Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Pee's Are One Win Away

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at a busy weekend in sports including Stanley & Calder Cup finals action (3:00), they're joined by Abbotsford Canucks analyst Landon Ferraro (26:52) to ahead of game three tomorrow, as the series between Abby and Charlotte is currently tied at one apiece, plus they talk some US Open and Whitecaps (40:00).   This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- He scores! Let's get out of here! Danila Klimovic just called game one! Here is Rafiou Skye's one, deep in the left field. This thing is way back and it is, oh god! Over the red line, it is out of here for Devers. Oh, oh, oh, oh, one! Good morning, Vancouver, 6-0-1 on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody. It is Halford and his brother at Sportsnet 650 and we are coming live from the Kintex studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Hey dog. Good morning to you. Good morning.

Good morning to you as well. Hello. Hello. Halford and brother in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates BC's first and trusted choice for net 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 and step. Lots to get into on a Monday show. It's a four guest or as we break down everything that happened over the weekend, we're going to kick off the guest list at six 30 Landon. Ferrero is going to join the program. Of course,

now a color analyst for the Abbotsford Canucks. He'll be joining us, I believe from the airport in Charlotte. Maybe he can go to Bojangles. They have a good Bojangles there. Uh, two games of the Calder cup in the books this past weekend. Abbotsford survives and gets out of Charlotte with a split. Uh, thanks in large part to Artie Seeloff's the series and now shifts to Abbotsford with game three going Tuesday night as mentioned in Abbotsford. We'll talk to Landon about all that at six thirty seven o'clock. Jean Principe is going

to join the program Sportsnet Oilers Rinkside reporter. The Oilers now find themselves on the break after a five two loss in game five of the Stanley Cup final on Saturday. The series now shifts back to Florida with game six set for Tuesday night. We'll look back at it all and set up everything for game six with Jean at 7 AM. That's 7 AM, 7 30 Blake Wheeler is going to join the program. Yeah. Former NHL or Blake Wheeler, uh, did some panelists work for sports net during these playoffs. Uh, he worked both the Edmonton and Florida series earlier this postseason. So we can ask him about the two cup finalists.

Can ask him about his former head coach,. So we can ask him about the two cup finalists can ask him about his former head coach, Paul Maurice can also ask him about international competition. A 2014 Olympian with the U S uh, Blake, like the rest of us found out this morning, the first six from a number of countries who have announced their top six players, that is not forwards. Uh, that'll be part of the roster going to the 2026 Olympics in Italy We'll talk to him about that at 730. That's Blake Wheeler 8 o'clock Kevin Woodley from nhl.com and in goal magazine Cool time to talk to kev of course everything that's going on in goal

for Edmonton pretty pretty big decision for Chris Knoblauch for One of the biggest goalie decisions in Stanley Cup final history. Yeah, yeah for sure I don't know what way you go thought they should have gone stew in game five They did not we'll see what they do in game six can also ask them about hey get this So in their first six for the 2026 Olympics in Italy Latvia has decided to use two of the six spots on goalies Greg smart move. I think Maybe add three four goalies to the mix is Latvia ahead of the curve more on goalies, Greg. Smart move, I think. Maybe add three, four goalies to the mix. Is Latvia ahead of the curve?

More countries should be doing this. Artie Silov, shout out to Artie Silov, who's having a phenomenal Calder Cup playoff run, and Elvis Mers-Lickens, two of the first six. I don't know if anyone told Latvia how this thing's supposed to work. Like I said off the air, when you have a goal-tender with an 890 safe percentage in the NHL,

you just have to find a way to get them on your Olympic team, you just have to do it. God, give them a break, Craig. It's Latvia. It's not like they're swimming in NHL players. They had another player that they could have named. Surely Rodrigo Aballs, perhaps. Remember him?

Aballs. Kevin Woodley is going to be joining us at 8 o'clock to talk about that. Probably not Rodrigo Aballs. Finally, before we get into the show, I need to ask you all a question. Have you bought your tickets for the sports net six 50 J's care 50 50 for challenger baseball yet? If you haven't listen up, it's supported by Tile Town, a proudly Canadian owned company. Uh, since 1971, visit my tile town.ca.

Our goal is to raise a hundred K or more for the kids. The winner takes half. Hence the entire premise of a 50 50. Buy your tickets now at jayscaregolf.rafflenexus.com. When we hit $15,000, we're giving away a signed Quinn Hughes Jersey. You're going to be contributing a hundred bucks to that pretty soon, I think.

Serious tight two,two bro. Yeah. You know. That was a big win for Oklahoma City. Well it sure was. So in case you hadn't heard, Halford and I made a bet when the Pacers were up two to one in the NBA finals. Yes. He took the Pacers, I took Oklahoma City.

It was not looking good for me in game four. It was the Thunder this time with the big comeback as opposed to the Pacers. Oklahoma City, it was not looking good for me in game four. It was the Thunder this time with the big comeback, as opposed to the Pacers. Ten erasing a 10 point deficit in the third quarter. I thought I had it. Yeah. But not me, because it's going to charity.

