Halford & Brough in the Morning - We Need More Forbort License Plates

Episode Date: June 4, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, including yesterday's Canucks signing of defenseman Derek Forbort (3:00), plus they preview game one of the Stanley Cup Final with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber (29:12). 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.

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun Back goes Nemo, still going back. This ball is off the wall. Around third is Edmund, the Dodgers are gonna win it. Well, the first time I talked to Connor, all he talked about was, I just wanna win the cup. He's on a mission. It can't be overstated what the Viola family has done for us.

We need a new practice room. Okay, and here you go, and it's beautiful. No, no, no, no. Good morning, Vancouver. Six o'clock on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody, it's Halford and his bruv. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver.

Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. And Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and bruv of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice

for net help. With over 3,000 five-star reviews, visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the kintex studio kintex footwear and orthotics working together with you in step game day tonight Everybody Stanley Cup final game one finally that kicks off our guest list today because it's 630 We're gonna be joined by sports net hockey night Canada host David Amber Stanley Cup final

Finally game one between the Oilers and the Panthers from Edmonton tonight. We can, what can we expect from this Stanley cup final? The first Stanley cup final rematch since 2009. David will join us at six 30 to discuss all that seven o'clock Frank Sarah Valley, our NHL insider from daily face off. We'll get into some Stanley cup final stuff with Frank, but we'll also get into free agency and trade targets specifically.

We can dive into the brand new and latest update Daily Face Off's Top 50 free agent boards. Jonathan Taves has entered the list. Say farewell to Yanni Gord. And I guess maybe Derek Forbort if he made the list. Yeah, I didn't go that far down. We'll talk to Frank about the top. It's a good player, but I know what you're saying. He might have made the top 50. I don't know, but he would have been near the bottom. I can tell you that. It was the love for the defensive demand.

It's great. We're going to talk about it a lot. And what happened? I bet our station talked about it a lot. I just don't know if he cracked that very prestigious top 50 free agents board at daily face off. We'll ask Frank at seven o'clock, seven 30, Matthew Fairburn is going to join the program from the athletic Buffalo Sabres

reporter. He's got a new article up on the athletic titled, how did Kevin Adams earn Terry Pagula's trust and how has he kept it? And it's a fair question because the Sabres have not made the playoffs in over a decade. A lot of conversations with a lot of people around the organization. So it's a real flashpoint piece about where the Sabres are at, what they're going to do moving forward and who they might be moving on from. Could be something that the Vancouver Canucks might be interested in. We'll talk to Matthew Fairburn about his latest piece at 730.

Eight o'clock, Brandon Astle's gonna join the program. Play by play voice of the Abbotsford Canucks. The Canucks still lead 2-1 in their Calder Cup Western Conference Final with game four going tonight from the HEB Center, my favorite center in Texas. That's a chain of grocery stores, by the way. Kudos to Pucks and Pugs on Twitter.

They told us that yesterday, texted that in. A reminder, you can hear Brandon on the call of that game tonight. Right here on Sportsnet 650 begins at 5 o'clock, right after Canucks Central. You can hear game four between the Abbotsford Canucks and the Texas Stars in the Calder Cup Conference Final right here on Sportsnet 650. I noticed you called them the hated Texas Stars the other day. They weren't the hated Colorado Eagles, but they were the hated Coachella Valley Firebirds. So where do you what's the rationale?

Jason Megna. You can't hate a team with former Canucks legend Jason Megna on it. The white spot giveaway. We're doing that again today. $50 gift card to white spot. We're going to award it daily today is Wednesday. We'll be giving it away at 815 to caller number five. The number here is 604-280-650.

That number again, 604-280-0650 that number again 604-280-0650 white spot BC spot to celebrate all of life's big and little moments we'll be giving away a $50 gift card at 850 in this morning. Okay that is what's happening on the program today 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 action because I'm moving. We know how messy your life can be. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how messy your life can be. What happened? 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. On Tuesday, Canucks

General Manager Patrick Alveen announced that veteran defenseman Derek Forbort was coming back for another tour of duty signing a one-year two million dollar contract extension with the Canucks. We need more for license plates in the gift shop. I repeat we are sold out of for license plates. Sometimes it's hard to get a word in with all the things that are going on in this show, but it's good. It's funny. Yes, Patrick Alveen said in the press release, Derek's strong defensive play and solid work

on the penalty kill really helped solidify our backend this past year. Derek has a strong voice in the room and some impressive leadership qualities and we will look to him to help our team continue to grow and improve this coming season. So penalty kill, leadership, those are the two big ones for Derek Foreboard. Was this the most obvious UFA re-sign for the Canucks? It kind of felt like it.

Yeah, there's not much financial risk in keeping him, and you might, you might even be able to turn him into an asset at the trade deadline, if the Canucks are not on a playoff spot, of course, we said that last season as well, and, uh, he wasn't traded. So, uh, I, I always felt that they were going to resign Derek Forebort because it's pretty easy to do. And, um, you know, the, the, Connex PK last year was easily the best team thing they did all year. That's a good point.

