Halford & Brough in the Morning - Two Nations, Facing Off

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), plus they preview tonight's 4 Nations finale between Canada and the US with Sportsnet NHL writer Luke Fox (29:04). 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-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na- on the biggest stage right now with a group that has come together really, really quickly. We don't have any group chats going on. We're going out there playing our game. He shoots and scores! And the Fitzmerrick Penguins take a 1-0 lead. Oh, scratch my back with a hacksaw! Good morning, Vancouver! It's 6 o'clock on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. It is Halford and it is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios, the beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning, eh? Eh, good morning. Eh, eh dog, good morning to you. Eh, good morning. Eh, laddie, good morning to you. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers.

They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We're coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together

with you in step. If you want to see the most colorful that the Halford and Bruff show will ever be, go to the live stream now on Sportsnet Plus. We are ensconced in red, adorned in red for good reason. Tonight, two nations face off. Canada, US in the final, the four nations face off. Five o'clock, you can watch it across the Sportsnet network. We are very excited for tonight. We have a big guest list to accompany tonight's game. It begins at 630 this morning. Luke Fox from Sportsnet is going to join the program. Live from Boston where he's covering tonight's Four Nations Faceoff Final. Luke has been writing a lot about the Canadian revenge

factor going into tonight's game. The chirps between Matthew Kachuck and Brandon Hegel. All the drama ahead of one of the most highly anticipated hockey games in years, dare I say decades even. Luke Fox is gonna join us at 6.30. Seven o'clock, I was power ranking the greatest defenseman in NHL history that we've ever had on the Haliford and Bruff show. And this guy would be right near the top. Scott Niedermeyer is

going to join the program at seven o'clock. Hockey Hall of Famer, four-time Stanley Cup champion. I don't think that there's anybody that is represented and won with Canada more than Scott Niedermeyer. He won the juniors, he won the Olympics, he won a world championship, and he won a World Cup of hockey. So he's done it all wearing the Maple Leaf. So we will talk to Scott Niedermeyer at seven o'clock ahead of the Four Nations faceoff final tonight. At seven thirty, we are going to talk some baseball today. Shai Davidi from Sportsnet is going to join us. What's going on with Ladi Guerrero Jr.? What's happening here?

What is the outlook? What can Shai tell us? Yeah, what's going to happen now? What happens moving forward? Tears are shed. It's sad. There's a lot of people wondering if he's just kind of saying all the right things right now.

Like it's easy to blame the Blue Jays in this. Easy, fun too. Yeah. Although we kind of work for them. True. But there's a lot of people wondering if he's just saying all the right things. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I want to be part of,

I want to be a Blue Jay forever. It's like, well, okay, why aren't you then? You know? Yep. Is it takes two to tango. So I'll be curious to get Shy's take on it because it is, I actually find it odd because the Jays want to keep him and he

says he wants to stay. Like they should be able to come together on a value for this guy. So Shai Devite at 7.30 and then at eight o'clock, Thomas Drantz, the Drantz from the Athletic in Vancouver is going to join us. We'll talk about tonight's game. We'll also talk about the Vancouver Canucks who had their second practice out of the break

yesterday. Quinn Hughes was there. We'll get into what Quinn Hughes is going to be doing over the next couple of days coming up and what happened. Also we can talk to Drance about what this team is going to do in goal now that Thatcher Demko won't be participating in the five game road trip that the Canucks are going to embark on as soon as they are done with the Four Nations break. So working in reverse on the guest list, eight o'clock it's Drance, seven thirty Shy Davidi, seven o'clock Scott Niedermeyer, six thirty Luke Fox.

It's a big show ahead. We got a lot to get into. So without further ado, laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because of our movies. We know how messy 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. We're going to start today's show with news that pertains to both the Foreign Nations

Face Off and the Vancouver Canucks. Quinn Hughes is not going to be going to Boston. That was confirmed yesterday when the Vancouver Canucks announced that their captain won't, I repeat, will not be joining Team USA ahead of tonight's Four Nations final against Canada. Okay, so Halford, what happened here? Because yesterday, right at the end of our show, was it yesterday? Yes.

Yeah, it was right at the end of our show yesterday. It sounded like Quinn Hughes was going, or was it two days ago? It sounded like- It was two days ago. Yeah, it was two days ago. It was two days ago. Two days ago we came back from air. Yeah, right.

We were done. It's been so confusing and there's been so much stuff going on here, but I can't even keep track of the timelines. It was two days ago, we came back, we thought our show was over, and then Mike Sullivan doing a press conference for Team USA, he's that coach there, goes Quinn Hughes is coming to Boston.

And we were all like, mixed feelings, mixed feelings, but we figured that was gonna happen. Then ultimately it didn't. So why not? Who kept him back? What happened here? So what actually happened at the beginning was, according to sources, and these are crib notes

from the Athletic, thank you to the good people at the Athletic, Team USA called Quinn Hughes on Monday, said, hey, you want to come to Boston to join the team? He said yes. So that's why the announcement came out on Tuesday, because Mike Sullivan was under the impression that this was a done deal. We talked to Quinn, he's ready to go, let's go. Then things started to happen. The NHL first decided that Hughes couldn't play, play, not go, but play unless there was another injury to the

remaining group of 18 skaters that they had. But that still meant that... I think it was it was more specific than that. He couldn't play unless there was an injury to a defenseman. Yeah and then the rules started to get ambiguous. So confusing. I guess they could have chosen to play him as forward. But at that point, at that point, the option was still there for Hughes to, at the very least, go to Boston just to be with the boys,

just to be and hang out with the boys ahead of the game, be with his brother. His brother commented on that. And everybody else, right? And in the event that someone got sick or someone threw Jake Sanderson down a flight of stairs, he was gonna be able to get into the lineup. Now here's the kicker.

