Halford & Brough in the Morning - Will Rick Tocchet Be Back Next Season?

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason chat about Rick Tocchet's future as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks (3:00), plus they preview tonight's home matchup versus the Buffalo Sabres with NHL analyst Ray Ferraro (38:32).  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.

I feel bad for a lot of players when you're reading some rumors out there. I'm proud of the guys that they're capable of blocking a lot of noises out and just go out and play. Tell them to suck a lemon. 7.01 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. suck a lemon. We are in Hour 2 of the program. Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason Homonuck from Jason.Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Do the opposite of what I said. Let him do exactly that. Visit him on the internet at Jason.Mortgage.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. That audio you heard coming back from break, that was one of the many highlights from the Patrick Alveen media availability from yesterday. I liked that he was like, all these trade rumors, they're very unfortunate. They are true though. Yes. Consequences of my own actions.

Yeah. Also, I put many of them out there into the universe. Like that was the whole thing from the interview that he did with iMac less than 30 days ago. You put them out there. Very unfortunate. Are they true? I'm always trying to improve the team.

What is truth? Who's to say? He should have existential answers. Kierkegaard said. Yeah, right. What is truth? Anyway, that was one of the many things that happened yesterday. I wanna talk about what he said about Rick Tauket because this has been another of my side hobbies.

The future of Rick Tauket. Your side hustle. Yeah, one of my many side hustles on the show, the future of Rick Taukett and the possibility that it's Rick Taukett that says thanks, but no thanks, as opposed to what traditionally happens to coaches, isn't that the team makes the decision. So we're going to play Patrick Alveen on Rick Tauket. It's a vote of confidence for the coach,

but listen closely to some of the words that he uses talking about Rick Tauket's future. I'm very proud of how Rick have handled the season here with the sir under the circumstances. My relationship with him, and the way we communicate every day and then trying to find solutions, making our team better, pushing the right bottoms. I do believe that he is a good coach and I see him long term too. Obviously it's a, it's a two ways to eat there,

but up to this point, it hasn't been an urgency for us to do anything with a club option, but I'm sure we're going to sit down and talk about it. So, seven months ago, it was in June, Rick Tocket was asked, I think it was like June, Rick Tuckett was asked, I think it was like before the draft or something. After he won coach of the year?

Yes, probably. And he said, we haven't talked about a contract extension. And he said, I have a great relationship with management, I'm not worried about it. I'm really honestly focused on this year. And I think around training camp, he might've said something similar, like we'll talk about

it when we have time. And they're still going with that. Like Alvin, I'm sure we're going to sit down and talk about it here. Oh yeah? When, when are you going to do that? Now, the most interesting thing that was said was it's a two way street.

And Alvin went out and said like, I see him here longterm and had a terrific vote of confidence for the coach. Yep. Like that was, he thinks he's done a great job considering the circumstances. I see him here long-term, but then obviously it's a two-way street there.

If Tauket isn't back next season, and that's a big if, and maybe even an unlikely if, there is a negotiation to be had in these situations. But I'm really starting to wonder if the more likely scenario is that Tauket says thanks, but no thanks, as opposed to the Canucks going in a different direction. It just seems like they're always putting off talks.

Sure. There is putting off talks, putting off talks. Um, and, um, Taukeit has had to deal with a lot of stuff here and you know, if they trade JT Miller away and the return, the immediate return, um, is less than what JT Miller brings to the team when he's on his game, then the Connex are that much further away from the Stanley cup and Rick Tuckett might just get

tired of it all. And I should say like, like I think,. I think, Paul Maurice walking away from that Winnipeg job and going to Florida, I wonder if that has made a lot of coaches think like, maybe I need to bet on myself. And if the situation isn't going well, maybe I'm the one that takes a step away. Okay.

A couple of things. If you go back and you look at the history that specifically Rutherford had in Pittsburgh with Mike Sullivan, is it kind of followed a similar pattern? Maybe not exactly the same running parallel to talk it, but there was the sense of we'll get it done, we'll get it done, and then they got it done.

And it was largely Rutherford would come out in the end and say, hey, we respect him as a coach, we like what he's done. He was always our guy. To your latter point there, Rick Tauke probably knows a couple of things. One, now his stock might've been diminished a little bit through the first half of this season

because the team has wobbled a little bit, but his stock is still pretty high across the National Hockey League. There's only a handful of guys that have done the job really well. There's only a handful of guys that have won the Jack Adams, and here's the key. Coaches get fired all the time in this league. So if you're in the group, if you're in the inner sanctum, and it's a hard group to break into. But when you're in, the recycling program can be very kind to you. Todd McClellan, for example, he only had to be out of the mix for a while.

Now he's back in. Look what he's doing. Doing good things with the Detroit Red Wings. You mentioned Paul Maurice. I think that's a perfect example of a guy who knew that his stock was still pretty high. He knew that maybe he didn't want to deal with the headaches and he felt burnt out in Winnipeg. Well, I think their room was an issue. Yeah.

