Halford & Brough in the Morning - Was Bedard Overhyped?

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss which Canucks might make the Four Nations Faceoff (3:00), they discuss if Bedard was overhyped (16:45), plus they chat with Canucks radio commentator Randip Janda (24:44) on last night's big win, as well as what's next for the team. 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.

7.04 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Gruff, Sportsnet 650. Halford Gruff 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 two of the program.

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powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. So, Orfi, what are you waiting for? Kintec, we are coming to you live. He's going for something there. No, Russ is going to start here. Trying to find my read. If you've got any texts or comments, questions to send into the Dunbar Lumber text line, the number is 650-650.

The Bridge Street Dunbar Lumber in Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product, more awesome details at DunbarLumber.com. Unsigned text here. Can you guys explain why the Sherwood play was not offside? First of all, great job by Shorty on the broadcast. He was way ahead of everyone, including the Chicago Blackhawks, it seems, on that play. So why it wasn't offside is because Sherwood shoveled the puck into the zone, but he was not, they determined, touching the puck in an offside position.

So essentially, when he shoveled it one-handed into the zone, think of that as a dump in. Okay. I am. Then he reestablished himself on side by touching his skates against the blue line. Yep. So he's on side there and he's dumped it in, but he's reestablished position.

Then he went and got the puck. Simple. Right. Good explanation. Yeah. If you think of it and, and Shorty referenced this same thing happened with Kale McCarr. Was it in the playoffs? I can't remember.

But yeah, Shorty was all over that. I think DT is actually finally catching up. He's like, wait a minute. He was like Homer Thompson. It's confusing though, because when I originally saw the play, I was like, oh, that looked like a funny entry into the zone. And the Canucks scored and I'm kind of like, oh, is Chicago going to challenge? And when they said, yeah, we're going to challenge for offside,

I was like, oh, that's offside. Because it just looked offside, right? And you know what? like it might've been, um, but I don't think they were able to determine whether or not the puck had fully entered the zone while Sherwood was still kind of pushing it in there and that play was inconclusive. So they said, all right, he didn't. Um, and the goal stands stands the canucks had some fortune on their side last night i i'm not saying that that goal was illegal but the review went their

way it was close for sure um they also had seven skaters they also had seven skaters on the ice for the fourth goal and that's's why. Is that allowed? Seven. Yeah. That's why Mrazik, who was already having a bit of a tough night, was so upset after that. I thought he was upset that Petey had run into him. Yeah, that's what I thought.

Because I was like, well, what are you doing? You were the one who sticked Petey and then Petey kind of tripped over the stick and he lost control of his stick. But I don't think that was it. I think he was just upset because the Canucks very clearly had too many men on the ice. And then they got a few bounces in the third period that went their way. Overall, I'm not saying the Canucks didn't deserve to win the game.

They did. They were the better team. But they had some fortune on their side last night. I'm looking at a screen grab, a very good one, by the way. Charlie Rumelitis, I think it is, from CSN Chicago. He got a great screen grab. And the Canucks defiantly have seven players on the ice. Oh, yeah, yeah.

There's two guys. And it was for a while. Yeah. They just were like, let's try it. Let's see what happens. If we don't get caught, maybe Garland will score. That's good coaching. That's good coaching.

And future Team USA forward Connor Garland did, in fact, score on that play. Speaking of, I got a text here. Now, this is hilarious because this texter thinks he's texting in anonymously. This blows Halford's hot take out of the water, by the way. Mike in Willoughby. I almost want to read his phone number so we can. Do it. Do it.

I'm attaching this entirely to mike in willoughby i am merely merely the announcer and presenter of someone else's independent thoughts and text message into the dunbar lumber text message in basket my hot take previously that laddie dumped on immediately was that connor garland should be on should should be on Team USA at the Four Nations face-off, right? Keep that horn hot. Mike and Willoughby. Again, not Mike Halford. Mike and Willoughby.

A hotter take is that Elias Pettersson shouldn't be on Team Sweden for the Four Nations. I would be shocked. I would be shocked if he's not on Team Sweden. That name again is Mike and Will Obey. That's not me. I looked. I'll be curious.

Could you imagine, though? Yes. Could you imagine? Are you imagining it right now? I'm imagining it right now, but imagining is the key word. Yeah. That would be wild. So at center, they don't have incredible,

they have good centers. Sabinajad, Lindholm, Bill Carlson, Joel Eriksson, yeah, good centers. I don't think that they're going to have such depth that they have to find a role for Petey. Yet, he can bump him out to the wing. Look, it would be a real stretch if he didn't make it. I think he'll make that team.

Because at this point, you're talking about the guys... They're going to need him in the Olympics. It might be a bit of a forward-looking thing too, right? They're not going to keep Pedersen off the team for the four nations. If you look at most projections right now for Team Sweden at forward, the guys on the outside looking in are Michael Backlund, Fabian Zetterlund, Ricard Raquel, Alexander Wenberg. Like, Petey's not in that.

