Halford & Brough in the Morning - Where's Manny?

Episode Date: May 27, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason get a Canucks coaching search update in relation to Manny Malhotra from Victory+ NHL insider Frank Seravalli (1:27), plus the boys talk more about the Cup-favourite Avalanche shockingly getting swept by the Vegas Golden Knights with AP Colorado's Patrick Graham (26:05). 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.

Sarah Valley. Sarah Valley. Syravelli. Frank. Sarah Valley. Frank. Sarah Valley. Frank.

Frank. 702 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford and Robb, Sportsnet, 650. Halver, and over the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. They're open seven days a week and open late to help you get debt-free. But no judgment are up front. fees. Visit them today at sands

dash trustee.com. We are now in our two of the program. Frank Sarvalley. Our NHL insider from Victory Plus is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 2. Our 2 is brought to by 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.com. We are coming to live from the Kintech Studio. Step strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech. Guests on SportsNet 650. Call in on the ABLE Auctions hotline, email sales at A-B-L-E-Octions.ca to get your business assets sold and your building cleared.

Let's go now to that ABLE Auctions hotline. Frank Zervalley joins us now on the Halford & Breft Show on Sports 9-650. Good morning, Frank. How are you? Pretty good. How are you guys, Darren? We're well. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

We want to start with the coaching carousel. It's going on in the National Hockey League-specific Vancouver. Give us everything you know, everything you've got on the Canucks coaching situation as it pertains to Mani Malhotra and I guess anything or anyone else that might be involved. Yeah, I wish I had some new news for you.

I think the best way to explain it is that the Vancouver search, such as it is, I don't know how deep it is. There hasn't been much noise from it and I think

part of the reason for that is I don't have any evidence that they've talked to anyone. else outside of their own internal candidate at this point in time. So is it just a negotiation that's going on right now with Manny Malhotra? I don't, that part isn't clear. I mean, I can't imagine that the negotiation takes five days or six days to do. I don't know what their thought process is, where things stand. What the vision is, is part of it, Mani Malhotra filling out his staff.

as you know, a clean slate and bench. I mean, there's probably lots of layers to it. But I can't imagine that the negotiation part of it is what's holding this up. Is it tough to get information out of the Canucks right now? What's it like when there's a regime change and you're an insider and you are suddenly trying to find new information out of new guys? Well, there's a pass. There's a pecking order.

there's a I think the most interesting thing to figure out as a reporter is like where who's the point person right? I mean the thing is like typically when there's multiple people at the top of an organization

you know you just for consistency sake as a team and I'm not saying me like you want to make sure that that message is consistent and so part of it is relationships part of it is, you know, making sure that you're getting to the right person. And so when that happens, just to be totally transparent from my end, when you have a big change like the Canucks did, it typically takes a few weeks for a lot of that to settle in.

So my read on it would be that there probably isn't a whole lot of talking being done by anyone. Just because we're on this topic, who is the, toughest team in the NHL to crack as an insider? I think there's some teams that most people don't even bother with. Right. Like one would be the Detroit Red Wings.

I don't think a lot of people spend time trying to crack Steve Iserman, for instance. He's just never going to give you anything. Yeah, it's just not even worth the effort. Right. So they just move on. Lou Lamerillo, teams were always like that.

Like it was, well, you can guess and you can try and piece things together. I think the thing that people, I'm sure, realize, but don't always connect the dot is there's just so many other ways, even if the people in charge aren't talking to find out information. I mean, you've got players, players have agents, players have families, friends. They have friends around the league. I mean, there's, like, it's an endless. it's an endless way to talk to people. So there's always some way to get to something.

It may not be the most direct path. It may not be the most efficient, but there's lots of ways to do the job. And of course you have to be careful in those situations because even those people might be misinformed. You're not getting it from the horse's mouth. So that's the hard part. It's actually one of the first questions I asked is like literally I will reply

and say horse's mouth question mark. Like it's first-hand direct knowledge is very powerful. And a lot of times, like, again, not to share too much, it does come directly from the horse's mouth itself. Okay. Who are some other coaching candidates that you're curious about, not necessarily for Vancouver, but I've heard the name Jay Woodcroft quite a bit lately,

and I wonder if he's going to be back in the league soon because I don't think anyone thought he did a horrendous job in Edmonton. No, and his record would actually indicate that he did a tremendous job in Edmonton. I mean, it's, I believe is the highest regular season points percentage in league history for someone that has only ever had one stint as an NHL head coach. I think it's in the 640s. So his numbers were really good, didn't have the playoff success that Chris Knoblock did. But a lot of people thought that Jay Woodcroft got the short end of the stick in terms of tenure based on the success that he had.

