Halford & Brough in the Morning - Will Quinn Hughes Be At The 4 Nations?

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk the odds that Quinn Hughes plays in the 4 Nations finale (6:00), they discuss Thatcher Demko's newly-announced week-to-week injury (12:00), plus the boys preview Thursday's big matchup with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

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Happy Wednesday everybody, it's Hal is rough. It is sports net 650 We are coming live from the kin tech studios and beautiful fairview slopes in Vancouver Jason. Good morning before I say good morning Elliot's nipples were bang on about that game. He was right like bang on both of those things can sense a good game Coming good morning. I noticed he was very layered up though Bang on! Both of them were like... Those things can sense a good game coming. Good morning. I noticed he was very layered up though. He was a double breasted. That's a nice jacket. I like this jacket.

It was. I wonder if he's a little self-conscious. I feel like Adog was like, that is not only stylish, that's a cozy jacket. I know. I envy that man. If only I could be that cozy. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. And Lattie, good morning to you as well. The nipples never lie. Hello, hello.

Alfred and Ruff in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. 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 you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Big show ahead on a Wednesday. Guest list begins today at 6.30. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host is going to join us also

Four Nations faceoff host tomorrow the four nation faceoff final five o'clock from Boston, Canada USA David's gonna be working the broadcast as per usual a full hour of pregame coverage across the Sportsnet network so that'll begin at four o'clock our time with puck drop at five. David Amber will join us at six thirty to talk about all of that. Seven o'clock, Frank Sarah Valley from Daily Face Off is going to join the program. Frank is also in Boston for the four nations. You know what I want to ask him with these roster rules, these fluid roster rules. They've got the four nations face off, which may or may not include Quinn

Hughes joining the US team. We'll figure out that as we go along. Frank's also been working the American perspective, both on the ice, this American team that will be taking on Canada in the finals, off the ice, talking a lot in recent days about how much this tournament has resonated within America. So we'll talk to Frank about that at seven o'clock. We can also maybe do some Elias Pettersson talk too, if there's time with that at 7 o'clock. We can also maybe do some Elias Pedersen talk too if there's time with Frank at 7 o'clock. 7.30 Axel Schuster is going to join the program. It's been a long time since we've spoken with the Whitecaps sporting director. Much has happened since our last conversation.

We are bringing on Axel today because the Whitecaps play their first game of the season tomorrow. Thursday night in Costa Rica, maybe slightly overshadowed by Canada, US, who's to say, but the Whitecaps are gonna play their first game of the season tomorrow, seven o'clock in Costa Rica. Like an exhibition game. No, it is the CONCACAF Champions Cup opener.

I am dialed on the Whitecaps season. It will be against Deportivo Soprisa, featuring former Vancouver White Cap Kendall Lawson. Also, I mention this because three days after they start their season with the CONCACAF Cup on Sunday, they're going to play in Portland for their MLS opener. Is there any way we're going to get any information out of Axel about the sale of the team? Well, we're sure going to try, Jason. Right.

We're going to try our damnedest. Can we trick them into saying something? We can only ask the questions. We can ask them straight up or nefariously, but we will ask the questions of Axel. We'll just ask them if you could move to one city, what would it be? Right. What would be your relocation of choice? Good job, Adog.

Vegas. All right. So, Axel's going to join us at 7.30. Now, this is interesting because technically we might have two soccer, two soccers, Andy, two soccer guests, because at eight o'clock, Two soccers. Randy Janda's gonna join the program, Jason. Normally, we bring him on to talk about Canucks,

because of course, he is the Kettler analyst for the Vancouver Canucks, right here on Sportsnet 650. But today, Randy is gonna join us live from Madrid. Is he there to see an athletico Madrid? He's going to be watching the second leg of the Champions League knockout between Real Madrid and Manchester City. Okay.

So he's going to be joining us before the match. Cause if you do the time change and everything, it's almost evening over there. We will talk some Canucks with him. We're going to talk some Canucks. We're going to talk some Canucks, but actually that is going to be one hell of a match to go to because Man City blew it badly back in Manchester.

They had a 2-1 lead and they ended up losing three to two, some horrendous there. Would you say there was a howler from Ederson? Not a traditional howler But just like some bad Goaltending is bad defensive play the goal that everyone was talking about was one where Mbappe sort of miss hit the ball But it still managed to go in and Ederson was kind of out of position looking at it Scuffle over him and go into the net. He had a terrible clearance though on

He wasn't you a put it this way. He was poor Okay clearance though on one goal. He put it this way, he was poor. Okay. And they blew a 2-1 lead at home at the at the end and now they've got a tall order going into Madrid. And if that doesn't interest you we'll talk about I don't know Brock Besser or something. Or Thatcher Demko or Quinn Hughes or Drew O'Connor. We're gonna talk lots of Canucks with Randip as well. So it's a big day with a big guest list. There's a four-guester here on the Haliford and Brough show. Randip at eight, Axel Schuster at 730, Frank Saner Valleyalli at 7, and David Amber at 6.30. That's what's happening on the program today.

