Halford & Brough in the Morning - This Is Going To Be A Great Stanley Cup Final

Episode Date: June 5, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look at the previous day in sports, including the Oilers taking game one of the Stanley Cup finals as well as the Abbotsford Canucks going up 3-1 in the AHL Western Conference finals (3:00), plus the boys chat about yesterday's NHL State of the Union from Gary Bettman, and also answer some listener questions, such as Canucks brass being spotted yesterday touring potential new practice facility spots (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- It's a special feeling. It's great for right now, but we've got to look ahead. Cleavage drag move, backhander shot, scores! Let's get out of here! Danila Cleavage just called game four! The Rockies have won their first series of the year. Good morning, Vancouver. Six o'clock on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. have won their first series of the year. Good morning, Vancouver. Six o'clock on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody.

It's Halford and his bruh from his sports net 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. And Ladi, good morning to you as well.

Hello, hello. Halford and bruh for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3,000 five star reviews, visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1117 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step Got a big show ahead on a Thursday so much to get into so much so that we didn't book a guest

For the first hour of Halford and Bruff this morning It's all hell, bro for the first hour as we get into everything that happened on Wednesday and regret that yeah I know can we get someone last minute? Maybe a 630 guest? 645 even. Guest list today begins at 7 o'clock. Adnan Burke from MLB Network is gonna join the program. Don't look now, but the Jays are 7 and 2 in their last 9. They beat the Phillies last night. They're just a half game out of the wild card. I don't want to say it, but I'm gonna say it. Let's go.. We're also going to talk to add that up. Yeah, that's right. We're also going to talk to add Nan about the red hot Colorado Rockies. Is the hell bro bump a real thing? Sure feels like it.

We'll talk to add in about all things baseball at seven o'clock this morning. Seven thirty. Adam Stanley is going to join the program. Sportsnet golf analyst Jason, the Canadian Open is underway. I checked the leaderboard this morning, Nick Taylor off to a not so bad start, although I think he might have dropped now. No, there he is. He's 200 through five.

That's pretty good. One off the lead. I don't know this course that they're playing at. I don't know any course that they ever play at. Yeah, I don't know that well either. So we'll talk to Adam about that and maybe some of the, we'll talk to him about some of the comments that Rory McIlroy made recently just

because he didn't make them at any other tournaments, he comes to Canada to make his comments. He gets all chirpy and friendly. Yeah. That's the Canadian influence. He's like, ah, maybe the Leafs can win the Stanley Cup one day. That's his Rory McIlroy voice.

Also his Lucky Charms voice. Thomas Drance is going to join us at eight o'clock. We've got a lot to get into with Drance around the hockey front Stanley Cup finals. Game one. Kevin Dean defensive assistant coach reportedly joining the Canucks organization. Yogi Sveikovsky the offensive coordinator. Let's call him that last year as an assistant coach apparently leaving the organization to rejoin Rick talking in Philadelphia. And what's the next personnel move or moves for the Vancouver Canucks after the four board extension, we'll talk to Drance about all that at eight o'clock.

We are once again giving away a $50 gift card to white spot today. That'll be awarded daily. It's a loud breathing going on. Can you hear that? Oh, it was you. Oh, his brow. Nevermind. Is there someone behind us? It's a loud breathing going on can you hear that? Oh you oh Is there someone behind us what's going on you ran to work? Yeah? In the background here a stranger whistling noise we're giving away a $50 gift card to white spot today We're doing it every day this week Hey write this down because nobody called yesterday call it number five at 815 this morning six oh four two eight oh zero six fifty that number again six oh four two eight Oh zero six fifty. We gotta remind people to this feels like a reminder No, I said the phone number a couple times throughout the show and yeah, these people have short memories

They're looking for something to do when drances on the air At least I can do is remember when the contest Call our number five at 815 this morning right in the middle of the Thomas Drantz hit white spot BC spot to celebrate all of life's big and little moments. Okay, that's the show That's what's happening on the program today. Let's get into everything that happened laddie. Let's tell everybody what happened Hey, did you guys see the game last night? What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed that?

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. Boar were retreated to an excellent game one of the Stanley Cup finals yesterday Leon dry titles power play goal with just 31 seconds left in the first overtime Oilers come back for a two-goal deficit the Florida Panthers do not often

Lose after leading by two goals in the playoffs for three for the Oilers in game one Here's what dry titles game winner sounded like with 31 seconds left in overtime. Just a beautiful goal to end a pretty fun game. So many Oilers made a play on that goal from Nuge staying patient and protecting the puck at the point before giving it to Perry in the corner and made a neat pass to McDavid who comes out and finds dry sidle with a perfect pass in the slot.

And you know, dry sidles going to bury that. One of the best goal scorers in the NHL. Nuge didn't get a point on the play, but his composure at the point was key. He drew in two Panthers, including Brad Marshawn by the way, who let Dry Cytle go free in the slot. And if you watch the replay, Marshawn has

that, oh no moment. That's my guy. He realizes that McDavid's got the puck and dry sidles skating downhill towards the one timer and oh, it's, it's too late and this place is very, very loud right now. Um, you mentioned that the Panthers did not make a habit of blowing leads.

Well, that's what the Edmonton Oilers can do. Against a team like Florida, the Edmonton Oilers, you know, they're like, yeah, I don't, I don't care if you close out every game. Um, that's, that's other teams. That's, that's not us. And, uh, maybe the Oilers got a little bit lucky on the second goal.

