Halford & Brough in the Morning - What Is The Biggest Goal EP40 Has Scored As A Canuck?

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat yesterday's Oilers statement on the suspension of Connor McDavid (3:00), they hear from the listeners about last night's disappointing Canucks loss to the Oilers (15:00)..., plus they talk Elias Pettersson and try and come up with his biggest goals as a Canuck, and if he can ever reach the same heights again (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.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Music 7 o'clock on A.O. Wednesday. Look how happy Greg is. How can you not be with this song playing? It's pretty good. You're listening to the Halpern & Bref Show on Sportsnet. 6.50. Halpern & Bref the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. This music is amazing. There's a lot going on. I'm getting like low rent Beach Boys vibes.
Starting point is 00:00:51 Yeah. However, there's also a game show-ish kind of theme happening. A lot going on. Video game Beach Comer, yeah Beach Boys, Beach Comers. Beach Comers was an entirely different concept. Both had beaches involved in them though. Yep. Anyway, Vancouver Honda has a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for.
Starting point is 00:01:11 Sales, financing, service or parts. We are now officially in Hour 2 of the program. Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason Hominic at Jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Why would you do that? It's crazy. Let him find a good mortgage for you. Visit him at Jason.mortgage on the internet.
Starting point is 00:01:34 We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step, unlike the Canucks. You should try and memorize that one. Do you think you could do it? How much of the read do you think you could get through without looking at, you're looking at the sheet, you cheated right away.
Starting point is 00:01:50 I was not good at, I'm not good at memorizing things. I'm terrible with lyrics on songs. I can listen to a song a thousand times. I'd still be like, line. You are bad with memorizing things like that. People's names. You don't remember people's names very often No, you're like who's that guy?
Starting point is 00:02:08 We work with them dog He's got the face and we're climbing a stairway to the second floor All right focus we got a lot of get into here by the way in case you were wondering What's going on Frank Frank Cerfali? He's under the weather. So he's gonna join us tomorrow, is that correct? Frank! Yep, that's his name. Is he gonna join us tomorrow? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:02:31 He's sick. He is! He's under the weather. That's the sound he makes when he's got the flu. FRANK! That's why he can't come on the show. He sounds just like that. You've reached the voicemail box of FRANK!
Starting point is 00:02:42 The man is sick! Yeah. What are you doing? Ah, he's fine. He'll get over it for The man is sick. Yeah, are you doing? It'll be alright. Yeah, anyway, he's not gonna be on the show today. He will be on the show tomorrow Also, I need to reiterate our big announcement from this morning Nine inch nails are back and touring this summer the peel it back world tour will be coming through Vancouver Rogers Arena
Starting point is 00:03:04 Sunday August the 10th. Now, tickets won't go on sale for a while, Wednesday, January 29th at noon at tickermaster.ca. But because we are such good people, and we love the NIN, ain't that right, Andy? The NIN. Yeah. We're giving away a pair of tickets for every day remaining this week,
Starting point is 00:03:23 Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, plus a pair of tickets Monday every day remaining this week, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, plus a pair of tickets Monday and Tuesday next week. Five pairs of tickets. Now here are some of your no-name bands, Sonic Youth, Nine Inch Nails. I don't know how you managed to get that drop so quickly. That's all, Adog. Very well done.
Starting point is 00:03:40 Anyway, we're giving away a pair of tickets, five in total, three this week, two next week. How old is Trent Reznor, guess? 76. No. 52. No. 60?
Starting point is 00:03:51 You got it? Yeah, pretty much. He's 59. Yeah. Turn 60 in May. Everyone that we listen to growing up is old. Trent Reznor's actually gone on to be quite a successful film composer.
Starting point is 00:04:04 He's actually been doing more of that lately than his band Yet on a lot of films. I mean social networks the one I always think of. Yeah, he won an Oscar for that, right? I want to say at least he was nominated I can't remember if he won or not But yeah, I mean he's done lots of films since then and he's actually gone on to be quite a successful film composer He did Gone Girl. Oh, that's right. Yeah, so if you want to see 59 year old film composer Trent Reznor With his band nine-inch nails this summer. We're giving away a pair of tickets every day this week befittingly with opener nine-inch males
Starting point is 00:04:37 What do they do not music Look, we're giving away a pair of tickets at 815 this morning and befitting because it's nine inch nails. Caller number nine, caller number nine at 815 this morning. The phone number 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. Okay, good. Let's move on to something I teased prior to going on a break. And that was Edmonton crashing out yesterday.
Starting point is 00:05:04 In real life, IRL, on the internet, whatever social media platform that you subscribe to, you could probably see either a media member or an Oilers fan or someone running their social media account crashing out. Crashing out means when something's not going your way, you don't handle it very well, you don't keep your composure,
Starting point is 00:05:26 and you just have a big old meltdown, crashing out. That's what Edmonton did yesterday. It's the opposite of cooking. Yes, they were not cooking. They were like moj with the jambalaya. They just spilled it everywhere, right? That's what happened. So we played a bit of this audio.
