Delivered

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports (3:00), they look back at Saturday's wild Canada vs. USA matchup at the 4 Nations (6:00), plus they preview Thursday's CAN vs. USA finale with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (28:07).  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- As Canada gets to the final with a 5-3 victory here this afternoon. My nipples are erect thinking about it. Oh no. The city of Washington was built on a stagnant swamp some 200 years ago and very little has changed. It stank then and it stinks now. Good morning Vancouver! Six o'clock on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It is Halford and his bruv. It is Sportsnet 650.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios, the beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halford and bruv of 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 in step. Big, big show on a Tuesday. I know I always say it, but it really is a big show today.

We're very excited to get into all things four nations face off, four nations facing off. Although now there are only two remaining. The guest list begins today at 630 Greg Wyshinski From ESPN is going to join the program Greg an ardent US supporter He did a postgame show on Saturday the drop with his fellow ESPN cohort Arda O'Call Following Saturday's classic game. So we'll talk to him about that

We'll talk to him about his thoughts on team USA's health going into the rematch, the final on Thursday in Boston. Gotta ask him where Saturday ranks on the pantheon of greatest international hockey games of all time. It was truly spectacular. ESPN was covering it, WISH was doing the postgame show, so we'll talk to him at 6.30. Here's a cool one, Jason. 7 and 7.30 today, we have both color analysts

who will be working Thursday's Four Nations face off in Boston. Ray Ferraro is going to join the program at seven o'clock. He's working it for ESPN. Craig Simpson is going to be joining us at seven thirty and he's going to be working it alongside Chris Cuthbert for Sportsnet. We are going to be going wall to wall today on all things Canada, U.S., the entire Four Nations face off tournament. going wall to wall today on all things Canada, US, the entire

four nations face off tournament. Uh, I, I can't really think of an event that has gained as much momentum from the sports realm that this tournament has over the last 72 to 96 hours. It really has kind of been a sight to behold. So we're going to a lot to get into on the show again, working in reverse on the guest list, 7 30 Craig Simpson from sports net seven o'clock, Ray Ferraro, again, working in reverse on the guest list. 7.30, Craig Simpson from Sportsnet, 7 o'clock, Ray Ferraro Sportsnet ESPN, and then of course, Greg Wachinski at 6.30 from ESPN. It's loaded wall to wall, tons of hockey talk to come, so without further ado, laddie, let's tell everybody what happened.

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? You missed that? What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? 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 or resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca So many different things to speak about. Let's just start with what happened yesterday from Boston, specifically with Canada. They booked their ticket into the final of the four nations face off. Nathan McKinnon scored twice.

McDavid and Crosby each had a goal. Crosby with a key empty netter. Canada beats Finland 5-3 to move on to the final of the four nations face off. This is despite the fact that Finland cut a four goal deficit to one in the final minutes of the game. Canada did hang on. They got the needed win importantly in regulation to set up a rematch against the U S in Thursday's tournament finale really quickly. We'll barely spend any time talking about the game yesterday,

but the U S did lose its finale to Sweden. So Sweden walks out of the tournament with a win. The game meant nothing for either team. US had already booked its ticket to the final on Thursday. So it's Canada, US, the rematch Thursday night, five o'clock. I could not be more excited for it. Okay.

Let's talk about Saturday's game in Montreal. Canada did not win that game, but it remains, I think it will remain in my mind, one of the most memorable international hockey games I've ever seen. What was your intensity level as a fan for Saturday and Montreal? Because I had not been that fired up for a hockey game since 2011.

Yes, even more than game seven against the Oilers. I was more fired up for that than I was for Canucks, Oilers. I got a little emotional on Saturday. Got a little emotional sitting there by myself, had the game on and then when all the pregame festivities kicked off and the Ole Ole ole went cascading through the bell center

and then the anthem, and then the start. And I actually, the one thing I said very quietly to myself, like a loser, was, oh my God, it's actually happening. Like everything that you kind of hoped and dreamed, and really I use dream because I don't think anyone anticipated in their wildest that there would be three fights in nine seconds to kick off the game. I actually said to myself like, Oh my God, it's actually happening. Yeah, I just had this feeling all day that it was going to be a wild night.

And I think a lot of us did. And then for it to start with the anthems, three fights and an incredible McDavid goal. I actually hurt my elbow a little bit with the McDavid goal doing like the, the pumper nickel. Like I was like, I just, I think I hurt myself there. I think I might be out for the final. The pumper nickel. Yeah.

There's an old Bernie Nichols reference. Uh, as a sports fan, that game, or at least the start of the game, it was pure adrenaline. I actually wonder in hindsight, if all the emotion at the start of the game sapped it from the rest of the game. And potentially injured all of the American

players. Well, possibly we'll get into that later, but I mean, full credit in that game to the Americans for locking it down defensively, but it seemed to me like everything and everyone just Started to run out of gas after the crazy start like there were still some big hits. There were still some intensity I'm not saying like the game was a complete snoozer for the rest of the game

But I do think it'll go a lot different Thursday in Boston, like they're not going to start with three fights. They're not going to start with a fight. Five fights. No, they're going to start. Seven fights. They're going to start by playing hockey.

