Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Rift Is Real, So What Do The Canucks Do Now?

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), Brough gives his thoughts on Patrik Allvin's comments on the state of the Canucks (6:00), they react to former Canuck Luke Richardson via the Missin' Curfew Podcast regarding the Miller & Pettersson rift (12:00), plus they set up tonight's NHL action with Sportsnet's David Amber (28:05). 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.

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Better get going on those taxes, Nitty. Good morning, Vancouver. 6-0-1 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Happy New Year, everybody. It is Alfred. It is Bruff. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintex Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. And happy New Year to you.

Yeah, I'm so glad to be back. Andy, A-Dawg, good morning and happy new year to you. Good morning and happy new year to you as well. And finally, Laddie is not with us for the next few days, so it is regular Zach, formerly intern Zach, now regular Zach, manning the boards today. Zach, good morning and happy new year to you. Good morning and happy new year. Half an Abrupt in the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier

destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Well, they pay the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar 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, Canada's favorite orthotics provider Powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews So, what are you waiting for? Kintec, we got a big show ahead We got a big guest list ahead The first show of Halbro in 2025

Guest list begins today at 6.30 David Amber, Sportsnet, NHL, Hockey Night in Canada Host is going to join us 12 games, 12 games In NHL Hockey Night in Canada host is going to join us. 12 games. 12 games in the National Hockey League this evening, including a bunch on Sportsnet. You got the Bruins and the Rangers, the Leafs and the Isles, the Flames

and the Hockey Club of Utah. Flyers and Vegas Golden Knights and of course your Vancouver Canucks at Lemon Pledge Arena against the Seattle Kraken. That one's at 7 o'clock. David Amber is going to join us at 6.30. 7 o'clock this morning'clock. David Amber is going to join us at 6.30. 7 o'clock this morning, Frank Cervalli is going to join the program. We'll ask Frank what he's hearing about a possible Canucks trade now that the holiday freeze is over.

It thawed out on Saturday, and now we're just two months away, a little over two months away from that March 7th trade deadline. Talk to Frank about that at 7. 7.30, Barclay Parnetta. He is the general manager of the Vancouver Giants. Giants are back in action tomorrow. That's a 7 o'clock start against Wenatchee, the hated Wenatchee, at the Langley Events Center.

Speaking of junior hockey, Canada is going to take on Czechia in the quarterfinals of the World Juniors today at 4.30 our time. 8 o'clock this morning, Thomas Drance. I co-hosted the last two shows of 2024 with Thomas Drance. How's that, ending your year with Drance? It was fine. They were only two hour shows. Drance is going to join us at 8 o'clock. He's on Canucks Talk at

noon today on Sportsnet 650. Quick reminder, Canucks Central goes from 4 to 6. Pre-game show from 6 to 7. 7 o'clock, Batch and Randeeb have you for the Canucks and Kraken from Seattle. Then the post-game show goes until 11 o'clock. So and Randeep have you for the Canucks and Kraken from Seattle. Then the postgame show goes till 11 o'clock. So lots of Canucks talk here on Sportsnet 650 today.

That is what's happening on the program today. Zach, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What happened as always is brought to you by the bc construction safety alliance okay a little bit

of a different wrinkle for the show today because technically the canucks played two nights ago so we're not doing our usual morning after recap but we do need to go back and talk about what happened on tuesday night at Saddledome in Calgary. Nazem Qadri scored midway through the third period. Flames win 3-1 against the Canucks. Besser scored for the Canucks. Kevin Lankanen made 26 saves. So with that win and the fact that Calgary has won three of their last four

and just one regulation loss in their last seven, combined with the fact that the Canucks have lost five of six, Jason, the Canucks went into 2025 of six Jason the Canucks went into 2025 one point behind Calgary for that second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference so when I took my vacation what was it two weeks ago I I was hoping when uh when I came back things would have stabilized a little bit with the Canucks. Maybe they'd found some traction. We wouldn't be talking about the drama of this team off the ice the whole time.

It appears that has not happened, and I open up social media today, and the first name that's trending is Pedersen. It hasn't gotten a lot better. Mildly, it hasn't gotten a lot better. Welcome back, bud. It hasn't gotten a lot better for the Vancouver Can hasn't gotten a lot better for the vancouver canucks over the two plus weeks that you were yeah you know i was thinking back to when the canucks lost taronic and my thought then was that this was going to be really tough for the canucks just to tread water they built up a bit of a playoff cushion so that was good

but i remember thinking man they're just gonna have to scratch and claw and get points here and there uh well now the canucks are also without quinn hughes and elias petterson and uh they appear to be not only not treading water but drowning by all accounts against the flames they brought spirit and energy uh to calgary on tuesday but but they're sorely lacking top talent right now, and it's showing the blue line as currently deployed has to be the worst in the league, or at least close to the worst. Not even going to debate that. Bottom three, Myers and Soucy were the top-minute guys

against the Flames. Then Juleson and Forbort, followed by Brandstrom and De'Arne. And look, you can sit here and argue if you want. Oh, Brandstrom should be playing more. Instead of 17 minutes, how about 20 minutes? And, you know, take down whoever's numbers,

Susie's numbers, if you want. I don't know. If you want to make that argument, fine. It's rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic right now, though. Tonight in Seattle, I guess they'll try and get some revenge for Saturday's debacle against the Kraken at Rogers Arena when they blew a 4-1 lead with what, like five seconds left?

