Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Out-Of-Town Scoreboard Is Not Helping The Canucks

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they set up tonight's Canucks road matchup at the Isles (6:00), plus they discuss the latest hockey news with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber (26:16). 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.

Aaaaaahhhhhh... You're listening to Halford and Brough. Throw in his weak side, Ovechkin! He scores! Alex Ovechkin scores from the left darts! Centering pass comes into the slot, Neelander shoots, scores! 4.9 for Willie! Wee Willie Neelander! Game over! Calvary scores! Good morning, Vancouver1 on a Wednesday.

Happy Wednesday everybody, it is Halford and his brough at his Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in 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 brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers They have a friendly knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for sales Financing service or parts we are in our one of the program our 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 show ahead of a Canucks game day. Canucks Isles 430 puck drop from New York. Guest list

today begins at 630. Appropriately enough, enough David Amber is gonna join the program. He'll be working tonight's game double header on sports net Scotiabank Wednesday night hockey You got the Canucks and Isles at 4 30 followed by the Stars and Oilers after that So we'll talk to David about the two games on tap tonight light night in the NHL Just four games two of them right here on sports net 7 o'clock Frank Sara Valley is gonna join the show two of them right here on Sportsnet. Seven o'clock, Frank Saravalli's gonna join the show. Wanna ask him about what the heck is going on in Philadelphia, his hometown. The Flyers were blasted last night, seven to two.

You heard one of the goals in the intro by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Torz has some very curious, very weird remarks after the game yesterday, so we'll talk to Frank about the future of the coaching position in Philadelphia. Maybe what it means for Rick Tauket, who knows? Who's to say? We'll talk to Frank at the future of the coaching position in Philadelphia. Maybe what it means for Rick Tauket. Who knows? Who's to say? We'll talk to Frank at seven o'clock about that. Uh, 7 30 Manny Viveros, the head coach of your Vancouver Giants.

The Giants open their WHL playoffs on Friday against Spokane. A reminder we're giving away tickets for that game at 8 15 this morning. Be called our number five. let's call her number five, at 604-280-0650, that number again, 604-280-0650. We will preview that game with Manny at 6.30. We're not done with the guests. Oh no, we're just getting started.

7.40, Chris King is gonna join us. He's the Isles radio play-by-play man. We'll get a preview of tonight's game from the Islanders side of things. They're 3-0 and three in their last six. They're racking up points. They're fighting for their playoff lives too. They've got a better chance of making the

playoffs than the Canucks do. They absolutely do. As a matter of fact, they get a win tonight. They're going to leapfrog past Montreal into that second and final wild card spot. So we'll talk to Chris King about the Islanders at 740. And then finally at eight o'clock, Randeeb Janda,

color analyst for the Canucks right here on Sportsnet 650. Speaking of playoff chances, the Canucks did not get much help in that department last night. We'll get into that in what happened. The Canucks are gonna skate at 8.15 our time this morning. So that'll be during Randeeb's hit. It'll be while we're giving away the Giants' tickets.

So we'll get a better idea of who's going to start a net tonight. Yeah, I imagine it's going to be a full team skate since they didn't practice yesterday. So yeah, we're betting on, we said we're betting on Demko. I would imagine. Yeah.

Yeah. So Randeeb Janda at eight, Chris King at 7.40, Manny Vivarose at 7.30, Frank Cerfali at 7, David Amber at 630. That's what's happening on the program today. 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 messy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What happened? What happened?

What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. We're gonna do a lot of out of town scoreboard reflecting this morning because the out of town scoreboard

was not kind to your Vancouver Canucks last night. It was a lousy night for Vancouver, starting with the St. Louis Blues, the team everybody in the West is chasing right now, although maybe not for long, we'll get to that in a minute. The Blues beat up on the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 on Tuesday night. The Blues now have an NHL best active winning streak

of seven games. You know, when we were looking at these four teams, Vancouver, St. Louis, Calgary, and Utah, a lot of people said, if one of them gets hot, they'll take it. Because the other, it's not like, and that wasn't rocket science, It was just a question of whether or not Any of these teams could actually get hot? Were they were they good enough essentially to do what st Louis has done which is win seven in a row and I guess the answer is yes I mean like I don't think anyone thought Multiple teams would get hot and no, you know, you, everyone, you know, there'd be a

two horse race. Like St. Louis, like all these teams has the ability to win seven a row. The Canucks have the ability to win seven a row, maybe at full strength, maybe not as they're currently constructed, but you know, credit the Blues. Look at this schedule. It's not particularly hard. They had Minnesota, which isn't playing great hockey right now, Anaheim, Nashville, Vancouver,

Chicago, Nashville, Montreal. They took care of business in a major way. And if they get in the playoffs, they'll deserve it because they took advantage of a soft schedule when they had to. The Canucks had a soft schedule at the beginning of the season, didn't take advantage of it. They didn't bank enough points early.

No, they had a really soft schedule. They lost to Buffalo at home, things like that. They lost to the Islanders at home. The Blue leads to Seattle, and if you look back on the season, that's where it was lost. Go all the way back to the opener against Calgary. Yeah. The Blues to be fair this isn't just the seven game win streak that's pushed them into this playoff spot. They're 13-2-2 since the Four Nations break.