Yeah. And, and, and, you know, that was the type of game where, um, you know, we all heard the stories about the Kachaks in the, in their group text with, with JT like going like, should we start it this way? Let's do it like that. They're not going to do that for the final in Boston because those guys want to play.

You know, I think both teams in the back of their minds, they're probably like, listen, whoever loses this game still has a pretty good chance of getting to the final. And that's exactly what happened. But I would love to hear from the listeners what you were like watching that game because I was, so I was watching it at home alone as well. Although I was with Pedro the dog and Pedro was scared.

Like Pedro, Pedro was like, what's going on here? I'm going to go down to the basement and hang out for a bit. Do they always fight this much? Like I, it was one of those games where I couldn't sit down. I was pacing. I had to watch the game standing up. Had to pour a drink at 5.15. That's what I remember distinctly about it. Why am I like, I'm a jangled mess. My nerves are a jangled mess. I got to go. And I'm not putting this on for effect either. We had talked a lot about this tournament going into it and then right from the first drop between Canada and Sweden, you got the feeling that this was going to be taken

more seriously than I think a lot of people expected. Bref and I kind of expected it but no one expected no one expected Saturday. You can't tell me that even the most ardent like international hockey fan ever thought ever thought that there was going to be three full blown tilts where guys were fully invested in. And when you hear that you guys talk about it in the aftermath, yes, they understood

that there was a bit of pageantry with like, we're gonna kick this thing off. But there was also a lot of bad feelings. I watched Brandon Hagel speak post game and he was like, whatever they wanted to do. And, and that was a very open-ended remark, which was like whatever they were trying to accomplish or whatever tone they were trying to

set, whatever message they were trying to send, we as Canadians, weren't going to let it happen. It takes, um, I always admire the courage that it takes to answer the bell. Brandon Hagel is not a fighter. In those moments because there is, I'm not even talking about the potential to get hurt. I'm talking about the potential in some ways to

get embarrassed where you get challenged and you're like, okay, well, it's 20,000 people in this arena, millions watching at home. Um, I've just been challenged in, uh, at center ice. I mean, that was old school. That was old school. That was old school, the way that they dropped their gloves and circled each other and the linesmen were like,

okay, let it go. I felt like I was back at the Pacific Coliseum when the Vancouver Giants started playing there. I'm like, is that Robin Big Snake out there? It was like, they do this and they circled each other and they were shadow boxing. And, you know, a lot of the times in the NHL in the last few years, the lines have been told to go and break that up, but they didn't do that because I think even the linesman knew the assignment. And remember, oftentimes, you know, brawls off the hop or orchestrated balls often involve the tough guys. These are the best players in the world. These are the elite of the elite. These are the most talented guys in the National Hockey League.

And Hagel said something post game that I thought was really interesting. And he kind of was, you could tell that he wanted to say more, but he was holding back. But he basically said those guys, and there was, and he said, there was a lot of talk. There was a lot of talking.

I know he was talking about the Kachaks, and I guess Miller to a lesser degree, but that they thought that they could come in and, and basically be the, play the new way that Canada used to play. And we weren't going to let that happen. And there was very much, especially, and look, the Kachak brothers are, I got, I got a lot of respect for the way that they play. I really do.

They bring enthusiasm to the game, man. Right. And that's, and it's needed, it's needed in today's NHL. There are not enough guys that bring enthusiasm to the game and bring the unexpected to the game. And it's like, they, you could tell that they wanted that. They wanted that big time. And I think there was a sense of, and again,

I will paraphrase a lot of the remarks that I heard over the weekend that the Kachaks were like, we're going to out Canada, Canada. And then it was thrown at the feet of the Canadian players to be like, what are you going to do about it? And with the political backdrop and with the, you know, undercurrent of the US sort of poking Canada in the forehead or like throwing them into

a locker, that whole dynamic just popped off in a really crazy and awesome way on Saturday. Okay. I got a bunch of questions for you that I'm going to throw out here. Um, what's the atmosphere going to be like in Boston on Thursday? How big a difference will Kale McCarr make on

Thursday? He didn't play against the Americans. He will play against the Americans on Thursday. What's the injury status of the Americans? Uh, how are we feeling about Jordan Binington? Is the biggest, is it, is the bigger worry him or Connor Hellebuck? Let's start with the atmosphere in Boston.

I actually wonder how many Canadian fans will be in the building. I hope thousands go down there. I hope a lot of them bought their tickets, uh, before and don't have to go into the secondary market because I think that's going to be an expensive ticket. I'm sure the Canadian anthem will get booed and that's fine, whatever. To be perfectly honest, of the two anthems on Saturday in Montreal, the booing of the American anthem wasn't even the main takeaway for me. I was kind of like, yep, it's going to happen.

And it did. We all knew that was, was going to happen. But did any of us predict that Oh Canada would get sung like that? I have never in my life heard our anthem sung like that by a hockey crowd or any crowd. I've heard it done very well in Vancouver, I've heard it done very well in Edmonton. But Montreal is the best crowd in hockey and they showed it on Saturday. That was wild. Right, and now it's the Americans opportunity. Are they more musical than us or something?