Raquel's a good player, though. Okay. He is. I know what you're saying, though. I know what you're saying. Let's not turn this into Ricard Raquel. Well, I think he's got four goals this season. Yeah, no, he's good.

He's a good player. They've got good players. Petey has four goals, too, right? No. Oh. How many does he have? Four He's a good player. They've got good players. Petey has four goals too, right? No. Oh, how many does he have? Four less than that. Right. So again, I would be shocked.

However, if I was to have the imagination of a guy like Mike and Willoughby, again, the author of this particular text, I would say, yeah, I could maybe imagine it, but I don't have the imagination of Mike and Willoughby. Yeah, I think Petey's playing a little bit better. He's not quite to the level, you know, he's obviously not to the level where he needs

to be to justify his contract. Is he at Four Nations level, though? What? Is he Four Nations caliber? Is he Four Nations caliber? I don't know. Let's be real here. Can he pretend that Garland's Swedish and bring him along?

Garland, you're changing your last name and you're taking a citizenship test. Just put an umlaut over the O in Connor. Yeah. Goes Kunner. Kunner. Yeah. No, no, he's Swedish. We have another Four Nations one, and it was Scott texted in.

He's like, remember when Stuart Skinner used to be the pick for Team Canada and then he posted Stuart's ghastly stats this year, to which I replied, what do you mean was? I think Stuart Skinner's still the guy for Canada. Laddie? Well, wait, I just want to jump in here. We just got the first glimpse at the uniforms that the teams

will be wearing that possibly Stuart Skinner will be wearing for Team Canada. It's pretty nice. I haven't had a chance to look yet, so I will. I think the tickets are on sale next week. If you want to go to Montreal or Boston for those games. Anyway, what were you asking about Skinner? Well, okay, we're getting closer and closer to this being a reality.

I mean, who does Canada put in net right now? Like, who? Connor Ingram. Yeah, seriously. He's on the list. He's on the list. He's on the list. He got hooked last night, by the way,

which isn't a great thing. Carl Vegemelka had to come in a relief when the Sens went into the fortress that is Utah and beat Utah for nothing. But

it's a problem. It is? It's the biggest problem for Canada by a mile. How's Bennington playing? He's fine. I don't... I take Bennington over Skinner. How's Bennington playing? He's fine. I take Bennington over

Skinner. He's got an 891 this year. He has not been anywhere near the goalie that he was a few years ago. Last season he was very good. Yeah, he was good. You have the same percentage as Cam Talbot if you're considering. I just have the list of the Canadian goalies out here. They're both at 913.

Jari, Logan Thompson, Jari. 913 is pretty good. Logan Thompson. Jari. I think Sam Montembeau should get consideration, honestly. His underlying numbers. Rough night last night. But his underlying numbers in Montreal have been very good the last couple of seasons. Can you imagine?

Could you imagine going to a tournament with Sam Montembeau? Is this the World Championship? What are we doing here? You've got to make bold decisions every once in a while, especially with your goaltenders, I think. You have to make bold decisions. What's wrong with Sam Mont with your goaltenders, I think. You have to make bold decisions. What's wrong with Sam Montembeau? Oh, he's Sam Montembeau.

You can see what he does with the Habs in front of him. Imagine what he does with a Team Canada in front of him. Do you want to know what my biggest concern with putting Jordan Binnington on the team is? Is that everybody would hate him. He's a snap show? Yeah, and you'd be like, when is this guy going to do something stupid, right?

When is he going to try and fight someone from finland when is he going to like lose it and start smashing his stick i think you have i think you have to take guys with big game experience sure i there is some merit to that darcy kemper you're coming along the fact is cup winner the fact his name came up this early in the conversation is very scary to me. Gurdip texts in, hello guys. For me, when I watch Garland play, he reminds me of Cliff Ronning. Not just the height, obviously, but the style they play with. Both players leave everything they have on the ice game after game. I love those players.

Yeah. I mean, Cliff Ronning is known as still leaving everything on the ice, even when he's playing in these alumni tournaments. He's a very competitive player. You have to be that competitive when you are that size because you have to constantly, as you're coming up as a young player, overcome the biases that people will have against you. And Conor Garland comes up with pucks in battles

that he has no business coming up in. Yep. And his back pressure, again, he's just, he must be so annoying to play against. And that, I mean that in the best of ways. Kiefer Sherwood plays that sort of style too. Like he's, he never gives up on a puck. I noticed him stripping one of the Chicago players

of the puck on back pressure last night. And, you know, if you can get enough of those type of players into your lineup, you suddenly became, you become, you know, I wouldn't describe the Canucks as a heavy team to play against. They'll be a little heavier when Dakota Joshua, but you want that relentlessness where you go out there and there's no easy line to play against. There's no line that only plays well if everything is going right for them. These guys make things happen out there. That's what you want. You want people that are like, I don't care what type of game it is. I'm going to go out there and i'm gonna make something happen of the four forwards that came in by a free agency the four ballyhooed ones anyway debrusk sprung heinen and sherwood i think i've been most impressed with sherwood so far again small sample size it's only six games

but i i mean there's certain things that i was looking for right and do you remember how excited i was when they got him yeah i was like you need these types of guys on, on, on your team that are just going to skate miles out there and get in on the four check, but like have the speed to get in the four check. And it's not just, it's not just hits. Like you can't just rack up hits because you're finishing a check because finishing a check. Yeah, sure. There might be a little bit of, uh, you know, you wear the other team down. But you have to come up with pucks. You have to come up with pucks when you're a four checker and when you're a checker.