And then took a little bit of time off, joined Joel Quinville's staff. And obviously with the success that Anaheim had this year, that's propelled him into a position to step back in as a head coach. I fully expect that Jay Woodcroft will be a head coach in the league next season. the question is where I believe he interviewed last week in Los Angeles and my expectation is that he interviews shortly

in Toronto let's I want to kind of go like west to east here and go through some of these other coaching searches and just see what's going on maybe not necessarily as it pertains to Malhotra and the Canucks but it's always good to get a gauge

of the market so Woodcroft in L.A. Who else are they talking to have they narrowed the list? Is there a leading candidate right now? The consensus has been that the leading candidate is Jay Woodcroft in L.A. They've talked to a number of different people, I believe including Peter Lavillette, who I expect to interview if he has not already in Edmonton as well.

I don't know how big L.A.'s list is. It sounds like it's relatively sizable, and I believe interim coach DJ Smith is still in the mix as well. So my read on the situation would be it sounds like Jay Woodcroft is the frontrunner, but he may end up with a different job. So how hard will L.A. push in between now and then if that's their choice to see if they can make that happen. What about Craig Barubei moving to Edmonton? So he met with the Oilers last week.

I believe a pretty significant lengthy conversation. Sounds like it was pretty positive. I believe, and my understanding is that Edmonton is trying to remain patient here. Bruce Cassidy is unquestionably. They're number one target. And I think their hope is that if Vegas has some good feels or wins the Stanley Cup and is feeling generous on the back end of it, that perhaps they let Bruce Cassidy go and coach elsewhere at his own discretion.

So they're trying to sit back, but at the same time understand that they know they need to get moving on this dual path in case that permission never comes. So as mentioned, Barubi was, I think, over the weekend, late last week, and I believe Peter Lavio Let's on the docket this week, and then let's see who else they reach out to in terms of their targets. Do they discuss these coaches with McDavid and Drysidal before they hire them? Do they have to get like a seal of approval from those guys? No.

No. But are there any conversations that kind of give them direction, or is it just 100% we're making the call? were the managers, the coach is the coach, and the players play? For the most part, the coach is the coach, the players play, and managers manage. But there's no question that when you're making a hire of this magnitude, particularly with the pressure that the Oilers are facing, they're trying to seek any and all information and feedback.

So when it comes to Bruce Cassidy, for instance, you can be sure that as they were going through this process after just having worked with him at the Olympics, you could be sure that Stan Bowman is calling Connor McDavid and saying, what was he like? He's not saying, do you approve? Just tell me what it was like.

What was your experience? How did you find it? but he's doing that with former players that he knows that worked with Bruce Cassidy or Peter Lavillette or Craig Barrube. He's doing it with assistant coaches that he knows. Like you're using everyone in your Rolodex to call and find out, hey, what exactly is this guy like? And I get calls at times from managers going through the hiring process,

say, hey, you dealt with this coach on a daily basis from a media presentation. perspective over the last number of years. I'm considering this guy, what do you think the public perception would be like? What do you think, how do you think this works? How do you think this would go over? People are always, they go to the mattresses for the most part, trying to find out as much as they can to make as an informed decision as possible. I'm really curious about Bruce Cassidy because there are not many coaches

that make John Tortorella look like the good cop. You know, you bring in torts after he's like, I know you guys were all pretty tired of Bruce Cassidy. So we know you guys need a bit of a break. Let me introduce you to John Turtelella. And that was the shocking part at the time, right? Because I was like, okay, so you fire one of the best coaches in the league tactically. And like, by the way, you see the foundation and root of what made Bruce Cassidy such a good coach tactically in place as the Golden Knights win and sweep the,

Yabs last night. That didn't come from 56 days of John Tortorella. He helped and he, you know, his messaging for sure matters. But that's, that was a Bruce Cassidy clinic last night. I don't care what anyone says. And I think that was the part that I was trying to wrap my brain around was like, okay, so you did all of this to then bring in John Tortorella. And they, they did and obviously it's work. And so you didn't ask the question, but the next question will be, I would imagine, from a lot of people around the league is so what does this say about Bruce Cassidy? Does this paint him in a negative light based on the Golden Knights, not just having success

without him, but feeling this exhale or sense of relief? And I would say that I don't think Bruce Cassidy is really that different than a lot of other coaches in the sense that when there's a change, people feel different. How else do you explain the success that the Buffalo Sabres had this season? The day after Kevin Adams is fired, Rasmus Dahlin is talking about how light the mood is in Buffalo. They didn't make any trades. They didn't change their coach. Their coach probably didn't change the way that he coached over the last 30 years.