I don't know. Minutes. Yeah, but the Kraken are coming off a big win over Utah on Monday. Not that I'm thinking that the Kraken are rolling or anything, but all of a sudden that playoff cushion that the Canucks had built earlier in the season has completely disappeared. Now I've seen a few models that

still expect the Canucks to make the playoffs, but that's assuming they get healthy soon. And it also takes into account the lack of quality teams in the fight for the final playoff spot. Calgary, St. Louis, Utah, Seattle, the Canucks should be able to beat out those teams. But this season has been so full of setbacks and let's face it, apparent dysfunction that it's hard to have a lot of faith in the group. Tell me, when you were working with Drance. Yes. And that interview with IMAC, IMAC and Alvin came out, and Alvin pretty much ripped everyone in the organization

except for, well, himself. What was the reaction to that, especially his thoughts on some of the Canucks' top players? Yeah, so it was interesting, right? Because it was New Year's Eve when IMAC dropped his article with Canucks General manager Patrick Alvin. As you said, doing a Q&A to sort of recap everything that happened over the calendar year. One of those tidy year in review type things with Patrick Alvin.

So we're here on Tuesday. It's the last show of 2024. And I actually read a bunch of the quotes from Patrick Alvin aloud just so everyone could understand exactly one, what he was saying, not trying to parse words or paraphrase, but two, to understand how many different people and how many different facets of the team he was going after with pretty sharp criticisms. So the initial reaction,

I think that I got from the in basket and social media and everything else was good. Give them hell. Patrick Alvin, tell these guys what's what call out Pedersen and Miller and Besser challenge Rick talk it to find the consistency that the team lacks. Do it all. Call them all out.

Then as the day went on and I read more things and started to pay a little bit more attention, there was not quite an equally loud majority, but there was a loud part of the fan base that was like what about you shouldn't you be taking some responsibility what about patrick alvin's role in all of this uh david quadrelli from canucks army had a very good piece you can read it now and kind of reaction to imax interview with patrick al where he said, what about the front office's role in all of this? What about the current state of this blue line that you can't really point to

anyone else other than Patrick Alvin and Jim Rutherford for constructing it? I don't know. For me, I just blame everyone. Honestly, I blame, I blame. There's so much finger pointing going on right now. Obviously some at Pedersen, others at JT, the coaching staff is getting blamed for not getting the most out of the players, and so too is the management group.

Again, as everyone mentioned, for their failure to assemble a competent blue line. Why do you have to just pick one? This is one of those situations where everyone shares some blame. You want to tell me that Petey should have worked harder in the offseason and prepared himself better? Okay, I agree. You want to tell me that JT should stop yelling at his teammates and focus more on his own game?

I'm not going to push back too hard on that one either. Is the coaching staff preparing the team to play based on some of their starts this season, based on their home record? I can't say the coaching staff is knocking out of the park. And did the management group do a good enough job putting the defense together? Nope.

They did not. Even if you did have Hughes and Hronik, that blue line was a problem when Hughes and Hronik were both there. So the question for me is whether this team is going to pull it together um i i have a lot of time for the second half of that discussion where people are like hey wait a minute patrick alvin just can't be lobbing grenades at this team and the players and the coaching

staff i don't expect him to necessarily like take ownership in the interview especially if he wasn't asked the question like what could you have done better i didn't see that question in the transcript but i've definitely got some time for kind of what you're suggesting it's like if you're gonna be pointing fingers at people in the organization point everywhere and the current state of the blue line and i know they're without their number one and number two defensemen and a lot of nhl teams couldn't survive that but it is borderline criminal what they're putting out on a nightly basis for a team that isn't just trying to compete among the 32 teams in the National Hockey League.

This is a team that's supposed to take a step from last year where they were one win away from going to the Western Conference Final. And you look at them right now, and it feels like on a nightly basis, they have such a thin margin for error to win games because they're so depleted and they seem to be making a lot of errors in those margins. Soucy, Myers, Juleson, the guys that you're expecting to try and like, you know, settle

things down and keep it together are making big, loud mistakes on a nightly basis. Well, the funny thing is that Seattle game, they played really well for 55 minutes. And then, you know, I'm sitting there and going like, I don't even seem to be missing these guys. I actually thought they looked pretty good. They did.

They were dominating that team. And then they just absolutely blew it. And, you know, if they had a competent blue line, they wouldn't have blown it. Some of the plays they were making, and yeah, Demko didn't look great, and I'm sure some of the forwards made mistakes, coverage mistakes.

