Halford & Brough in the Morning - We Promised This Wouldn't Be Another Petey Episode But We Lied

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00) including a disappointing Canucks road loss to the Anaheim Ducks (6:00), they discuss if the Canucks will be sellers at the trade deadline (15:00), plus they discuss the contract uncertainty around many of the team's core players and what the club will do with Elias Pettersson (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun You're listening to Half for the is all over as the Anaheim Ducks score five unanswered goals to overturn a two-nothing Vancouver lead. Oh hi thanks for checking in I'm still a piece of garbage. We need some guys to rise to the occasion. We're a desperate hockey team. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning Vancouver 601 on a Friday. Happy Friday everybody. Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Halford and it is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Gladdy, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, yet knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid.

Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Got a lot to get to on the program today. First hour of the show, completely uninterrupted hell bro. The guest list begins at seven o'clock. AJ from AJ's Pizza is going to join us. A reminder today is Ask Us Anything Friday. We will be giving away a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. To the best, ask us anything or what we learned. Dunbar Lumber Text Line is 650-650. Hashtag it A-U-A or W-W-L and don't forget, don't forget to put a pizza emoji into your text. That will enter you into the contest. 705,

gonna go to Columbus and we're gonna talk to Aaron Portzline from the athletic. So the Columbus Blue Jackets got a big win last night. One of the most inspiring stories I would say, not just hockey, but all of sports this season. And then this weekend, Columbus and the NHL are expecting one of the largest ever crowds in league history at Ohio Stadium

on Saturday for the outdoor game. The league said more than 90,000 fans are going to be in attendance on Saturday. They call it the horseshoe. They do call it the horseshoe and the horseshoe will be- It's my favorite stadium. We're going to jam that horseshoe full of people. 90,000 plus. It is anticipated to be the second largest crowd in NHL history behind the one at the big house that they did when we were there at the University of Michigan a few years ago.

So we'll talk to Portsline about that at 7. 7.30, Bob the Moj Marjanovic is going to join the program. Moj wrote a scathing article on Elias Pedersen this week for Black Press. We can talk to him about that. As Moj put on his big Jay Gerno hat. Obviously going to talk to him a lot about the Vancouver Canucks. Maybe we'll get into some CFL and NFL stuff too. Who about that as Moj put on his big Jay journal hat. Obviously going to talk to him a lot about the Vancouver

Canucks. Maybe we'll get into some CFL and NFL stuff too. Who knows with the Moj. Eight o'clock Rick Dollywall is going to join the program. We will talk about last night's Canucks game with Rick, a five, two loss, a really, really disappointing loss for the Canucks in Anaheim. We'll talk about the Brock Besser contract situation, the

Thatcher Demko entry, the Noah Juleson, and pending UFA defenseman Derek Forbord. Did I miss anything? So you know in The Simpsons or The Family Guy where it'll be like, oh, today's a Bart episode, or today's a Meg episode. Hate a Lisa episode. You just call it The Family Guy? No, no, no.

Just doesn't matter. When I say like, when they're like, oh, it's a Lisa episode. You just called it The Family Guy? No, no, no. Just doesn't matter. When I say like, when, when, when they're like, ah, it's a Meg episode and they kind of make a joke about it. What's today going to be? Is today a PD episode? Nope. Well, based on the Dunbar Lumber Text line, the listeners want today to be a PD episode. And we've had so many PD episodes. I do have a quick question for you before you continue on. No, is it going to be a PD episode. And we've had so many PD episodes. I do have a quick question for you before you continue on.

No, is it going to be a PD question? Well, since you're kind of the curator of this whole thing, is last night, does last night join the Mount Rushmore of Bad Canucks losses? Yeah. Because I know it's pretty full. There's a lot of faces up there right now. It's Anna Hun.

I know you'd have to extend it quite a bit, which is another face in, but. I don't know, man. We might have to make a second Mount Rushmore. Yeah, I mean, there's no point in doing this anymore. This is too big. At any rate, I don't want it to be a PD episode, but I also, based on the inbox, I went through the inbox

from the post game show yesterday, and let me tell you, that was a PD episode. So between very, very excitingly calling this a PD episode and then saying, are we really going to do this again? I promise it'll be an entertaining show. And if not, at least you'll get some free crap out of the show. We're giving away a bunch of stuff today. Final day, final day of tickets,

giveaway tickets to see Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts, the Love Earth Tour, September 6th, 2025 at Deer Lake Park. If you want to win our final pair of tickets to go see Neil Young in September, be caller number 7 at 815 this morning. The phone number 604-280-0650, that number again, 604-280-0650. Caller number 7 at 815, 815 this morning, is going to win a pair of tickets to see Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts this fall at Deer Lake Park. Also, speaking of giveaways and contests, I need to tell you about the ultimate Vancouver hockey experience. This is through Sportsnet 650 and Waypoint Insurance on March 15th. Chicago and their young megastar, who could it be, are in Vancouver and you could win a chance to see it live plus an overnight stay at a luxury hotel in Vancouver.