Uh, Bobrowski maybe regretting that one, should have had that one. But after that, like it went, you know, the Panthers had a really good second period and then the Oilers took over and Florida was never able to regain their composure. Um, and I think a lot of people now are looking back at the last Stanley Cup final and going, you know, like dry saddle wasn't a hundred percent in their composure. And I think a lot of people now are looking back

at the last Stanley Cup final and going, you know, like dry saddle wasn't a hundred percent in that one. A Vanderkeen was far from a hundred percent in that one. They've got some energy in their lineup. Kapanen was really good and yes, Pod Kolzin was very good for the Edmonton Oilers.

And if you want to have a debate about whether the Canucks made a mistake there, that's fine. He's playing really well. He's earned that debate in Vancouver. He's adding energy there. He was in a fourth line role yesterday and the fourth line played very well. Sometimes he bumps up to play with a guy like

Dry-Seidel, but he's been in a fourth line role and lately and doing a really good job of it. And it just feels like the Oilers took over that but he's been in a fourth line role lately and doing a really good job of it. And it just feels like the Oilers took over that game and the Panthers got in a position where, and Brad Marshawn said this after the game, we were just flipping pucks out and then they would come right back at us. And, you know, it's unfortunate for, for, it was Nocek that put the puck over the poor Tommy Nocek, but like, you know, there was pressure on him.

I think it was Pod Kolzin that was pressuring him. And when you get hit and hit and hit and hit and hit, sometimes you make a play like that and just gets a little careless. You want the puck off your stick, trying to put it off the glass and out, it goes out and that's a penalty for the Panthers and the Oilers power play takes over.

Power play had been 0 for 3 up to that point, but you're kind of sitting there going like, man, they're 0 for 3 up to that point. They're taking over the game or they have taken over the game. There's a very good chance that they're going to score on this power play and they did. So the couple takeaways from game one for me, that kind of followed the trends that I was following going into the series. One, if you want to talk about who dictated the style, not necessarily the tempo of play, because I think the Panthers did a good job of dictating for stretches, but in the end it was Edmonton that played the better game overall in terms of

dictating what they wanted to do, setting out and accomplishing it. Edmonton has been a comeback team all post-season long. The Oilers led the league going into this series for most comeback wins in the post-season with seven. They also tied now a franchise record for most multi-goal comebacks in a single playoff, right? This is their third they've done out where they don't feel like they're out of it

if they're down a goal, and they really don't feel like they're out of it down two or three because they have the ability to come back. They've showed it in different series and they were able to do it yesterday. They fell back three one building got quiet but they kind of methodically went about their business and were able to claw their way back into the game and great composure to. I thought they I personally thought they got hosed on that allowed goal. I thought they, I personally thought they got hosed on that allowed goal. I guess technically, technically you could say the referees made the right call, but Bennett did not do anything. He did not make what they would say best efforts to avoid goalie interference.

Yeah, he got tripped up a little bit by the Oilers defenseman, but he, he was was like kind of like, oh good, I've been tripped up by the Oilers defenseman, now I'm going to fall into Stuart Skinner. And I was actually a little bit surprised that that goal stood. I understood why it stood, but I also thought the referees might have looked at it and said like, yeah Bennett's still knocked into Skinner intentionally. He almost like took advantage of being tripped a little too far. I believe the broadcast said that goalie interference challenges this postseason now are

a grand total of 0 for 4. Which is hilarious because they talked about it at one of the GM's meetings or Board of Governors meetings or something, and they went over all these plays and they're like, okay, I think we got a handle on this now. We know now these plays and they're like, okay, I think we got a handle on this now. Now the coaches are like, yeah, we're still confused.

And the fans are too because, and the media as well, because on social media, everyone was like, yeah, that goal isn't going to stand. And I kind of said, like, I think he got to like, in my back of my mind, I was like, I agree with that, but I think he got a little tripped up there. I wonder if the referees will take that into account. And at any rate, like the point stands, ultimately it didn't really matter to the others because they won, but it does matter big picture. But I think it's a credit to the Oilers.

And we've talked about this before. Like I thought we saw two teams in the conference finals that got rattled. Carolina I think got rattled, Dallas got rattled. The Oilers did a good job to be like, okay, sometimes bad things happen in games. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to lose your composure, start

freaking out at the referees, get off your game? No. I mean, that was a two goal swing. First of all, the goal was allowed. Then the Panthers scored on the power play that came from the failed challenge. And you're right, the building was quiet. And then later on in the game, it was three to

one for Florida. And at that point, you know, some teams might be like, man, I'm still mad about that call. That was like, but the Oilers just stayed focused. They got a bit of a break on the second goal and then they took over the game. And, you know, I'm not saying the Oilers were totally incapable of doing that last season, but I think they've grown in maturity to the point where they know what they can do. And they definitely did not want to fall behind, you

know, in the series three, nothing, and especially with home ice advantage and they deserve to win that game. Yeah. And it's, and it's concerning cause I don't like it. It was funny when, when they, you know, I started to wonder, I was like, ah, I wonder if I'll, I'll be cheering at all for the, there's like, it seems to

