Halford & Brough in the Morning - What Are The Canucks Selling The Fanbase Next Season?

Episode Date: January 9, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason do some Canucks-related Ask Us Anythings (3:00), plus they look ahead to tomorrow's 'Nucks road matchup versus the Leafs with Fan 590 Toronto's Sam McKee (24:19). 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.

on a Fiesta Friday here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650. Halford in Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Scorri, Debt Freedom Hatrick. One, no more interest. Two, much lower payments and three financial peace of mind. This is them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program, AJ from AJ's pizza on East Broadway. Live from Orlando.

It's going to join us to just a moment here. Hour two of this program is brought to Jason hominock at Jason. Dot mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around. to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at Jason. Dom Mortgage. We're coming to you live from the Kintech Studio,

make 2026 your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech custom orthotics. To the phone lines we go. Our next guest is the owner and proprietor of AJ's pizza on East Broadway and AJ's in Winter Gardens, Florida. It's AJ here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, dude?

What is going on? We're going to wrap. Rapid fire today because we have so many things that we need to get through. I'm letting you go. Just one clear. How's the weather? The weather is probably not as good as it is where you are. AJ sent me a picture of his hotel and there's dudes fly fishing in a gator pond next to his hotel.

It was the craziest thing I've seen. It's pretty impressive. It looks much nicer than it does here. Oh, no. We caught a gator. That's not a fish. Right. Okay.

Okay. Everyone. Everyone. Focus. Focus. Focus. Okay. Okay.

one year in Winter Gardens first. Congrats, buddy. Second location, one year up and running. That is awesome. You had drinks with another friend of the show, Jimmy Aces, last night. Give us the pick, the one money pick that Jimmy Aces has for Wild Card weekend.

Okay, so he has Sam Fran and Pittsburgh. Okay. Two picks. I like it. Yeah, he's got two, and he says they're locks. Okay. 100% locks. Okay.

San Fran. I know it's not a gambling show, but... Well, it is now. San Fran, Pittsburgh. money line, book them. You're going to lose some money, but that's fine. We'll go to what's going on, not at the Winter Gardens location, but here in Vancouver, bar pies. I love an AJ's bar pie. What's going on this month? We got, we got in, for the home month of January, because my wife likes to give away pizza. So we're doing $16.O.G. Bar Pies, Sunday,

Monday. And yeah, hey, I mean, come on, NFL all weekend. It's going to be, it's going to be amazing. The game's actually on slate look great. Yeah, it's going to be a fantastic weekend. So, Sunday, Monday, $16 bar price. Finally, I ran through a lot today. Before we let you go, Super Bowl. I know it's the only opening weekend of NFL playoff action, but tell us what's going on and why people need to get in-quick in the door at AJ's. And it's lovely we have that second side for the first time ever in the AJ's history, right?

But get your resolves in because people are calling things are going to be. You know, we have 82 seats, but, you know, we throw an epic party, so don't miss out. All right. buddy enjoy the rest of Orlando stay away from the gator pit and we will do this I will it's great to hear from you guys take care you too buddy yep that's AJ from AJ's pizza on East Broadway and Winter Gardens here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650 reminder get your ask us anything's in if you want to go could you imagine getting a rezo at AJ's on Super Bowl Sunday and having a hundred bucks in your

pocket to spend that's a lot of fun ask us anything's you've got a few right now hashtag a UA pizza emoji in the to the text Don Barlamour text on is 650, 650. Brad and Chiluac ask us anything. I can't remember the last time Francesco Acollini held a press conference or spoke regarding the Canucks. In your opinions, what is the role of an owner

in regards to answering questions about the direction and plan of the team? I mean, it's whatever the owner wants it to be. He or she or they, they own the team. I don't think the Canucks owner really enjoys doing press conferences. Public speaking isn't a big strength. So that's why Jim Rutherford is there to hold those press conferences. I will say that haven't heard much from those guys lately either.

No, no. And usually you get one. We are at the mid-season point. So I know, like, for example, the Winnipeg Jets had Kevin Shevoldaeoff do a mid-season media availability, which also coincided with the fact that the jet season has completely gone off the rails. They lost their 11th straight last night. Crazy, man.

But. And they had that lead on Edmonton, too. The crowd was pissed. Yeah. That reaction was more negative than any crowd. The reaction has been in Vancouver this season. But I'm going to say this. Like, oftentimes when the owner schedules a media

availability, it's for some sort of flashpoint moment. Like something significant has happened. there's been a massive shake-up organizationally. Or there's a new hire. I think the last time, God, I might be wrong on this, but the last time might have been when, did Francesco introduce Jim Rutherford?

Possibly. Was he at that press conference? To my point here, though, I would ask like, why? The team is just playing out the string. Well, I think, I mean, the why won't you rebuild? Why? But why address that now as opposed to at the end of the year where things aren't going to look that much different? Yeah, but he's probably not going to do an avail then either.