Well, yeah, they are more musical. Like an ear for it. Well, they sing, oh, le, oh, le, oh, le. Maybe that was their warmup and they're like, okay, our voices are ready to belt out, oh, Canada. In two different languages, it was, I mean, that was, I'd forgotten about the booing of the American anthem. There was a lot.

Like soon after that, I was like, that was, I'd forgotten about the booing of the American anthem. There was a lot. Like soon after that I was like, that was an incredible, incredible. There we go. That was also in French. But that was, that was all part of the lead up to it is you had the Americans rankled by their anthem being booed yet again. And then you had this like full throated passionate,

like celebration of Canada and the players. And then it just popped off with the fights. Now America gets to return serve on Thursday in Boston. And I, you know, it'll be, I don't know what the right phrase is like, it'll be a mix. There'll be a lot of Canadian fans in attendance but I think it'll be a large percentage of American backers and we'll see how that goes.

I do know that according to multiple reports from the building yesterday for the early game between Canada and Finland, there was a smattering of boos for the Canadian anthem yesterday, but I mean, I don't really know what you can take of that. One, they weren't playing the US, they were playing Finland,

and two, it was a matinee game. Everyone was waiting for the US game at night. I think that- It's gonna get booed. The anthem's gonna get booed. I mean, whatever. But that part is secondary to me. The atmosphere right now, to be honest, I think it might have gone the best that it could have. This might be sacrilege or Canadian fans might hate this, but I actually think that losing the first game to the U S might be the best thing for Canada and for this tournament. How many times, how many times have the Americans

won games in the round robin and everyone's like, these guys are ready to roll. And then Canada starts a little bit slow in the tournament, but ultimately it's Canada that wins it all. It happened in 2002, Canada certainly started slow there. 2010, the Americans beat Canada. That was the big one in 2010, is that they beat them in the pre-loss. In 2014, the Americans were piling up goals in the group stage of the Olympics in Canada. There was like some criticism of Canada. They were playing too conservatively and ultimately, they beat the

Americans one-nothing in the semi-finals and they went on to win gold. And we've seen it in the, we've kind of made the similar comparison, although a little bit different on the women's side, you know, the Americans win the worlds, right? And the Canadians for the most part, win at the Olympics. Now I'm not guaranteeing a win, um, by any means, but you know, I, I do think that the Americans have some injury concerns right now.

Why don't you run through what's going on with the Americans because everyone knows about the kachaks, but like Charlie McEvoy had to go to the hospital yesterday. Okay. We can start right there. So according to a report from the Boston Globe late last night, a report that broke after

the US beat Sweden or sorry, the US lost to Sweden in the final game of the group stage The Boston Globe reporter the Charlie McAvoy was admitted to Mass General Hospital After suffering an upper-body injury now the injury was suffered against Canada in the US's second game of the group stage It was strange because Sullivan Mike Colvin the head coach of the US team Said that McEvoy had participated in Monday's morning skate, but he was ruled out of Monday's

game against the Swedes, but healthy enough to take the skate. It was also noted that against the Canadians on Saturday, which is the game in which many people think that McEvoy got hurt, he was a monster physically in that game. I know that the US defense was lauded and a lot of people had a lot of time for what Brock Faber and Jacob Slaven did, but I thought McEvoy might've been the biggest

difference maker on that US blue line. He had a couple thunderous hits against McDavid. Now someone else pointed out to me that in the opening game against Finland, McEvoy got cross-checked into the post by Joel, or Joel Armia, and he hit his shoulder and then was visibly shaken up like he was holding his shoulder.

He's had shoulder injuries in the past, so some people thought it might have been he got hurt against Finland, he went out and tried to gut it out against Canada, and then really agitated it when he was laying out all those big hits, including the two on Connor McDavid. He played really well. So. He played very well.

McAvoy to me, given the fact that he was, you know, admitted to hospital for the injury, he might be a top of list of guys that won't be able to play on Thursday when Canada takes on the US in the final. Now moving along, do you want to keep going? Yeah, what about Auston Matthews? Auston Matthews sounds like he's gonna be fine

to go on Thursday. He was taken out of the lineup for yesterday's game for what was described as general upper body soreness. General upper body soreness. Just, I wouldn't be surprised if this has something to do with the injury that he's been dealing with all season that's caused him to miss a ton of games for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Isn't believed to be serious. Multiple insiders reported that Matthews is expected to play against Canada on Thursday. And this is pretty noteworthy because in the first two games of the tournament, including the win over Canada, Matthews was up over 20 minutes a game. He's their one C he's their captain. He's been crushing it in face-offs. I think he's up around 65% face-offs won in the tournament. So Matthews didn't play against Sweden, but he's expected to play.