And they go on and not just make the playoffs, but get to the second round and go deep. I mean, sometimes that happens. I think Bruce Cassidy is a hard driving guy and the biggest feedback that I've gotten about Bruce Cassidy from players who have sometimes even been in the line of fire with him is he's got this very sarcastic way of grating on you. And I don't know if that's in meetings, if it's on the bench, if it's in. practice that he sometimes just wears on guys. And I think that contributes to the lifespan. But everyone that's played for him at the same time goes, no matter how grading or sarcastic he was,

the guy's an unbelievable coach. My next question was actually going to be about John Tortorella. Does he return next year as the Vegas Golden Knights bench boss? Are they looking for another guy? I don't know the answer to that. You know, part of me wondered, He's been on this lifelong quest for a second Stanley Cup. 22 years now since his last cup final appearance, 20 seasons, I think it is.

And you go, that's the longest gap between any head coach and league history. If he wins after only being on the job for two plus months, does he just, at 68 years old, ride off into the sunset and say, hey, you know what? I've done it. It's never going to be better than this run, just like. with the Golden Knights. But then I do my show every day with John Butchergrass, who sat next to him for the last number of months in ESPN studios late at night.

And he just talks about how much the passion burns bright in Tortorella, like, chomping at the bit to get another opportunity. And so if that's what drives you, like, I can't imagine that just winning again snuffs that out that you're probably really interested in continuing on because this is what you do. This is your life's work. So based on that intel, I would guess that he's back. We're speaking to Frank Sarvelli, our NHL insider from Victory Plus here on the Halford and Breft Show on Sportsnet 650.

Another coaching question. Who's going to be the next bench boss in Toronto? Their search is incredibly varied and wide open. I couldn't begin to hazard a guess. Here's my understanding. I'll just give you some insight on process, and I was about to tweet this out after the show. They're conducting Zoom interviews this week.

They're taking next week off for the draft combine. And then once the draft combine wraps up, the expectation is that they are down to three to five finalists. And that's when they'll pick up with in-person interviews. So it's not going to be today or this week that you're going to see higher, I don't believe, unless they really narrow in on someone and is a clear-cut favorite. But, I mean, I'm hearing all sorts of names from all over the league that are talking to or the Toronto Wapeleafs are planning to interview that it's a very wide net that's being cast.

Okay. I know that, first off, is David Carl an option at all or potentially in Toronto? and then I'll pivot to Jared Bedner in Colorado. I don't have full clarity on that yet. I think it's actually waffled a little bit, even in David Carl's own world. There were some that believed last week that he was going to interview.

Then I heard a couple days ago that the smart money was on him not interviewing. We haven't come to a determination yet. I don't believe, and I don't know if the Leafs have been notified one way or the other yet, as to whether or not David Carl is going to take them up on the invite to interview, which then connects us to, well, what if the Colorado Avalanche do decide to make a change with Jared Bednar? I would think that's the sweet spot for David Carl. It de-risks a lot of the things that he's been concerned about.

Don't have to move. Can live in Denver. He's got a great setup. I think that, and not only that, but a team poised to win and has a real authentic chance that the chance to work with some superstars that they have, I can't imagine a much more attractive opportunity without having to move. Would they seriously consider moving on for better? I know they got eliminated less than like 12 hours ago, so it's still pretty fresh and

everything. But it wasn't just losing and falling short of the goal. it was maybe the way that it happened. Do you have a sense on if the abs would seriously consider moving off Jared Bednar? I think everything has to be on the table. Look, I think he's a great coach, and I think one of the most underrated things about him is how he's been able to keep their emotions in check.

We know how Nathan McKinnon runs. He runs hot. He controls everything in that organization. And so he's able to keep all that on the rails. and I think that was perhaps a bigger challenge than most people realize. How do you diagnose this? I mean, think about how this ABS team played this year. I think they had one regulation loss in 2025.