Starting point is 00:05:44 We can play it again. Actual like fully employed media members in Edmonton were throwing out the idea that Connor McDavid as a sort of silent protest to a three-game suspension for cross-checking another human in the head Should start scaling back Whatever he had obligations wise with the NHL. Be it media apparent media appearances the four nations face off take your pick can we play the audio? This is from Bob Stauffer I think yesterday who was on an all-time heater. Bob Stauffer yesterday about what
Starting point is 00:06:24 Connor McDavid should be doing in the aftermath of his three-game suspension Connor Mcgavid should immediately withdraw from the four nations tournament. I'm not joking Now you might think he was joking but he said He's not but that's sometimes what someone who was joking would say not often, but sometimes Ryan Rashad of TSN then took to Twitter and had a series of tweets in which he kind of suggested that this might be a real thing and then McDavid wasn't entertaining it. You know those tweets that are out there where you're like, I didn't think that needed saying, I didn't think that needed doing? I thought that was one of them.
Starting point is 00:07:06 Yeah, Ryan tweeted out, I mean, this isn't on Ryan, he's just doing some work. He's doing some work. He said, some suggestions out there that McDavid could or should scale back his involvement in league activities, media as protest over this suspension. My understanding is that's not his head space at all. He'll continue to conduct himself the same as he always has.
Starting point is 00:07:27 Ryan should have said, my understanding is that that's not his headspace at all because he's not an idiot. Yeah. He's not in an idiot headspace. He's a hockey player that just wants to play hockey. And even if he's upset at the suspension and maybe upset at some of the calls that aren't going away, going his way, he's not going to pull out of the four nations tournament. He's not going to do that to team Canada because he got a three game suspension
Starting point is 00:07:59 for cross checking a guy in the head. He's probably happy he gets to leave Edmonton for a week. So at this stage of the game, I'm thinking we've reached peak idiocracy, peak stupidity. Like it can't get any worse than this. Every opinion does not need to be addressed, I'm sorry. Like there's certain suggestions and opinions that we can just look past. However, we weren't done there, laddie.
Starting point is 00:08:23 Well, at least the team didn't release a statement. Oh Andy Dear sweet Andy. I love this statement. Can I read it? Yep, so they okay. Hold on. This is after The idea was floated that Connor McGee. I'm not joking a silent protest He was gonna quite quit work hunger strike and then the reporters, should we dig into this? And they did. And then they found there was nothing to it. The Oilers were like, hold on.
Starting point is 00:08:51 We're not done with the news cycle quite yet. Okay. Tell me what the funniest part of this is. The Oilers organization is disappointed and we share in our fans frustration over the three game suspension of our captain, Connor McDavid. We support him through this process and the organization and our fans fans frustration over the three game suspension of our captain, Connor McDavid. We support him through this process and the organization and our fans look forward to having him back in the lineup versus Seattle next week.
Starting point is 00:09:13 I might've given it away through that, but we support him through this process. Like what was the, was he like. So through the process of sitting three games? Are you, are you okay? That's kind of what I. In the press box. We support him through lying on a beach for the next week.
Starting point is 00:09:30 Yeah, we support him through this process. The process is he doesn't play the next three games. That's it. That's it. That's the process. That was all, there's no other process. That's it, we support them, support them. Okay. Connor, now this is going to be difficult
Starting point is 00:09:49 because we're going to announce the lineup for the game and unfortunately you are not part of it. Who is this? You know when. Connor pick up. We have counselors standing at the ready for you in case you need it. You know when you, something bad happens to your kid or a little kid and you feel genuinely upset for them and all you want
Starting point is 00:10:10 Especially as a parent all you want to do is make it better So you ask them you're like, what can I do to make it better? And usually it involves like ice cream or a treat or whatever Edmonton did that with Connor McDavid But then their version of ice cream was releasing a sad statement. But do you know what, you know, my take out was this. If I was McDavid, I'd be like, please shut up everyone because this is making me look bad. Look terrible.
Starting point is 00:10:37 Right? Because I had a response to Ryan Rashad's tweet that he, you know, people are saying maybe he, he would pull back on his media duties or something like that, right? I said that's not my head space. And then some people replied, like, just goes to show how big a baby McDavid is. And the whole point of the tweet was to say like,
Starting point is 00:10:59 no, he's not going to do that. It's the people suggesting that he should do that, but he's not going to do that, right's the people suggesting that he should do that, but he's not going to do that. Right? Cause he's not crazy. Do you remember when I, I floated this a few, I think it was about a month ago where I said, if I had a PR firm like Halford PR, we will
Starting point is 00:11:15 handle your crisis. I said, my overriding like advice for everyone would be say less. Don't say so much. You don't need to address everything. As you astutely pointed out earlier, Ladi, you don't need to honor and take everyone's opinion.
Starting point is 00:11:35 You don't need to address them. You don't need to answer them. Sometimes, sometimes you can go through life saying less and doing less. It's sometimes silence is golden. I don't understand at any level of an organization how this got through the layers to where it got published for public consumption. There can't be this many people working in a professional sports organization that was
Starting point is 00:12:03 like, did you see my memo about the Connor McDavid statement? And they're like, yes, first off, I loved it. Can we put this out quickly? Oh, somebody was probably like, oh, you were serious? Yeah. You weren't joking. You want me to actually do this?
Starting point is 00:12:15 Can we get- We support him through this process after he cross-checked a guy in the head. Pretty hard. How quickly can we get this on the internet? Can we get it before we go and play the Washington Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin in what's going to be a highly publicized game?