Whether it's a home game or a road trip, Waypoint is always the right call for your home business or auto insurance, top shelf insurance and a top shelf hockey fan experience. If you wanna enter, go to the contest page at sportsnet.ca forward slash 650 and enter the contest closes this Sunday, Sunday March 2nd. The mega star is Landon Sligart. It is we've decided that good old Sligart. So we got a lot to get into

on the program 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 was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Last night in Anaheim, Ryan Strohm and Troy Terry each had a goal and two assists,

and the Anaheim Ducks scored five, count them, five unanswered goals. As the Vancouver Canucks blew a two-nothing lead and lost five-two at the Honda Center on Thursday night. So they're now one and three on this road trip. They blown a two-nothing lead in two straight games. Now they got the overtime win in Los Angeles. They did not last night against the Anaheim Ducks.

I'm not going to go through all the goals. It was a, it was a, man, that game, you know, sometimes you're watching games and like, man, I wish I could be in the building. Last night I was watching, I was like, man, I would give $300 to not be in that building. What's the opposite of that scenario? That's where I would like to be.

I was actually texting Ferraro during the game and I was like, what was the better atmosphere? Was it Saturday night in Montreal between Canada and US or Thursday night in Anaheim between Vancouver and the Ducks. At the Honda Center? Everything about that game was gross from the performance that the Canucks had to Anaheim's uniforms,

which I actually found difficult to like look at. It's, it's, it's, it's just. They got so close and yet they're so far. Like they went back to the old school Jersey, but they don't have the old school colors. So what's the point? They're just so orange. I'm like, am I watching the Netherlands here?

What is going on? Like this is just, just disgusting. It feels like, is this orange soda night in Anaheim? Like the Canucks, I don't know. I, that game last night, honestly, Two of the worst nights ever. That game was real difficult to watch. There aren't many nights where I'm just like, you know, if I didn't have to do this for work, I'd still, like, I wouldn't watch this game.

Most nights I'm just like, I'd be watching this game anyway because I love hockey, I'm trying to love the Canucks, and you know, but last night is kind of like one of those games where I'm like, oh, I'd just love to just be able to flip away from this game. It was a bad game, man. You were lucky you were at the Whitecaps game.

I still kept an eye on it. Yeah, but like kept an eye on it. What, checked the score? And I watched the third period. Okay. It wasn't great. You said in the notes, this game was gross and it's hard to push back on it.

You know who else isn't pushing back on that? The countless listeners to the Halford and Brough show texting in this morning. And you know who else wasn't too fond of the game last night? Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tauket. Here is Rick Tauket in the post game in which he was none too pleased and none too complimentary of his team. Talking about how the Canucks abandoned the game plan in a five, two loss in which they surrendered five unanswered goals to the Anaheim Ducks. Here's Rick Tauquette following last

night's loss. While we had a game plan, their rush team got the 2-0 lead and we had a 2-1 win. We didn't connect. I think we had a breakaway, a couple of missed opportunities and all of a sudden they had a rush game and then we decided to forever abandon the game plan. And we need some guys to rise to the occasion. Whether that's a middle drive or go to the net. Like we had shots on that with nobody going to the net. So a little disappointed in the grit part of our game.

Boy, it sure doesn't sound like he was energized by orange soda night. So here's a question. What is this team right now? We're, we're a week away from officially a week away from the trade deadline. And, you know, we did hear a notion that management was going to see how the Canucks looked after the

break and then make some decisions on what to do at the trade deadline. So we've seen almost what we've seen four games since the break. It's pretty dire, man. Pretty dire. Like if you, if you, if you're the Canucks, like I'm sure ownership would love to get to the playoffs regardless and get a couple of home playoff dates in the revenue books, but then overall But overall, does that take precedent over building

something more for the future and getting some assets for pending unrestricted free agents? Like they're going to have to determine whether or not, they can't just be like, well, we'll figure out Brock Besser after the trade deadline. Like you cannot risk, you cannot risk Brock Besser walking away for nothing. Uh, and frankly, I'm wondering if you can do the same

with like Pugh suitor who might be frankly, more valuable than Brock Besser. The, the, the, the fact that he has what, three fewer goals than Besser. He kills penalties. He's a center like, you know, and then you got guys like Derek Forreboard that you can probably just trade away unless you want to re-sign them for cheap. If I'm management right now, I'm looking at this team and going, our

star or superstar center that we've given this massive contract to is a complete no show, complete non-factor on the ice. Nothing happens when he's out there. We've got a, a, a star winger who scored 40 goals last season, who might be kind of checked out at this point. Um, our number one defenseman and the best player on the team, the captain, the guy we have really no complaints about is not playing at a hundred percent. And we're forcing minutes on him that he shouldn't be having.