They've been the best team in the National Hockey League since the league went on pause and as much as I don't want to really throw flowers it seems that the Canucks are actively chasing for a playoff spot. I do wanna have a moment of appreciation for what Doug Armstrong did this off season because those two offer sheets to Holloway and Broberg might be the best moves that any general manager did this off season.

Just hear me out when you consider what it did for the immediacy of the franchise's trajectory. Like that might have saved this Blues season because I don't think that the Blues are in this playoff position without what Holloway and Broberg have done for them. Holloway has 60 points in 73 games for the Blues. That's crazy. That's crazy. Broberg, he was considered like the, oh yeah, they also got Holloway, right? Cause Broberg was the one they really took a,

it was the big, bigger money guy. In 115 games with the Oilers, Holloway had 25 points. So this is, I mean, this is more than found money for the blues. He has been unbelievable for them. He's basically been a point to game, over a point of game guy during that stretch I

mentioned since the four nations break. Broberg last night, four point game, he's got close to 30 points on the year. Importantly, they've been able to rely on him and up his ice time because Colton Pareko went out of the lineup for them. Like they, they had a big, a big loss on their blue line and Broberg's been a huge, huge acquisition for them.

So what you're saying is, Connex fans, you may be upset that St. Louis is playing really well and maybe they're ending the Connex's chances at making the playoffs, but at least it's also bad news for the Edmonton Oilers. Yes, there is a silver lining here because every time that Broberg and Holloway do something, at least one intrepid reporter turns around and asks Stan Bowman about it, which is nice. You always want to be reminded about your failings and that's good. Also,

I'm more and more curious about the prospect of offer sheeting Luke Hughes. Okay. The offer sheets, I digress. We gotta talk about the Flames as well though, because those plucky Calgary Flames, they won't go away either. They won their fourth in a row last night. An OT thriller over the Seattle Kraken. We've got audio of the game winning goal in overtime.

Nazem Kadri, back to back overtime game winners. Here's what it sounded like, courtesy of our good buddy John Abbott on the call. Flames win fourth in a row this time against the Kraken Glass bangers sure then and I was that was Abbott's mic on Yeah, he got drowned out. It was so loud. He just yelling at the arena Was glass bangers sure banging hard? Was Abbott's mic on? Yeah, he got drowned out. It was so loud.

Was he just yelling at the arena? He was one of the glass bangers while he was filming. It was really loud there. I know the pop was probably overshadowing Abs, but it was very loud. Caddru is super fired up. I don't know if it's that I'm just like the lucky draw of the algorithm that I'm getting all this stuff

onto my feed, but there's a lot of the behind the scenes flame stuff that's been popping up more and more. There was the one, I don't know if you guys saw this one where Rooney and Lomburg were talking about, there was this thing that happened where I guess Ryan Huska goes in before every game and when he's about to read the lineup, he says this thing where he's like,

who effing wants to go tonight? And then no one really answers because he has the lineup card he's about to tell you. Right. But at one time Rooney jumped up and he's like, I'll do it coach. And he's like, we're starting Cadbury. So that was like, it was a, so that ended up becoming this joke that they had going throughout the year. But the point of this anecdote is like, they have really good vibes around that team. Yeah. Like low expectations low expectations man, and and what we talked about the other day where the Canucks beat the Devils despite being under man punching above their weight and overachieving the flames have been doing it all year And they've all really leaned into it. So I you know I think they'll ultimately fall short mm-hmm This next week though really I think in the next 10 days 7 to 10 days

They'll be decided because they've got three really difficult games coming up. They got Dallas, Edmonton, and then Colorado, but good on them for hanging around. Yeah, sorry. I'm at Money Puck. Okay. They have playoff predictions,

and St. Louis is at 61.6%. Yeah, they're in. Calgary's at, hold on, Calgary's at 33%. Calgary could still catch the Blues. That doesn't leave much for Vancouver or Utah. Vancouver's got 15.1% chance and Utah's all the way down at 3%. Sorry about that, Drantz.

Okay. You want my, you want my hot take? No. I did this last year too. I'm going to give this, I'm going to give it to Brendan, not Marcus, also from Gibson's, because he texts in to the Dunbar Lumber text line and he said, if the Canucks can keep winning games, it might become more likely the final wild card spot to catch is the Kaprizov and Erickson-Ecklis wild April 12th could be a huge night at Rogers Arena. Yeah, maybe.

This is my hot, this was my hot take. It's now just muy caliente. But look, and I'm dropping a look early this morning, 612, that's a 500 hockey team, the Minnesota Wild. The story of their season, for those that are unaware, and you're like, how did the Minnesota Wilds. I know they got the story of their season for those that are unaware and you're like, how did the Minnesota Wilds get into this thing? They started the year 18, four and four. They were the number one team in the NHL through the first two months of the season. Remember everyone was saying Capri's off for the heart trophy and you know, what a great job Billy Garan did despite the fact that he still got those crazy biotes for suitor

and Parise. Then the injuries hit and they are 22, 23 and one since that 18, four and four start. So for the better part of three months, they've been a 500 hockey team. They're not playing well lately. They lost last night to the Vegas Golden Knights 5-1. Laddie, your boy Jack Eichel got a hat trick last night by the way, I noticed you left that out of the intro.