While Hughes was willing to go to Boston under those parameters, the Canucks didn't want him to fly all the way to Boston and then all the way back and then to Vegas for Saturday's game against the Golden Knights. This again- Especially if he wasn't gonna play,

especially if he was just gonna watch. This again is reporting courtesy of sources from the athletic, okay? Then this whole thing became moot when the Canucks didn't medically clear Quinn Hughes to return to play. Now that's interesting in itself because yesterday at practice,

there was a big difference with Quinn Hughes from Tuesday's practice. On Tuesday, Quinn Hughes wore a non-contact jersey. On Wednesday, he did not. He resumed full practicing and full skating, which led many to believe that, okay, he's medically returned to play. How can you be medically cleared to practice but not to play? That's a great question. Aren't those one of the same thing? I don't know if they are. Well, you can be, well, if you're not wearing, uh, if you're wearing a no contact jersey.

No, but he was wearing a, he was wearing a. I realize that, but it's not like the doctor goes up to him and goes like, okay, here's your regular jersey, right? He should do that. Uh, at any rate, maybe we'll find out the full story, like I, it feels like'll find out the full story. Like it feels like we've got the full story here,

but there's still questions, you know, like why didn't the Canucks medically clear him? And what I hope through all of this is that Quinn Hughes himself harbors no hard feelings towards the Vancouver Canucks because it's almost like he had to pull out of this tournament twice now. Once before the tournament, and that was very difficult for him and we all praised him for his

selflessness and his sacrifice for the Vancouver Canucks. But then he got this reprieve and by all accounts, he said, yes, like, oh my God, yes. Like, are you serious? Like I can, I can possibly play in the championship game. Yep. Uh, and this is a game that has the potential.

I mean, we're all excited as Canadians, but this has a potential to be a top two or three moment in American hockey history. It could be number one. I don't think he's going to top the miracle on ice. No. But I think it would top the 96 World Cup of hockey. Um, and that's gotta be really, really frustrating to miss that for Quinn Hughes. Even if ultimately he wouldn't have been allowed to play in the final anyway, because the Americans had six healthy defensemen, it's still like he

lost the dream. Then he got it right back. Then he lost it again. Yeah, I think the point where Hughes was willing to go just to be around the team, just to support them spoke to a couple things. One, how badly he wanted to be involved at any level. And then two, that's where you could kind of at least bring up the discussion point and maybe the argument that the Canucks might have rankled or overstepped. Again, I understand why they wouldn't want him

to jump on a flight to Boston and then fly all the way back and then go to Vegas, but this is at the same time a once in a lifetime opportunity. then fly all the way back and then go to Vegas. But this is, this is at the same time, a once in a lifetime opportunity. And there is the players wants and needs that need to be taken into account. And like you said, it wasn't the first time that he kind of had hope about playing and then

missed it. And we played the audio yesterday from Quinn Hughes' Scrum. Yeah. You could tell he was visibly, visibly shaken at having to miss this tournament period. The other thing too, is that the Canucks didn't stand in his way. They said of him playing in this tournament, the whole way it went out was we're going to leave

it up to Quinn. There was no like medical clearance or anything like that. I never even heard that phrase come up, but we joked. Seriously joking though. Like, you know, like we were up, but we joked. Seriously joking though, like we were joking, but also like trying to make a point with our joking.

Yes. That the Canucks were like, Quinn, it's up to you, but just remember how important you are for this team and you're not feeling a hundred percent and we're going to need you a lot. I mean, Rick Tauke went on with Elliott Freeman on the national broadcast and said, well, we're not going anywhere without Quinn Hughes.

He's very important to our team. We all know how important he is, but we're leaving it up to Quinn. And like, even though he's, even though he's really important and even though he's, you know, like, we don't want to want them to get injured. He's so important to us. We know he'll do the right thing and it wasn't ambiguous about that right thing.

And Quinn Hughes then are like, okay, well, I get it. I won't play. But there was always this, and I think Tauke was even asked, do you think he'd be allowed to play? Do you think he'd be able to play? If you guys had a game in a week, do you think he'd be able to play? And they're like, do you think he'd be allowed to play? Do you think he'd be able to play like, if you guys had a game in a week, do you think he'd be able to play? And they're like, yeah, I think so. Right? So when Quinn had that opportunity or he thought he had the opportunity to go and play in this game, he was probably like, yeah, I'm good to go.

I really want to know how the Canucks reacted to that because team Canada wasn't standing in the way of this. No. That was another thing, right? Team Canada was like, yep, if really want to know how the Canucks reacted to that because Team Canada wasn't standing in the way of this. No. That was another thing, right? Team Canada was like, yep, if you want to play, you can play. We're not going to complain about that. Yeah.