They scored the most goals in the league and gave up the fewest. Best regular season team in franchise history swept the first round. So then do you delete all? of that because of a quote waste of eight days as darrell sutter would say with an unhealthy kale mccarr and a banged up nathan mckin i i don't i'm not making excuses i think from a coaching perspective jared bednar got the brakes beaten off of him this series the way that they didn't have an answer yes um and the way that they struggled to get out of their own end and look completely disconnected and seem to have no answer for for solving any of it not just getting it

game to game, but also in period. It was just pretty alarming. But do you take all that and throw it all away and say, yeah, we've got to make a change? Or is that just easier to do than the surgery that they've already done to their roster? One more thing on Colorado before we got to let you go. What's with these rumors about their general manager going to Nashville? Well, that's the other part of the equation that's what makes it harder to answer because I don't have line. of sight on who's even going to be steering this ship. Obviously, Joe Sackick's not going anywhere,

but if Chris McFarlane really is leaving, and look, I don't have any evidence that Nashville has gotten permission or that they've had conversations or that this is a done deal. But there has to be a reason why all these other teams, New Jersey, Vancouver, Toronto have all fired and hired general managers. And we're sitting here with the draft combine starting, on Sunday and the natural predators having done nothing. And their search started earlier than the rest. So they're clearly waiting for someone. And with that, I mean, if it is Chris McFarland,

my first question would be, why is Colorado letting him go? And then the second thing would be, okay, so who are you going to replace him with? And then what does that person think about Jared Bednar? interesting times in the NHL Frank the draft is one month away so it's going to get more interesting as the offseason unfolds the Stanley Cup final still to come and we'll check back with you next week sounds good have a good week guys see you frank

thanks Frank that's Frank Sarvali our NHL insider from Victory Plus here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650 it is time now to tell you about our friends at VGH Plus hometown heroes lottery they need your help and support to help change lives. BC's bravest answer the call. Your ticket answers theirs. Support BC's best value hospital home lottery and get your tickets now for your chance not just to win big, Jason, but to help big. And get your tickets now is the operative phrase there because there's

only two days, 16 hours, 35 minutes, and 12 seconds to go. 11 seconds. Until the hero's bonus deadline. Heroes bonus, a bunch of great prizes, lifetime escape trip. Once in a lifetime, escape trip. No, you don't have to go for a lifetime to Italy in Greece or a new car or $35,000 in cash. Plus, there are six winners of either a $4,000 travel best best gift card or $3,000 cash.

If you're going to buy your tickets to the Heroes Lottery, get them now and get in on this bonus. with BC's bravest, then help save lives. Millions and prizes are just waiting to be won, and tickets start at four. Yeah, four, for only $85. Don't wait. Buy your tickets

now at heroes lottery dot com. We're going to go to break on the other side. Patrick Graham AP Sports writer out of Denver is going to join us as we try and pick through a stunning sweep that the Colorado Avalanche suffered in the Western Conference.

You're listening to the Halford and Breft Show on Sportsnet, 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Grants. 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. Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford and Brubb of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates.

They're ready to give you the financial fresh start you deserve with no judgment or upfront fees. Visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program. midway point of the show. What a track, by the way. Oh, that's synth. It's pretty good. Can you turn it up a little bit? You don't mind? We are in our two of the program. Hour 2

is bradded by Jason Homonock at Jason. Dot Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage and don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you, visit him online and Jason down mortgage. A-Dog was aghast about the picture of Jared Bednar

playing Blackjack. Yeah, how dare he? How dare he? How So there was a picture of that near a plane blackjack that went a little bit viral Because apparently he's supposed to stay locked in his room in Vegas Yeah, locked in, right, A Dog? Also, he bet the stuffed animal they gave McKinnon, which McKinn is very tied to. Who knows when that picture was taken, you guys? That could have been taken months ago.

That's true. Could be AI for all we know. You have to judge based on his haircut. Yeah. You're like, is that recent haircut? Oh, yeah, it's past his eyebrows. Yeah, yeah. flow.

It's funny that he's playing. It's not like he has like a bunch of like vodka red bulls in front of them. He's like, keep him coming. Not that we saw. We don't know. It's also, you know, the way he dresses, I usually thought he'd be the blackjack dealer, not the guy on the other side of the table, but lo and behold. Anyway, let's go now to the ABLE Auctions hotline.

Our next guest, AP Sports writer out of Denver. Pat Graham joins us here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Pat. How are you? Hey, I'm doing great. have you on, but if you look at that photo closely, he is wearing basically, you know, long underwear over shorts. I mean, does that, is that a casino attire? Well, you're in Vegas. Yeah, anything goes into casinos in Vegas. That could have been at 11 o'clock in the morning after a morning skate and he's like,

I'm just going to get a couple hands. And I wouldn't have blamed him, given how that series went. I want to get the vibe. I want to get the vibe from Denver right now. It's hard to say shocked because when something happens over the course of basically a week, you know what's coming, but still, when it finally hits, how stunned is the city of Denver right now that the abs have been swept out of the playoffs? Well, you can say shocked. I mean, shocked is a great word for it. I mean, you know, Denver known for 300 days of sunshine today as overcast.

