Halford & Brough in the Morning - They're Not Dead Yet!

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

In Hour One, Mike Halford and Jason Brough recap a historic night for the Vancouver Canucks. An NHL record 3 goal comeback in the final 60 seconds against the Dallas Stars to keep the slim playoff chances afloat. Which Canucks have been unexpected heroes, and how much stock to put into this portion of the season. Then, David Amber joins to chat NHL playoff picture, the Montreal Canadiens unprecedented push getting late reinforcements in Ivan Demidov, and which postseason matchups could be the most exciting. 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.

Whoa, wait a minute, huh? Hold up. What? Oh Okay, did we just lose a fucking Canucks? You're listening to Halford and Brough You are listening to Halford and Brough. Two seconds left! Garland gets it in front for Sherwood, he scores! Kiefer Sherwood wins it in overtime for the Canucks! I thought tonight was pretty, overall pretty good game until the last minute of the game. Good morning Vancouver, 6-0-1. It's even better now that I heard it.

6-0-1 on AO Wednesday, as Halford did his broth in his Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Regular Zach, good morning to you. Good morning. And Ladi, good morning to you as well.

Hello, hello. Halford and bruh from the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted voice for debt help. With over 3,000 five star reviews, visit them online at sans-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premium metal recycler, pays the highest prices on scrap metal.

North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. So that was Miko Rantanen following the game last night. Laddie before the show. He's like, I've got some audio of Miko Rantanen. I thought tonight was pretty, like overall pretty good game until the last minute of

the game. It's like a Finnish Randy Newman just talking about what he saw. It was a good game for Dallas until the final minute. Folks, I don't know what to say about that game, but we've got an entire first segment to talk about it. Before we get into what happened yesterday, need to tell you about today's program. Got a big guest list ahead.

It begins at 6.30 with David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet, NHL host. Five games in the National Hockey League tonight as we get closer to the end of the regular season. It is Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey. We have a double header on tap. Huge game. Huge game between the Leafs and the Lightning from Tampa Bay to kick things off. Followed by the Blues and Oilers. Don't forget though, you've also got Calgary fighting for their playoff lives in Anaheim. And of course, the Minnesota Wild who could eliminate the Vancouver

Canucks from playoff contention tonight as they host the San Jose Sharks. So there's a lot to get into there with David Amber. That's at 6.30. 7.30, Sean Hogan is going to join the program. First time guest. He is the executive director at College Hockey Inc. The Frozen Four gets underway tomorrow from St. Louis, Penn State, Western Michigan, Boston University, and Denver are your frozen four. Of course, this year's tournament of special interest to Canucks fans because of Aidan Sellebrini and Tom Villander.

And then of course, next year, the big merger comes where CHL players are now eligible to play NCAA hockey. So we'll talk to Sean Hogan about all that at 7.30. Eight o'clock, we're gonna talk to Rand Deepjandi. He was on the call last night for that insane six-five overtime win. Yeah, if you're waking up right now and you went to bed when it was five-two for Dallas,

the Canucks won that game. Six-five, the Canucks became the first team in NHL history to win after erasing a three-goal deficit in the final minute of regulation. Randheep is mostly going to talk about Arsenal's win over Real Madrid though. Second biggest story of the day yesterday is Canucks doing something no team in NHL history has done before.

Second best story yesterday. So working in reverse on the guest list, 8 o'clock Randheep Janda, 730 Sean Hogan, 630 David Amber. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie'clock, Randy Janda, 7.30 Sean Hogan, 6.30 David Amber. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, 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? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Kiefer Sherwood scored 3 minutes and 44 seconds into overtime last night as the Vancouver

Canucks again did something that no other team in the rich and long history of the NHL has ever done. Scoring three goals in the final minutes of a game and going on to win that same game 6-5 in overtime against the Dallas Stars in Dallas on Tuesday night. They've had some wild ones this year. They sure have. You know it kind of set the tone right off the start with that Calgary game. Mm-hmm. Where they, it kind of set the tone right off the start with that Calgary game, where they were the ones who were blowing the game and ultimately lose. And, you know, they've had some crazy comebacks, Brock Bessar scoring against St. Louis late. Last night, probably.

Well, last night was NHL history. It was NHL history. And it was, you know, the Canucks are not, I mean, probably not going to make the playoffs. Hold on. Never know. Hold on. Never know.

But, you know, in these last few games, we've been talking last little while, I was like, what are we going to watch in these games? At least it was entertaining. What we're going to watch is NHL history. NHL history, exactly. So I want to point this out. Uh, Jason Bruff, a diligent worker, very thorough and very prompt.

Sometimes too prompt. I want it to be known. I jumped the gun. He sent his nightly notes prior to the end of this game. It was five, two at the time. This is how Jason Bruff's notes began. So that's it for another season. In the last decade, the Canucks have made the playoffs twice and missed eight times.

This might be their most disappointing miss of the decade, given what happened last season when they piled up 109 points. Hey, it's just what professionals do. Did you hear iMac on the post game show? I did not. He was saying like, yeah, I had to write two columns yesterday. The first one was kind of an obituary on the season and then I'm like, oh, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete.