It's going to charity, it's for the kids. But I thought I had it. It's for the kids. Yeah, okay, so that is everything that's happening on the program today. Woodley at eight, Wheeler at 7.30, Prince of Pay at seven, Ferraro at 6.30, we got a lot to get into so without further ado, laddie, let's tell everybody 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. Brad Marshawn tortured yet another Canadian franchise on the weekend. Two goals giving him a series leading six, six goals in the Stanley cup final. The Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Edmonton in game five of Roger's Place on Saturday.

They are now one win away from winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup. Brad Marshawn is incredible. He really is. He is now a legit candidate for the Conn Smythe trophy. I still think Sam Bennett's the guy. Bennett also scored, he's got 15 goals. Marshawn's got 10 goals.

I checked the odds this morning. Bennett's still a healthy favorite. Yeah. From like the most fan duel, the one that I checked for the betting odds for Kahn Smythe. Um, this guy, Brad Marshawn, we've talked about it before, whereas a few years ago we were sitting there going, is he like maybe a

Hall of Famer too? He's for sure a Hall of Famer. And now you're sitting there going, is this guy a first ballad Hall of Famer for all the big games that he's played in and all the big goals he scored? I still maintain that he scored the series clincher in 2011 with the first goal in game six. Like when he went in on, on Luongo, flew down his off wing, ripped one past Luongo, I was like,

well, that's game six, that's over. And then. He was in for game seven too. Yeah. It was the first time in Stanley Cavalry history. Honestly though, like, cause the Canucks were kind of walking dead when they came back to Vancouver and what he's done against the Edmonton Oilers and an advanced stage too, is, is absolutely incredible.

And I also think we need to really appreciate it. How loaded, um, this Florida Panthers team is. Yep. Their top three lines in the addition of Marshawn has helped in a big way here. Immensely. Their top three lines are better than any line the Canucks currently have. Any line. Like it's not, the Marshawn, Lundell, Lewis Duran, that's their third line. Like it's not, it's the, the, the, the, the Marshawn Lundell, Lewis Duran,

and that's the third line. That's better than any line that the Canucks have in, and by a fair margin, they just have everything a hockey team needs. They're talented. They're tough. Um, someone came up to me and said, yeah, but they're a bit dirty. And I was like, hockey's dirty. Yeah. Like when you get to the- That's a good thing. Honestly, you get to the Stanley Cup final, do you want to have the guys that are able to, to

participate in the knife fight? Yeah. Or do you want to have the guys that aren't able to participate in the knife fight? You can say what you want about the refereeing. You could say, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with this, but they have been for years. So you might as well have those guys.

And I think maybe an underappreciated aspect is the team doesn't seem to be running out of gas, despite all the hockey they played in the last few years. That's the big one for me. And you have to credit in a lot of ways, Bill Zito for that because he made two incredible acquisitions in Seth Jones, who's their minutes leader.

So you got a defenseman that comes in and plays huge minutes for them. So that helps and he's motivated. He's very motivated to get his career back on track. So they made a good bet on him. Marshon, add him, talk about motivation. You know, he's on a new team, his career's

winding down, probably not going to get many more chances to win the Stanley cup, especially if he signs in Toronto. Yeah. And I would say a pretty decent addition in a guy like Nate Schmidt. Got him for what? Very cheap.

He was a buyout. He was, he was a, he was a low cost, low risk guy who fit in perfectly. And it's been a huge contributor for them. The rate. Look what they did down the stretch. And it had a lot to do with the fact that they are a very talented team that built themselves a cushion in the standings, but they were able to park Kachuk on IR for really ever since the four nations till the end of the regular season.

You know, the Aaron Echblad suspension definitely aided them more than it hurt them because it paved the way for Jones to come in and play the kind of minutes I think that he that they understood he was going to need to play in the playoffs because he's been better than neck blood. Now, here's the thing. Brad Marshawn may go down as the greatest trade deadline. I mean, day of trade deadline pickup of all time. This what he's done for this team when you consider

how they should have been tired and they should have been a bit lethargic and maybe they should have been a bit satisfied. They'd been to two Stanley Cup finals. They'd won a Stanley Cup. The shot in the arm that he's given them. Consider this. There are two players in the history of the NHL that have scored five goals in the Stanley Cup finals.

Just the Stanley Cup final series. One of them is Mario Lemieux, who did it in 91 and 92. And the other one is Brad Marshawn, who did it it in 2011 and then did it 14 years later in 2025. Yes, Brad Marshawn did it in 2011 against the Canucks. He scored five goals in the 2011 Stanley Cup final with the Bruins. He is one of the most impressive singular driving force I've seen adding to a good team to make them borderline unstoppable. Yeah, they've lost some games along the way, but I watched that game on Saturday night.

Granted, it was on mute. Bruff and I were at a party. We had a lovely time. Uh, but you could just tell even with the sound off that the Florida Panthers had muted the Edmonton Oilers in that game. Well, let's talk about the Oilers now because it was another slow start for the Oilers.

And I was kind of chuckling to myself. I was like, well, Corey Perry's going to have because it was another slow start for the Oilers. And I was kind of chuckling to myself. I was like, well, Corey Perry is going to have to make another speech. Didn't work. Got a gop there. He's like, welcome back everybody. We're in the same position. I'm Corey Perry and I'm mad at you.