The Kachak brothers. Oh, those Kachak boys. Brady got hurt yesterday during the loss to Sweden. It happened really early in the first period. He was skating through the right circle, lost an edge, and then crashed hard into the Swedish net. Looked like his left leg and skate hit the post. He immediately went off. He took a shift that was 10 seconds in length after that, left again, tried to come back,

took a couple twirls, couldn't go, ruled himself out. This was early in the game. They called it precautionary. Sullivan said it was a lower body injury. He said he doesn't anticipate it being an issue. So Brady Kachak probably playing on Thursday. Brady Kachak also said Matthew Kachak's probably playing on Thursday. The Kachaks will play. I think you have to remember in that game yesterday, if there was any risk of Brady Kachak being hurt, they're out.

There's no point in having you guys in this meaningless game. But Matthew Kaczak has really only played half this tournament, because you'll remember, he sat out the final 12 minutes and 36 seconds of the Canada game, where he kind of motioned to John Tortorell at the bench, he's like, I can't go. He didn't take Monday's skate,

he didn't play Monday against Sweden. So really, Matthew Kaczak's body of work in this tournament is the great game he had against Finland in the opener, two periods in a bit against Canada, and then he sat for the rest of it. Brady Kaczek said that Matthew will be ready to go on Thursday. If I had to guess right now, I think everyone but McEvoy is good to go for Thursday. So we'll see. How much did Canada miss McCarr against the Americans? I think yesterday was a pretty good example of how much they missed them, because even

in a game that they comfortably led for the majority, McCarr still played nearly 24 minutes and led all the defensemen in ice time. I mean, he's the second best defenseman in the world next to Quinn Hughes, who is also not in this tournament. But it was a huge difference. I do wonder how much of a difference

McCarr might have made in the Saturday loss to the US. This has meant his no disrespect from Thomas Harley, who got thrown into like a crazy situation. Yeah, and played well. And played well. But McCarr is Canada's best defenseman. I think it goes without saying.

Easily. Not, not half. Easily. Yeah. I think they're, frankly, I think on Saturday against the Americans, they're missing their three best defensemen. And I don't mean to, you know, DeVon

Taves is a good defenseman and there are some good defensemen on that team. But when you don't have McCarr, you don't have Patrangelo and you don't have Shea Theodore, I think those are their three best defensemen. Now they're going to get McCarr back on Thursday. And I hope that's going to make a big difference because Canada could not generate scoring chances

against the Americans. And that is a wild thing to say with all the offensive talent that they have on that team. It did look better against Finland, it better have, but the Americans have a very good defensive group. Now, if McEvoy isn't playing, that changes things a little bit, but they've still got a very good defensive group. And I think John Cooper is really going to have to work with his coaching staff and his players and figure out what happened against the Americans because they didn't really get a sniff even though they

were chasing the game. There were not many chances for them. They did not look offensively dangerous. And again, part of my theory is that a lot of the emotion got sucked out of that game in the first five minutes, but you know, still, when you have the type of talent that Canada does with McDavid and McKinnon and you know, everyone else among the forward group, you

know, like it's, it's the, you should be able to create scoring chances. The other thing that I wonder about is how will the game be called? Yeah. How many penalties are going to, are going to be called because both teams have a really good power play, but I think really good power play,

but I think Canada's power play with Kale McCarr, especially with Kale McCarr out there, that is one where you're just like, oh my God, the Americans better not take many penalties or they're going to get punished. Well, a couple of things on that. One, I think that the adjustments that they made to the lines after the American game was needed and it,

I mean, it looked great through the, especially the first period against Finland. Against Finland though, right? Like against Finland who doesn't have the defensive chops that the Americans have. Yeah. And also not the ability to counter strike. But I think it would have been a cause for concern

if they had rolled it back with the exact same lines after the Americans. Put it this way, did the Americans play a great defensive game on Saturday, for sure? Did some of that have to do with the fact that the combinations, the duos and the trios that Cooper were putting out just weren't clicking? I think it had a lot to do with it.

I also think that the defense really got thrown for a loop because not only did they take McCarr out, it also threw off the McCarr-T Taves pairing, which they relied on heavily. Right now that's their number one pairing, right? Colorado's number one pairing is Canada's number one pairing at this tournament. I like what they did with the lines.

I understand the allure of doing the nuke line with putting McDavid. I understand the allure. I understand it doesn't work though, because you, both those guys need the puck on their stick. So good on him for moving away from it. And I loved Conor McDavid's goal, his first goal against Finland because he shot the puck.

And I think Conor McDavid has turned into more of a playmaker in the last couple of years and a hell of a playmaker. I'm not criticizing him. When you play with Leon Dreisaitl, a lot of the times you want to get the puck to Leon Dreisaitl. And he is so incredibly shifty and it takes so much attention and he keeps his feet moving at all times very quickly. Yes.

Uh, that he opens up all sorts of great passing lanes. So, you know, he had like a hundred assists last year or something like that, right? I mean, he's doing, he's doing something right out there, but the fact that So, you know, he had like a hundred assists last year or something like that, right? I mean, he's doing, he's doing something right out there. But the fact that he took that shot, you need to remind defenders and goaltenders that he still can't shoot and that was an absolutely perfect shot.