You know, Dakota Joshua got puck watching on the tying goal, I think it was. That tying goal was ridiculous, right? We had him surrounded, right? I mean, it was just... And then, was it Juleson threw it up the middle to Soucy who tried to flip a rolling puck.

What are you doing? What are you doing? Just hammer it away. I mean, it's easy to say in hindsight, but that was just a complete collapse. But I think considering how shorthanded they were against the Flames too, they brought some energy and they brought some spirit and they played a pretty direct game. It's just a talent thing right now,

which is crazy against the Flames because it's not like they're loaded with talent either. But I know now there's more. The reason Pedersen's name is trending this morning, I know why it's trending, is because there was a clip on the Missing Curfew podcast, which is hosted by, in part, Shane O'Brien. Two former Canucks, Shane O'Brien, Scotty Epshaw. Never forget Scotty Epshaw's trip to China.

He never played a game for the Canucks, though, did he? Not in the regular season. He parlayed a free trip to China into a PTO with the Blues and then signed with the Blues. Anyway, so it's co-hosted by two former Canucks, featuring another former Canuck with Brad Richardson. Okay, so they asked Brad Richardson about the relationship between Elias Pettersson and JT Miller,

and Brad Richardson essentially confirmed from a guy in the room, not just the media, these jackals who are always making stuff up. Well, this is Brad Richardson, a guy who was in the room about JT Miller and Elias Pettersson. Let me, let me tell you this and I I'll be super honest with you,

and I've had this, and I was in that dressing room with those guys. I love JT. Love him. He's like an animal. But I even told him, I said, hey, you're too hard on this kid. Yeah? You're too hard on him. And I said, I know you're saying exactly what I think,

but he's a kid that doesn't take, when you're on him, on him, on him, he's going to shut it down. I told him like, hey, you're going to lose this guy if you keep doing it. That's what I said to him. And hey, JT, he's the man. But there is a lot of tension and something's going to give, I guarantee you.

And I'm not saying you have to love every guy on your team. It helps. But something's going to give there. So we'll see see there comes some pressure right and and richie you know i love jt miller and if if there is a problem between the two of them if i'm on the gm i'm trading pedersen i don't care what anyone says in vancouver i love jt miller so we're not going to get into what shane'Brien thinks there. Noted general manager Shane O'Brien. Again, half the time my logical brain is sitting there going, these guys just need to figure it out,

and the Canucks will have Pettersson and JT Miller down the middle for the future. And then the other part of me is just like, I'm so sick of this, trade them both. I don't even want to pick one. But this is a player in the room saying there was an issue. And frankly, neither JT nor Petey comes off well in this. JT looks bad because he's being too hard on a player that clearly doesn't respond well to that sort of motivation.

And Petey looks bad because Richardson is basically saying, look, JT, I get it. I see the same things that you see. I know why you're doing this. I know why you're being hard on him. So what are those things he sees? Well, they're obviously not great things. I am having more and more trouble picturing both these guys back next season.

It's like Brad Richardson says something has to give doesn't it I feel like I've been saying this all all like all season like something's got to give here what's what's going to happen here and you know all that's given is that there's more injuries now yeah like I I don't know maybe it doesn't have to give in the next month or two, but, man, this doesn't seem tenable. Not long term, which kind of makes you wonder, as we go back to when you're talking about finger pointing around the organization and who's to blame for the current state of affairs,

I do wonder if Patrick Levine and Jim Rutherford either misdiagnosed or didn't take seriously enough the rift between Miller and Pedersen. Or maybe the most scary thing is that they assumed that upon signing him to this gargantuan $90-plus million extension, that the situation was resolved or was clear or was good when it wasn't that they were like well we're gonna sign them anyway and they're gonna figure it out yeah because figuring it out and that's been the whole thing with every i see this on social

media all the time lock them in a room together have them figure it out put them on a line together play them together make them figure it out right all these ideas where you're like just throw the two of them together make them figure it out i think? All these ideas where you're like, just throw the two of them together and make them figure it out. I think that's been tried. They've been teammates for multiple seasons. At a certain point, that's insanity, just telling them to figure it out because they're probably not going to.

And can you live with one another? Well, it's hard to blame the, you know, the disappointments of this season solely on that dynamic, but it hasn't helped. I remember when one of the insiders said, this is months ago, he said, you know, you don't have to like each other, but you have to respect each other.

And, you know, the takeaway from that particular point was like, these guys respect each other, right? Back of my mind, I'm like, what if they don't respect each other right back of my mind i'm like what if they don't respect each other yeah what if they honestly do not respect each other like i don't i honestly i don't yeah you don't have to like each other that but that seems to be like this throwaway phrase that everyone uses you know like you don't you don't have to you don't have to like everyone you go to work with but as long as you respect them, then that's fine.