I actually, on the way to this party, it was a bit of a drive and I listened to the Oilers broadcast on the way out this party, it was a bit of a drive, and I listened to the Oilers broadcast on the way out. Of the Mighty Chud. Yeah, I was on the Mighty Chud. And they were just like, it's actually a pretty good broadcast crew. They're pretty honest. They're not one of these Homer broadcasts.

They were just like, you keep doing this over and over again. And I know this Oilers team uh, we're resilient, right? Like that's kind of their calling card. We come back in games. That's what we do. You play with fire long enough, you're going to get burnt. Yeah. And that's exactly what happened because Florida, after blowing that lead in game

four, they weren't going to blow another one. You know, they were going to be dialed in and they were going to lock down that game. And it's one of these things where you're like, is it the Oilers or the Panthers just that good? Like, like, cause I can't, I find it hard to believe that the others are just like, yeah, I don't really care about the first period or like, it's a Stanley Cup final, you know, it's like,

eh, you know, the game's at home and they're gonna not come out like with their hair on fire. I just think maybe in some ways they're playing nervous, like the moment is big, maybe too big for them. And the Panthers are so experienced in these big games. They're so confident in themselves, especially on the road. Uh, you know, I, I think it's more that I, I really do think it's more that the Panthers are a very good team than sitting there ripping the Oilers because

you could see how much dry saddle and McDavid are playing now. I mean, they're playing, it was, it was not an overtime game and they played what? 26 minutes and 25 minutes. That doesn't say a lot about the depth of your forward group. I will say this, the slow starts in this series, yes, give credit to the Panthers, but you know, given that here locally, I do distinctly remember many a listener chastising the coaching staff for every time that the Canucks would come out flat,

either at the start of the game or the start of a period. Just, I mean, some of these numbers are really egregious to the point where you have to look inward and you can't just say, well, we're getting beaten by a better team. Because the Oilers have come back a couple of times and during stretches of this series, have shown they can play toe to toe,

head to head with the Panthers. Florida has outscored Edmonton 11 for in the first period over this series. They've scored at least two goals in every single first period in this series. And in game five, it was a three shots on goal three. And they didn't have one over the final 11 minutes. Like that's there's something wrong internally there. You can't just say, well, we're getting beat up by a better opponent, which it's part of it for sure.

But there seems to be a very weird thing with this team where they need like a kick in the pants all the time, whether it be the goalie pull or falling behind by this like massive score or having a bad first period, having Corey Perry light them up. Like it always feels like they need a spark to get them going. And now it's kind of cost them cause they're facing elimination in the Stanley cup final. Like they're one loss away from their second gets that kid of family

stand, Stanley cup final. All right. Pickered or skinner for game six and Chris knoblock said yesterday on, on a zoom conference. Um, that's a conversation with the staff, our goal-tending coach, but with all the assistants, the general manager, and kind of weigh in how everyone feels and what's best moving forward. It's not an easy decision. We've got two goalies that have shown that they can play extremely well, win hockey games, and we feel that no matter who we choose, they can win the game or they could lose the

game. It's actually crazy that it's gotten to this point. And I think if the Oilers don't win this series, and they still could, they're perfectly capable of winning two games in a row, even against Florida Panthers. They've got that sort of talent in McDavid and Dry Cytle and others. But you know, I've got a little section here and we might as well do this now while we talk about this, because I mean, we all know the decision. Yeah.

Pickard or Skinner and you know, in some ways it might not even matter. It's like, yeah, they're both not perfect goalies. And you just kind of hope for the best. What's at stake here for the Oilers? And you could say, oh, the Stanley Cup. Yeah. I know.

But if they can't win the next two games, what are their chances of getting back to a third straight finals? Right. There haven't been many teams that have lost consecutive trips to the cup final. It is a rarity. The last one to do it was Boston in the 70s

when Don Cherry was the head coach of the Bruins. And the Montreal Canadiens absolutely owned them. Yep. They, anytime the Habs played the Bruins, the Habs were going to win, whether it was in the Stanley Cup final or just in the regular playoffs. Not that that matters. It's just, you go back and just, it doesn't,

it doesn't happen very often. You know, two teams have gotten to the Stanley Cup final a few times consecutively, but they've you know, lost they've lost one and won one. And I think a lot of people thought that's what would happen with this Oilers team because Sid went to the Stanley Cup finals and lost and then won the next year. Gretzky went to the Stanley Cup finals and lost, but then won the next year.

And everyone's like, well, history says this is going to happen, so this is what's going to happen. But that has really know, that has really nothing to do with what's going on right now. All those situations were different. We've talked about the Islanders team that the Oilers eventually got over the hump from, they were exhausted, they were done, they were injured. That's not the Florida Panthers team.

Um, and you know, if they don't win this Stanley Cup final, the others are going to have to address the goaltending situation. They can't bring Skinner back again. Or he can't be the guy. And win or lose, things are going to change for them. They'll need to give Bouchard a big raise if they keep him. I'm sure they will, but they'll need to give him a big raise.

A bunch of key players will get a year further into their thirties, like Ekholm, who did not have a good game. Hyman, Kane, Nuge, Perry. They miss Hyman. Perry will be 64 next year. And of course, McDavid has a big decision to make. So I, while I think next season, you know, there's a chance, as long as you've got McDavid and Dry Cytle to get back to the Stanley Cup finals.