That's not what we're going to do. The US team was very motivated, very motivated to get them there. So that probably stirred up a lot of emotions and excitement as well, right? The fact that they made the call on Monday and that Mike Sullivan said it to the media so quickly without even verifying or confirming that it was true. I mean, you could tell that they really, really wanted

them in the door for this game. And who can blame anybody involved? This is, as I said in the intro, the most anticipated hockey game that we've had in years, dare I say decades. Right, this is for a made up tournament that they're still making up the rules as they go along. It has become this huge thing to the point where it was funny.

I saw Rangers fans ragging on Adam Fox yesterday because Adam Fox said that he's never been more fired up for a game in his career. And Rangers fans ragging on Adam Fox yesterday because Adam Fox said that he's never been more fired up for a game in his career and Rangers fans were like, Adam, we have played an Eastern Conference Finals games before, like with the chance to go to the Stanley Cup. If I were Adam Fox, I'd be like, uh-huh. Yep. Yeah.

We sure have, haven't we? I was, I said, I thought I was gonna get more blowback when I said, in our first show back, I said, I thought I was going to get more blowback when I said, um, in our first show back, I guess on Tuesday, I said, I have not been that fired up for a game. And I was thinking in hindsight since 2011 game seven for the Canucks. It was less than a year ago that they played a pretty big game seven against another Canadian team, Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the playoffs. And while I was excited for that and anticipating that.

Wasn't the same. I didn't have that same level of adrenaline flowing through me before the game. And I didn't have that same level of like, we can't lose this game. I was almost going to reach out to the Rangers fans, but I don't do that because engaging with people on Twitter is a pointless endeavor. But if I was, I would have said, hey, he's telling the truth. I don't know what to tell you guys, but this means more to him than game seven of the Easter conference finals two years ago or whenever they made. I'm like, that's just the truth. He's speaking his truth. And if you were to ask a lot of these guys, they would say the same.

Jack Eichel was saying that this is the biggest game I've played in a long time. I was like, Jack, you were in the Stanley Cup finals two years ago. Yeah. Like this is, and it's, but they're not lying and they're not putting it on for effect. This is a big deal for a lot of these guys,

bigger than I think you would imagine. And that, again, going back to Quinn Hughes, kind of underscores why he was ready to jump on a plane just to be a part of the surrounding elements of it. Okay, well, you think Quinn Hughes and the Canucks came to an agreement in terms of what you were saying? Like, look, you're going to be doing a lot of flying over the next few days and you're probably not going to play. Would you not agree it's maybe best to sit this one out because of the fact you wouldn't be playing? Probably. A different story if he was playing, obviously,

but the fact that he wouldn't be playing anyways, all that flying is not, you know, do you think the team and the player came to an agreement? I would like to know that. I would like to know that. Cause I would hate to think that Quinn Hughes was like mad at them. Don't forget. Like everyone in this tournament has.

That was the whole point of our first, the first 15 minutes of our show. Like, and, and when we were saying that, like they, they came to an agreement for sure ahead of the tournament. Well, yeah. But the reprieve. Yes. Let's call it the reprieve. The last chance to go and play in this game.

I would like to know more details about this because the athletic is reporting that the Canucks didn't medically clear him. And it's also being reported that Quinn Hughes, when he took the call was like, yeah, I'm coming. So what happened in between then? Let's talk about this big game, this massive game. Here are some things I'm wondering ahead of tonight's game. Will goaltending be the main factor in all this?

I'm terrified to say yes, but I think the answer is yes. How's the game going to be officiated? You know, as many fights as there were in Canada, US. Weren't many power plays out there and, um, there weren't, uh, there haven't really been a lot of power plays throughout. And I have noticed there have been some calls that the referees have let go. Uh, well, Connor McDavid, is he going to deliver

his generational moment for Canada? And I'm sitting here wearing a 1987 Canada Cup jersey and Mary LeMieux and Wayne Gretzky had their generational moment for Canada in that tournament. Sydney Crosby's had his moment in 2010 when he scored the golden goal. Um, those are, you know, if you're, if you're

talking about in my generation, the big four for Canada, Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, and now it's McDavid, but McDavid has not, it's not through, no, it's not his fault. He hasn't really had the opportunity to play in any of these games. Um, so is he going to deliver that? Another very important player for Canada,

Cale McCarr. Is he going to be the difference for Canada? Because he didn't play against the Americans Saturday in Montreal and Canada lost that game. And it really appeared that despite all the talent upfront that Canada was having trouble, uh, gaining entry into the zone and also creating scoring chances. Now full credit to the Americans for how they

checked. They checked brilliantly and they've got some really good shutdown defensemen like Jakob Slaven, who doesn't get a lot of attention, but Jakob Slaven, he's a really good player. So will Kale McCar being on the back end and being able to play a bunch of minutes and hopefully he's a hundred percent after, and I think he had the flu.

Is he going to be the difference? Here's one that I don't really want to even consider, but I do want to ask the question, how are we going to react if we lose? What's at stake here for Canadian hockey? We've heard a lot from the American side, like this is going to be just such a, like what's at stake here for Canadian hockey?