Starting point is 00:12:28 I bet you when McDavid saw that statement, he was probably just like, oh my God, are you kidding me? I'm sure he's upset. This is so dumb. I'm sure he's pissed at the decision to get suspended for three games. But I also don't think he probably needs all these people saying what he should do, which
Starting point is 00:12:45 are these ridiculous suggestions, and then they somehow get attached to him. He's like, I didn't suggest them. I wasn't going to stay out of the four conditions. I mean, unless I'm missing something here. It was just Bob Stauffer and then people ran with it. There was a, okay, he wasn't alone. I don't want to single out Bob in particular. There was a lot of, some of your favorites,
Starting point is 00:13:06 they were playing the hits in every, some of your favorite pundits were all throwing out this thing and the general driving sentiment behind it was the NHL profits and capitalizes off Connor McDavid, but won't give him the superstar treatment, despite the fact that he's a superstar. That's it in a nutshell. You cross-checked a guy in the head though.
Starting point is 00:13:28 Is my constant retort to everything. He cross-checked a guy in the head. Yeah, he took a stick and hit another human in the head with it, you can't do that. You can't, it's so cut and dry. I tell my kids at the park. In that, and stick down, in that same game, another human took a stick
Starting point is 00:13:45 and hit another human in the head with it and got the exact same suspension. Almost as if there was a bar or a standard being set. And everyone seemed to ignore that. Edmonton had a day yesterday. By the way, they also lost that game, 3-2 to the Washington Capitals. Someone threw some nachos on the ice.
Starting point is 00:14:04 Did you see this? How dare they? Oilers are down 3-1 in the Washington Capitals. Someone threw some nachos on the ice. Did you see this? How dare they? Oilers are down 3-1 in the third period. Dry Siler and Perry are on a line together. They come into the offensive zone, Dry Siler dishes to Perry. Perry nice shot, scores, makes it 3-2. All of a sudden Caps Goalie, Logan Thompson starts gesticulating to around the area where Perry shot the puck and he was
Starting point is 00:14:24 very demonstrative in doing it. And then the camera panned over to where he was pointing and on the ice laid a $13 and 75 cents platter of nachos. So it was a, it was a celebratory nachos? No, the nachos hit the ice before the goal was scored. The nachos got an assist. The nachos got, yeah, it was an assist. Oh, so why did they go on the ice?
Starting point is 00:14:50 That's a great question. No one really has the answer to it. Do Eulers sign them to a one? Was it just two guys just whizzing around like, I give you 100 bucks if you throw these nachos on the ice? I should, yeah, probably. Do Eulers sign the nachos to a one-year deal, by the way? On a day where everyone was coming up with horrible ways to
Starting point is 00:15:05 Protest Connor McDavid suspension, maybe throwing your thirteen dollars seventy five cent nachos on the ice was the way to go So I fooled Thompson till I saw the replay now like it was right where the puck was she was legitimately saying you need to Call this yeah, and then why cuz nachos Was debris all over the ice and there's a puck coming out of the debris. That makes it a little harder. He's like, Nachos! Nachos! He just loves nachos so much. Curse you, nachos!
Starting point is 00:15:31 He just can't stand watching them go to waste. Yeah, seriously, they were expensive. It was heartbroken. Concession prices at Roger's place are, they're high. I'm just picturing, nachos! Nachos! On the ice. And here come the nachos.
Starting point is 00:15:43 Okay, enough. No. Nope. Nachos, nachos. It was on the ice. Nachos. And here come the nachos. Okay, enough. No. Nope. So tomorrow the Canucks are playing in Edmonton and I think it's going to be interesting. Connor Garland is going to get the most booing he's ever had. And here come more nachos. With 10 seconds to go in that game, he should do the thing again where he ties the guy over
Starting point is 00:16:00 the place. Yeah, just find somebody else. White Glock. He better be out there. But it's like- What are you gonna do? It's like a six one lead for the Oilers. What are you gonna do, cross check me? This is very funny.
Starting point is 00:16:09 Garland should wear a full on neck brace in the warm up tomorrow night in Edmonton. That would be. 100%. That would be amazing. Like when Vince McMahon went to court. And he was wearing that. Full on personal injury.
Starting point is 00:16:23 Comes out in a wheelchair. Like a full body mask, body suit, injury. Like. Comes out in a wheelchair, like a full body, body mask, body suit, whatever. Okay. Cast. All right. Body cast. We're done with the Oilers until tomorrow.
Starting point is 00:16:32 Let's get back to making fun of our own team. Yeah. The Vancouver Canucks. Um, I want to read some texts into the Dunbar Lumber text line and unfortunately, if you're just, uh, joining us, Frank's our valleys under the weather, like everyone seems to be these days. And unfortunately, if you're just joining us, Frank's Air Valley's under the weather, like everyone seems to be these days.
Starting point is 00:16:47 So we won't be able to join us. So it's just us in the studio and the listeners texting in for the next little while. We're gonna have What We Learns at eight o'clock. So the start of hour three, cause Murph is gonna join us at 8.30. So Danny in Brookswood texts in and says, morning boys, one of the hardest parts of being a fan is
Starting point is 00:17:10 that no matter what my head says, my heart still hopes out, holds out hope that this team is about to turn it around. Up to one after two last night coming off a win over Edmonton, I couldn't help but think, what if this is the turning point? Yeah, maybe the Canucks are going to string some wins together. I keep just waiting for the turning point. My head tells me it's not coming, but my heart tells me it's right around the corner.
Starting point is 00:17:37 Being a sports fan is so stupid. I'm with them. I'm with them. You see, you heard my excitement when I came in on Monday. I'm with them. I'm with them. You see, you heard my excitement when I came in on Monday. I was fired up. I was like, hey, I figured it out. This is where, that was the Sunday, Saturday was supposed to be the turning point.