And I like him, um, on a line with, with Braden Point, because I think Braden Point is one of the more underrated players in the NHL and that guy knows how to put the puck in the net. And I like McKinnon on a line with Sid and, and Reinhardt. Reinhardt made a great pass to McKinnon on that second goal where he just like hit the blue line and he's like, Oh, McKinnon's coming here. I'm just going to put it into space and McKinnon's

going to skate onto it. And good for McKinnon for burying that one. Um, you know, I, I really like how the top six is comprised right now. I'm glad that Marner got dropped down. Marner scored a really big goal in overtime for Canada, but you got to remember when it's three on three, there's a lot more space out there for him.

Um, I think he's looked a little bit slow. I think the pace has been difficult for him. And I like him in the bottom six. Um, but I really like how the top six looks for Canada right now. Plop writes into the Dunbar lumber text message in basket. That's right.

Plop writes in, what is the deal with John Cooper's apparent obsession with Jordan Binnington? Plop, we will answer that on the other side of the break and throughout the show today, we have a lot more questions to answer about Canada US going into Thursday's final. Greg Wyshinski is gonna join us next from ESPN

to discuss this. Before we go to break, I do need to tell you all about Jan Pro. From the boardroom to the break room and everywhere in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected. For a free quote, visit JanPro.ca. Greg Wachinski's coming up next. Don't go anywhere.

You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 6.33 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of 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. Greg Wyshinski from ESPN is going to join us in just a moment here to highlight hour one. Hour one of this program 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 to the phone lines we go Greg Wyshinski joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on sportsnet 650. Good morning, Gregory. How are the Should we even be talking right now? Hello American Tensions between our countries and this hockey game on Thursday my god It's like I feel like this is almost less of an interview than it is a summit. Yeah. I was actually thinking of telling ADOG

not to book any Americans this week. Typical, typical Canadians trying to censor the other side. You know, the trying to, we're all about diplomacy here in the U.S. We're all about being one big family, or in some cases, just one big country, I guess. Well, Joe Rogan says that Canadians aren't allowed

to express their feelings anymore because Trudeau will have us arrested. So that's totally true, Joe Rogan. That's totally true. I've actually spent a lot of time in jail lately for expressing my opinions on the internet. It's tough. Well, in fairness, the last coherence thought

Joe Rogan had was when he was watching someone eat a bowl of worms. That's your factor. So it's, you know. Saturday, where does that rank on the pantheon of great international hockey moments? It's in the pantheon, I'll tell you that. I mean, like, you know, Ion, I'll tell you that.

I remember, I thought about you guys watching that game because I remember coming on this very show and talking about the fact that USA Canada, to speak nothing of what the rest of the tournament was going to be, was going to be a crossover moment. It was going to resonate. It was the easiest sell for a casual sports fan. The idea of A, international rivalry, be intense competition and a best on best tournament and see the Americans trying to be the best at something. Like all of that are the ingredients you need for it to be a crossover moment. And obviously

as you guys saw, like people who never talk about hockey, we're talking about hockey on Saturday night. Obviously the three fights in nine seconds was the spark that lit the flame there but you know it what happened after that was was we can't be underscored. I mean it was a thrilling game between the best players in the world and I think that you know John Cooper kind of nodded at this earlier this week when I asked him about it the idea that you know hockey is better for that game having existed. I mean, people who never pay attention to the sport got to see the sport played at its highest level. And it's in totality to include the physicality

and the fighting and everything else that we love about hockey. Rivalry aside, and we mentioned this in the intro, I've got an incredible amount of respect and time for Matthew and Brady Kachuck. And Jason summed it up really well in the entries Like you need guys like that who care so much and are willing to Kind of do whatever it takes for the game And I know that might sound like a real like nebulous explanation of what happened

But that's really what it was is that meant something to them and they were all in and you saw the results But like that doesn't happen if those two guys aren't out there. I'm not sure no not at all And if they don't if Mike Sullivan doesn't wise up and put him with Michael of it. Like that doesn't happen if those two guys are out there. I'm not sure. No, not at all. And if they don't, if Mike Sullivan doesn't wise up and put them with Eichel, which was something that inexplicably he didn't do at the beating of the tournament and then did out of necessity when they were like treading water against Finland.

I mean, you know, we've all been wringing our hands about, oh, okay, all-star games versus what we're watching in the NHL. I mean, the simple answer is buy-in. You know, the Kachaks, when they put on the American flag, are going to play hard against any opponent. You know, the idea that Sidney Crosby and Nathan McKinnon, when they put on the Maple Leafs,

aren't going to play to their, you know, to their full extent of their talents and give everything they have for their country is, is kind of, you know, the most obvious thing. Like, it's why the tournament has worked, why these tournaments always work, which is that when you have players that play with such passion and then you include national pride, Patriots, and the chance to represent your country in a tournament like this for the first time, it makes it all that more special.