And that's what Sherwood has been doing for me. That's the most impressive thing. It's not the hit totals. It's the fact that he's coming up with pucks. Yeah, disrupt, dislodge, and then obtain puck. Do you remember how many, I'm going to just throw a shot at Vertanen while I can. Do you remember how many times that Jake would finish his check? But the guy never came up with the puck. So he'd go in there and be like, all right,

well, a D-man has passed it. I guess I'll hit him. He took the literal definition of finishing your check, and he's like, I did what? But he would never actually, there would never have been any point to it, really. No, it was just. Because the coach has told him you got to finish your check. been any point to it, really. No, it was just. Because the coaches told him, you got to finish your check.

The point is to finish your check. Yeah, I did. I finished my check, yeah. Okay, so speaking of the Canucks last night, 6-3 win over Chicago. To finish off, I would say a pretty impressive road trip, given that it started with a bit of a bobble in a game in Tampa Bay, which I think. They played one bad period, and thatbble in a game in Tampa Bay, which I think was... They played one bad period, and that was the first period in Tampa Bay.

And let's be fair, Tampa Bay had the ghosts of Calgary and Philadelphia hanging over it, right? The way that the Canucks opened the season. They went to Tampa Bay, and it was like, ah, they got it. Calgary was a disappointment in the opener, obviously. I think a lot of people felt they left points on the table against Philadelphia. I think that Tampa Bay first period was more about Tampa Bay than it was Vancouver. Tampa Bay, that was their home opener after a very tough time for the city. They're a very good team, and they came out and they played that way,

and the Canucks were on their heels. They got put on their heels by that line of Braden Point, Gensel, and Kucherov, and that's not rare. That is going to be one of the best lines in hockey, and they showed it against the Canucks. There's no shame in that. So you remove the first loss of the road trip. Some shame.

What's less shame? You remove that first loss. You go and you play the defending Stanley Cup champions. Yes, the Florida Panthers were severely limited in their roster availability with no Kachuk and no Barkov, but you win that game. You go to Philadelphia. Now, granted, Philadelphia had to fly back

from Seattle, but it still was Philadelphia's season opener. They still had the crowd behind them, although they booed them on their first unsuccessful power play. And there was an energy in the building, and there was two things about that Philadelphia game. One, they won it, obviously, but two,

it was a very stifling performance from the Canucks. That was the first real glimpse of last year's team. That lockdown, we're going to play low event, and we're just not going to let you back in this game. In Chicago, and I was texting with the group about this yesterday, it reminded me a lot of the first period of the opener against Calgary. The Canucks scored four goals in the first period. They held a multi-goal lead going into the first period of the opener against Calgary. The Canucks scored four goals in the first period. They held a multi

goal lead going into the second period. But thanks in part to a little bit of a better defensive performance, although not that much better. The big difference in that one between the Calgary game and last night's game was that they got solid goaltending from Kevin Lankanen when they

needed it. When you talk about getting out to a lead and then being able to lock it down, that includes the goalie playing very well. It's not just the guys in front of them limiting high dangers. When you're on the road against the Chicago team that does have good offensive weapons, including Conor Bedard, you're going to have chances conceded. They're going to put pressure on you. The push is coming.

It's inevitable. As a matter of fact, I would say that the push that Chicago had with the players that they had available to them might have been more dangerous than Calgary's in that opener. Big difference? Lankanen provided pretty solid goaltending where Seelov's didn't. I don't want to dump

on Seelov's. I really don't. One of the things that you threw out in the text thread last night that I thought was pretty appropriate was he all by all rights he should probably be in the ahl working on his game yeah not being ideally that's where he'd be not being in the nhl being counted on for very important wins and points yes right uh what'd you think of bedard last night okay okay we were we wanted to have this conversation in a fair and non-inflammatory way which is very counterintuitive to pretty much everything we do here on the show with the hot take horns and trying to come up with crazy speaking of hot take horns before you start another there's another mike in willoughby getting mad at you thinking that you're blaming this mike

in willoughby so we have competing Mike in Willoughby's now. I apologize to all the Mikes in Willoughby right now. Except that one guy. Except that one guy who texted it. Mike in Willoughby, it's all your fault. Bedard's a very good player. Very talented offensive player. I didn't notice him much last night.

You do notice him because you look for him, right? There are some warts on the game. Remember when he went and played with Team Canada in the Worlds? He came getting benched by Andre Tourney, and everyone was like, what's happening here? What's going on here? Defensively, he has a long way to go. Which is understandable of a guy that's very young.