What an amazing comeback for the Canucks as they hang on. Maybe don't delete, just save for another day. Save for another day. save for another day. Save for another day. Save for another day. Oh yeah. You keep up the words.

Jason Will ultimately ended up being right with what he wrote. He just wasn't right last night. Well did you see, I actually put it out on social media when it was five to two, I said it's official, the Canucks. I was like, oh I shouldn't have put official. And then people were like, oh, that age, like, no, oh yeah, you called it, right? You were so upset too that it did.

Everyone called an unprecedented comeback. Not just in franchise history or of the last decade. Make this clear, like, you can go back to 1917 with the Montreal Maroons when forward passing was outlawed. No one has ever done this before, nobody. And of this season of all seasons where if you want to talk about the blown leads, you were thinking about the Calgary game in the opener. I was thinking about the Columbus game where they desperately needed points and they blew that in.

The Seattle one. The Seattle one. They've had some wild games this season. And this was just another one to throw on the pot. You know what though for the sake of some audio goodness I want to play the supercut of the comeback which began But I don't even know where to go with pew suitor We'll get to him in a minute, but he also said history yesterday But we'll jump to it right exactly with 60 seconds left

Canucks are down 5-2. What's more, and this is why I don't give Bruff a hard time for writing the notes when he did, Dallas had already scored an empty net goal, right? Like this was, Granlis scored into the empty net to make it 5-2. Like it's- Yeah, if you think about it, the Canucks would have won that game in regulation

if Tauke hadn't pulled the goalie. Yeah, there's something- And it wasn't even like, it wasn't a 4-2 empty net. It made it 5-2. And there is something to consider. wasn't even like, it wasn't a four two empty net. It made it five two. And there is something to consider. Shouldn't you have, anyway. So it starts with exactly 60 seconds left, and it's a tu ratu.

This is what the comeback sounded like to begin, and we'll run the whole way through, and then we'll stop before we get to overtime. One of, no, no, no, not one of, the most unlikely and unprecedented comeback in NHL history. Here's what it sounded like. with 59 seconds left in the third period and the Canucks are not quitting. Queen Hughes left point to the right side for Hironik, down the near boards for Garland.

With a pass in front, Puse, Suter scores! Suter in the slot, beats Casey to Smith and just like that it's five to four with 28.4 seconds left. 10 seconds left to Garland to the point. Left point, Hughes long wrist shot, deflected wide of the goal, rebound for Herodik in front they score it's Pius Suter in the slot with 5.2 seconds left and they're not dead yet shooters got his second goal in the final minute of the third and it's 5-5. So at

this point I'm assuming that the Dallas Stars are sufficiently rattled? Like they're probably like- Did you, I was laughing when the connects tied it. I was looking at the Dallas crowd behind and there was one guy that just stood up and turned his back to the stars. He just stood up and he was like, I can't watch this, you idiots. I'm disgusted with all of you. It was crazy.

I don't know what else. It was funny. We'll play, maybe we'll play the Jamie Ben audio later and get our own unique spin on that one. But before we do any of that, we need to cap this comeback off. And it came three minutes and 44 seconds into OT. Some great work from Connor Garland behind the net setting up Key for Sherwood. And here's what it sounded like is the Canucks completed an absolutely insane comeback to the left corner for her. Oh, check by Harley low in the zone. He's knocked down by her on it.

Can the end boards Garland gets it in front for sure. He scores Kiefer Sherwood wins it in overtime for the Canucks. And they're back from the dead. They trailed five to two in the final minute of the third, but when it's six to five on the road in Texas and it's Sherwood with the overtime winner, his 18th of the season. So on top of all of this, Pugh Suter also made history yesterday. He is now just the seventh player again in the entire history of the NHL,

which has been around for a long time and has had a lot of players. Seventh player in NHL history to score twice in the final 30 seconds of regulation. He now has a career high 24 goals. Yeah, I don't know how much stock and value they're gonna put into the final third of this season, where Suter has at times carried, I repeat carried this team,

but it is, it's a remarkable, you know what? If you wanna just let it exist in a vacuum, it's a remarkable, you know what, if you want to just let it exist in a vacuum, it's really great for him. Really I got to kind of bounce around in his NHL career. He's done yeoman's work this year. He has delivered well, well more than what his salary is compensating him. And he now has a career high 24. And who knows what he's going to get to this point. The guy's scoring with regularity.

So I just want it to be known that it's not me texting into the Dunbar lumber text line about Elias Pettersson, but a lot of people are. Wow. And- How do we make this historic comeback? Well I'm just reading what the, I'm turning it to Dollywall here. I'm just reading what they're saying. A lot of people say, it never happens without Pedersen. You know, it is wild.