It's just not his thing. He doesn't like doing it. I just, I don't see it happening. Some people don't like public speaking. Yeah, I just don't see it happening. Justin and East Van, ask us anything, who will be the first NHL coach fired this season? Sheldon Keith. Sheldon Keith. Yeah, I think so too. If not him, Scott Arneal. But do you think the New Jersey ownership

might just be like we need to clean house completely here and Fitzgerald might go too? They could do the both. Do them both. I mean, we've seen that. Remember Jim Benning and Travis? Travis. Do the old one too,

to shuffle them out of there. I'm a little surprised that there hasn't been a coach fired just because it's the NHL and normally a coach is fired early on in the season because there's usually a couple of coaches that come into the season and you're like, you're on thin ice, buddy. And when it doesn't happen.

But I guess there's been quite a lot of parity in the NHL this season. So no one has dropped so, so badly. But I think that is happening now. I know like Winnipeg, Arneal, New Jersey with Keefe. I think it's those two are the clear leaders. I thought for sure that Andrew Brunette was going to get fired after Nashville went to Sweden. Yeah. And they lost that second game so badly.

I'm like, just fire. Like they had a bunch of time. after they went to Sweden, just leave them in Sweden or whatever. By the way, don't do that. That's not great. Dark Horse candidate,

Travis Green in Ottawa, because that thing is going off the rails in a mighty bad way. Now, I don't know if you could put that at the feet of Travis Green given everything that's going on, but those are the candidates right now.

Also, I had a follow-up question and ask us anything of my own. Now, I will give credit to the post-game show, Sat and Bick. I thought that they could have chewed on this bone a little longer last night, but they just kind of they were talking about a bunch of other things. And granted,

it's a post game show, so you're talking about the actual game that just transpired. If you had to put odds or percentage or any sort of number on it, what would you put on Adam Foote being back as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks next year? How low would you put it? Zero percent. Zero. Zero? Really? Okay, one percent. Zero seems low.

One also seems low. I'll give you one. One percent seems low. No, you can't, why would they bring back. I mean, unless they want to tank again. Same reason they hired them this year. Well, if they really... Are they thinking Quinn Hughes is going to come back? Don't fall into that. Don't fall into that conspiracy.

Like, there's some people that are coping so hard that they're like, if we hire a bad coach, then we'll get a pick. That is a form of tank. This is a stealth tank by the men. This is the greatest conspiracy theory, by the way.

That it was a stealth tank by management. I'm with it. Because management wasn't allowed to rebuild. So they hired a tank commander that would just make sure that they did tank for the draft pick.

I'm like, are you crazy? I think it's pretty, I mean, I'm with it. I think it's possible. 40 chess, man. 40 chess. The Canucks are barely playing checkers. How is the? They're barely playing checkers.

Back to my original Ask Us Anything. How's the draft selection for next year? I don't know. I'm not a prospect sky. But if it's a strong draft selection again, maybe they bring them back. But if it's a less strong selection, then you bring in Manny.

Back to my original Ask Us Anything. Right now, the Canucks are playing at a what? I think Bick put it as like a 43420 winters. They'll change the coach and you know why. It's something to sell. Yeah. Well, this goes back to, sorry, I was cutting audio, so I couldn't respond to what.

you were saying, but this goes back on what you just... Oh, darn. Oh, darn. I missed Adog's thoughts. But no, what you were saying, and it was a good point, I'll compliment you slightly, that if Aquilini did a presser, I would hope somebody would ask, based on what you were saying, what are you selling, especially the season ticket holders for next season? What are you selling for next season?

I mean, if he says to be competitive, then I would follow up with, how are you going to do that? Right. Are you crazy? That's the second one. Well, yeah. But firstly, I would say like... I am not crazy. I would say that if he's saying we're selling hope, then I would say, then what is that hope?

And the simplest thing, yeah, is obviously change coaches. But is that really a selling point? Like, do people care that much? People care about it this year? Would that make season ticket holders excited to come to the rake next year, our new coach? People want to believe in the team. That is the one advantage that every sports team that has passionate fans will always have. The people want to believe something.

Then if you were the owner, why would you not sell hope? Why would you not, as opposed to say, we're going to be competitive and go for a playoff spot next year? Why would you not say we are selling hope for the future? I'm confused at their direction. Like that seems like the easier thing to do, selling hope for the future as opposed to saying, we're going to go for a playoff spot again next year because everyone knows that's not going to happen. You know what I'm saying, though? Yes.

Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I would just love somebody to ask that question because I want to know what he's thinking. We all would, buddy. So back to my original question. which is the likelihood or percentage, because they were running it down yesterday. Five percent. He's going to end up.

And like some of the extrapolated work on where the Canucks are going to finish this year. Like you're going to get your wish, I think, is that they're going to be, unless something dramatic changes, which I don't see happening, they're going to struggle to get to 70 points at this point. They're going to be a bottom five, bottom three possibly team in the NHL.