And. A lot of people have compared the situation with Miller and Pedersen to Lyne and Wheeler. And here's the thing. There was a team that was more than ready and willing to bring Paul Maurice aboard. I bet right now, if you asked around the NHL, there would be a number of general managers that would say,

yeah, we'd move some things around to get Rick Tauket on board. Now the question would be for Tauket, is are you gonna find a better situation than what you've got in Vancouver elsewhere? But the thing is, what constitutes a better situation for Rick Tauket? Is it about being that close to a Stanley

Cup and winning, or is it more about starting somewhere where you don't have all of the headaches or all of the issues in the room or whatever else. And enjoying going to work. You know, Nate from Comox texts in, Alveen said it's a two way street to be the long-term coach. And then instantly said they don't need to have talks because the team has an option.

And then Nate says, seems pretty basic to me. Nate, I think there's some confusion about that team option. The Canucks say they have an option, but that's their party line. Rick Tauket also has the option. Pierre Lebrun has reported that even if the Canucks say, okay, we're going to pick up the

option, Tauket could still walk away. And if I was Tau talking, there is absolutely no way I would come back on just a team option. Right? Give me an extension. And give me. Imagine if they said we're going to, we're going to bring you back for a year, nothing beyond that.

So you're a lame duck head coach. All the things you've been through as a head coach, despite the fact that we love the job you're doing, we're not going to give you that vote of confidence. Sure. That's a slap in the face. And for the record in Pittsburgh, they gave Mike Sullivan a three year extension.

And then when that was up, they followed it up with a four year extension. So they, I mean, they have had a history in the past, if they like a guy and they like the job that he's doing, they'll get it done. I think the most likely outcome is they get a deal done. This gets an extension where Rick Taukett has term and Rick Taukett is handsomely paid to do the job that he does because he's done a good job here. I think when you're talking about this individual

facet of the larger picture, it brings back one of our common refrains here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650 that there's so much to be done. And there's so many things that this management group needs to sort out that the Miller situation really came at an unfortunate time. There were so many other things going on in this season. Demko's injury, Dakota Joshua's health,

Brock Besser's looming contract scenario. The possibility at the beginning of the year of being like, we're gonna be buyers in March because we're gonna be a playoff team. We're a crew in cap space. They've been so much accrual. There's been so much accrual all year long. And the Miller thing has thrown a massive wrench

into their short-term and long-term outlook. I would say That part of me is like I think I maybe understand why they're saying like we can't deal with the talking thing right now We got a lot on the go like he's important. We love them, but I will grant that Yeah, we there's we just got a lot on the go right now Like we can't deal with this we still got to deal with Besser and who knows what's gonna happen there And they still you know in the very, very, very short term, they have to figure this trade that's hanging out in the ether. They also have to win hockey games.

There we're in it's December 21st and then the outside of the playoff picture looking in going into tonight's action, there is a lot that needs to be sorted out a lot. Uh to be sorted out. A lot. Uh, let's read some texts into the Dunbar lumber text line. We've got a couple in about number 40. Jay from Delta, do you guys think management is trying to trade Miller now and not the off

season to see if Pedersen plays well without him? And if he doesn't, they can trade him before July so they don't have to worry about moving both at one time. This was your theory from yesterday, wasn't it? Yeah, I can trade him before July. So they don't have to worry about moving both at one time. This was your theory from yesterday, wasn't it? Yeah, I did bring that up yesterday. Yeah. Jay from Delta, come on man.

Just listen to the show every day. You have to listen to every minute of the show. Here's another one. Hey Halbro, do you feel like there's enough discussion or a deep dive somewhere about why Pedersen has struggled so badly. It's been a calendar year. The part I struggle with is he's had slumps,

injuries, but this time he fell off a cliff and is not coming back. There has to be quote unquote the reason. But maybe there's not the reason. I don't know, man. To suggest that we haven't talked about it at length is kind of funny. No, no, no. He's talking about someone writing an article

and really getting into it. Here's the problem. But no. The guy, the guy you would like to talk to is Elias Pedersen and he ain't talking. You think Patrick Alvins, Johnny tight lips? Like Elias Pedersen will not talk. And there are multiple stories from reporters

in the city that have been like, Hey, that's a good idea. You know, obviously I want to talk to Pedersen. He doesn't talk. He doesn't want to talk to the media. And you can say, I wouldn't either, but it's pretty hard to get a diagnosis of the issue from an outside perspective if the

guy that you're talking about doesn't want to talk about it. You know, Drancis said, he went up to Elias Pedersen and said, Hey, can we, you know, can we have a chat? Like, you know, I'm going to write about you anyway, so, you know, let's, let's chat. He said, no, others have tried. When Ian McIntyre talked to him on the road, it

was very noticeable that Ian McIntyre said in a very brief interview. And that was just Pedersen saying, I know I got to play better. And that was just Pederson saying, I know I got to play better. And that was in some ways a response to Patrick Alveen saying, Petey's got to learn to face the music. And that was everyone's, everyone after was like, oh, it was great to see Petey facing the music and saying, I got to be better.