There weren't many team things they did well. They had a great PK. They were top three individually? Yeah, top two individually. Quinn Hughes had a good season and team wise, they had the third best PK in the league. And this is quite a turnaround from just a couple of years ago, when it was the worst in

the league, uh, Forebort, Blugger and Suter with three of the best penalty killers in the league this season. If you go into the numbers, Sherwood, Myers and Hronik did some nice work as well. Um, interesting. I was looking at the, some of the numbers last, last night and Carson Sousi was a guy who really struggled in that role last season.

He struggled everywhere. In what was, I still say, like an under the radar significant down season for the Canucks. How badly Carson Sousi played because they could never get that second pair going. At any rate, Derek Forebort is back now and I did see a lot of people wondering, okay, well now that Forebort's back, do they actually have to trade someone off the

blue line? Right. And I don't think so. Like, I don't think they have to because Willender, DPT and Mancini could easily start the season in Abbotsford and there are going to be injuries. Saw it last year. And so here's the eight guys.

They've got Hughes and Hronik, Marcus Pedersen and Tyler Myers, Derek Forebort and Mancini, DPD and Willander. Am I forgetting anyone? You got it. You got eight. Now, all that being said, I do wonder if the Connaughts will trade a piece from the blue line.

Management hasn't exactly pushed back on that notion. And we all know you got to give to get, to make meaningful additions. But like before Forbort resigned, you and I, when we talked about the blue line, it said, well, maybe they're going to be a team like, you know, an old Nashville team where you have the good blue line and the good goaltending and your commitment to defense. And you look at the four group and you're like, that's not a great

four group, but they still managed to make the playoffs. We still said like they need to sign some veteran guys on the back end and well, they signed one of them yesterday. So Mike, the urologist from Brockville texts in, slow news day in sports when this is top of mind, Mike, I'll push back and vehemently disagree because this signing and this deal with Derek Forebort, the story isn't really about Derek Forebort,

if we're being honest, there's two other more significant stories here. One is the future of the Canucks blue line, specifically in this very pivotal season that they're going into, right? He signed to a one year deal and it gives them the type of depth. And you mentioned that group of eight,

like if I was a neutral observer and didn't have any ties to the team but I understood the game and understood hockey, I'd say that's a very nice group of eight defensemen. It takes a lot of boxes. You've got a high end with Queen Hughes. You've got depth throughout. You've got young guys that are promising on the way.

And you've got veteran leadership and you've got guys that fill specific roles. And you got, eventually hasn't been announced yet, but it's expected to be. You got Kevin Dean, one of the better defensive coaches. And I'm talking about not just like system of defense is coaching up young defensemen. And the other thing, Mike, to consider here is it's

another free agent early in the process that has decided not to go to market. So start looking around the league right now. Tampa Bay, as we said yesterday, was able to re-up with Yanni Gord. The Islanders re-upped with Kyle Palmieri. I know Noah Cates was an RFA, but Philadelphia was able to get a deal done there. Media availability yesterday out of Carolina. Eric Tulski got up there and said that with the amount of cap space we have,

we're talking to all of our pending UFAs and we're going to try and keep them all. So just start, you know, looking at a bigger picture conversation here. As for Fourboard himself, it's funny that you mentioned Carson Soucie there because year one of Fourboard, did kind of remind me of year one of Soucie in that it was interrupted. It was fits and starts.

Starts stopped the entire year because of the injuries both guys had in their respective first years. And then Fourboard obviously had the very tragic passing of his father mid-season, which also cost him some games. So he only finished with, I believe it was 54 games played. But in that limited time, I thought Forbort showed very well. And in his first year in Vancouver,

remember how much Susie was injured, but when he played, he was very effective. He was usually one when he played. Now the issue is, is that Susie followed that up with, as you mentioned, an incredibly disappointing season. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen for Four Borg. But you do need guys like this. And I think if you, look,

if you were to bring one thing back from last year that was a positive and you want to build on, a hundred percent, it was the penalty kill. That was the shining light of the organization last year. We were trying, remember we remember trying to cherry-pick Individual performances and we're like, yeah You like what Pew suitor did and there was a handful of other guys that you were impressed key for sure would with their individual campaigns but from a team perspective

Not only was the penalty kill something that was good. I think it's something they can build on identity wise this year Okay, so do you bring back suitor Because he was a pretty big part of that. Great question, Jason. And I think what's going to happen is that the Canucks are going to explore and probably are exploring a bunch of different trade ideas. Maybe they circle back on Pew suitor later. Now sometimes that can bite you in the butt. Cause suitor or maybe not suitor specifically, but some players feel disrespected by that. They're like, Oh, couldn't find anyone better.

Right. Come back to me. Yeah. I'm not your priority. I'm your second priority. And then you're like, but here's, here's a pretty big deal. I, I like, honestly, I haven't 1,000% counted out the possibility of the Canucks bringing back Brock Besser. Here's why.

What if they can't find anything on the trade market? And then they go to a guy who's like, yeah, I want to be in Vancouver. So you're not going to have to, I don't think you're going to have to overpay Brock Besser to re-sign. I mean, fair market value for Brock Besser, some people might be like, that's an overpay. But you know what I'm saying. Now, if they do circle back on Brock, he should be like, you're going to have to overpay me now. Well, I will say- The coup comes crawling

Interesting that a guy like Derek Forebort One stayed where he was because he's been a bit of a journeyman over the last doesn't he doesn't seem like a guy that's That opposed to moving around in the last five years. He's played in Calgary, Winnipeg, Boston and Vancouver So he's jumped around the league as a lot of veteran defensemen do He's had to in some way. Yeah, OK. But I'm just saying, like a lot of those guys sometimes like Carson Sousa, you got a two year deal, right? A little bit more security out of it. Signed a one year deal.