Because we've won a lot of these tournaments and there have been tournaments that we've gone to and we've lost, but a lot of the time in those tournaments, like it's happened earlier than the final. Do you know what I mean? Like, you don't lose the final. You can lose in the prelims in the round, Robin, but you don't lose in the final. And it was disappointing to lose in that way, but it wasn't like most of the time

when we come to these finals games in these best on best, most of the time, there was that 1981 Canada Cup that they lost eight, one of the four. That was a long time ago though. Most of the time we're that 1981 Canada Cup that they lost eight one at the forum. That was a long time ago though. Most of the time we're used to winning these games. And finally, although according to Frank Sarah Valley, he won't be at the game tonight. No president Trump per Frank's sources. If the Americans lose, if the Americans win this

game, will Donald Trump troll us in some way? And how will that add to the whole reaction if we lose and what's at stake here for Canadian hockey and Canada. These are all the questions that are going through my head. Which one would you like to start with? Well, let's just start at this, we'll go chronologically, the one that you started with. Can I just say first though, you know why he's not showing up, right? Yeah. Because there's the slight potential chance for embarrassment. If he shows up and the United States lose,

then, oh, you can't have that look for Mr. Trump. I was at the, uh, the Russia, US game in, in, in Sochi when Putin was there and they lost that game, that was a famous TJ Oshie game. And it was uncomfortable when he was there. Everyone just kinda looking behind. He wasn't that far away from me. What's he gonna do?

And I'm like, I'm like, all right, let's get the hell out of here. Okay, so valid point though, right? Cause you can't control the outcome of this. Well, he showed up to the Super Bowl, but he could have just said he was cheering for either team. He's cheering for the Super Bowl. Yeah, but there's no doubt who he's cheering for

in this hockey game. Daytona 500, cheering for cars, right? That's really straightforward. Will Goaltending... He was like everyone else there. I hope there's a big wreck. Yeah, and then someone wins and everyone's happy in the end. Will Goaltending be the main factor, the first question that you ask?

I am terrified and I feel very uncomfortable in saying yes for two reasons, because if it plays out like how it's played out through the course of this NHL season, it could be that the best goalie in the world, Connor Hallebuck plays like the best goalie in the world and and by that, I mean, Canada outplays the US and does everything it can but just can't beat the best goalie in the world. The other option is that Jordan Binnington who's not the best goalie in the world plays like he's not the best goalie in the world, plays like he's not the best goalie in the world.

And through that three games of this tournament, I mean, he lets in another softy. And if he plays well otherwise, that's great, but- If he plays well, that's a story too in itself. But if he does what he's done through the three games in the tournament, plays well, gives his team his chance to win, but also allows a soft goal. And the soft goal ends up

being the decider. Did you blame him for Canada's loss in Montreal? To the, no. To the Americans? No, I didn't blame him. I didn't blame him. Adog did. Yeah, I know, but that's Adog. Adog's all over Bennington and I'm like, guys, Canada could not create scoring chances despite all the firepower. Yeah, well in a game where you don't score a lot of goals, your goalie's gotta stop the puck. I do have time to- You can't let in one bad goal if it's a 2-1 game.

Canada's not the Minnesota Wild of 2003. If it's a 2-1 game or whatever, if one bad goal is the deciding of the game winner, you can't let in a bad goal. You just can't in this tournament. So yeah, they should have scored more obviously, and if they scored more, it wouldn't have been a story, but they didn't score more because hellebux hellebuck or any of those goals Dreadful. I don't first one was against the one where he yeah, you know what made it trouble was a reaction

Yeah, been intense reaction. Yeah, where he flipped his head back and he knew that he should have had Yeah, the first one was a little soft now He that was what that one was so much like Sid's golden goal. Yeah. Like it was, it was very, very similar. Like you got to stop. And I guess, and I guess Americans did blame Ryan Miller for that one. Like it should have stopped.

But you know, for me, I'm like, that's a quick shot along the ice. Um, it was, you know, probably not where the goalie expected that shot to go. I don't know, Ladi, what do you think? Like was Bennington to you and the goal by Dylan Larkin, it's a two on one. Larkin had a, it was a nice shot.

It beat, like I know we expect these goalies to stop everything, but I'm kind of like. Like Connor Hellebuyck has been doing. Yeah, but like, well Hellebuyck, you know. If it's a close one goal game in this kind of a tournament, you have to do it. You can over analyze any goal you want. And you see this a lot in the Stanley Cup final where every single goal is sort of gone over a hundred times. You can over analyze any goal you want. And I, you see this a lot in the Stanley

Cup final where every single goal is sort of gone over a hundred times. Oh, we should have had that one. But at the end of the day, they're, they're nice plays, they're still good shots. And he's also made a number of, in my opinion, a number of very, very good saves. For me, that story was, yeah, a little bit of

like, oh, I wish Bennington had had one of those. But for me, that story was, holy cow, the Americans locked down one of the most loaded teams we've ever seen put together. And what I hope is tonight that first of all, you know, the coaching staff has gotten together and maybe some of the players, I mean like, okay, how can we do things differently here? But also that the addition of Kale McCarr, one of the greatest offensive defensemen the game has ever seen, the addition of him makes a huge difference. However-

You shouldn't expect a lot of goals though. If it doesn't happen like that, because I would argue that these two teams are basically a pick them in terms of talent. I mean, if you look at the Vegas betting line right now, it's, it's a straight up pick them. Right? There's not much.