And our star goalie, Thatcher Demko is also hurt. So like, you know, like the cell, cell, cell signal is very much on with this team. So there's a lot to unpack there. You covered a lot of ground. The two questions that you ask were what is this team right now? And if you're management, what are you thinking? The team right now, and if there was one thing that you could succinctly say that's like clear and obvious and probably the most accurate descriptor is a team that is so limited offensively that in order to win games they have to play a style and a system almost to perfection and almost with consistent high energy to get the results that they want because the

margins are so fine if they're gonna win they have to execute their game plan and play with a level of energy that is consistently sharp and consistently high. The issue is, this might be one of the most inconsistent teams that I can remember in Canucks history. Patrick Alveen said it through the media, Rick Tauket says it all the time. Seemingly every post-game remark that we get

from Rick Tauket now is some variation of, I don't know why we're not doing the things I want us to do, or we were doing things well, and then we stopped doing them well. Game to game, period to period, you have no idea what kind of effort or performance you're going to get from this team. This is the same team that's put up great performances this year, followed by horrible ones.

The first period yesterday, again, didn't watch all of them, by all accounts, they skated off the ice pretty content with what they did. They got out to a 2-0 lead, they looked at the very least like they were prepared to put forth a 60-minute effort, and it stopped after 20. Following that, everything kind of fell apart. Now, if you're management, what are you thinking? You're probably thinking that if this team has shown you one thing through 60 games this year, it's that they are incapable of putting forth the effort and consistent performances to be a team that will do anything of note in the postseason. That would be my takeaway right now. If I was the general manager,

you could say like, I like some parts of our team and we have shown on occasion this year that we can play with the best teams in the league, but we've done it with no regularity and no sense of consistency that we could count on it happening when it matters. Matt and Surrey text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line, 650 650. I know you guys don't want this to be a PD episode,

but as long as that guy is making 11.6 and playing like dog bleep, that is unfortunately going to be what the listeners want after yet another pointless minus performance. So I want to go back to last year, a year ago, where this whole thing kind of started and it was after the all star break. And this is not me saying like,

oh, I was right and you guys were wrong and I took a lot of heat because of it. Well, maybe part of it is, but like. Feels like this is where it's going. Okay, but you know that one of the things that I kept on saying about this is, this is not normal what's going on here, right? This is not your typical slump.

Like what we are seeing right now is not a guy that snake bitten or just going through a bit of a rough time or whatever. Like watching him down the stretch and especially into the playoffs, I was like, there is something way off about him. And I still feel like, I don't know what number, but I think over 50% of the fan base did not quite grasp or did not want to grasp how far this guy's game had fallen off.

Okay. Like, you remember that. I'm like, I don't know what's going on here, but it's not normal. You can't treat this as a, well, he's just going to bounce back kind of moment. Sure. Right? Like, now I hoped I was wrong about it, but what

we're seeing right now is not a typical slump. What we're seeing right now is not a typical slump. And we still don't know exactly what's going on. Well, I think that's part of the reason why the narrative has shifted to resignment. Like it's not a slump. This is who the player is right now. But I think some people are, I mean, look, I'm in this every day, right?

Like I do this for a living. So, you know, for me, I was like, I've been wondering what's going on with this guy for a year now. I think most people are now like fully caught up. So they're going through a lot of the emotions that I've already been through with it. Like I've already, like it was three months ago that I was like, are we going to keep doing this

for eight years? And now that's what we're getting into the Dumberl Lumbertex line. Like people texting in is like, I've been Petey's biggest supporter, his biggest defender, but I cannot stomach what I'm watching right now. And I can't fathom another seven years of this. But just wait until he gets healthy. Dear listeners, just wait until he gets healthy. If there's, there's going to be be, and I think maybe this'll.

People also saying like, you gotta rip Petey and you gotta hold him accountable and you gotta let him know, like he knows. Yeah, and you've done it. He knows and we've ripped him end to end. I don't know how much more I can, I mean, I'll try if you want me to try and keep, keep ripping them, that's fine.

But you know, that doesn't really, it's not going to solve the problem. Like we are not at the point where a Pedersen's going to be like, you know, a lot of people are pretty upset with me. I guess I better play better. You know, people texting in and saying like talk, it should bench him.

Like, can the heat get put up any higher on this guy? I don't think it can be. Like, Pedersen isn't sitting there going like, am I not playing well? Am I not, oh, should I try harder? Like Like this is something either he is, like he looks physically incapable of playing at not only a star level, but sometimes an NHL level. Yeah, I mean, this is one, as you pointed out on a number of occasions, nothing new. And two, sort of leading to a go nowhere conversation

because I mean, I don't mean to like. No, I'm sorry. I don't mean to dismiss. I don't mean to dismiss what you're saying here, but there's no more cattle prodding from like our standpoint. There's, and the organization has made a few things clear.