Three, didn't he? Did he get three? OK, whatever the case, even more security. Signed a one year deal for two million. A lot of people say that's, you know, small potatoes, but it's a pretty good deal for the Vancouver Canucks. The agent, of course, is none other than Ben Hankinson, who, of course, also represents Brock Besser.

Yeah. Oh, Derek. Derek loves Vancouver. See, that was Ben Hankinson brackets as played by Jason Brov. But I again, this what I'm going to be really curious about moving forward now is how many teams with the added cap space don't go shopping in free agency, but keep their free agents from going to free agency. I do wonder if that's going to be the trend. But the connects right now, if they're looking at it and they're like, oh, we could go to market and see what's out there three and a half weeks from now.

Or we fill a void by resigning suitor. And then I do wonder and I'm kind of with you. Does the best or conversation come up where they really get down to brass tacks and like, I don't know if there's a better option out there. Yeah. And then the question for Besser is, are you going to wait to July one? And are you going to see where you want to go?

Because there will be teams that will be there'll be teams that are going to be able to spend without question. I mentioned the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday. They had their end of year media availability. Tulsi went up there and said, we're armed with cap space. They had their end-of-year media availability Tulsi went up there and said we're armed with cap space They have almost 30 million dollars in cap space Which is pretty good for a team in the NHL's final four and they're already talking about let's get burns back Let's get our lot back and then when we do that Let's see if we can go spend some more and get right to the capsule look at the look at the Leafs

Yeah, like what if Marner goes? A lot of money so they with they got a they got play with. They got a lot to play with there. Now because of Marner, there might be some guys that shake loose. Vegas really seems to get talked up a lot as a possibility for Marner, so maybe Vegas has to kick someone out as they like to do. One of the guys that I want to talk to, um, uh, Matthew Fairburn about is Alex Tuck in Buffalo because he's only got one year left on his deal. And then he's an unrestricted free agent.

And the way things are going in Buffalo, I think everything's on the table in Buffalo. And I wonder if Buffalo would be a team that if, if the Canucks are asking around the league about Elias Pedersen, Buffalo seems like an obvious place to start. Okay. And now I want to pivot off to Stanley Cup

final media day yesterday, which is always on the eve of the Stanley Cup final, which goes tonight, game one. Uh, we're going to have David Amber coming up on the show at six 30 to talk about that. But Stanley Cup media day on the subject of free agents, by the way, a couple of little news and notes coming out of there.

Corey Perry said that he wants to return for a 21st NHL season. So this won't be the last year that Corey Perry will be in the league. Did you see his kid at media day? I did see that. Yeah. Pretty funny.

He's like, dad, do I still have to go to school? He's like, ask your mother. No comment, no comment said Corey Perry. So Corey Perry said he wants to come back. Aaron Echblad, who's also technically a pending UFA, although most people expect him to be back in Florida. So too does Aaron Echblad. He said he lives and breathes and bleeds the Florida Panthers.

So I can't see him leaving the organization. Now, the reason I'm bringing up Stanley Cup Final Media Day is there was a bunch of interviews and a bunch of audio to parse through, but I think the audio that caught the most attention, and we're gonna play some of it now, was the audio from Florida Panthers general manager, Bill Zito. I'd say he's probably regarded as the best GM

in the game today. If you were to have poll random NHL fans in terms of the work that he's done and the championships that they've won. And everyone would terms of the work that he's done and the championships that they've won. And everyone would say, yeah, but he's got the tax advantage, which is why he gave the following answer about why the Florida Panthers are successful. I think the most important thing for us in attracting players is I think the players

have understood now how much we've been empowered by ownership to try to do the right things. And it can't be overstated what the Viola family has done for us to allow us to implement whether we need a new practice rink, okay, and here you go and it's beautiful. And to allow us the flexibility to try to do the things

that we think are necessary to try to win and to try to have an excellent organization. And I think the players feed off that, and they know that if the chicken isn't right, that we're gonna get new chicken. And it sort of transcends all that we do. It sounds silly, but it's true and it's real. The sun doesn't kill us. It's a nice environment to live in. It's a good place for families. It's a good place for singles. It's got a little something for everybody. And then I'll point to Paul and the coaching

staff in that room. And players, no, I think, I'm not going to go through each one but so many of the players who have come to us have had career years and it's a function of the coaches in the room so players from the outside I think that the tax thing is marginal at best and I think the real reasons are that trying to figure out a way to do our best to try to win. Good place for singles, you say? Oh, I've never heard that chicken line before in my life. I'm willing to try it out on a trial basis. So what is it if the chicken isn't right?

We get a new chicken. Yeah. A new chicken. Yeah. That classic phrase. You know, you hear it all the time. It sounds like a George W. Bush quote or something. Where he thinks he knows what the saying is, but screws it up and becomes more memorable.