Laddie, tell everybody what happened. What happened is brought to 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 bcsa.ca. The Canucks returned to practice yesterday, minus Kevin Lankin and Ilias Pedersen, who of course were wrapping up their Four Nations face-off on Monday. So the Canucks went back to practice on Tuesday and a lot of things happened before, during, and after the practice. But I want to start, and I think we have to start, with Quinn Hughes. So let's work through

this chronologically. Right after we left the show yesterday, we actually had to come back during a commercial break to announce what we thought was breaking news. The news of course, that Quinn Hughes was gonna join Team USA in Boston for Thursday night's Four Nations tournament finale against Canada. Now we thought that Quinn Hughes was going

because USA head coach Mike Sullivan said, "'Quinn Hughes is coming.'" So we thought, well, to come to Boston, he has to leave Vancouver. We checked our sources twice and thrice. The source, of course, was the head coach, Mike Sullivan. And also physics. So we assumed that he would be on his way.

So imagine our surprise then when Tuesday afternoon we started seeing word from Canucks practice that Quinn Hughes was not in Boston with Team USA but rather with the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver for practice. So what's going on here you might say? Well it appears as though Sullivan didn't quite understand the roster rules and emergency call up tournament rules for the four nations. Quinn Hughes is technically not eligible to join the team until their number of active skaters drops under 18. Does it have to be a defenseman though?

No. Okay, so we have clarified that for sure. No. We have not clarified that because I've seen some people say that it has to be a defenseman that gets hurt and some people have suggested, well, maybe they can go 7D and 11 forwards because there have been some forwards that have been banged up. Both Kaczak have been, you know, I expect them to be able to play, but there's Austin Matthews who was doubtful.

It could be illness too though, right? Yes. Like it doesn't have to be like an injury, you could say. So a guy could get quote unquote sick. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then Quinn Hughes could play. Or you could quote unquote, you know, fall down the stairs or again.

Push him down an elevator shaft. Push down the stairs or again. Push him down an elevator shaft. Push down the stairs or just disappeared somewhere. We don't know where he is, but I actually personally think that, um, if you're allowed to go 11 forwards and 70 in an NHL game. Which is why there is this constant explanation from everyone involved that the roster situation and rules are quote unquote fluid. Because theoretically, you can't tell anyone

how many defensemen to play. You could play with five if you wanted. Or it's like, we could play with eight if you wanted. Does Jake Sanderson have like private security now? Like testing his food for him? We'll tap the brakes on that because as we're explaining, it might not be a defenseman that necessarily has to come out of the lineup.

Yeah, yeah. So. Like Sullivan could just lie and be like, we actually let Quinn Hughes on the left wing and then five minutes into the game. You know what, actually he's better on defense. But see, I don't even know if he needs to lie. Cause I think that the understanding is that

when Canada recalled Thomas Harley, not only did it drop them to five defensemen, but it also dropped them to underneath the skater threshold, right? So there's an understanding that once you get there, you can kind of do whatever machination with the numbers that you want to do. But none of it has been set in stone.

We'll talk to Frank Saravalli about this later in the show. Maybe he's got some more clarity. This is all very confusing. I want to throw it out to the listeners. Do you want Quinn Hughes to go and play in this tournament? I do, but I am willing to regret my opinion if

Canada loses or Hughes gets hurt because I like competition. No, no, no. I like, I like if we're going to have best on he plays it's bad if we have this best on best competition Let's have it as the best on best. That's just The way I look at it. I wouldn't want I wouldn't want would you want? Yes Would you want Canada to play this if like? Half the Americans best players were hurt?

Yes. Yeah, sounds good to me. Alright. Yeah, I can't really argue with you. Touche, I guess. I mean, I just want the best players to play the best players. I hear you. It would be fun to see him play on the Knucks and the Abbers back.

You know what, Adog? It would be fun to see him play on the, from a Knux Mavis perspective. You know what, Adog? It would be fun to see him play. No, no, no, no, no, no. Not on the biggest stage. Don't put words in my mouth. No, I'm talking about for myself. Yeah, yeah, but like, I just want the best players to play. Cause that's part of the whole, you know what I don't want? You know what I don't want?

Ken or to win this game and they'd be like, well, we weren't allowed to have Quinn Hughes on the team. And in the back of your mind, you're like, oh, that's a pretty good point. So, I want us all to listen to Quinn Hughes himself and hear how he feels about participating in the four nations face off and maybe not getting a chance to play in that final on Thursday.

Hughes spoke after practice yesterday and laid out his situation and mentioned numerous times how tough a decision it was for him to bow to the tournament originally. And now he's of course struggling with the do I or don't I question going into Thursday's final. Here's Quinn Hughes, Canucks captain, after practice yesterday. I mean not to be dramatic but it was extremely hard. I mean I think it's been something I've been looking forward to for a long time and yeah I mean I got

to thank Billy Garan for how patient he was with me not only you know 10 days ago but even you know last thing in the last 24 hours and he understood how much I wanted to play and also obligations were to the Canucks really what it came down to I just wasn't healthy enough where I wasn't sure that I could get worse and I felt like I couldn't you know be crawling back to Vancouver at the end of that tournament where now I'm missing more Canucks games so if there's a positive I should be ready to go next game and against Vegas but in saying that you, if I didn't have to worry about

any of that other stuff, I would have been there in a second and been playing with what I got, but had to look at the big picture a little bit. Now let's put out there, just so everyone is clear, that yesterday at Canucks practice, Quinn Hughes was skating in a non-contact jersey and has obviously not been cleared for contact.