Like they they're going to need to regroup a little bit. Going to three straight Stanley Cup finals is extremely difficult, although we have seen a couple of teams do it in recent history. The most current one, of course, the Florida Panthers. Losing them is the interesting angle, because in a way you'd think that after losing consecutive Stanley Cup finals, you'd be the hungriest team on the planet. The burn and the hurt and the frustration and the angst

of getting so close and falling short would be motivation enough, but there's also the other side of the coin where it's a ton of hockey that they've played. And when you look at this roster, the goaltending is hilarious because if it was to exist just in a vacuum, you'd say this tandem of Skinner and Pickard got them to within one goal of a Stanley Cup last year, right, to one in game seven.

And this year got them all the way back to game six. It's very it's very difficult to get this close and to lose. And the goaltending is the reason that they got there. But if you look at it. You also look at their numbers. 891 for Skinner and 886 for Calvin Pickard in these playoffs. Compared to Sergey Bobrasky at 912. Yep.

No, I mean, it could end up being the biggest difference. And the biggest difference is a handful of games in the Stanley Cup Finals. Because they can get you there. I think they've proven that. In the Stanley Cup final. Cause they can get you there. I think they've proven that in the weirdest way possible. That tandem can get you there. But the others are also going to need to bring in something upfront and maybe on the back end as well.

Yup. But upfront, I mean, listening to the, listening to the broadcast, you know, they, they shuffled their lines so much. It's crazy, right? Like, cause sometimes they are, a lot of the times, especially if they're losing, they're like, okay, we've got to get McDavid and Dry Saddle together. But in the first period, it was like, McDavid's out there with Kane and Arvidsson.

I'm like, what? Just give it a try. Yeah, it's just, I don't know. And then you see Arvidsson's in, Arvidsson's out. And just the Panthers, their top three lines are just kind of like set. Like this is what we're doing and they're rolling and the Oilers seem to be just

scrambling for answers and combinations that are going to work. Sometimes a guy like Evander Kane looks amazing. Yeah. Right. And other times he looks a step behind, he's taking dumb penalties or just too many penalties. Um, you know, the same with

Ryan Nugent Hopkins. There was a time during these playoffs, I was like, God, he's... Looks amazing. They're best player. And then what have you seen from him lately? Very, very quiet. Yeah. But that's, I mean, especially on Saturday, that was a, given the energy in the building and the stakes and the scene, it was impressive what Florida did. The ability to go in there and completely neutralize and silence the home team and the home crowd. But that was a disappointing effort from a lot of the guys up front.

I think they miss Hyman in a major way. I know someone texted it in like the energy and what he was able to do to kind of transition from being a goal scoring guy to a like a physical presence. They could absolutely use that against the Panthers and his loss was huge. But injuries happen in the playoffs. OK, before we go to break, I do want to mention very quickly because we're going to talk the land in Friro next. Your Abbotsford Canucks now tied one one in the best of seven Calder Cup final. They lost on Sunday afternoon, three two in overtime

to Mike Benning nephew of former connects general manager Jim Benning. Charlotte gets a three two win Abbotsford gets the split in Charlotte. That's a good thing. They head back tied one one in the series of the next three games of the series in Abbotsford. I saw some of the comments after the game and the head coach Manny Malhotra was none too impressed with the the lack of discipline that his the game and the head coach Manny Malhotra was none too impressed with the, um, the lack of discipline that his team showed and really the overall effort,

they were badly outshot in this game, 42 to 13 in game two. But the biggest story in both these games right now, the Artie party, Archer sealups, 90 combined saves over the first two games in this series. He had a cool 51 saves in double overtime in game one which by the way was one of the wildest hockey games you're ever gonna see we'll talk to Landon about it coming up on the other side but there did you see the disallowed goal in game one off the

face-up the wildest thing I've ever seen incredible yeah I didn't know that actually worked I wasn't ready so I would use that excuse all the time there was a defensive zone draw I'm sorry I didn't know that actually worked. I wasn't ready. So I would use that excuse all the time. There was a defensive zone draw. I'm sorry. I didn't know I could do that. There was a defensive zone draw in Abbotsford and I believe it was time Mueller on the draw. And is it now my understanding in the aftermath is like the it's the understanding that the center is supposed to look around

and make sure everyone's ready to go before he puts stick on the ice. Right. Now, the issue here is that either Mueller didn't get that memo or the officials were in charge of it for some reason, because what happened was Mueller won the draw. Or Mueller was thinking like, it's overtime. Surely my goalie is ready. Yeah, he's not putting on his mask right now. Spoiler alert, he was.

Off the draw, puck goes in the net, chaos ensues. He's like, hey, I won the draw. Oh. It's also kind of the lines person's duty to make sure all the players are lined up and ready. draw puck goes in the net chaos ensues he's like hey I want the draw oh it's also kind of the Lions person's duty to make yeah because it was very obvious that they shouldn't have dropped the puck but Charlotte was like no way man we're taking this win we don't care chaos ensues so we'll talk to Landon about that the clemovich OT winner what a crazy story this has been guy barely plays in the playoffs and then scores two of the biggest OT goals on

this run for Abbotsford. So there's lots to get into there. Landon's going to join us on the other side of the break. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about the BC lions schools out and summer is here. Kick it off with the BC lions summer camp game, Saturday, June 21st at 4pm for details and tickets. Visit BCclions.com land and Ferraro will join us next. You're listening to the Alfred and Brev show on sports net six 50. It's Canuck central with Dan Rachel and sati are Shaw, your destination for everything. Canucks exclusive interviews,

inside info, and even the post game show. Listen four to 6 PM weekdays. And on demand through your favorite podcast app. Healer wins the face off and they score to their own net. Unbelievable. Sheelah wasn't ready for it. What just happened? The linesman dropped the puck. He sure did drop the puck. 631 on a Monday.