Some of the games that the Canucks have played without Petey, everyone thought, oh, this is just going to be like the most boring hockey without him in the lineup. The Canucks aren't going to score. Well, he got hurt against the Rangers. They scored three times against the Devils, won it in a shootout. Scored five times against the Islanders, won it. Scored six times against Columbus, lost in a

shootout, scored six times against Anaheim, scored six times against the Dallas Stars. Now defensively, that's where they've missed Pedersen the most, honestly, defensively. They haven't missed his offense because Pugh Suter has been scoring like once he got in the last, once he got since Pedersen's out. I don't know if you can base your strategy around

being a quick strike team, but on Saturday against Anaheim, the Canucks scored five times in four minutes and 30 seconds. And then, cause you got to remember, it wasn't just the three goals yesterday in quick succession, four goals in the game's final four minutes and 44 seconds, counting overtime and the end of regulations. So they've got that real quick strike ability. That could be their thing moving forward. Well, I think the two players that you really

tip your cap to last night were suitor as you mentioned, but how about Connor Garland too, who's been in terms of effort, their most consistent forward all season and made a terrific play on the winning goal in overtime to win a puck battle down low, get underneath the Dallas stars player with the puck, and then quickly fired out to Kiefer Sherwood and Sherwood buries it.

I mean, I mean, there's, there's another great story. Like if you look at all the guys that were involved in this comeback. So the five three goal, Ahtu Ratu Ratu, he's been a great story lately, right? Pius Sertis scores twice and then Sherwood from Garland. Isn't that like a list of the guys that have kind of shown up this year? Well, they were talking on the post-game show about, like is Rick Taukett seeing enough from role players and depth guys growth wise to, you know, maybe reconsider whatever his previous thoughts were about this group. Ratu got mashed and on the dot, like face-offs

he was miserable on night, but he won key draws down the stretch when they were in desperation time. And talk, spoke about this after the game, like he is making a conscious effort to say there are some younger guys or guys lower in the lineup that are getting a lot of reps in moments where say what you will about this Connect season, but last night they could have easily put it to bed

when it was five two and there was a minute left. Easily, easily just been like, it's not our night. Yet again, we trailed three nothing in five two in this game. We probably don't deserve to win this one. No one said that. Mancini got a goal last night too. There's another guy we've been talking about

that has gotten additional reps and more time. Aturatu, we talked about him. I am not trying to put lipstick on a pig here, but you can't put it this way. If the team goes out and does something that no other team in NHL history has done before, I will gladly come in and talk about it enthusiastically. Totally.

At least the morning after. The whole idea is to be entertained at the end of the day. Are you not entertained? And that was entertaining and it was impressive what the Canucks did. And I was laughing because the fourth goal, I'm watching on TV and I guess the fourth goal goes in and there's 30 seconds left.

And Shorty goes, don't go away. I'm like, they're gonna do this, aren't they? Because it's been that kind of season. And then when they get the puck deep, I'm kind of like, man, the Stars are just kind of standing around, like they're almost just praying this doesn't happen. And sometimes when you're in this situation, even if you're a good team like the Dallas Stars, and they are a good team, you panic a little bit. And sometimes when you panic, you

just stand around and the Canucks were not standing around. They were attacking and they were buzzing. And to be honest with you, the Canucks played a really good third period. They were all over the Dallas stars for the most part. Now Dallas did make it four, two and that, and I was like, all right, well that's it. And then obviously when they score into the empty net or that's when I throw out my tweet, well, it's official. The Canucks are going to miss the playoffs. So overall, that third period for the Canucks, like they deserve something good out of it I don't

know if they deserve that but man like it was fun it was fun to watch and that's in these games if you want to call them meaningless like Viking stad texted in and he said you know I you, I want to get mad at the Canucks for, for blowing their draft position or whatever, but I just can't, you know, like, yeah, you can't get mad at the team for doing that last night. That was impressive. That was, that was like, it's an under man team. Guys like Pugh Souter, who has been kind of like an afterthought on most teams for his entire career. He's playing the hero now. You got young guys like Atu Ratu that

are part of it. And a guy that like Kiefer Sherwood, who's basically put his body on the line the whole season, set an NHL hits record He gets the winning goal from Connor Garland a guy who has never stopped working hard all season So right like that's awesome. It was nice to have a night of fun You know who else had fun last night or yesterday anyway, Montreal Canadians fans and Ottawa Senators fans like Regular Zack over here. So we'll start with Montreal all due respect I don't want to bury the fans like regular Zach over here. So we'll start with Montreal, all due respect. I don't want to bury the lead, but we got to start with Montreal.

They win their sixth straight game in a row, a four one win against Detroit at the Bell Center on Tuesday. Sam Montembeau, 30 wins. The most important goalie stat of them all, Greg, wins. You almost had an open net goal that he saw up, but it was a missed net by the Red Wings instead. So Montembeau gets the win, the Habs get the win,

they are now, I mean, they're in, right? I mean, they're not gonna blow this, they're pretty much in. And they're getting some pretty intriguing reinforcements because Ivan Demidoff, the 2024 draft pick, highly touted, is on his way over from Russia, having left SKA St. Petersburg to sign a three year entry level deal

with the Montreal Canadiens. And did you see the sleuthing Habs fans found the exact flight he's on? I did not. Like, leave it up to the internet, right? Like they know the exact flight. They're excited, man. They're excited.