He's going to have a worse record and worse points percentage than the Willie. the year. And I think the way the Canucks are playing right now, like they looked maybe for a couple weeks, like they had finished or worked some things out in their own end and defensively. And then the last few games, it's, you know, it's like Tyler Myers says is the details. They're just running around in their own end. There are guys that aren't getting picked up defensively. And it does not look like everyone is on the same page. And frankly, it doesn't look like everyone's all that engaged to go out there and play. Juan from Comox, ask us anything. I was lucky enough to get one.

ticket to a Canada World Cup match. Have you ever gone to a sporting event or concert by yourself? Or would you consider it? Yep, I've been to a sporting event by myself. I, when I was, my sister used to work in New York and I went down to visit her once and I went to see the Jays and the Yankees at Yankee Stadium and it was fine. It was good. I sat there by myself and I watched the game and quietly cheered for the Jays. And I don't know, just do it. Like you can't be scared to do things by yourself. You're a big boy now.

You're an adult or a big girl. You know, like you can go. You can go out there and do things by yourself. No one is going to be sitting there going, look at that guy. It's by himself. It probably means he has no friends. I ate a meal of food by myself finally for the first time ever.

This is crazy that. Wait, what? You took it until your 40s for you to go out and have a meal by yourself. Some would celebrate that I did it as opposed to focusing on the fact that I hadn't. Okay. Well, congratulations. It's like congratulating someone that learned to ride a bike in their 40s. That's not true.

No, I'm very confused by this. Why did it take you so long to go out? He's just so popular. He's always had someone to go with. You didn't want to be alone with your own thoughts or something? Casting aspersions of the guy. No, I mean, I just, much wrong with eating at me by yourself. There was nothing wrong with it.

I just never done it. No, but clearly there was something wrong with it because that's... Rampant insecurity. Rampant insecurity. Rampant insecurity. The fear of wondering what everyone else is thinking about, no, I don't know. I just never did it. And I didn't. It was fine. That's wild.

It's amazing. It's amazing to have a meal by yourself. You know what? It really turned it. It really turned my mind onto it was Joe Flacco talking about it. Joe Flacco provided a lot of great moments this year. But the one where he talked about, just the nice tranquility and sanctity. You know the best place to do, to do like a solo meal. A restaurant?

No. Hotel bar. Hotel bar. Yeah. Because then you don't have, I mean, you're rampant insecurity. You're like, well, I'm on a business trip. You know, like I, what do you want me to do? I can't bring my family on a business trip.

I'm just here at a hotel having a drink. The hotel bar is the land. Then someone comes up to, he's like, you want some company tonight? Slides his key across the table. Like, oh. Didn't say he. Oh, it was implied. Conferred, if you will.

Alfred's like, well, eating me alone. Should I get the meal alone? Three putt, Shane, ask us anything with the Seahawks in mind, what would be the best outcome for them in upcoming NFC wildcard weekend games? For me, it's just the miracle Carolina beats the Rams. That's the team I'm scared of. But you won't play Carolina. Carolina is the four seed.

You get the lowest seed remaining. No, I know, but I don't. I don't, yeah, but I just want the Rams out. Oh, you want that? I'm not that scared of the Rams. I'm not scared. I'm more scared of the Rams than I am. Let's see how it's beat the Rams. Yeah, they didn't deserve to.

They did not, and they also lost to them. I would have the Niners, sooner have the Niners or the Packers come to Seattle than the Rams. I think the best case scenario, I think the worst team in the NFC playoffs is the Packers. and that's by virtue of their seed, that's by virtue of their health. I think that if they are able to get through Chicago, which I think is...

You don't want the Packers? No, I want the Packers. I think Packers are the worst team in the playoffs. I think the Niners are pretty bad right now with their health. I would... Well, the Niners also beat the Seahawks this year, right? Yeah, in week one. Yeah. Well, the Rams beat them early in the year, too.

I know, but you were talking about the health of the Niners, and it is considerably worse than in week one when they beat the Seahawks. I think that the Niners are a better team than the Packers. I think the best case scenario is the Packers come to Seattle in the divisional round. And all the Packers got to do. That's fine, but I just want the Rams out of there. That's the team I fear the most. I think they were the best team in the division.

I think the Rams are better than the Seahawks. Let me put it that way. They do have the best quarterback in the NFC. I'll say that for sure. The Rams do. Yeah. Jay, with Anaskis anything, in the context of Evander Kane returning next to nothing at the trade deadline,

is it time to put him on waivers. He won't report to Abby and his contract can be terminated. I don't think Evander Kane is going to have his contract terminated. He wouldn't agree to that. No. He needs the money. Yeah. No.

You could get something for Kane at the deadline without question. I don't know. There's zero term on the deal. You could, for sure. It won't be much. Oh, for sure? For sure? Yeah.

For sure he's going to be traded. Yeah, if he's healthy and he's playing, he will be traded. What will happen if the trade deadline passes and the Cucks haven't moved on from any of their UFAs? They will. They will. Sherwood will be traded. That's a guarantee. Kane, I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

Could they get Bluger back and up and running? Who knows? But there's another guy. You would take anything for, you take a seventh round pick for game. Teddy's just waiting for the Olympics. I'm got to get healthy for Latvia. Is that what's going on? I think we've got a chance to see.