But there was no in-depth discussion on what the hell has happened to his game. And there's not going to be. I will say this, the Canucks have made it abundantly clear how they want to handle their business when it comes to media relations, public relations, and people talking. They don't like it. They run a tight ship, no leaks on this ship,

and when leaks come out, they actually, the fact that a leak came out is almost more interesting than whatever information was in the leak. And that's why this Miller situation has kind of mushroom clouded, because it's hard to keep wraps on everything. Organizations are big. They have a lot of different people and a lot of different moving parts and a lot of

different conversations happen. To try and keep a lid on everything is a very difficult task, especially in a market where you're the only show in town and there's countless outlets monitoring your every action. It's really hard. So I just want to share, I'm not going to read any of this, but I just want to let the listeners know

all the vitriol that's coming in for Pedersen right now into the Dunbar Lumbertex line. I'm not going to read any of this, but I just want to let the listeners know all the vitriol that's coming in for Pedersen right now into the Dunbar lumber text line. Not going to read the text, but I'm not trying to make this a thing. I don't want this to be a thing, but it is going to be a thing. The pressure on Pedersen of Miller is traded, is only going to amp up. And a lot of people love JT Miller. They are, you heard the chants in the arena. JT Miller is a big time fan favorite.

And he plays when he's on top of his game with the emotion and passion that you want to see out of leaders on your team. If they trade him and Pedersen doesn't perform, this thing ain't over. No. Oh, if, if Pedersen doesn't give the, I mean, there's a couple of things.

One will be the output of an $11.6 million a year player, and the other will be responding to this level of adversity and the solution yet again, given by management. Cause remember we've gone through great detail in all the different ways that management has either tried to appease or solve Pedersen. We've got, and it goes all the way back.

Well, look at the way the coach handles it. Tauke it treats Pedersen differently than Miller. See, I think. Tauke it is way more critical of Miller and way more like publicly, he'll publicly bench Miller. He'll call him out. He doesn't treat Pedersen like that because Pedersen is so sensitive and we all know that.

Yeah, but I also think- So is he made for this market? But I also think Tauke does that as a self preservation act as well. What would it say, by the way, now that I'm on a roll here. He's rolling. If Pedersen does start playing better now that,

if JT Miller is traded again. Is that great? That he was able to, I don't know, that someone's mean to him in the dressing room so he doesn't play well? I mean, we're getting down the, that's like three hypothetical stacked on top of one number, so I can't, my mind mind, my grapes are exploding. But I'm just trying to prepare myself for a Miller trade and what the reaction's gonna be in this city. Right, they still trade Miller. I don't think it's gonna be pretty, man.

But they still have to trade Miller. They're going to, come on. But when? How much longer can you honestly let this thing just hang around? I do wonder, because I thought that the breaking point would have been on Saturday when, you know, they were ready to drop him out of the lineup. And then they threw him back in and then Miller played really well.

And then he went in front of all the reporters who were all asking questions if that was his last game as a Vancouver Canuck. And then he went to practice yesterday and he put down that I'm assuming he's gonna participate again tonight. And I know that on a very basic level, that's all you can do. Like you're either working or you're not working. You either show up for your shift or you call in sick.

Your manager tells you to come into work or your manager tells you to stay home. Like there's really only two options. I get that part of it. But I mean, we exist in a covering a national hockey league where guys are routinely sat out to protect the asset when a trade is coming. How long did Jacob chicken set out? He sat over like a month, didn't he? He's just like, I'm not playing hockey anymore until you trade me. Just I'll sit on the

sidelines. This is, it's unique. And I mean, God bless it. It's entertaining as hell. I know sometimes, and I've had friends and associates and colleagues come up to me and be like, you guys talk about this a lot. And I was like, yes, we do. We absolutely do. Because it's been a long time, a long time since there's been this much of a soap opera and never ending drama in a Canucks season. Cause again, I think I said we're in December 21st earlier, that's wrong. It's a new year and a new month.

It's January 21st. The season started in September. I looked that up, I confirm you're correct. Yeah. It's January right now. It is January, thank you Andy. Took me a bit. So yeah, it's been four and a half months of a very, drawn-out and

lengthy soap opera Where people have really had to dig in to figure out exactly what's going on other than what you're presented at the surface Right not a lot of seasons where one of your star player players, sorry takes a Ten game leave of absence for personal reasons, comes back, has a few good games, has a few bad games, and then is the subject of rampant trade speculation. Like that playbook doesn't really exist

in a lot of NHL markets. And if it does, it draws a lot of people's attention. It really is operatic in the soap sense of how it's gone. So yeah, it's, it's the never ending coverage of it. And every day that goes by you're kind of left to continue the narrative because what else are you going to talk about with Miller right now? Like he's, it wasn't that long ago that he signed this massive contract.

Remember how emotionally invested he was at the time talking about how this was a big deal for him because one, it was like putting down roots for his family, but also, like you said, he didn't come from great means growing up and he got this massive sum of money. And now we're at this stage of it where it's going to be moved along.

There's a lot to unpack. Sir Ed from Langley, I think with Pedersen, it's one of those situations where you don't like going to work because somebody is on your ass every day. Now it might seem sensitive, but if you go to work and you have to worry about that, you would not be efficient either at your job.