Did they have a bunch of food poisoning problems with the Florida Panthers this year? We need a new chicken. Salmonella. Salmonella outbreak. Just get a new chicken. The Canucks are like, you're gonna eat that chicken because we already paid for it.

I don't care how sick you get. It's gone off. Eat the chicken. This chicken goes against our cap, okay? Please eat it. The sound bite on the practice facility was not the one the Canucks wanted to hear. You know, your other- Can I just say how amazing this practice facility is?

I pity any team that doesn't have this kind of facility. It is very funny. It was funny. Rick Tawket goes to Philly. He's like, this practice facility, I'm here right now. There's like a hundred sheets of ice, all you want. And then the team that everyone is talking about as the model franchise in the NHL right now,

they're talking about their beautiful new practice facility at media day of the Stanley Cup final. Because it was fun. I just want to jump in is that the Florida Panthers went to the 2023 Stanley Cup final and lost to Vegas, right? And then their new it's so funny. Their new practice facility was opened in March and then three months later, they won the Stanley Cup. It was like, all we were missing was the practice facility.

I think every NHL team should get on this for next season. Whenever the Canucks go into their arena, they should somehow try and find a way to shoehorn it into the conversation. You have to practice at the practice facility. You can't practice anywhere else. It is beautiful. We didn't even ask you about that.

Yeah, it's amazing really that this has become such a conversation piece. Some of it intentional for sure, we'll talk it that was intentional. Some of it just purely coincidental like yesterday. I don't think Bill Zito was talking up The practice facility to take a thinly veiled shot at the Vancouver Canucks ahead of game one of the Stanley Cup final But I mean that would have been funny We all glommed onto it right away because he said the best part was he was like Vinny Viola. Yep. There you go

65 million so easy Easy 20,000 square foot practice facility have at it boy. Yeah, I'm a billionaire. Of course I can make this happen. Right. The Canucks are maybe still years away from getting their practice facility and that's the words of Jim Rutherford at the end of season availability when he said, they went down the road with three or four different ideas and they couldn't get it done.

And he said, we need 20,000 square feet that we can build on with a dressing room added to a rink somewhere, and then just use the ice. And they haven't been able to make that happen. Um, and you know, Halford mentioned it's a $65 million practice facility. It's in Fort Lauderdale and I was reading about it last night and a lot of the players live around

Fort Lauderdale and that's, the rink is near there. It's sunrise is near Fort Lauderdale. All the media will be staying in Fort Lauderdale. The singles call it Fort Lickerdale. Yeah. There's some great beach bars down there. And the players drive their golf carts through the surrounding neighborhoods to get to practice.

That sounds nice. I mean, that's gotta be a selling point, right? I would say so. Of course it is. If you signed with us, you could drive a golf cart to our practice facility. Yeah, in shorts. Anywhere you want. And flip flops. And it's legal, people will leave you alone. You wanna go play golf? So I practice facility. Yeah, in shorts. Anywhere you want.

And flip flops. And it's legal, people will leave you alone. You wanna go play golf? So I'll ask you guys, and I'll ask the listeners, if anyone wants to win the Dunbar Lumbertex Line 650, 650, if you had the chance to sign anywhere in the NHL, where would you sign? I'd probably, I have to admit,

I'd probably choose a warm weather place for my body. Like I just think it would be, it would feel, you know, you go through a hard practice, maybe, you know, you're into game 60 of the season. Everyone else is cold up north or it's raining and it's warm for you, but I have to acknowledge that I'm old. You are. And the winters didn't really bug me when I was younger. I didn't really think of it. I never thought of it in my 20s. I never once thought about how cold it was in my 20s.

Yeah, it did bother me. I was just raring to go, go and drink, right? I'm like, all right, the booze will keep me warm. Yeah, yeah. Do you remember just being like, I don't want to bring a jacket because then I have to put it somewhere. I have to check it at the bar. Same thing with an umbrella.

Yeah. I don't think I own an umbrella from age 20 to 30. Yeah. So, if I was younger and you asked me that question, I'd probably be like, well, I want to play in Canada because that's where it matters. That'd be cool. And at the end of the day, that's just what the Canucks have to target. And they have to do a better job of selling it.

And in some ways you can kind of quietly, passive, aggressively take a swipe at, if you want to go down to Florida where, you know, maybe 10,000 people care about the team. And then there's some casuals that, and I'll come aboard when it's the playoffs and then go for it. If you don't want the pressure, if you don't want that, then go play there. If you want to come where it really matters, then

come play in Canada. Yeah. And then, and they kind of have to throw the gauntlet down because this was never an issue before. And, and people bring up the tax thing and look, I think it's, I'll put, use Bill Zito's words, I think it's a marginal advantage for the Florida Panthers.

But you know what's a bigger advantage? Putting together a good team that can win, doing things right as an organization and becoming a destination. Florida wasn't a destination before, it was where you went. It's like, remember the trade with the Wango there? Everyone was like, oh, and he gets to go to the Panthers? It was more just like, oh, he's gonna go to the Panthers and he's gonna finish his career like that.