be the trend, you know, in Canada, everyone's cheering for those. I'm like, Nope. if I'll be cheering at all for the Oilers. It seems to be the trend in Canada. Everyone's cheering for the Oilers. I'm like, nope, started the game, still desperately cheering for Florida to win this series. Well, I'm kind of in the same boat. The other thing that really worried me, the second point I wanted to make about the Oilers setting out their goals and accomplishing them is, and I mentioned this a couple of times going into the series, in each series, when it came time to clinch, the Oilers did not mess around. First elimination opportunity they got against LA,

and then in the second round and then against Dallas, all three, Vegas, Dallas, LA, they all took care of business in that first elimination game. Last night, what happens? They get one power play. I honestly thought, I'm like, if they don't score on this power play and the Panthers can kind of hang on and get it to the intermission that's gonna be a big

momentum swinger in favor of Florida right they'll be able to go into the room they'll be able to get rested they'll come on probably kill whatever would have been left on the power play I don't know if there would have been much but yeah you kind of fell in that moment because again if anyone knows anything about hockey the delay game penalty in a crucial moment it's almost always in the back of the net right it's like this is a goal coming up You just can feel it for some reason or another yeah and Edmonton It really felt like they knew like this is our chance like we're not wasting this we are going to end the game right here

Very reflective of what they were able to do in the three previous series in elimination moments by the way was that the most NHL to do in the three previous series in elimination moments. By the way, was that the most NHL officiated game? Like it was just classic. The first period was a ref show and then they're like. Then they got the call. No more penalties. Slow it down. No more penalties.

And of course the only penalty that's called in overtime is a puck over the glass. I think there was one other penalty, a high sticking call or something like that. That was pretty obvious, but it was like, okay, the first period we'll make some calls. The second period, you know, and for the rest of the game, we won't call anything. Did everyone in listener land out there watching the game? Did you guys see Jake Walman openly laughing and mocking Thomas Nosek after he took the penalty? Not after they scored the goal after he took the penalty.

The balls on this guy, although they did score. So he was ultimately proven right. He went right up into his face and started laughing. And I'm like, okay, they're a confidence there for sure. And Wallman's of course the guy that's doing it. But I'm like, you know, it's bad mojo, especially if you don't score, but lo and behold they score.

What a great play too, by the way. Corey Perry, turning back the clock. No look, behind the back, sauce passes, like at 40 years old. No wonder he wants to play another year. Um, the Bruins just announced their newest head coach, 30th head coach in franchise history, it is Marco Sturm, um, a guy that had been rumored for that job. So the Bruins just now announcing Marco Sturm as the new head coach and the penguins yesterday announcing

Dan Muse. Yep, Dan Muse. I Don't that was so off the grid So off the radar nobody had any idea that was coming I want to say kudos to Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh management group and the executive for keeping it under wraps But I don't even know if you needed to get it told everyone that you were hiring him They would there were a few penguins just people that were kind of on it group and the executive for keeping it under wraps but I don't even know if you needed to get it told everyone that you're hiring him they would have been there were a few penguins just people that were kind of on it but yeah he wasn't the leading candidate I don't think for too many insiders so he's the 22 years old he's five years older than Sidney Crosby and Josh oh he's got a

great breakdown of the outside the box hire a guy that's never been a head coach, aside from a brief gig in the USHL, largely an assistant or associate coach at every level that he's been to kind of known more as a guy who loves teaching the game. But you'll had a really great breakdown about the passing of the torch from Mike Sullivan to Dan Muse. And what he said essentially was, Kyle Dubas had some remarks this off season that said, and I'm paraphrasing, but Sully's a guy

in this phase of his career that's not coaching to teach, he's coaching to win. He's a guy that wants to be competing for trophies, not showing, and the joke in the piece was showing 20-year-old guys the nuances of the penalty kill. Right. Right. Like you need certain coaches at certain stages of where you're at with your

franchise. Now, the interesting thing is that Dan Muse inherits a team that still has the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, Chris LaTang and Eric Carlson on the roster. But they're probably like, I think Sid knows how to play hockey. Sure. The question is, what becomes the rest of these guys? Like, does this sort of kickstart a guys? This is the direction we're going in with our 42 year old first time NHL head coach. This is how it's going to be around here. I think they're going to try hard to trade Carlson.

He's off season. We've seen this before in the NHL. You bring in a guy like that to coach young players, teach them how to play in the National Hockey League. And you've got a great mentor in Sydney Crosby to assist in that. The other thing, Yohei pointed out in that piece is that Sid was adamant in every time that he was asked about this. He's like, I don't want any input on the coach.

Yeah, I want to play. Kyle's in charge of hiring the coach now to know if like hindsight being 20, 20. Like I got a little on tour. It's like Dan Muse. Who is this guy? It sounds made up. So I think that's it for the coaching carousel. Dan Muse goes to Pittsburgh, Marco Sturm to Boston, Lane Lambert to Seattle.

We barely talked about that, but. And we just did. And we just did. There we go. There's analysis. Lane Lambert goes to Seattle. Jeff Blashill to Chicago. Adam Foote to Vancouver.

Rick Tauke to Philly. And Joel Quenville to the Anaheim Ducks. And Mike Sullivan to the New York Rangers. Got a lot of coaching changes. Let's talk about Abbotsford. Let's do it. Danila Klimovic, highlight real goal. Another overtime winner late in overtime.

