Halford & Brough in the Morning - Who Are The Leaders On The Canucks?

Episode Date: January 7, 2026

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk yesterday's Canucks road loss to the Sabres (3:00), plus they discuss the top hockey stories of the day with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber (24:57). 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.

You're listening to Halford and Brough. But time runs out. Now the Buffalo Sabres win their 11th in their last 12. These go to 11. We were coming and they are sitting back. It happens. Ouka Peckalucanin and picked a peck of pickled peppers. How many pecks of pickled peppers did Oka-Pekulukin pick?

A team that might have given up on you, Trevor, and you come in here, you pot to in that first period. How good did that feel? F***in' amazing. Oh, yeah. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a day. Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. It is Halford.

It is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming you live in the Kintech Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adaw, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddy, good morning to you as well.

Hello, hello. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt free in just two weeks. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid.

Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We're coming to live from the Kintech Studio Meg, 2026, your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech, custom orthotics. We've got a lot to get into on the program today. We begin with the Duick Morning Drive, brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. That's our guest list rundown and news for the day. Guestless today begins at 630.

David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, SportsNet, NHL host. We'll join the program. 10 games in the NHL last night, including the Canucks 5-3 loss in Buffalo. Five games tonight, including the Wednesday night, Scotia Bank doubleheader on Sportsnet, Calgary, Montreal, and an all-Canadian matchup. Battle of California later on between San Jose and L.A.

David's going to join us to talk about all that at 6.30. 7 o'clock, Frank Sarvalley, is going to join the program, our NHL insider from Victory Plus. We'll ask about the latest news, notes and trade rumblings from around the NHL with Frank at 7. 8 o'clock, Randy Jand is going to join the program. Canucks color analyst right here on SportsNet 650. As mentioned, Canucks opened their six-game roadie

with a 5-3 loss in Buffalo. last night. We'll break it all down with Randeep at 8 a.m. We have a concert announcement right now. Live on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Chris Stapleton and the All-American Road Show.

I don't know if the name of that tour is going to dear him to many Canadians, but the Chris Stapleton All-American Road Show. Stephen Miller's opening for him. The Stephen Miller by the line. Wow. What a line. up.

What's he doing? Is it the Babadook? They're coming through July 22nd, 2026. The tour opens in Greenland. It's going to be a Rogers Arena. Tickets are on sale Friday, January 16th, but we're giving away tickets to the annexation. Tomorrow, Friday and Mondays.

The All-American Road Show rolls through Rogers Arena later this summer. Chris Stapleton. Concert announcement right here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Running through the guest list. in reverse. Randy Janda at 8, Frank Sarvali at 7, David Amber at 630. That's what's happening on the program today.

Greg, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I'm losing. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it?

You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources and safety training visit them online at BCCSA.ca.C.a. Vancouver Canucks lost in Buffalo last night. It was a goal and an assist from Alex Tuck,

Jake DeBrasque, Leas Pedersen, and Liam Ogren scored for the Canucks, who have now lost four straight and six of their last seven. So, Halfer, do you remember earlier in the season the Canucks play in their own end was either clueless or lazy or... Well, it was just bad. It was bad. And then, I don't know, there was a stretch of five or six games where it looked like they were trying to, they were actually figuring things out in their own end, and they kept the shot totals down, and they weren't running around, and they actually picked up their men and that sort of thing.

Yeah, we were back to the early season stuff yesterday, not a good start for the Canucks, who lost a bunch of races to the puck on a foray, led by Josh Dome. and as a result, surrendered an early goal to Tage Thompson. Now, the Canucks did get a couple power plays after that, but their first power play featured a bunch of shots, but no goals, and their second produced, this is a problem, a goal against when Kiefer Sherwood had a puck get by him and the Sabre scored on a two-on-one. The Canucks finished the first with 14 shots,

but no goals, and the Sabre scored twice on their nine shots on Thatcher Dempco. In the second, more bad defensive zone coverage, although it was a nice passing play between Bowen Byram and Alex Tuck that made it 3-0, and that left the Canucks in a big hole with only half the game gone. The hole got deeper in the third

when Zach Metza scored his first NHL goal at the tender age of 27. Good for Zach Metza. Bad for a van der. under Kane who let Metza walk right by him to get the shot. A couple other guys on that shift didn't look too good defensively. It was 4-0 and surely this one was over. Surely!

At least I'll call me Shirley. But the Canucks finally got on the board halfway through the third after Tage Thompson got a double minor for high-sticking Jake DeBrusk who got his revenge by scoring on the resulting powerplay. It was a classic Debrusk powerplay goal where he showed off his quick hands. in front of the net. It was DeBrusk's 11th goal of the season, second most on the team behind Sherwood's 17. Hey, are they going to trade Sherwood soon?

Has that been discussed at all? This nonsense about potentially resigning them, it needs to stop. Anyway, Elias Pedersen joined DeBrusk with 11 goals. With about five minutes left, that's when Pedersen spun and ripped a shot, high past Okapeka-Lukinen. Nice.

Less than a minute later, it was Liam Ogrin. attacking the net from the left side, and hey, what do you know? The Canucks had made it a one goal game. It was at that point that Sabres coach, Lindy Ruff, wisely called the timeout and told his guys, pull it together. We've got to keep our composure out there. And you know what?

