Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Oilers Look Good And That's Worrying

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), plus they discuss last night's playoff action with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber (27:20). 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-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na- Jacob Slaven through a screen! Carolina wins game one at overtime! Gained across to Hyman and shot! Scores! Zach Hyman! Hockey's a physical game and that's part of the game. I'm moved on from it. It's over. Good morning, Baker. It's 6. Good morning, Vancouver 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford at his broth. It is Sportsnet 650, and we are coming to you live

from the Kintex Studios, the beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. And Lydie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halford at broth for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3,000 five-star reviews, visit them online at sands-trustee.com. 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. Got a lot to get into on a Wednesday show for guests today on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Guest list begins at 630. David Amber is going to join the program, Sportsnet Hockey Night in Canada NHL host. We will look back on the two series that got underway last night.

The Canes beat the Caps in OT. You heard the Jacob Slaven OT winner in the intro. Oilers beat the Golden Knights in Vegas. Huge comeback for the Oilers there. Awful second and third period for Vegas. We will also preview tonight's games. Game two of the Toronto Florida series. Toronto holds a one nothing series lead there.

And then at 6.30 our time, we get our first look at Winnipeg Dallas. That's David Amber at 6.30. Seven o'clock, Frank Ceravalli, our NHL insider from Daily Face Off, although not for long. On Twitter last week, Frank announced that he's leaving Daily Face Off. And like so many NHLers,

will also become a free agent on July 1st. Get this, Jason, today, it's also Frank's birthday. He's turning 22. He doesn't look a day over 64. Adam Mares is going to join the program at 730. He is our NBA insider from the All City NBA podcast. What a crazy last 48 hours we've had in the National Basketball Association. Last night Pacers stunned the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland with a Tyrese Halliburton game winning three in the dying seconds. The night before that, the Nuggets stunned the Thunder with an Aaron Gordon game winning three in the dying seconds. So we'll talk to Adam Maras about all that. NBA talk at 7.30,

eight o'clock. Very excited to have Ryan Johnson on the show. Canucks assistant general manager, general manager of the Abbotsford Canucks. Abby returns to action tonight. Their series is tied one one. Their Calder cup Pacific division semi-final against the hated Coachella Valley firebirds, the best of five. It's tied one one. The remaining three games are in Abbotsford.

They're tonight, they're Friday, and then if necessary, game five on Sunday. So we'll talk to Ryan about that. Also, of course, Abbey head coach, Manny Malhotra, who may soon become the head coach of your Vancouver Canucks. As you can see and hear, it's a busy show. We are doing the ticket giveaway for the SEAS tickets for May 17th. That's at 8.15. I'll give away all the details later in the show

because we got to get going. And without further ado, laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. I'll give away all the details later in the show because we got to get going and without further ado laddie Let's tell everybody what happened What happened is brought to you by the BC construction safety, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. We will begin with the late game, the second of the Stanley Cup playoff doubleheader last night. The Edmonton Oilers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2.

Zach Hyman, as you heard in the intro, with the go ahead goal late in the third period and the Edmonton Oilers take a 1-0 series lead and wrestle home ice advantage away from the Vegas Golden Knights in the process. I was concerned with how good the Oilers looked. I too. And if you're an Oilers fan listening or you're cheering for them, take that as a compliment.

I am not cheering for them. I do not cheer for Canada's team. Even when we're having some issues with the United States, I believe that cheering against other Canadian teams brings us together as a country. Yeah, it's part of the fabric. And I'm getting a little bit worried about what's going on right now because the Leafs are up in their series against Florida. The Oilers are up in their series against Florida. The Oilers are up in their series against

Vegas, Winnipeg, still to be determined. We'll see how they do against Dallas. But it's funny, I'm kind of looking at Florida and Dallas in their respective conferences as my saviors right now, my personal saviors. And I'm not going to, listen, look, I'm not going to argue with you. as my saviors right now, my personal saviors. I'm not going to argue with you. If you want to cheer for the Canadian teams,

then go right ahead. I am a damaged, damaged Canucks fan that doesn't want to see success for any other Canadian teams. That's me, that's my problems, that's my issues, but I know a lot of our listeners have the same issues as me. And when I was watching the Oilers last night, the one thing I thought of was,

first of all, the Oilers after a rough start, um, they really battened down the hatches and checked well against the Vegas golden Knights and maybe there, it was the reaction I was like, Oh yeah, we got pickered back there. It's two nothing for Vegas. Let's, let's dig in boys. And take over this game entirely. And they took over. And the other thing that's, that stood out to me,

Vegas looks slow. That was a concern. Vegas looked slow. Vegas had the boost of Nicerous to start the game. What a freaking boost. In large part because they were opening at home and playing in front of the Vegas faithful and they had energy to start the game.

And they got out to that two nothing lead. The craziest stat of all the stats that's stated last night, five of Vegas's six shots in the third period came on the power play. So that means how many came at even strength? One? In the second period, the Vegas Golden Knights also had one shot at even strength. So over the final 40 minutes of the game,

the Vegas Golden Knights had two even strength shots. 40 minutes, two even strength shots. Did they score on them? No, no they did not. Their shooting percentage was zero. It was a remarkable, a collapse in a game that was tight. Cause I thought it was going over time before

Hyman scored with about two and a half, three minutes left in the third period. Vegas didn't do anything in the second and third periods and Edmondson really took it to them in a very thorough fashion. Okay. I want to read this text from 3putt Shane. Okay.