Ask us anything from Brendan, the building sitter in Poco. What does that mean? I don't know. Okay. Does the Schadenfreude of dysfunction with teams like the devil's jets and sins help you feel better about the Canucks problems. Yeah, it always does. A little bit.

Yeah, for sure. I was actually going to throw out a poll question yesterday. Which team has been the biggest disaster this season? And I think New Jersey, Winnipeg, Ottawa's recent. Yeah, I made a real strong push in the last 24 hours. Because I think you probably throw the Rangers in there as well. those guys are there. St. Louis Blues.

The St. Louis Blues as well. St. Louis Blues are definitely in the mix. Yeah. Yeah, it helps. I enjoy other fan bases misery, and I like to watch them freak out online, and I go, hmm, I'm not the only one freaking out.

See, so people... I'm not the only one at this. You know, it's like going out to eat with someone else. You're not alone in your misery. People will often accuse us of wanting the local team to do poorly because you guys are jackal, and you thrive on negativity

and it's like a blood type for you people. That's not true. Well, sort of. Wait a minute. With the Canucks, no. However, I will openly and readily admit and acknowledge that when it comes to other teams, it's way more interesting and way more entertaining

to watch that 18-wheeler go off the cliff. I don't know what to tell you. It is. I find when the New Jersey Devils are doing well, I could care less about them. when Sheldon Keefe's up there like dancing and begging for his job and talking about how they need to become a real hockey team

that's interesting right when the St. Louis Blues are winning a Stanley Cup doesn't really interest me on that much that was interesting man that was interesting come on the way they won that that was interesting when they have to pull their goalie for the 11th time in 12 games and the backup goalie is nowhere to be found that's interesting that's funny

it's great that yeah I don't know now I have an aside Halfer doesn't care about any team like winning a championship? No. I just like, I just want to see a disaster. I just want to see them lose it.

With the Jets, I kind of feel bad. And I don't know if it's because there's always that concern that if they're really bad, the team will just leave again. And we always have that sort of little brother, you little scamp, get out of here feeling towards the Winnipeg Jets. No one wants to see them do that bad.

I don't think. No one has any real feelings of animals. towards the jets. That's true. No one treats them as a bitter rival. No one is like they've had too much success. It's been too good in Winnipeg. We need to see them come down.

The people from Winnipeg are so fancy. No one has ever said get down off your high horse Winnipeg ever. Like never. So I kind of feel bad with what they're going through right now. I've seen some people refer to what they're doing as the noble tank. It's not a stealth tank. There's some nobility in losing because they're out there with all guys. I don't really have any

injuries. They're trying their hardest every night. They just find new ways to lose. But that's crazy. They won the President's trophy last season. I know. Do you think Eilers is like, I am a pretty important player? Apparently. He's the wheel that made the whole thing spin. Okay,

we got time for one more. Calling it to Austin, what movie, documentary, or show did you finally get to over the holiday break that people might be surprised you hadn't seen yet. I finally started watching

stranger things. I didn't get into anything that people might have been surprised I hadn't seen yet. I did watch pluribus. Is that the good? It's on my list. Yeah, it's pretty weird. Yeah.

It's the same. I love Vince Gilligan. Like, I love Breaking Bad. I love Medical Saul. And you can tell it's got a Breaking Bad feel to it, although the story story is very different. It was good. I mean, I finished it, which is like, which is the thumbs up version for streaming these days.

Did you get through it? That's a thumbs up. We just finished Stranger Things and it was good. I mean, not great, but good, good ending. Do you want to spoil the ending for everybody? No, I mean, it's, it was this very tip, predictable ending. Did the monster die in the end? Is there a monster?

It's really hard to spoil the ending because it's very, like, cookie cutter, but it was fine. But no, Pluribus, I hear, is fantastic. It's getting great reviews. I'm looking forward to it. Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the Halford Improv Show. What? Nothing. talking like Leonard Malton this lair.

I love Vince Gilligan. He's so good though. The creator of Gilligan's Island, among other great. That's right. That's correct. That's why they called it that. Okay. Before we go to break, we need to clean this whole thing up, not unlike what JanPro

will do for your workplace, from conference rooms to kitchenettes and everything in between Janpro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected for a free quote, visit them online at Janpro.ca. Coming up, the hockey talk, we'll get back into it. Sam McKee from Real Kipperman Born and Leafs Talk on Fan 590 in Toronto. Leifes, Canucks, tomorrow from Toronto. We'll break it all down with Sam coming up next on the Halford & Brub Show on SportsNet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance.

Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on SportsNet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Come on, exciting turn of events. 732 on a Friday. You played that twice. Is it because Why are you laughing? Is it because Cowan?

Is that like Cowboy? I guess. Well, ask Sam if that's the correlate. Is his nickname Cowboy? I don't know. There's so many things going on. I can't pay attention. Everything that's happening.

The Leaves are right there for a playoff spot now. I know. They've won six of their last eight. It was the Scott Lawton Revenge game last night. Did you watch it? I watched a little bit of it. And I was like, there are better games than this. It's true.