Yeah. Doesn't have man strength yet. I think the problem that, you know, I think he's a very, very good player. I think the hype in hindsight was a little much. And maybe a little unfair to Bedard because the hype put him up there with Sid and McDavid, unless I'm mistaken there. But the hype, do you remember the beginning of last season? It was like the Bedard, everything Bedard.

He's on Pat. Everything. He's doing interviews in the car with Pat McAfee. The level was up there. And because he went to Chicago, he's going to get more attention, especially down in the States. But it's almost an unfair level to ask someone to play to. Sid, when he was Bedard's age, was incredible.

And I don't know if I've ever seen a better player than McDavid, so I don't know if that's fair to hold him to that level. But to me, I watch him play, and he doesn't scream to me generational. That's all I'm saying. Prove me wrong, Connor. Hopefully, you know, you become that. But to me, like, I'm just like, yeah, he's a very, very good player. He's incredible.

But everyone's got different tiers in their mind. For me, like, Sid and McDavid are just, they're up there with Gretzky and Lemieux and Bobby Orr. Yes. And then there's a huge drop off after that to even like a guy like Steve Iserman or Joe Sackick. You know, like those guys aren't in the same conversation for me as Sid or McDavid. They're great, great, for sure, Hall of Famer's first ballot guys, but not quite that level. And I feel like the hype for Bedard was just so, so much that I'm like,

I don't know if he's going to be able to live up to this. So this is an interesting dive into the hype machine with prospects and how the draft is viewed. Now there's a lot that goes into this and we probably don't have time to break it all down, but we can go a little bit long in this segment. It's fine.

First off, um, the importance and magnitude placed upon draft picks in the evolution of a hockey team. It's never been more prevalent, right? It's understood now that so much of your team's success is on one, draft and develop, but two, bottoming out to get these,

and we say it all the time, generational talents. It's way overused. Way overused. Conor Bedard might end up being the best player in a 10-year window, and that's great. Well, someone texted in, Bedard is Patrick Kane with a better shot. If he's Patrick Kane with a better shot, then he's generational.

Right. Because that would be incredible. Patrick Kane, in my opinion, before Austin Matthews, was the greatest American player to ever play. Well, let's stop making this about Bedard and start making it more about the hype that he came in with. Yeah. The second part of it was a lot of people quite unfairly put him in the lineage of Sid passed the torch to McDavid.

McDavid passed the torch to Bedard because they were Canadian. They played the center position and everyone kind of wanted it to be that thing. When really maybe it should be more like the Eichel comp. Crosby went to the World Juniors and blew the tournament apart. McDavid went to the World Juniors and blew the tournament apart. Bernard did the same thing. So there was that lineage there. And fairly or unfairly, that happened.

The third thing that I think a lot of us underestimated was when TNT and ESPN got in the game, they very quickly did a very American thing, which was, what's this NHL draft? And why do so many of these guys not become superstars right away? What's this? You draft a guy in the first round, he doesn't play for your team right away.

NFL doesn't work like that. NBA, it doesn't work like that. These guys come and play right away what's this you draft a guy in the first round he doesn't play for your team right away nfl doesn't work like that nba it doesn't work like that these guys come and play right away so all of a sudden conor bedard became a guy and don't forget you brought it up a major american market and he was with the face espn he was. Like, this is the next McDavid. This is the next Crosby. Have you heard about Conor Bedard? Have you heard about this kid? That's why he's doing interviews with, like, Pat McAfee, and that's why he was put on that plane,

because he has really unbelievable talents. But those that know, they know. Crosby and McDavid are going to go down in that pantheon. And it's not to say that- But Dart still could. But Dart still could. He's just got a long, long way to go. But maybe he's more like a Stamkos or something.

And we're saying it like- Which isn't bad at all. Maybe he's more like a Hall of Famer. Yeah, exactly. It's not like it's like, oh, he's like Stamkos or Eichel. It's like, I thought that was bad. It's Patrick Kane with a good shot. Yeah.

The greatest player ever. Also a Hall of Famer. Maybe he's not going to be McDavid or Crosby, but there's plenty of other amazing players. So I think it's a very interesting case study in the hype machine, and we're all guilty of it. With that said, three years from now, what if he's just like insane? And comes back to Vancouver?

He usually could. Right? It's still so early. Let's put a bow on that one. We've got a lot more to get to on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Coming up, more Canucks talk. Randy Bjanda, color analyst for the Canucks right here on Sportsnet 650. He was on the call yesterday

and we'll talk a little baseball because he's going to game one of the World Series. What a lucky guy. Randy Bjanda coming up next on the Halford & and we'll talk a little baseball because he's going to Game 1 of the World Series. What a lucky guy. Randy Janda coming up next on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. It's Randy.

Randy Janda time It's Ran Deep Janda It is Ran Deep Ran Deep Janda It is Ran Deep Talking Hockey Now Oh 7.33 on a Wednesday.

Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 2 of the program. Randy Janda is going to join us in just a moment here.