One, someone is deemed him healthy enough to play on a nightly basis. So that's happening. And until that changes, there's no point in trotting out, is he hurt or is he not? Because one, we don't know. It's all speculation. And two, if he is, neither party seems interested in addressing it publicly or doing something about it.

So that narrative will remain out there until it's addressed or not. And we are left to deal with the on ice product and the on ice product, quite frankly is bad. Last night was bad. There were now, if we want to pivot off this, there were some other poor performances last night and I do want to spend a couple of minutes here before we go to break. Just pointing out one thing, C-lobs is borderline unplayable in the NHL.

I know I had a nice game against Utah last night, or two nights ago, whatever it was, Sunday night. And that's fine. That's a one-off for him. He gets beat clean by unsced shots with way too high a frequency to play on an NHL team that has any aspirations of going to the post season. If you're going to rely upon him to be a regular contributor with the Canucks have granted small sample size recently, but he's played what two of the last four

games, so 50 percent of their games, they're not going to make the postseason if he continues to play with regularity. If Demko can't come back and they have to go with Lankanen and C-Labs playing any kind of significant minutes, they're cooked. Like last night they didn't play well, but I also think that last night was probably a game where points were up for grabs. And you can make the argument that on three of the goals

that he led in that I watched on replay at the very least, he just got beat clean on shots from distance that didn't have a tip, didn't have a deflection, didn't have a screen. Wasn't all on him. I'm not trying to put this. The second goal, Adog, I hate to say it, but DPD looked like a rookie defenseman there. But, I, if you're, I'm putting it within the context of like what's going on right now. Like if you're fighting tooth and nail for the playoffs

and you're desperate, like it almost, and I know they just signed Lanken into a long-term deal, so they are worried about the health concerns moving forward, but it would have been more advantageous to just trot Lanken him back out and try and get that game. And the worrying thing about C-Lob, what you mentioned, is this isn't new. This is something that's been known about him for a while. And was a red flag as he came up through the system as, what's his ceiling? When you have a problem like that, if he isn't able to fix it, it will severely limit his ceiling. And I think we're starting to see that now that he's getting more NHL time,

he hasn't really fixed those issues. So his ceiling continues to be limited. I watch a lot of games across the NHL. I see what the sort of standard level of goal tending is and what goals go in. I don't see another guy playing at this level that lets in as many goals from distance as he does. And I'm not talking about it went off three sets of legs

and bounced off the ice and up really high. Like we're talking about unscreened shots that he's had an eye on from distance. It almost looks like when you're terrified of getting beaten, you sink as deep into your net as humanly possible, which is a good old soccer goalie trick. You don't wanna get chipped from distance, so you just play back on your line.

That's what it feels like to me. And I know that this is probably problem four A or B on a list that's got a lot of stuff ahead of it, including one through three, and it starts with Pedersen. But if you're looking right in the exact moment where they needed points last night, and they need more points out of this trip that they're on, that was extremely costly last night,

the way that he played in that. Also, the way the guys played in front of him. There was a, I mean, 40 minutes of that game last night, and this is another thing that talk, it was completely dumbfounded by. It felt like they had, it felt like the guys on the ice thought that they had done enough through the first 20 minutes

that they were going to be able to hang on for the final 40. Yeah, it's like it's Anaheim. Look at these uniforms. They're not a serious team. How can we take the other look like traffic cones out here? We could probably skate around these guys. Spoiler alert, those traffic cones scored five unanswered goals. That is a very concerning thing for a head coach that I will say this as a talk at Defender through most of the season, it sure does feel like every post game media availability after a loss sounds exactly the same and that's fine. But your job as a head coach is to figure out answers, not provide excuses. Yeah. And if it's not working, your job is to find

something that works, not to point out that what you're doing isn't working. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah. You know? I think he's out of answers. Yeah. I honestly do.

I think he's out of answers and you can take either tact, it doesn't bother me, you can say like, well, that's his job. If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem and there's credence to that. And then you can say like, well, that's his job. If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem and there's credence to that. And then you can also say, well, what are you going to do with the guys playing like they're playing, you know?

Like, especially number 40, he's your number one center. What are you going to do if he's a non-factor? Well, I personally, I think that the occasional exasperation that Tauket shows is that he knows his best and highest paid forward is playing so poorly. And I think he knows that he can't really say anything about it.

I think anybody else would have said something at this point. Only he said things before, but. In any sort of definitive demonstrative way? Is it? Other players have been called on. Do you think Tauket's coming back if Pedersen is still there? I don't know. I'd really doubt it.