You know what? He's right. There were very, many, many better games. You are listening to the Halford and Breft Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Scoray DeF Freedom Hatrick, one, no more interest, two much lower payments than three.

Financial peace of mind. Visit them online at Sands dash trustee.com. We are now in our two of the program with the midway point of the show. Sam McKee, one of our favorite guests is going to join us in just a moment here. The highlight of our two. Hour two is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Visit them online at Jason. Mortgage to the phone lines we go. Our next guest from Fan 590 in Toronto. Sam McKee joins us now on the Halford & Bruff Show on SportsNet 650. What up, Sam? Wow, you say that you're one of your favorite guests to all the guests. That's warm as my heart, boys.

Just you. Just and only you. That's very sweet. That's very sweet. To confirm his nickname is Cabboy. There we go. Yeah. Okay, good.

That makes a lot more sense now. Yeah. And yeah, I don't love the nickname if I'm being fully honest. I mean, it just, you know, you think about, Cowboy, you think of like this, like, gritty sort of, you know, battle-tested player that's been around forever. And maybe he was that in junior, but now that he's like this baby-faced looks like the youngest guy in the league rookie and they're calling him Cowboy,

it doesn't quite match up. But yeah, that's his nickname, Cowboy. That might be the only thing that's like not fitting for the Toronto Maple Leafs right now because they're playing some pretty decent hockey lately. The winning is Florida earlier in the week. I think you called it, or maybe it was you were born. I can't remember which one. but best game of the year by the Leafs.

Six of eight, they've won the Scott Lotton revenge game yesterday. Things are going pretty well for Toronto right now. Things are going pretty well. It's crazy how bad they were going for them to have accumulated. Now, I guess it would be 16 of their possible 18 points, and they're still not in a playoff spot. They're still fighting for a playoff spot. So things are going pretty bad.

They fired poor Marks of Ard off the bench, and ever since then they've turned into one of the best teams in the league. They've had an easy schedule here. It's been a lot of home games against some of the, you know, they've played the Jets in there, they've played the Devils in there. They've played some teams that aren't exactly, you know, world beaters. And they have the Vancouver Canucks coming up on Saturday, which I know you guys will want to talk about probably not world beaters either.

They're due. They're due. Yeah, they're due. But, yeah, it's been a pretty interesting stretch here. and William Newander having been a part of it, it's felt like it's really been more of a top-to-bottom team with a lot more involvement from a lot more sort of role-player-type guys. So it's been a different watch than it has been in years past.

They got a grueling road trip coming up starting on Monday. They head out to Colorado. Ask to Ottawa Senators how that went. Go ahead to Colorado, they head to Vegas, Utah. I've got a tough one coming up, but they play well. We'll see how it goes. Before we get into another question with those, You mentioned that road trip.

So Corey Macysek, who we've had on the show a bunch of times, has talked about how difficult that new, that used to be the Remuda Triangle in California where you had to play the three California teams and it was really tough. And he said the new one now is when you got to go Colorado, Utah, Vegas, the Death Valley Triangle. That's now the toughest road trip in the National Hockey League.

Yeah, Ottawa is right in the mix of it now, just got their butts kicked yesterday in Colorado. It's funny, when Bruff and I were previewing this road trip for the Canucks, We were looking at all the games. And when we got to the Toronto game, we said, this might be the least interesting that the Leafs have been in, what, a decade? More than that. Maybe longer.

More than that. Like, not necessarily a bled. Because it's just so mid. Just a shrug of the shoulders. Has that been the same vibe for most of the season? I know things got spicy when they fired Savard like for Christmas. Merry Christmas to you. Was that sort of the first interesting thing that's happened all year?

or are we just missing out on all the really cool, interesting things that are happening? I mean, it was just, if you think interesting as just talking about how boring and how bad Matthews was playing, I guess that would be an interesting thing. Like, there was all the conversations of what the hell's wrong with him. Is he going to have to fly to Germany again? And is he just not right? Is he just never going to be the same guy? And then back to when they fired Sabar and he's been one of the best players in the league ever since then.

I think that you're right. just it was kind of a team that for the first time, you know, we have William Neander, you have Matthews, maybe it's a spoiled, maybe this is a spoiled term, but it felt like they lacked star power, that they lacked the it factor, they had a ton of injuries. It just, it wasn't really that enjoyable. But I would tell you that from a league fan's perspective, these last eight games have probably been the most enjoyable sort of stretch of hockey that they've played in multiple years, like just in terms of everybody contributing, like I said. But no, your, your initial Spidey senses were right.

There were so many games, fellas. And last thing, don't get you wrong, it was one of them, Tocet versus Brube in an absolute offensive masterclass to those two. But it was just, it was, like, it was a lot of blah. And we'd come in and be like, what is going on with these guys?

There's no life. They're just lifeless. They don't have any, seem like they have any passion that they care, blah, blah, blah. But it seems to turn around, but, yeah, to your original point, you will be bang on. There was a lot of mid going on. Very mid. How much better would their record be if their power play was half decent?