Uh, and he just says, constantly playing from behind will catch up to Edmonton. It's too mentally taxing. Um, here's the thing though. I was thinking this during the game. I'm like, is it the worst thing against the Oilers to get a lead? Because then you, we talked about this yesterday.

You're, you know, you're, I'm sure you're being told, don't stop against the Edmonton Oilers. Try and keep pushing. Don't go into a shell because if you go into a shell and start playing too defensively against the Edmonton Oilers, they're just going to come at you, come at you and come at you, and come at you. And what happens in a lot of those games is that

McDavid and Dreisel just play more and more, right? Which is smart. Yes. Smart coaching. Put those guys out. They're pretty good. Um, and you know, we, we talked about what

Drew Doughty had to say about playing the Oilers and trying to protect a lead against the Oilers. It's like, we didn't want to do it. It just kind of happened. And that's what happens against the Oilers and trying to protect a lead against the others. It's like, we didn't want to do it. It just kind of happened. Yep. And that's what happens against the Oilers. Now I'm not suggesting that teams don't go out

there and like try and get a lead, but maybe I am. Right? It's just, it is, I understand that it might be playing with fire with your, if you're the Oilers, but man, like no lead is safe. I don't think anyone last night after Vegas went up two nothing on that Mark Stone goal, which was

really nice, I'm not sure what Corey Perry was doing defensively there. But he made up for it. But he did make up for it. I don't think anyone was sitting there going like, well, the Oilers are in trouble. Maybe a few people, fools, the Oilers are in trouble. You know, like, you know, there's maybe a few people, fools were doing that, but that team has the ability

to score in bunches and it is, on top of that, it's the new way to hit and shell, right? Yeah. You know, like I still feel some people's mentality is stuck, you know, five, 10 years ago when a two nothing lead in the playoffs, man, that's going to be tough to overcome. We see it every night now. We see two goal leads blown.

We see three goal leads blown. We see them, we see them blown mid game. We see them blown with, you know, two minutes left in the game with six on five goals are out there and the Oilers can score them. In my head, it still goes like, they're not going to win the cup with Calvin Pickard. They're not going to win the cup with Calvin Pickard. But then I watched them play a game like they did last

night and they didn't give many shots up and maybe they're going to win the cup with Calvin Pickard. Well, I'm not ready to go there quite yet because I think that on their blue line, they still got too many deficiencies to make a deep run. However, a couple of things that are very worrisome if you don't want to see the Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup. One, Evander Kane and Trent Frederic have made a difference for this team. That forward group is a lot more dynamic

when those two are going. We had Jason Greger on the show yesterday. He mentioned it, how much depth they have it forward. The other thing now is you have to look at it. And if you take away the first two games of that LA series, which I will refer to as the Stuart Skinner games where he gave up 11 or sorry, 12 goals in two games, they've played a lot better in front of Calvin Pickard and two of their last three games, I don't want to call them defensive master classes, but they completely dominated LA on the shot clock in the 3-1 win in game five, completely dominated LA.

3-1 probably wasn't as indicative as one-sided as that game was. And then yesterday, you look at what they did after the first period, and it wasn't one of these furious late game third period where scoring two goals with the goalie pulled comeback, they went down to nothing, and then they just promptly flipped the game on the golden

knights and gave the golden knights nothing. How about that goal by Connor Brown? Yeah. They're shot out of a cannon. That was unbelievable. Yeah. The depth of the Oilers, if the depth is going to step up like this, maybe it can overcome any defensive deficiencies on the Euler's blue line

and some question marks in goal. Okay, let's go to the other game last night. We mentioned it, we played the audio of the Jacob Slavin winner in the intro. Slavin scored at 306 of overtime, so we did get some excitement last night. That gave the Carolina Hurricanes a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals in game one of their series in Washington. I gotta say this one of the most boring playoff games they've finished in overtime that I've seen in recent memory it was a snoozer. The Washington Capitals had absolutely nothing going all night they could only muster one goal of offense they were trying to get under the skin of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Tom Wilson had a moment where he tangled with Sebastian Ajo and grabbed his mouthpiece out of Ajo's mouth and threw it on the ice. Yeah. That didn't even get them going. The Carolina Hurricanes just went out and did a, they played Carolina Hurricanes hockey. They tilted the shot clock in their favor.

They kept possession. They just kept going and going and going. And then their theory that eventually one will go in proved right in overtime because Slavin scored early in overtime on a bit of a seeing eye shot. That game deserved that type of winning goal. There was no, like it's like, it's a shot. It's in. And it was on the road. So no one celebrated in the room. It was quiet in capital one arena. It was a very boring game. Spencer Carberry was pissed off. I watched his post game media availability. It was quiet in the Capital One arena. It was a very boring game. Spencer Carberry was pissed off.

I watched his post-game media availability. It was all sort of two and three word answers. Isn't he always kind of just pissed off? Isn't that like his neutral state? He's really eloquent and verbose. Like he likes talking, Carberry. And when they beat Montreal in round one, we couldn't actually play the audio because it was too long.

He had a three minute uninterrupted answer talking about what he sees in the future for the Habs, like he's very eloquent. Yesterday it was, it wasn't good. That's the bottom line, entire game, not good. Will regroup. He was, he was choked and he had a right to be, he had a right to be choked because that was a really lousy performance from the Caps.