Alfred, they did pull it together. They sure did. The Canucks pulled Demko. Elias Pedersen turned it over and Josh Stone found the empty net from about, I don't know, 190 feet away, 200 feet away for the Sabers. It was their 11th win in 12 games, with two of those wins coming over Vancouver. For the Canucks, it was their fourth straight loss with five games to go on this six-game road trip.

Next up are the Red Wings on Thursday. A couple notes from the game. Brock Besser was having another tough night until I guess he earned a couple of late assists, but he still finished minus three, and he still hasn't scored a goal since November 28th. That's no goals in 17 games now. None in 17 and... Bessers lost. Yeah.

Bessers lost. It's been a pretty tough go for Thatcher Demko lately as well. He allowed four goals on just 19 shots. Some of them, you know, the defensive play in front of him was bad. But he's now surrendered at least four goals in four of his last five starts. All of those starts were losses. So he's lost five in a row. The line of Pedersen with DeBrusk and Carlson,

Yeah, they failed to match their strong performance from Saturday against Boston. In fact, Pedersen was out there with Kane and Besser for the third. So I guess Foote already went back to the drawing board there. P.O. Joseph drew back into the lineup and he will probably draw right back out in Detroit. He was not good. D.P.D. was the scratch that gave Joseph the spot. And finally, a very quiet night for Nils Holglander, who is still looking for his first point of the season. He's played, I think, eight or nine games.

he is just not a very useful hockey player right now but at least for him he's making a nice salary because he got that extension about a year and a half ago. I do want to play some audio from last night's post game media availability, specifically a quote from Jake DeBrusk followed by a quote from his head coach Adam Foote. There may be a disconnect, folks.

There may be a disconnect between the players and the coach on occasion and maybe I'm reading too much into this but we'll play what Debrusk had to say first followed by his head coach. Here's Jake Debrusk saying that the Canucks we're ready to play and we're ready to start last night in Buffalo. Jake, I'm sure that's not the final score you wanted to see in the first game of this road trip, but would you see from your team out there tonight?

Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously we knew how Buffalo is one of the hottest teams, if not in the league. And, you know, we weren't ready to play. That's on us. And, you know, Denver kept us in it. And I like the fight that we had in the third period. But in saying that, you know, there's a fine line between winning and losing. And, you know, little plays at the beginning of the game,

we'll play as at the end of the game can make the difference. Okay, so Jake DeBrest said they weren't ready to play the game, suggesting that they weren't ready to start. And I would agree with that assessment because on the first goal, again, I mentioned it, like Josh Stone flips the puck in, easily wins the race to the puck that he flipped in, got behind the defense, and then, you know, Tatee Thompson is not all alone in front of the net, but he managed to get a puck right in the slot. and made it 1-0. So that's, in my mind, when it's a couple of minutes in, in my mind, that's not a good start. And that's not ready to play. Why weren't they ready?

Let's ask the head coach and see what he has to say about how the Kinect started the game. We started okay. And then when the two went in, I'd like to see us calm down a little bit. I'd like to see our leadership group grab that a little quicker rather than let it linger like it did. And usually we're better about that. but we'll talk about that. What leadership group is he talking about?

Who are the leaders on this team? Because I thought they- Tyler Myers. So Tyler Myers are going to calm it down? Tyler Myers is looking around the room like Will Smith, an empty room. I'd like to see our leadership group. It was like they're gone.

Is there on anymore? Are you talking about fate over there? What are you talking about? No, but what do they do before the games? Why aren't you ready to start? What's going on? What are you doing? I don't think anyone's really in charge.

Like, foot's the head coach. He's got the designation. He wears the suit. Yeah, you're professional athletes. Yeah. And then, well, and then Jake DeBrusk has become at times a healthy scratch. So a guy who's underperforming and also like the de facto spokesperson because he seems to talk more than anybody else. And part of it is because he'll go up there and say the things that you're supposed to say.

I mean, this is no disrespect to DeBusk, but DeBusk often sounds like a guy who. says the things he thinks a responsible NHL leader is supposed to say without actually being that guy. All due respect to him, they're not counting on him to do anything other than score on a power play at this point. Because of his 11 goals that you mentioned, 10 are on the man advantage. Yeah.

So he's a very one-dimensional player at this point to suggest that he's the one that's going to pull this team up by the bootstraps and either say something to get them ready or go out and make that difference. It's kind of comical because he's not that guy. Now, the phrase... Guys, let's go get him. Try and draw penalty.

The phrase he's not that guy could apply to so many players on this team right now. Like, you watch them go out and you can tell that it's a group of individuals that aren't really sure who's the alpha,

aren't really sure who's the leader, and also are kind of waiting for shoes to drop still. You really get that vibe with this team. They're not horrible. They're not nine nothing to the islanders, which is we can talk about the devils.