As he explained it to the reporters yesterday, he is still working with the medical team on the steps that need to be taken for a full return. Now, Hughes said that he feels very good and that the time off has helped him recover from his injury, but he is still not cleared yet by the Canucks medical team. Look, I think this is how it's gonna go. Today, the Canucks are gonna skate at 11.30

for a practice at Rogers Arena. At that point, if Hughes is out there with the Canucks at 11.30 this morning, I would think it's safe to assume he's not gonna be going to join Team USA in Boston to be on emergency recall or perhaps suit up for the game tomorrow. If he's not at practice today,

then who knows what's happened in that 24 hour span between yesterday's practice and today's practice. As often in this industry, we will just have to wait and see on Quinn Hughes. Let's get to the other news of the day from the Vancouver Canucks practice. It normally would have been the lead, but Quinn Hughes kind of stole it.

The Canucks will be without starting goaltender, Thatcher Demko when the NHL schedule resumes this weekend. The team announced that Demko is not going to travel on the upcoming five game road swing due to a lower body injury, a lower body injury. I will remind you that Rick Taukett said prior to the four nations break was one, not serious and two, not related to Demko's knee injury. Well, it's a good thing the Connects don't have any back to backs coming up. Oh, wait a minute. They have two coming up. Saturday, they start in Vegas and then they immediately play after in Utah. And then they get two days off, so that's nice.

Yep. Oh, oh, there's another back-to-back in Los Angeles in Anaheim on the 26th and the 27th. So the next four games, two back-to-back games and Thatcher Demko will not be available for these games so how... okay let's start. Where do you want to start? I want to start big picture. How discouraging is this news that Thatcher Demko is once again heard?

And I remember when Rick Tocket said after the game that, oh, it's nothing serious. I think a lot of us were like, I don't believe you because this did not look like a regular kind of injury. Do you want to do the math on this not serious injury? It's been 10 days since Damco got hurt against Toronto, including, so the time off already is 10. If they've ruled him out for the five game trip, and I suppose he could join them at some point on it, you can tack another 14 days onto that. So that's a not serious injury that's gonna sideline him

for three and a half weeks. And there's no guarantee that he's gonna return once the break is over. The Canucks next home game is not until March 5th. So theoretically, if Demp goes out for the entire road trip, that would be his first chance back. And there's no guarantee he'll be back because he's listed as week to week.

So I would say Jason, given his previous health concerns dating back to last playoffs, the entire offseason and the months that he missed this year, this is not a very optimistic development for that. Your Demko or the club. Um, yeah, a lot of people, Jay texted in earlier today and he said, we're done listening to talk it in post game shows giving us preliminary injury prognosis, right? And I replied to him, yes, we are. Okay, hold on though.

He got asked right after the Toronto game. I mean, it is conceivable that he just didn't have all the information. He should probably just say, I don't know. No, no, no. But he said, I was told that it wasn't that serious or it's not looking that serious. That's what he was saying. That's what he said. And it feels like this has happened before guys that he's day to day turns out to miss like multiple weeks.

My advice would be if a guy leaves the game hurt, don't offer any update post game, do the old tortorelle. He's like, I haven't talked to Rammer yet. I got to talk to the trainer. Okay. So I've seen this a few times, Nate from Comox texts in with the Canucks constantly lying about injuries. I think it's safe to say Petey might actually be banged up. I mean, first of all, very funny, but the second point is like the difference here is Demko will not be playing. Demko left a game and they needed an explanation as to why he exited the game. Right.

And we've asked for explanations as to why Pedersen's game might be struggling and no one has offered anything regarding an injury from the club. So what are they going to do with Thatcher Demko being injured here? Are we going to see sea loves again? I mean, you have to, right?

Laddie, what in the modern NHL, can you really roll out a single goalie for two sets of back-to-backs in such short? Not advisable. It's not advisable. You know, like, if you, I mean, if you think about it, it's like, do you want to run the risk of burning out Lankenen with Demko not fit?

It seems incredibly risky. I don't even think burning out is the proper term for it because it's a very real risk of injury. Yeah, yeah. When you're forcing a big goaltender to do what he does back to back. So I wonder, I guess you have to. I wonder, getting back to the big picture, I guess, I wonder how much of this is just all related

to his original injury. And I'm not diagnosing anything. I'm just curious because, you know, the problem with having everything that Demko went through, he had this unique injury that he had to uniquely rehab. He missed a bunch of time. He missed training camp. He missed a bunch of time, he missed training camp, he missed a bunch of games early on.

Then he comes back and there's been, let's call them nicely, some wobbles, right? He's had to leave two games and people will say, well, he had back spasms on one and who knows what this one is. I just wonder how difficult physically it's been for him to return from this injury. And we all know that, especially in goaltending, like everything is connected with what you do, right? You're, you know, is a knee bone connected to the,

et cetera, like, it's all a chain, right? And- Starts with the groin. Yeah. It's all a chain, right? Back load. Starts with the groin. Yeah. And once you, and I wonder if he's been unwittingly making some, just changes in the way his body

is working and then all of a sudden he's putting pressure on another part of his body that he didn't even know about and that's having a problem. Subconsciously. Well, he's just, yeah. I mean, I guess the question is, is the guy's body a mess right now? Possibly. You know?