I had the clip. I didn't put it in the intro. I'm looking at this Minnesota team. And I mean, look, I did some very, very, very fortuitous math yesterday in favor of the Vancouver Canucks. Here's what's gonna happen. The Wild are going to need to crater big time

over their five, they've got 10 games left in the year. They're gonna need to crater big time over their five. They've got 10 games left in the game. They're going to need to go somewhere in the neighborhood of like, I think three and seven. If they even go four and six, you're talking about a chance. Anything other than that. But what would the Canucks need to do? Have you forgotten that the Cuse suitors, their number one center and Teddy Bluegers, their two seed? And as well as they played in New Jersey. You know, like you shut your mouth. Okay.

Tire thing is contingent on what we said earlier that the Canucks needed eight wins prior to the New Jersey game. They won that one. So they need seven. So I'm going on the pretense that the Canucks need. We'll get seven wins. We'll get 14 points down the stretch. Now here's the thing. You're you're banking on a wild team that's found a way to play 500 hockey, to not just wobble, but crater a little bit. But of the two teams, if you wanna keep any level of optimism out there,

I would say keep a much closer eye on Minnesota than, you know, I think St. Louis, I don't see them somehow just falling off the face of the earth in the midst of a seven game winning streak, right? Here's what you need to know about this wild team. They don't score. They have one goal or fewer It's their last 14 games They don't have an easy schedule to close out the year as it was that Brendan the texted in as he astutely pointed out They do have a head-to-head game. So you get a good old-fashioned four-pointer against them if you're the Vancouver Canucks.

Again, chances are super slim, according to Money Puck, and I know this as well, but if you're gonna keep any level of optimism alive, I think it's gonna have to be, keep an eye on the Minnesota Wild and hope that they continue to fall off. Now, it does sound like they're gonna get Kaprizov and Erickson Eck back

within the next seven to 10 days. I don't know how great they're going to get Kaprizov and Ericsson-Eck back within the next like seven to 10 days. I don't know how great they're going to be, given they both missed an incredible amount of time this year. I think Kaprizov has only played 37 games total. And we don't really have any guidance on Pedersen or Holglunder here. We just know that they've been sent home to Vancouver. All we know on those two, and we try. I missed this update yesterday, by the way,

is they were sent home from the trip. If you wanna do just the real basic math on it, they're gonna miss three games, including New Jersey So Four, which was the tail end of this road trip that the Canucks are currently on. And if they do play, it won't be until April 2nd when the Canucks return home and host the Seattle Kraken. So if the Canucks can keep these good vibes

going on this road trip, tonight kind of feels like one of those games that you gotta get something from. You know, you've got Winnipeg still on this trip. I don't know what kind of competition Columbus presents. You're spending a lot of energy on this. What are you talking about? We went on the previous game show

talking about The need to like we playoff hockey is important And if you're gonna talk about playoff hockey you guys really like this though. You have to talk yourself It's like yeah, it's like the Charlie conspiracy meme from its sunny Halfords to set home with this big like chalkboard like You may as well just want to yell at him like pew suitor is the number one center right now and Lugers the two-seat They worked their butts off in New Jersey and barely one Mike the urologist from Brockville said my god

Are we grasping for optimism here? Yeah. Yeah, that's what we're doing Yeah, I guess I'll back up how for a little bit though because what if he's right? What if they do somehow do this? It'll be amazing. Halford will be What if I win the lottery? Reminding us about this for years. You'll never see me again. It's not like it's a.001%

So many upsides. Yeah. Anyway, let's get some of the other stuff from the National Hockey League last night. I want to play this audio from John Tortorella, get it out of the way now and discuss it a little bit because we're going to talk to Frank Ceravalli about this at seven o'clock. So last night, the Philadelphia Flyers, who in a real bad way, their sixth straight loss, 11th loss in their last 12 games. They've absolutely cratered. They're trying to recruit me to play goal now.

Their goaltending is really bad. That's a big part of this for sure. Goaltending issues in Philly? Can you imagine? That never happens. This, wait, this century? Yes, it's true. During the game last night, they go down 5-1,

Torz calls a timeout, the like, we need to regroup timeout, but doesn't really say or do much, as Kevin Kurz pointed out in the Athletic. Very sort of calm and collected and composed. Then after the game, Tortorella had a really weird quote. We're going to play it and then maybe we'll reread it to parse through exactly what he was saying.