And now they've freddered away home ice advantage. Can we use Spencer Carberry as a, because he's a rookie NHL head coach, as a bit of a jumping off point to having a short discussion on Manny Malhotra since we are going to talk to Ryan Johnson later in the show. Experience behind the bench, eh? Yeah. Let's do it.

Well, I guess the discussion question, if there's going to be a discussion question, does Malholtra's lack of head coaching experience concern you if he becomes the next head coach in Vancouver? Now, Carberry and Malholtra are pretty different when it comes to their head coaching resume. Carberry was a long time head coach in the ECHL. He had a head coaching stint in the OHL, three years of head coaching experience with the Hershey

Bears in the AHL. Then he came up to the NHL for a couple of years, was an assistant with the Leafs and then was named head coach of the Washington Capitals. MalhotL for a couple of years, was an assistant with the Leafs and then was named head coach of the Washington Capitals. Malhotra, a little bit different, didn't do the ECHL thing, like didn't do the junior thing, you know, cause he was in the NHL, he was playing

hockey and eventually ended up, an assistant head coach in Toronto and Vancouver. So spent time behind the bench in, in the NHL in, in major markets, major Canadian markets. Uh, and now he's the head coach of the Abbotsford Canucks. And according to Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alveen will be on a short list of candidates to

become the next head coach of the Vancouver Canucks. So we're looking forward to talking to Ryan Johnson and just tell us about Manny Malholtra as a head coach. Talk about Manny. Talk about Manny. Um, now his lack of head coaching experience, Malholtra did see a lot as a player in the NHL.

Sure. And he's been, like I said, on an NHL bench a lot since he retired, but only this season as a head coach and that's in the AHL. I do think there are times when experience is valuable, but I also think that sometimes we overrate it. The one thing that's nice about Malholtra, if

he's going to be a candidate for the Canucks, is that he knows the market and he knows the team. Because I do think that dealing with the daily grind of talking to the media and managing the day-to-day issues that crop up can be hard when you play for a team like the Canucks or coach a team like the Canucks. I thought talk it over, I'll do a really good job of it, but you could see it hard when you play for a team like the Canucks or coach a team like the Canucks. I thought Tocket overall did a really good job of it, but you could see it started to wear on him a bit, especially when things weren't going so well.

You have to accept and you have to have the ability to accept that sometimes your words are going to get used against you or misconstrued or exaggerated, or maybe the same thing is going to happen to the players that you coach. Um, in Tauke's case, when he said on this show that he was trying to reprogram Elias Pedersen, all his critics went bananas. And he mentioned that he kind of joked about that,

but it was kind of a half joke, half like, I'm serious guys, that was ridiculous. Um, joke, half like, I'm serious guys, that was ridiculous. Um, personally, I mean, I've got a talk show, Halfords got a talk show. Um, it's the same show. It's a Halford and Brock show on Sportsnet 650. Um, I hate it when my, my words are misconstrued

or taken out of context, but I also know that it's going to happen. Like I've been doing this job long enough that I know it's going to happen and I've generally made peace with it. Malhotra strikes me as a guy who's pretty chill and pretty confident in who he is, but I guess you never know how you're going to react until

you're in the crosshairs. And let's face it, Malhotra has never been in the crosshairs and let's face it, Malhotra has never been in the crosshairs as a coach. People assume we know what kind of coach he is. He's like, well, he was a defensive third line center, like he was a checker, so he's probably got a pretty defensive philosophy, but we don't really know all that much about him.

We haven't seen him interviewed on a day to day basis. We don't know if he has any, uh, you know, uh, I'm sure every coach has something that they harp on over and over or has ways that they say things, you know, we used to poke fun at talking for, he was like, I'm a big this guy, or I'm a big, that guy, you know, I'm a big body position guy. Like maybe Malhotra has something that he

does like that. Yeah. Um, but he has seen other coaches in the crosshairs in Vancouver and Toronto. But again, it's, it's, it's different when it's to you. Yeah. And he doesn't have the experience of you. Like you're the guy pointing to Manny now, Manny,

you're the guy, Manny's the guy. And that does concern me a little bit, not necessarily for what I think is coaching Acumen will be. My biggest concern with this would be the particular job that he would inherit. I'm not sure that this is the ideal opening for a guy that's gonna get his first head coaching job anywhere.

I think there's some that are. I'm not sure this is the one. Here's why. One, there's going to be a push to get back into the playoffs next year. I'm not sure if Jim Rutherford's gonna why. One, there's going to be a push to get back into the playoffs next year. I'm not sure if Jim Rutherford's gonna get on the microphone at some point in the preseason and say that we're gonna be a playoff team

if everything goes right, but there's going to be pressure to bounce back from a disappointing year last year. In a big way. And the bounce back generally includes being a playoff team when you weren't the year before. Now that's a lot to put on a first year head coach who you got to remember is going to make some mistakes along the way.

That probably a veteran head coach maybe wouldn't make. I'm not saying a bunch of mistakes, but there will be learning moments as we like to call them. That's what positive people call mistakes, learning moments. Yeah. Negative people call them gaffs. And talk and call them learning lessons. Right.

Which I thought was redundant. Right, it's just a lesson. It's just a lesson. Good alliteration though. Yeah, he was a big learning lesson. No, it's a lesson where you learn though. Yes. As opposed to the ones where you don't.