So I guess that kind of reflects the mood here a little bit. It is stunning. I mean, this team never got going. Vegas had all the answers. Vegas was physical. They were gritty. And Colorado had, what, seven goals. for being a high-scoring team all season.

It's just, I don't know. I think you may be seeing some changes coming. Okay, well, let's go right there right now. We just had Frank Sarvalley on the program where we were talking about what might happen. He said everything has to be on the table. And it's not just that they fell short of their goal, but the way that they did it.

Let's start with Jared Bednar. You know, Frank also brought up that he thought, you know, Bednar, what did he say? Got the pants coached off him in this series or the wheels beat off him in terms of a matchup John Tortorella. Your thoughts on the work that Bednar did in the series and what his future might have in Colorado?

Well, like you, Beck-Frank was saying, I mean, I do think everything's on the table. You have to, you know, they'll take a couple days and see where they want to go. I mean, the one thing I will say is Benner has one more, you know, year on his contract. They may try to let him run that out with this nucleus. I mean, it's still Nathan McKinnon and Keel McCar.

And I think, not to make excuses, but if Keel McCar is healthy, I think it's a different looking team. But every team has injury, so you can't really play that card. The bottom line is they got to fix this power play. It was problematic all season, and it was absolutely horrific in this series against Vegas. So I think it starts in the power play. What about the rumors about the general manager possibly going to the Nashville Predators?

How does it affect all this? Well, I mean, Chris McFarland is, you know, up for GM of the year. He's made a string of great trades to assemble this roster. I mean, he's sought after. You got Joe Stackick, you know, overseeing all of this. And, God, that's a great question. I mean, he would be a, I mean, he's just, he's a master pulling off nice deals. But in this one, in this particular instance, you know, maybe they had too much speed.

Maybe they had too much finesse for solving that neutral zone trap. Yeah, I think the thing that struck me about this series was all the times in the series where Colorado just looked like they had no answers. And all they would do is, you know, try to get the puck to Nate and he would take a bull rush at them. And Vegas would, I don't want to say easily defend it, but Vegas just had, it was just running on all. cylinders. The team defense was incredible by Vegas and Colorado just, they just didn't have answers and I think that's when you

look to your coach to make some adjustments. I'm not sure what those would have been against Vegas but it didn't seem like many were made and if they were they weren't effective. Well, that's the thing. And then, you know, you try to get trapping in front of the net but I don't know

how many guys you have on this roster who are good at tipping shots in front of the net. Maybe that's an area you addressed. But If you watch Vegas, even when they got it in the zone, Vegas had like everyone in front of the net. There was no room to get shots through. There was, you know, and Hart was awesome. Carter Hart was awesome. I mean, nothing was getting through him.

I mean, seven goals. I mean, you had seven goals in that series. You had nine in that first against Minnesota in game one. I mean, it's just nothing was easy for Colorado. And then they tried to, I think all season long, when they weren't in a funk, they could, they could, they could count on Nate to bowl rush them. out of it. And I don't match or whoever have it, but against Vegas, it just doesn't work. I mean,

torts the system is set up so that it's the same problem they had against Dallas last year. I mean, Pete DeVore was a master of that too. They just, if you take away the neutral zone, Colorado, it slows Colorado down and they're just kind of, they're not the same team. We're speaking to Patrick Graham here

on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Pat's an AP sports writer out of Denver. On the subject of Denver, David Carl is there at the University of Denver. He's built something of a dynasty at the school with, you know, multiple NCAA titles. How popular is he locally and how real is the possibility of him potentially replacing Jared Benner as the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche? You know, his name is floated around.

I think, I don't want to speak for him. You know, I talked to him a little bit during the, you know, University of Denver's, you know, NCAA championship run. but it's got to be the perfect fit for him because he's got a great program going I mean that team is just the gold standard and why would he he wouldn't he's not going to leave for just any situation

I mean if you're going to get him into the NHL and I don't want to like signal Bednar's done because I mean he's the all time winning his coach in franchise history he's done so much for this for this team he's done in this franchise he won a Stanley Cup in 2022 but with Carl I mean he's right there he's 10 miles away from the ball arena, you know,

he's a hot commodity, he's the new guy. Another guy that maybe you look at is Bruce Cassidy. You know, he could be another answer as well. I mean, if that's the route you wanted to go. Yeah. Tell us a little bit more about David Carl, because, you know, to most fans, he's just this name that we've heard about

that a few teams have tried to convince him to leave his job at the University of Denver, but so far he's kind of taking. that, well, don't mess with happy approach to his life, which is a good approach to life, but you wonder if he's waiting for that perfect opportunity. He is, or maybe he's comfortable on that level. I mean, this team was, I mean, they caught fire in January, the University of Denver did, and they just wrote it all the way to a national title.