Fair enough. And then you have to ask questions about how did the organization let it get to this point? I deal with that every day with you guys. The dogs are nodding aggressively in the background. Mm-hmm. Yep. You guys perform.

Sounds familiar. You guys perform. You do? Is that how it's going? Occasionally. I don't know. Intermittently. I will say I do, I don't know if you guys feel this way,

but I do find it hard this season to get as invested in the games, game by game, knowing this stuff is in the background. So I always feel like- Yeah, the connects have a game tonight. I always feel like in the fact- Oh yeah. I always feel like in the back of my mind,

I'm just like, I just want this to get figured out and dealt with, move one of them, figure it out, move past it, and then just go on with the season. And until that actually happens, until one of the two of them is gone, as much as I would hate to see it, I always just like, it's hard for me to really get into the games as much as maybe last year.

That's kind of the, that, sorry. It's like this looming shadow, you know? That little rant I just went on where we're talking about like, this has really dragged itself out. It's been four months of a soap opera. So some people just wanna see, let's just win some games and have some fights and

score some goals. I want to read a counterpoint to that other text about, you know, coming to work and someone's on your ass. Someone texts in, holy, it's professional hockey. And I tend to take that perspective. You got to know how to stick up for yourself. Yeah.

You know, like this is professional hockey. This is not our job. This is not going into an office and, you know, it's not elementary school. It's not high school. It's not elementary school, it's not high school, it's professional hockey. These guys are ultra competitive and they will do,

I'm talking about your opponents here, anything to get you off your game. Like you have to be able to stick up for yourself. But that's the opponent, right? A teammate shouldn't. You should be able to stick up for yourself in your own room. But you're talking about an opponent, it's professional hockey and opponent's going to try

and knock you off your game. Like you would never say that a teammate should be like trying to knock you off your game. No, no. I mean, look again, like if, if it turns out that the reason Pederson, okay, to really simplify it, the reason Pederson wasn't playing well is because JT was being mean to him.

There's a lot of questions about Miller. There's a lot of questions about how the organization let it get to that point, as opposed to being like, hey, stop that. Just leave him alone. But it's also, I think there's a question about Pedersen. Like, stick up for yourself, man. But I would also be very-

Tell him to FO. Honestly. I would also be very cautious in drawing that line that thing A caused thing B, because you just brought it up. What happens if you remove the Miller aspect and nothing changes? Then you're like, well, now we've completely ruined the entire thing. Do you understand what I'm saying here? We are way too far down the road of trying to figure out exactly what this is and making a black and white conversation.

I think there's a lot more gray. I think there's probably eight or 10 different elements and aspects to this. To say simply that if you remove one part of the equation, that's going to solve the equation. I think you're running into super dangerous ground. And unfortunately, because we don't have a lot of intel and inside information, that's kind of where it's headed.

That's where I feel that it's headed. And it's gonna be, it could be ugly. I'll leave it at that. It could be very ugly. We got a lot more to get into on the program. Apparently I need to tell the folks about Denny's, but I can't, Denny's the restaurant, right? That's not an individual named Denny.

Denny, here we are. I love Denny's. Denny's a lot of- No, it's an individual named Denny. Here we are. I love Denny's. No, it's this guy named Denny that bought AdTime. He wants us to talk about him. He's like, Denny's a good guy. Denny McClain. Denny just wants you all to know he's a really good guy. You can text him at.

The former Tigers pitcher? The True North Taste, the way, I don't know what that is. True North Taste awaits with Denny's 100% Canadian Beef Burgers. Oh, that's it. Made with new shredded iceberg lettuce on a brioche bun and all the classics ingredients you love.

Denny's true north taste awaits. When we come back, it's gonna be the first half of Ferraro Tuesdays. Ray Ferraro is gonna join us and then landing at eight. You got lots more to get into. Don't go anywhere. You're listening to the Halford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's Show

with big takes and even bigger bets, weekdays three to four on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Ferraro, Ferraro, let's chat with Ray Ferraro It's time for Ferraro, let's talk to Ray Ferraro Ferraro winds up with a shot, SCORE! Ray Ferraro, breakaways on site, SCORE! Rebound score! Ray Ferraro! Ferraro, Ferraro, it's time for Ray Ferraro. Let's chat with Ferraro, it's time for Ray Ferraro.

7.32 on a Tuesday, Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. The Dunbar Lumber text message in basket is popping right now. Jason's taken it upon himself to respond to many of you. I don't go as in depth with my replies. Most of them are LOL or I block people. That's usually the two things that I do the most. I don't give you much more than that. I try and give funny responses. Sometimes I like to go left when the textor is going right.

Some guy from, he said his like Mark from Penn and then he wrote something scathing about us. So my response was, is Penn Penticton? It defused the situation right away. We were friendly and cordial after that. We're best friends now. I'm going to Penticton. It was Pennsylvania.

Yeah. I replied to one guy, what if Petey is the bully? Makes you think. He's a mastermind. You know, sometimes you just flip the conversation on its head, you get a friend for life. Some of the theories we get from the listeners though. You think what we talk about on the air is wild and out there? Yeah.