Yeah, I think, I would give, I would give Canada the edge by actually fairly significant margin upfront in terms of top end players. I would say, um, with Kale McCarr, I don't know, without Shea Theodore and Patrangelo, that's probably the edge to Canada with, with Kale McCarr because the Americans are missing Quinn Hughes, but in, in goal, I mean, that's a clear

edge to the Americans. And that's, and that's probably like the most clear advantage of any of like, yeah, we'll give Canada the forwards and maybe we'll give Canada the defense, although some people might push back on that. But the clear, clear, clear advantage is in goal. USA played a great defensive system as well though, right? And that's another thing that Canada has to solve. Like Canada has the game breakers, but they couldn't get it done in the first game against the US because USA played great defensively.

Which brings me back to Connor McDavid. He has delivered some great moments in that tournament, that goal against the Americans. That was an incredible goal. And the goal that he scored the other day against Finland was a perfect shot. And then Nathan McKinnon added one right after that and kind of Canada took off after that.

Finland gave him a bit of a scare in the end, but Canada, that was a, that was a no nerves game as a Canadian and thank God for that, right? Because I'm going to be nervous for tonight, but Connor McDavid, you know, he's feeling the pressure to win something significant. We all saw his reaction when they didn't win or they were losing. When was that? Guys, we got a dig in thing. When did that happen? I actually didn't watch that. Wasn't that game seven?

That was game seven. Was that in between the periods of? I think in between the second and third period. Okay. We all know how hard he must have taken losing that game seven in the Stanley Cup final because he looked back and he said, well, Wayne won a Stanley Cup. Mario won a Stanley Cup. Sid early in his career won a Stanley Cup. I haven't won anything.

I want world juniors, but I need to win something. So I'm going to be really curious to see if he can deliver that big moment. Okay. On our way out for break, I do want to pass along some sad news from the hockey world from last night. The longtime play-by-play voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins and one of the most recognizable voices in all of hockey, Mike Lang passed away at the age of 76 last night. A Hall of Fame broadcaster he called five Stanley Cup champions championships for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and his name and his calls and his voice

were synonymous with some of the greatest players that the game has ever seen, going all the way back to Lemieux and Jaeger to the current iteration of the Pittsburgh Penguins, featuring of course, Evgeny Malkin, and most notably, Sidney Crosby. On our way out for break to celebrate the life and career of Mike Lang,

here is his call from his final Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. This was their victory over the National Predators in 2017. Mike Lang was 76 years old. One second to left to go and the puck into the corner and it's all over. The Pittsburgh Penguins have won the Stanley Cup. And you can tell your ma, you can tell your pa, I'm gonna send you back to Arkansas, Stanley Cup Champions 2017, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Canucks talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks.

Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. or wherever you get your podcasts. 634 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Luke Fox from Sportsnet is going to join us in just a moment here live from Boston. Hour one of this program is brought

to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the phone lines we go, Luke Fox from Sportsnet joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Luke, how are ya? Pretty good, feels a little bit like Christmas morning, not gonna lie.

Yeah, we're pretty fired up. I think everyone is pretty fired up and I know that you've written a lot about just how fired up the two teams are going in to the Four Nations final in Boston tonight, Canada, US. You've written about the Canadian revenge factor. You've written about the chirps between Matthew Kachuck

and Brandon Hagel going into this. It feels like genuine bonafide bad blood with the added element of one team's coming in looking for revenge and the other one's looking to step on the other's throat. So I think we're justified in getting excited for this because the players seem like they're on tilt as well. They are and I was just listening to an interview Drew Daly did and he was asked, you know,

is it more, do you have more respect or more hate for the other side? And he landed on hate pretty quickly. And it's kind of funny, right? Because a lot of these guys have teammates on the other side. And, you know, there was some skepticism about how hard would they try? It's not going to be an all star game, but is it really going to be on the level of the Olympics? Like, is this is the first time event, not all the countries are invited. Are we going to get the goods? And I think that was put to rest for me and for most people, just the very first game, Canada, Sweden, but then Saturday night at Bell Centre. Oh boy, that just drove it home. And it's

gotten the attention of the hockey world. Ratings are through the roof in both countries. I think it's helped that the NBA is kind of in a quiet period and taking some criticism. The NFL is done. Baseball hasn't started. It's kind of the perfect storm for hockey to grab the spotlight in the sporting world in both countries. And then the product on the ice has delivered. Like the pace of play, the number of stars and the physicality, the nastiness, the chirps off the ice, all of it is culminating into what will be what many of the players feel might be the biggest game of their lives. Especially the ones that have never been

to a cup final. So we are in for a treat. Luke, where is the hate coming from? Because I, you know, I think off ice with the fans, um, a lot of it's political, but I don't think Drew Doughty is sitting there going like, you know what, I really don't like the tariffs, you know, and Matthew Kuchak, I don't think is sitting there going, it's like, we're trying to create more jobs in the United States. Like it's, it's not like that. So where is it coming from? No, it's not coming from that.