Hour 2 of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominick from Jason.Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Oh, wait. Let him do that. Visit him at Jason.Mortgage. To the phone lines we go. Randy Janda joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning,gage. To the phone lines we go. Randy Bjanda joins us now

on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Randy. How are you? Gentlemen, good morning. How are you? We're well. We are full of praise to the Vancouver Canucks right now. If you go back and listen, everyone in the audience right now, listen to hour one of the podcast. First half hour of that podcast, we're talking

about high praise for Quinn Hughes, high praise for Kevin Lankanen, high praise for Conor Garland. There was some praise for Petey sprinkled in there as well. So it's been a very optimistic morning here. Let's start, though, with Quinn Hughes kind of running out of superlatives to throw at him. But my word, what a performance last night, especially that drop pass to Miller on the power play goal in the third period. Just another scintillating performance from Hughes.

Feel free to add on any other superlatives you want to add. Yeah, no negatives coming from this direction. When you start looking at what this guy has been able to offer to this team, remember, let's go back four or five years when the Vancouver Canucks were looking for that defenseman, looking for that guy that would change the back end and be that number one defenseman. And Quinn Hughes, I think we've gotten so used to it. It's pretty unbelievable, guys.

So, you know, even looking at last night's game, he outscored the opposition, not himself, but when he was on the ice, it was three zip, five on five. And then you go, you know, controlling 72% of the shot attempts when he's on the ice. Scoring chances are 9-3. And then you've got high danger chances, 5-1. The only high danger chance Chicago got was late in the game. That was when everything was done and dusted. So it speaks to his ability to, A, do that every single night.

And then on top of that, consider the fact that he played a lot less than he usually did. Yeah, it does. And that's something that, you know, is great for the Canucks to get that lead but I think you know it's pretty wild to think that he is the best defenseman that this franchise has ever had and that's I love Alex Edler but we know those stats and Alex Edler said it himself it was more cumulative over a bunch of years what Quinn is doing is exceptional and we're used to it that's the crazy part it feels. It feels like this market is like, oh, yeah, that's what Quinn Hughes does. That's how exceptional he is.

The power play went two for three, and you've got to like the mix of the types of goals that they scored. We already mentioned they're really beautiful. It might have been the goal of the season for the Canucks that power play late in the game. But their first power play goal just came when Quinn Hughes ripped it, ripped it wide. It bounced off the end boards and JT Miller was there to pick up the rebound

off the end boards and put it into an open net. The power play needed a game like that, correct? For sure it did. And, you know, it needed some confidence. I think when you start looking at the zone entries, they were better at the zone entries and, you know, were able to set up. And that's really been a deficiency for this team. And I know we focus on the mechanical aspect of the power play

where, you know, guys are in their set position. But it even starts before that. If you're able to get a clean zone entry, if you're able to fight for the puck a little bit more, and I think Connor Garland certainly helps in that regard. Whether whether he stays there or not we'll have to wait and see but you know with just having a little bit more of a a comfortable setup allowed them to build confidence in their game and then when you go beyond that um there's a lot more switching it was more fluid last night and having that movement even on that first goal, JT's down low on that play.

He cleans up the garbage on that tight angle. But the fact that Chicago gave the middle of the ice to Quinn Hughes and allowed him to inch forward and a little bit closer to the net to get that shot off, even though if it goes wide, you know, there's, there's players that are collapsing in front of JT and allows them to have that room down low and the five, two goal goal guys. Come on. That one was just a great pass by Hughes as you mentioned uh previously Mike but having the ability to

switch it felt like Foligno and Seth Jones they just kind of froze in their spots not sure what to do there a little bit of confusion and and that's what JT's really good at where he's that shot and pass threat freezes both of them out, and Brock Vesser, stick on the ice. So just from being comfortable, being more fluid, switching, I thought they looked a lot better in that game, and that's a huge boost of confidence coming back where, remember, this power play was, I don't want to use the word struggling, but they weren't looking right.

They weren't, you know, there wasn't much chemistry there, and that game will help them. Is there anything Connor Garland can't do? You put him on PP1 and it goes two for three, and he helps out with entries. He helps out with settling the puck down, keeping pucks alive. I would also argue that he is the play driver on the Pedersen line with Hoaglander. He seems to have settled down Petey's game a little bit. What can you say about Conor Garland that hasn't already been said? Yeah, I think with Conor Garland, he's a spark plug, right? He's the guy that any time Rick Tockett needs a line to wake up,

he'll try them with Conor Garland at some point. And now, I think that's a credit, but also it's kind of been something that's used sparingly as he's a third line player over the last year on this team. Now he's in the top six. And, you know, your point about the play driver,

it's true, right? With Elias Pettersson, when he's going, the puck is on his stick a lot. When he is confident, the puck kind of sticks to him. But if he's not in that position, if he's not there mentally,

if he's not there physically in terms of playing that style, Conor Garland being more on the puck is what you need for that line. And that's exactly what's going on right now where, sure, when Elias Pettersson at his full power, there might be not enough puck

for those two guys on the line. But the way that this line is going right now, Conor Garland needs to be puck dominant. He needs to be somebody that is carrying the puck a lot more. And until Pedersen gets to that point, I think this is exactly what you do with this line. We'll see if Pedersen

is a little bit more comfortable in a couple of weeks and you want the puck more on his stick and maybe there is a conversation to be had there and then. But as of right now, the way he's playing, and I don't think you can see you can make a case to say hey, that line had to be had there and then. But as of right now, the way he's playing, and I don't think you can see, you know, you can make a case to say, hey, that line had to be broken up. No, not at all.