So, you know, I'll bring it back. Once you're taught in school. Yes, all the lessons I've learned. I'll bring it back to Carberry, because this was the jumping off point. Was it true that he had zero NHL head coaching experience before taking the Capitals job? Yes. Was it also true that he had a bunch of head coaching experience, period,

prior to taking the Capitals job? Also, yes. He was a head coach in the ECHL. He was a head coach in the OHL. He was a head coach in the American League. Like, those things matter, because it goes back to what you said. There's a difference between being a support staff for the guy and then being the guy. I would also say it's very different being a head coach in the AHL, which Manny is right now, compared to the NHL. In the NHL, the talent is better, the egos are bigger and the stakes are much, much higher.

100%. And suffice to say, it's a lot easier to game plan for the top players on Coachella Valley than for say the Edmonton Oilers. Fair. One other thing we should consider in this, and I'm sure management is considering, the Conucks leadership group.

Who comprises the Conucks leadership group right now? A solid leadership group can do a lot of the heavy lifting for a head coach. Do the Canucks have one? Do the Canucks have a, we know Quinn Hughes is part of it. Tyler Myers is probably going to be part of it, but you know, Moj asked a question and this is something that I know Moj has been talking about a lot. And it came in the wake of losing a guy like Ian Cole last year. Does Jim Rutherford go out and get some guys that are sort of like Ian Cole?

Even if they don't wear a letter, they're going to be part of the leadership group. Sure. Because remember the leadership group last season, it was a problem. It was a problem, a big problem. Quinn Hughes, not a problem. Other guys that wore the A, Elias Pedersen, JT Miller, major, major problem. And, you know, to the point that these guys, I mean, that was honestly, just to come back to it, like forget having two guys fighting on your team and one of them has to be traded.

These guys are part of your captain's group. They wore letters and they still couldn't get along. Just ridiculous. Yep. Um, but if you're not sure about your leadership group, does Malhotra have a commanding enough personality to achieve the buy-in that every team needs to be successful?

And this is a big deal. You might think, wow, this is just like, dude, you know, the stereotype stuff. But I remember when Willie Desjardins was hired as the head coach in Vancouver, a lot of people wondered, does he have the right personality to be the leader of the team? But I remember when Willie Desjardins was hired as the head coach in Vancouver, a lot of people wondered, does he have the right personality to command an NHL team?

Presence. That was the word that came up. Does he have a presence? It's different coaching in the WHL as opposed to the NHL and I thought Willie did a good job in his first year, but the Canucks did lose a bit HL as opposed to the NHL. And, um, you know, I thought Willie did a good job in its first year, but you know, the Canucks did lose a bit of their culture while Willie

Desjardins was there. And a presence like Rick Tauket, where you look at him and he's kind of physically imposing, but also, you know, what he did in the NHL. Played a long time. Hopefully you were told. And he was tough as nails, right? Um, Manny Mulcher was a very good player and

he was tough too, in a different way than Rick Taukett, he was tough. But does he have that commanding presence where you know that when he speaks, you better listen because the Canucks, again, what is the Canucks leadership group right now? I don't even know what, like it's Quinn Hughes and who? Quinn Hughes and Tyler Myers.

Yeah. Could be the two guys. Like who else? Connor Garland. Maybe Connor Garland, not even joking. Maybe Connor Garland. Yeah. But are those the guys that you're like, well,

that's our culture, right? Like I, you know. Yeah. It's an issue. And I think when you put that at the, you know, that's going to be one thing that Malhotra or whoever the new head coach is going to be in Vancouver, if it's Adam Foote or whoever, Todd

Nelson, hadn't heard that name in a while, now I'm hearing it. Remember him? Um, you know, that's going to be the job. And Tauke said a lot when he came in, he said, I need to empower the leadership group. And that means not only coaching up the leadership group and telling them, Hey guys,

you got to take control of this locker room, but also making sure that everyone on the other team knows who the leaders are and you better listen to them and you better buy in and you better fall in line. Otherwise, I don't know. A few people are texting in, uh, Marcus Patterson should also be wearing a letter and

be part of the leadership group. I do wonder if the plan might be just to make your leadership group and everyone wearing a letter exclusively blue liners. And then the identity of your team is for defense first. And that's where they can focus next year. Maybe they could even give a captain seat to one of the goalies.

What do you think of that, Greg? That never goes wrong. And also not allowed by the rule book. Not technically. You can put a little one on the list. Yeah, Luongo did that. I would be very curious to see what the leadership group would look like under Manny

and then maybe a different head coach. I do wonder if it would differ. I'm not 100% sure that it would, but this is gonna be really interesting because the coaching carousel is in full spin across the NHL. I'm not 100% sure that it would, but this is going to be really interesting because the coaching carousel is in full spin across the NHL. I don't think we're quite done yet in terms of vacancies. I still think one or two might bubble to the surface.

I'm kind of looking at LA, still kind of looking at Colorado. So there's a lot of different moving pieces. There's a lot of candidates and there's a lot of openings. And, you know, with Manny, Manny's got a priority at hand right now. And that's the Calder Cup playoffs with Abbotsford. So we'll get into that at eight o'clock with Ryan Johnson. Before we go to break here, I need to tell you 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. You are listening to the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. It is time for David Amber. He is on the hotline, baby. It is time for David Amber.

He will talk to you. David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, David Amber, he is on the hotline baby. It is time for David Amber, he will talk some hockey maybe. It is time for David Amber, he is on the hotline baby. It is time for David Amber, he will talk some hockey maybe.