They're feeling it right now in Montreal. No one expected this team to make the playoffs. They're gonna make the playoffs and then they're gonna get this potential wild card. This kid is really talented. The boost of Russian nitrous, is that, is that the drancing? What a freakin' boost. Did I drancing that one well?

Did I do it? He's got juice. Yeah. This guy's got juice. Yeah, so he's not. Russian juice, too, so it might be legal. What do we all? It might be illegal, I don't know.

What do we all know about Demidoff? I know that he was the second overall pick. He was the number two ... No, he wasn't the second overall pick. Sorry, fifth overall pick, number two prospect in that draft class behind Celebrini, but dropped the five. According to some people. Right. And then sort of slid to five because of the KHL factor, but at 19... No one expected him to be available this early. Got it. Okay. So that'll be really interesting... By the way...... moving forward, yes. expected him to be available this early. Got it. Okay. So that'll be really interesting.

By the way. Moving forward, yes. Does the Russian factor change a little bit after this with Mitch Goff coming to the NHL way sooner than people thought he would and now Demidov? You'd have to think, right? How are they doing this? It's a great question. I mean, there must have been-

Like, did Demidov have to buy his way out of that? I don't know. In the case of Philly, there was some back channels for sure. Like it was clear that the Flyers were working to try and get Mitch Koff out. I mean, but the thing with Mitch Koff was, it was years before anyone expected him to come over. Again, I didn't follow the Demidoff story that closely,

and I'm not gonna lie part of it because I did not think it was gonna happen this year. I mean, I don't, you know, we can get a guest on maybe later in this week once Montreal clinches and get a further analysis of what's gonna happen here, but it's a great story for Montreal. They're on their way to the playoffs, but so too, Zach, are your beloved Ottawa Senators.

So the Senators officially clinched yesterday. Now. Good for them, man. Honestly, again, good for Travis Green, good for Sens fans because it has been a long wait for them. And they were grouped in there with Detroit and the red hot Buffalo Sabres and, and, and

both those teams, um, like that was a, that was a big loss for Detroit. Yep. Um, and Buffalo is officially eliminated. And it's now 14 years for the Buffalo Sabres. So they're neck and neck right now with the New York Jets for the longest playoff drought in North America. And then the other ones are the Charlotte Hornets

and the NBA. And guess the baseball one? They had pirates. No, they had two of the best players in baseball playing for them at one point. I don't know who angels angels. Yeah. Angels streak is longer than a pirate. Damn. Ten years. It's terrible for the L.A. angels.

But the Sabres, it's funny because the Sabres are finishing really well. Yeah, they're one of the NHL's hottest teams and they're piling up goals and it's just like way too little too late for them. Somewhat meaningful games in April until yesterday when they were officially eliminated. So Zach, as the only Ottawa Senators fan I know, how are you feeling?

And first off, how old are you? I'm 24. Okay, so you were alive when this drought started eight years ago. I was alive eight years ago. Yeah, you were alive eight years ago. So that was the third longest active drought in NHL history was the Sens not getting into the playoffs since 2017. You must be excited. It feels great. My one complaint is that every single time broadcasts reference the Senators playoffs,

they immediately show the elimination goal from 2018 and that is. 2017. 2017, sorry, yes. It hurts. Yeah, the Chris Kunitz overtime, game seven. Yeah. It hurts. Yeah.

I forgot about that goal. That was a massive goal for Kunitz. Yeah, so good for the Sens and it remains to be seen who they're going to play because it looked like Toronto and Ottawa was almost set, but the Lightning are making a run for the division. And if you look at goal differential, the Lightning are way above the Leafs and the Leafs lost last night

in Florida, they've got a two point lead on the Lightning and the Lightning and the Leafs play tonight. So the Battle of Ontario. Need Battle of Ontario. Need that. We need it, but it's far from guaranteed. Now a lot of people texting in about Pugh Souter. How can the Canucks not sign this guy?

Well, you know, he might just be too expensive for them at this point. And also I do think you have to take into account, I mean, 24 goals, which is great career high shooting percentage right now, 19%. He's a, he's a 13% career shooter. Um, and also like how many minutes is he going to get? You know, if the plan is to bring back Pedersen and the plan is for Hedl to be in the lineup and, you know, assuming he's, uh, he's

recovered from his concussion and they go forward with Hedl on the roster. You know, where does Suter fit in? Right? The whole, like, I'm not saying don't, I'm not saying don't, but I'm just saying like, you can't think that this is the suitor you're going to get in terms of opportunity.

You know, he's, he's not going to get this opportunity if you keep Pedersen and if you keep Heidel and if you go out and get a center, which they've said they're going to do, right? The center position for the Canucks is it is so in flux. There is so much uncertainty. And I guess you could say that Suter has added another wild card to the piece.

He's played so much down the stretch. He is a 21 minute at a night guy. In his last four games, sorry, four of his last five games. He's hit 21 minutes. Okay, one of them was 20 minutes and 58 seconds. That's 21 of my books. He's played a ton. So that's the opportunity. But he's not. That's the opportunity you're talking about. He's given this opportunity in a lost season.