He's played in 17 games this year, which is not a lot, and that means that he made it through 15 of them because he exited the Seattle game early with back spasms and they exited the Toronto game at the 10 minute mark after making six saves with whatever this undisclosed lower body injury is right now. So not exactly a massive workload

and he's already had to exit twice and has already suffered an injury that's gonna sideline him week to week. Wasn't this the fear though to begin with, like coming back, playing through an injury that would never go away, that he'd be perennially, if that's the word, injured forever? And, and.

And it is now happening. And with a new approach to off ice training. Yeah. I mean, that's another part of this that has to be taken into consideration is that Thatcher Demko is not training and practicing and working under the same regimen that he was previously. For someone, for any professional athlete

whose body is, most of them are pretty finely tuned. Any change, minor or major, is going to have an effect on what you do on the ice, your training. It's going to all be part of it. So Paul in Okanagan, formerly Sunshine Coast text in, what goalies are available, if any? I don't know, but I'm sure people in Vancouver will be looking, and I'll be curious to see if we

hear Rick Dollywell reports on it. Like the Canucks are scouring the league for any goalies, I mean, we've heard this before and they ended up with Kevin Lankton at the beginning of the season and man, thank God they did sign that guy. Mm-hmm. Right? Now here's the thing, and we talked about this when Seelobz was with

the team before he got sent to Abbotsford. Um, it got to the point where he was basically unplayable. He's had a long time since there to go and play some games at the American league level and try and rediscover some confidence. I don't know if it's happened. We've had Brandon Astle on the show before.

The reports, I'm not trying to paint this as positive or negative, but when they've talked about the team's successes, it hasn't been because Sealuvs has gone down there and provided Vezna caliber netminding. So it's not like he's gone down and lit the American league on fire. I think if the organization wants to do right by a guy who was an incredible foot soldier for them in the playoffs last year, then you do give them another kick at the can. You give them another opportunity, but you also want to know that the leash is incredibly short this time. Well, incredibly short. Well, you know, the Connects are trying to make the playoffs here. Exactly. You don't have time to mess around. You really didn't. I mean,

hindsight being 20-20, they didn't have time to mess around at the beginning of the year when Demko couldn't get a win and couldn't make a save. A lot of people texting in, Mark and White Rock, guys, Demko has been hurt multiple times for long stretches prior to his knee injury last year. He's injury prone. It's time to move on. Well, potentially, yes.

Well, I don't think potentially to call him injury prone, like he is injury prone. Yeah. No, no, no, potentially moving on. Oh yeah, yeah. No, not potentially injury prone, potentially moving on. That's confirmed. By the way, we will, we'll get to the Drew O'Connor

stuff later because I want to talk about a few things as it relates to Brock Besser, but we're going to talk to David Amber for a bit next. So maybe after we talk to David Amber, we'll talk about Drew O'Connor. Sure. But just back to the Thatcher Demko stuff, like, there's no way they can extend him this off season, right? There's no way. They can't give him a big contract extension.

And I also wonder what is his trade value if they trade him this off season? It's got to be close to nothing because I actually don't think that any team that would trade for him would trade for him and you know how sometimes there are these trades and you say, and then, oh, he signed a contract extension. Like that's not going to happen. Why would any team do that? So let's say the Canucks bring him back next season.

They go into this off-season and there's like, there's two guys that really need to get healthy. One of them wears number 40, and this guy, Thatcher Demko, he needs to get healthy. And then is it, okay, show us you can stay healthy next season? Or do they say, we can't afford to have a guy that keeps getting hurt. So we're actually going to make you someone else's problem

and we're going to solidify our goaltending situation with healthy goalies. Okay, so we did manage to get through two of the three major caddack stories from yesterday's practice as Jason mentioned Drew O'Connor did sign a two-year contract extension with a 2.5 million dollar average annual value So we'll talk about that a little bit Maybe not necessarily what it means for Drew O'Connor, but what it means for Brock Besser that's coming up on the other side Also coming up on the other side David Amber hockey night Canada sports, NHL and Four Nations faceoff host. We will talk to him ahead of tomorrow's big game. Canada, US, 5pm from Boston in the Four Nations

finale. That's coming up next. David Amber, you're not going to want to miss it. Keep it right here. You're listening to the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post-game show. Listen 4-6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 631 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough, Sportsnet 650.

Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. David Amber from Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host, is going to join us in a second here for hour one. Hour one of this program is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. Before we get to David, Jason Bruff, co-host of this show, has an update on Quinn Hughes from the four nations facing.

Yeah, courtesy ESPN's Emily Kaplan, she tweets out the latest on Quinn Hughes from the Four Nations Facebook. Yeah, courtesy ESPN's Emily Kaplan. She tweets out the latest on Quinn Hughes. He had just traveled to Vancouver and won't be making another cross-continent trip to Boston unless he's going to play. He plans on skating in Vancouver again today. And Emily believes that all American players outside of Charlie McEvoy are good to go.