But what if there is a genuine disrespect between these two, right? And I can see it. JT doesn't respect Petey because he thinks he's soft or he's weak. And Petey doesn't respect JT because he thinks he's a jerk. So the rift at this stage of the game is, this is where it becomes an issue because right now you need everyone pulling the rope in the same direction. Your best player is out of the lineup for weeks,

not week, singular weeks. Quinn Hughes is going to, he's week to week and talk. It said he's going to be out for weeks. Well, I think he's going to be back sooner. I think he's just going to feel the pressure by himself to come back.

At any rate, go on. The second best defenseman on the team is also out. So right now, you need everyone on the same page pulling the rope. You don't need any additional adversity right now. This is the time where you've got enough adversity that you need your leaders and your best players to step up and be like, okay, the only way we're going to get through this is to do it together all those terrible cliches i've been watching the new england patriots documentary on apple tv and they've got them all do your job but

it's all about us it's true though you can say it's lame and cliche but like i know but i'm just i'm just reiterating said for like it's a team game you have to be on the same page i'm at the spy gate part of the um proceedings yeah when you're cheating you have to be on the same page i'm at the the spy gate part of the um proceedings yeah when you're cheating you have to be all on the same page they all all cowboyed up for belichick they were like you know what it's us against everybody but we're not gonna let anything in this room rip us apart when we're in the face of adversity the first adversity there was you're getting called cheaters and your coach might be suspended. Everyone, everyone is focusing in on your team.

How are you going to respond? And the guys in the room said, we're going to be as strong united as we possibly can. It wasn't like Teddy Bruschi and Tom Brady were like, now's the time to air our dirty laundry because we don't like each other. That didn't happen. Well, they're not, I mean, to be fair, Miller and petterson aren't airing their dirty laundry out right now

but it's being aired yeah yeah yeah no i know i know but i mean this is this this thing from brad richardson is you know the when was brad richardson on the team it was years 2021 he's basically confirming that there was an issue then now Now, if Miller and Pettersson were able to, if they were to come speak to the media, they might be able to come out and say, I don't even know if they were lying. They'd be like, yeah, that was years ago. Right?

Like when Brad was on the team, that was years ago. Sure. But like Hughes has addressed it this season. Well, Miller and Pettersson have said there's no issue. I know. And Talkin's addressed it. And nobody believes it, though. And Talkin, well, because in their mind, there might not be. I know, and Talkin's addressed it. And nobody believes it, though.

Because in their mind, there might not be. They might be like, yeah, we're fine. You know what I mean? I got my own issues going on here, and I have nothing to do with the other guy. It's like when your parents are like, we're fine. You're like, eh, I'm 100% sure. But you guys are fine. Well, they might. You're fighting, but... I keep coming back to

a couple of things here. Is there any way that Canucks can win a trade involving JT or PD? Now, the throwaway line that I hear all the time is like, you can't win a trade. Okay. Probably not. But at the very least, I suppose it's one way to address the defense.

Bring in either a defenseman or a trade or at the very least, you're going to open up some cap space. But then you're going to have a massive hole at center, probably. This is the big one for me, though. The one that I keep coming back to and the one thing I don't see getting discussed much. Let's say you get to the point where one of them has to be traded. If one of them is traded, how is life going to be for the guy that is left on the team? Because if you want to talk about pressure, if the Canucks, let's start with, they trade Pedersen.. So they say JT's our guy. He's our warrior leader, emotional leader.

We're not going to trade our emotional leader. We're going to trade Pettersson. Miller is what, 31? Mm-hmm. You know, maybe right now starting to show signs of decline. What if the decline continues and you've traded away Elias Pettersson? What if Elias Pettersson goes to another team

and absolutely thrives? Think of the pressure on JT Miller then. Let's switch it up here. Canucks trade Miller instead. They keep the young guy, which I think, frankly, would be. If you're going to trade one of them, I would keep the young guy. Despite how hard I've been on Pettersen, I would keep the younger guy.

At the end of the day, he still loves him. No, I don't. I don't love much about this team right now. If the Canucks do trade Miller, though, it doesn't matter what I think. If the Canucks do trade Miller, Pedersen really better find his game again. Not only because of that big contract, but because Miller is very much a fan favorite. Have you heard his name chanted before?

Sather. And he has been, over the last year, I'm not talking about the last month or two or even just this season, over the last year, he has been the superior player to Elias Pedersen who you all know, you all have heard from me, I think has been a shell of himself for almost a year now.

Dating back to, yeah, almost a year now. It's dating back to the All-Star game in February. I think he's been a shell of himself. If they trade away Miller and they say, okay, well, is this your problem? We'll trade away JT for you. We're doing everything for you. That guy better show up man Well

But it's like Using that logic though Miller hasn't looked great with Petey out But you know who looked pretty good when Miller was out He didn't look amazing But he looked pretty good He looked better He did

Oh god I'm back in this already He did I'm back in this already I know what you're saying though He wasn't like you know lighting, lighting them up peaty, but at least there was a slight inkling of an improvement. We do need to point out that in that same interview with Ian McIntyre, you can check it out.