Starting point is 00:17:52 Cause not only was it a big win and an emotional win, it had all the fireworks at the end of that. If anything is going to snap the team out of its malaise and its funk, it's going to be, you know, cross check a Palooza, how exciting it was. Yeah. Right? Rallying behind the suspension, the unfair suspension, Tyler Myers.
Starting point is 00:18:11 No one talked about how unfair that was. And then in the back of my mind, the recesses of my mind, I knew, kinda knew what was gonna happen last night. Like, as you said earlier in the show, it wasn't really surprising that there was a dud, especially in the third period. The Canucks failed to follow up a win with,
Starting point is 00:18:32 you know, another win. But I, you know what, I'll hold out hope again. Like when they go in on Thursday, I'll be like, well, the watch says that it's time for a good performance because that's what they do. I have 1% hope for this remaining core. I have more than that. I just want to maintain that 1%. You're going with the puncher's chance approach theory here that if you're in the ring,
Starting point is 00:18:58 you got a chance. There's always a chance that you can land that blow and you can knock the guy out, right? Who was the, you remember the movie The Fighter? What was the name of the real fighter? Mickey Ward? Mickey Ward. So one of Mickey Ward's most famous fights, it wasn't against Gotti, he had three fights against Gotti, but one of the most famous fights and the one they showed in the movie was when he took a fight against some guy, I can't remember his name. Some guy.
Starting point is 00:19:27 But it looked like he wasn't fighting for seven or eight rounds and all the famous commentators were like, you know, this is a disgrace to boxing. What Mickey Ward is doing right now is unprofessional. He's not prepared for this fight. And then all of a sudden, bam, bam, he hit him with a body shot and dropped the guy.
Starting point is 00:19:52 And that was a big part of the movie. And then, you know, Mickey Ward goes on to bigger, better things, right? Is that kind of what you're holding out for with the Canucks? Yeah. They're going to kind of dance around all season. It was a really looking, not really knowing what
Starting point is 00:20:08 they're doing. And then all of a sudden bam, bam, body shot. And the other guy goes down. Kind of. You're the fight was against Alfonso Sanchez, by the way, who was undefeated at the time. Um. Some guy.
Starting point is 00:20:20 Yeah. So the interesting thing with that analogy is that some thought that Ward was playing rope-a-dope and others thought that he was just... Got lucky. Right. He was getting profoundly beaten. It wasn't that he...
Starting point is 00:20:36 Well, he was getting profoundly beaten, but it wasn't intentional. But it wasn't a strategy. I'm going to take these blows, tire the guy out, and then I'm going to knock him out. I'm going to take these blows, end of sentence. That's, that's just what I'm doing today. Yeah. Um, the- Cause he's, cause he's better than me. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:50 Yeah. Yeah. You came up against a better fighter and he's working you for seven rounds and you're going to lose. The puncher's theory chance is that if you're in the ring and you're not knocked out, you've always got a chance like Mickey Ward. The interesting thing with this Canucks team is, um, it's not so much, do they have the ability?
Starting point is 00:21:09 Cause I absolutely think they have the ability. I think they've got enough high end talent and game breaking players that they can do this. It's not that part of it. It's that do you ignore what's becoming an increasingly large sample size, right? Cause what game are we at now? 46, 47?
Starting point is 00:21:26 Yeah, we're into round six or seven. We're getting pretty deep in the fight here. And you're like, I think maybe what we've seen might be the team. Not that they're going to break out of this funk, but that they are the funk. Okay. That was deep, wasn't it?
Starting point is 00:21:38 So, um, the reason I asked this is, is there a chance, and I think Sat was mentioning this very possibility, that this JT Miller thing could drag all the way into the off season. It seems unlikely because of all the attention around JT Miller right now and all the talks, but we've seen things drag out before in Vancouver. Yes. Right? We were like, this can't possibly go on forever. It's going on, isn't it?
Starting point is 00:22:08 Yep. I wonder if the Canucks might be tempted to kick the can down the road with a spot in the playoffs, still very much a possibility. They could talk themselves into their being more interested teams in the summer when it's generally easier to make moves. Then what if the Canucks go on a interested teams in the summer when it's generally easier to make moves. Then what if the Canucks go on a deep run in
Starting point is 00:22:29 the playoffs and a couple of body shots. Yep. And. One lucky uppercut. Could that, could that change everything? I mean, look, after last night, this scenario seems rather unlikely verging on impossible, but there is still that hope
Starting point is 00:22:45 that the Canucks just pull it together and play consistently like they did against Edmonton. Yeah. On Saturday, right? Cause here's the thing, if they, like, let's say hypothetically speaking, Detroit Brian just texted this in, let's say hypothetically that they say, okay, fine, Miller, you're gone.
Starting point is 00:23:01 We're getting heatle in a first back. You've lost that trade. You've lost that trade. You've lost that trade. I would struggle to find someone out there who's like, that was a win for the Canucks where they got Phillip Hedl on a first for JT Miller. You love, you lose that trade. If you could get a better trade in the summer, can you kick the can down the road that far?
Starting point is 00:23:23 I would say based on the history of this management group, yeah, that's a possibility. They let Bruce Boudreaux twist in the wind for, felt like years, but it was months, but that's what it felt like because they needed time to get the ideal result, which was Rick Tauke. They also are, collectively I have found
Starting point is 00:23:44 that this management group is very defiant when you tell them that this can't either drag on or go on or go the way you think it's going to. The Miller 10 game leave of absence, they just kind of went like, we're gonna explain it this way, and if there's questions, and if people try to poke holes in it,
Starting point is 00:24:04 or if they think there's gonna be, there's not gonna be. We're just gonna go about our business. They actually go to the Halford PR school of not saying anything. Say less. Say less. I tip my cap to you. Miller left, was gone for 10 games, came back, said,
Starting point is 00:24:19 upon his return, I'm not gonna talk about the 10 games, I just missed that absence. And everyone's like, okay. And then he went back in the lineup and kept playing hockey again. And that's how that was dealt with. That was the biggest elephant in the room ever during that 10 game stretch.