And you know, some of them are more, are definitely more aware than others about the political climate, but it comes from minor hockey. It comes from going to tournaments across the border on both sides and and feeling like oh we got to beat that team from Canada we got to beat that team from the states I mean my son doesn't have that hatred but he's been to tournaments he's 14 and there's a US team and it's like oh they're from another country that'd be

really cool to beat them you know and I think that gets ingrained in them early it picks up steam for these guys many of most of whom have been to World Juniors, and it just keeps building and building. And I think what else has kind of added to that is the long delay, the fact that, you know, as fans we've been screwed over here. And certainly this generation of players has been screwed over in the absence of best on best. And I blame the league for that. I think it's really been short-sighted,

but I also blame the players. Under Donald Fehr, who really fumbled things as a PA director, he didn't make sure that Olympic participation was written into the last CBA. But now Marty Walsh and Gary Betman seem to be on the same page. We're getting an international calendar. But I really do think the long delay, the long absence of Best on Best has kind of fueled this like we want this, we need this. Like a lot of these guys, their

their core memories are of Sidney Crosby's golden goal in your city, right? Like that, that, that's kind of one of their favourite hockey memories as a kid. And now they're wearing the same sweater and they get to live that out. Uh, you know, it's the hate comes from a desire to win ultimately. Um, we were talking about this earlier in the

show, you know, back in 1987, Gretzky and Lemieux had their moment and their famous Canadian goal that we've all seen a thousand times. Sidney Crosby obviously had his moment in 2010. The goalie has a name, the golden goal. What do you think Conor McDavid is thinking about heading into this game? It wasn't that long ago that he lost game

seven of the Stanley Cup final and Gretzky, Lemieux and Sid, they've all won Stanley Cups. He hasn't, he's still got time, but he hasn't yet. What is he thinking ahead of this game? Yeah, it's probably hard to overstate what this means to him. I mean, he's been at the forefront in pushing to get this back, to make this happen. And he's been denied, you know, outside of participating on Team North America.

And I asked him after the loss to the US, I said, like, can you compare the emotions, the intensity of this to the final? And he said, yeah, he said it's right there. He said, if it's not on par, it's right there with it. That's how invested he is in this tournament. And, you know, I think the letdown of losing not only a final, but losing it on a two goal swing basically, game seven, is so heartbreaking that usually you have to wait a full calendar year and go through four rounds

to maybe get that chance again. Well, he hasn't had to wait a full year. It's only February and he only had to play three games in this tournament to get this chance. And he doesn't have to go through a best of seven. It's just all of a sudden he's in one winner take all. So I think he has a firm grasp that for all the individual accolades, all the heart trophies and scoring race titles, all that, in this sport, it doesn't really matter unless you win some team championships. So I think he's very cognizant of that.

And I think we're going to see an incredible version of Conor McGavin. I think he's been one of the highlights already, but I could see him just taking it to another level tonight. We're speaking to Sportsnet NHL writer Luke Fox here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. It's funny, we've spent a lot of time this morning already breaking down the game into to Sportsnet NHL writer Luke Fox here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. You know, it's funny, we've spent a lot of time this morning already breaking down the game

into its individual component parts. We've talked about the goalies, Bennington and Hellebuyck. You've talked about McDavid several times. We've talked about Crosby. From the US side of things, we've talked about Matthew and Brady Kachuck. Then there's Austin Matthews. I bet if you were to ask the casual American fan

who the captain of the team was, they'd be like, well, it's gotta be one of the Kachuck brothers. But it Austin Matthews. I bet if you were to ask the casual American fan who the captain of the team was, they'd be like, well, it's gotta be one of the Kachuk brothers, but it's Matthews. He's their number one center. He's the guy that's supposed to be the leader. And I know Brady and Matthew kind of emerged as the emotional heartbeat of this American team, but Matthews is the guy that prior to this tournament,

they anointed as captain and is their leader. What have you learned about him going into this game? Because it's a pretty pivotal game for his career as well. It is and what's really interesting is that he's lost three game sevens in this very city on this very sheet and some of his biggest heartbreaks have been at TD Garden and the crowd has always been against them and it's a rabid crowd, man. I don't know if you guys have probably been in some games here. I still remember that crowd.

Did not care for it. Yeah. Well, it is, it is one of the few crowds where you feel it so much that you understand why the players, like if things start spiraling the wrong way and the crowd's against you, you understand why it can like if things start spiraling the wrong way and the crowds against you you understand why and get out of hand it it's one of the few buildings where you actually feel like the fans have an impact on the game and

Covering the Leafs that I've seen it go the wrong way for Toronto so many times But here we are flipping the the script and Matthews is you know talking them yesterday And he was basically saying it's going to be nice to have this crowd on my side for once. But he hasn't had a goal in this tournament. His identity is not the identity of the team. Like you were mentioning, the Chucks are more the identity of how the US has attacked this tournament.

Austin's a bit quieter. Mike Sullivan was talking about him saying like, he's not raw guy, he leads by quiet example, he leads with his defensive game which has been on point. He's been a beast in the face-offs even though he's battling injury. He hasn't you know taken, he hasn't cheated for offense but he's on an eight game goal trip if you include his last six games with the Leafs, he missed Monday's game because of a new injury got banged up a little bit, but he was telling me, you know, I wouldn't miss this, this game for the world.