But here's Torts, the normally fiery John Tortorella after a 7-2 loss in Toronto. As mentioned, it was the Flyers' six loss in a row and their 11th loss in their last 12 games. So are you sensing frustration setting in maybe as a cumulative effect from last week playing well and not getting results? Well when you're in this type of situation and you're losing all the time and there's nothing at the end of the tunnel for you, there's certainly going to be some frustration but this falls on me. I'm not really interested in learning how to coach this type, this in this type of season where we're at right now,

but I have to do a better job. So this falls on me getting the team prepared to play the proper way until we get to the end. So the actual quote was, I'm not really interested in learning how to coach this type of season. The translation is, I don't care about this anymore. I'm not really interested in learning how to coach this type of season. The translation is, I don't care about this anymore. I want to go home.

He has no interest. I am not putting a lot of prep into these games. I just want to hang out with my dogs at home. I'm not checking the sketchy. I don't know who we're playing next. Like I'm not doing any of this. He's not. And he.

Though we've got the Leafs tonight. Sundin's still on that team? Yeah, he said, he said like, oh, the one thing the Leafs tonight. Sundean still on that team? Yeah, he said, he said like, oh, the one thing I maybe have learned is, you know, sometimes you got to know when to push buttons or to fire guys up. And he's like, this is not the group to kick when they're down. And I was like, okay, you know, that's fine. But when you say something like that, and again, it's a big old paraphrase on my part, it's just not the group to kick when they're down so I'm out of answers. Yeah that's all I know

what to do. I don't know what to do when guys are down you just kick them that's been my history. So obviously there's a couple talking points here one how long is John Tortorella for this gig because it certainly doesn't feel I'm putting this as optimistically as possible and as rosy as certainly doesn't feel, I'm putting this as optimistically as possible and as rosy as possible, doesn't feel like a great fit right now. A veteran, tired coach coaching a team that is really bad and is playing out the string.

I'm not sure that his honesty that we love and everyone loves towards his honesty, sometimes it's to a fault, but I'm not sure honesty was the right play here, but maybe it says just how checked out he is mentally on this team. So if Torz isn't the coach next year in Philadelphia, who would be?

And would it be you know who? Yeah. I mean, we could talk to Frank Saravalli about this. Frank has definitely made no secret of his reporting that there are a bunch of teams out there who would gladly hire Rick Tauke at his head coach.

In fact, he suggested that they'd fire their head coach to get him, fire him into the sun too, which I thought was unnecessary and frankly expensive. Yeah. But I guess it wouldn't be, you know, cap dollars. It would just be a space program that they'd have to put together.

Um, here's a question. How, um, how attractive would that flyers gig be to any head coach? Like, I know they've got some, they got some young guys. Not very. Well. For me, no.

Really? No. Like they're a ways away. They're a ways away. Even with Mitch Goff and you know. They keep going. Well, they've got Even with Michkov and you know. Keep going. Well, they've got Jet Luchenko, they've got that Oliver Bonk. Yep.

Defenseman. They have, they do have a Bonk and they do have a Luchenko. Yeah. A lot of teams have prospects. That's kind of the thing. They all do, except for the Canucks. And you, I just don't think that any coach that wants to win in the next, I don't know, three years is

going to want to take that job. But let's talk at that guy who wants to win in three years. Like doesn't he just want like a stable organization that he can grow? Yeah. I don't think that it's a great fit other than he's beloved in Philadelphia and he's

kind of iconic there. Right? That's the big draw. Like with Philly, the only way you can go is up. That is true. I mean, you could win another Coach of the Year real easy in Philly, right? Yeah.

Because that's the turnaround. You just be like, teach these guys some structure. You know, you win 30 games next year, you're probably getting Coach of the Year with that team. Yeah, and he was like, I was talking to Matvei Michkov and it did not go well, his English is awful.

Yeah, and that's what you inherit though. Is you get that. And that's, that is the centerpiece of the team. Right? If you're going there, you're basically saying, I get the chance to coach this guy. I think the goaltending is a huge issue. I think that's probably, that's probably been

the biggest issue as to why they are where they are this year. I know that they traded away Frost and Fairby and Scott Lawton. And by the way, Scott, do you want to, do I have a moment to talk about the Scott Lawton trade? Cause we haven't spent a lot of time

discussing what Toronto did at the deadline and how it's played out, but that has been just a waste of a move. It almost felt like they brought him there because he was available. Yeah. And now he's there. Did you think of a first for him?

Uh, I can't remember what the exact deal was. Go and ramble and I'll find it. Well, Scott Lawton has played, I think, eight games for the Leafs, no points. They scored seven yesterday. He was in on none of those goals. And yeah. Uh, the deal was.

The Leafs are still, the Leafs are, the Leafs have a good chance of winning that division because nobody of those three teams, Tampa Bay, Florida, and Tampa can get really hot. Like the Leafs are five and five in their last 10 and they're in first place in the division. Now, um, the Leafs sent prospect Nikita Grubb

Ankin and a first round pick to Philadelphia in 2027, Grubb Ankin's plate. I believe. Yeah. Everyone. Are you again, you could play in Philadelphia. And I saw a lot on that far away. away London was in the same hotel as the Flyers For the last game he hasn't even got a place to stay yet. No one invited him over to hang out

He's got to stay in a hotel You the vibes are kind of off in Toronto you guys I think someone just should have had him in there like JT Miller But well, I'm sure someone's got a free room. They couldn't let him stay in nice gonna stay in a hotel. We're full up Sorry, yeah, sorry Scott until you get a hotel. We're full up, sorry Scott. Yeah, sorry Scott. Until you get a point, you're not staying with me. All right, we got a lot more to get to on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650.