It's the full spectrum of opinions. Some of you are insane. So Ray's going to join us in about 10 minutes. He double booked himself this morning, so he's probably talking to someone else right now. Are we gonna ask him who we got bumped in favor of? Should we? Is that proper professional broadcasting?

You should. Because we got bumped. We got bumped big time. Make no mistake about it. It wasn't like, oh, I'll push the other guys to 745. What if it's Edmonton Radio? Oh man, could you imagine? That would be so delicious, it would be fattening. It wasn't like, oh, I'll push the other guys to 745. What if it's Edmonton radio? Oh, man. Could you imagine?

That would be so delicious, it would be fattening. I do want to ask Ray what it's like when a team has to deal with something like this, because. What's that, Jason? My theory. What's that? My theory earlier in the show was that the Canucks' inconsistency issues might be partly related to all the stuff that they've had to deal with behind the scenes.

First question for Ray, what's the worst room you were ever a part of? Name names. He went to Hartford, Islanders, Rangers, Kings, Thrashers. I bet the Thrashers had a lot of fun. I bet the Thrashers had a fun room. No expectations. Guys, we have zero pressure tonight. Bobby Holtz seems like a fun guy there will be zero pressure tomorrow night and the night after that there will also be no pressure on us. He's also in the blues room for a while there too anyway okay real quick business business we gotta take care of some business

Halferd and Brougham 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. As mentioned, we're in hour two of the program. Ray Ferraro is going to join us in about 10 minutes time. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Homonuck from Jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at Jason.mortgage. We should mention, by the way, the Vancouver Canucks, after that very emotional and very oppressive victory against Edmonton on the weekend, they're playing a hockey game tonight.

They will take on the lowly Buffalo Sabres tonight, seven o'clock from Rogers Arena. A reminder, pregame, postgame, and the actual game. You can hear it all right here on Sportsnet 650. The Sabres come in tonight, not in good shape in the standings. They are the 30th place team in the National Hockey League. Only the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks sit below them in the overall standings. Buffalo is the worst team in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo has lost three of their last four and four of their last six. Although one of those losses did come in overtime

so they got a loser point. They give up a ton of goals. They are very leaky defensively. I don't think the goaltending has helped. Laddie, did you notice that Devin Levi played last night for the first time in a long time for the Sabres? You got the call up, yeah. And that is because Ukopeka Lukinen

is dealing with some bumps and bruises. Now they said he's gonna be okay to play at some point this trip, and a lot of people assume that meant tonight in Vancouver because of course he didn't play last night in Seattle. Look, I think it's a fool's errand to try and expect what the Canucks are gonna give you on a game-to-game basis.

They're very unpredictable. But tonight, you got a Sabres team that just gave up six goals to a not great Seattle team in Seattle. They're playing on the second of a back to back. They're not a good team. They give up a ton of goals, which can only means that they will probably shut out the Canucks tonight in a win.

That would be my guess. Of course, the Canucks could also blow them out of the water or it could be a really entertaining game. The point is we have no idea. What do you think the Sabres are going to do? They're going to finish out this year. By the way, the bidding, I was going. Well, I didn't think they were going to leave the league.

They should, they should consider it. You'd be better off for it. The Canucks need company in the sad club. It's nice to have a buddy. I was doing the deep dive on the Sabres as I am want to do before every game because I'm a professional. I will say this, the bidding war for Jason Zucker

has already begun. He's having a pretty remarkable year for a guy that was, I'm gonna say largely an afterthought. I forgot that he signed in Buffalo. He's their second leading scorer. He's having like the career year. They're probably going to trade Bowen Byrom, right? I don't know if they're going to do it by the deadline. Here's the thing. Can they kick the can down the road? I mean, he's RFA with. Yeah, they could. They could just kick it to the off season, right? No, no, no. I'm talking about long-term. I'm talking about what they're going to do in the off season overall.

What are they going to do just purely? Cause they're not going to make the playoffs. The nice thing about being in Buffalo right now is that expectations are so low and you've lost for so long that just playing out the string on another season and going to the off season really isn't that big a deal. Cause no one's paying attention.

No one's paying attention. Do you think anyone's paying attention to the Sabres right now with the Bills? Especially not now. With the Bills one game away from the Super Bowl. And then if they win that game, then there's two weeks until the Super Bowl. Then everyone's going to be talking about the bills. The Sabres could play naked tonight. On this road trip, the Sabres could do massive crimes on this trip. They're out west. They could

do all, they could get up to no good. They could do whatever they wanted and it will go largely unchecked in Buffalo. They're like, the Sabres were involved. Okay, good. The Sabres robbed a bank yesterday in Vancouver, but back to the Bills. Yeah. Josh Allen is healthy going into Sunday's game, which by the way, I think they're going to lose, but that's neither here nor there. I think they're going to win. Here's my hot take. Okay. Here's my hot take. The Bills are going to win the game and here's a double hot take.