And here's a chance for a guy that that's failed in many a game seven to kind of rewrite his narrative. And it just so happens to be in a city where he's had some of his greatest disappointments. It's a really fascinating individual tale when most attention is going to be on the countries at large. Luke, I'm looking at the site that sells tickets on the secondary market here.

And the cheapest ticket that I can find to get into the building tonight is Canadian $1,300. Um, so obviously this is a hot ticket. Um, how many, like what, what percentage of fans will be rooting for Canada? Maybe making the trip down there. Maybe they'd plan this or maybe if they've got the money, they've gone last minute and picked up some tickets.

Yeah, I do sense, you know, just judging by the Canadian supporters in for Monday's game, I think there will be a pretty strong contingent, but you know, it'll be nowhere near the amount of support the Americans have. Like talking to some of the guys, like individually, some of them have 50, 60 friends and family coming to this game.

And then you start to add that up, times it by, you like individually, some of them have 50, 60 friends and family coming to this game. And then you start to add that up times it by, you know, 23, there's a lot of, you know, people that are gonna be very vocal in their support for the U.S. But I would say there'll be more Canadians in Boston than there were Americans at the Bell Center. And they were pretty well represented actually. But I think the Canadian fans will be there. It'll be vocal.

Like honestly, I wonder if we hear boos for both anthems tonight. Like it could be crazy. Yeah. Well, Luke, enjoy it. It's gonna be a hell of a ride and thanks for taking the time to join us this morning on our show.

Yeah, anytime guys. One of those days where you feel lucky to have this job, I'll tell you. Yeah, for sure. Thanks for doing this, bud. We appreciate it. Okay, take care. Yep. Luke Fox from Sportsnet here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. So Halford, remember we had our little debate. It was probably a few weeks ago. And I said, think Trump will mention this stuff? And you said, nah, it's hockey. It's too far off his radar.

And I said, I think he's going to mention it. You got any update on Donald Trump here? You didn't check it, did you? I'm trying to check it. I don't have Truth Social. It's not on Twitter. Donald Trump has mentioned this game. Do you want me to read it?

Sure. Oh my God. Read his truth. Read it. Read his truth. Okay. I'm going to tell you every time he uses Read his truth. Okay. I'm going to, I'm going to tell you, uh, every time that he uses all caps too. Okay.

Donald Trump. I'll be calling our great, all caps great, American hockey team this morning to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with, now these are all all caps, far lower taxes and much stronger security will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished and very important 51st state. I will be speaking before the governors tonight in DC and will sadly therefore

be unable to attend, but we will all be watching and if governor Trudeau would like to join us, he would be most welcome. Good luck to everybody and have a great game tonight. So exciting. President Donald J. Trump. You didn't sign at King?

Ah. We got to win this game guys. So. We got to win this bloody game. Again, this is, uh, this was on true social, right? I just wanna get this straight because I was looking on Twitter to try and find some level of verification.

Things are hard to verify nowadays. I don't know if we wear this or not, but we tend to get duped on occasion, but it seems like it's real. So we'll go with that. And I guess it would confirm the earlier reporting from Frank Saravalli confirming that he won't be in a tent, which was another question that we had,

which was actually, I think the thing that we were talking about a couple of weeks ago is would he be in attendance if everything panned out and it was the final in Boston for the four nations? Yeah, this is, um, this is the sort of theater that we were, look, this is the theater that we've been talking about since the tournament has been on. Um, I did not, and I'll gladly admit that I was wrong. I never thought in a million years that this particular tournament would rise to these levels in the span of,

and let's be honest, I don't think anybody did. Not like this. Not like this. Not like this. Not like this, no. There were people that texted into the show and said it was gonna be pawn talk, and I was like, no, it's not.

It definitely wasn't gonna be that, but I definitely didn't think it was gonna to be pond talking. I was like, no, it's not. It's definitely wasn't going to be that, but I definitely didn't think it was going to be this. If that makes sense. No, and I, and I did see a tweet and I thought this was really funny and I apologize. I can't remember who tweeted it, so I can't credit the tweet, but the idea was basically it's hilarious how the NHL goes out of its way to avoid

politics and is kind of scared of dipping its toe into, into politics. And yet, um, through no, you know, intentional planning has created the most politically charged hockey tournament since what? 1972? Yeah, probably. Like more probably for the Americans, 1980, right?

With the, with the miracle on ice, that was politically charged and we haven't seen, you know, 87, yeah, there was, it was politically charged because it was still the Soviet Union, but it wasn't quite the same. Um, this is right back to it. I think the key part of all of that is with zero intentionality.

Like, they were just putting on a hockey tournament, the NHL. I mean, this all, and I, I used fell into their lap very delicately because a lot of what's going on, especially in the political realm, is not good. It's not positive. No, no, no, no. I don't like what's going on right now, but- However-

As a sports fan. As someone that's watched a lot of games being played at a tepid pace with a lack of enthusiasm and a lack of passion I Understand how hard it is to manufacture giving a crap and caring I get it So when this happens you almost have to compartmentalize How it happened from like that it's happening. Like what is the root cause of this? And there's a lot of bad stuff, a lot of stuff that I would prefer not to see have happened

that led us up to this point. But again, lizard braining in the moment, this is amazing. Yeah. We're talking about a game that's on par with 72, which by the way, a lot of us weren't alive for, and have only heard about from our parents or elders, read about, watch grainy clips. That's our connection to the 72 Summit series.