That has to be, we need to talk more about this. I mean, some people will be encouraged to be like, oh, they could bring in a new coach. Like, I don't know, if you're Rick Tauker right now, unless they really pay you and you're kind of like, well, that's a lot of money. I'll stay and take this. Are you looking at this group right now and going like, well, I'm going to win a cup here.

Right? Like Rick Tauke wants to win things, right? He's won a lot of things in his life. Uh, I'm sure he also wants to make money, but you know, he was coach of the year last year. He's, he's, he's a big name in hockey. He's on team Canada for the four nations. Um, and I'm sure that he would get consideration

for any opening that comes up, uh, in the NHL. So if you're him right now, you're like, do I really want to come back to this? Cause there's only a team option on that. And I'm pretty sure if Taki doesn't want to come back, he won't come back. So, um, I, I, the uncertainty around this group at this point is frankly unprecedented when you go from

Pedersen to Besser to Demko to to the coaching staff, to, um, you know, and I think you probably even say there's uncertainty around the future of Quinn Hughes right now, just considering the current form of the team and the fact that they're going to have to do something over the next year in order to, to convince him to extend with this team. Should also remind you that the connects ended last night, still in a playoff spot in the

Western Conference. There's something optimistic to go to break with. We do have to go to break. When we come back, the conversation will continue. If you want to weigh in on all things Canucks, text in Dunbar, number text line is 650-650. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet, 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post-game show. Listen four to six p.m. weekdays and on demand

through your favorite podcast app. ["Fiesta Friday"] Hola amigos, Fiesta Friday here on the Haliford & Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. It connects no bueno. It's not great. You are listening to the Haliford & Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Haliford & Bruff 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 parts we are still in our one of the program It's all Halbro for the first hour today if this was alias peterson's alarm clock music I think he'd be playing a lot better right now. He'd just be so much happier. Yeah, it's mood to be great He'd be playing great Our 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, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. Here are some of the texts we get.

Unsigned, I listen to your show because you guys are the only honest media in this province. If you don't hold EP40 accountable, your performance is no different than his. Keep the elite level of integrity on your show. Let the PD Talk roll. Even know where to start with that text. There's a lot going on there. A lot of it inaccurate. Very complimentary, I'd say.

I don't think... Complimentary, but at the expense of every other media member in the province, the only media outlet with integrity and honesty. You know what? I agree. Alfred and Bruv. I agree. Yeah, we are. The other shows, liars. I, I don't enjoy talking about it because I

firmly believe that we've exercised every single narrative that there is. I really do. I don't think that there's anything less new or unique or interesting or original to be said. How many even questions can you ask? Like the Canucks still trade them? I don't know. What's he worth? Who knows at this point? I don't like parsing through a five word answer to

Ian McIntyre and then trying to extrapolate what it means in the big picture. I think it's all ridiculous. It's on this management group to figure this out because it's this management group's biggest mess. But you have to admit the whole story as a whole, even if you're tired of it, is unprecedented for the Canucks. Right, but don't take this the wrong way, but just saying that it's unprecedented

or like, I can't believe it, oh my God, I can't believe it. Of course we can believe it. We've been living it for the last, well, it's February 28th, so a year, 12 months. It's been 12 months of it. This is something that we have almost dared not to bring up. Oh no. Okay. What if the Canucks can't trade him this off season, and it's the same thing next season, and then he's really untradable. Yeah, well, heads are rolling at that point.

Then he's really untradable. Yeah, heads are rolling at that point. Like, can you roll him up in a carpet and throw him off a bridge? No, like, that's where you're talking. That's a Simpsons reference by the way. Yeah, that's, you're talking about. I'm gonna clip that out of context, but. Yeah, head coach, but then you're talking

about head coaches either not returning or maybe walking the plank. You're talking about executive groups going out the door. I mean, it's untenable the way that it is. And I know for a fact that this executive and management group has tried everything to fix the situation short of trading Elias Pedersen. They've tried everything.

Some will say, well, they could shut them down and let them rest, whatever this mystery ailment is. I suppose that's left, but it really begs the question why it hasn't been floated already. Maybe there isn't. But outside of that, every box has been ticked for where it's like problem and then the box that says, did you find a solution? They've all been ticked, all of them. The fact that things have improved not one iota, but in many people's eyes have gotten worse since the Miller trade,

should drive this management group up a bloody wall. It should have them pulling whatever hair they have left in their heads and collectively there's not much. We're out. But it should be going for arm hair. It should be close. And given this management group's penchant for making big trades, you gotta

think that what's holding one up right now is the lack of interest from the 31 other teams in the national hockey league. That would be my take on the situation. So you're stuck. And maybe that's why this team plays like it's stuck so often, or that it's all in fits and starts. Because putting together routine, 60 minute efforts,

night after night after night is just impossible when you've got your best and highest paid forward playing at the level it is. Maybe it's just, it's impossible. It's a near impossible task. On occasion, guys can rise up and they'll give you looks and they'll give you glimpses and moments that we've seen throughout the year.