Happy Monday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. I know that a lot has happened in the Calder Cup final. I know that that was from game one, and it wasn't even the game winning goal in overtime. Just still one of the craziest things I've ever seen in a game of that magnitude. You are listening to the Haliford and Bruv show on Sportsnet 650. Haliford and Bruv of 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 sans-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. This is a great song. 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. How many times can we say Bojangles Coliseum in this hit? As many as possible. They had a sellout yesterday at Bojangles. The Bo, as they call it,

I don't know if they call it that or not. I thought they called it the jangle. The Bo is jangling? It is a great arena. We can find out how great it is. And this crowd at Bojangles Coliseum is unhappy about those calls by the ref. I bet they were. Yeah. What a wild sequence of events over the weekend.

Let's get to the Power West Industries hotline right now. The man on the call, along with Brandon Astle for both of those games Landon Ferraro joins us now on the Halford and brush on sports net 650 morning landing. How are you? Doing pretty good. Just on the way bus to go catch the flight to get back home Yeah, I was gonna say it's been a very interesting trip down to Charlotte. You saw some things you never thought you see I know a lot has happened and I know that there was a game yesterday say it's been a very interesting trip down to Charlotte. You saw some things you never thought you'd see. I know a lot has happened and I know that there was a game yesterday. We'll unpack it all, but I do want to start with that OT play in game one.

Uh, one, have you ever seen anything like that before? And two, how did you manage to like work your way through it and react while doing the broadcast? Cause that's not something you see every day. I've never in my life seen anything like that. Like I've seen where a goalie is facing the face off, but they're looking down, like they're just not quite set. And the puck ends up bouncing in, but I've never seen where a puck's dropped

and the goaltender's just putting his helmet on and turning around. I was, it was a wild sequence of events, but trying to handle it in the moment was just, you know, using as much hockey knowledge as I can to try and figure out what the right thing would be. And to me off the hop, it didn't seem right. Like you see so many times where, you know,

forwards come in to the circle off a face-off, they reset it or someone's not quite there and they wait for them. If you watch the tape multiple times like I have too, before the puck's dropped, the line's been at the blue line already pointing towards the net trying to get the thing or to get their attention to show. And it was definitely a weird sequence, but it helped. I talked to a retired NHL ref

yesterday after game one just trying to get some clarification and and he said it's not a valid faceoff you know both the ref that's on you know the left of Shelov's on the goal line should have blown it down the one that the blue line should have blown it down but at the same time like your centerman needs to take a

look and make sure. But he did clarify to say that they made the right call of calling it back. So at least we know that the thing was done right, especially because the game ended five minutes later for Abbey. What was the announcement that they made in the arena? Like, what did they say? It was like, oh, the goalie wasn't ready? Or did they say it was an ineligible puck drop? Or what did they do? And then what was the reaction inside Bojangles Coliseum? He had to get that in one more time, eh?

Yeah. To be completely honest, I still have no idea what the call was made over the PA because the fans were losing their mind. They went from all the checkers jump over the boards, they're celebrating, the fans are going crazy. And then as soon as the arms waved it off, I've never heard a building, especially in the American league, that loud. You couldn't hear anything. Me and Brandon were standing a foot and a half from each other.

And like I just had to watch his mouth to where he stopped talking. I couldn't even really hear what he was saying and, and try not to double up. There was, again, it was something that I've never seen or been a part of for sure. We're speaking to Landon Ferraro here on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Landon is all on the call for the Abbotsford Canucks during this Calder Cup final. It is now tied at 1-1. Landon, what can you say about the play of Archer Cilovs over those first two games in Charlotte?

I mean, he's been phenomenal. Game one was a bit of a tough start for him. I mean, the checkers came out so fast, so aggressive, and you could tell Abbotsford was really having trouble with it. Two of the three goals were a bit from distance with kind of clear lanes to the net and he just got beat. Those are two that he would want back but from the time the third one goes in through the rest of all the way through game two, he was unbelievable. You know, he did everything he could. Again, like Abbotsford was on their back foot for the majority of game one and a decent amount of game two as well. The Checkers, much like Florida, play very aggressive. They don't give you an inch of ice anywhere,

even when you think you, you know, you make your pass and you've got a bit of time, well, they're bombing back in on you. And, you know, for Abbottard, it was, it was really tough trying to find ways, especially to get out of their own end and get some offensive time. I mean, both games have ended up, you know, with a huge disparity in shots. The first game in double O.T. and 54-30, the next one last night was 42-13. But at the same time, when Manny Mulvultura uses the word resilient about his group quite a bit, and you can tell how proud he is of how his guys can take on that much water and still be able to fight their way back into the game. And, you know, obviously in game one come up with the wind and last night just coming up a little bit short.