A key call is going to go against the Chiefs. That is so worthy of the hot take horns. I know it doesn't matter that the hot takes actually never come true on this show because Halford is the only one that makes them. So I just wanted to throw one out there. I think it's a fantastic call. That's my sense on this think it's a fantastic call.

That's my sense on this. That's a great take. I think the Bills are, you know what? I'll even go and say that the Bills are going to pump the Chiefs and a key call is going to go against the Chiefs. Dang. I mean, if they're going to blow them out, then there wouldn't really be a key call. That's true.

Yeah. Take back that they're going to kick the doors in. It'll be a tight game and there'll be a call a key trial. That's true. Yeah. It's only. Okay, so I'm just going to stick to them. Take back that they're going to kick the doors in. Just, it'll be a tight game and there'll be a call that goes against Kansas City. I, you know, now that I'm, my mind's on this now too, it would be great if there was a massive pass interference penalty against the Chiefs in the clutch.

No, I want, I want my homes to get absolutely leveled with an obvious roughing the passer and the referees to just look away like they looked away from Connor Carlin and Connor McTavitt. Oh, there's hardly any time left. Like it's the first quarter. Yeah, no, I know. So the line on that one is bills are what? Plus one and a half.

It's basic. It's not even a, usually it's three points would be the token home field advantage, right? Typically. And they're not even getting that. This is a real pick them. I want to see Buffalo win. Yeah, I do.

I think that- The Chiefs are now, I think, the most hated team in the NFL? It would be close. It would be very close. I don't know who. And a lot of it's just jealousy. Yeah.

And a lot of it is the fact that Mahomes does get a lot of calls. Yep. A lot of it is, like you said yesterday, eventually you live long enough to become the villain. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that there is a part of that element. You know, and the other thing too is I don't

actually know firsthand a Chiefs fan. I don't have someone in my ecosystem, I don't have a buddy, I don't have a friend. I used to be a Chiefs fan. Back in the Christian Nikoya days? Back in the Steve Deberg. Yeah, he was a good left-handed quarterback, if I'm not mistaken. Joe Montana. I think we all identified Joe Montana with the Kansas City Chiefs. Yeah. That's the first team I think of when I think of Joe Montana. Dave Craig. Yeah.

He was there too. But like I liked when the Chiefs won their first, or no, it wasn't their first Superbowl, but it was. With this era. With this era. Because I always thought like going to a Chiefs game was actually a bucket list thing for me. Cause it looks amazing. It looks incredible.

It looks like an awesome atmosphere. But now I think a lot of people are done with them. Well, people are tired of it, which is funny, because you often hear now, we don't get the super teams anymore. We don't get the dynasties. There's too much parity in too many of these leagues. I mean, the NFL's hat, this is their modern Kansas

City Chiefs, is the modern New England Patriots. Yeah. But they don't have a, there's no, there's no bellicic. No, no, no, there's no, there's no dark Lord. Andy Reid's too jovial. Yeah, everyone likes Andy Reid. He's the Kool-Aid man. Look at him.

He's having so much fun out there. Yeah, looks like a walrus. Right. But he does. But you understand, like the dynamics of it is that the modern NFL dynasty, I know I've said this before, but it's head coach and quarterback now. Is that if you find those two and they can work in harmony,

you can just continue to bring the different pieces in. And I know you need more stalwarts and guys that'll stay around for longer, like Travis Kelce and Chris Jones. I get it. But at its core, if you have the mastermind head coach and the quarterback that can pull off his game plan, you're set.

That's how you build the modern dynasty in the national football. Would you say that the thing that people doubt the most about the Buffalo Bills is their head coach? Yep. McDermott would be the weak point for me. I think they've done a great job this year of, and kudos to Josh Allen,

because Josh Allen will finish some games where he has like 131 passing yards. And everyone kind of looks at the counting stats and they're like, well, you didn't exactly dominate today. He's like, nobody won the game. Because they found the perfect balance on offense. And here's the important thing. They run the ball effectively,

they pass the ball effectively, and they protect the ball effect. They just don't turn the important thing. They run the ball effectively, they pass the ball effectively, and they protect the ball effect. They just don't turn the ball over. And I think part of that is Allen being selfless enough to be like, I don't need to be the alpha, even though I can be, he can make any play he wants on the field. He's that athletically gifted.

But go and look at what they just did. The point counterpoint here is the Baltimore game, right? Is both those quarterbacks are the the I would say the two best players in the NFL this season Maybe non Patrick Mahomes division, but they're gonna be the two guys that are gonna be in consideration for MVP when the voting gets done one guy went into that game and Didn't turn the ball over you know and one guy did and the one guy that didn't turn the ball over and played within the offense and understood

the importance of not turning the ball over is in the AFC championship. Right? And Lamar Jackson, unfortunately, cause he did a lot of good things on Sunday, he's still on the outside looking in. Can you imagine the party in Buffalo if the Bills won the Superbowl?

Cannot. Like it would be historic. To the point where, it was like I'm flying to Buffalo for this party. This would be the greatest party in the history of sports. Be the only time I'd willingly want to go to Buffalo. Right. Was for that party.