I mean, this team was kind of the antithesis of Colorado, where Colorado was, I think, I think since November 1st, Colorado was, you know, tops in the league, and they just kind of rode that into the postseason. You know, University Collar was kind of, you know, an underdog a little bit, and they just, you know, they had a freshman goalie who caught fire, and they just wrote him all the way to an NCAA title. David Carl is just, he's just a master at just the little things. And I'm not saying Jared Bednar is not.

It's just, just when you have a veteran team, what does a rookie NHL coach look like? Can that, can you bring in new solutions, new, new answers, new systems? And can you get the buy-in? I mean, Jared Bednar is a player's coach. I mean, you know, that locker room has his back. And I go back to, you know, the owner of the, you know, the other team in the Cronkies. They, similar situation with the Denver Nuggets here a month ago when they lost, you know, to Minnesota. And there was, you know, do you do with David Adam and their coach?

And they elected to bring him back for another year. You know, Benner does have another year left. So I just, I just, I don't know how you get away from giving them that year. Okay, so Pat, before we let you go, full disclosure, one of the reasons we wanted to get you on was this story that you wrote about Gabriel Landiscag and then things sort of change with, you know, the team getting swept out of the playoffs. But I do want to ask you about this because Lost in all of this

has been this remarkable Landisog comeback story where he missed basically three years dealing with a knee injury. And there's some, you know, really cool stories and some cool technology that he utilized that you wrote about. So can you tell our listeners? A Vancouver company too that helped him. Yeah, right. So can you tell us?

us a little bit more about that and the story that we recently wrote with our good buddy, Stephen Wino, the Associated Press. Yeah, Steve, one of the good guy. He's awesome. So it's called Plantiga, and it's basically an AI-driven movement platform. What they do is, I kind of equated to, let's call it like an engine in a race car. You can go as fast you want, but if you redline that thing, you're going to have problems. And that's what, you know, there's no way to see when Gabe Lancag was redlining his knee,

when he was like, okay, I feel good. I'm going to go hard today. But then he would have a setback because he overextended his knee. With this technology, what it does, it factors in just everything that he's on-ice stuff. It looks at a cemetery, which makes sure he's not favoring one leg over the other. And through that, what he can do is he can see the hotspots. He can basically detect the red flags. They can detect the red flags through the software before it becomes a problem.

And that's what, you know, for two years he's been utilizing. And that's what helping get out back on the ice is, you know, maximizing his effort, but not over-maximizing. So this company, Plantiga, they have sensors in your shoes and your skates. And essentially what, it monitors your gait. And, you know, sometimes you can even, you don't even recognize that you're doing it. But if you're dealing with an injury, maybe sometimes you start walking a tiny bit differently. And does it recognize that and tell you like, hey, man, you're doing this differently? Maybe you need a rest day or something.

Is that oversimplifying it? Exactly. But what it does is detect smoke before fire. So what you're what you're seeing is it's like a cellarometer, a cellarometer, a gyroscope, and a magnamometer all in one. And what it does is, I mean, the reason why is because it's not linear. It's not, you know, on ice is hard because you're, you're moving, you're doing things that you, that, like you're, that things, it's hard to track because you're always moving, your skates moving. And so you can't wear like a monitor because it won't track what's doing going on with your feet. And so what happens is you have this in-sole,

and the chips are basically like, it's just like a chip, and it's on the bottom. And so it's just recording all your measurements, even when you're flying through the air, it can record all of that. And then you plug it, you take the chip out, and you plug it into a little machine, and it goes on to the computer, and boom,

you have instant data that will upload the cloud and anyone can look at. And he has his strength and conditioning team. He has researchers looking at that and just looking for hotspots in ways that, you know, keeps the knee basically fresh. It's a very cool story. I highly recommend all of our listeners.

Check it out. It's up on the Associated Press website right now. Pat, thank you very much for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the offseason and whatever it brings. It should be an interesting one in Denver. Hey, thank you very much for having me on. It was a pleasure chatting with you guys.

Thanks, Pat. Thanks, Pat. That's Pat Graham, Associated Press writer out of Denver here on the Halford and Breff Show on Sportsnet 650. That company, by the way, in case you missed it, Plantiga, P-L-A-N-T-I-G-A. And it's interesting, there's a really cool anecdote at the end where Landisog is talking about, it used to be guesswork with his, he's like, oh, I feel good on the ice today.