But, you know, this group is, you know, they're able to just kind of tread water and then start to push back. And, you know, they don't need many shots, but, you know, they find ways to get to the net. If you were in charge of the Canucks, how, what kind of role would you be comfortable giving Archer Silov's next season in the organization? Well, I mean, that's an interesting question for

sure. He's, you know, he's on a great run right now. Um, and he's shown that he can show up in, in big, big moments. I mean, he's played every game of this playoff, so that starts to, you know, take the question of consistency, because that's the hardest part for any younger goalie. And, you know, even though he's played in some massive moments, he's still quite young in goalie terms.

You know, like for him, he's given himself a really good, a really good chance to get a good look at training camp next year. But at the end of the day, you know, I go back to how I was always described to be in Detroit when I was first trying to push through is if you're the player that's on the outside and the miner's trying to come in, you don't just have to do a good job and, and, you know, kind of tie the guy you're trying to beat out. Like you have to outperform and give the team zero, zero choice in the matter. Like you have to force yourself in and this playoffs run for him is definitely starting

to push that, push that narrative. But once training camp comes around it's it's all another ball game in the NHL and you know he seems to be getting more confident and more consistent and that'll help him but he still needs to you know be able to do it at that next level and show them that you can handle it. Who else has stood out for you is this is are there any guys that are kind of knocking down the door to the NHL next season on Abbotsford? Well, I mean, Linus Carlsen for sure.

He had a rough couple, the last two games of the round against Texas in the conference final and game one struggled a little bit as well. But he gets a big goal last night to tie the game at two and started to kind of get back to being able to move his feet a little bit more and using his strength to create plays. Phil DiGiuseppe, I mean, we all know how good he is at protecting Pox, especially in the offensive zone. He was doing his job last night and found Carlson the slot and just got a piece of the glove of Cochran in got a piece of the glove of cock in it for his second

of the night. He's starting to find his game and he's going to need him to do that. On top of that, Max Sassen looks phenomenal again. He has his speed, he uses it to his advantage as much as he can and finds his way to the blue paint. He gets the series clinching goal against Texas in the conference final. He gets a big goal in game one,

early in the game of four and a half minutes in. And that's just him fighting his way into the blue paint and making sure that he's the one to jump on the rebound. Victor Mancini's had some had some moments, but you know, this is a long playoff run. Play gets, play gets going pretty good. And, and he's had some moments where he looks like a younger defenseman that gets a little overwhelmed.

But then at certain points, you'll see him take off with a puck and you see those powerful strides again. You see him working on the backend with a good stick. Like all the guys you want to see really making a good push here or, or are doing really well. And then the other person I'd really like to bring up is Karel Krodriadze. He has been unbelievable through this playoff run. He's, he's got, uh, you know, he has five points in the last five games,

I'll make it, sorry, six in the last six now, and he, you know, he's so good with his stick defensively, he doesn't get beat often, like he doesn't take an extra step that he doesn't have to anywhere, but he has poise with the puck, he can make little paw plays in the defensive zone to get out. He's looked very good. Linus Carlsen, what kind of role would you see him playing in the NHL? He was a bottom six guy when he was up with the Canucks this season. I thought he looked really good, but then you look at the totals and he had

three goals in 23 games and three assists in 23 games. So it's not like he was putting up points where he is in the AHL now. Do you see him having a higher ceiling at the NHL than he showed this past season? Or do you think he's going to be one of those guys where you just have him as a reliable third or fourth liner? No, I think that's another interesting one because, you know, I think he's shown that he can be a reliable bottom six guy that, you know, will be able to hook and jump in on to a second unit power play and be that net front guy. He's very good on the goal line and around the net.

power play and be that net front guy. He's very good on the goal line and around the net. I would say in his games last year, I felt like the last, I'll call it six to eight, was much different than all the previous ones. He seemed to kind of figure it out a little bit more. He had a bit more confidence. That's where you saw him get a bit more points as well. So I think with, I think with, you know, especially with this playoff run where he's gaining a ton of experience again, he'll get back, have a good summer of training and get back to training camp. Like I think that he'd be able to over time, maybe carve out a bit more, a bit more ice time for himself. But, you know, that's going to be, that's one more time we will tell because for right now,

like he can handle the bottom six moment. It's just, you know, as he gets more comfortable in the NHL, starts to let his skill come out because he's got great vision, he's got a good shot. His skating has gotten better. And as it continues to get better, because you see him working at it, you know, even through the playoff run and watching some a few practices like he's he's working at it So like he he knows this is important and he wants to win the win a colder cup and all that, of course But you know for all these guys the end goal is the NHL and the best way to get there is performing right now

What's what do you make of Le-Mackie not playing in these games? I still think he's going to find a way into one of these games. But at the same time, you have to remember this is a young player. It's his first year over in North America. The season's 20 games longer than he's ever played. Well, then you add in another 20 games of playoffs. It looks like he ran out of gas a little bit. He's still always working hard in the scratches, skates, and making sure he's ready to go in. You can see that he wants that opportunity.