I'm on the hotline baby. I'm writing to the shrooms talking. I remember what I was doing at 23, pooping in my pants. There's a massive butt coming here guys. No one's fighting rig talking. No one wants to fight rig talking. I'm on the hotline, baby. It is, it's David. It is, it's David.

Amber, it is, it's David. He's on the hotline. 6.32 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com.

We are in hour one of the program. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada Sportsnet NHL host 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.

To the phone lines we go, David Amber joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning David, how are you? Good, Jason Mike, how you guys doing? We are well. No, no, no, we're not. We're worried. Jason's not well. I'm okay.

We're worried that the Leafs are up one nothing in their series with Florida and we're worried about how good the Edmonton Oilers looked against the Vegas Golden Knights last night. Is this, David, is this going to be the year a Canadian team is going to break the drought and it's not going to be the year a Canadian team is going to break the drought and it's not going to be the Canucks and it's going to make me extremely jealous?

You sound extremely excited about the idea of one of those things happening. If excited means agitated, you are absolutely right. So is that the general take in Vancouver? I've wondered this because I have a legitimate enthusiasm for the Canadian markets as you know, the general take in Vancouver. I've wondered this because I have a legitimate enthusiasm for the Canadian markets as you know, but I also know the fan bases are very regional and despite the other fan bases and all that, but I thought there'd be some semblance of

people who'd be like, yeah, it's cool to get the cup back to Canada. Who cares if it's the Oilers or whomever, but I'm wrong, aren't I? I think there's a real mix. There's the Boston pizza crowd that wants everyone to cheer for everyone and have a parade for Canada. And then there are others that like can't imagine watching that parade because I think in Vancouver, because we got so close a number of times.

We've had three games to win the Stanley Cup. We've lost all three. We feel like that parade is going to be a I think in Vancouver, because we got so close a number of times, you know, we've had three games to win the Stanley Cup. We've lost all three. We feel like that parade should already have been ours, 94, game seven against the Rangers, 2011, game six and seven against the Boston Bruins. And yeah, we're damaged.

We're damaged. We're damaged people. We're damaged sports fans and it concerns us. I understand that. I mean, I get that. And I think that sentiment might be shared across the country in every different fan base. I don't really think Montreal or Edmonton

has much of a leg to stand on because they've had so much good happen in their respective franchises, but again, there's anyone under 30 is like, what are you talking about? I haven't seen a championship in their respective franchises. But, you know, again, there's anyone under 30 is like, what are you talking about? I haven't seen a championship in either of those cities. So I get that. I just, I'm sort of of the mind of like, it's been a long time. It was all the geopolitical crap that's taken place in the last whatever, six months, but also would add another layer there, just like four nations was a bit heightened, you know, based on everything going on politically. So I kind of have taken that mentality. But yeah, listen, I can't,

I was thinking about this last night. I mean, I don't know if the stars are aligned or however you want to put it, but you know, Edmonton now five straight games has come from behind, seemingly snatched, you know, victory from defeat in that series versus LA. This Toronto team doesn't look particularly the same as some of the other iterations that have stumbled and fumbled and screwed up series and screwed up games. They might still lose the series. There's no guarantees on anything, but they will probably lose in a different fashion than they have in the past. They have a very solid blue line.

He seems to have depth and net, although that'll be tested obviously with Stolar has been out and you have a different sort of approach with their head coach. So it feels different in Toronto and let's not count Winnipeg out. I mean Winnipeg, you know, my God, uh, that was one of the most shocking turn of events you'll ever see in sports, right? In a game seven situation like that. So they've been resuscitated. You know, if Hellebuck comes back to being Hellebuck, and I don't know what the status

of Scheifele and Morrissey are, but they probably feel like there's some destiny for them. So there's three lottery tickets for Canada right now and we'll see how this shakes down, but there's a lot of optimism in those markets right now. Man, that Winnipeg game was incredible. They were showing, I saw on social media, they had a split screen video where they matched up the goals because there were two big goals, well, three really if you count it, but the one that was scored with 1.5 seconds or 1.6 seconds, whatever was left to tie it and then the double overtime goal.

So they matched it up with fan reactions, like this video of fans watching at home or I even saw like a beer league team watching the games and it brought me back to 2011 because I remember that happened with the Burroughs goal in overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks. That game was, I mean, can you remember a game seven like that? It was just incredible. And I just wonder what it was like to be a fan in that building for that to go down.

And you know what else I wonder? I wonder if there is anyone that left. Yeah, I mean, that would be my God. I mean, Winnipeg traffic isn't like Vancouver traffic or Toronto traffic where you can understand while someone might conceivably just say, I can't risk being stuck here for two hours. Um, I hope no one left.

Uh, that would be a hard, That would be a hard pill to swallow. And you know it's funny when you mention have you seen a game seven like that? I haven't. The closest comparable I have and I was at the game was 2001, different sport, but 2001 game seven World Series when Luis Gonzalez for the Arizona Diamondbacks with two outs in the ninth inning of you know they were against Mariano Rivera broken bat single to win the World Series. I mean the stakes were even higher there because it was a championship on the line you know maybe another one I was that was Vince Carter you know the infamous game seven I went to my UNC graduation and and missed the baseline jumper that would have

sent the Raptors into the next round, into the Eastern Conference Final. So we do get some dramatic situations, but that was as good. I mean, you know what's amazing? If you go back and watch that goal, the game tying goal by Cole Perfetti, It's the fan shot by Ehlers and then Larry makes this great play gets it back to Ehlers with six seconds left. Ehlers is standing about a foot inside the blue line yet the presence of mind to sweep it across the ice quickly to Kyle Connor who takes the pass on his back foot and puts it towards the net to where Cole Profetti's waiting. Like it was four skilled plays that led to that

tying goal with six seconds left to have that kind of poise and the ability to pull that off to me is just shocking. Did Connor flub that? Was that a flub shot? Or do you think that was a pass into the middle of the ice? I thought it was a bit of a flub shot.