321 into double overtime As a matter of fact, Lattie will play the audio here. Our guy Brandon Astle on the call. Clemovich scores Abbotsford five four win over Texas to take a three one lead in the Western conference final. Here's what it sounded like. Over to Mancini center ice feed. Here's Clemovich trying to pick up speed in the attacking zone down the right wing. Cleovich drag move backhander shot scores! Let's get out of here! Danila Klemovich just called game four! Are you kidding me?

So this game had a little bit of everything in it. First off, the only reason it went to overtime is because the Stars scored the game-tying goal with 18.7 seconds left in regulation. Prior to that, uh, there were four lead changes. Abbots for chased Dallas's starting goalie, Remy Poirier. They had four goals on 11 shots. He got the hook. Then Helberg, remember him, Lanny Magnus Helberg, he came in for the straight equipment. Really? Yeah. He's really cool designs on his pads. I had no idea. And then the game winning goal comes from this unbelievable solo effort

from Danila Klimovic, who hadn't played in a single game in this series prior to yesterday. So not only does he get to go in the game, man, he's like, hey, get out there for a shift in double OT, and then he scores this highlight reel goal to win it. So everything happens. Who's the guy that, who's the left D man that he beat?

Oh. If you watch the replay, that left D man is going to stay in the a HL. I think something like Kyle Kyle Luft L. O. F. T. Luft a little aloofed on that play Yeah, he's gonna be left in the a HL. It was not great for him Nice play by clemavich very play. Very nice play on my guy. Linus Carlson gets another goal. I'm telling you, man, if he doesn't have a prominent role

on the Vancouver Canucks last year, I will have lost all my faith in the significance of the Colter Cup playoffs because he has been. Next year. Amazing. Sorry, next year. He has been amazing. Consistent, finding the back of the net with regularity, every sort

of scenario. And again, there's other guys on that team that have also had cups of coffee and looks in the NHL and they're producing, but not with the regularity. Carlson's a good Carlson guy for that team. Carlson has also worked really hard. I've heard from a few people that he's a guy that has taken advantage of the people that are teaching down in Abbotsford, including the Sedines, and he is working hard.

And it's great to see that he's getting the results down there. He's the type of player, I mean, the Canucks need all sorts of players in their forward group, but he's a big dude that can score. I don't know if he can be a top six guy in the NHL, but I know he can be a useful player. Because just watching him this season,

I think most people that watched him were like, there's something there. There's something there with Linus Carlsen. He's not the flashiest player, but there's always these guys that, I mean, I personally tend to like, notice and like Yannick Hansen when he was with the Canucks, Tyler Mott when he was with the Canucks, Tyler Mott when he was

with the Canucks and Linus Carlsen is kind of like the latest guy that I'm like, there's something there. I don't know if he's got top six potentially, certainly not going to change the fortunes of the Vancouver Canucks all by himself, but if you get a bunch of guys like Linus Carlsen, you're going to be doing okay. Tristan Nielsen scored twice. Of course, there's another guy that got a look with the Vancouver Canucks. I'll be a briefly Victor Mancini continues his fantastic run of play as well.

And this Calder Cup playoff with another goal last night already see loves the numbers were fine. He gave up four goals on 31 shots, so 27 saves. But he was able to improve to three and oh and overtime games this postseason So he continues to tick a lot of boxes with regards to how important a role he's played in this Calder Cup playoff And I think right now he's got to be one of the three leading candidates to be the playoff MVP Given how well he's played and how much he's played as well, but another great result for the Aventura Canucks They now take a stranglehold on this series. They're up 3-1

They can secure a trip to the Calder Cup Finals with another win in game five on Friday night. No reminder, we'll have it all right here on Sportsnet 650. OK, just to reset everything that's going to happen on the program today, we have an entire first hour open here. We've covered a lot in the first half hour of the program. There's still some other stories we need to get to in the back half of this hour. So if you want us to weigh in on anything,

Dunbar number text line is 650-650. Fire away, also start getting your what we learns in. Dunbar number text line 650-650, hashtag it WWL. At seven o'clock, Adnan Burke's gonna join us for some baseball talk. Adam Stanley's gonna talk Canadian Open at 7.30. Then there'll be more hockey talk at eight o'clock with Thomas Drantz from the athletic.

We can get into everything with Drantz regarding the Vancouver Canucks and whatnot, but we've gone through the Stanley cup final. We've gone through Abbotsford Canucks in the Calder cup final. Uh, we talked about the two coaching hires and if you missed it, Boston announced this morning that former Boston Bruin and of course former brief Vancouver Canuck Marco Sturm is their new head coach so there's a lot to get into we still haven't talked about the PWHL stuff Vancouver starting to fill out its roster along with Seattle of course and Gary Bettman's state of the

Union address from yesterday nothing really groundbreaking or earth shattering from the NHL commissioner but there were some very interesting things that we can get into on the other side that That's all coming up. Entire uninterrupted hour of Halbrow to start the show. You're listening to the Hal Ferdinand 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 PM on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 6.30 on a Thursday, it's Thrash Thursday here on the Haliford & Brough Show on Sportsnet

650. The most polarizing musical day we have here at Haliford & Brough. Haliford & 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 sands-trustee.com. Okay, we asked and you delivered with a bunch of text into the Dunbar Lumber Text Line. 650-650, Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years.

Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at DunbarLumber.com. Here's a question. What do you make of the reported interests the Canucks have in Bowen Byram? Should they not be more focused on adding forwards, especially with the limited assets they have to trade from? Do you think they might already know the answer on if Hughes is resigning? Yes to all those questions. Yes.

They should be more focused on adding forwards, but I don't think this means that they're not focused on that. I think they're just checking in and this 100% has to do with Quinn Hughes' future. Yeah. I would still be of the mindset of if there's good players available and you're intrigued by

them, it does not matter. All position less at this point. Yeah, it's not like their blue line is So deep and so talented that they should neglect the position entirely and also the other point Of course is you have to look beyond this season Even though there seems to be a singular focus about this season You do have to prep for the inevitability if you want to call it that. Right? But, but, but I get what the texture is saying. Sure. Like they have limited assets to deal with.

What are they going to, like, how would they add Byrom, would they trade one of their young defensemen to get him and then they've got him, but they don't have one of their young defensemen to turn into a forward, right? Very clearly, you're going to have to make another trade after that. Maybe you trade one of your more veteran defensemen, right? This is a lot of work and it would be a challenge.

I would just go back to my earlier statement though. If there's good players available and you think you're in the running for them. Of course, I brought this up yesterday and I reiterated. There is, granted it might be a little bit yesterday and I reiterated, if you, I, there is, granted it might be a little bit of a Homer thing and a little West Coast thing, but if you could bring players back home, I think there's something to be said for it.

I really do. I don't know if it'll ever manifest itself to being an actual quote unquote thing where you get the Ontario boys wanting to go back to the Leafs and they can use that in their favor, either in free agency or if you've got a guy willing to wave, there's no trade. Is he willing to put you to the Leafs and they can use that in their favor either in free agency or if you've got a guy willing to wave is no trade is he willing to put you on the list of teams that he's accepted to go to will that ever happen with Vancouver in this younger generation of players that grew up here idolizing the Sedin era and being big Canucks fans I'd love it to I would

love for the Canucks to have one of those advantages that is unique to them that might be able to make them more of a desired landing spot. Because what are we talking about in the National Hockey League right now? Was it the biggest talking point from Gary Bittman's media availability yesterday was this advantage that the Florida teams have now, you know, six consecutive Stanley Cup finals split between the Panthers and the Lightning and the warm climate and the tax free state. And those are the places where right now

a lot of free agents want to go. It'd be lovely if Vancouver was able to be, have, just carve out its own little niche with guys that wanted to come back home and play. Yeah, like when they were able to attract local boy Danton Heinen and turn the franchise around. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Yeah, but with Bedard and Celebrini,

it's a little bit different. Sure. Slightly different level than Danton Heinen. Yes. No offense to Danden Heinen. Yes. No offense to Danden Heinen. Um, well, one of the advantages that some teams have is a, is a really nice practice facility and there were a few texts in, uh, Brough, do you have any more info on the practice facility file?

Do you think they're getting close? No, I don't think they're getting close. They're still touring sites. Getting back to Burnaby though. Like they're not going to No, I don't think they're getting close. They're still touring sites get back to Burnaby though Like they're not gonna South Burnaby for a practice facility while they were there yesterday What well, let's just explain what they're gonna they're gonna they're gonna put a practice facility close to New Westminster when all the players Live on on the West side. I'm a possibility You're gonna make the players drive an hour. Have you ever been you don't have a car? No traffic in Vancouver

I know I know getting like anywhere. I know I mean there's a lot that's that's that's not like that's not gonna solve the problem That's gonna be like and the practice facilities You know what let's just go to UBC. I don't care if there's like no dressing room there or whatever as a burdeny resident I care not for this slander. However, as a North Burnaby resident, I'm okay with slandering South Burnaby. Okay, so the story here, in case you missed it somehow yesterday, was that some of the top brass, Jim Rutherford, Patrick Alveen, Michael Doyle,

and Dax Aquilini, the son of co-owner Roberto Aquilini, were spotted, spotted by an intrepid iPhone, or maybe it was an Android, I don't know, holder yesterday at Rosemary Brown Recreation Center in South Burnaby. That's one of the new builds in the Edmonds area. It's a big, shiny, relatively new public facility. And I guess that in their quest to try and figure something out on the practice facility front, this was one of the tours that the brass underwent. Well, Britannia makes way more sense because

they were at Britannia as well. Um, East Van, I remember playing there as a kid and they would have to put a lot of work into Britannia. What do you mean? Uh, well. It's old. So if anyone, uh, I have not skated at Britannia in years. I know the Canucks used to do their Skates there like their preseason skates. They're kind of unofficial skates captain's game

Yeah, they would go there because it's close to everyone. Yeah again, it's close A lot of the players live in Yaltown So it's easy for them to get to Britannia But correct me if I'm wrong, but one side of the rink doesn't have like glass, it has like a mural. That's right. So you're like, all right guys, mural and out. Yeah. Right?