But then she adds things change fast in this tournament. Yeah. Again, someone could have a injury and off ice injury. The other thing you do have to remember in all this, um, you know, there are some people that, especially Americans that are like, yeah, Quinn,

you should be allowed to play. Quinn might not feel great about flying to Boston especially Americans that are like, yeah, Quinn Hughes should be allowed to play. Quinn might not feel great about flying to Boston and replacing a guy who's actually healthy and wants to play in this game. He mentioned that yesterday during media availability. He's like, look, the six guys that are out there on defense got us to a championship.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I mean, Hughes is, I mentioned this before, he's very well-spoken and he's thoughtful and he's articulate and he hit every single note you need to hit yesterday in explaining that he wants to play, he's disappointed, he's also got to take into consideration everything with the Canucks also, and you brought it up,

the team that's done really well without him there. And it's, I think Emily is right to put in that kicker at the end because you can tell that he really, really, really wants to go and team USA really, really, really wants him out there. But I don't know if that's enough to actually make it happen. We can continue this conversation and all the other conversations we're having around the four nations face off with our next guest.

David Amber joins us now on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Morning David, how are you? I'm doing well, how are you guys? We're well. So, you know, I didn't think, maybe perhaps naively, that roster rules were gonna play such a major focus point in this tournament, but as it's gone along, it has, what are you hearing being around the scrums,

being around reporters, being around free, just to where this thing might end up, specifically with to Queen, he was either joining or not joining team USA for tomorrow's game in Boston. Yeah. The report you just had from Emily Kaplan is basically what Elliot Friedman was saying last night that exactly that. I think he was in New Jersey. He flew to Vancouver. He was on the ice yesterday, as you guys know. And for him to come fly all the way back cross country to play in this game would necessitate a need for that and someone, you know, being legitimately injured or hurt or whatever the

case may be. And it doesn't appear to be the case. Jake Sanderson was out there for media availability yesterday. He certainly looks fine. So as he got injured eating dinner last night, I don't assume he's out. The one wrinkle is there was some chatter amongst the media folks that Vinny Trocheck took, I think it looked like a puck to the hand in the second period. He only played a minute 55 in the third. I wonder, and again, the rules are so ambiguous.

They seem to be kind of going as they go, the league seems to be making it up. Could the US go 11 and seven? I mean, that's sort of a go around, right? Like, well, we're missing a guy and you said if we're missing a guy, we'll bring in Quinn Hughes. But again, I just don't know.

I don't know one if Trocheck is well enough to play and I don't know two if you could do 11 and seven. And we also don't know three if Quinncheck is well enough to play and I don't know two if you could do 11 and 7 and we also don't know three if Queen News is comfortable again flying all the way across country knowing there are six able-bodied defense and ready to go so there's a lot of variables there at this point you know it's it's looking less likely because I can tell you it was a real fire bomb when when uh Mike Sullivan casually just said oh yeah Queen News is ready to join the team. And we're like, huh? Oh, that's amazing. You know, like, this is cool. But it does, it appears like it's less likely than likely at this point.

Okay. Let's table the roster conversation for now, cause I do want to talk about the entirety of this tournament. Look, we've had you on weekly on the show this year, this entire NHL season, and it felt like for months, the three of us were talking about this tournament with great anticipation. And then it arrived and very rarely in life does something exceed expectations. But I think it's fair to say, David, agree or disagree

that regardless of how the final turns out, that this tournament has exceeded most people's expectations in terms of entertainment and what it's provided for hockey over the last week? Listen, the hockey fan collective fan base at times can be fairly cynical and I don't need to tell you guys I'm being based in Vancouver,

but yeah, by whatever metric you wanna use, oh, is it gonna be a glorified All-Star game? No, I think we saw in the very first shift when Nathan McKinnon tried to put Joel Erickson X through the boards. Okay, they're here to play. The level of hockey, the drama, the excitement, it's all been fantastic. Honestly, this has been, as many people are saying, has been the best thing for hockey on a grand scale in the last decade. And thank goodness, we just got in under the wire. You know, had this somehow not been put together,

we would have potentially missed Crosby with McDavid and McKenna. We would have missed some of these moments. So listen, could it have happened earlier? Yes. Should have happened earlier? Yes. And it's kind of sad that we went nine years without, but let's look at it from a positive standpoint.

We got this event, which has been fantastic. And now the blueprint is there, whether it's the Olympics next year or the world cup with eight teams in 2028, the blueprint's there to see this on a more frequent basis. And I think that's great for the game, great for the fans and great for the players. Is Trump going to be there tomorrow? I don't know. I'd add the whole nother wrinkle. Um, I really don't know. And I'm wondering, you

know, I was talking to Ryan Whitney and he said, Oh, I bet they'll be 50% Canadian fans. And I said, really? And I started looking at prices and there might be 50% Canadian fans will be 50% really rich Canadian fans that's gonna cost an arm and a leg to get into the building. But I there was a lot of Canadian fans there for the Finland game in the afternoon. And the few I talked to, and I talked to people from Vancouver, and they're like, we came here not just for today, but for Thursday. So a lot of people pre-purchased the final tickets with the expectation of Canada-US. I don't know what the splits will be.