Starting point is 00:24:36 Yep. It's like, Hey, you know, that Miller is one of their stars, he's just, just left. Yeah. He, and then he came back and everyone was like, you know, when you left, he's like, not going to talk about it. And he was like, all's just left. Yeah. And then he came back and everyone was like, you know when you left, he's like, not going to talk about it. And he was like, all right.
Starting point is 00:24:49 All right then. Who's starting in that tonight? Uh, Graham from Hardy. I want to read, uh, this is, this is, we get a lot of texts like this. Okay. Morning guys. I have never been to this point before.
Starting point is 00:25:00 Trade Besser, Miller and Petey. Oh man. That's a lot of trades. I don't believe in Petey. I don't believe he will be a first line player. He will be a good player, but I don't think he will ever reach the heights we expect from him. If Miller were younger, I would want to keep him,
Starting point is 00:25:14 but he is getting sports old. Besser is awesome, but it isn't working. The core has had way too many years and chances to do something and they haven't. Tauke it is not the problem. This is a great coaching staff. It is clear this group of core players is not the right mix. There have been three coaching staffs trying to get them to be something good.
Starting point is 00:25:32 And they are not. Trayn Miller, PD and Besser. Thank you for listening to my Ted talk. I have moments where I am absolutely on board with Graham from Hardy. But then it's kind of like, if you've got a stock that's gone down a lot, it's really hard to take a loss on it. It's really tough. Cause you're like, you're admitting, you're
Starting point is 00:25:58 admitting that that was a bad decision to buy that stock and you don't want to sell it and you don't want to lock it in and then watch it go up, right? As soon as you sell it, oh God, look where it is now. Could have been rich, right? But, but you also don't want to hold onto it and see it get further down, right?
Starting point is 00:26:21 It's a very, very tough decision for this management group to make. And it's why I always go back and this is something that someone else texted in. You have to have a good theory on what has happened to Pedersen. I just, I mean, when you talked about the money part of it, I went back and I looked at it and Alvin has committed $148 million combined to Miller and Pedersen.
Starting point is 00:26:53 $148 million, 92.8 to Pedersen, and 56 to Miller. Like, you wanna talk about a lot of money sunk into two players. There's not many other teams in the NHL that a lot of money sunk into two players. There's not many other teams in the NHL that have that much money committed to two guys. There's not. There's a handful of them.
Starting point is 00:27:12 But the Canucks are in rarefied air when it comes to that big a financial commitment to two guys. So while I appreciate Graham and Hardy being like, trade them all, it is, it's a bit of a mark on the old resume when you hand two guys 150 million bucks and then you're like, about that contract. We're gonna have to move it somewhere else.
Starting point is 00:27:33 It's a lot. Got a lot more to get to in the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about the big football party at the Clayton Public House. On Sunday, February the 9th, reserve your spot for The Big Football Party hosted by Sportsnet 650. You can reserve by visiting theclaytonpub.com. The Clayton Public House, good food, good people, good times, more Hal-Bro coming up on the other side. You're listening to the Halford and Brough
Starting point is 00:27:57 Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd. And Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to two on Sportsnet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. 734 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Pacific Honda, North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service.
Starting point is 00:28:50 They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. The inbox is hilarious right now. This one just came in. Edmonton will support the nachos through this process. It's tough process, right? They got thrown on the ice. You know what?
Starting point is 00:29:12 Their lives were shattered. If you don't know what we're talking about, that is a deep cut. Although not that deep, because we were talking about it 15 minutes ago. Last night in Edmonton, the Edmonton Oilers fans took a momentary break from crying and decided that we'll show you National Hockey League.
Starting point is 00:29:32 We're going to throw nachos on the ice during play. It happened with the Oilers down 3-1 to the visiting Washington Capitals. The nachos landed in the Capitals defensive zone and they hit the ice. I didn't get the exact timing, but it was reasonably close to around the time that Corey Perry and Leandro Isadl entered the zone for an offensive four-A.
Starting point is 00:30:00 Perry actually had a nice snipe on the play, scored to beat Thompson from a fair distance. It helped from the nachos. And then you started to wonder what was going on because Logan Thompson seemed pretty irate and he kept gesturing over to something. Someone had thrown nachos on the ice, nachos. I did go and do the research and I was correct. $13.75.
Starting point is 00:30:21 Now these were- You nailed the exact price? These were your standard entry level garden variety nachos. You know the ones I'm talking, everyone knows what I'm talking about right? Hockey rink style nachos. Round discs, four chips, none of them fancy triangles. The cheese is way too hot to start
Starting point is 00:30:39 and then immediately, like there's no warm, it just goes way too hot to super cold and gross. That hardens. With the skin on it. You know, everyone knows the Nacho Cheese skin. Everyone knows it. Some say it's congealed. I say it's skinny, but not like thin.
Starting point is 00:30:57 Anyway, it was a night. It was a day in Edmonton yesterday. But hey, we are not talking anymore about the Edmonton Oilers. We are Sportsnet 650, your home of the Vancouver Canucks. I know you took blame for it, but that Perry goal, I don't think it was not your fault. Oh, Gene.