That was horrible. last night. But they're also not good. They're a team that's in transition and waiting for something to happen and just kind of playing like it. Did they claw their way back into the game last night? Yep. Do they deserve some credit

for getting back into it? Yeah. No, I don't think so. Well, they deserve some. Could have been four. The game could have ended four or nothing. Instead, it ended 5'3. Yeah. Right? I think Buffalo was just like, yeah. Whatever the case. Yeah. Does it make a big difference in the end? No, because at the

end of it, it was still a loss on the board, and this team is still kind of rudderless when it comes to what are you doing out there? What's the end game? I still have no real idea what the end game is for this season. Get a good pick. Although the coach was just talking about the playoffs recently. You know what I mean? But get a good pick. These are all the disconnect things that I'm talking about. Yeah. Right? The disconnect between players and coach, the disconnect between message, the idea that you're going to restock and rebuild, and all of a sudden you might try and expedite that and do it in a hybrid fashion. It just seems like it's a very, very identity-less team. Well, I tell you, if they plan on coming back and trying to be

competitive next season, I don't know how that works. I don't know unless, you know, if they're counting on Pedersen and Rossi and Heedl down the middle and those guys stay healthy and Pedersen ups his game even more than he has this season and gets back even closer to the player he used to be. The goalies stay healthy. You know, the young defensemen come along. I still don't see it. I don't see it. That conversation sounds like... How are they counting on Heedle to play more than like 10 games next season? Like did they really think he's going to stay healthy? That conversation you just had to yourself, that little internal monologue, it was external.

That sounds exactly like what we did prior to this season, where it was well, if this goes right and that goes right and this goes right, we can talk ourselves into this. Although your heart was never in it in the preseason either. And you can tell. And right now, that was game 41 last night, by the way, right?

That was the midway point of the season. I think it was 42. Game 42. There's still a lot of them to go. It was the first game of the second half of the season. Right. Game 42. That's right. The first game of the rest of your life. The rest of our lives. You know, three-putt-chain texted in isn't Foot the leader.

When this year is all said and done, I do think there's going to be a really interesting look back in what Adam Foot did and how he went about this season. Because I have to give him credit for being as unflinchingly positive and optimistic in the face of everything else. He's been like, I've looked around at some of the other teams that are languished. near the bottom of the standings. I looked at comments that Andrew Burnett's made in Nashville at times this year. It's crazy, man.

Why doesn't he come out and rip the team? I've looked at comments that... They were down 4-0-0 halfway through the game. How do you not rip the team? I looked at comments that Scott Arniel has made throughout the year because the Winnipeg Jets have lost 10th straight and they're dead last in the National Hockey League right now. I don't recall, unless I missed it,

either of those coaches talking about being near the playoff chase, talking about how they're always right in it. And, you know, last night, when a player is suggesting that your start isn't good and Foote's saying that the issue wasn't the start, but it was how you responded to being two nothing down, there's a disconnect there. I think part of this, part of this is self-survival for him, is that if he is going to get a job somewhere else, it might be on the strength of being a guy that players like, because I do think the players like Adam Foote.

Who knows what's going on behind the scenes? He's even hinted that the things that he says to the media are very different. than the things that he says behind the scenes. Maybe he's just one of those guys that came up as a player and said, you know, like, I never really appreciated it when the coach went out and ripped the team to the media. And maybe there's a bit of a disdain for the media that he's not going to give the good stuff to the media.

So he's going to give the- I think the players. Yeah. And I think that curry's favor with players. I think so, too. Yeah. I understand what you're saying about not liking the media part of it. But I also think there's an element of it that I'll rip you

behind closed doors, but if we have an understanding that I'm not going to throw your name out there to reporters, players will appreciate that. Especially after, I think, Talket, he didn't so much rip the players, but he gave a pretty honest assessment. Like, how many times

do we hear, you got to move your feet, Peter? Oh, sure. Right? Yep. Yep. You know, and maybe, maybe, I don't know, maybe they felt that, you know, we're going to do something different this season, and they are really sticking to it. Here's a question for you. Okay. Are you happy for the Sabres and their fans?

And should we, the Halford & Brough show, should we adopt the sad club, our sad club brethren in Buffalo as our team, or is that just too risky? Like, back in 2011, I had a bit of a regular season affair with the Boston Bruins. And I never thought it would come to what it was, But I remember, you know, our old show, what was probably on at like 3 in the morning or whatever.

Pretty close. And I'd be like, you know what team I really like? I like the Bruins. I like the way they play. And Luchich was on that team, right? And we liked Luchich at that time. Sure. There wasn't all the water under the bridge.

Things changed. And, yeah, things changed a little bit. But is there any risk in that? Like, what if Buffalo gets so red-hot that, well, they're not going to win the cup, though? like I don't want to be the only sad club team I like I mean it would be very funny I like Buffalo's company now

I want to read this early what we learned from Tyler the pepper guy and he text in and he said the best thing for the Canucks would be for Buffalo to win the Stanley Cup

would change the rebuild narrative fast that's a great point That's a really good point. And not even, they don't even have to win the Stanley Cup. I think just make the playoffs with the talent that they've assembled mostly through the draft. And then you go, well, wait a minute. Actually, you know, like Buffalo, that example that you would always bring up as how rebuilds don't work. They're doing all right right now.