And to me, that's the special sauce of this thing. That's why I don't know if it'll ever be repeated, which is you have, and Matthew Kachuk mentioned this, you have several years of pent up anticipation from this generation of NHL stars that didn't get a chance to represent their countries in the 2016 World Cup. And then even more players came in after that

that didn't get to play best on best until now. And so the NHL really did a smart thing here, which is kind of hopping the queue, getting ahead of the Olympics and allowing these players to do this for the first time in an NHL branded tournament. And the result has been insanely great. Wish, the whole notion of booing the Anthems has kind of talked out at this point, but I actually want to focus on how the Montreal crowd sang, Oh Canada. Have you ever heard an anthem sung like that by a hockey crowd?

I mean, there was probably some stuff post 9 11 where that was the case in the NHL. I mean, and Chicago's had some examples too, where they sing along with the anthem and they cheer the anthem or whatever. I mean, I don't know. Like the anthem discourse. Typical American, whatever I mean, I don't know like The anthem discourse typical American you're downplaying it. It was amazing. It was the greatest thing

I don't care. Well, that's my point like my No, no, no one should care this the greatest thing to come out of all this answer stuff is a re-examination Of not having the anthem support games like I've been saying this for 25 years. Dude, that was so incredible. How could you not want that before the game? Well, that's my point. My point is that the Anthems are our fertile ground for political discourse in these sporting events that everyone cherishes oh so much

and doesn't want politics in their sports. Don't wear the fancy specialty jersey before the game because we should just focus on hockey well you know what what are the anthems do the anthems give you a chance to booze some other countries and you know if you're somebody who wants politics out of sports but you're also someone who's yipping and yeah and cheering for the anthem before the game then you're being a hypocrite just get to get the anthems out of sports you don't sing an anthem before you go to the movie theater or a Broadway show It's it's all it is is the way to rile up the crowd and if the crowd gets riled up in a negative way

You can't criticize it. It's it's no different than the noise-o-meter. That's all it is Politics adds something to sports too, you know, like politics made the 1972 Summit series special politics made Canada Russia special like politics made the 1972 Summit series special, politics made Canada-Russia special. The, for you guys, the miracle on ice. Like what is that without politics, other than that was a pretty big upset, right? Like it adds to it. But does any of that exist without booing the anthem? Of course it does.

And all that booing the anthem does, or anything during the anthem, a protest during the anthem, of course it does. And all the booing the anthem does or anything during the anthem, protests during the anthem, any of it, it just opens up this sanctimonious vein of discourse about how dare you boo the veterans. And then the other side says, well, the veterans died so we could boo the anthem. I saw that yesterday, actually.

I mean, it just becomes an oraboros. It's just we're chasing our tail every time this happens. And I've been saying for 25 years, these things are so meaningful to people. They're so important to people that the idea that we're using them to just pop the crowd before a sporting event, we don't know what we're doing.

It's like handling plutonium. We don't have to do this. They're too important to people to just make them another function, you know, three degrees away from the kiss camp. And I think people are finally understanding this through all this discourse over the last two weeks that these are such meaningful things to our countries. You could play the anthem. Play the anthem for the winning team. There, there we have our moment.

We could all sing along with O'Canada. Boo the hell out of that when the Americans won on Saturday. Don't play before the game and trivialize it. I've been saying it forever and I'm really, really happy to see more and more people being like, you know, maybe it's not the best idea to do this. And that warms my heart. I can stand for you disrespecting the anthems, but I can't stand for you disrespecting the kiss cam. So I want to. The Kiss Cam brings people together. Why are you so divisive?

Right, brother and sister awkwardly caught on camera. Even the Kiss Cam has been politicized. You know how heteronormative the Kiss Cam is? Even that's politicized. Let's agree to disagree because I thought that Canadian anthem was absolutely incredible and I personally as a hockey fan, as a Canadian, I will savor that moment.

I will also savor the return of Kale McCarr to the lineup on Thursday. How big a deal is this that he's back in the line? Did we already talk about this? I mean, it kind of was lost in the shuffle a little bit on Saturday. The first or second best offenceman in the shuffle a little bit on Saturday. You know, the first or second best defenseman in the world was missing from Team Canada. And yeah, the first or second best defenseman in the world was also missing from Team USA,

but he hadn't played in any parts of the tournament while we saw how good Canada can be with Mekara in the lineup now against Sweden and against Finland. They're quite good. And so, you know, the power play that scores within a blink of an eye, the way he can control the puck and break out guys like McDavid, like all of it's there when McCarr is in the lineup. And so getting him back is a huge game changer. And at the same time, all of the little injuries

that seem to be piling up for Team USA could be a game changer, where all of a sudden, you know, we knew Matt Kachuck wasn't going to play because he was going to rest up for Thursday. We did not know that Boston Matthews was not going to play until last night. And then obviously Brady gets dinged up during the game and Charlie McAvoy, according to the Boston Globe, gets goes to the hospital last night. So it's the worm has certainly turned on, on, uh,

injury luck when it comes to the Canada versus USA matchup. How much of an impact did the lack of Macar against the Americans have on the inability for Canada to create scoring chances? I don't want to take anything away from Team USA because they played a brilliant defensive game, but you know, as a Canadian, I'm hoping that the absence of McCarr played a big role in their inability to create the scoring chances because if that repeats itself on Thursday, the Americans are going to win this thing. Yeah, no, I- listen. Put Kel McCarr back in the lineup, they're going to be better offensively. I don't think that there's really any surprise there. But I do think that the way the Americans use