Starting point is 00:31:11 Gene, Prince of A everyone. He had about. Gene, I can't hate you. Yeah, God, I love you. You got a pretty good chuckle from Thompson on it. Yeah. He had about 18 cheese related puns on Twitter yesterday. It's like he was workshopping them all night
Starting point is 00:31:25 just so he could say I'm on Twitter yesterday. It's like he was workshopping them all night, just so he could say I'm on the broadcast. Oh, Gene. Um, okay. Let's talk about, um, the Canucks quarter century team. Um, it was unveiled yesterday by nhl.com. The first team, the forwards, Marcus Nazlin with the Sedines, the D-Men, Alex Edler with Quinn Hughes and the goalie was Roberto Luongo.
Starting point is 00:31:49 Second team, yes, there's a second team, Ryan Kessler, JT Miller and Elias Pedersen. The defenseman, Kevin Biaxa and Matthias Oland. The goalie was Thatcher Dempko. I think a lot of people, and I think I saw Drantz talking about this. And my first thought was I'd like to find a spot for Alex Burrows. I think I found a couple.
Starting point is 00:32:18 Just because he scored so many big goals for the Canucks and was such a big part of the culture on that version of the team. Like he was the overachiever on that team. And he was a guy that loved being a Canuck. He just loved it. And you know what? That group loved being Canucks.
Starting point is 00:32:39 Yep. This group, I don't know. I don't know if they love being Canucks. Anyway, back to Burroughs. You know, it all depends when you're making these lists. It all depends on how much you personally weight certain factors. If it's purely based on stats and skill, then you go
Starting point is 00:33:00 with Pedersen, obviously. But if it's more heart and soul and big moments, then it's Alex Burroughs. skill, then you go with Pedersen, obviously. But if it's more heart and soul and big moments, then it's Alex Burroughs. How many big goals did Alex Burroughs score? Arguably the biggest goal in franchise history against Chicago. I mean, Pavel Berri scored a huge one back in 94. Let's say one of, just so we don't upset people.
Starting point is 00:33:23 Okay. One of the biggest goals in franchise history. All right, but this is my opinion. Yep. In my opinion, that was the biggest goal in franchise history. I would put it slightly ahead of Burr-Ace, but they're both very similar, so whatever. Here's a question for the listeners, and this may feel like I'm piling on, because I am am what's the biggest goal Pettersson has ever scored for the Canucks one that just pops to mind one that just pops to mind and you remember he he scored it
Starting point is 00:33:55 and you're like yeah yes like I can't believe it they won they won he scored a goal the first goal that pops to mind how for it is what while this exercise is what this exercise is the first first goal that pops to mind how for it is what while this exercise is what this exercise? Massive goal that peterson ever scored is what this exercise is wildly unfair however I for one I'm very offended by this exercise and will not answer as it might incriminate me further It's so unfair that I actually appreciate how unfair that it is Biggest goal that alias peterson ever scored well there was that one against the Buffalo Sabres on January 21st of 2025. Giving them a 2-1 lead. Now ultimately they blew that game 3-2.
Starting point is 00:34:30 Now come on man. You're setting me up to answer a question. I mean what are you going to say? I should be in politics. Would it have been in the bubble? What are you going to say? Like did he score a big goal? Well I don't know.
Starting point is 00:34:43 Andy! Andy! Don't you see what he's doing? I don't know. Andy! Andy! Don't you see what he's doing? I guess I do. I'm trying to appease him. The game as Rick Tauke said yesterday, it's all about the big moments and owning the big moments so these goals, like the Burroughs goal is just like, it's in our brains and
Starting point is 00:34:59 it will never come out of our brains. He hasn't had one of those. Oh, oh, oh! He hasn't had one of those big goals. Oh. Oh, okay. The answer is the fact that one of those big goals. Oh, oh, okay. The answer is the fact that you can't come up with one right away answers the question. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:35:10 You should be in politics. It's a very- You could get that stadium built. It's a very rude exercise. You could get that stadium built in Surrey. You could do it. By the way, I was actually, this is the Canucks advertising slogan of like, you know how they, it's like all
Starting point is 00:35:27 about creating memories and moments. Yeah. Maybe not appropriate for this season, but that's a very smart, because that is why we watch sports. It's for, it's for the moments, right? If you think about, you know, Sid's golden goal, Burry's goal against the flames, Burrow's goal against the Blackhawks.
Starting point is 00:35:51 Yeah. That is, you know, like when you remember those things, you're like, oh, this is where I was and that's what I was doing. You know, it's a very smart advertising. Unfortunately, the connects are like the opposite of that advertising slogan right now. They're not delivering moments.
Starting point is 00:36:06 They're not delivering big moments. And unfortunately for this core, there just haven't been enough big moments. And that was unfair to Pedersen because you could probably say the same thing about like, well, best to score some goals that I can remember. But also, you know what I mean? Like Burroughs was, I think he actually had turned 30 when he scored that goal. So he had a lot more runway.
Starting point is 00:36:30 He played more games and had a better team. And then there's a better team. I'll say this. So, by the way, I did want to get into this because I when I heard that they were going to do this endeavor and the NHL was going to do these quarter century teams right away, I was like, this is too confusing for the general public. They're not going to get it. You're going to have to explain this in great detail.