Play, play, go off that mural. But here's another thing that I think should be a consideration. This should be a help to the community. How many times do you see these stories like, okay, we talked about the Florida Panthers practice facility yesterday. When the Panthers aren't using the ice, the community should be using the ice. And there is a lack of ice in the lower

mainland right now. You know, I'm a minor hockey coach and I talk to other coaches from other associations like Vancouver. They have trouble finding ice and it would be really nice if this practice facility could help the community as well. It would be nice if there was a partnership with one of the cities. Obviously, this is what they're exploring. If they're going to Burnaby and they're going to Vancouver and Britannia to see what they can do there. That's my hope, that not only can the Canucks get a really nice practice facility for

them, but that it's also a community asset. I hope they figure it out, but I also realized, this is going to take a while. It's going to take a long time. And I hope they figure it out, but I also realize, this is gonna take a while. Yeah. It's gonna take a long time. There's no easy and there's no quick solution or fix on the horizon. I will say Britannia, Jim C., also the former site

of the now defunct Halford Old Man basketball run on Wednesday nights. Great, Jim. I mean, honestly, all joking aside, we did run there. It was great. It's an amazing location, right? Here's a text from Keith the Grip. Bruff, I think it's pretty obtuse for you to suggest that the players aren't going to

drive half an hour or 45 minutes to get to a practice facility in a metropolis such as ours. Everybody else does it. No, they don't. Obtuse. They don't. Annoyingly insensitive. They're going to have to as well.

That's just the fact KTG says, no, that's not true. A lot of the practice facilities in the States are in the suburbs where the players live. Like Cranberry. Like that's. Cranberry. You're being. That's intentional.

You're being obtuse. Now I feel like it's a Shawshank redemption here. Somebody. One of our. You can be so obtuse. One of like it's a Shawshank redemption here. Somebody, one of our. Can you be so obtuse? One of our listeners linked us to a tour of that Florida Panthers practice facility and it's amazing. Like it's got the Whirlpool room.

It's got the Whirlpool. But I saw the, the, the tweet about them going to see that Burnaby location. It said two ice pads and a multipurpose room. Love it. Like is it going to be up to par with what the Florida Panthers have, even if they do, you know, shoehorn their way into one of these local arenas?

No. I feel like it's not going to be close to what these other teams have even. It's do you want this? We got a game room, a shuffleboard. Oh, a multi-purpose room. Nice. Team bonding can go on in there. You can do Tai Chi with the seniors. Yeah, they need top of the line facility. And this is the NHL we're talking about here. You can't just slap a practice facility on the side of Britannia Arena. Okay, you do bring up a, incredibly, you bring up a semi-valid point here. It's because there's the added factor that there's pressure now because they're one of 32 now that Calgary is building that doesn't have one. So to say, you know,

there's the idea of we want to do a brand new build state of the art facility. They'll be on par with some of the best ones in the, in the league. But then you look at it and you're like, that could take an exceptionally long time and it's already been an exceptionally long time. You should have started at five years ago. Well, I mean, yes, probably. However, you're in the situation that you're in, right?

Looking back and doing a retroactive glance at whatever's gone on, it's kind of a waste of energy and a waste of breath because at this point, you're talking about June 5th, what are we gonna do moving forward, right? So I just wanna, I wanna again respond to Keith the grip because he, because he called me obtuse. Do you remember when the Islanders had their arena, um, they,

they moved to the nets arena. And it was an issue with the, where the practice was practice facility was like there was too much driving going on from the players and they were annoyed by it. Players hated it. Like you need to turn this practice facility into an asset, not a, Oh God, Like there was too much driving going on from the players and they were annoyed by it. Players hated it. Players hated it. You need to turn this practice facility into an asset, not a, oh God, you go to Vancouver and you got a nice practice facility, but it's an hour drive. It has to work.

If they have to go to a place like Britannia and pour a bunch of money into it, then that's what they're going to have to do because that is the standard. That is the standard of these facilities. And again, Britannia needs to be renoed anyway. Like get together, strike a deal with the city and figure it out. Like that's what has to be done. They got, they got to do this. They can't, they can't build a brand spanking new facility an hour away from Rogers Arena and traffic in Vancouver.

That's not gonna do anything to help the situation. It's gonna make the situation worse. They're gonna be like, I'd rather just skate at UBC. You got the Pacific Coliseum in the heart of downtown. I just have to say it. Hey, Don, come on. It's right there.

Captain Agrodome over here. Yeah, refurbished the Agrodome. There you go. Okay We'll move into some other news and notes from around the sporting world Yes, we will stick with the nhl prior to game one of the stanley cup final nhl commissioner gary bethman did his annual state of the union address along with Deputy commissioner bill daly. So here's how i'll break it down. Uh, I guess the biggest news is that Cba extension is close to be getting done. Betman wasn't ready to say yet that it's done, but he did say, and this comes off

last year's Board of Governors meeting in New York suggesting that if all went well, he would have a new CBA to announce at the Cup final. Betman said it's not there yet, but all things are still trending in a positive direction. He said so positive that negotiations in no way mirror prior negotiations which as you may remember didn't go all that well. Now within that CBA there's two very important things that people thought were going to be addressed. One apparently will, one apparently won't. The tax thing. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daley told reporters there will be no changes

in the upcoming CBA to account for any of the perceived advantages teams have in tax friendly states. So Daley essentially shot it down yesterday. Very brief remarks saying that it's been around for a long time. He doesn't want to understand why it would be an issue now. He said this is probably just the cyclical nature of competitive teams in the National Hockey League. Ron Hainsey, who works for the NHLPA,

explained it a little bit more thoroughly and said, this, they don't see what's going on right now is anything more than the cyclical change in the National Hockey League. And he pointed out that prior to the Florida teams making six straight runs to the Stanley Cup finals, you had a run of original six teams making repetitive straight runs to the Stanley Cup finals. You had a run of original six teams making repetitive deep runs.