David Amber is going to join us on the other side. He is working the panel tonight. It's a Scotiabank Wednesday night double header. You've got the Canucks and Islanders first, followed by the Oilers and the Stars. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about CIBC. Smart Everyday Banking helps you easily track your spending with confidence. Get $450. Wow. $450. When you make the switch, visit cibc.com forward slash smart for more.

First half hour in the books. Don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet at 6.50. 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 four to six 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 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 right in 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 mushrooms 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 and Brough for the morning is brought to you by

Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in our one of the program. As the song suggests, David Amber is going to join us in just a moment. Hockey Night Canada Sportsnet NHL host Doubleheader tonight. We'll talk to David about that in just a moment. 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. It is a Scotiabank Wednesday night hockey doubleheader tonight. Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. It is a Scotiabank Wednesday night hockey double header tonight, you've got the Canucks and Isles, followed by the Stars and Oilers. Joining us now to break it all down, David Amber here on the Haliford and Breast Show on Sportsnet 650.

Morning David, how are you? Gentlemen, I'm doing well, big night tonight. Huge, I spent the better part of the first segment doing what I would call grasping at straws. I called it ambitious math. Other people said it came off a little desperate. I'm trying to crunch the numbers on this thing. It looked, it's not great.

The percentages for the Canucks to get into the post. Stupid St. Louis. Where's that seven game winning street coming from? We had to talk ourselves into like, don't worry about St. Louis. Let's focus on the cratering Minnesota wild. But whatever the case, this is all contingent on the Canucks having to win

a lot of games without a lot of games left to play. And that continues tonight, but it's against an Islanders team that's equally desperate to get points. As a matter of fact, with a win tonight, they go into a playoff spot. So it's going to be a tough one tonight. It will be hotly contested tonight.

I think that's the one thing I can, you know, stay with confidence going into this connects Islanders game. What math did you guys come up with? I don't know if it's eight and three for the Canucks or it's nine and two or, you know, it's something in that mix, right? It's going to take what? 95, 96 points. Is that what you guys kind of came up with prior to the win over New Jersey? I said they needed eight wins from their final 12. 95, 96 points, is that what you guys kind of came up with? Prior to the win over New Jersey, I said they needed eight wins from their final 12.

So congrats, they got the one. So now it's down to the magic win number seven. They might need more than that though. But they might need more than that. Like 95 might not get it done, which is in other years it probably would, but this is what happens when the blues go, the blues are 13-2 and two since the Four Nations break and that's

why I keep looking at Minnesota and thinking maybe they're the team but they got such a huge lead from that crazy start they got off to. It's going to be tough without question. The other issue with Minnesota is the tiebreakers regulation wins and Vancouver is 7 behind Minnesota. So it's not a matter of that to come up with equal points, they have to come up with one more point. So when you look in the standings and say well Minnesota is only seven points in front of Vancouver, Vancouver needs to, is essentially eight points behind. So that's a forced win swing, I don't need to tell you guys that. So it's a lot, like if Minnesota goes five and five or

even four and six, if Minnesota goes four and six, Vancouver has to go nine and two, or eight, three and one, or whatever. Got that backwards, but you get what I'm saying. It's just, it's a tall order, it's fun, undoable. I mean, it's doable. And they showed incredible resilience that last game. I mean, my God.

So there are some bright spots for Vancouver. And if Demko can somehow become bubble Demko, I think it was Anthony Stewart who might have coined that or maybe it was someone actually locally in Vancouver, you know, we all remember what he was like when he was the world's best goaltender for that stretch there for a little while. You know, if they get a kind of a scenario like that play out, anything can happen, but it's going to take a lot of work starting tonight. How much do you think it drives Oilers fans crazy that Holloway and Broberg have been

so good for the Blues and Holloway especially has been on fire during this streak? Yeah. I'm sure he's driving them nuts. I mean, I remember being in Toronto and Phil Kessel leaves Toronto and people didn't think much of it. And then he goes and went back to back cups in Pittsburgh and they were like, yeah, Phil Kessel, we can use a guy like that.

Uh, yeah. I mean, they, they, you know, I guess you could say they zigged when they should have zagged. Uh, I, you know, I guess you could say they zigged when they should have zagged. You know, maybe the oiler management underestimated not just how good Broberg and Holloway were, but just how they fit into the group so well. And you also lost Fogel. I mean, they also lost McCloud. Like, they lost a lot of speed. And at times the oilers have looked very average speed wise wise you know of course they have Connor McDavid but just as a team collectively so yeah I

mean the expectations were Holloway and Broberg were going to emerge as stars and it looks like they certainly know Holloway's been incredible guys and I'm close he's been able to watch him but, but he's just fit in perfectly on that Blues team that already has a group of young emerging stars. So yeah, I think if you can have a mulligan and do it again, I'm sure the Oilers would find a way to keep one, if not both of those players and sort of say these are going to be centerpieces to work around the nucleus of McDavid and Dry-Cytle. These are the kinds of players we'd like to have around the nucleus of McDavid and Dry Seidel. These are the kinds of players we'd like to have around them.