It's up on Sportsnet.ca, the Patrick Alvein Q&A. Patrick Alvein is asked flat out about the possibility of trading Elias Pettersson. IMAC asked the question, and Alvin didn't just answer it. He went into pretty explicit detail about it. So he said, I'll read it verbatim. Smiling, and this is IMAC setting the tone. This is exactly what he said.

Smiling, Alvin says, well, you know Jim's history. And that, of course, is a reference to Jim Rutherford and all the trades that he's made over his time as an executive. Alvin then continues, we want to build a team that sets us up for long-term success. Building around the long-term deals with Miller and Petey, having Quinn and Demko locked up, Phil Peronic and Jake DeBrusque,

I mean, those are big pieces. Petey has shown up to this point that he is an extremely talented quality player that could and should be a number one center and I believe in him I believe that he's capable and here's where it gets interesting but he needs to mature and understand that there are certain expectations and it does not get easier and you need to face the music when things don't go well. Is a trade possible? I guess I would say anything is possible. Then he yelled it out like Kevin Garnett.

Anything is possible. Pulling his hat down over his eyes. He needs to face the music. That sounds like something the media would say. You got to face the music. Yep. Look, it's right there in front of everyone. We actually wrote it for them, the media.

There's still people texting and blaming the media for all this. I can't even believe it. Well, it happens. I'm back, baby. I'm back. I've been two weeks on vacation. Nothing has changed. In fact, things seem to have gotten worse.

We're so back, it's so over. We're so back, it's so over. That's the meme. That meme is my life right now with this team. We haven't even talked much at all about the World Juniors team. I'm watching this team. I'm going like, is this a Canadian team?

Are they talented? Are they tough? What is this team besides undisciplined? Well, we're going to find out tonight, possibly. 4.30 puck drop. Canada, check you. A nice appetizer, if you will, for the Canucks cracking game tonight.

There's also 12 other games in the NHL tonight. David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet NHL host, is going to join us next to break it all down. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get

your podcasts. 633 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Happy New Year, everybody. It's the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly,

knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 1 of the program. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host, is going to join us in just a moment here for Hour 1. Hour 1 of this program is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier

metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. Northstar Metal Recycling they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. Busy night in the NHL tonight. Twelve games across the board. Joining us now to break some of them down, the Canadian

teams in particular, David Amber, Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, David. Happy New Year. Yeah, Mike, Jason. Happy New Year to you guys. How's everything going? Things are good. I mean, for us, personally. It's been a little bit of a tougher slog

for the Vancouver Canucks, who ended 2024 outside of a playoff position. I know that this Miller and Patterson story has been playing out for a long time, and it's playing out across North America. Everyone's been picking up on it. And I know that the Hughes injury has probably exacerbated things, but what are your thoughts on the current state of the Vancouver Canucks

as they head into 2025 on the outside of the playoff picture looking in? Yeah, it's too much drama, too much noise, right? The coaches always talk about let's get rid of all the white noise and focus on the room and what we need to do. It's trouble, though, when the noise is in the room, and that's obviously what's happened here. And, you know, it's going to be a bit of a dogfight down the stretch here.

We're at the halfway point, and the Canucks are a little further behind than many of us expected them to be. And they've left a lot of points on the table, none more noticeable than, you know, obviously that crazy loss they just had in their last game. But, listen, I'm still very optimistic. Think about the injuries they've dealt with.

Think about the off-ice drama they've been dealing with. And if they can pull together and stay healthy or get healthy, this is a very good hockey team. But if I'm Rick Talkett, I'm sure I'm just going, man, I just want to coach and not worry about all this extra drama. And every team's got these personalities. The fact that this has been so entrenched, problematic, that it's reached the surface the way it has

and gotten out into the public sphere is all another level. So there are some concerns there. There are a few red flags. And I'm sure if I'm Rick Talkett, the message is we got to hit the reset button a little bit and get healthy and move forward and be that team that was so, so good down the stretch last year and so impressive in the playoffs.

Hey, here's one for you now that we're starting new and it's 2025 and everything. Which Canadian team right now, would you say has the best chance to win the Stanley Cup? Or maybe we can even power rank them because I'll throw some options. Obviously, Winnipeg's the best team in the NHL.

Toronto's been great. They're atop the Atlantic, despite not having Austin Matthews. We can get into that in a sec. Ottawa's in a playoff spot going into 2025. I noticed this morning, did you know Montreal is only three points out of a playoff spot? I think there's two teams. I think there's two teams right now. Oh, no, Edmonton.

Edmonton. Yes, the Edmonton Oilers. Yeah, those guys. And lest we forget those plucky Calgary Flames who surpassed the Canucks and are now actually in a playoff spot. If you had to pick them, David, who would it be? I'm going to stick to Edmonton, guys,

because as good as Winnipeg's been, it's one of those, you know, fool me once, you know, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. And it's just been, hasn't been a great playoff story for the Winnipeg Jets, despite how much regular season success they've had. Edmonton, you know, there's still some question marks there, obviously. You know, Stuart Skinner has been hit and miss, to say the least. The blue line, there's still questions there.