It is a good point by the Pepper guy. I think, I think we can get. on board. And I'll work in reverse on the logic here, but I think ultimately we can get on board. When you first pose this question, I thought, I don't have any great affinity

or feeling towards the actual group of players that currently make up the Buffalo Sabres. I don't. No. No. Right. And then I thought about it. I'm like, there's no real sentimental story among the players that's super hard done by. Like, the longest serving

guy that they have is Ross Ms. Dahlene. He's 25 years old now, and he's played over 500 NHL games. So he has gone through some pretty tough times, but I would not consider him. I just think about the fan base. I don't think about the players. I think about the fan base in them being finally given something to, you know, wrap their arms around. I think that this year being the end of this awful, awful playoff drought, 14 plus seasons, which is so tough to do in the National Hockey League.

Every now and again, a bad team backs their way in and gets one appearance. And the Bills win the Super Bowl. Right. Could you imagine the city of Buffalo? It would be amazing. I think I'm ready. Unless they beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Yeah, then we've got to screw them.

But until then... You know what? That's how it comes back to bite me. I cheer for a Buffalo team and then the bills beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. But to focus on the same group for a second. I think I'm willing to get on board and adopt them as the team. For the sole purpose of, it's worth it to see them break this playoff drive. It is painful when you think about it.

There are bad teams in the National Football League that have gone very long time without making the playoffs. The New York Jets are one of them, for example. But this streak in Buffalo, it's hard to believe. It's almost unfathomable that they haven't one year just kind of lucked their way into 93 points

in the second wild card with all the talent that they've had and all the first round picks and all the regime changes. He thought something would have clicked. So I think it's worth it for one year. Can you imagine that arena in their first playoff game, whether it's this year or 10 years from now? It'd be great.

Yeah. So are we adopting them? Yes, we are. I'm willing to take the risk. Okay. I regret it already. All right. Come on, Sabers.

They are definitely losing 12 in a row now. I don't think there's a risk, though. I don't think there is a risk. You don't think there's a risk in betting on the Buffalo Sabres? No. I think, no, I'm saying like there's no risk. Like, the outcome, like if the Sabers were to have a really successful year or go deep into the playoffs or even win a cup someday

and the Canucks were the last Sad Club team, that would be very funny. So there's no downside. It would also be sad, but that's kind of appropriate with the Sad Club. The Sad Club eventually has to get down to one saddest year. I don't think it would be that bad. I don't think there's a lose-lose here.

It's a win-win. Okay, we're up against it for time. I will remind you the opening segment of this show. Was brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. Find out why nobody beats a Duick deal and nobody has since 1926. Visit Duick GM on Marine Drive. Visit them downtown.

visit them in Richmond and visit them online of the Duock Auto Group.com. We've got an open segment at 7.30 so we can get into some of these other stories from around the National Hockey League last night. An absolute disaster evening for the New Jersey Devils losing 9-0 to the New York Islanders.

And you look at the Devils have hit the skids in a major way. The Anaheim ducks have hit the skids in the major way and Trevor Ziegress had something to do with that. So a lot of NHL talks still to come on the show, including coming up next, David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada, SportsNet NHL host is going to join the program at 6.30. And then it's 7. Frank Sarvalley, our NHL insider from Victory Plus, is going to join the program.

So we're going hockey heavy for the next hour and a half here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. It's Canucks Central on SportsNet 650. From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. It is time for David Amber. He is on the hotline, baby. It is time for David Amber. He will talk some hockey, maybe.

It is time for David Amber. He is on the hotline, baby. It is time for David Amber. He will talk some hockey maybe. I'm on the hotline, baby. I remember what I was doing at 23, pooping in my pants. There's a massive butt coming here, guys.

No one's fighting Rick talking. No one wants to fight Rick talking. I'm on the hotline. baby. It is. It's David. It is. It's David. Amber. It is. It's David. He's on the hotline. 631 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Halford, Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Get out of the penalty box of debt and back into the game with a financial fresh start. Visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. Still in our one of the program. David Amber, Hockey Night and Canada

SportsNet NHL host is going to join us in just a moment here. The highlight of our one. Hour one is brought to by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle you get paid. Visit them in 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

To the phone lines we go. David Amber joins us now on the Halifred and Bruff Show on SportsNet 650. Good morning, David. How are you? Doing well, guys. It's never good to stuff some peanut butter on toast in your mouth. seconds where we're coming on. I've learned the hard way. He's going to fight through it

though, folks. He's a warrior. He's a fighter. I want to start. I want to start in Winnipeg, where the Winnipeg Jets lost their 10th consecutive game last night, falling 4-3 in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights. They blew leads

of 2-0 and 3-2. It was another game where it was close, but not close enough. And now, the Winnipeg Jets firmly planted in 32nd and dead last in the NHL standings. Yeah, it's um,

listen, I thought rock bottom was when they came to Toronto and had a 4-1 lead and somehow blew that and lost 6-5 and the, the decisive goal was, you know, the goaltender, it wasn't, it was comrade in that that night, just muffed the puck behind the net, handed it to Austin Matthews for an empty net goal. I thought, okay, this has to be rock bottom. Well, I think that was three or four losses. That was on, well, I can tell you, that was last Wednesday on the, or

not even last weather. It was whatever. It was, I think, four losses ago. I don't know what to make of this. I was in studio last night and guys, the Jets, they, they were up to nothing and you could just see it. I'm watching the end with Mike Futa and I go, what do you see, Mike? And he goes, they look like they're playing to not blow the lead as opposed to add to the lead, right? And at the same time, we're watching Edmonton and Edmonton goes up to nothing. And they just keep their foot on the pedal versus Nashville, like a team that has confidence. You know, we've seen that, you see that with other teams that just are like, oh, we're going to win this game. We're going to end the will of the other team.