It's not going to be 100% USA fans, but I could tell you there was a lot of USA chants and a lot of We Want Canada chants on Monday during the USA game. So The the building's gonna be rocking. I don't know if Trump's there that adds a whole nother layer of you know things to it But it's it's gonna be pretty intense and pretty interesting How badly did hockey need this because Mike and I have bemoaned many times the lack of really nasty rivalries in the present day in the NHL. And we used to be able to pick out the rivalries really easily, you know, like Montreal, Boston.

Yeah, that's a rivalry and it was for years. And now we kind of have to struggle sometimes. And there are teams that will meet in the playoffs and a rivalry will last, you know, a year or a year and a half, but this is a rivalry. This is the rivalry. And Jason, listen, it's just been, the players were so desperate, like it is really cool.

And it's such a, you know, the NBA is being crapped on right now and rightfully so by the level of empathy or empathy on apathy from its players right like if I want to play tomorrow I'll play tomorrow I'm not you know I've got shampoo in my eyes two days ago I'm going to call it a day today like that sort of attitude and the NHL these guys are going through a wall to represent their country they're so passionate about it. And I think it's just great to have that level of intensity and passion. And you're not going to be able to sustain that over an 82 game season.

I get that. Like there's going to be those Tuesday nights, you know, playing Columbus and Anaheim and we're like, ah, this isn't that interesting. Right. But in this setting, it's showing what the potential of the game of hockey has the intensity, the physicality, the passion, the skill, you know, it's, it's at the most elite level, and it's just so fun to see for everyone. And really,

it's captured, it's captured everyone's attention. So I'm here in Boston, I turn on ESPN, you know, they're getting into this, they're, you know, they're getting into this. You know, Scott Van Pelt on his show last night is bringing in NHL guests after NHL guests and what's going to happen and let's talk about the lineups and let's talk about the decisions and da da da da. You know, I'm going on Capitals radio today, ESPN radio today. People, these aren't calls I get very frequently, right? And I'm like, oh, okay, sure. You know, like, this is interesting.

It's been what hockey, it's injected some real great interest and will it all sustain? No, but it certainly is showing the game to some new eyes. And when you talk about trying to grow the game on some appreciable level, I think, you know, these 12 days have really worked wonders for the league. One of the things that the people that listen to the show regularly really enjoy, it doesn't happen

that often, but I admit I was wrong. I was wrong about Eric Carlson in a conversation that we had last week. I was like, this guy is going to be a liability for Sweden. He was one of the best defensemen in the NHL. I also felt like Patrick Laine, who came into this tournament, his game was down a bit earlier in the season.

It looked good in Montreal and people were very happy for him, but it had fallen off a little bit. I thought he was excellent for Finland. What did you think about those two? Eric Carlson, a massive surprise. I went as far as to say, you know, you have a tough decision. He, to me, would have been the seventh defenseman. I know that sounds crazy, a three-time Norris winner, but you look at the guys they had

in front of them, they were just so strong and not a defensive liability. Carlson's been one of their best players and it's been a real, you know, I shouldn't say a shock, but it's been, you know, a lot of people have taken note. I'm sure Kyle Dubas, who's one of the team Canada management types is probably going, where the hell has this been for the last 55 games? Like he's been, he just looks engaged and interested and he's been very good. Lyne, you know, I didn't, he didn't catch my eye nearly as much. He certainly physically will get into little run ins here and there. So he's engaged in that level. But he seems you know, the pace has

been so incredibly fast. As he said, it's the fastest game I've ever played. No, he's not fleet of foot. He's definitely a little bit behind the play. Often I'm noticing but you know, it's still been one of the nice stories in the NHL that he's back and smiling and enjoying life and Contributing to this Habs team and certainly when Montreal made that sort of mini run for you know six weeks they played some great hockey and Patrick Laine was a huge part of that so it's been nice to sort of see him back in the mix and in the league and

Certainly putting on the red the blue and white of Finland, but Carlson to me has been just yeah He's sort of, you understood what he can do at his best and he still has that level. We're speaking to David Amber, Sportsnet NHL and Four Nations faceoff host here on the Halferd and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Going into Thursday's final, David, where is your confidence index on Jordan Binnington and Goal? Well, I think Binnington comes with the advertisement. As John Cooper and the coaching staff and management team said, and we interviewed Doug

Armstrong, he's a gamer, he's a battler, he's a warrior, you know, whatever, whatever, you know, adjective you want to throw in there, he's not going to give up, he's going to give everything he has. But we've also seen certainly in the first two games, he allowed goals that, you know, star goalies wouldn't allow. He allowed two, I think, in the first game versus Sweden, and he goals that, you know, star goalies wouldn't allow. Um, he allowed two, I think in the first game versus Sweden and he certainly allowed, um, you know, that first one, uh, I can't remember who scored it. Now, first one against, um, the U S was, uh, I can't, you know, I'm having a

brain blank, uh, you'll have to refresh my memory, but, uh, yeah, you let it. Gensel, yeah, I got it. So, you know, in, in three games, he's allowed three goals that I would think he would certainly think he should have had and an elite goal he would have. So you're going to get a mixed bag and what do we get on Thursday? There's going to be someone who's certainly going to give it everything he has. One thing I'll say is there's been some pressure. There's been some bodies flopping near him and on him.