Anecdotal stuff from your grandpa, but what it meant at the time and how big a deal it was. Lou in the North texts into the Dunbar Lumber text line. When it comes to trolling Donald Trump, his first team all world, we need to win this game. He's. I mean, that is not wrong.

Elite level, elite level. Poking the bear. Yeah. And it's not even poking the bear. Poking like it's the bully analogy that you used where, you know, you go up to the smaller kid in school and you poke him in the forehead and you slam him into a locker.

Like that's, that's what he does. our kid in school and you poke him in the forehead and you slam him into a locker. Like that's, that's what he does. And that's what makes the stakes even higher for tonight because, um, we talked about in the intro and you asked the question, how do we react if Canada loses? And it's a, you almost don't want to talk about

it, but you have to talk about it because I don't think there's going to be the standard hand wringing about player selection and line combinations and who the starting goalie was. I think it's gone beyond that. Adalg will be focused on the goalie. Of course he will. Yeah.

Which is understandable. What else is there? No, it'll just be like, guys, you got to win this. I don't care how you win this, but you got to win this game. And if, if they don't- We can't lose this game. I will, I will say this for if the US wins, the table could not be set more

dramatically for the 2026 Olympics in Rome. Just remember guys, if the US wins it, if the US wins it, it's made up tournament. We never talk about it again. Yeah, but that's the thing, that's how that's gone. Don't wimp out like that. Do not wimp out like that. You can't even, it's not even,

I know it's a joke that everyone had going into the tournament, but it's not even like, no one's gonna do that now. Oh, of course. It's the way, way too many people are way too emotionally invested. And like I don't want to see that happen, but I also understand looking at narrative arcs and everything, what it would mean for the Olympics.

And we're gonna talk to Scott Niedermeyer next. Scott Niedermeyer won gold medals at the Olympics with Canada in 2002 and 2010. One of the questions I'm gonna ask him is, both of those came on the heels of Olympic disappointments big time and you had to come back and you had to try and almost reclaim Canadian glory on that stage.

So I want to ask him about that. For a different reason though, like tonight we're all saying like, we can't lose this game, right? Like the idea of losing it, I think is a more powerful incentive than the idea of winning it. Was that not the same in 2010? Not for political reasons, but because we were hosting.

A hundred percent. And especially as Vancouverites and British Colombians, we were like, we can't host the Olympic Games with NHLers. You know, Calgary had hosted the winter Olympics before, but that wasn't with NHLers. So that was Calgary had hosted the winter Olympics before, but that wasn't with NHLers. So that was kind of like, yeah, less pressure there.

We can't lose this game. We can't. We'll, we'll be forever known as like the city that hosted the most disappointing loss in Canadian hockey history. That was the feeling that I felt. It was the same feeling that I felt game seven against the Chicago Blackhawks.

We're up three nothing in this series. Can't lose. Now, like, are we going to, are we going to, are we going to blow a three nothing lead in one of the most promising years of Canucks hockey? Now, fortunately we won in 2010 thanks to Sid. Fortunately, we as Canucks fans won in 2011. Thanks to Alex Burrows in that game.

Um, this one, who's going to be the hero for Canada? Is there going to be a hero for Canada? This is one of these games that we talk about that frankly we haven't had enough of where the game watching experience for me will not be enjoyable. It won't be like, wow, this is fun. This is going to be one of those, I feel like I'm going to throw up. Why did I choose this life? And a reminder, if you want to throw up tonight around a bunch of other people, go to the Hollywood Theater.

We're doing a watch party. They got buckets. They got buckets and bathrooms and everything. A great place to bar. We got buckets. Repeat buckets. They're going to put that on the marquee. Great place to vomit.

A reminder, Hollywood Theater dot CA. If you want to get tickets, they're still available for tonight. It's a free ticketed event. However, if you want guaranteed seating in the balcony and that means guaranteed seats and guaranteed entry, you can pay. Everything is available at the Hollywoodtheatre.ca. Also, we're gonna be giving away a prize pack. Four tickets, four burgers from Golden Era Burgers, and the first round of drinks is gonna be on the Hollywood Theatre. Caller number one, caller number one, because we're number one, caller number one today at 815 will

win the prize pack to watch Canada and the US live tonight from the Hollywood theater. The phone number is 604-280-650. That number again, 604-280-650. Caller number one at 815 this morning. Four packet tickets to the game tonight. Four burgers from Golden Era Burgers and first-rounded drinks on the Hollywood Theatre. Caller number one at 815 this morning. Be that caller. Go to the Hollywood Theatre tonight and enjoy the game. Coming up on the other side of the break, very excited for our next guest on the program, Scott Niedermeyer is going to be joining us. He has

represented Canada at every significant major international tournament that there is. And he has won with Canada at every major significant international tournament there is. We will talk to him on the other side of the break. And finally, before we go to the break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From showrooms to stockrooms and everything in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected. For a free quote, visit JanPro.ca. Scott Neidermeyer coming up next. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.