It is a good point. I think some people do need a history lesson on how low that franchise sunk. Remember they went 20 plus years without winning a playoff round. They had they had ugly, ugly streaks of consecutive misses in the playoffs. They ran through coaches, right? They had Peter DeBoer there.

They had Gerard Glant there, right? They had lots of different guys come through, but it wasn't until stable ownership, quality general managing came in that they were able to put together a consecutive run of teams. And part of this whole process that they've gone through is that they were it was okay being as bad as they were and as futile as they were because people didn't care when they were bad just as much as the not a ton of people that like there's people that care that they're good, but there's not a huge fan base that was crying out at the injustice of a franchise that went like 25 years without winning a playoff round. Right.

There wasn't like Toronto where they were throwing stuff on the ice when they lost in the quarterfinals of the 2012 playoffs. Like they, you know, it didn't happen. There's that. And that's the good and bad of Florida. The interesting thing for Vancouver. And I wonder if one day, maybe when we're even older, we'll get to the point where we have the, like, Tavares-Toronto draw that, you know, players that grew up Canucks fans,

and I'm thinking more of like the Baddard and Celebrini era type players. We're getting both those guys. You know, one day. It'll be, you know, 10 years from now, but it'll happen. Well, I honestly, like, the draw of Toronto still, and it'll always be this way, is that there's kids that grew up wanting to be Leafs.

Of course. I think that's why Chris Tanev chose the Leafs over the Stars, staying with the Dallas Stars and going on the Maple Leafs. We all know it's why John Tavares and his bedsheets decided to go to Toronto. Maybe one day that whole narrative and that whole storyline will flesh itself out in Vancouver. I think it'd be a great thing because there is going to be a generation of NHLers and it's gonna make us sound even older grew up Idolizing the Sedin era that that was their team and those were their guys and that they even guard the Tyler Mott era, right? And who could forget the Tyler Mott era? Well, do you remember that was his favorite player? Yeah, which is still mind-blowing but

Well, do you remember that was his favorite player? That was his favorite player, right? Which is still mind-blowing. But, you know, this is more just- He's just listening to this show. This is more just like a thing where pieces have to fall into place, but I will be curious, like years down the road, if there is that element of, you know, what we've seen from countless guys from Ontario want to go grow up and play for the Leafs. Okay. We got four guests today, starting with David Amber coming up next on the Alfred and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650.

It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satya Arshah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. It is time for David Amber, he is on the hotline baby. It is time for David Amber, he will talk some hockey maybe. It is time for David Amber, he is on the hotline baby. It is time for David Amber, he will talk some hockey maybe. I'm on the hotline baby. I'm right in the shrooms talking.

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

He's on the hotline. 634 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host is going to join us live from Edmonton

ahead of game one of the Stanley Cup final tonight. Yeah, that's right. It's finally underway tonight. 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, the Power West Industries hotline. David Amber joins us now on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650.

Good morning, David. How are you? Hey guys, I'm doing well. I'm in Edmonton and the sun is shining and the city is absolutely pumped for what they're hoping is going to be a nice little Stanley Cup run here in the next two weeks. Yeah, everyone's pumped. I think it's been a long time since we've had NHL action. It's been almost an entire week. Last game was on Thursday. So the buildup and the excitement, it's been going for a while. I want to start with Connor McDavid and the narrative that really sort of came to a peak yesterday at Stanley Cup final media day was like,

now's the time and it's time for Connor to win a cup. And Stan Bowman, the general manager, got to the podium and said that the first time he met McDavid, that's all they talked about was winning the Stanley Cup. And that's all he's talking about now. And he talked about all the narrative arcs going into this. Very interesting that, you know, Gretzky and Crosby, two guys that he often gets comparisons to lost in their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals, one in the second trip, both were rematches as well.

So there's a lot going into this, but all of the sort of signs point to, okay, Connor, it's your time to finally win the Stanley Cup. Yeah. And listen, the, the, the road for McDavid has been much more arduous than it was for either Gretzky or Crosby. Gretzky was 23 years old, right? And he suffered, I guess. I mean, they did get swept the year before by the Islanders, but he hadn't endured the level of frustration and the buildup the way McDavid has. And Crosby was just 21 years of age. We forget how young Crosby was because he was so good right from day one of coming into the NHL and it did take him a few seasons

but it wasn't nearly the path that Connor McDavid has had to endure. Some pretty bad Oilers teams in his first two three years and then obviously some disappointments highlighted by last year's game seven. So there is some symmetry there for sure. We're going to talk about that in our pre-game show. And that is what's adding a bit of intrigue to this whole matchup, the Connor McDavid, you know, point. There's a lot of people that just feel this guy's the best player in the world. He's going to be one of the best players we've ever seen when his career is said and done. And just like all the other greats of all time, his name deserves to be on the cup and this should be

the year. So we'll see if that storyline on the cup and this should be the year. So we'll see if that storyline plays itself out. I mean, the Florida Panthers could care less about that story. For them, you know, and I sat down with Matthew Kachak and I said, look, three straight Stanley cup appearances and a Stanley cup era, if you win a second Stanley cup, is this the dynasty? And he said a hundred percent. Like, I think that's something that's driving them.