The balance scoring some nights doesn't seem to be there but overall when I look at that package of players and look what they were able to accomplish last year and their high-end talent is is second to none I'm going to say the Edmonton Oilers are the best shot to to win a Stanley Cup for a Canadian team Winnipeg certainly I just thought that I'm sleeping on them at all, but I just don't want to put them at the same tier as the Oilers, even though I love their balance and obviously love their goaltender and everything they've done in the first half has been exceptional and top team in the National Hockey League.

The route's going to be so hard for either of those teams. Where there could be an advantage seemingly for Toronto if they can win their division is, you just mentioned Montreal's three points out of a playoff spot. It's going to be just such a funny race. That might be the best storyline for the second half, right?

There's nine teams fighting for one playoff spot, essentially, in the Eastern Conference. And look, if you look at those teams, it's just a myriad of very middling, mediocre teams, the Columbuses and Philadelphias and Islanders. And, you know, as you said, Montreal, that this is kind of not even expected that they'd be in the position they're in. So I think there's a massive advantage if Toronto can somehow win the Atlantic.

That puts them in a much better position than having to sit down on a seven-game series with Tampa all over again or even Boston all over again. So we'll have to just see how it shakes down. But right now my money would be on Edmonton. I just feel they're best positioned. What is going on with Austin Matthews? Has anyone figured out, we talk a lot about how tough it is to get information out of this current

Canucks regime. Like there are not many leaks from the front office. I mean, are they keeping Austin Matthews injury in some sort of vault or something like that? He's out with an upper body injury now. What is the injury? Yeah, there have been incredibly, the whole thing is under lock and key. And teams are reluctant to

give out information i we get that um and i wonder if that's going to change with you know gambling being so associated now with the nhl and it's really you know the nfl is the most transparent league and that's not because the teams are so nice about it it's because they have to be so i do wonder if in the new cba there's going to be some sort of mandate about being more specific about injuries which i guess the players would say it puts them at risk you know if you find out matthews has a bad rib guys are going to go with the ribs that's the kind of game it is but uh a lot of speculation it could be something with his back it's been this nagging injury and um you know there's been shrouded in secrecy, as you said. Craig Berube sort of hasn't let on whether it's attached to a previous wrist injury or if it's different than that, and if there's

new injuries, the same as the one that kept him out for nine games in November, but it's nagging, and yesterday, if you listen to what he said yesterday, he's like, oh, I'm doing a lot better, and then they're like, oh, do you have a time when you might return? He's like, nope, not yet, so he's like, it's been hard to keep active when you can't skate. So all we know is it's an upper body injury. It's been a nagging injury. We did the game where he got injured laughing. He took a couple of really big checks, one hip,

and then one really nasty cross check sort of between the shoulder pads and the pants. So there is a lot of speculation. It's something to do with his back. And you see him get up really slowly from the ice and kind of you know mutter a few f words i'm kind of saying oh damn i'm in trouble again and that was the last we saw of him so uh there is hope because he's back skating uh there's hope he'll play this weekend when the leaps up back to backs versus boston and philly but but as you said it's really shrouded in mystery and that's been one of the big

storylines that the leaps have been able to still fight for first in the Atlantic, despite the fact they've missed their captain and best player for almost half the season now. Nick Kiprio, Sportsnet's very own, who also writes a column for the Toronto Star in his most recent column. I love that he threw this out. He suggested that there is the possibility that the Leafs could just, you know, put him on long-term injured reserve, a la Kucherov and Stone.

Use that cap space to go out and acquire, I don't know, an entire new blue line? And then just suddenly have him active for game one of the playoffs. Because, I mean, for the amount of games that he's missed and the minimal impact that he's had this season. I mean, he's played, he's been great when he's been in, but he's missed. I think it's 15 games now. The Leafs are still playing very well. They got 48 points. They're atop the division. Could you imagine if the Leafs did that?

Mm-hmm. I could. Put Matthews on LTIR, and then he's ready to roll for game one? So that's out there anyway. Kiprios put it out there. That's pretty wild. Yeah, I'm looking even more short-term, though. I can't imagine that they're super keen on him

playing in the Four Nations face-off for the U.S. given his health right now. Yeah, that's starting to percolate a little bit. The LTIR is really interesting. The one thing about that is, listen, they're not locked in and set to win the division or even make the playoffs. Be careful what you're rooting for here, right?

They're two and three in this latest stint without Matthews. Now you're going to ask the guy to potentially sit down for 40 games so that you can go and pick up, you know, $12 million worth of great players. Like, it all sounds good on paper, but, you know, that's a high-risk gamble if someone's ready to play and they're not you know they're not playing uh yeah the four nations is a much more pressing thing and there's going to be and it won't just be austin matthews guys there's going to be a lot of players where teams are going we are paying your salaries you're making exorbitant salaries we have the goal of you

helping us you know win a stanley cup this isn't about for 11 days you know suiting up for finland sweden canada the u.s whatever and winning sort of a trumped up tournament that no one's heard of before and i'm not diminishing the term and i'm very excited for it but if i'm an nhl manager that's going to be would be my approach if someone's got nagging injuries well wait a minute you're too banged up to play for us, but you're okay to put on your country sweater. That's going to become a much more poignant conversation in the next two to three weeks. It's a little premature in my eyes now, right? February 11th, I believe, is when the tournament starts. So there's a lot of runway, right? There's five weeks, a lot can happen in five weeks. Matthews could be back this weekend and be fine for the next month.