And obviously it didn't work out and it's working very well for St. Louis right now. So McDavid and Dry Seidel are expected to miss at least this week. So here's the top six for Edmonton tonight. Ryan Nugent Hopkins, who has been playing well, is going to be their number one center between

Victor Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolson. Second line centre, Adam Henrique with wingers Zach Hyman and Corey Perry. It's incredible how average a top six becomes when you take out two of the best players in the world. Yeah. And that's been something I've been harping on, you know, a fair bit this year

is after McDavid and Dry Cytle Ryan Nugent Hopkins has the most points for the Oilers and I last I checked he was 119th in the NHL I mean it's just they do it you know that they're in the top you know five six seven teams in goals for this year so it seems to work out but the disparity between their superstars and the rest of the group has been really appreci for this year. So it seems to work out, but the disparity between their superstars and the rest of the group has been really appreciable this year and the year when, year when Zach Hyman hasn't lit it up for 50 plus goals. You know, Newt has played better.

In fact, he carried that team. He had the hat trick last game without McDavid and Dry Cytl and they're gonna have to call on him and some of those, you know, players you just mentioned. But the complexion of the team looks totally different. But you know what guys, and granted it's, they're incredibly top heavy, but if you take the top two best players off any team and say, now look at the roster, generally it's going to look incredibly diminished. This might not be the worst thing. I'm going to play, you know, devil's advocate.

I know where you're going with this. Yeah. Listen, McDavid, even though he was compiling points, he, he was pretty fatigued after four nations and understandably. So he gave everything to bring Canada gold and him resting for, let's say two weeks before the playoffs. And quite frankly, it's kind of immaterial, whether the Oilers started home on the road or playing, you know, if they end up playing Los Angeles, the team they've eliminated the last three years in the playoffs, I don't think that really matters that much. So these games aren't as paramount to

the Oilers right now as they are to other teams. And, you know, McDavid and Dry Scytle rested and healthy is a pretty darn scary thing for whoever their first round opponent is. Like I just, I know getting them in the lineup, you know, and trying to solidify playoff positioning in terms of where they want to be seated is important, but it feels like the benefits of having both out of the lineup isn't just necessarily resting both

and making sure they're healthy, but it does force the remaining guys, especially the forward group, to step up and play and start contributing something that as you pointed out they failed to do all year like it could be one of those things where there's a couple different silver linings with McDavid and Dry Cytl out and the big one could be that some of these guys might finally get their games going after playing I wouldn't even say second fiddle to those two but the third fiddle this year given how low the production has been. I think to some degree guys, it's just human nature.

You look up, you have 97 and 29, two of the best players in the world, and you're deferential, and you maybe don't assume as much responsibility. I'm not saying you're not trying, but you're always going to be deferential, get the puck to them, let them do their thing. I don't want to get in their way, whatever. Suddenly you look up and they're not there and it's like, okay, well, I need to do something. I need to have, I need to play with more purpose. I need to take control. And you have guys who are capable of doing that, right? When you go through that list of players, the Arvidsons, the Perrys, the Nuges, the Zach Hymans, in their own individual ways, they've had incredible seasons and huge moments and they've

been able to be the guy at different times in their career. So it's all like they're incapable of doing it. They just haven't been put in that position to have to do that. And I think that's a really good point by you that maybe this will end up being a blessing in disguise. And on top of that guys, the one big X factor here, it could be very significant is Evander Kane. So you might not just get Dry Cytolin McDavid back, but you also could get a preeminent power forward back. And I'm not sure that's going to be the case. He's had what three surgeries and it's hard to suddenly just turn it on after missing essentially, you know, 10 months of hockey. But you know, if Evander Kane could be 90% of what he was in his prime

or what he was, you know, when he's most effective a few years ago, uh, then they, they're all, they have something there. They definitely have an element that other teams don't have and he could be very impactful for them. So there was a lot of, there's a lot of sort of, you know, I'm not worried about the Oilers, let's see how these injuries play out in the timeline and everything else. It's kind of like the Florida Panthers, right?

Like there's no Matthew Kachak, there's no Aaron Echblat. The Leafs have now taken over first of by virtue of their win last night. They're first in the Atlantic. I don't think Florida is shaking in its boots. As long as these guys can come back and be healthy and play to the level they're used to after the grind of the grind of, of going to the Stanley Cup final, the last two years for Florida, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing if these guys

get their much needed rest and come back at a hundred percent. So David Ovi scored again, six goals away from breaking Gretzky's all time goals record. I never thought this would happen. If, if, you know, seven or eight years, seven or eight years ago, I was like, no, there's no, absolutely no chance.

The guy is incredible. Um, have you guys had meetings back at Sportsnet HQ about like, how are you guys are going to handle this, this chase? And if it comes down to, you know, a game this year, I mean, I guess, I guess you've got to be prepped just in case like, oh, he has a hat trick and breaks it that night. Do you guys have like a plan?