So he's and you're not going to. You can't. He's not a guy like, you know, Mike, the urologist text and he's like, he's not scoring by taking control of the game. Don't overpay for a flash in the pan. He's not a flash in the pan. Well, he's a good player, but he's not this. You don't sit there and go, well, he's done great as the 1C, so make him your 1C. No, no, no. He's done great as your 1C, make him your 3C.

You need more. How about that? How about that, though? He's done great as your 1C, make him your 3C. Well, he's not going to get paid like a 3C, that's the problem. Pay him like a 2BC. Okay, well then you've got Hedl. Yeah.

And then you've got the guy that they want to go out and get a young center. Maybe that plan changes. I would not talk with such great confidence about Hedl, by the way. Well, I'm not talking with confidence at all with Hedl. I just said it's a wild card. Everything's a wild card right now down the middle for the Canucks. I would say with Hedl, you have fortunately and unfortunately got everything as advertised.

Tantalizing skill and talent and speed, raw ability without question, and a penchant for always being hurt. We've seen it all in a very short window with, with, uh, Filipino. So if you want to extrapolate that out over however long he's in Vancouver, I would just naturally assume that it might be more of the same. But anyway, we got, we got to get to break. We got a lot more to get into here. A lot of big decisions for the Vancouver Canucks this off season.

But the off season has not begun yet. Massive decisions. The off season has not begun just yet. We got a lot more to get to on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Coming up, more NHL talk as we preview tonight's action. A lot of very important, very pivotal games. Five games across the league.

Two of them will be featured prominently on Sportsnet for Wednesday night. Scotiabank hockeyockey, David Amber, Hockey Night Canada Sportsnet NHL host is going to join us next to preview it all. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. I thought tonight was pretty, like overall pretty good game until the last minute of the game. It is time for David Amber, he is on the hotline baby. It is time for David Amber, he will talk some hockey maybe. It is time for David Amber, he is on the hotline baby. It is time for David Amber, he will talk some hockey maybe.

I'm on the hotline baby. I'm right in the shrooms talking. I remember what I was doing at 23, pooping in my pants. There's a massive butt coming here guys. No one's fighting Rick talking. No one wants to fightrooms talking. I remember what I was doing at 23, pooping in my pants. There's a massive butt coming here guys. No one's fighting Rick talking. No one wants to fight Rick talking. I'm on the hotline, baby. It is, it's David. It is, it's David. Amber, it is, it's David. He's on the hotline. 634 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody.

Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Adog may be sick and at home, but he's still here in spirit. Singing away as we come back from break. You are listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough 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. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

To the phone lines we go. David Amber joins us now on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning David, how are you? Doing well gentlemen, how are you? That was a crazy night last night. It was wild. It was unbelievable and at the very least,

the Canucks may not make the playoffs this year. In fact, it's quite likely they won't, but that was entertaining and it was history, as Halford keeps saying. It was like, the Canucks made history last night, three goals in the final minute to tie the game against Dallas and then they go on to win it in overtime.

Um, were you watching or did you like most of the people in Vancouver turned that game off? Well, I was in studio with Jason Buchla and we knew we were done after the second intermission and I started packing up my stuff at home. And you know, I listened when Michael Grandlin put in, put in the goal to make it five to you, I, you know, and I don't really bet too much anymore, but I would have loved to have known what the Vegas line was on Vancouver coming back with two minutes left down three

goals. Uh, you know, probably would have been, you probably could have made a pretty penny if you put a dollar down I imagine but it was pretty the whole thing was shocking guys and I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing because it's almost like it seems like you're delaying the inevitable one last kind of amazing moment maybe for the connect Canucks fan base this year but um I don't know if it's just too much of an emotional roller coaster ride I was texting with some Canucks fan base this year, but I don't know if it's just too much of an emotional rollercoaster ride.

I was texting with some Canucks fans last night and they were kind of freaking out. Because I think you were resigned to the fact, all right, well, there it is, we're officially done. And then all of a sudden it's like, wait a minute, we're not done. It was a pretty wild moment. Yeah, I actually tweeted out foolishly when the 5-2 empty netter went in. I actually tweeted out like, it's official, the Canucks will miss the playoffs.

And everyone was so nice to me online when the Canucks came back and won that. And look, I'm happy to take the online abuse in that. It was hilarious. It was very funny. And it kind of, it epitomizes the Canucks season in a lot of ways in that you just like, once you think you've, once you think you've got like a beat on this team, they go and do something completely unexpected. And sometimes it's good.