They didn't have that, and they just let Vegas hang around, hang around. You guys in overtime, it got even worse because they had so many chances, so many chances. And it just, they couldn't score. And then what do you know, they take a late penalty and give up the overtime goal. It's hard to think, when's the last time we saw a team go from first to worst in the NHL? I can't remember. I'm sure it's happened at some point. I don't remember it happening.

So it's hard to figure out. I assume they're going to go on a run. I assume they're going to get some mojo back. But right now it is horrible in Winnipeg. They've made some big commitments to some players, too. Kyle Connor, this cap hit goes up to $12 million next season. They also re-signed their captain, Adam Lowry, who's 32. They gave him quite a big extension as well.

You know, they've got Connor Hellebuck, obviously, under contract for a while. while and Gabe Volardi. I mean, this surely can't just be about they lost Eilers and who else, Appleton. There's got to be something else going on here. Well, first of all,

the guys that they do have under contract, they're mostly under good contracts, and they're the guys who are the nucleus of the team who've been great. I mean, what's kept them afloat is that first line of Valardi, Connor, and Sheifley. They're scoring like half the team's goals. The problem is the other nine forwards. I shouldn't say the other nine forwards, because

some of them aren't there really to score, but, you know, the Cole Profetti's, et cetera, they have not had the supplementary scoring, and that's been a massive, massive issue. And when they had success in October, I think they were eight and three to start the season, it was, they were getting away with Shepley and Connor, lighting it up, oh, my God, you know, blah, blah, blah. And then it became, where's the rest of the team? And that's been the problem. Yeah, I can't put my finger on it. Eelers, obviously, is a big loss.

he really balanced that offense out. But I agree with you. It can't be just one player leaves and, oh, my God, you go from first to worst. They've had a series of injuries, but that's not really an excuse. I mean, look at Vancouver, look at Toronto, look at New Jersey. You know, every team has had a lot of significant injuries this year. So it's not just an injury problem either. You know, I don't want to say it's puck and just let them all off the hook.

They have had 19-1-goal games, guys, and they've won four of them. You know, like, even if they have just won half of those one-goal games, it's a completely different complexion because of how tight the standings are, right? They'd be, you know, in 11th, let's say, in the West, you know, a few points out of a playoff spot. So those close games have really haunted them. Last night was just another one, you know, another example of it. But it's dumbfounding to see a team that was so dominant in the regular season as the Jets were last year slide the way they have slid this year.

You know, they're on the clock. I don't know if they can pull a 2019 St. Louis Blues. They certainly aren't that far out points-wise, but just the idea of climbing through 18s means you need to go on an incredible run. So they need to do that. And if not, there will be some big decisions, I imagine, for Kevin Shevolde off, heading towards trade deadline in two months. It's always entertaining when Brad Marchand rolls through Toronto,

and it was the case yesterday when the Florida Panthers lost 4-1 to the leaves. So, you know, the Marchand show and talking about, about how he thought about signing in Toronto in the offseason, didn't think it was even going to be possible to re-sign in Florida, and then threw a jab in there at the Leafs fans were running Mitch Marner out of town. I thought that was going to, the headline and the story that was going to carry the day, but then Markshon got hurt last night,

and Austin Matthews continues to, you know, continue his hot streak scores again yesterday. You've got those jeans, don't you, that he wore? I don't have those, but I will soon get them. Okay, yeah. I don't know. I don't know what's going on with jeans these days. I don't know how to describe the jeans. They're like mom jeans for hockey players.

Yeah, yeah. That's right. I don't know how else to describe it. Was Austin Matthews wearing them yesterday? Yes, he wore them to the rink. Find the picture. It's a fit. I'll give them that.

They are a fit. What's the opposite of slim fit? Yeah. Anyway. Those jeans. That was all bottoms. So many storylines from yesterday. But yeah, Austin Matthews and his mom jeans score another goal.

I believe he's got seven goals and 11 points in, five games since returning from the Christmas break. And it was a big win for the Leafs last night and maybe a worrying loss for the Panthers with Marshawn exiting with an injury, although it sounds like it's not that serious. Yeah, I mean, listen, first of all, and I don't need to tell your fan base,

you know, he's been doing this, Brad Marchands, if he came into the league. Yeah. Remember him back in the Stanley Cup final in 2011. This guy has been a master troller. I can't think of another guy who's been able to effectively get under the skin of opponents for so long, and not just be a pest like Matthew Barnaby was a pest, but I'm talking about a pest who also is on the Olympic team, a pest who's, you know,

who's an elite, elite player, but it also just gets everyone so upset. I was working last night, we were doing the pregame show with Devante Smith Pelly, and he said, oh, my God, Brad Marchand, all he would do is talk. The whole game would come up to me to be like, I've got a ring, you don't have a ring, blah, blah, blah. And I didn't have any comeback for that, and he goes, I was a third and fourth line player, And he goes, the only time I was able to finally come back at Marchand was after we won the cup in Washington in 2018. And then Marchand's like, all right, good for you.