That's a good question. Honestly, I think they would probably have conservative. I'll say I'll give them two more wins. Maybe two to three more wins they would probably have. So that's six more points. So that's heavy within the playoffs, you know, not firmly in there, obviously, because everybody in the East is within sharing distance of a playoff spot, maybe except Ottawa Senators after last night.

But sorry, I just love crapping on the sense. It's just been a really fun cottage industry the last couple days, as you guys probably know. I think them kind of figuring out their personnel on the power play over this last little while, and the Ewing Theory Committee has ascended on Toronto in terms of talking about their power play without William Newlander and replacing him with Machelli, because this Machelli, boy, say what you will about his other parts of his game, he snaps the puck around. Boy, can he pass it? So they've kind of put him on the half wall, and he just passes it to the guys and he seems like he's fine in lanes

and then puck moves so much quicker with him out there. So it's improved under Sullivan. That's the assistant they brought in to replace savvy. But yeah, I think that there was probably, I don't even know how many games, a lot of games because they were at, what,

13% at one point this year. It just felt like they'd have this chance in the game. It's midway through the third. It's a one goal game. You have this opportunity. And not only would they not score, it would just piss

everybody off in the crowd, the booze would rain down, people were sick of it, it was just like they had the yips. So if they can kind of keep the good momentum they've had with the power play going in recent games, where I don't think they've scored for a couple games here, but at least it's not, you know, at least they can gain the zone now. I think that will be a big key in them kind of turning it around. And their special teams have been really good recently. Like, they're penalty kill. I think it's up to second or third in the league. It's been the best since December in the league.

So special teams have been a big key for them kind of turning it around. But yeah, they'd probably have at least six more points if their power play was any good all year. So is William Neelander the number one target right now? I know it was probably Austin Matthews earlier in the season, but then I saw the picture of Neelander in the press box wearing the tank top and tuk. And I saw some reactions to that,

especially among the media members. What was that like? Because sometimes when the media members make a big deal out of things, the fans push back, and they're like, what's not a big deal? People wear tukes and tank tops to hockey games all the time.

I don't know. They do. No, I think even the biggest Neanderthals, we call them here, the biggest Neanderthor. How much, am I saying that right? Nelanderthals? That's good.

That's pretty good. Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate it for finishing my sentence for me. That's why I'm your favorite guest. They even were like, holy crap. And then I had some breaking news. This one, I didn't tweet it because I was already in the mud with me, Kipperman Borny, talking about how the energy is way better without him in the lineup.

And, boy, that didn't enjoy, people didn't enjoy that one. So I didn't want to get even more into the mud, but a listener DM me a picture of Willie, because I guess she was kind of like at eye level of the press box, up in the bleachers at the Scotia Bank Arena. And you could look straight over to where he sits, where the famous take-top picture was taken, to where his feet are up. I was going to say to be like from sleeveless to feed up the William Neander story and blah blah blah but I decided not to

I decided to stay out of the mud but I thought I'd tell you guys but yeah I think that there's something to be said for just kind of having you know three or four lines over an eight game stretch where there's a lot of energy and there's a lot of it just feels different than people are used to here but when push comes to shut, when you come to playoff time, if the Leafs are going to be involved in a playoff series this year, you know, we're hoping that they're going to find a way to be able to do that. You need stars, and you need game breakers,

and William Neelander is one of the premier ones in the league. So, like, getting to the playoffs and having these stretches, you know, it's fun to talk about how they're better without them and piss people off, but they're not, and they need him back in there. Could you see Bradshaw living? Let's say this season ends, and it's either miss the playoffs or, you know, barely making, the playoffs and get eliminated pretty quick.

Could you see him doing something bold? Because I just look at this roster and what are they going to come back with Matthews and Neelander and Tavares again and have Morgan Riley on the back end? Like that blue line, I know you got Troy Stetcher now and he's a star, but that blue line is old and I don't even know if Tannab's going to play

another game in his career. I know Jake McCabe's a pretty good player, but he's not a number one defenseman. No, I mean, one of the, one of the very favorite core takes of Leaves Nation from the time William Neelander came into the league until now has been trade William Neander for a number one defenseman. And that, I mean, that has been a popular take over these past games without him too, right? Because you see how good they've played.

And if you were to trade him for a top-end guy, that kind of pushes everybody else down and it just makes that D-Corps look so good. Like, for example, we had a guy texting on our text line when we were doing our mail bag on Wednesdays that we do like our leaf stuff. And they're like, what would it happen if they traded William Neander for, you know, a disgruntled Adam Fox after, you know, Sullivan left them off the Olympic team or whatever, blah, blah, blah, typical fan thing. And he's like, you know what?