There's the fact that they could etch their names as sort of a true dynasty, the way we talked about Tampa a few years ago and, and not to discredit Tampa at all, but their two cups were under different circumstances with the goofy divisions and the no and the no fans. And in many respects you could argue it was tougher to win the back to back cups in the circumstances, the bubble and everything else. But this is just two 82 game grinds, four rounds of the playoffs, no gimmicky divisions.

For Florida to grind out a second straight championship in the salary cap year would be really pretty phenomenal to say the least. You know what's also really interesting and fascinating about the comparisons that we're making is that Gretzky had Messier, Sid had Malkin and McDavid's got Dreisaitl. Like the storyline is so perfect when you talk about, you know, getting, you know, Gretzky got to the cup final and lost and, you know and McDavid is trying to do the same thing and

win it after losing. You just wonder, are the storylines too perfect to actually come true? Yeah, I mean, it's funny. I was just saying, I think it was the most intriguing final matchup I was, I was going to dinner last night with Elliot and I said, when is the last time we had this intriguing a matchup? And he said, Hmm. And we started to think about it.

I mean, I'm having a hard time thinking of when there was a better, like two team matchup that one can go either way. I mean, it was definitely intrigue. You know, listen, there's been some intriguing matches. Montreal got to the final in this credible run a few years ago, unexpectedly on the back of Kerry Price, but quite honestly, when we got to the final, I think the majority of hockey people said, you know, they just can't match Tampa. It's a nice story.

Plus there was no fans, which is certainly incandidately, so it's kind of changed the whole dynamic. You know, and we had Vegas in their first year, get to the Cup final, there was intrigue there, but again, this feels like, this could go seven games. There's, you know, if you go and look at the experts, half the people are picking Florida, half the people are picking Edmonton. It really has a lot of intrigue. There's just a lot of storylines. In fact, when Elliott finally, when we started going backwards, the matchup we said was maybe the most intriguing prior to this was 2011, Vancouver, Boston. And we all know that went seven games down to the wire was the, it was phenomenal. I mean, it was just one of the best

played out theater. And I know it didn't work out well for the Canucks, but from a pure hockey standpoint, it was phenomenal. And I think that's what we're staring down this time again. I honestly think the last time was actually when Pittsburgh and Detroit had their rematch in the Stanley Cup final because the 2011, like that thing got interesting, but only in game one.

You know, people, people weren't looking forward to that matchup. Like they were Florida and Edmonton. Yeah. We started talking about the Euler's Panthers series well before it actually came to fruition. Um, what did you think about Bill Zito's comments? Because I knew he'd have something prepared, uh,

about the, the, the tax advantage. Cause I knew he'd have something prepared about the tax advantage because I knew he'd want to downplay that and I thought he did it pretty effectively. Bill Zito's a very smart guy and he's done, I think he probably looks at it as like almost a slap in the face. I mean, look at how he's managed this team, picks up forcilling on waivers, makes trade for Matthew Kachuk and, you know, Sam Reinhart, like he's done some incredible work. And to discredit that and say, well, is this just a tax advantage? I think to him was insulting. Do I think there's an advantage playing in a tax free state? I think there is, but really depends on the players, right? But I think that

the bigger point stands true. 10 years ago, people weren't beating down the doors to go to Tampa or Florida or some of the other tax free states. People want to attach themselves to a winning culture, a winning environment, a great group of guys who they feel can take them to great things. That's more the thing.

You have to have the great culture there because we see great hockey markets that aren't feeling that way right now. to great things. That's more the thing. You have to have the great culture there because we see great hockey markets that aren't feeling that way right now and guys don't want to gravitate there. Everyone wanted to go to Chicago 15 years ago, right? Does anyone want to go to Chicago now? Probably not. Not that many guys. So it's less about taxes and more about winning in culture and those things. So I think he made a valid point to say it's not an advantage is silly, or is, you know, not correct, I don't think just like to say there's certain players, let's say Vancouver and Toronto

and Montreal are winning organizations, there's going to be a pitch you can make if you're those GMs come and winning here is like nothing else. And I think we see that in Edmonton when you talk to the guys who came to Edmonton, they're like, I wanted to be here because I know they could win. And I know the fans care so much. So it's a double edged sword. It really comes down to the environment you've created and you use whatever advantages are at your disposal. And if you're the Florida Panthers, you know, one of their great advantages is it is a tax free environment. You can take the old golf cart to the practices and you can, you know, wear flip flops and all the rest. We get it. So every,

every market's got to play up whatever their specific advantages are. And I think those, you know, articulated that, but to have the notion that, well, that's, that's, that's what's got them to where they are is, is very simple minded. and I agree with that. Do you think there's any jealousy from the Panthers players and the organization when you roll into Edmonton and you immediately see signs that the Stanley Cup final is on?