their physicality but more importantly use their their speed which can match Canada's and in some cases surpass it to try to contain players like Nathan McKinnon for example who only have one shot on goal in the game, that's repeatable and that's not necessarily something that introducing Kale McCarvock into the game is going to completely solve. You know, they both got their chances. And I think the Canadians really believe in my conversations with them this week

that they gave away too much to the Americans. And so, you know, if they just cut that down, then they're gonna, you know, they believe they can win the game. But yeah, it doesn't change the fact that this is a deeply talented American team that has really figured out a thing or two as far as defensive play and using their speed for defensive play and built to be a team that can play both ways really well. And I think that was on display on Saturday. We're speaking to Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.

The gap in net between Canada and the US, how big is it and how big a factor is it gonna be on Thursday night? It's enormous. I mean, I hesitate to say that we finally have proof of concept that Connor Hellebuck is truly the best goalie in the world that isn't gonna flake when the pressure gets on him.

I mean, the last two postings- Still oneseason were not. I know that's the thing and I was joking with my colleague Ryan Clark last night who wrote a is Connor Hellebuck the best American goalie of all time. I'm like you moron you just guaranteed five goals for Canada on Thursday. But you know like like I think he's been a model of calm and, and, and has not given anything to anybody in this tournament. And I think on the other side, it's been the Jordan Bennington experience where there are times when you watch him like in the overtime against Sweden, you're like, how does this guy not win the best every year?

And then there are other times where you're like, maybe Aiden Hill on Monday against Sweden or against Finland. Like, like it, that is the totality of the Jordan Bennington experience. I mean, I don't think there's any question Where the confidence is the higher is higher for which goalie coming into Thursday night? And and and that's always been the Americans biggest advantage in this tournament who in your opinion has been the best skater for the United States Well, that's a really good question. Um, I mean, I mean, statistically it's probably been Gensel as far as like, you know, goal, goal impact.

Um, I think Macichuk was great when he was playing. I think Michael has consistently been good. And I think that, you know, I'm focusing on skaters, skaters, but like the best players in the team have probably been on the blue line. Like Warrensky has been amazing. Uh, play a lot of minutes in, in, in, in many cases in replacement for Quinn Hughes and the, the Jacob Slaven Brock Sabor duo surprisingly has been incredibly good. I think, you know, Slaven is one of these guys that we just kind of forget sometimes how to run of about 10 years

of being the best defensive defenseman on the planet to the point where we were gonna invent an award to give to him because he couldn't win the Norris because he didn't score enough. And I think that he's played that well in this tournament to sort of have a reconsideration of, oh yeah, by the way, Jacob Slaven is just a killer out there. Let's ask the inverse of that.

Who hasn't really stood out so far? Who's been disappointing? Jack Hughes. Yeah, right? As much as he kills me as a devil's son. I mean, he's done some dangly Patrick Kane-esque things during games, but he's not really created much. And I think there's a, you know, Jack's at his best

when he is kind of free flowing in the mix, just kind of creating on the fly. I don't think that he is comfortable doing that, knowing what's on the other side of the ice in these best on best tournaments. So, I mean, there's still another game to go, but I think that based on his talent and based on the expectations, I think he's been probably the bigger disappoint the biggest disappointment on the team. The television rating numbers, when they came out, it was a 4.4 million and peaked at five. Were you surprised when numbers that big came out or was that something

you were expecting after you saw the response on social media from the game on Saturday? Yeah, that's that's it. I mean, like once, once you start seeing people that never talk about hockey, talking about hockey, and once you, I mean, once all of the action happened in the first nine seconds, then you know exactly what's happening out there, which is that people are calling people and people are texting people and you know, it's a Saturday night, the NBA product is terrible. You know, it's the games on broadcast television on ABC, all of those factors combined, you know, to it being a blockbuster rating, which again,

again, was the most predictable thing. I think the tournament was created for that game. That's the bottom line. That they're getting another one is a huge bonus, but the tournament was created for that game. Saturday Night Montreal, even without the Trump stuff, there was going to be a chaotic environment for that game. They knew what they had on their hands. And I think the fact that it started off with such chaos certainly probably added a million viewers to it, but it was always gonna be a big hit. Well, in the name of international diplomacy

and a friendship of ours that lasted well over a decade, I wanna thank you for doing this today. We do appreciate you taking the time to join us as always, especially ahead of such a pivotal match I will not wish you the best of luck on no no no yeah And wish the next time we have a hit it might be a little late because we're gonna play the anthems before the hit and Then we'll get to the interview. It's an old to thank God somebody finally is doing this I think every entertainment expenditure. I want to go buy a

Burrito bowl of Chipotle and then hear the anthem before the cash register games. That's an important thing Listen, the bottom line is the next time we talk This will either be a fake tournament that only exists because How to get Russia in the World Cup or it's gonna be the single most important moment in the history of Love you, buddy. Thanks for doing this. See you pal. See you. Take care. Bye. Greg Wyshinski from ESPN on the Alfred and

rough show on Sportsnet 650. And we got a slight Charlie McEvoy update courtesy Frank Sarah Valley, uh, who just tweeted out sources say team USA defenseman Charlie McEvoy was admitted to the hospital on Monday night with an infection that stemmed from a minor injury. He is fine and there is no long-term concern.