Have you had meetings? Well, this is way above my pay scale, but I'm sure our executives have talked about this. I mean, this is going to be a big, big sporting moment. I imagine, first of all, I would think we could go like picture and picture, you know, let's say we have the Flames game on and Sportsnet West or whatever the case may be, you're able to sort of say, well, OV's on the ice and in the corner of your screen, you're going

to, we're just going to have a box on that Washington versus whoever game because it could be a historic moment. We want you to see it live. I imagine we're going to try to broadcast as many of the capital games on the Sportsnet family of networks down the stretch as possible. And I mean it's going to be a big, big, big moment in sports. You know, we remember the home run chase with Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa and all those moments and you know it's this is one of those hollowed, just so,

when you think about sort of the records you could set in different sports, this has gotta be one of the most cherished records in any sport you could be the person who holds that title. I think LeBron last year set the record for most points and it was met with a little bit of fanfare, but I think this is just a little different because it just feels like you know man this was a record that no one really anticipated would ever be broken you know Wayne Gretzky's clearly the greatest player ever

and he should be the greatest goal scorer ever but now we're gonna have another you know newly crowned most prolific scorer in NHL history so I I'm not sure exactly how we're going to handle it. I know there'll be comprehensive coverage and I imagine in some way shape or form you'll be able to see Alexander Ovechkin, you know, chase this goal record. You know, I said at the first show of our year guys I said you know it would be really fitting if OV can go for the record last game of the season in Pittsburgh versus Crosby and Malikin and everything and maybe that's what will end up happening which which would be pretty cool. If it does come down to that final game, and you've heard Spencer Carberry,

he's not resting OB. He's like, are you crazy? I'm not gonna have him sitting there up in the press box one or two goals shy. So he's playing every game. He's gonna get all two minutes on the power play. He's getting every empty net opportunity. And he's taking full advantage of all of how great that Washington runs been and so many guys finding him in the right spot at the right

time. And somehow, inconceivably, what are we at 889 goals and somehow he still gets open on that flank. It's unbelievable how somehow he just finds space like the guy's 240 pounds but I still find space on the ice after all these goals. It's unbelievable how somehow he just finds space. Like the guy's 240 pounds, but how he still finds space on the ice after all these goals. So, I'm pretty sure it's going to be something that the executives are talking about and we're going to have as much coverage as we can of it. Well, if he's still six goals short against

Pittsburgh, there's still a chance in that final game. That team, what do you think Dubas is going to do this off season? I, it's funny, I was working with Don Granado last night and I said, Don, like, wow. Can you name a team that's in a worse position than Pittsburgh right now? And I don't say that with any excitement, but I just feel like you can look at Chicago and you can look at San Jose and you can look at Anaheim. They have some parts to build around. They have some young players. Pittsburgh's biggest chips are they have Sidney Crosby and Eugenie Malikin

let's say and what do you do with those chips? These are some interesting conversations that are going to take place this summer and if Sid wants to do it the way that that, you know, Mario did it, that means he's gonna, you know, finish up his career and chances are, I'll always be affiliated with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the rest of his life in some sort of managerial way, ownership way, etc. Which could be sort of a storybook ending to, you know, one of the greatest careers

we've ever witnessed. Or conversely, this will be a third straight year missing the playoffs. He might get that juice to want to fight for another Stanley Cup. And he knows that's not gonna happen in Pittsburgh. And you know, maybe this summer he sits down and his buddy, Nathan McKinnon talks him into come to Colorado or whatever,

whatever scenario, you know, think would be right. And in a way, you know, from a Pittsburgh Penguin standpoint, you lose your centerpiece of your franchise and onealkin and Crosby there and not a lot of young prospects coming up the pipeline at all. So they're in a really tough spot, Pittsburgh. We're speaking to David Amber, Hockey Night Canada Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. So yeah, you mentioned OV Squirt 889 last night against the Jets. If he keeps this pace up, it'll be April 15th

against the Islanders is when he was set to break the record. So it would be before that final game of the season against Pittsburgh. But Ovi scored against the Jets last night, but the Jets won and became the second team in the NHL, other than Ovi's capitals and the first Canadian team to clinch a playoff spot. Now others are going to come in short order here. Edmonton's going to clinch the first Canadian team to clinch a playoff spot. Now others are gonna come in short order here. Edmonton's gonna clinch, Toronto's gonna clinch.

In the East, it's pretty interesting because right now, at least at the time of 649 of this hit, both Ottawa and Montreal hold those final wild cards in the East. I know there's a lot of good stories out there and there's a lot of different teams that could slide in but how excited would we all be yourself included if Ottawa and Montreal were able to get into the postseason this year. And Toronto wins the division and plays one of them.

It would be amazing. I mean honestly, it would really be cool. Listen on March 19th there were six Canadian teams in the playoffs because I was on a bunch of different tech chains. There's six there, there's six there, let's hold this. But I, and I know actually Vancouver might've been the one not in so maybe there were, maybe it was Calgary. I can't even remember. It was Vancouver.