A lot of the times this season it's been bad, but for my memory, and you're watching this kind of as an outsider to the Vancouver market, this is one of the wildest seasons in Canucks history. Oh, a hundred percent. I mean, they've had more drama collectively as a team than maybe the other 31 teams combined. And that, that might sound like a bit of a hyperbole. I'm not sure it is though. I mean, really from the opening night, what the expectations of this team were coming off

their first division title in more than a decade and all the positivity of these young stars and these grizzled veterans and this great coach and this amazing identity and all the gains they had made essentially last year, you know, within a couple of months that was all gone and there was just so many different storylines and so much drama and innuendo and rumor and speculation and then all the trades and everything else. I mean, it's, it's, it's how many times have I come on the show and we've said, wow, we have something to talk about. And there's a lot's, it's how many times have I come on the show and we've said, wow, we have something to talk about. And there's a lot of, you know, I appear on other shows and other radio markets and sometimes

you're going on there and going, what are we going to talk about? There's a pretty boring team. It's pretty vanilla. That has not been the case with Vancouver from day one this year. And unfortunately it's been for mostly the wrong reasons. So yeah, you know, it's been a lot of twists and turns. It's going to be a really interesting off season for Vancouver. Alveen, Rutherford, and the whole management group have a lot of decisions to make and also have to figure out, you know, how they kind of rebuild up this team.

And I don't mean rebuild like you're starting from scratch because you have a lot of great players, but just, you know, how do you kind of get back that identity, that mojo, that feeling with this group? What is the nucleus? You know, how do you improve it moving forward? There's just so many different storylines to dig into this off season. So I know Ottawa broke their playoff drought officially yesterday and they'll be in the playoffs, but is there a more excited hockey town in

Canada than Montreal? There shouldn't be. It's amazing what they're doing. It is so much fun to watch guys. And, um, you know, and I Calgary is fighting tooth and nail and they've had all these incredible third period comebacks. And I, and I get that, but Montreal, what they've

done is, is even more shocking. You know, Montreal two months ago were near the bottom of the Eastern Conference and it seemed pretty much like their season was done. In fact, even before this six-game winning streak, they had a five-game losing streak. It's just been so up and down. But the level of grit, the level of resilience, this is in a wave in a coming-out party for Nick Suzuki. He was already a very good player, but I think people are now really recognizing just how good a player he is. I imagine he'll get some

selkie consideration. He's just been that good at both ends of the ice for Montreal. Caulfield, it's funny when Caulfield was breaking into the league, we were on hockey night in Canada. I remember doing an interview with JJ Watt, the star football player because they both kind of had a Wisconsin background, Caulfield and Watt. And Watt is actually a huge hockey fan. And if you follow him on Instagram and Twitter, he has his like little kids out on the ice and he likes to play hockey. Anyway, long story short, JJ Watt for all of his expertise was like, Cole Caulfield's going to be a 40 goal scorer in the NHL. And we're like, all right. That's a pretty good analysis from an NFL player. And he's not wrong. I mean, Caulfield's up to 37 goals. He could become the first 40 goal score for

Montreal since Vinny D'Amphouse. That's how long it's been since they've had sort of an elite goal scorer there. It's just amazing what we're seeing. They're finding different ways to win different heroes sort of every night. And that building, by the way, guys, and this is with all due respect to the other 31 NHL markets, when things are going well, there really isn't a better place to go see a hockey game than Montreal. It's awesome. It's been out there. I mean, it's really, you just said, how is the level of excitement? I mean, it's through the roof. They don't react and a lot of other buildings react. Hey, our team scored, let's cheer.

They are proactively engaged when the team's down two goals. In the third period, they know it's time to kind of get, rally the team, get going, energy going in the building and the players are feeding off of it. And it's really amazing to see right now. Well, where does this Demidov kids fit? It's a great question. I mean. We're waiting to see, listen, we have Friday night's game. We have a national game on Friday, Ottawa and Montreal, which could be a very pivotal game. Montreal, if the math works out, they could actually clinch

a playoff spot with a win Friday versus Ottawa, depending on how other teams do between now and then. We're not necessarily anticipating Demidoff to fly across the Atlantic and be in the lineup on Friday night. But if you listen to Kent Hughes last night, who did comment during the broadcast, and he said, yeah, we're going to try and get him in before the regular season ends. That's our hope. He said, we're not going to put any pressure on a 19-year-old to come and be the saviour or anything like that. But we know we're going to get him here, get him them acclimated and try and get them out on the ice. And by all accounts Jason Buchla, and he said this and I posted the draft the last few years, and Jason Buchla kept saying I can't believe Demidov's still on the board after the

second pick, after the third pick, after the fourth pick, and a lot of the reason that was the case is there was thought it's gonna be hard to get this kid out of Russia. And a lot of credit should go to Kent Hughes and that management team in Montreal, getting him, you know, out of the KHL in coming towards Montreal with a contract in his hand. And he did it in pretty efficient fashion nine months following the draft, right? Had teams knowing you're going to be able to do that, maybe Chicago at number two would have taken him. And that would have been a great running mate on the right side flanking Connor Bedard, who's basically on an island by himself out there

in Chicago. So according to Jason Buchla, who I trust, and Sam Cosentino, and a lot of the other hockey experts at all sorts of different networks are saying, this Demidoff at the end of the day could be right there with Celebrini, and could be even better than Celebrini. He could be that good. And that's really, really high praise.

And if you look at it, he's the highest scoring teenager in KHL history, more than Kaprizov and more than, because Netsov and all these established, you know, star NHL players. So it could be really something special coming to Montreal in the next year. I hate to put you on the spot here, David, but special coming to Montreal in the next year.