Yeah. Because. It'd be incredible. It would be incredible. Sorry? Then you immediately leave. Yeah. How long is this party? Let's trash this place. Oh, sorry to interrupt. I would be incredible. Then you immediately leave. Yeah.

How long is this party? Let's trash this place. Oh, sorry, let's further trash this place. Anyway, it would be I'm very much looking forward to this weekend because I want the bills. I've got to finally get a vested interest in this. Like throughout the playoffs, I'm like I just want to see entertaining games now

with the bills so close, I want Buffalo in that Super Bowl. I would love to see them get over the hump. Oh, before we get to Ray, do you care who gets out of the NFC? Either way, because it's all about the AFC for me. I honestly don't care who gets out of the NFC. Uh, I would like the commanders to get out

because I want the Bills to win the Super Bowl. And I think. Okay. Yeah. I think asking Jaden Daniels, can you imagine the Bills go to the Super Bowl and they lose to a rookie quarterback? Uh, think. Okay. Yeah, I think asking Jaden Daniels, can you imagine the bills go to the Super Bowl and they lose to a rookie quarterback? Yes, actually.

Yeah, it could. Okay, to the phone lines we go, Ray Ferraro joins us now on the Haliferton Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Ray. How are you? I'm good. I cheer for whoever Brough cheers for. I cheer for the other team just so he can seep in his misery. Doesn't that seem fun? I mean, that's what happens all the time. I actually should apologize to Bills fans for cheering for the Bills because my teams don't win. Ray, do you know that the only team that's won

a championship, like in the last, okay, so I was a Blue Jays fan, so you got to go back to 93. But then after that, the Seahawks won the Superbowl, but I was not able to watch the game because I was on my way to Sochi for the Olympics. So my whole thing is that my teams cannot win unless I'm on the other side of the world not watching. This is great news for Bill's fans.

Seriously, they're going to send me to the other side of the world and not be able to watch the NFL. Yeah, I will say though, it is pretty unbelievable watching playoff football sometimes. There's just something, I guess it's like every playoff, but you look at the way like this, you can, everybody can break down to one or two or three plays and you're like, oh my God, that was a whole game. It was so, so, it's so good to watch.

I really, really enjoy it. It's the stakes of it all. And it's the storylines of the teams. I mean, I think about, uh about Mark Andrews dropping that ball for the Ravens and like that's, that play is going to live on forever in Ravens history. What if he was able to catch the ball and you know, 990 times out of a thousand, that's, that ball is caught.

What, like when I was a kid, I was a Cowboys fan and, um, uh, there was the one Superbowl and they, they played the missed or the drop ever since it was a, it was a, it was a when I was a kid, I was a Cowboys fan and, um, uh, there was the one Superbowl and they played the missed or the drop ever since Andrews has dropped that on, on the weekend, that Jackie Smith in the end zone. And like, he was so open and apparently the guy was an all star and all this stuff and he just dropped it and you're like, whatever else he did in his career. Like the only time you'd ever heard of him was

when he dropped the ball and you're like, then it becomes, it becomes for forever thing. Yeah. Um, let's turn our attention to the Canucks. And one of the things I wanted to talk to you about today was, um, I've got a theory that I'm working on. Oh boy.

The Canucks inconsistency issues could be partly related to all the noise around the team and all the energy they've had to spend on other stuff, as opposed to just being focused on the game and the game plan and the pre-scout, et cetera, et cetera. And maybe if they're able to make a trade and slow down the noise a little bit, even if they

lose that trade on paper, maybe they come out on the better side of it. Is that being too optimistic? Uh, well, it depends what the trade becomes, right? Like if you, first of all, like most of the stuff that we read, oh, it could be this guy, or it could be that guy, or it might be this team. You got to remember most of it is just, it's noise. Because very few people, like very few people have any idea about what are the actual particulars.

And you can talk to and look at the, you know, the people that do it full-time and do it all the time and they're like, it could be this or it could be that. It might be here, it might be there. Like nobody, so to get a sense of what the Canucks might be after a deal that seems inevitable, I mean I guess it might not be, but it seems inevitable. What that team looks like after that is a crapshoot. But since the very beginning of August, I think was the time when we first heard about Demko and his knee, and then we heard about Dakota Joshua. Demko and his knee. And then we heard about Dakota Joshua. It seemed like one thing after another.

Oh, and then it got to training camp and Miller wasn't full go at camp. There hasn't been a quiet time at all where it's just the team and the win and the loss and how you're playing. So I don't think it's at all a pie in the sky to think that if things could ever settle down that they might be a better team. But how do you make it settle down? Because if the deal's made, it's a big deal, and you would think there'd be some uncertainty around things right away. Right.

Like it's not like, it doesn't seem likely that all of a sudden they just go off and win 10 out of 12, but, but I mean, like in a, in a year that's so wildly inconsistent, maybe, maybe something like that happens. I mean, like even just because we're not talking about to any great deal, you know, Besser's in the last year of his deal and, you know, Tockets in the last year of his deal and Patrick Elveen addressed that stuff yesterday a bit, but like there's internal stuff that guys deal with that we might not think of on like, like those are big stories yet given all the turmoil this year, they're like footnotes.