This is an individual that is scoring goals in greasy areas. He's engaged in scrums. He's giving a very, very good forecheck to Elias Pettersson, him and Hoaglander, for that matter, where they're able to do the dirty work and able to find Pedersen to either shoot or, you know, set up goals like Hoaglander had in Philadelphia where, you know, that's what Pedersen needs right now. So I think with Garland, a credit to him is, yeah, he's driving that line, the puck's on his stick and he's making things happen. Yeah, Petey had one assist last night. He could have had another,

but Mrazek made a really nice save on Nils Hoeglander. So I think there's progress there, but we know he's got a lot more to go. The third line, Bluger, Sherwood, and Heinen, the Canucks seem to have stumbled onto something there. Yeah, five points in the last game, and the last two games, I think Danton Heinen's play in the last two games

kind of signifies what kind of chemistry that they've had, guys. You look at Heinen previously being moved on to this line, previously being moved on to this line, he had zero shots on goal. He just kind of felt like he wasn't getting to a spot quick enough where maybe a disconnected or disjointed game with his line mates, whether it was Pedersen or JT Miller. You didn't really see that chemistry. And all of a sudden he goes to this line with Sherwood and Teddy Bluger

and his production is ticked up. We saw the two goals. He had three shots on goal against Philadelphia, had another three last night against Chicago. And we're seeing bottom-line production, right? Whether it's Sherwood and his three assists in the last three games. You have 33 hits from Kiefer Sherwood

in the last three games. He's treating the last three games of the season as a playoff game, just hitting everything in sight. And Bluger, of course, four points in six games. They're playing a connected style and establishing the four check and working off that. And I like the fact that they're all kind of interconnected

where, of course, Sherwood's the lead four checker, but the support is there from all three of those guys. And they're playing very close to each other, and they're playing a tight game down low. And that's how you create opportunities for players that are on a third line. You're not going to be relying on one guy to do the dirty work. They're all doing the dirty work and benefiting. And I think we're seeing that in Danton Heinen's game

where he's throwing on the line with these two guys, understands how they play, and the bottom line production is there immediately. All right, that's enough praise for the Canucks. This is making me feel uncomfortable. What's up with Carson Soucy? Yeah, I think that was the one probably uh the the one part of the night you're looking at saying okay that wasn't the cleanest uh he he hasn't looked uh the most confident in the last two games and i think part of that is just the timing um of moving

the puck up the ice and just trying to rim it out has been an issue. No doubt. There's been the last two games where him and Tyler Myers have gotten 20-plus minutes. Tyler Myers led the Canucks in ice time again, which is a good thing for the Canucks because they've got a lead and they can use some of their other defensemen. But the clears, the passes, even the chemistry, some of their switches. I saw, you know, Soucy was helping out Myers on the right-hand side, moves over to the right-hand side, and

Myers goes to the right-hand side and leaves the left completely unoccupied, which gave Chicago a bit of a half chance. It's little things like that. Just the timing seems to be off. The communication maybe seems to be off. You'd expect both of these guys to figure it out in the next couple of games. I thought Tyler Myers against Philadelphia was great, but Soucy is not maybe up to his off. You'd expect both of these guys to figure it out in the next couple of games.

I thought Tyler Myers against Philadelphia was great, but Soucy is not maybe up to his speed right now. And I think that's kind of been the case since game one of the season. It takes some players to just ramp up a little bit more. He's playing a little bit more high event than we're used to seeing from Soucy. The other element of his game

that I haven't really noticed thus far, guys, is usually Susie is central to the Canucks denying the blue line using that stick. You don't really notice that so much. It seems like he's chasing the play a little bit more,

but this is a veteran guy. He's not quite there right now, but I expect him to figure it out. We've got to remember, it's just game six that wrapped up. Some of these guys need about that 10-game mark to really ramp up. There's a lot of people texting into the show

that want to see more of Eric Brandstrom. Do you think we will? I think he's definitely got his name in the running. He's able to, A, play a quiet game, which is something that I really doubted. I know he had a couple of giveaways against Chicago, but really late in that game when the Canucks were eating pressure, some of those giveaways are not equal

and it was still a very quiet game from him, playing around 14 minutes. And so, yes, I like what I see, but at the same time, Jared Forbort is a veteran defenseman who Rick Chalkett loves. He loves the style he plays. Very similar to kind of Ian Cole.