However, McEvoy's status for Thursday's final is undetermined. He has not been ruled out. So look, that's good news. I don't want Charlie McEvoy to miss this game. I want each team to be as healthy as possible and let's see a hockey game here. Okay, we got three minutes before we go to break.

Plop asked the Jordan Bennington question prior to going to break. We didn't answer it. Kind of did with Wyshinski there, but from a Canadian perspective, I think we should answer the question. How are we feeling about Jordan Bennington? You had an interesting question here.

Is the bigger worry him or Helvuk? And I guess you mean like, is the bigger worry that Helvuck's gonna goalie the Canadians or is Bennington gonna let in a softy? Can't it be both? Yeah, it could be both. It could be both. I think it's gonna goalie.

I wanna say both. No one is gonna goalie. Okay, Adog, you've been the biggest Bennington critic in our chat. Don't like him. Nope, don't like him. I like his politics. I would like to, yeah. Not even that,'t like his politics. I would like to, yeah. Not even that, I could care less.

I would like to point out that- I touched a nerve. No, really, I don't really care about the player outside of the game. Great. I'm just talking about in the game, in the big moments, I do not trust him. Okay, well go on. That's fair. That's totally fair.

I just don't. I think a lot of Canadians feel the same way. I would like to point out that Canada has had the second best goaltending in this tournament. That's cause all the goalies suck. Yeah. Counterpoint. Sorry, Craig. Two teams had brutal goaltending.

I, I know. Well, according to some people, three have had good, bad, brutal goaltending. Um, I, I'm mixed on this because I understand that Binnington has allowed some softies, but I also think he's made some terrific saves. He has. Like some really good saves. He was quite good yesterday, but in a tournament like this,

you can't afford one bad goal. And every game. Well, especially this game, yeah. Every game he gives him a softie, and this is not the kind of tournament that you could do that. I actually thought he was really good yesterday, minus maybe one goal.

Yeah. And then, of course, there was the breakdown at the end, but that wasn't just his fault. I mean, it was really good yesterday, minus maybe one goal. And then of course there was the breakdown at the end, but that wasn't just his fault, I mean there was the whole team. But nevertheless, one bad goal a game in this tournament you can't have, Hellebuck, you know, he's incredible. But his game is, you make me nervous. Would you feel any better with Aiden Hill in there?

No. Okay, so here's the- I would have felt better with Logan Thompson in there. This is an important point to bring up. For a tournament that has some of the best players in the National Hockey League in it and is loaded with high-end talent, you could argue that the goaltending across the board

is not on par with that outside of Hellebuck, who's the best goal in the NHL right now. You could make the argument that if you go down the list, I mean, I don't know how you wanna do it. You wanna do it on save percentage this year? That's relatively safe. Thompson, Kemper, Vasileski, Blackwood, Dachor, Gibson, right?

And then the goalies that are in there from Sweden are Allmark and Gustafsson. And they weren't especially great. And their tournament was over after two games. Areson was amazing. Areson was great. I heard someone make the joke, they're like Tortorella must have been looking over

from the US bench. He's like, where's this been all year? Where did this, like he was, he led in the, he led in one goal in the first period and then locked it down after that. And for some reason they didn't give him first start of the game yesterday. I don't know what they were doing in Boston.

People hate goalies. Anyway, back to, back to Bennington. Hold on, hold on, back, just real quick, back to Bennington. So I say all that with the level that's there. And I think it's fair to say that Bennington's been, like you said, Bennington's been pretty good. He's made some terrific saves.

But the bar has been set by Hellebuck as to what the best of four nations face off goal tending is gonna look. So if you fall short of that, you still might be playing very well, but you're not at the level that's gonna win the tournament. Not number one. That's where I see Bennington right now

Like does he let in a sort of iffy goal with regularity kind of there's you could say three and three games But he's also made enough saves to get the team to the final But that might be a ceiling like he might not be able to lock it down It doesn't matter if he redeems himself either if the fact is he lets in that soft goal and that's what will kill Canada. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thursday could very easily be a one goal game. It could very easily be overtime. You don't want Bennington to let in that one softie

because that could be the game winner. Um, guys, we did it. What? We did it. We, we, we did it. We did the whole first hour of the show, despite the pressure from the Dunbar Lumber Text Line, despite all the texts that came in, we did it. We went the whole first hour of the show

without once mentioning Elias Pedersen. We are so disciplined. We got two hours left on the show to talk about Elias Pedersen. And the inbox is losing it. Guys, very, very impressive. Learn the top text, talk about Petey. Ray Ferraro is coming up next on the Elias Pedersen free Halford & Brooks show on Sportsnet 650.