Yeah, yeah. There'll be like a Connor Garland game or, you know, more recently we've seen some good games from Phillip Heidel, but, and of course, Quinn Hughes, who was by the way, unbelievable last night and played way more than I'm sure they were hoping to play him.

And this guy was like, he was a true game time decision against the LA Kings on Wednesday night. And he played more than he expected to do in that game. And then he was back out there the next night and he played way more than, like they're dressing seven D right now and they're, they're doing that for a reason.

I think, I think part of it is to take a little bit off of Quinn Hughes, but Elias Pedersen made, did not look good. Um, his gap control and his pivot on the duck second goal was, was bad. Right. And he didn't play much after that. So they went back to 60 and, but they were still

giving Hughes like, I hope they go away from that. Yeah. Um, Saturday in Seattle, no more 70, no more 70. Seen enough. Yeah. It just, it makes everything too confusing. Like I'm sure it's hard enough for the coaching staff right now, coaxing offense out of this forward group, but to also do it with 11 forwards where

your line combinations are all screwed up half the time, like I couldn't even keep track of what was going on. I was like, oh, who's out there with who now? Yeah. All I know is they're not doing much. I'm with you on that. They've got six defensemen that they can rely upon.

I know that it was probably just baked into the recipe here that oh just in case something happens with Hughes you want to have an extra defenseman at the ready, but it's funny because when you spend so much time focusing on the Pettersson problem, you know, it kind of takes away from where you're like the first question you asked was what is this team right now? And I kind of tried to put it into context, which I've done throughout the year of, they are consistently inconsistent

and it's very hard to bank on a performance on a nightly basis. You really never know what you're gonna get. And even within the course of a game, you're not really sure what it's gonna get. I was listening to Bic and Sad on the post-game show and they did astutely point out, like, you have, on the second of a back-to-back,

you have no problem with the way the Canucks played in the first period. As a matter of fact, you're probably fairly happy with it, right? The fatigue, there was no signs of the fatigue from playing on a back-to-back. They came out, they got a two-nothing lead, they did the things they needed to do

to put themselves in a position to be successful. And then in the subsequent 40 minutes, everything kind of fell apart. And at that point, you're asking a lot of questions about, well, is this team, does this team listen to the head coach's message and are they able to execute the plan? Conversely, is the message that's being sent to the players

the right one? Is it the right way to go about your business? Cause last night felt like getting out to the lead was mission accomplished and then it was just hold on. And I mean, when I put out, I tweeted Talk It's Remarks post game last night, just to see what the response from listeners and Twitter folk was gonna be.

And a lot of people were saying the same thing. Like it becomes so conservative and the survival mentality when they got that lead that it's like, it's the wrong way to play. If you've staked out a two nothing lead based on the way that you've played, keep trying to push a little bit more. Keep trying to do the things that the coach wants you to do.

And so many people were saying, it just ended up being get in the zone, fire it back to the point as hard as possible, wait for that point shot and get into this very, very dull and repetitive cycle of let's just keep the clock running and kill time, right? We've got our two goals. Maybe we'll get a third into an empty net.

Disheartening hockey to watch. And ultimately last night failing hockey because they didn't hold the two nothing lead. They blew a two nothing lead up and gave up five unanswered to a very, very, very average at best Anaheim team. I know they've won some games lately and actually it was funny. Eric Stevens, who covers the team for the OC register was the first person I think I've seen all season

talking about a Ducks win as it correlates to their playoff chances. And I looked and there are only six points out, I guess, but I looked at that team last night and I didn't see, I didn't see a team that should be taking you over in two or three periods and racking up five unanswered goals. They're not great. They're an average team at best.

And they beat a Canucks team that should have been desperate last night. I mean, Tauke said it post-game. He was asked about, did you guys feel like you were done and dusted and happy and comfortable after you got up 2-0? And he said, I don't know why we would be. You shouldn't feel that way when you're up for nothing, let alone to nothing. And then a lot of people were pushing back on that.

It's like, it's the same message from the coach all the time. Expressing like, you know, frustration, confusion, being dumbfounded by what his players are going out and doing. Yeah. Right. Game to game, period to period, just a real lack

of consistency across the board. So a couple of people pushing back on the fact that I, well, I said, look, Quinn Hughes was amazing again last night. Um, people saying, well, that actually wasn't his best game. I hold Quinn Hughes in fairly high regard. And I think the fact that he went out there and

played 23 minutes and was trying to make things happen. The night after playing 21. Yeah. Like, I think he, you know, there was a goal, I don't know if it was Anaheim's fourth or whatever, third goal where he didn't look good defensively. But I think he was just done. Like, you know. So yeah, it was, I take it back. He wasn't amazing last night, but I think his performance overall is just so much better than

everyone else on the team that it's like, it's, it's hard. It would almost be easier if there wasn't Quinn Hughes to watch this team and just be like, well, they all stink. You know, they all, they're all, this is just, this is just a bad team. I'll be easier to flush the team and be like, start again. Here's what's even more frustrating.