Now, the question I have for that third pair is, what's that balance? What Brandstrom has been able to do is make Vincent Desjardins' life a little easier as well. He doesn't have to carry the puck a little bit more. It's more of a, Brandstrom's good with the puck. He releases it quickly. Sometimes he tries to force the issue. There's one play in the third period where there's not really a play down ice, but Brandstrom just kind of

forces it into the neutral zone, causes a giveaway, and a team with skill and speed coming back the other way might make your life a little bit more difficult. So I think there's certain moments where he's got to pick his spots a little bit better. But guys, DeJarne probably the last two games has played a pretty solid game, and that's playing

next to Branstrom. So having a guy that's playing next to you that's more having a guy that's playing next to you, that's more puck dominant, that is a little bit more comfortable with the puck and DeJarne, at least in the short term has to do less is actually worked out for him. That being said, I think Brandstrom is in a better position to solidify the seventh role. And then he's probably put his hand up to say, Hey, I,

I can fill in here when needed, but I feel like this coaching staff and the style of play that they want, Derek Frohberg is still the answer on that left-hand side. Do you think the defense is the obvious thing that management would be looking at? And I know the trade deadline is a long way away, but they did bring in Zadorov earlier than the trade deadline last season. I believe there was an injury that happened. It was Asusi got injured, and they wanted to bring in someone else.

But I just look at this defense right now, and you're obviously happy any time that Hughes and Hronik are on the ice, but you're a little bit worried when the other four are on the ice. Is that fair enough? That is fair, and I think that was a concern for a lot of folks heading into the season. And for all those stats I gave about Quinn Hughes being so great in that last game and this season,

the numbers don't quite match up with the rest of the pairings, which is what you'd expect, but there's a pretty significant drop-off with how much the Canucks can control play when Hughes is on the ice and when he's not on the ice now the question is do you have to force a move right now no because the Vancouver Canucks I know it looked dire for some fans maybe in the first couple of games of the season but you've been able to right the ship and you've got some matchups now with Pittsburgh and Carolina coming up here that we'll see how the Canucks compete in those games but you know coming off this road trip three and one you put yourself in a position where you're saying hey we've got some options here we don't

have to force a move because you know Alvin and Rutherford have shown that they don't like the way something's going on they're willing to make a move immediately you don't necessarily have to do that but guys with this regime, December and January is when they act, not only in Vancouver with the Zdorov move, but even going back further to the Rutherford days in Pittsburgh, whether it was, you know,

trading for players in to get well ahead of the trade deadline and identifying what they need. So the back end is no doubt the place you look at, probably that right-hand side. I would argue, you know, with Forbert, it seems like a little bit more from what I read from the coaching staff. They're comfortable with his game. They like his game.

They understand what he brings. The right-hand side with Vinny DeHarty is probably what you want, another option to add to your second pair or third pair. But if this team can play well it doesn't really force them to make a move but that that area is no doubt the the side you're looking at and you know teddy bluger and his game has maybe quieted some of the third line center discussion of course with eliza lindholm they made a big move last year um i still think this team if they really want to go all in this year there's a move to be made for

a third line center and you can just bump down Bluger and Oman can fit in a little bit more naturally on the wing at this point in time in his career. But yeah, defense is the priority at this point in time. Bluger's going to feel so disrespected if they bring in another center after last year. He's like,

I was on fire with Garland and Joshua and you bring in Lindholm. Come on. If you're going for the cup, boys, you know how it is. You got to load up. I know. So Pittsburgh on Saturday, Carolina on Monday, in New Jersey on Wednesday, and then they hit the road.

They go down to California to play San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles. Do you think it's possible that Lankanen starts all three of these games at home against pretty good teams? I think it is. There's no back-to-back there. You've got a pretty decent rest here before the Pittsburgh game. You've got two other teams that are high-quality teams right now.

Let's give credit to Kevin Lankanen. This was kind of the the discussion we were having uh batch and i was like if you come back from this trip and you've been able to solidify who your one is one guy has been able to grab this job uh that's exactly what you want and to lincoln's credit he did exactly that you know heading into last night's game he had a 953 save percentage and now he's sitting at 94141, which is telling you how well he's been able to play. So to me, I think it's Kevin Lankanen's job until he shows otherwise. And if there's a stumble in a game, maybe he has a bad game.

I'm sure we can have that discussion. But the next Archer-Shylov start I see is on the road against the San Jose Sharks on a Saturday night. You've got maybe a couple of games there. You could, out of the three in California, Shelob definitely gets one. But, yeah, this is Lankan, and the way he played last night, guys, there's a couple of things I like about his game especially

is that he's aggressive when he needs to be. He's at the top of the blue paint. But, you know, when there's shooting threats on the flanks, he's deep. He's moving really quick in that crease and he's being active but in a good way and there's a couple of saves in tight on vertuzzi i know vertuzzi scores late but he denied him so many times there's a blocker save on craig smith there he's aggressive and out you know a little bit further out in the net uh those are two very different types of saves one a little bit further out in the net uh those are two very different types of saves one a little bit more deeper protecting the post and sealing the post the

other one being aggressive but i think that speaks to kevin lincoln and how confident he is right now that he's really doing everything for this team and to be to their credit as well uh the canucks have played better as this trip has gone on defensively five on five last two games they haven't given up much especially early on in the game i know it was loose yesterday in the first period but if you start looking at high dangers you know through the 60 minutes five on five vancouver's done a pretty good job yeah they didn't get bedard much i think he had one high danger chances um three home games and then we're into november um Is that when we start getting a little like, hey, what is going on with Demko anyway?