As much as, of course, we all want to see him in the lineup, there's still so much to take out of this run for him. You know, he's played in a bunch of the games. He's he had a couple of really solid games where he was able to use that shot that we all know he has. And, you know, again, I just think for him, it's it's about strength. And that's not something that you can really do mid season, especially in a long playoff run where you've played way more games than you ever have. And to be honest, as I'm just talking through it as well, the other big part that no one thinks

about is when you're playing in Europe, all the teams are relatively close. You rarely stay a night in a hotel. The travel's really not that bad. Well, all of a sudden he's in Abbotsford. They're having to fly to every game, have long bus trips, and you still have to find a way to perform. Like that's a lot of new things being thrown at a young player that are not on, you know, to put on top of that, that puts a lot of pressure on himself. He knows he's a good player and he wants to perform for his team and show that he can do it.

But at the same time, like it takes time and especially for a, you know, a slider player, you just, you need that time to get back in the gym, get yourself as strong as you possibly can so that when it gets to this time of year, your legs can handle a battle in the corner, a board battle, trying to fight for position in front of the net. Like that's where he's going to have to work the hardest because really I think that's the only thing that's

holding them back right now is strength. Game three of the Abbotsford Canucks Charlotte checkers Calder cup final from Abbotsford goes tomorrow night, Tuesday night, as mentioned from from Abbotsford you can hear it all right here on Sportsnet 650 you can hear Landon right here on Sportsnet 650 Landon thank you very much for doing this today we appreciate you taking the time travel safe and enjoy the rest of the series. Alright thanks guys have a good one. Yeah you too that's Landon Ferraro Vancouver Canucks and Abbotsford Canucks analyst here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

Did you watch any of the golf yesterday? Oh, a fellow by the name of JJ Spahn. Yeah, that was incredible. Former winner of the Stahl Memorial. The Stahl brothers have their own tournament. Yeah. On the is that a? Thunder Bay.

Yeah. What's the tour? Is it the Canadian tour? Yeah. And so he won that I think 10 years ago. Yeah. Yeah. Well, now he's the U.S.

The you know, every golfer knows that you have to go through the trials and tribulations. You have to win the stall, and then one day you can win the US. You gotta go to Thunder Bay first, and if you can make it there, you can make it on the tour. One of the weirdest cities in Canada, man. And it can set you up for it.

It's such a strange place. Success at Oak One. I did not watch, I kind of followed along on my phone, and I understand that JJ Spahn had a back nine for the ages. Well, you know what's interesting is you texted me and you said, how's the golf? And I said, not great, nobody's doing anything special. Well the course was doing something special, it was making people lose their minds. And then almost right after I texted that to you, JJ Spahn did something special, he

drove the green and he had an Eagle putt and he made birdie and then on 18, he only needed to two putt instead he just pours in this long birdie. It kind of reminded me of Nick Taylor's putt. Right. Canadian Open. Although that one was like to win this one, he only needed to two putt.

Yeah, I mean, overall the story was the course. Yeah. I mean, JJ spawn of all people, like, like who can tame this beast of a course, uh, JJ spawn and all the others fell by the wayside. Guys were losing their minds. I don't know if you saw the story about Wyndham Clark apparently going into the locker room and

just destroying it. Yep. I did see that. I thought- My kind of guy. I thought Tyrrell Hatton was going to kill someone on the course. And then the decision by the rules officials,

now they know the rules better than me, but if that's the rule and you're not allowed to, you didn't give Sam Burns some sort of relief from that waterlogged lie that he was forced to hit out of. And he's like, well, that's one official, I'm going to ask another one. Because this is crazy. This is crazy. And the fact that they didn't give him relief and then it went really downhill for him. Adam Scott ended up shooting like a 79 or something like that.

I mean, this is a guy that's, I know he's getting older now. He's just experienced. So it's funny, cause we had this conversation last week. We were like, do you want to see guys struggle out there? And you were like, yeah, I'd rather see them struggle than rip up a course and make birdie after birdie. But when it's actually happening, you're kind of like, oh, this is tough to watch.

It was a worst case scenario for the tournament organizers on Sunday because the weather got so bad. That was the thing. That made the deep rough even tougher. The course was difficult enough as you saw through the first three rounds of the tournament, in that Oakmont played tough. I remember we were at, oh, with a bunch of buddies

on Saturday afternoon, and I was like, look at the leaderboard. There's like five guys that are playing under right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, I mean, I watched. Not many guys that the casual golf fan will recognize. Who are these people? I have no idea.

And then, you know, there was a delay in play yesterday, because the rain was so bad. So I was paying attention. And the general sense that I got from it was, you know, it was it was fun to talk about the course as a challenge. But you're almost at the point where it's like, is this even really like golf? Because guys are playing at a gigantic puddles. And there was some consideration to like, do we want to finish this

like his tradition on Father's Day and get the round done? Do we want to punt to tomorrow? Rory too, man. Yeah. Everyone thought that when he won the Masters, he was going to be Mr. Happy Go Lucky. Not so much. Not the case. No. He didn't make the cut in Canada, the Canadian Open. Least Jersey's fault.