The Rangers, the Blackhawks, the Bruins all had their runs at being the sort of like teams that were making repeat appearances in the Stanley Cup final and being the most competitive team. So that's that. Don't expect any changes on the tax front. Interesting thing. LTIR. This came a couple of weeks ago when Bill Daley did a Q&A with the Athletic, where he said that the NHLPA and the league have agreed to

tweak LTIR and the loophole when it comes to no salary cap in the playoffs. Hainsey confirmed it yesterday in speaking with reporters, said it was quote of high importance to the league and said that it's already being addressed as they draw up the next

CBA. Um, yeah. So I don't think, I think all that information, it's good information. Like I don't think the bottom line is they're not going to fix the tax situation. Be too complicated anyway. And how would you, if you're going to equalize

all the markets, like how are you going to equalize cost of living? How are you going to equalize cost of living? How are you going to equalize, you know, some people say, well, the players that play in Canada have this advantage because they're paying in US dollars and buying things in Canadian dollars. Like, I don't know if that argument holds water, but like, how are you going to equalize a tax situation where players are doing things to avoid taxes? You know?

Well, the answer is they're not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're just there like, this is not something that our collective bargaining agreement needs to address. I think a way more interesting thing is the LTIR. You know, Jim Rutherford made an interesting comment that kind of flew under the radar. I think at the end of season presser, and

I'm paraphrasing here, but he said, there are ways for non Canadian players to deal with the tax situation in Vancouver. Not so like there, I guess there's an incentive to sign non Canadian players, which they've really leaned into apparently, because there aren't many Canadian players. But essentially I like to follow up on that.

Yeah. And be like, what is this? What is it? What is this so-called advantage that you have for Americans or Europeans, people that aren't Canadians, that like I don't make enough money where I have to go to an accountant and be like, I need some tax strategies, brother.

Like I'm getting killed by the man here. Yeah, me neither. I did my taxes in two minutes on TurboTax. It was pretty straightforward. Yeah. And pretty sad, right? Wasn't great. Yeah, you're like, this was way too easy to do.

Not complicated at all. As for the LTI issue, now there is an easy solution to this. Just extend the salary cap into the playoffs. And it's so easy. It makes me wonder why they hadn't done it already. But I don't know if that is the solution. It seems like it's got to, what else would you do? It's you can do a few things. You can limit the amount of players you've got on LTIR. It seems like the amount.

It seems like every other solution is really convoluted, and extending the salary cap to the postseason makes it really straightforward. You brought up a good point here in the notes that it is a terrible look for the NHL, where good players are incentivized to miss games, because it's more advantageous to the team in the long run. You don't want that.

No. You don't want that. I've never criticized for teams taking advantage of this loophole, but there's a reason they call it a loophole, right? This is not in the spirit of the CBA to be like, you're just going to sit a little bit longer. Okay. Cause we need you for the playoffs.

Yep. There's no salary cap in the playoffs. So just, uh, just rest that knee a little bit longer. Florida's and I can say this with confidence. Florida's not in the spot they're in right now if Matthew Kachuck and Aaron Echblad aren't missing the final 20, 25 games

of the regular season, right? I mean, they were, it gave them the flexibility, roster and cap-wise, to be able to make the additions that they've made. And to be able to come back and game one of the playoffs, here's the thing, for the ardent hockey fan, we've seen it so often that we almost kind of shrug at it. Now, I don't know, I mean, I'm like, well, you know,

you want to play the game, you play the game. But I know that Betman and Daley, they don't like it historically when someone finds a way to wiggle around their rules. That was the whole Cap Sir convention thing, right? It was more about the spirit of the rule and people intentionally trying to cheat the rules. They really get their backs up about that, especially Gary Bettman.

It's almost like he doesn't want to be made a fool. No one makes a fool of Gary Bettman, right? Because he's sort of the front facing part of this league. And whenever someone is underneath them dancing around the rules they put forth, he feels like, you know, he's been not necessarily taken advantage of, but he's made to look a fool. And I don't think he appreciates that at all.

So they're usually pretty good about cleaning those things up. Now, in the case of Betman with the long-term contracts, it was more punitive than anything else. I think they might just fix this and not really getting anybody retroactively. Um, what did you think about, uh, Yogi leaving than anything else. I think they might just fix this and not really anybody retroactively.

What did you think about Yogi leaving the Canucks for Philly? So it's not made official yet, right? We want to make this abundantly clear. There's just a couple different reports out there, including one from Czech TV's Rick Dollywall that after one year on the job as the offensive coordinator, one of the assistant coaches who handled the offense, Yogi Sveikovsky is leaving the Vancouver Canucks and he's joining former Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tauke, who now of course is the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. That's what did I think of it when I heard the news? I wasn't entirely surprised, although there were additional reports that said the Canucks were keen on keeping him. So it's obviously a loss from that regard. Anytime you want to retain somebody and you lose, would he have been the

forwards coach on the staff, though? Sounds like it sounds like the hierarchy would have been Adam foot as the Don, the Kappa and his henchmen would have been soldiers. Kevin Dean, again, not official yet, but it sounds as though former Chicago Blackhawks Assistant coach Kevin Dean is gonna be joining the fold as a defensive coach from Vancouver Canucks And you I liken it to what NFL teams do there's a head coach. There's an offensive coordinator and there's a defensive coordinator It's the easiest way to think about but I wonder if like Yogi was like the quarterbacks coach

I think do you know what I mean? Like was he the was he the full offensive coordinator or was he something else? Here's the thing. I want them to bring in someone with new ideas that hasn't been with the organization and I want them to have an offensive. Um. Lean. Lean.