That's a great question. I mean, it was off his back foot, so maybe it was. I mean, if he had the instincts to like, oh yeah, Cole Profetti is waiting there for the high tip, you know, the Sedeem high tip. Are you kidding me? I mean, it looked beautiful. I'm, I'm maybe in all the madness. No one's asked him about that. I'd love to know the answer to that. Um, it looked like a pass, but it certainly could have been, could have just been, I know there's no time on the clock. I'm putting, if I get this puck, I'm just putting it towards the net and pray. Well, cause Profetti had an unreal tip earlier in the game.

Right? So I think, I think there was an understanding that they had like the semblance of a set play. Like here are some of the things we'd like to accomplish with a few wrinkles involved. The Ehlers thing was hilarious because prior to that, he was handling the puck like it was a live grenade. It wasn't just that flop on the first, like with a minute and a half left, he's playing the point, didn't look all that

natural for him. And he was just throwing the puck everywhere. When Lowry put it back to him, I'm like, well, he's just going to try and get this on goal. So I mean, quite frankly, the balls to do a cross-ice pass at that point when you couldn't handle the puck, like to save your life was amazing. You know, We've talked about leads being evaporated in these playoffs and how no lead is safe and goal scoring is up. I do think that that play from the Jets was symbolic of skill taking over in those

moments when traditionally the idea is it's the playoffs, it's chaos, it's greasy. At the end, just throw something on net. The Jets whipped it around pretty good and they actually got a great look at it with the profetti tip. So I do wonder if there's something there as well where it's don't panic. When we've got, you know, if you've got an extra attacker

and you've got six forwards and six skill guys out there, try and make a play rather than make a hope play. So there's something interesting there. Yeah, Jason, go ahead. Is Hellebuck still, I mean, does that game absolve him of everything or is he still the number one story in Winnipeg? I mean, it certainly has quieted the chatter. You know,

I mean we were two seconds away from the whole narrative being, wow, Connor Hellebach cost them the series. That would have been, that would have been the chatter between fans and media and maybe even internally within the Jets because they didn't need to have superstar goaltending. They needed to have a little bit above, you know, great goaltending to have won that series in fewer than seven games. Um, if you listen to him and I listened to his, his media availability yesterday, he made it sound like the weight of the world was off his shoulders and hey now the pressure's off now I can just go back to playing and go back to feeling comfortable in the net. And if that's sort of how he feels about it even though the stakes are even higher now,

then that's great news for Winnipeg. And he basically admitted that the pressure was mounting and it was hard for him and you know, he kind of was trying to do too much, which is the old, you know, saying, so I don't think that listen, if they go out and get swept by Dallas and Hellebuck struggles mightily, it's still going to be a storyline. But I do think some semblance of the pressure is off just like with the Maple Leafs, right? Get past that first round.

There's no shame if they lose this series to the Florida Panthers. It's not going to be viewed the same as how they lost to the Ottawa Senators. And I feel the same way about Colorado. If you lose to Dallas, a team that very well could go on and win the Stanley Cup and Hellebuyck plays okay or plays well, then it's completely, the narrative is completely spun. It's changed. The, you know, he got past that, that infamous first round meltdown

didn't happen this time. So, and quite frankly, we should give them some credit, right? 56 minutes without allowing a goal. He basically had a shutout from the time he allowed that third goal. And Kelly Rudy astutely pointed out when it was three to one, he made a couple of big saves. Had it gone to four to one, it was over. And the fact that they kept within two

and the Mestnikov scored with two minutes left and then we all, we've recounted what happened with Profetti in the final minute. He kept them in the game when he had to. So it was not a great performance by him, but the second half of that game, those last 56 minutes, he was perfect.

And maybe that's the Hellebuck we're going to see starting tonight versus Dallas. I want to talk about Craig Berube and the Toronto Maple Leafs. I have a theory that not enough people in Canada and maybe even Toronto specifically appreciate the job that Berube did as the head coach of the Blues on their run to the Stanley cup, because that was

the year that the Raptors went to the finals and won their NBA title. So the Stanley cup final, um, kind of took stage B, um, in, in, in that spring. Um, what has he done to help the Leafs keep their composure, I guess is the best way in these big games, because that Florida game in game one, when Stolarz had to go in, go out and Joseph Wall had

to came in, that could have gotten away from the Leafs and it nearly did. And Borubic called a timeout and the Leafs were able to, um, you know, score another goal and hold on for the win. And I'm just wondering if that is a talking point, I'm sure it is in Toronto, what people are saying about the job Craig Berube has done for the Leafs. Well, I'm glad you mentioned the timeout.