It was Vancouver. Yeah, we talked about it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm greedy. I'd love to have six teams. I don't care whether it's Calgary or Vancouver, but I'd love to have six Canadian teams in. I mean, Christ, I'd love to have seven,

but let's be realistic here. We're probably not getting that. But if we can get six Canadian teams in. I mean, Christ, I'd love to have seven, but let's be realistic here. We're probably not getting that. But if we can get six Canadian teams in this year and we can get a couple of all Canadian matchups, whether it was Calgary or Vancouver versus Winnipeg, or whether it was Toronto versus Montreal or Ottawa, I mean, it'd be great. It's just, it's great, exciting hockey.

And don't sleep on the fact if it is the Senators' release, which is as of today, that's what it would be. Senators swept the season series from Toronto like sometimes just different matchups hit teams differently as you guys have seen in the past and you know that wouldn't be that's not just okay well the Leafs are the better team and blah blah blah blah and the Senators haven't been in the playoffs in eight years and all that stuff that doesn't matter all that would go out out the window would be a fiercely fought, incredible series and a renewal of what we used to get almost on a regular basis about 20 years ago, which was

Toronto, Ottawa on the first round of the playoffs. So it would be really exciting. Montreal, it was a tough loss last night. They've got some serious work to do, right? You have four teams within three points of them and they're probably feeling the heat a little bit. But honestly, I think it's been incredible what we've seen from the Habs

and even from the Senators in the last month just to sort of get into playoff mode and put themselves in a position like they're in now. So it's an exciting time. Double header on Sportsnet tonight. You got the Canucks and Isles at 430 and then that's followed up by the shorthanded Edmonton Oilers taking on the Dallas Stars.

David, enjoy the games tonight. It should be a lot of fun. We'll do this again next week. Pre-game's at 4 o'clock, and we're doing a little breakdown of Quinn Hughes. And despite missing all those games, he still should definitely be getting some heart consideration.

He's just that good. So tune in to see that tonight. Nice. Thanks, David. Appreciate it. Take care, guys. David Amber, Sportsnet, Hockey Night Canada, NHL host here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.

If only the Canucks had the luck that a bunch of the other, you know, idle teams in the East had yesterday. Think about this. So the Rangers lost to the Kings in regulation yesterday. For those of you that stayed up late, I believe the Kings are now 81- For those of you that stayed up late, I believe the Kings are now 81-0-0 at home this year. I think it's 26-3-4, but they've been remarkable. So the Rangers lose in regulation, don't get a point. Red Wings lose in regulation to the Habs, they don't get a

point. Senators lose to the Sabres in regulation, they don't get a point. And the Habs lost to the Blues in 6-1, they got blasted. They don't get a point and the Habs lost to the Blues in six one, they got blasted. They don't get a point either. Um, Morrow in Burnaby, Texas, the Penguins will get McKenna next year and Sid will mentor him. We've seen this movie before. Yeah. So Gavin McKenna is not eligible this year, but the following year. And wouldn't that be just totally appropriate?

Like there's two teams. That's the 2026 draft. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I'm talking about. I can't even think that far ahead. So there's two teams, Pittsburgh and Edmonton that have had way too many generational players. Yeah.

Right? Like Edmonton's had Gretzky and McDavid. Yep. Two of the greatest I've ever seen. Like definitely in my Mount Rushmore of players that I've watched. And then the Penguins have had Sid, Lemieux, and then you could also, I guess you could throw Jagger in there as well, right? Yes, you absolutely could. Imagine if they get McKenna as well. The Penguins have been blessed with the two of the premier duos in NHL history, right? First, you had Jaeger and Lemieux and then you had Crosby and Malkin. And the NHL does have a

very curious way of landing certain guys in certain markets from time to time. I'm pretty sure it wasn't their plan to put McDavid and Edmonton. No, but anyway, I get what you're saying. Like the McKenna thing would be the sort of like hail Mary from the league. I don't mean that again. I can't look towards the 2026 draft. Hell, someone texted in earlier that we should start getting a prospect expert on for the 2025 draft for the Canucks. I can't do it. Can't do it, man. Not yet.

So I'm still clinging to the hope that the Minnesota Wild are going to absolutely crater. I also don't really care for the Minnesota Wild as an entity. So I would like to see them crater, almost regardless of whether the Canucks surpass them or not. I don't really care for them. I found them traditionally boring. I don't care for a lot of what they- Can't do it. Yeah, I can't do it. And they're a 500 hockey team. They are. I know they got off to a great start to the year,

but they've been a 500 hockey team for the better part of 50 games. Frank Sararelli is going to join us next. We'll talk about maybe some coaches, John Tortorella in Philly and who could possibly be his replacement. If John Tortorella is not the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers next season. I also think we should just bring up the question with Frank. What if the Canucks do miss the playoffs? Like is, would there be a significant difference in what management does, uh, if they miss compared to if they barely make the playoffs?

Is that a factor or have some decisions already been made by this Canucks management group? Frank Saravelli coming up next on the Alfred and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.