Starting point is 00:36:49 And sure enough, like people aren't understanding it. First off, I think people need to understand that this team was not put together by the Vancouver Canucks. Like it had nothing to do with the organization itself. It's a collection of broadcasters and then national and local writers and nhl.com writers. So it wasn't like they went and asked Canucks fans or Canucks media or people that work for the organization to do this. It was kind of an outside looking in thing. Secondly, I'm not sure people understand what a quarter century is. So you understand that we're in the year 2025, right?
Starting point is 00:37:28 For those of you that don't, that means we're, we're a quarter of the way through this century, right? Yet when in the year 2100 turns, that's we'll be fully through the century. We're at the quarter part of the century, which means that you have to look at players that had their greatest moments between the years of 2000 and 2025.
Starting point is 00:37:52 And I saw some people saying like, why isn't Todd Bertuzzi on the list? I'm like, well, he didn't play enough in this quarter century. Well, some people think he should still be on the list and that's fair. But I don't think he should be because he only played like five seasons. Because one of them was lost.
Starting point is 00:38:09 That's enough. Five of 25? Well, how many is? And he didn't do anything in the five of 25. When was his best season? It was 2002, 2003. Okay, that's part of it then. Right, but then that was followed by maybe the worst moment in franchise history.
Starting point is 00:38:26 Yeah, I know. Right? So like you got to- I understand, but like I- The body of work is too small and too littered, too pockmarked, right? But I don't have a problem with people that suggest his name for it. It's different than suggesting Pavel Bury, who is not eligible. Like Todd Bertuzzi is eligible. I want to get back to that, the big goal thing. Okay. For Pedersen because a couple of people have
Starting point is 00:38:48 texted in memorable goals that sit with them about Pedersen. I want to read them. Okay. His first goal as a Canuck. Okay. That's more of a personal one, but okay. No, it was a very nice goal.
Starting point is 00:39:02 It was, but it's not a big franchise goal. No, it wasn't a big franchise goal. Listen, I'm just trying to be fair here after being wildly unfair. Okay. Sure. All right. Sure.
Starting point is 00:39:11 The other big goal that he scored was the, or memorable goal. I won't say big goal, memorable goal. The slapper off the left wing that reminded me of the Wayne Gretzky goal. I'll never forget when you said that Ilyas Patterson was going to be better than Wayne Gretzky. I did not say that.
Starting point is 00:39:28 Now who's being unfair. Those were the days. Now who's being unfair. But there, but, but go back and watch some of those goals and watch some of the energy that he is playing with. And that's what I'm getting at when I talk about the connects need to find out how the hell to
Starting point is 00:39:47 get that guy back. You know, people, people look to the analytics way too much on this stuff, right? They're just like, yeah, but look at his defensive stats. Yeah, he's playing like as a nickel back or like as like he's, he's, he's, he's not like positionally he's fine, but the energy in his body is not like, go back
Starting point is 00:40:07 and watch some of his old stuff. That's the Petey that gave this franchise so much hope. Well, where, how are they going to get this guy? Where, where like we need to bring them back, you know, and, and this is why I keep getting to the, you know, someone texted in the other day and they were like, has anyone done a deep dive on what's happened to Elias Pedersen? Well, they've tried, but nobody's talking.
Starting point is 00:40:34 You know, you're not going to get a real honest answer. I don't think out of the organization, which is probably pretty worried about this massive contract that they just signed them to, and you're not going to get an honest out of PD because he doesn't talk. He doesn't want to talk to anyone about it. Right? He's just not willing to talk about it. That's his prerogative. But the Canucks as an organization have to make some bets here and they have to create some probabilities of what are the chances we get this guy that used to have so much energy in his game. Like it was electric when he was on the ice. It was, he was the guy to watch out there.
Starting point is 00:41:14 Now he's just kind of out there. So what happened? And then you have to make, you have to make calculated bets and it might require some balls because if your analysis is, I think there's a 20% chance we get this guy back and an 80% chance that the guy we see right now is the guy we're going to get. What do you do? I mean, isn't this feels like a kind of thing that gets people fired because if we're not he signed, I'm looking at the date.
Starting point is 00:41:52 It was March 3rd, 2024. That he signed a 96 or sorry, 92.8 million dollar extension. You know, you may you you took your calculate, you, you may you you took your calculate, you calculated the odds and you took your risk assessment and you this management group and this organization top all the way down,
Starting point is 00:42:15 didn't just make a bet on the guy. They made a huge bet. It's the massive, the biggest contract in franchise history. All right, to have to pivot off it less than 12 months after signing it. I would struggle to find another instance in NHL history where that's happened. I would really struggle. Without something very tangible, like maybe if someone's going to point, I mean, the Eichel one, the contract didn't, it had more time between signing the extension and then getting traded to Vegas.
Starting point is 00:42:52 And also there was a clear fracture point in the relationship and it was because of Jack Eichel's health and his desire to have one medical procedure on his neck and the organization's desire to have another. Like that was clear and obvious and everyone knew what the rift was about, right? Everyone knew what the breaking point was. So I mean, again, Dunbar Lumber, text message in basket, keep sending them in, aside from your terrible takes about Todd Bertuzzi, send in some other ones, like let us know. Is there, has there been anything remotely close
Starting point is 00:43:22 to where an organization has handed a guy close to a million dollars and then 11 months later is like, we should probably figure out what's going on with this guy. Nate from Comox, deja vu on this segment. Is this a recording? Well, until we get answers, probably going to hear more about it. I don't know what to say.