Like that's not the same when you go to Miami. You fly into Miami or you fly into Fort Lauderdale. You might see the odd go Panthers sign, but you can't, you can't feel the excitement of the Stanley Cup final. Like it is in a Canadian city when you're in one of those American towns. Yeah, Jason, Mike, I just said to Andy before,

your producer, Andy Cole, we were chatting before we put patch me through. And I just said, it's totally different. We landed here yesterday morning. The city is buzzing. The players see the level of excitement. People care. There's a passion. Just like in Vancouver, there's a passion here. I left the rink. I've said this to you guys before. I left the rink an hour after the game, game seven in Florida last year. You would not have known a hockey game, let alone a championship game took place. It's different and if there's envy, you know, the Matthew Kachucks aren't gonna let on because, you know, he looked, he has

painted it as people leave me alone, it's great, the fan base is really good and supportive, but I can live my life and there is validity to that and he played in Calgary so he knows what a hockey mat environment can be like. So I think it really depends on who you are as a player. I still say this it's been 30 whatever years now I don't think there's anything that compares to winning in Canada. If the Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup this is going for those players, they will be, it's going to be godlike status. They are going to be held at a level that we haven't seen players held to probably since 1993

when Montreal won the cup and that's just the way it is. So yeah, I think there could be some envy from some players and you do have some Canadian players, whether it's Marchand or Reinhardt or Sam Bennett. These guys know it's different and grew up in hockey mad communities in Canada. So there are guys who fully understand the difference and probably embrace and would love to be part of that. And it goes back again, if Vancouver gets their act together, if the Leafs can keep moving in the right direction, guys will go to those organizations. They will want to be in that environment if it's going to win. And I think that that is a really big sell.

And I think for the Oilers that there is nothing going to be greater for their player base and management base. The excitement and the accolades that will be, you know, bestowed upon them if they win will be much greater than if you're down in South Florida or in Vegas or in Dallas or wherever. We're speaking to David Amber, Hawkenhagen Canada Sportsnet NHL host here on the Haliford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Gabe, one of the Stanley Cup final of course goes tonight from Edmonton.

You know, talking about the noise and the emotion and the passion, David. I thought it was interesting. I listened to Leon Dreisaitl's media availability, and he talked a lot about the differences between this year's run and last year's run. And he made a point of saying that last year's run was so draining on them because there were so many emotional highs and lows, and he actually pointed to the second round series

against Vancouver as the one that was the most mentally taxing because of everything that happened in that series. Oh, we can hang a banner for that. Right, you pushed the Oilers. I thought it was- Mentally drained the Oilers. I thought it was interesting because if you go back to last year's run,

you're like, well, that wasn't even the conference final. That was the second round. And I have noticed that this year, the Oilers' focus and business-like approach is a lot different than last year. They got off to a bad start against LA then flip the switch and It's interesting because in every series the first elimination opportunity they've had in every series They've taken advantage of it. They've closed out the series They played two fewer games in this year's run going into the final than last year's run

I do wonder if there was That they had a learning lesson last year about the highs and lows and it being draining going into the final. And if they are more prepared and more ready with the revenge factor in their corner going into this year Stanley Cup final. Yeah, I mean, you said a lot there and it's all right.

First of all, I do think it was far more draining last year. In fact, I think we even saw that with the Dallas Stars going through Winnipeg in the second round. I mean, that was a physical top series and they looked spent. They're an older team and their older players looked absolutely spent by the conference final and the Oilers looked nice and fresh and crisp

and ready to go. And remember they took care of Vegas in quick fashion in five games. So I think that was part of it. Uh, I, I a hundred percent believe that. And as far as the mood of the team, Chris, noblogg said it best feels. Yeah. Last year we came in and there was a lot of excitement because we hadn't been here before.

There's a different mood to this team. We're ready. And it was not, he wasn't saying we weren't ready last year. I mean, if you go back and actually think about how the Stanley Cup final played out last year, game one, Edmonton could have won. They got the Broski. They badly outplayed, badly outshot, badly outchanced Florida and they lost three nothing because the Broski showed himself to be that two-time Gessner winning caliber goalie. So that could still happen tonight. But the overall feel of this Euler team, and we sat down, we had the chance, we were very

lucky to sit down with a bunch of players yesterday and do little feature interviews both for 32 Klopp and for Hockey Night in Canada. I think Brad Marsham's interview is going to air tonight. The guys were good and they talked about, the guys on Edmonton talked almost to a man about how this is a different approach. We were, aside from Corey Perry, this was very new to us last year. We all now know what to expect. We're approaching this differently. I'm really interested to see how that translates as far as the series goes.

Edmonton, I don't think it's going to come out and give up a three spot to start the series. Like that's just not going to happen. And if it does happen, it's going to be under very different circumstance than it did last year. So I think it's going to have happen. And if it does happen, it's gonna be under very different circumstance than it did last year. So I think it's gonna have a different feel to it. And the Oilers are gonna be, they were business last year, but they're certainly all business

and nothing is gonna seem daunting to them this year. And they start on home ice. So I think a lot was learned. But I do believe, and I know you guys would laugh when you heard Dry Cytle say that about the emotional drain. It was a draining series back and forth and Vancouver the series lead and then switch from Skinner to Pickard. I mean, we don't want to relive the whole thing, but it was a tough, tough, tough series.

And, you know, it's one of those sliding door moments. What if Vancouver won that series? I'm sure you guys have already been through this on your show before like maybe the look and feel of what happened with Connucks this year would have been different had they gone to the conference final, even if they had lost to Dallas last year. So it's those little, little tiny moments that really send a franchise in one direction or possibly

another direction. And the oilers feel they learned a lot from what happened last year, not just in round two, but clearly in the Stanley Cup final as well. Real quick here, David, I'm going to put you on the spot a bit. Did you hear anything from Stuart Skinner yesterday that stood out?