Yeah. You know, like I go for a skate or I go for a work and I feel good. And then some other days it's like, I feel bad. But there was, sometimes it didn't correlate to how his body was actually responding. Like he'd feel good when his body was actually like, no, you feel bad. Right. Or you feel bad. And your body's like, no.

you're okay. Yeah, you're good. Yeah, having the monitors and the sensors. You should get some of those in your shoes. Yeah, for all that movement that I did. And then the company would be like, all right, anytime. You can try it out. Try out the sensors. Don't be scared to move. It's 67, 67 straight days of feeling fat. It's like, I think you're going to break the sensors. Yeah. They don't work anymore. Okay. So before we talk to Rand Deep, I do want to talk about what happened on SportsNet 650 yesterday.

and it was Halford texted some screenshots of all the conversations that were happening on the radio station yesterday. Do you want to go through it? Do you want to do you want to be able to? Okay.

Yeah, tell the listeners what you texted. Well, okay, so after we... We're kind of making fun of the station a little bit here. Kind of. After we got off the air, there was an interview on Canucks Talk with Dodd and Drance with Yannick Hansen, in which Yannick Hansen, elected on Ivar Stenberg's impressive

campaign at the worlds. Okay, it's fine. Cool. Yeah, yeah. After that, it was Canucks Branch with Josh and, or sorry, it was the people show with Josh. And the topic there was Stenberg versus Malhotra. Okay, two

back-to-back shows, Stenberg. A little much, but sure. Sure. Then we go to Sat and Bick on Canucks Central. And there's a conversation about the Canucks having Malhotra ahead of Stenberg. I'm like

So I'm like where Wait a minute Surely Surely a topic of conversation That dominates three consecutive shows On one sports talk radio station It must be like Some real deep intel

Or this hot report that somebody got Okay well do you want me to explain What happened? Because you were probably asleep. Please. So two things happened yesterday. The first is that Ivar Stenberg scored a spectacular cutback and shoot goal over at the worlds in Switzerland.

The second is that Rick Dollywall on his show, Donnie and Dolly, reiterated his belief or his understanding that the Canucks have Caleb Malhotra ranked ahead of Stenberg. Okay, what else happened? Who has eight points in seven games for Sweden at the tournament. That's it. That's it? Stenberg scored a goal. A nice, really nice goal.

Ladi, how was that goal from a goaltending perspective? I didn't like it. It was a nice move. It was a nice move. It's a tough play. Like, I cutting and shooting like that. It's a great shot,

but I expect a professional NHL-level goal tender to make a close-ed. It was a nice shot. It was a nice goal. So Stenberg scores a goal of the most NHL goalies can save. And then what? Look,

okay, you're going to make fun of it, but I will say. Dahlie says that he's thinking that they might take Stenberg over Malhotra, even though. Malhotra over Stenberg,

even though Stemberg, even though Stemberg might not even be around when the Kinnocks pick. Okay. You've said your piece. Okay. I think it was an understandable reaction from a fan base that knows how important this draft is going to be for the Canucks. We may need to take a deep breath as a fan base because Ivar Stenberg may not even be available when the Canucks draft third overall.

It's very possible that he gets picked by either Toronto or San Jose. You know who else was watching that game? Matt Sundee. And if Stenberg is available, the Canucks might draft him. We have certainly heard the reports that the. Canucks really, really like Caleb Malhotra, but the Canucks are watching this tournament too. In fact, Daniel Ceneen went over there to watch with his very own eyes. But unlike Halford, I understand the reaction. We have seen the Canucks make some big draft mistakes in the last few years.

Jake Fretanum went six overall in 2014. Oli Ulevi went fifth overall two years later. Both were busts. They should have taken Neelander or Eelers instead of Vertanin. They should have taken Matthew Kachuk or Clayton Keller instead of Ulevy. And there were a lot of fans who said exactly that at the time of the pick. The Ulevy pick was especially criticized because the Canucks drafted for a positional need. Now there's a concern that they're doing it again.