I've been waiting and Canucks fans who have been watching this team for maybe their entire existence or for me it was in the, since the early eighties have been waiting for a defenseman like Quinn Hughes the whole time. And we finally got one. In my opinion, he's the best defenseman in the world right now. And the Canucks have him and they are wasting him. And because they're wasting him and they are wasting him.

And because they're wasting him, they might lose him. I mean, that's where you go back to management, right? And they're gonna need to be sparked into action in a pretty significant way if they wanna salvage this. And part of me thinks that the Rutherford component of it in a very weird way, like where he's at in terms of his career, and let's be real, like his age, like Jim Rutherford in age is closer to 90 than he is to 60.

Like he's advanced in his age and in his career, and you get the feeling that there's an impetus there that he would be the ideal win now guy for a franchise that's always kind of been on the, the mindset of we want to win now. Like patience has not been a virtue for the Vancouver Canucks over the last few decades. Right.

Um, and so, and sometimes that's a good thing, right? Like sometimes you look at Washington this year and, and look at what we were saying about the Canucks last year. Yep. You know, while we were talking about the buffaloes of the world that went through the big

rebuild, I mean Chicago's a mess right now. It's, you know, sometimes I wonder like, is there a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it, or do you just need to find the right guys? You just need to find the right core, however you do it. But I'm just trying to paint a picture of where they're at in terms of are we gonna kind of punt on this season

and sell off some assets. I would say that right now you've got an organization with a historical win now attitude, a president of Hockey Ops who in his, the golden era, the advanced age of his career as an executive, probably has it in his mind that he'd like to give it one more go and try and win a cup. All of this fueled by the fact that they've got Hughes

and if they're ever looking for a reason to, you know, keep making the moves and keep trying to breathe new life into this thing, it's gonna all under be under the idea of appeasing the captain. But do you think that they'll- And making sure that he's happy. Do you think management thinks they'll actually do something in the playoffs or it's just a mirage?

Even if they make it- No, I don't think management- Will they be competitive? I don't think- Does management actually think they'll be competitive? I think you're asking the wrong question. I doubt it. I think you're asking the wrong question.

I think the question is, nevermind playoffs or the immediate, it's like, can they salvage this thing while Hughes is still here? Because right now, it's trending in the wrong direction and they're coming off a season last year where everything was great and if you're looking at the sort of flow chart,

things are going bad, right? And you don't want them to- Yeah, but salvaging is related to buyers and sellers. Yes, that's what I'm saying. I don't think that they're gonna punt on anything if the understanding is we need to do everything we can to keep Hughes here, right? Tanking, going for draft picks, selling guys off,

getting rid of players that he either likes, not being competitive, all of these things could lead to them being worried about him leaving and him eventually leaving. So I think when you look at what's gonna happen, they're gonna need to, the first priority is they gotta figure out Pedersen. They gotta figure out what they're gonna do there.

And I don't think the status quo is an option. I don't think keeping everything the same is an option. But is short-term success gonna make him happy? Like, I don't know, like I think maybe if he's looking long-term, he's like, I want this team to be- Success is gonna make him happy. Yeah, I know, but what I'm maybe if he's looking long-term, he's like I want this team to be... Success is gonna make him happy. Yeah. I don't have any right now. I know, but what I'm saying is he might look at it like I want the team to be competitive if he is indeed gonna be here for the long haul. Yeah. He looks at it like I want this team to be

competitive in the long haul, so I don't want you to do anything rash just to try and you know put together a few playoff wins that'll ultimately mean a first round exit anyways, right? You know what I'm saying? So like maybe like I would just, obviously we don't have the answer to this question. I would love to know his thinking, like, is he looking big picture or is he already gone? Because obviously if he's already gone, it's a completely different story and the team, you know, will make moves based on that. But if he actually does want to be your long-term, like, you know. With all due respect, what you're talking about is like small potatoes and peanuts compared to the one big thing that they got to figure out and it's Patterson like yeah that's right that's our in suitor at the deadline is great and everything but

it's all secondary I know small but that's part of it though what I'm talking about obviously PD is a huge part of it I'm referring to all the moves and Patterson being one of them Patterson is a huge part of it the biggest part of it because he will net the most return out of all those players. Whether it's a big return or not, he'll still give you the biggest return. I'd be curious to know if there was a conversation between management and Hughes. Do you think this guy is salvageable? You're a player.

You watch him on a day-to-day basis. You sit next to him on the plane. Sit next to him on the plane. Do you think this guy can get it back? Yeah. Let's do a quick Ask Us Anything, just for a little fun. This is one that I came up with, and I'd be curious to hear from the listeners on this one.