Starting point is 00:43:42 It's the biggest issue facing the team right now. And until you get some. until, until, well, that's what I'm talking about. I'm pairing them together, right? Until you get some certainty on that, then all the other stuff is just details. By the way, I'm also willing to entertain number three, which is Demko.
Starting point is 00:44:02 Because when we talk about situations that we probably haven't paid enough attention to, because Miller and Pedersen have really sucked up a lot of the oxygen. We've talked about Rick Tocket and his contract extension. I think we've done a decent job of covering that. You've made that a priority to discuss over the last little bit.
Starting point is 00:44:18 And we've talked about Brock Bester's contract situation and what they're gonna do. The Demco thing to me, we're not anywhere near like crisis point or we really, we need to talk about Demco, but the return has been wobbly. And a lot of the questions that we had prior to the popliteus injury haven't really been answered.
Starting point is 00:44:44 And you talked about his comments after the game yesterday were pretty candid and pretty revealing when he's talking about having lost his game. I look at a game like last night where talk it's saying we need guys to step up in big moments that includes the goalie. Yeah. Oh, for sure. That includes the goalie where it's like on a night where your team maybe doesn't necessarily have it and with this group that's
Starting point is 00:45:06 with some regularity Your best players have to be your best players, and this is a Vezna caliber guy from a year ago Sometimes he does and he's done it in the past. I would say need to either Make a save when he shouldn't or make a timely save or bail them out of a game He's gonna be asked to do it. I'm not bail them out of a game. He's going to be asked to do it. I'm not saying it's fair. I can see laddies staring daggers at it. I was just thinking, I don't even think Demko
Starting point is 00:45:29 standing in his head could have saved the Canucks recently. I mean, last night. He hasn't been great. Like honestly, you look at his sappers, he was 870 or whatever. I think last night was probably an instance where it's like, if he gives him something
Starting point is 00:45:39 in the third or he locks it down in the third, they are okay. Maybe the one time. Demko himself was saying it after the game. Do we have his comments actually? Do we have, what do we have from Thatcher Demko? Because he was pretty honest and forthright. He said third period was disappointing.
Starting point is 00:45:54 Yeah. By his standards at least. Let's hear it. Yeah, I mean it's disappointing. I think, I think I just got to try and get a piece of one of those in the third, you know Got a piece of the first one and snuck through and so it's disappointing You know, I didn't think we played a bad game so things will build up I think Look at the tape and
Starting point is 00:46:21 Look at the tape, look With the tape and... Look at the tape. Look at the tape. Look at the tape. Now he's really low on the list of, we need to talk about things and the priority scale. He sounded broken up in that clip though. Well, I don't think he's happy with the way that he's, I mean, the way that he's playing.
Starting point is 00:46:37 And I think part of it is one, he holds himself to a super high standard. Do you think it's a contract year? There's the big one, you know? Putting up an 870 in a contract year. There's the big one. You know. Putting up an 870 in your contract year. You want to talk about a guy that's cognizant of what's going on around the NHL.
Starting point is 00:46:50 You saw Schuster can get paid. And by the way, the Rangers are on fire again. They may not need JT Miller. They're right back in the playoff picture. We can't break up this course. No, we're not trading Lafrenier. No way. Lafrenier.
Starting point is 00:47:02 I like Lafrenier. No, it's because I went to. It's not how you pronounce his name. Our guest was saying Lafreniere too, who was it? I know, I think it was Drancer. His name was Drance, yeah. I went to high school with a guy whose last name was Lafreniere, so that's how I go.
Starting point is 00:47:11 And you know what, it's fine. You're saying it two different, I know. You're saying three different ways now. Yeah, because he didn't know how to pronounce his last name either. Lafreniere. Lafreniere?
Starting point is 00:47:19 No, Lafreniere. Lafreniere. Just remember, you gotta hit the yer at the end. Yer. Because he's coming to Vancouver. You gotta learn how to say it. You know like, yer-o? That we get guys texting in from.
Starting point is 00:47:30 Thought it was yar-o. Oh, Jesus Christ. Up and Adam. Up and Adam. All right, quick reset here. If you like the Haliford and Bruff show, good news. It's still us coming up on the other side of the break. We don't have a guest until 8.30. If you don't like Haliford and Bruff, I'm sorry, because it's just us on the other side of the break, we don't have a guest until 8.30. If you don't like Alfred and Bruff, I'm sorry,
Starting point is 00:47:45 because it's just us on the other side of the break. We don't have a guest until 8.30. Murph is gonna join us at 8.30 to talk about last night's game and everything else surrounding this team. We'll do some what we learns on the other side. This is a friendly reminder to get some what we learns in. Hashtag them WWL. What did you learn over the last 24 hours in sports?
Starting point is 00:48:03 Let us know. Dunbar number text line 650650, hashtag it WWL. Before you learn over the last 24 hours in sports? Let us know down bar number text line 650 650 hashtag at WWL before we go to break. I need to tell you about two things one Rogers Xfinity TV the mystery is solved what mystery is that you might be asking well You can watch all new seasons of your favorite true crime shows on investigation discovery available on channel 413 on Rogers Xfinity TV. Also, and this is important, public service address for Denny's. Yes, the restaurant.
Starting point is 00:48:32 True North Taste the Waits with Denny's 100% Canadian beef burgers made with new shredded iceberg lettuce. Denny's love, they love iceberg lettuce, especially when it's shredded at Denny's and they love putting it on your burgers. It's also on a brioche bun and all the classic ingredients you love. True nor taste awaits with Denny's. You're listening to the Halford and Bref Show
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