That was, you have that timeout and some coaches don't use it at the right time. Some coaches don't use it at all. That was the right time. They had allowed two goals, Florida had all the momentum. The Leafs were sagging and the old Leafs would have been pretty quickly back in their net again and it would be a different narrative potentially playing out. So I think it is talked about, it might have been under appreciated what he did in 2019. As you mentioned, that year there was no Canadian teams in the final eight

of the Stanley Cup playoffs and many fans checked out and they checked into, wow, this Raptors run has been amazing. So you're right. It didn't garner the attention. It may be deserved his, his part in that whole run. When you talk to the players. Um, and I sat down just last week, I sat down with both Stolarz and Simon Benoit, and they say he's really calming. Like, it's funny,

he's such a physical presence. He's very intimidating. He's this big, you know, kind of like, wow, okay, kind of like Pat Quinn was, right. And, um, and at the same time, I think people, he doesn't talk all the time, but he brings a calmness with him and guys listen to him. He commands a room. And I think there's some value in that and you know, him coming in, you know, the Leafs went two coaches ago was Mike Babcock won the ring and all that. We saw that didn't work out obviously for a number of reasons. Then they tried, you know, Sheldon Keefe,

new, young, innovative, which probably had a lot of positives. He did incredibly well in the regular season, but there might've been some, you know, antsiness come playoff time. He'd never been through these runs. They look at Craig Barubin, they go, here's a guy we know has been through these runs before and has accomplished what we're trying to accomplish.

So he commands a lot in the room and I think he brings a calming influence. And you know what? He's not a knee jerk guy. He's a pretty measured guy. Like even the Sam Bennett thing, he laughed about it yesterday. He'd be like, yeah, back in my day, we would have dealt with that right away. It's a different NHL. And he went as far as to say, It would have been dealt with right away.

And I would have dealt with it. If you know Greg Verrube, you would have dealt with it that very next shift. And someone, there would have been an eye for an eye for sure. Um, but this is a different NHL. Their, their eye was set on winning the game. First and foremost, if there's a three or a four gold cushion for either Florida or Toronto tonight, all bets are off. I wouldn't shock me if, if me if, you know, Bennett is

challenged or something happens tonight. But my point is he's a very measured guy, calm guy, and I think his level of composure, the Leafs have tried to take on that identity themselves and it's been a big part of their success. I've said this on a few times on the show, but I'll reiterate to you. I think the one thing that Borube does well is he takes things in stride and he recognizes that there are going to be things

that go wrong for you in the playoffs. You know, I can think of a number of things that went wrong for the blues on the way to their cup title. There was a hand pass that there was a big referee mistake that went against them and cost them a game. And he was like, well, that happens. What are we going to do? Next game we go and win. And the other thing, they had game six at home to win the cup, St. Louis, a team that had never won the Stanley cup and they totally biffed it.

They blew that game and everyone was like, well, they're going back to Boston for game seven. The Bruins are going to win this. Nope. It didn't happen. And they totally biffed it. They, they blew that game and everyone was like, well, they're going back to give the Boston for, for game seven, the Bruins are going to win this. Nope, it didn't happen. And, um, you know, I just feel like he's the right type of coach for, for Toronto. Um, and you know, I, do you feel like this, I mean,

do you feel like this could be it for the Leafs? Like this could be the year. I don't want to put you on the spot here, but like I'm, maybe I'm freaking out a little bit here, but you know, that one nothing lead over the Panthers, if they get past the Panthers. They got a shot. They got a real shot.

For me, the Panthers are the one team that can save Canada in the East and the Dallas Stars are the one team that can save Canada in the West. Yeah, I mean, listen, and I love how you took that very measured approach to even asking the question. Listen, I think he's got a very common influence. I think you had him picked out perfectly.

There's only some guys that could handle coaching in a market like Toronto or even like Vancouver. I mean, Vancouver, it's funny, everyone says Toronto, Toronto. The way I look at the media differences, I think in Toronto the volume is very high. There's a ton of requests, there's a ton of microphones, there's a lot of cameras each and every day.

In Vancouver I'd say it's less scaled down, but the cynicism, and I don't mean that even in a negative way, but you guys really, not you specifically, but just in general, the challenges there are a lot. So I think coaching in either of those markets takes a specific type of personality and I think he has the right personality. Um, a hundred percent. Do you, I think this is the least here. I don't know.

I mean, the thing I've said, and I've said this on your show a few times, it's just the blue line's different, right? They play all six guys. The drop off from their number one defender, whoever you want to call that. If you want to call Chris Tanna, their number one true defender, which I think you could easily make that case to number six, whoever you want to say that is, is not appreciable. They will roll out the guys. They're each playing 18 minutes a game.

They're big. They're angry. They eat pox They defend well and now we're even seeing Morgan Riley Oh, we all guys get up on the rush Chris Tanna for Christ's sake score to go last game So, you know things are going pretty well In that respect so there are different team Brad Trey living has created a more Playoff ready blue line and this goaltending tandem has been very good this year In previous iterations the Leaf has all been like, well,

we're going to outscore them and we've got the core four and we have one of the greatest goal scores. It's all been that. And now there's still that side of it, but the pressure isn't so much on those guys. They don't give up a lot. They can defend better. And you know, the maturation of Matthew Knives, and hopefully, you know, whether it's Max Domi or Lawton or whomever, they get a bit more balanced scoring. We see Pacioretty is in there, you know, hitting everything that moves. So there are more balanced teams and conceivably they look much more like a Stanley Cup style

team. When you look at Vegas or Colorado or some of the teams in the last 10 years, Tampa that have had success. This least team doesn't completely mirror those teams, but there are much closer iteration than we've seen in the past. So I will say that. And, and yes, I think, you know, again, I don't even want to say this and put this into the stratosphere, you know, at all, but you know, it's not inconceivable. We have an all Canadian Stanley Cup final know, it's not inconceivable. We have an all Canadian Stanley Cup final.