If you could, you gotta pay attention here. If you could visit 30 other NHL arenas on a trip, but you had to skip one of them. So this doesn't include Roger's Arena. So it's the 30 other NHL arenas, but you had to skip one. Which one would you say, I don't really care if I go to that? Now I've been lucky enough to go to a lot of rinks. Okay. But I'm curious to hear your reply. I have not been to Anaheim before and I have absolutely no desire to go.

So the other candidates among the, the, the rinks that I've never been to, uh, include Ottawa. I'd like to get like, I've never been to Ottawa. I wouldn't mind going to Ottawa, but that arena has like, there's no interest for me to go there. It's in the suburbs and it looks kind of boring. And Dallas, I would like to go to Dallas, but I don't really

need to go to a stars game if I'm there. Do you know what I mean? Okay. So when you're breaking this down, it has to be like the actual physical building itself. Yeah. Then the surrounding area, like the city, right? Yeah, it doesn't have to be.

It's more like, it's more, it's more just the arena. Like I- What about the crowd? Does the crowd factor into this as well? For sure. Yeah, it's the experience of being in the arena. Like I've been to Columbus, but I probably wouldn't, if I hadn't been, I'd be like, yeah, I'm okay not going there, right?

So I've- We'll talk to Aaron Portsline in 10 minutes. Hey, hey, hey. He's listening right now. Hey! In a very weird, so I've been to Anaheim's rink, but not when a game was on. We were there for spring break,

because the arena district in Anaheim, the Angels Stadium and the Honda Center are right across the street from one another. Okay. And it's like, there's nothing to it. It's not aesthetically pleasing. The area of town that it's in, there's nothing really exciting about it. Is it near Disneyland at least? Reasonably, but- So there you go, It's not aesthetically pleasing. The area of town that it's in, there's nothing really exciting about it.

Is it near Disneyland at least? Reasonably, but- So there you go. It's worth it for that. No, it's really not. There's nothing to it. The Honda Center is- It looks so plastic and fake.

It's the Honda Center. It's the site of zero interesting things historically. It's got nothing to it. So Anaheim would be- It kind of makes me mad that the Ducks have won a Stanley Cup. They got one. 07. Never mind. That was a really good team. It was a really good team, but dozens of people were there for the celebration

Yeah, a lot of people texting in Buffalo was what I was gonna get to yeah, I Don't know Buffalo's almost like kind of like you go there just to experience the sadness You're like, I kind of want to go see this people were right, but is sad here but with Anaheim it's just like what's the hook Disneyland like yep okay then go to Disneyland go to Disneyland go to Disneyland you seven-year-old yet again I think you're missing the big point like I'm talking about a sports experience so you go to Buffalo you're like smell the sadness kids like you know like like right roll down and and just experience it right at least at least you're experiencing something What are you experiencing in Anaheim?

Nothing I trust me I went a lot of orange wait even the team store is full of like lousy stuff They've had so many bad uniforms. I hate that goal horn. Yeah Come on it's pretty good Anaheim goal They've had so many bad uniforms. I hate that goal horn. Yeah. Oh, come on. It's pretty good Anaheim goal horn. It's brutal. A lot of people. Everything's brutal about the docks. I hate them more than the Kraken.

Here's an interesting. No, I don't. No, you don't. Here's an interesting one before we go to break. A lot of people are texting in with the Saddle Dome. I went to see Wu Tang. I've never been to the. I went to see Wu Tang at the Saddle to Home.

Recently, this was like two years ago. And when you walk around that building, you truly get a sense of how old and broken down and archaic it is. But it's not part of the thrill. It can collapse at any minute. Yeah, well yeah. It can be part of history.

The impending doom is very exciting, but like I understand. It's like going on the coaster of playland. Oh, this could be it It's a little rickety in here. I Understand why there's so Under my seat. It's yeah, it's really bad. I was I was actually shocked It's like honestly and this is gonna sound not fair But like there are Pacific Coliseum vibes to it when you're walking around, you know

Yeah, and it's and it's it's it's so antiquated for an age. Excuse me. Where is your trough? Right? You know the P wall. I think they had a P wall. I can't remember. It was a foggy night at the Saddle You hope they do. Yeah. Yeah. Otherwise, you're not a lot. I made one anyway. Okay. We gotta go to break Oh God, no big our two coming out the AJ from AJ's Pizza is gonna join us. We're gonna go to Columbus. Aaron Portzline is gonna join us. They're having a huge game at Ohio Stadium at the Ohio State University this weekend.

It is the Blue Jackets, it is the Red Wings. It is expected to be one of the largest crowds in NHL history. Over 90,000 people are expected to be in attendance. Aaron Portzline is gonna join us coming up on the other side of the break. You're listening to the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. I hate that goal torn.

Yeah.