Stenberg is a winger and Malhotra is a center. The Canucks need help everywhere, but top centermen have proven especially hard to find in the current NHL. Now, I'm not a prospects expert and I don't pretend to be one like A-Dog does, but I do think it would be a mistake if the Canucks took position into super serious consideration with this pick. The Canucks have years to build this team. Right now, here's what they need. difference makers. They need to hit home runs at the draft,

not singles or even doubles. They need guys who can make things happen on the ice. Like Stenberg did yesterday. Did you like the goal as a goalie? No, but he went out there, hit a one-on-one, made a nice move, made something happen. Winger, centers, D-Men, doesn't matter. They need forwards who can one day drive a top line in the NHL

or defensemen who can carry a top pair. on the blue line. Now, if they think Malhotra can do that one day, and that's their belief, even if people disagree with them, then by all means pick him. If they see him as a future Selky candidate in the mold of Nick Suzuki or Patrice Bergeron or Jonathan Taves, pick him. You don't win cups without guys like that down the middle. But if they see him as more, more of an all-around middle-sixer, even though he might have the highest of character, then they need to think really hard about picking either Stenberg

or one of the many quality defensemen in this draft. And it leads me to my final point on this, which most of you are like, thank God. One thing I do want to discuss is the idea of over-correcting for past mistakes. And I'll give you two examples of things that people have said about the canal. not enough character, not enough Canadian players. Can we all agree that we've heard that? Those criticism of the Canucks?

We've discussed plenty on our show. And I don't even disagree with those assessments necessarily. The Canucks have lacked character in leadership. And I would like them to have more Canadians. I think we're pretty good at the game. But you can't overcorrect. You can't pass on Stenberg. at third overall because you've already drafted a bunch of sweets.

And you can't get overly enamored with a high character player because you've lacked leadership. At third overall, you need to pick a player that can be an elite performer in the league. The Canucks haven't drafted third overall for a long time. Long time. Last time they did it, Henrik Sidene. You know, that's a home run pick along with his brother. Now, obviously, you can't overlook character.

If there's a player that you think is an unbelievable talent, but you also think, I don't know about this guy. Then you have to have a long and hard conversation about it. Just don't overcorrect and miss the forest for the trees. I love that phrase, but a lot of people don't understand it. But this would be the classic. Like, big picture wise, you need difference makers. Don't get too hung up on position or intangibles.

it's important and you need to take it into consideration, but you don't want to, again, just I think, you understand what I'm talking about, the notion of over-correcting. The draft should never be about trying to correct past mistakes or write past wrongs. It should be about getting the best player and most amount of talent that you can. Overcomplicated is another word. Don't over-complicate it. Just take the best player.

It's not complicated. That's why he's the expert. Pick the best, but they might honestly think that Malhotra is the best player. Okay. but then that's their decision. Yeah. If it is wrong. Man, they better be right then

because that's going to be a franchise defining decision and might cost them their jobs if they're wrong. If you take Malhotra at number three, I don't want to hear like them say, well, we think it could be like a number two center one day. If you're drafting

a third overall, top line players, elite, elite skill, or a, you know, a top pairing defenseman, a number one defenseman. one frankly. And number three, in this draft, has to be a big time difference maker.

Like, even a guy like, like, I think like even if you got a Bo Horvat out of it, I think at number three, that's not enough. A lot of them have Jonathan Taves, but scores more. Malholtra's like ceiling, whether he hits that, who knows.

But I'm just saying like, that's the ceiling and you think you can reach it and that is Jonathan Taves with better scoring. Yeah. Well, that's a future Hall of Famer. That's a first ballot Hall of Famer. A lot of the boards do have Malholtra at three. Like, don't forget that. Like, assuming Stenberg goes second,

a lot of the boards do have Malholtra as the third best pick. So it's not like that's a reach either. I think more people were just upset like if Stenberg gets there and they do that thing again like you were just mentioning. Let's hope they make a smart decision at the draft. And it's time now for the smart decision. Well done. Brought to you by Crow. I think Jesse Marsh has made a smart decision with his goalies going into the World Cup.

You know how we've said, like, both have really struggled and it's not really clear who the number one is? Yeah. Well, Mars has decided. He's going to play them both at the same time? Well, kind of. Can you do that? Kind of. Can we both use our hands?

With two friendlies left, including the one against Uzbekistan on Monday, Marsh is going to play both keepers against Uzbekistan. They're going to get 45 minutes each. One's going to get the first half. One's going to get the second half. No word yet on which keeper's going to get what. And I assume that the subsequent decision will be anointing a starter for the five. final friendly, which will be the week following against Ireland on June 5th,

which is the last game before the World Cup. So I'm hoping that this delayed decision is a smart decision by Jesse Marshall. So we can try and finally figure out who the number one goalie is going to be for Canada going into the World Cup. A lot of goalie talk when it comes to Canada on the international stage. Jesse Marsh says we focus too much on it in Canada. What's more important, goaltending in hockey or goaltending and soccer? Hockey.

Yeah, yeah. It's time now, or sorry, I already did it. Your smart decision brought to you by Crow, your trusted accounting and tax advisors for over 55 years. Crow smart decisions lasting value. Learn more at Crow-Machai.coma. See a one final hour to go on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.