You want a cup. You know, like, I think every guy, like, disliked them. But at the same time, they kind of like his attitude and the fact that he could just troll people so well. He was trolling the Toronto media, the Toronto fans. He's been doing that for years. Thankfully for the Leafs, they ignored that, came out and played one of their better games. and Justin Bourne called it the least best game of the year and Austin Matthews for the last two weeks really

has kind of looked like Austin Matthews the 69 goal guy he's been around the net he's been fast he's been doing all the things that he wasn't doing for the first 30 games of the season so if that's the case if Matthews is back to being who he was the complexion for the Leafs looks entirely different because the East is wide open this year he's been a force and remember they're doing this without Nylander without Chris Tannab, their best defenseman,

and without Jake McCabe who's been probably their best defenseman this year in the light of the fact that Tannab's been out. So there's some attrition there, and still they're finding a way in the last couple of weeks. It's been really impressive. And when you mention Florida, guys, it is worth noting. The injuries are piling up. Seth Jones is gone, and then you see Marshan leave last night.

Remember, Kachukh doesn't come back. Barkov's gone. Kulikov's been out. So it's maybe just getting to a point for Florida. where it's like, it's too much. Yeah. You know, we'll wait and see, they're right there. They've played very well.

They're actually technically ahead of the Leafs and the standings. They're tied in points, but they have the more regulation wins. They're right there, but you just wonder if that time, if that bubble is ever going to burst, knowing so many key players around significant time for Florida. Is our guy Troy Stetcher still carrying the Leafs Blue Line without Tanev and McCabe? Well, yesterday, Mike Feudor went as far as to say,

and he said it's somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but he said the least MVP this year has been Troy Stetcher. He's been fantastic, guys. Like, it's so funny how you just get a different situation and it could change everything. And we've seen that with other players in the past, right? You're in the coach's doghouse, you're in and out of the lineup,

you're changing defensive partners, the coach doesn't have confidence in you, you know, the fan base doesn't love you. You get a new start, a fresh start, fresh set of eyes, a different coach who has a different feel for you, a different defensive partner. you put on a different sweater and things click and this is just one of those situations

they love them in Toronto and I'm not sure he's coming out of the lineup if Tannavin McCabe get healthy it's probably not Troy Stetscher who's coming out of the lineup it's probably someone else so he's played great he's been a light in sort of this lightning flash for them he set up a nice goal

last night took a shot which was tipped in by Matthew Nyes who's also looking like a bit of a force again so yeah right now in Leafland people are feeling confident, despite the fact they sit 12th in the conference, or sorry, 11th in the conference and certainly still have work to do. They haven't been a playoff spot in a long time, but it's only been a few weeks since they were dead last in the east, so at least they've made their way

up a little bit. What's the story ahead of Calgary, Montreal tonight at the Bell Center? So many stories. First of all, Zane Corrack, if you guys caught the world during this, really was dynamic, and I know Canada only took bronze, but he set a record for Canadian scoring defensemen in the tournament. He's going to be up with Calgary, Craig Conroy announced. We're going to do some features on Nick Suzuki. Lane Hudson, by the way, guys, like, you know, I don't want to spoil the show tonight, but through 126 games, his numbers are as good if not better than Kail Makar and Quinn Hughes. And I'm not saying Lane Hudson is going to be Kail Makar, Quinn Hughes.

But through 125 games, he has shown out to be as good if not better than those guys, which is shocking. And we're going to kind of highlight how good Lane Hudson has been. And Montreal is really a fun team to watch, and Calgary's become a much more fun team to watch. So it's a fun matchup for us tonight, and we'll dig in with that with Colby Armstrong, Lugasdick, and Jennifer Botteroff. What's the story with Montreal's goaltending these days?

You know, Moncton Bowl played well last game. I don't know if you guys caught it. He made some massive saves, made a big save in overtime, a big reason why they won. I think they're trying to get him feeling good again and get him back to being that number one guy. they're sort of easing Fowler in and out of the lineup and they have Dobish who's been a serviceable backup to Montembow last year

and was kind of held the reins at the start of the year when Montembow faltered. So I think they feel they have three serviceable guys. Clearly Jacob Fowler is the future guys. Like he's considered the best sort of non-NHL goaltender when he took over this year and got his first looks in the NHL. So I think that's where they're going to hang their hat for the next while and they can, you know, they've had this embarrassment of, you know, and Ken Dryden and it's, you know, Carrie Price,

they've always had this marquee goalie for the last, you know, a few decades in Montreal, it shows a theater, and I think they're really hoping Fowler provides that role. Whether he provides that role this year has yet to be seen, but certainly they've sort of liked the first look they've had of them. Is Ottawa now the one Canadian team where we go? They got to figure out their goaltending. Yeah, yeah, I mean, Linus Allmark has not been what they,

expected. By the way, you guys see what happened to Markstrom last night? Yeah, yeah. We're going to get into that later on in the show. That was wild. Yeah. Yeah, I'll let you guys do that later, but I wonder if there's going to be, I wonder what that all means and what's happening in New Jersey's a big storyline in Sheldon Keith and

Fitzgerald. Like, there's some rumbling, so there's going to be some crazy stuff happening there the way that team is descending. But to get back to your question, I mean, Ottawa, yeah, I mean, they just, they don't have the goaltending right now. Allmark is left for a leave absence. We don't know exactly what that means. We don't know. It's different. If he breaks

a leg or whatever, if he hurts himself, you go, okay, three to six weeks, two to four weeks, and you plan accordingly when a guy says, I need time, and you have to honor that and you hope him the best on a personal note. But on a professional note, you're kind of going, uh-oh, this could be a week or this could be the year. And we've seen other goalies go through this and leave indefinitely. So, and they just don't have, you know, it's funny. They had Talbot at one point. they had Anton Forrestberg at one point. They had a bunch of guys at one point, they don't have them anymore. And Maryland has just not been the answer.