I think so. You know, I think even though the team hasn't said it, of course, everybody's had their eye on that month. As every month goes, every week goes, I think the question will be, as, you know, this goaltender who is so well-respected in the league, who's so well-loved in the city, of course the questions are going to get louder.

So, of course, you know, this is an individual that is going through something right now. He's going through something that he's never felt before and nobody in the hockey world has. But I think the month of November, yeah, of course, the attention is going to be a little bit more zeroed in. It's going to be zoomed in more because whether the team is mentioned or not i think you know media and fans have zeroed in on that november date whether it's

early mid late we don't know but i guess we'll find out a little bit more clarity if he's you know practicing with the team a little bit more consistently we've seen him do his own skates in his own work um but i think that's going to tell us right like is this something that's moving in that direction or is it not and as of right now having lincoln in there and playing a great role uh is really important for this team but guys we know thatcher demko is on his day he's up there as one of the best goaltenders in the league so yeah it's going to be a bigger storyline it'll probably be something that's discussed a lot more, not only in Vancouver, but as we've seen all across the league. Hey, before we let you go, Game 1 World Series, eh?

Yeah, yeah. So I'm known to be a very impulsive shopper, so I saw this. I'm a Yankees fan. I respect the hell out of this, by the way. This is awesome. Sorry, Albert, rough listeners that are not Yankees fans, but this happened, and I was like, you know, we got a couple of days in the schedule. There's a

break. So I'm going down to LA. I'm going to go watch this World Series. The first time these two teams are playing in 43 years before I was born. So, hey, you only live once, right? So let's go and show Tony Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, go through the list of players. It's

hopefully going to be an all-timer. So I had to make the purchase. It's a bold, be an all-timer. So I had to make the purchase. It's a bold, brave move by you. I love it. I'm jealous. I would love to be going to one of these games as well. But it's going to be a lot of fun. It's such a great World Series.

And we've been pining for it for weeks. We're like, just give us Yankees-Dodgers. And now we got it. So enjoy the trip. Sad news, though, that Fernando passed away. I mean, he was the pitcher. He was the pitcher in that 81 World Series that the Dodgers beat the Yankees 4-2 in.

Yeah, and it's, you know, unfortunately, first of all, you know, tragic passing, of course, and anytime somebody goes and passes away, it's sad. But, you know, one of the things that the Dodgers, I think it will be special, too, because this is a team that is going to recognize them there at Dodger Stadium. So just to be a part of maybe the celebration of his life at Dodger Stadium, as you mentioned, you know, it's unfortunate. It's sad. But I know Dodgers fans are going to celebrate the passing of one of their legends.

So, yeah, you're right. It was the last time, you know, 80s. He was very, very prominent in that series, in that era of Dodger baseball. But, yeah, it's a sad thing, but I know Dodger fans and the Dodger team will definitely recognize his life and celebrate it. Yeah, oh, the atmosphere for Game 1 is going to be incredible. And by the way, I'm not – sorry, go ahead. I was going to say, I'm not sure i'm ready for it as a also as a you know a way to fan yeah add chavez ravine i don't know if i'm i'm mentally ready

for what i'm about to walk into but i might have a story guys so let's go with that okay well good luck enjoy the trip it's gonna be a lot of fun have a good call on the weekend we'll do this again next week thanks guys take care that's Randy Janda, Canucks radio analyst and traveling Yankees fan. He should wear a San Francisco Giants hat, too, just for fun. And a Padres finger. Going to the World Series. By the way... Don't be jealous.

It's not a good look for you. Go watch Fernando Nation, the 30 for 30 on Fernando Valenzuela. Incredible. Yeah, it's great. It's amazing. And obviously, incrediblyuela. Incredible. Yeah, it's great. It's amazing. And obviously incredibly sad. The news came not overnight, but late last night that Fernando Valenzuela passed away.

63, I want to say. I should have that information in front of me. I apologize. But to understand the cultural impact that he had on that city and that club at that time. And you'll never get a story like Fernando Valenzuela ever again in baseball. Because the complete obscurity from which he came. And the meteoric rise to becoming this darling of Major League Baseball. And specifically the Latino community in Los Angeles.

How old was he when, when he was a rookie? He was like 19 or 20, wasn't he? He was very, very young. He was incredibly young. Yeah.

Yeah. Um, okay. So the white caps have a game tonight. They do. They are playing. It should be at BC place. It should be.

It's not. It's not. Uh, we're going to talk to the manager of the Vancouver white caps, Vanny Sartini coming up next on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.