It's just not inconceivable. The teams are that, the margins are so close and you could get your dream of a Dallas Carolina final or whatever. But, uh, but it's just as likely that we got a Winnipeg, Toronto or Edmonton Toronto final it's that close. So who knows? I think at least one of them would lose. But listen, there's not like really a super favorite,

is there? There isn't. No, no, not at all. And by the way, David, don't you think the cynicism in Vancouver is well-earned? Like you've seen what we've been going through here. Yeah, and I didn't say that in a critical way. I think that the job of the media is to be sort of the liaison to the fan. And if the fan is saying, well, why the heck did this happen? Why the heck did that happen? You guys do a good job

of holding people's feet for the fire and sort of making sure things are, people are accountable. Is it ad nauseam, you know, like should JT Miller be shopping and people going up harassing them on the street? That's not the media, but you know, I don't, I don't think, I think there's a boundary. I definitely think there's a line between being a fan and being like, it doesn't give you license to say or do anything because you're a fan of the team. I, and I think those lines need to be respected. And you know, it's funny, Chris Panev was asked about this recently in an interview and he sort of said, you know, I played in Calgary, Vancouver, and

Toronto and people in, in Alberta are so kind. And what he meant is, it is Lee Malone here in Toronto, here in Toronto, that, you know, they want the pictures and everything else and in Vancouver, good or bad, they're, you know, they're, they're definitely in your face a bit more. So I think that goes, I think that goes all the way through. I think it's a very passionate fan base would be the, the euphemism I put on, on all these Canadian fan bases. But I don't like when people cross lines and I do think there

should be a level of respect. You can boo, yell, do whatever you want at the rink, et cetera, but people also need to recognize that these are just normal human beings, whether they're coaches, GMs, players, et cetera. So that's sort of my feel on it. Two games tonight in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It's the Panthers and the Leafs. Four o'clock. Our time is the puck drop. And then the nightcap 630 our time. Our first look at the Stars and Jets series.

David, thank you very much for doing this today. We really appreciate you taking the time. Enjoy the games tonight. We'll do this again next week. Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. Enjoy the games. I'll talk to you soon. Thanks buddy David Amber Hockenant in Canada Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Peter Langley Texas. Okay enough with the Leafs don't worry they are not going to win the

cup shoot me if they do. That's like a hard turn at the end there Peter. I will say because of the Stoller's Bennett incident, I don't think nearly enough has been made of the fact that the Leafs went out and won that game. I know that there was a bit of a third period collapse and I know that a lot of it had to do with the goaltending, which was a byproduct of the Stoller's Bennett incident, but the Leafs went out, got a 4-1 lead,

did not crumble when the comeback was on. And Matthew Nyes, who's been an absolute beast in these playoffs, scored the all-important goal. I know Bennett scored again late to make it 5-4. But the Leafs got that game. They took care of business in game one. If they do the business tonight, they're two wins away from the Eastern Conference final.

When David suggested a Leafs-Eulers final, part of me died inside. I've thought about it a little bit. There's a very small part of me that wants to see it though. I've thought about it. There's a very small part of me that wants, that would be, it would be fascinating. And again- But then it would mean one of the Canadian team would have to win though. Yeah, but one of them would lose.

I don't know man. We could turn our attention to making fun of them. Yeah. I mean, I guess if it were to happen, it would have to be triple overtime at game seven and losing the worst way possible. Well, can you imagine, let's say the Canucks, put it in your mind, that the Canucks lose to Carolina in the final, you know, it'd be tough, obviously be really tough. Yeah. Let's say they lose to Toronto.

What would be worse? Toronto. Losing to Toronto. Losing to Toronto. Yeah. I'd have to move countries, really tough. Yeah. Let's say they lose to Toronto, what would be worse? Toronto. Losing to Toronto. Losing to Toronto. Yeah. That would be, I'd have to move countries I think. Yeah. Well, so that would be the feeling that either

Toronto, Edmonton or Winnipeg would feel. Yeah. You know? And if it's Toronto and Edmonton, I mean, first of all, that'd be great for business, for us, but, um, and it would have the attention of Canadians, whether they, you know, liked what was going on. Okay.

Who would you cheer for though? Cause I'm- The Oilers. Going back and forth. I would cheer for- you know what I would do? I would cheer for Chaos. You know what I would do? I probably would lean Oilers as well.

I would cheer for Connor McDavid. Yes. That's what I would cheer for. Yes. I would like to see him win a cup and I'd love to see the Leafs lose to Stanley in the final. And I would be disappointed for Kristanov if I were to go that way.

Yes. Yeah. But I cannot, I cannot fathom the parade in Toronto because it might be the biggest parade, I'm not joking here, in North American sports history. Raptors one was, wasn't it? It was, it was up there. I don't know the, I don't know the final numbers.

The least one would probably have about the same turnout, if not bigger. Yeah, it would be slightly bigger. I would have to imagine. I would fly in and burglarize houses during that parade. All right. We're up against it for time.

Hour one is in the books coming up on the other side. Frank Ceravalli is gonna join us at seven. Adam Maras is gonna join us at 7.30 for some NBA talk. You are listening to the Halford & Breff show on Sportsnet 650.