So I bet you anything, Steve Stales and their management group have been working pretty hard to try and get someone in because they need to salvage the situation. They're 15th in the east right now. They're only four points out of a playoff spot, but you just can't keep squandering these games. And the goaltending has been a horrible, you know, it's just, yeah, the worst savings in the league. I'll just leave it at that. Because their underlying numbers are actually pretty good. They're actually, you know, I don't watch them much, but you probably watch them more than me.

Aren't they a pretty good defensive team that's just they're not getting saved? Yeah, I mean, it's not strictly goaltending, but you talk to a guy, you talk to guys like Kevin BXA and you talk to even to Kelly Rudy and they'll say when a goalie lets in a bad goal, it is so deflating, right? You've just gone up two to one, you're feeling pretty good and then, oh God, or you're down two to one and you're playing well and then they give up that third goal and you're like now we have a massive mountain to climb.

It's so deflating and you could see it on the bench and yeah, defensively you know, Jake Sanderson by the way and we're going to see him he's on the Olympic team, right? Yep.

I'm not, yeah, okay, I'm losing my mind here. Like he's very, very, very good. Jake Sanderson is a beautiful skater, beautiful, you know, playmaker, a good defender and does a lot of great things. He's kind of like a Queen Hughes.

type player, maybe with a little less offense. And they're good defensively, guys, but that's not the issue. And they have structure. Travis Green, as you guys know, he insists on structure. That hasn't been the issue. Goaltending has really been the specific issue for Ottawa, and that's something they have to address. Wednesday night, Scotia, Bangkok. You got Calgary and Montreal first, and lest we forget the Battle of California tonight. Late one for you, 1030 Eastern, 730 Pacific. San Jose

and our boy, Macklin Celebrini, against the L. A. King, so a good night of hockey. David, thanks for doing this today, man. We appreciate it. Enjoy the games tonight. Yeah, thanks so much, guys. Enjoy. We'll talk soon. David. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, SportsNet NHL host here on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. We mentioned the New Jersey Devils thing. So last night, in case you missed it, the New Jersey Devils lost

9-0 to the New York Islanders. This, despite out-shooting the New York Islanders, 44 to 24. That's incredible. So if you're at home right now and you're doing the math, you're like whoever was in net or plural, whatever goalies were in net for the New Jersey Devils allowed nine goals on 24 shots. Well, it was one guy, Jacob Markstrom.

Former Vancouver Canucks goalie, Jacob Markstrom, was left in for all nine goals yesterday on 24 shots in a loss to the Islanders. I'm going to play the Markstrom audio now because he was crestfallen after that game. I wish we could show people what he looked like in this audio because he looked about as upset as he could for that performance. It's about a minute and a bit

of audio. It's three questions in his post game media availability and to his credit Marky took a lot of ownership and expressed a lot of embarrassment for how last night went. Jacob Markstrom after a 9-0-0-0-lost to the Islanders on Tuesday night. Yeah, I mean

that's embarrassing. Yeah, that's all I can say from from my part nine goals it's yeah that's that's a joke that's a tough one were shocked that you were left in the game or do you have conversations about that that's I'm goalie I love being out there you know not a good game you that's a question for someone else what do you sort of need to see collectively as a group here because this this feels like a big shock here to this group yeah I mean it's yeah it's a yeah like I said it's embarrassing And, you know, we want to apologize to, you know, the devil's fans, and, you know, I got to be better and, you know, stop more pucks.

We put up 40 plus shots and, you know, they put up, what, 20, score 9 in that. Yeah, that's, you know, I'm embarrassed for, on myself and, you know, towards my teammates and the team and the team and the fans. So it's, yeah, not good enough. I got to be better. That's beyond embarrassing. Do you think Ilya Sorokin was like, I played well? I did pretty well. I had double the amount of shots you did, Jacob Markstrom.

So the second question in the set of three there was, were you surprised that you were left in for all nine goals? And the entire hockey world went, yes. Right. What was Sheldon Keev doing? The same question was asked of Sheldon Keefe, but it was more, why did you decide to go this route? Sheldon Keefe said, quote,

I didn't like the quality of change. that we had given up and Markey has been playing quite well for us and I thought he deserved the opportunity to stay in through the first period and then I decided for him to go back out again in the second period

so when the first goal went in in the third period he followed up by saying quote once that next one goes in for me now it's just Marky's got to own it he's just got to battle through the rest of the game Keith was then asked about Jake Allen.

He was like, I'm not putting Jake Allen in that position. Someone said, well, was he healthy? And Keith nodded, affirmative. Yes, he was healthy. And he could have gone. Why else is the backup goalie there? I'm not going to put him in that position. It's a great question, Greg.