I hate to put you on the spot here, David, but do you know how does he get out of his contract at SKA because we were discussing earlier in the show, we were like, is the Russian factor, is the formula changing a little bit because Mitch Goff came to the NHL a lot faster than a lot of people thought and now another one. Do these guys have to buy their way out or can do the NHL team, I can't imagine the NHL team is allowed to buy out the contract of the player, but maybe I'm wrong there. Do you know how it all works? It all seems kind of secretive. Maybe I'm wrong there. How do you know how it all works? It all seems kind of secretive. It's very clandestine nature of how this works.

I don't know the inner workings. I imagine agents get involved, clearly teams. I'm sure there's a lot of backdoor dealing. You know, these are a billion dollar companies who want to have success. And I don't know exactly how it works. It was pretty clear that Demidov wanted out of there this year. There were stretches when he was not getting a lot of ice time.

I've actually kept a pretty close eye on this simply because of the interest level in this player. And there was times when he was being fat for almost the whole game playing four shifts in a game. This is the guy who's leading your team and scoring. It didn't make sense. And a lot of people thought that was punitive measures by the KHL team, you know, to sort of say, you're not leaving us. And this is what we're going to do. We're going to,

we're going to limit your ice time. And maybe that was the negotiation Koi, you know, with the Canadians and, and with the, you know, with the interested parties and getting them across the border. I don't know. Like, we're going to stifle his growth as a player until you kind of meet our demands. Again, I don't know exactly how this works, so I don't want to speculate too much. But clearly, there was a lot of backdoor dealings. There was definitely members of the Montreal Canadians Management Group going out and working

the channels they needed to work to get this player to Montreal and they've effectively done that. So again, a lot of credit goes to Ken Hughes and his group and it's just going to be very interesting to see him. We might see Zayn Parekh, who was the ninth overall pick coming to Calgary. So it's just, it's an interesting time of year. And we've seen this with other teams, you know, in the past, the Lacrimates, et cetera, you know, coming and making their debuts.

And there's a lot of fanfare and excitement around it. And maybe we'll have a couple of those in the next week and the last week of the regular season. We're speaking to Sportsnet NHL host, David Amber, here on the Haliford and Brush show on Sportsnet 650. Turning our attention to that other Canadian team in the Eastern Conference, wild card spot, the Ottawa Senators. They will sit and wait now to see what Toronto and Tampa Bay do tonight. Huge

game in terms of Atlantic jockeying for position top spot in the division. I'm just going to say this like I'm not normally one to actively cheer for the Toronto Maple Leafs but whatever it takes to ensure a battle of Ontario in the first round, if that means Toronto has to win tonight and that'll keep the hopes alive, I'm willing to go for it because I really, really want to see Toronto, Ottawa first round. Yeah and then all signs are pointing to that but don't sleep on Montreal. Montreal plays Ottawa on Friday. Imagine if Montreal beats Ottawa, somehow it ends up Toronto, Montreal in the first round. That would be fun too.

Yeah, I think a lot of us are hoping for that. And I think that the beauty of you if you get the battle of Ontario in the first round is you also get the battle of Florida in the first round, which quite frankly, you could argue those are the two best teams in the Eastern Conference, Florida and Tampa, or the two most feared teams just based on their recent track record of what they're able to do in the postseason. So I think it would be fantastic for a lot of fan bases if that's how it plays out and tonight's gonna play a big role in that

Scotiabank Wednesday night hockey our pre games at 330 Pacific time for those Leaf fans who are located out on the West Coast this is the thing the Leafs win tonight and they're in very very very good position to win a division title something they've only done three times in the last 75 years. Let that sink in, three division titles in the last 75 years for the Maple Leafs. If they lose tonight, then suddenly they flip from first to second and Tampa is in complete control of winning the division. And that sets up a Toronto, Florida or potentially a Toronto Ottawa two, three match.

It would be, that would be a bit more of a long shot because Florida has a four point cushion on Ottawa. So this is big for home ice and for the Leafs also, it's a matter of avoiding the road to the Stanley Cups already tough through the Atlantic, right? I'd say the only place that might be tougher is through the central, but through the Atlantic, right? I'd say the only place it might be tougher is through the Central. But through the Atlantic, Florida and Tampa

are two juggernauts. And if you don't win the division, seemingly you're gonna have to beat Florida, let's say in the first round, and then have to beat Tampa in the second round. That's not a path you want to take. Having said that, one thing I'll say is the Leafs have had success this season versus Tampa.

They've beaten them all three times, they've scored five goals in all three of those wins. And maybe this is a matchup that they're, they're less fearful of as than they had been in the past. Plus their only playoff series win, right? In the last 20 years was against Tampa a couple of years ago, but still Tampa, they added at the trade deadline guys. They looked very good. And keep an eye on Vasilevsky. No one's talking about him.