Something like that would make them look way different, right? Where they have a bona fide number one guy. You add around with the extra caps to like the extra cast space to some of the other parts of your team that could sort of fill it out. I think that would constitute as bold. I do worry a little bit about Radger Living, quite frankly, boys and some of the stuff that's been coming out

yesterday about what he was willing to give up for Braden Shann. I'm sure you guys have seen some of those things trickling to your timeline that, like, they were willing to give up Danford and willing to give up Cowan, who are the least only, literally there are only two prospects somehow,

and a first to get to get Shen out of there. And I just, I worry about what he thinks of hockey sometimes. and what his direction is and how desperate he is. But like, if they lose in the first round of the playoffs, I'm not sure, or they don't make the playoffs, I'm not sure he's going to be running the least next year, right?

Like, I feel like it's a pretty season-to-season thing here. So to answer your question, I think they would probably do something bold. I think they would consider something bold. But at the same time, he might not get the chance to make something bold if they don't make the playoffs or they lose in the first round. We're speaking to Sam McKee from Fan 590 in Toronto here on the Halford and Brough show on SportsNet 650.

You alluded to Olympic participation there, Sam. I want to turn the conversation to Team Canada. I know we've had you on the show before or during the Four Nations. An ardent fever pitch that you follow the Canadian national team. And right now I've got to ask you, where is your concern level with the possibility, or dare I say likelihood of Jordan Binnington starting this tournament as the number one goalie for Canada? Oh, well, you guys don't like the 871, say a percentage? I watched that game against Chicago last night with the goalie pull that never happened.

And if that whole Joel Hofer, where is he, where is anything, didn't happen, we would have been focused on the fact that he gave up another seven spot this year. And it just was met with a collective shrug. It's like, yeah, that's what he does now. He lets in a lot of goals. I am very concerned, very concerned, very concerned about Bennington right now. Yeah, I don't know how you can't be And I was kind of

Listen, I said after the four nations last year And what he did for Team Canada In that gold medal game I said that we just We can't have this conversation all year He's just the starter He's just the guy You're just gonna put him in there

Don't think it Don't overthink it just put him in there But I'm overthinking it now Now I'm like maybe we should have taken Wedgwood There's a limit to how far your game can fall Yes Yeah that's exactly it.

And if Doug Armstrong isn't running this thing, I don't know if he's necessarily on the team. He said in his press conference, or maybe he said it to Kipprinborn, I'm not sure where he said it. But he said that John Cooper pushed for it and that he was cognizant of him being a blue and he didn't want to kind of overstep

and have him on there, but John Cooper asked for it. So maybe that's true. I mean, maybe John Cooper asked to not have Sam Bennett on the team too, so that's why he's not on the team. Maybe John Cooper has a little bit more sway than we think.

but yeah I think game one versus Czechia Bennington's between the pipes no I know I know we discussed yesterday like would it almost be better if he got lit up in that game even if Canada loses

so that they're forced to go with someone else I don't know if then it's Switzerland and Switzerland and France right and we've had such a great success of the Olympics playing against Switzerland They've never given us any trouble over the years. The damn Swiss at the Olympics.

Shout out David Asherber and Jonas Hiller. They've never given us any trouble. Hey Sam, agree or disagree with my take here. The one player that Canada could regret leaving off the roster the most, it's not Sam Bennett, it's not Connor Bedard. In fact, it's not a forward.

It's Matthew Schaefer. Agree. Agree. I've been totally in love with watching him all year. He's an absolute dynamo. And then it was sort of the decision to leave him off is sort of punctuated by that hockey night in Canada game against the Leafs where I got a target point.

He was, like, he was outrageously good. And as a Canadian hockey fan, I'm really happy that he just exists and that he's going to be part of it for a long time, right? but he earned the right to be part of it this time. Like I, you know, I get Colton Freakos long and rangy and, you know, he's, you know, he gets in the way and all that. And Travis Sanhine, who I watched last night against the Leaf, brilliant skater or whatever. But like the top end of what Matthew Schaefer is is Kail McCarr.

Like he's in that, like he's going to be that, right? Like, I think, well, like, Kail McCar playing in the AJHL at Matthew Schaefer's age right now. Like it's just, it's pretty remarkable how good he is. And I was sort of pushing back originally about how him being so young and him, you know, maybe it was just a little bit too much too soon for him. But I've gotten off that take and I told me, he agree. He should be there. I just think they could regret it.

I just think the game plan against the Canadians, if you're the, excuse me, if you're the Americans, and you're looking at that Canadian roster, you're not going to go, you're not going to go, you're not going to go run and gun with them. You're probably going to go, we're going to forecheck the hell out of them and see if we can turn some puck's over. And that's where you'd want a Matthew Schaefer skating the puck out.

Yeah, absolutely. You want more than one guy. It's like, what if you could have Kail McCar, but two of them? Like actually, you know what? You know what actually the game plan is? Soft-risters from the point on Bennington. They're like, just get those soft-wisters on the point.

They'll go in. don't go in guys, don't worry. Like, he's got an 871. They'll go in. But no, you're right. I mean, I think that having, it's just, you know, we need to keep producing these top, top, top guys because that's always been our advantage in terms of international hockey where, you know, the states, they produce some amazing players, but they don't produce McKinnon. They don't produce mid-David's.