Why not? Yeah, that's a great question, Greg. You should have been there for the follow-up. Also, in the Markstrom scrum, they asked him, was he surprised to be left in? He said, there's a question for someone else. Yeah. That's the question for you. Were you surprised?

He didn't want to answer. He didn't want to answer. He was defliction. He needed to be out of there. I don't know. if everyone saw, and it's on the TV right now if you want to watch. So the answer was yes, he was shocked to be left in for nine.

They gave up some good chances. No question, but they were all, I mean, when you let in nine, you're letting in some goals that you want back. And if you watch the second half of that game, everything's going in on Markstrom. He went out there for

the third period. It was 5-0 for the Islanders, and a minute and 34 seconds left seconds in Casey Sizekis scores and if he hadn't been pulled at that point that's when you just

get him out of there he led in two goals in the final two minutes just because what the hell yeah so here's the Casey Sizicus again I mean Anthony Duclair

was dining out yesterday he had a hat trick in five points by the way in that game this is I love plus minus as a stat I wish it would come back to more relevance Duclair was plus six.

Yep, that was great. Andre Pallat, the box score from Andre Pallat last night is an all-timer. He played nine minutes in 39 seconds. He had 14 shifts, and he was minus five. That's hard to do. If you do the math, every third shift you took in the game, you were out for a goal against. That is an amazing night. That is an amazing night.

He was like, I'm a winger. It doesn't, it's not me. What point do you ask, though, is it me? Right. It's got to be. I think Markstrom was asking that. Well, the stats coming out of this are incredible because the goals saved above expected numbers. It was the largest spread between two goalies ever because Sorokin was plus four.

Right. Markstrom was minus 7.1. Well, A. Doug. That's an 11 goal spread between the two goals. There's something just so rotten going on in New Jersey right now. And I think everyone can see it. It didn't go well last season. Well, just to jump in,

lest we forget, this 9-0 loss comes after a game in which they lost a heartbreaker to Carolina in which Luke Hughes scored twice into his own net and was booed by the home fans and the faithful there. Yeah, that fan base there is very, sorry, the Devils did make the playoffs last year. It was a year before,

but they're like a, they're a very inconsistent. I think a few years ago, when they started assembling all this young talent people like these guys are going to take off right and there are a couple of people picked them to win the cup this year they had you look at what teams need

and on paper they have it they're not they're not short in talent there might be some people out there that said they need to get a little bigger and tougher and more playoff proven but the wild thing about this though jason like things were supposed to get better

and the ship was supposed to be right after Jack Hughes came back, which he has. And he returned on December 21st, and they're in an absolute tailspin. They've lost two in a row, they've lost four or six. They're out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture right now. And you've got to remember, they started the year. And through October, they were the first place team in the Metropolitan Division.

They had a great start to the season. So I don't know what's gone on. I got a question for you right now. We're halfway through the season. Who is your coach of the year? Does it have to be Bedner in Colorado? No, you know who it is. Is it talk?

It's John Cooper. Oh, Coop? Yeah, it's John Cooper, man. The Tampa Bay Lightning are like cockroaches, never dying, always living. They will never go away. So they had a big win last night. They beat Colorado. Again, I think it's the second time they beat them this year, if I'm not mistaken.

Colorado's lost two in a row. They peaked too early. That's it. Jared Bednar, you're out for coach of the year. Cooper, you're in. Cooper, got a big. pre-game ceremony where I think it was his 11th 100th game in charge

or 1,000th game in you can't remember anyway. It doesn't really matter. But Tampa Bay now, atop the Atlantic Division standings, they're a top five team in the NHL. You know, I think that when you're able... What was his particular challenge, though, that you'd give the nod to him over Jared Bednar, who's easily had the best team in the NHL? I thought

the Tampa Bay Lightning were going in the other direction. I thought they were flatlining, right? I thought I saw enough signs between you know, Vasselowski missing a ton of time and looking like his best hockey might have been beyond them. They moved off of Steve Stamcoast, which was a big thing. Yeah, but they got Gensel, right?

That was an upgrade. Yeah, but look, I mean, I'll be dead honest. If you look at that roster and the amount of guys that have missed time and the age that they have, I am surprised that they are where they are in the standing. It's still a good team. There's no question about it. They still have. They're not as old as you make them seem.

I mean, Brayden Point and Anthony Sorrelli and Brandon Hagel, they're all still in their 20s. Kutrov's, okay, but late 20s is 20s. Kuturov is only 32. Yeah. And he's still, that's not old. Hedman's old, Vigana's old, Vasilevsky's old. Maybe the blue line is getting a little bit older. But I don't know.

I mean, do we need to, at some point, talk about what Trevor Zegris did yesterday? I mean, scoring two goals against his old team, the Anaheim Ducks. You know, people might not want to hear this in Vancouver, but Rick Toccutt has done. a really good job in Philly. Taco. And Trevor Zegris has been a great success with the Philadelphia Flyers. We can talk to Frank Sarevalli about that next.

He's going to be joining us on the other side. Zegra's Big Night and what was a busy night in the NHL. Lots more to get into on the program. Hour one is in the books. Hour two is on the horizon. Frank Stavalli joins us next. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.