If it wasn't for Connor Hellebuck, he would easily be the Vesna winner this year. Go take a look at how he has performed this year. Most starts, he is second in every category behind Connor Hellebuck. That is how good he has been. Vasilievsky looks to be rested and healthy and back to being the old Vasilievsky and that is a scary proposition. Tonight is a massive, massive game to the leafs. Are you going to be watching the Washington capitals to see how they, I guess, regroup a little bit after Ovechkin breaks the record and there's obviously so much focus and so much emotion and, you know, people will overlook the fact that they actually lost that game to the Highlanders four to one and they haven't

been playing terrific lately and I know a lot of people in Montreal were like, oh, Demidov probably saw the opportunity to maybe play against Ovechkin in the first round and maybe even pull an upset and you know, you already mentioned the Bell Centre, how crazy it's going to be. Like if it is Montreal and Washington and Montreal goes and steals a game in Washington, then it is very much series on. You know what, and I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but does it remind you at all of the path that Boston had two years ago?

Like Washington got off to an incredible start. That division has been there since December. Like it hasn't, they haven't had to play meaningful hockey is what I'm trying to say. And they've been very good, but they've not had to play meaningful hockey. The Jets, even though they started the season 15 and one have had Dallas on their heels for the last six weeks. They've had to play some very meaningful games down the stretch here, important games, playoff style games, things with things on, you know, games with meaningful things on the line. That's not been the case for Washington, it's just been head and shoulders above every other team in the metropolitan division. Just like Boston

two years ago, who played Florida in the first round and lost in seven games, right? I'm not going to go as far as to say that, but Logan Thompson has slid a little bit, their defensive play has slid a little bit. They won 11 straight games, guys, allowing three or more goals. You know that's not a recipe to winning in the playoffs, and it's asking a lot of your offense to score at a higher clip than you're going to have that opportunity to do in the postseason. So there will be a narrative, guys, if Montreal continues their momentum and gets in the playoffs, plays Washington, there will certainly be a narrative out there like this is the series that could we could see an eight over a one. We could see Montreal continue to sort of shock the world.

And there'll be some people who firmly believe that and it'll be incumbent on, you know, Spencer Carberry and that staff to have his, know have the team playing playoff style hockey over this last stretch to get them ready for what's going to be a really tough pass or else the season is going to be a disappointment it's all fine and Danny to win your division and and do well in the regular season but if you don't have playoff success people forget that pretty quickly. Okay so tonight it's five games across the NHL the broadcast broadcast Wednesday nights go shebang hockey begins with Leafs and Lightning,

followed by Blues and Oilers, but don't sleep on the Flames and Ducks, which is also in the second half of the double header. And of course, locally, we're gonna be keeping an eye on the Sharks and Wild. Minnesota's hosting the Sharks, and apparently, if all goes well in the morning, skate this morning, both Kirill Kaprizov

and Joel Erickson-Eck are going to make their returns for the Minnesota Wilds. If San Jose wins tonight, the Canucks are making the playoffs. Let's go. They have to. Are you going to tweet that out? No, no, right away. It's official. People hate me enough on there.

David, take... Look, yeah, sorry, go on. All right, I was just going to say thanks for doing this and enjoy the games tonight, where it's going to be a lot of fun. People hate me enough on there. David, David. Sorry, go on. Alright, thanks for doing this and enjoy the games tonight. It's going to be a lot of fun. Yeah, go Sharks. Leave it at that. Thanks buddy, appreciate this.

Alright guys, thanks again, we'll talk soon. Sounds good. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet. Before we go to break, I do need to tell you about Jan Pro. From the boardroom to the break room and everywhere in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected. For a free quote, visit them online at JanPro.ca. Open segment coming up on the Hellford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Way in. Dumbar lower text line is 650 650.

You can ask us anything you want about last night's game of the future of the Vancouver Canucks. You can also get your What We Learns in. We're going to do those at 8.30 this morning. That's where you tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports and we read it on the radio. Again, Dunbar number text line is 650-650. Get them in. Let us know. We got an entire open segment coming up. We can go across the National Hockey League. We can talk about anything we want because it's our show. You're listening to the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650.

Just when I think you couldn't possibly be any dumber. Dallas goes up five to two. You go and do something like this. Kiefer Sherwood wins it in overtime for the Canucks. And totally redeem yourself. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drantz. 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. Time now for Sportsnet 650 traffic from the 1130 News Radio Traffic Center. Starting in Maple Ridge, a crash is westbound low heat highway near 280th. In Surrey, a crash is 176 at 64th, seeing north and southbound delays. and crews are on scene to a

crash in Burnaby Sprat at Kensington where eastbound is getting by in the left turn lane. When it's time to renew your car insurance, get trusted advice with BCAA, just give them a call, stop by your nearest location or go to BCAA.com. In the 1130 News Traffic Center, I'm Dawn Powers. Good stress is worrying about the power play. Bad stress is worrying about debt. That's why Sands and Associates are the debt help pros. Only a licensed insolvency trustee like Sands has the tools like a consumer proposal

that can slash up to 80% of what you owe, including credit cards, payday loans, and even amount sowing for taxes and student loans. SANS offers a no cost, no obligation, and no judgment 30 minute initial meeting to learn your options. Get started on the road to being debt free and debt stress free today. Visit sans-trustee.com.