Because I would say that even though he's played very well since returning to the net, he still might be the number one reason people go, yeah, the Oilers look good, but. Yeah, that's a fair statement. We saw how he started these playoffs. He's certainly not letting on guys. Kelly Rudy's alluded to this. He's really worked hard on his mental game and bouncing back. I mean, he was absolutely sensational. His last six, you know, his last

eight starts in the two rounds, he has a 931 save percentage. So I think the recent memory is what he's thinking about. He's not thinking about it just six weeks ago and starting out poorly against LA. So he's coming in with loads of confidence. And when people kind of point to him as, oh, they didn't win the Stanley Cup final, that's not, when I look at it, he played well enough for them to win the Stanley Cup final. Sure, the Reinhardt goal, the cup clinching goal wasn't great, but at the end of the day in game seven, they scored one goal. It's very hard to win when you lose two to one.

So I think Skinner's coming in with a load of confidence. He certainly isn't letting on that there's anything wrong at all. David, this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it. Enjoy game one tonight. It should be a lot of fun. We'll do this again next week. 430 pregame. Yeah, thanks for having me on, guys. And we'll talk to you next week. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it. That's David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada Sportsnet NHL host here on the Haliford and

Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I got to say, I'm really excited for the Stanley Cup final. I think I might be picking the Oilers. I think I might be picking the Oilers. We don't really do predictions a lot on the way we're in. I picked them last week, didn't I? I don't know. I was like, yeah, I just kind of said off the cuff, I was like, I think the Oilers are

going to do it this time. I think they are as yeah, I just kind of said off the off off the cuff I was like I think the others are gonna do it this time I think they are as well, and then had a panic attack right that's a problem. I think they are as well I think look there's no question no question There's no metric or analytic for this, but they're the hungrier of the two teams mm-hmm They just are and people can say yeah, but they want the dynasty in Florida is like yeah Still hungry or in Edmonton. There's something about being satiated, something about being full, you know? You can't fight the feeling.

You just wanna take a nap. Maybe not necessarily in the Stanley Cup final, but you understand my point. I do think that hearing them talk about the road traveled to the cup this year as opposed to last year was really interesting because they didn't even try and make any bones about the fact that they were wiped when they got to the

car, the Stanley Cup final last year. Yeah. Big reason why I had trouble digging in. Yeah, couldn't they fell behind three? Nothing. They dug themselves a hole. That's what they dug. And then, you know, McDavid heroics allowed them to get back into it and everything. They got homeless advantages here too. That's a big part. I mean, they talked about that at length last year. How different would that series have been if game seven was in Edmonton instead in Florida?

So I, you know, I think the margins are super thin because Florida's such a good team, but, and it hurts me to say it, because I, like you, I have no interest in seeing another Canadian city, let alone achieve Canucks rival, win a Stanley Cup. But I think this might be it. I think this might be the year that the Canadian drought Cup. But I think this might be it. I think this might be the year that the Canadian

drought has broken. Yeah. I think this might be the year that you finally get the coronation for McDavid. He's, he's so cognizant of where he is in the Pantheon of NHL greats. He's very cerebral that way. Can you imagine if they lose?

Like it's going to be devastating if they lose because I kind of brought this up with David. I'm like all the storylines and the narratives and history points to Duellers winning this time. Whether it's having to go to a cup first and learning all your lessons and then you go the second time and you win the cup like Gretzky did, like McDavid did. And now Connor McDavid, who's in that kind of combination with those guys, now he's in that exact same scenario.

Everything is lighting up and saying like, this is it, this is the time. All your talk about the Oilers looking more comfortable and I know, I know they've got a, and they're going to be missing Zach Hyman, but healthy pretty much and rested for the series. Everything is pointing that this is going to be

it for the Oilers. You know what I've thought about? What if they lose, man? That's going to be devastating. You know what? And I, and I, that's what I love about the Stanley Cup final. There are huge stakes involved here.

You know what I've thought about with them losing is what happens if they lose and McDavid wins the cons might again. I have thought about it. I've thought about them losing in game seven again, this time at home, and then in front of the Edmonton faithful announcing that Connor McDavid was the playoffs MVP for a second consecutive year in a losing effort. I have thought long and hard about that. And I would, I, cause it would be the first player in the history of the league to accomplish such a feat. That would also be very symbolic of his time in Edmonton, that he's this great singular force, this generational talent that dragged his team all the way to the summit, but couldn't get over the top.

I've thought about that a ton. I mean, Wyszynski, and we didn't get a chance to talk to him about this earlier in the week when we had him on the show. He's written about it and he's gone on different shows and podcasts saying we are in that territory where win or lose McDavid's the MVP right now. He's got that big of a lead in the points total and it's split among the Panthers. You'd have a hard time saying who the Panthers MVP is right now, probably Bobrovsky by default. But I don't know. It would be an amazing, from a neutral perspective,

it would be an amazing thing if the Edmonton Oilers lost in the Stanley Cup final, again, and Conor McDavid won the Concemite again. Frank Ceravalli's gonna join us next on the Haliford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650.