They don't produce SIDS, that kind of thing. And it's the same with defensemen. I mean, we don't produce the mean ones anymore. We used to have, like, this incredible sort of mix on the back end of guys who were silky and smooth, like the Meadermeyers of the world or whatever. And then you also have the absolute butchers that were willing to kill you and like the prongers and the we don't really make those ones anymore.

So we need to at least continue to make the silky smooth ones and Schaefer's. I mean, how old was Doughty when he made 20? Was it his first year or second year? I think he was 19 turning 20. Okay. So it's, I mean, it's not that far off. And I believe he was on the ice for the golden goal with Sid. I don't know.

I really slept through the game too, though. Yeah. I love that. call. Did you see the video of Doughty's call where he was like, I hope you didn't see that video of me talking about how I was late and you weren't going to put me on the team. You were talking to Armstrong. So I thought it was funny. But I love Doughty and like I wouldn't have taken Doughty off the team. I know he's not perfect, but even if he's going to play 12 or 13 minutes in a game, just having him there, having him in the room, like, I love Doughty. I'm a huge Drew Derry.

He's so confident. Yeah. He belongs there. He's a guy that just like I can picture him being there. But there's other guys in that. I don't think Harley's had a particularly great year, although he was great at the Wharf, so I understand that. I would have taken Schaefer over him. Me too. I think I would have.

I really would have taken Schaefer. And I would have taken Bennett, those were the two. And we had, we had Valley on our show on Tuesdays, which is one of the better sports radio segments around. He's fantastic. But I asked him to dig up some stuff on Sirelli for me because I was one of the more skeptical guys.

and listen, Coup obviously loved them and he coaches them, but there's some merit to it, but to me if you swap out Bennett for Sorrelli, it's the perfect team. I love Horvett. You guys must not love that, eh? Oof. I don't know, we're,

we're happy for Horvatt. Yeah, he got a raw deal. He got a raw deal. He's a good player. He was always kind of miscast as being a frontline captain, although that's exactly what he is in... He was miscast as being a defensive forward. He's more offensive than defensive. And he's

found a really great fit in New York, and I think that part's great. By the way, one more, I know we're up against it for time, but when this team takes to the ice in Italy, the thing I'm most excited for is to watch, I think Celebrini's going to have that glow up.

Though he's already had it halfway through this year, not unlike what Dowdy had in 2010, where it was like, we have to keep playing him more and more, not because he's this exciting young player, because he's maybe one of our best, if not our best players. What Celebrini's doing this year is unbelievable and I'm really excited for him to be you go it's going to be mcannon it's going to be

McDavid and then it's going to be Celebrini leading the charge in Italy I think yeah Celebrini is the most like Sid since Sid started yeah right like it's like the actual comparable the way he looks the way the size the skating to me I I I love watching this kid and he's I know we're up against it but we did it yesterday on the show I said who would you rather start a team with Maclin Celebrity or Matthew Schaefer. We kicked that one around for a little while. That's a tough one. But I know it's a, it's a, I think Kip ended up on, on Schaefer.

I think Borny ended up on Celebrini, but having those two guys as like the core of your best on best time here coming up to add to the aging veterans and Connor McDavid and Nathan McKinnon, you're looking pretty good. You're looking pretty good for the next few years. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, you're, you're, you're looking pretty good for the next few years for best on best for

Canada. Yeah. Love it. I think McDavid lost his up. I was just got to produce a goalie. Do we just get a goalie? Seriously. Just one goalie.

That was Quebec's job. Come on Quebec. Figure it out. Sam, you're the best buddy. Thanks for doing this. My pleasure, boys. Talk to you later. Yeah, buddy.

Sam McKee from Pan-590 in Toronto. That was Quebec's job. Come on. You're complaining about not having anybody on the team. There's your opportunity. What happened to the French Canadian goalies, Greg? Yeah, that is weird. I hadn't thought about that in a while.

Where'd they all go? Quebec forgot about the homework. Oh, geez. I knew I was forgetting something. Oh, develop a goalie. All right. No, but like you so consistently develop goals in that province for decades,

and all of a sudden it dries up. Why? I don't know. It's weird. We're going to send you. The allaires got hired by NHL teams. They left, go back. We're going to send you on the road to find out. Please, too.

It's my favorite province. It's my favorite province. That's the best province of Canada, man. I would go happily. We have no usable audio. I don't understand a word of it. Okay, we've got to go to break. Two hours of the show in the books.

One more hour to come. and it's our first hit of 2026 with Rick Dollywall, Intrepid Canucks Insider from the Donnie and Dolly Show on Check TV. He'll join us on the other side. Then at 8.30, we're going to do what we learns and ask us anything. We're doing the giveaway for Chris Stapleton tickets in five minutes time. Call in 604-280-650, that number again. 604-280-650.

Caller number 5 at 8 a.m. wins a pair of tickets to see Chris Stapleton. And the All-American Tour this summer at Rogers Arena. So 8 o'clock, Rick Dollywall, 830, what we learns and ask us anything. One big final hour to come. You're listening to the Halford-Inbuff Show on SportsNet, 650.