And that's crazy to me. Like, like some years it just, some years there's nothing, some years it never stops. And pretty obvious which year this is. Have you ever been in a room, uh, you don't have to name the team, although it would be fun if you did, where there was something soap opera-ish going on

that served as a significant distraction? Uh, the only year I can think of is we went, excuse me, we went to the conference finals in 93 with the Islanders. Um, Rangers win the cup the next year, which is 94. And then when we come back, then there's a lockout. We come back from the lockout and for some reason we had the same team except the string got pulled and started in the summer. They couldn't get Glenn Healy signed. So Glenn was our goalie, so they made this trade with Colorado, or with, well, it was Quebec at the time, but we traded Huey Croupp, we lost Healy. They signed Ron Hextall, they flipped first round picks, like it was this

big complicated deal and it didn't work. And then part of the deal became, then they thought they couldn't sign Pierre Tourjon, so they traded him to Montreal for Kirk Muller and Matthew Schneider, who neither of them wanted to be there. And like, you know, they were just stunned. They went from Montreal to the Islanders. And like, it was one thing after another and guys were like, what are you hearing? Like everybody was talking about what are you hearing? Are we making a deal? Like, how do we do this? Like we, you know, if you know what I mean, it became unsettled the entire time and guys are then

pretty soon everybody's just like, can we just play? And the answer was no. And that's the, like, it was a 48 game. Yeah. That the short one, like it was guys, it was a write off. It was, it was a total mess. And um, and it just, it, it started in the preseason and it just never, ever ended. It was brutal. It felt like, like I said, the year was 48 games. It felt like it was 97. It was like

it never ended. It was brutal. Was that also the first year that Al Arbor wasn't the coach? Yes. They promoted Lauren Henning and Lauren was in a, Lauren's an awesome guy, like one of the best. And it was like a, a no win spot for him. He finally gets a head coaching job, gets the opportunity to do it. We have a training camp that was about four days.

Like the deal was announced like January, I don't know, second or third if I recall. And the season started a week later. So we all had to get to your home city, wherever the hell that was. The guys live in Sweden and Russia and all over the place. And we got there and we had half a new team and part of the guys didn't want to be there. And it was just, and we got there and we had half a new team and part of the guys didn't want to be there and like, it was just a mess. But that, yeah, that was Al's first year that, that was a good decision for Al. Not to coach that year. So did that, did that, but that didn't, you know, all the noise that was going on,

did it affect the preparation for games? Yes. Yeah. Because nobody, nobody knows, nobody feels comfortable in what's going on. So you go to work, like, honestly, you go to the rink and go like, did they, did they make another trade today? Like is ownership solid enough to, cause we had an

ownership thing too, like is ownership solid enough to keep the players we have or we're gonna be moving somebody else and you know each day was a different lineup for many different reasons. Like I'm not exaggerating, like it never stopped. Like when I think of that, you know, whatever month season that we had, it was, it was painful. I had a, like personally, I had a great year. I think I had 22 goals or something, but it was like, it was brutal. The year was brutal.

Nobody, nobody had any enthusiasm for anything. You just, you come and you think you do, but you just, you don't have the fight in you. Like you, you know, you get worn down quick. And in a, like in a game, I'm not talking over months and months and months, but in a game, you get worn down and then you go to a next game, you get worn down. Pretty soon you've lost seven out of 10 and you

only got 38 games left. And you're like, Jesus sucks. Like this really sucks. Yeah. Young Travis Green couldn't pull lost seven out of 10 and you only got 38 games left and you're like, Jesus sucks. Like this really sucks. Yeah. Young Travis Green couldn't pull you guys out of that. No, no, Greeny was, uh, Greeny was just one of, one of the guys in the mud that year.

We were all slugging around there. Was that, was that prime mullet years then for Greener? Oh yeah. He was, he was using a lot of product then too. He had the flow that he was I think that was high on the priority list at that time. Are you on the game tonight in Vancouver Ray? Yes I am and then not Thursday and but I'll be in on Saturday as well. Okay, well, thanks for joining us and enjoy the call tonight and always enjoy hearing your stories

and analysis and even if I'm a sports jinx. Yes, you will. I mean, it's funny, I know you like to bring the negativity to yourself a little bit, but sometimes it's just fact. Yeah, it is. Sometimes it's just, it is. Sometimes it just, it is. And there's Bilt fans running away from you. Like, like they can't get away, like they're,

like they're Usain Bolt. They can't get away faster. My teams don't win. I will retire eventually though. That is the good news for everyone. Ray, enjoy the game tonight. See you buddy. Thanks guys.

Sorry for being late. We'll talk later. No problem. All good. Ray Ferriero here on the Halif buddy. Thanks guys. Sorry for being late. We'll talk later. No problem. All good. Ray Ferraro here on the Halford and Breff show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go to break and continue on with Landon Ferraro on the other side of the break, I need to tell you about two things. One, Discovery Channel on Rogers Xfinity

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