And then it's not a conversation obviously. But there's certainly going to be in the next two to three weeks if some guys have some significant injuries and even Quinn Hughes, right? Like if he's out week to week as we hear and he doesn't play a game for another month, how comfortable are the Canucks going to be

to suddenly say, okay, great, we'll go out and good luck in a really high-intensity tournament where anything can happen. And he'd be called on to play a lot of minutes for Team USA as well. So that's one of the interesting storylines here, guys. But we're going to have to just wait and see. I think three weeks from now, we're going to have a much better sense of which management teams are a little more leery

of sending their star players out to play in it. Lots of talk about injuries today. Igor Shosturkin is on injured reserve for the Rangers, and they didn't need that. They play the Boston Bruins tonight. Man, like, what is going to happen with the Rangers? It seems like, it seems ages ago now that Drury sent out that memo to all the other GMs and said, yeah, Crider's available and Truba's available. And most of us from the outside looking in looked, it was like, Rangers are doing pretty well, aren't they?

But I guess, you know, they weren't playing all that well. And ever since then, they have cratered they have fallen apart are they gonna punt on this season or do you think there's still time for them to do something about it either just play better or make a trade to try and get themselves out of this is this not the craziest story of the year i mean i really can't if you told me in the beginning of the year, yeah, the Rangers might win the Stanley Cup, I wouldn't have batted an eye. If you said,

what's more likely, the Rangers win a Stanley Cup or finish dead last in the East? I'd say, are you crazy? Win a Stanley Cup. Now, they're the odds on favor, perhaps, to finish last in the East. I mean, they are dead last

in the Eastern Conference, which is shocking. Yeah. It's shocking. It's great for the Senators because it's a spot there. Seriously, it's a good spot there for the senators because it's a spot there seriously it's a good spot there for the Sens that nobody thought would be there a hundred percent now Washington is has

risen way above and beyond anyone's expectations but you're a hundred percent right if the Rangers were playing up to the caliber of the way they were playing in in late October early November we wouldn't be having this conversation it's it's it unbelievable. I haven't seen a team in this manner. And, yeah, we had this conversation with the Oilers last year when they got off to that horrific start. But it's weird to see a team sort of playing pretty damn good hockey and have all these star players and be really pretty, what we expected them to be at the end of October, early November,

and just fall off a cliff in such a precipitous fashion. Honestly, I can't put my finger on it, but there is absolute turmoil there. When you talk to people, some people say it's a little bit of karma, right? James Dolan is known as a guy who really meddles a little bit in the operations of the team. Chris Drury took a lot of criticism for how they handled the whole Barkley-Goodrow, went around his sort of no-trade clause, put him on waivers. He gets picked up by San Jose. They sort of work the same.

They flex their same corporate muscle against Truba and sort of force him out to Anaheim. And I think some players that I've talked to don't like the way they do business. And if the players are essentially revolting against the team and against management, you just don't see that very often. And I don't know if that's the case, but I've certainly talked to some players who go, yeah, they don't like the way the Rangers have been recently doing business. And these things can come back to haunt you.

So it's, it's shocking fellas, but it's opened up a spot. And I think everything's on the table. When you listen to insiders like Elliott Freeman, it sounds like they are kicking every tire available. Everyone who they can move is up to being moved potentially, and now you have Shusterkin, who's on the IR, their last place in their division. I mean, it's a mess, right?

What have they done to her? They traded their captain. They traded the guy they picked second overall. They've been trying to apparently get zibanejad to loosen his no movement clause so uh there's just a lot going on in broadway right now and it's just been crazy to see well the rumors are reaching all the way to vancouver because apparently paul busanet business he was saying on spit and chiclets that uh the rangers would like to get JT Miller out of Vancouver. So that's out there as well. Listen, I wanted to ask you about one more team, and that is the Chicago Blackhawks,

who put up a major dud at Wrigley Field in the Winter Classic. In Conor Bedard's words, the St. Louis Blues dog-walked the Chicago Blackhawks in the Winter Classic. And I look at that roster in Chicago and I just go man this is not an overnight fix for Chicago and you see the frustration of Conor Bedard and I just wonder how much longer he's going to have to wait until there's a respectable team in Chicago. So disappointing. Yeah, Kyle Davidson has his work cut out, guys. I had actually, I'd liked some of the moves they made in the offseason.