Slant. Right? Like I know Kevin Dean is going to be new to the organization and he's going to maybe bring in some new ideas, but Adam Foote is already the head coach. He's, we're good on defense. Yep. Right. It's amazing to say bring in some new ideas. But Adam Foote is already the head coach. We're good on defense. Yep.

It's amazing to say, but the Canucks are good on the blue line. They got a lot of D. They're good on defense, but what they need is better forwards, more forwards, and also a coach that can get the most out of them. Yeah. Because as much as I supported Rick Tocketke for the most part, when he was here, like there's no question that I was watching, I'm, you know, I'm watching the same games as you and I'm like, is there someone with some different ideas

on how to coach some offense? Because if I see another point shot, there's going to be some trouble. Like I know what Rick Tauke was saying, you got to move your feet and you got to, you got to get to the interior of the ice and the coaches can't do it for you. Which is kind of what reminiscent of what Pete DeBoer said after the Dallas Oilers series. But, and I understand that, like I realize that the coaches can't do everything for you and offensively, a lot of the times it's just up to

the players. Like you look at that Oilers goal in overtime, like I don't think that was a lot of coaching. That was just like, that's some pretty good players out there making some really nice plays. But. You imagine if Chris Knobloch drew that up, he's like, and then Corey Perry does a spin move,

no look, sauce, behind the back to McDavid. Just like we drew it up. We drew it up. All that being said, you know, I'm open to any ideas after watching the Canucks for a season and a half really struggle to score, like struggle to get shots on net. Okay, so let alone score. Initially you asked me what I thought of this.

So here's my thought. It became abundantly clear when you listened to Rick Taukett speak last year, two things. One, he was very fond of Yogi on his coaching staff. And two, he entrusted Yogi with a lot of responsibilities. I parsed through enough of Rick Tuckett, audio and interviews from last year to know that Yogi played a large role in coaching the power play and played a large role with particular elements of the Canucks offensive systems.

I don't want to say that Rick Tuckett deferred to Yogi when it came to the offensive philosophy because he's the head coach of the team, but I think he entrusted him with a lot of the responsibilities. With that said, if you did not love the way that the Canucks approached the game offensively last year, you're probably OK with them going in a different direction after one year on the job. How much of last year's philosophy was Yogi based and Tuckett based? We'll probably never know. That's probably between the two coaches and even they would say it's a hybrid thing.

It's not necessarily one or the other dictating how we played. But there were times last year where it felt very static and very predictable and very repetitive. If they're to move off that, I'd be OK. And I'm also a proponent for change in general. Yeah. Unless you've got a perfect fit in a coaching position, I don't think it's that bad of an idea to bring in new ideas because you know, one, when

you bring in a new guy, there's a certain level of energy and enthusiasm that comes with a new hire that I think is a good thing. Definitely from, from the players and that coach, because he's giving his ideas for the first time to that group and the group is receiving them for the first time. And I also think that when you look at last

year, maybe some new offensive philosophies wouldn't be the worst idea. You can say all this without throwing dirt on Yogi and the previous coaching staff as well. Right. They came in, they had their ideas. They tried things. I think a lot of what they wanted to do last year.

And I know it sounds like excuses, but did get interrupted by a lack of harmony in the room, injuries and to be dead honest, guys at certain times not executing as well as they would have liked. I know I've criticized Rick Tauke for using that as an excuse, but I do think there was some validity to hey guys When we get some of these opportunities, it sure would be nice if we hit the target like to me. That's That's a legitimate complaint or just shoot right? But he I mean talk it's a lot of talk its complaints last year were about the block shots and the miss shots

Yeah, you know but also the Refusal to take shots and I have time for that complaint and that does fall on the players But of course at the end of the day coaches are paid to solve those problems not to point them out Yeah, we sure if you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem and now you're in Philadelphia Both of them. Anyway, we got a lot more to get to on the program an entire hour of Halford and Brough in the books We're gonna bring some guests into the fold on the other side Adnan Burke from MLB Network is gonna join us at seven,

talk some J's, talk some Rockies, the beloved Colorado Rockies. At 7.30, Adam Stanley's gonna join us live from the Canadian Open at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. I don't know much about this course at all, and apparently that was kind of one of the narrative talking points going into this tournament, is that it's a bit of a hidden gem,

a diamond in the rough. I don't know a lot about it. It looks quite nice for an Ontario course. Ooh. No, seriously. I don't know anything about it. A foreign Ontario course, because in Canada, Ontario isn't exactly known for like the

picturesque courses, cause it's not BC. Yeah, that's true. It's not the Rockies. It's definitely not. Yeah. Adam Stanley is going to join us at 730 to talk some golf. Thomas Drancet, 8 o'clock.

We got some shrubs over here. You're listening to the Alfred and Brefko. Sometimes the ball can go in the shrubs. On Sportsnet 650.