The Jordan Binnington I know would have been swatting them with his block or his stick or getting all thrown off his game. He's incredibly composed to the point where Eric Holler or someone ran right through the crease, smashed into him. The whistle goes, he then pats Holl on his butt, you know, with his paddle sort of like, hey man, I'm glad you're okay type thing. And I'm like, wow, that's not the Jordan Bittington I know. So I gave him a lot of, uh, compliments and props for keeping his composure, keeping his cool, because I think that's something that has thrown them off. Historically, he starts getting all rattled and gets caught up in these little verbal battles or whatever. And he throws, it doesn't help his game.

So if nothing else, he's been incredibly composed in that, which I think is important and after he's allowed a bad goal, which he has done, he seems to have settled down and made some big saves. So listen, the saving made on Nikas Zabanićad in overtime, that's why they're here. Like the margins were that small, right guys? Like if Marner doesn't score that overtime goal and Sweden scores the overtime goal, or if Mikael Grannland doesn't score for Finland and Sweden wins in overtime, we're on the phone right now talking about a Sweden-Can, Sweden, US final. So you got to give him credit.

He made a few big saves when he really needed to and ultimately Canada's in the final, which is all you can ask for and now all bets are off. The big game is now just one day away. Thursday, it's Canada, it's the US, 5 p.m. from Boston. A reminder, the coverage on Sportsnet, one hour pregame, it starts at four o'clock our time. David, enjoy it tomorrow, I know you will. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Thanks a lot for doing this, as always.

We will talk again next week. Yeah guys, enjoy, it's been really awesome and we'll see what we have in store for tomorrow. So thanks for having me on. Yeah, thanks for coming on. We appreciate it. That's David Amber, Hockey Night Canada Sportsnet and Four Nations Face Off Host here on the

Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What did you think of Lionel at this tournament? He had. He said three points. Yeah, it was funny. Someone did. Made some nice passes. Someone did the spot camera on him where they

followed him around for just one shift. And they were on the power play. So he was gonna be, it was funny. He just sort of was very circular in his motions. He found a spot and he just kind of skated around. But I thought that he was one of the guys that changed the narrative a little bit on his season. Cause things are bad in Montreal for him right now. Right? He's getting benched. The production's not there. I wouldn't be surprised. Coach doesn't like him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's a healthy scratch. Maybe he didn't have the joy that he needed to go out and play.

And I think maybe it's like going and representing Finland and playing for his country will give him a shot in the arm. I think it's the same thing with Carlson too, right? Yeah. He had a six minute shift. That was a long one. Yeah. It's a long shift.

He's like, don't worry, I'm in great shape. I'm going to be fine. I'm just not going to skate that much. I'll glide a little bit. I'll save my legs. It's going to be fine. Okay. Let's talk about Drew O'Connor signing a two-year deal. Yeah. So yesterday, that was the first bit of big news that the Canucks announced prior to yesterday's practice in which Quinn Hughes was shockingly there. And that's your damn go, maybe less shockingly wasn't there. Drew O'Connor after playing four games as a Vancouver Canucks signed a two year contract extension, five million total, 2.5 million AAV. It was deemed quote worthy. That's the real kicker here. That's how you can tell where someone ranks on the priority charts of the general manager when he gets a quote in his press release.

Drew O'Connor did from Patrick Alveen. Patrick said quote, Drew has made a really good first impression since joining our team from Pittsburgh at the beginning of the month. We like his size, speed and ability to get in on the forecheck and hound pucks. Our staff also feels confident that they can help Drew take his game to another level. And we are excited to see what the future holds for him with the Vancouver Canucks. So last year was his best year in the National Hockey League. Career highs pretty much across the board. So I understand why Alveen threw in that kicker of we believe that there might be another level to get to

because he's coming off the leveling up of his career. And for a guy that was undrafted, it might be a bit of get to because he's coming off the leveling up of his career. For a guy that was undrafted, it might be a bit of a late bloomer. I think it's a pretty conservative wager that he can maybe give them something a little bit more. It's a two year deal at two and a half. I think it was, as people like to say, a tidy piece of business from the Vancouver Conundrum. Yeah, I like his potential. Size and speed, and you can tell that speed is a big thing that this Canucks management group wants to add to the team.

They added some in the off season, and they've continued to add it, which makes me wonder, what is Brock Besser thinking with all these new guys getting signed ahead of him? I imagine he might be feeling a little left out or overlooked, but I do hope that someone has explained to him the very big differences between his situation and the ones with Marcus

Pedersen and Drew O'Connor, both new players, recently acquired and both got extensions and they're in the same situation as Brock as a pending UFA. With Marcus Pedersen, it's really, really hard to find a top four defenseman. If you find one you like and he's in the right age category and you can get them done for a deal that you're comfortable with, like do it. You do it. With O'Connor, his total contract value is just

such a fraction of what Besser is going to get. There's far less risk in a Drew O'Connor extension than there is in a Brock Besser one. Um, now all that being said, I do wonder what's going to happen with Besser because one, it is generally easier, not easy, easier to find wingers in free agency or via trade compared to

top six centers or top four defensemen. And number two brings me back to what I was saying earlier about the signing of Drew O'Connor, they love his speed. The Canucks have been adamant that they want to get faster and Besser is not fast. Nope. It's a good goal scorer, very good goal scorer.