Yeah, Least Jersey's fault. But on, I think it was on Saturday at a weird press conference where, like there's this whole thing where Rory's not speaking to the media after every round. Right. And he just looks like a guy that his life has been such a whirlwind for the last five years with, you know, not being able to get over the hump in majors

until he finally did. of not being able to get over the hump in majors until he finally did. But also all the Liv PGA tour stuff that he was front and center for. And then he goes out there, he speaks out against Liv, he speaks out against Saudi money, and then eventually everyone's just like, well, let's just take the money. This thing still isn't solved. And I think he's just done, well, let's just take the money. I mean, this thing still isn't solved. And I think he's just, he's just done with it all. Well, he just, he's, cause he's like, I don't want to deal with this anymore.

The weird part is that when we came in after he won the Masters and you had, you spoke at length about it cause you were really excited for him and the story and the trajectory and on all the past, you know, failures at Augusta. And I remember getting the sense that you thought, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you thought there was gonna be like,

it was gonna be very cathartic. There was gonna be this sense of I finally did it and the weight is off my shoulders and now it's gonna be a brand new life for Rory McElroy. It totally hasn't proven to be the point. It's been almost the opposite. Like he's not cheerful and happy-go-lucky. You don't get the sense that he's carrying any less weight

than he did prior to the Masters. Well, it opens in Northern Ireland too. It is interesting, because I think we, as the casuals, look at someone who gets over the hump as we perceive it, and they're like, well, your life's good now. It's great, everything's gonna be fine. You did the thing that you couldn't do before. Congratulations, you finally accomplished it. It's like the people that win the lottery, but they're like, well, your life's good now. It's great, everything's gonna be fine. You did the thing that you couldn't do before. Congratulations, you finally accomplished it.

It's like the people that win the lottery, but they're still depressed. A little bit, that's not a bad comparison. Yeah, it's like you should be fine now. I think he's emotionally exhausted. I think he's got a lot of thoughts going in his head. And when he does speak to the media, he's pretty interesting, you know.

Well, now I'm gonna pivot off. I'll tell you who's exhausted as we do the world's greatest pivot here on Sports Talk Radio. Oh, I know what you're going to say. Vancouver Whitecaps. Waco Whitecaps lost the game on the weekend. Everybody, it doesn't happen very often. Acceptable. Yeah, they lost a regular season MLS match in Columbus against the crew who weren't playing all that well prior to this match.

They hadn't won since May 3rd, but they beat the Whitecaps 2-1 on Saturday in another game where there's a lot of disturbing signs to the Whitecaps. They conceded early again. Columbus scored in the second minute, and then they later scored their other goal early in the first half as well,

and then it was scoreless from there on in. It feels like it's all catching up to the Whitecaps right now a little bit. All told, they have just two wins over their last eight matches across all competitions. That includes like that really bad draw they had in the Canadian Championship against Valor. And then of course getting smoked five nil down in Mexico.

The injuries are starting to accumulate a little bit. Now Sam Atacube is done for the year because he tore his Achilles. Ryan Gould, there's still no sign that Ryan Gould is gonna be coming back anytime soon. They've played. What's going on there, man? I mean, we've asked both Axel and Jesper Sorensen,

Axel Schuster, the sporting director, and Jesper Sorensen, the head coach, about did they misdiagnose this injury? Should he have gone for surgery right away? Is this something that may cost him the year? We haven't gotten really clear answers on anything. Axel just told us that, you know, their medical staff and their doctors believe that this wasn't something that needed surgical intervention, that it was all

about rest, recuperation, recovery. I don't know, but it's been three months that gold has been on the shelf. And the Whitecaps now, if you look, they started play back on February the 20th. So I mean, we're coming up, it's almost June 20th. So that's four months. They've played a ton of soccer, a ton of matches.

More than you could possibly imagine. Do they ever get a break? Now they do. They don't play until the 25th now. So they get a 10 day break here. That could be huge. I feel like they need to go and like, don't go to Mexico, but find a beach somewhere. Not in Mexico. It didn't go great the last time they went to Mexico.

Go somewhere else and just decompress. Yeah. They've got way too many rotational players in. They had two guys from Whitecaps to make their debuts over the weekend because they're still shorthanded. There's a ton of guys away on international duty. And by the way, shout out to Sebastian Baerhalter who got to make a little bit of amends. He played for the US yesterday in the gold cup.

So his first ever competitive match with the US because the last one was a friendly. They had a big win, didn't they? They smoked Trinidad and Tobago five-nil. Trinidad and Tobago was one of the worst teams I've seen play internationally in a long, they were awful, awful, awful. They got smoked by the US.

So that is, I think we managed to cover the Stanley Cup final, the golf, the Abbotsford Canucks, and the Vancouver Whitecaps, all in the first half of the program. And we threw in a little NBA finals in the end right in the beginning. And we'll try to do some later in the show as well. 7 o'clock hour, we got a lot more to get to on the program.

Guests are going to be Gene Principay at 7 to talk about the Edmonton Oilers, as they are now one loss away from their second consecutive Stanley Cup finals loss. And then at seven 30 Blake Wheeler is going to join the program. Former NHL are dabbled in some analyst work for sports net during the Stanley Cup playoffs. I'm very curious to talk to Blake, one of the, um, more big personalities and outspoken guys during his NHL career. So that'll be cool. And finally, before we go to break,

I need to once again tell you about the BC Lions. School's out and summer is here. Kick it off with the BC Lions summer camp game, Saturday, June 21st at 4pm. For details and tickets, visit them online at bclions.com. You're listening to the Halford and Breff show on Sportsnet 650.