I thought, okay, they brought in some more legitimate, you know, NHL caliber players to insulate and have Bedard learn from and grow as a player from the Terabinans, etc. It just hasn't worked out. It just has not worked out. The whole group of veterans they have there are essentially old and slow and are not leading this team in any fashion that's getting them anywhere. And you see the frustration on Bedard, and there's this notion.

People are kind of, oh, Bedard, I guess we overrated him. And I don't think we overrated Bedard at all. I think what we've done is he needs some help. You know, he essentially needs some help. When you look at some other superstar players who've walked into the league with the expectations, you know, Crosby had Melk and, you know, McDavid had Dreisaitl. You know, like, guys have had some running mates or at least some quality players around them.

And he really just has not had that infrastructure in place in Chicago. They've changed the coach. That clearly wasn't the problem. I think it's a personnel problem. You know, they decided to draft guys last year. They took the second overall pick, and they went with the defenseman. Sure, that might pay dividends down the road um but man you know i'm sure bedard's kind of going i can give you some running mates up front to really help me again i think we've talked about

it before on your show where i think if you're kyle davidson you have to be incredibly aggressive you have all this draft capital you know look at young you don't want to be bringing in a bunch of 34 year olds on their last you don't want to make it worse you don't want to be bringing in a bunch of 34-year-olds on their last contract. You don't want to make it worse. You don't want to dig the hole deeper by signing bad contracts. That's the challenge. 100%. And to me, this is where whether it's offer sheets or identifying young players, trading some of this draft capital, trading some of these prospects, and identifying some guys in their early 20s who are going to be legitimate top six, fours. And I'm making it sound easy. It's not easy. I'm sure every team would covet this. But that has to be, you know, legitimate top six, fours. And I'm making it sound easy. It's not easy.

I'm sure every team would covet this, but that has to be their goal. You know, they have a ton of draft picks. They have some prospects. How can they get guys who are NHL ready to be there to help run, you know, shotgun besides Bedard and not get this guy into a world of where he's, you know, eating too many losses for too long. That's what we've seen with Rasmus Darlene in Buffalo, right? It's just been seven years of – he's played almost 500 games.

Think about that. Dahlien's been in the league that long, and it's just been one bad team after another and one different defensive partner after another, and it just hasn't been continuity, and it's been a gong show. And you don't want Bedard to follow in that footsteps. It's only his second year, so you ought to have some level of patience. But it hasn't been the progression that we'd hope to see from Bedard.

And it's got to be hard to guys, because everyone's like looking at Macklin Celebrini. Look at Celebrini is better than Bedard. And who knows how it's all going to play out. And Celebrini is a fantastic player. And maybe is up. Maybe is, you know, ceiling is is higher than Bedard. But he also has, I I think some good, legitimate running mates in Toffoli and William Macklin

and some better caliber players around him as well, which is helping. David, this was great, man. Thanks a lot for doing this today. As always, we really appreciate it. Enjoy a very busy night in the NHL tonight. 12 games, including the Canucks and Kraken. We'll do this again next week. Yeah, guys.

Thanks again for having me and all the best in 2025. Talk to you soon. You as well. Thanks, David. That's David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. While we're bashing teams and going through, ah, the Rangers are in trouble, the Blackhawks are a disaster, you know who's quietly having

a very disappointing year? It's the New York Islanders. Yeah, they're not good at all. They're bad, man. No. I think about Horvat sometimes. I think about, you know, that contract that he signed with the Islanders to stay there long-term and how he loved the fans. They're so much more than a Vancouver. I'm kind of kidding, but I'm not.

You think about him and you smile and chuckle to yourself? I think about it. Yeah, well, I mean, I need it right now because the Canucks aren't exactly rolling. But that team, I don't know, man. That's another team to watch. Like, how much longer is Lamorello going to run that team? It's got to end.

It's got to end. It's got to end. They're just so, as the kids say, mid. They can't score goals. Like, is Barzell going to get traded? Is that a move they could make? I mean, the one that keeps coming. Brock Nelson's the name that comes up as you get closer and closer to the deadline.

I don't know. He's a pending UFA, right? But when they lose him, that's going to be like the Penguins losing Gensel, right? Or they just resign him. I mean, that's the Islanders' way, is to just keep everybody around. 12-year deal. You can't even do those when patrick waugh took the job i think a lot of people assume that he was being hired to do a full and thorough analysis maybe an autopsy on the roster and try and build something the way that he wanted it and he's just come in and coached the players that lamorello has re-signed and it hasn't really been anything other than what they were prior to Patrick Waugh coming aboard.

In fact, you could make the argument that this year they've taken such a step back that they're in worse shape than they were before he took over. I mean, they don't score goals at all. I think they're bottom five in the NHL in offense. And this is the way that they've been for a while is they've kind of survived being this low event, low scoring team, but they've either had the goaltending or the timely scoring to kind of be an above 500 club.

That's not the case this year. Like David was talking about that mushy middle to try and get that last wild card spot in the East. They're not even in that conversation. They're at the low end of that. Frank Cervalli is going to join us next on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.