And he's a smart player. And I think that maybe in a different situation with a different team, he'd be a pretty shrewd free agent signing. I'm not advocating for this. I want to preface this by saying I'm not advocating for this. This is more me thinking and anticipating where things are going to go as opposed to where I hope they go. But I think this is going to be his last year in Vancouver.

I think the most likely scenario, and it's not a great one because you're going to lose the player and you're not going to get an asset in return aside from his cap space, is that he finishes out the year here and they can't come to a deal once the season's done. And he's like, I'm going to test. How are they going to replace his goal scoring?

Like I'm not against, I'm not against exploring the market because I would, if Brock is adamant that he wants an eight year contract at what? I don't know, what have they been throwing around? Eight million or something like that? Sure. I don't know, whatever. Say eight by eight.

Let's just say for argument's sake. Yeah, I'm not comfortable with that. I'm not comfortable with giving him that, but I'm also not comfortable with just saying like, oh, we got this kid Lickr Mac, he he'll, he'll, he'll replace him by next season. There's no great answer, which is why I said, like I said, I practiced it with so many things. Like look at. So many disclaimers.

The situation with Boston might be a little bit similar in that they lost a scoring winger in Jake DeBrusk. They can't score right now. They've missed them quite a bit. You know, it's not just that. I mean, their centers aren't creative enough. Uh, they do have a couple of good wingers

and Pasternak and Marshawn, but Marshawn might be slowing down a little bit and they don't have much else, but you know, you take Brock Besser away from this team. Um, if the plan is to either trade them at the deadline, I mean, that wouldn't that be interesting too, or just keep them as their quote unquote own rental and then let them go in

the off season, the, I would hope, I would hope, and maybe they're doing some light tampering at this point, that they have someone in mind. You know, someone in mind to replace them because that's a huge part of the team that you be just being like, well, I hope we can replace them. I mean, in the two newest acquisitions at Forward, I think it was very telling about the profile of player that Alveen and Rutherford brought in. And in Heidel and in O'Connor, it was almost hilarious to be like,

well, we suddenly have our two fastest forwards. They're the two newest guys that we acquired. I mean, that's pretty telling. They're not frontline guys. I don't think you can call O'Connor a top six forward yet, although he might masquerade as one, or maybe blossom into one. And Heidel is what he is.

I think on a good team, he's a three C I think on an average team, he's a two C. But they also come in as guys that change the look of the player that they want at forward. I mean, you said it, they're looking to get faster and besters not fast. And this, I don't want this to come across as dumping on Besser. Like I think wherever he goes and gets his money, I think one, he will have earned it. And two, I think he could be a very good fit

on a lot of different teams and score goals with regularity and the Canucks will miss it. But the Canucks right now are, I would say that they're a little bit fractured because of everything that's happened this year. Like I don't think they win. Just a touch. I don't think they win into this year thinking

that there is a possibility that Miller and Pedersen would be gone. And there's that very real possibility because 50% of that sentence is already true. And you have to address the center position first and foremost. I'll do it. We've got a good text in here from Rich in

Cloverdale and a reminder, if you want to text into the Dunbar Lumber De line, 650-650, Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. Rich texts in and says, if the Canucks end up losing Besser for nothing, we don't just gain the cap space, we get Leckermackie plus the cap space to invest in another player to try to make up for Brock's goals.

I wonder if that's what they're thinking too. Signing Jake DeBrusk was cheaper than it's going to be to extend Brock Besser. It just mostly comes down to what are realistic expectations for Leckar Macken. Then you do the math from there. I know it's not this simple, but let's say, can you count on him to score 15 to 20 goals at the NHL level next year? If you say yes, then you say, okay, well, now we need to make up the difference between

what we anticipated Brock was going to do and what he was going to do. If the math works, you can do that with the money available, you go out and do it. But it's a risky, risky thing because you're counting on a guy in Leckar and Mackey with what, five games of NHL experience? Yeah, and a guy that needs to get bigger and stronger. You need to have a lot of faith that he's going to have the progression.

Now, to counter that argument, most good teams that make runs to a Stanley Cup or, you know, to the final, have at least one or two guys that are giving them a ton of really good value on entry level deals. So like, or Mackie conceivably would be that guy. We'll see if it happens. That's it for our one before we, before we get out of our one, I do need to tell you about JanPro. From warehouses to washrooms and everywhere in between, JanPro keeps workplaces tidy,

clean, and disinfected for a free quote. Visit them online at janpro.ca. We're going to move on to hour two of the program. Frank Saravalli is going to join us on the other side as we continue the hockey talk at 7.30. Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster is going to join us ahead of a busy week for the Whitecaps where they will begin their ConcaCaf Cup campaign down in Costa Rica on Thursday, and then they'll start their MLS season Yeah, MLS season begins this weekend. They will play on Sunday in Portland So a very busy week for the Vancouver Whitecaps. We will do all that in the second hour of the show So don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650