The Best of Halford and Brough 3/23/26

0:00We have the tech to get food delivered in 15 minutes, but we all have horror stories about buying tickets. The Game Time app gives fans the advantage. Get amazing tickets in just a few taps. Fees are included, so what you see is what you pay, and the Game Time guarantee means authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to concerts, sports, comedy, and more with Game Time. Download the Game Time app and create an account for $20 off your first purchase, Term Supply. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. The Blues take a free one win over the Vancouver Cadocks with them as they leave. Rodgers are arena. They try to push. They don't work, so that sucks.

1:02Draw on the TV SCAR! Alex Olvetski! A lot of teams are fortunate by this division, so that's a bit of a pillow fight. We had another fight over the inflatable bath pill. High cap screeching and screeching at it, but... All right, very good. Good Morning Maker, 601 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. It is Halford and it is Brough. It is sports that's 650. We are company live from the Kintek Studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Aida, good morning to you. Good morning. Glad you good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have CRA debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at sands-trusty.com. We are in our one of the program. Our 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 are company live from the Kintek Studios. Step strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintek.

2:05And when guests call in on SportsNet 650, they will call in on the Abel auctions hotline email sales at ABLE auctions.ca to get your business assets sold and your building cleared. Let's run through this guest list of ours. It's the Monday morning guest list. Brought to you by the duic auto group, the duic morning drive. It begins at 630. James Sharman is going to join the program. He is the host of the footy prime podcast. So much going on in the footy world. Man, city want to care about cup over the weekend over Arsenal. Okay. The white caps lost this weekend. But most importantly, this week we are finally going to start to figure out who's going to play in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Oh, I thought you were going to say and most importantly, Spurs might really be going down. Possibly. They lost badly to, they lost to a forest. I know. And all the animals that live in the forest, they lost to them. 3-0-2. A chipunk had to. It was impressive. They call it a brace. He scored off a corner. They lost 3-0-0 to

3:10non-AM forest. Forest is an exactly like fighting for the top of the division. They are also in the relegation battle, as a matter of fact. So we'll talk to James Sharman about all that at 630. 730 Jack Michaels is going to join the program. Play by play man for the Edmonton Oilers. Wait, another Oilers guest? What is there? Is there even worse news for the Edmonton Oilers now? So it's delicious. Even more stressful times in Edmonton over the weekend. So the Oilers lost to the bolts. Conor McDavid had some candid remarks about coaching. And while all that was going on, Leon Drysidle was taking in a Bayern Munich match and was talking during the match, during an interview about his health and when he might return to the Edmonton Oilers. So there's a lot to unpack there and a lot to get into with Edmonton Oilers play by play man, Jack Michaels at 730. 8 o'clock Satyar Shah is going to join the program. Conorx Central, Conorx pre-imposed game host right here on SportsNet 650. Conorx played another home game and lost another home game over the weekend. This time a 3-1 defeat to the Blues

4:10on Saturday night. There are now just two games left. Someone's a mercifully in the 8-game season, high home stand that Conorx are currently in the midst of. Sat's going to join us to talk about all that at 8 o'clock. So work written real quick in reverse on the guest list. 8 o'clock at Sat 730. It's Jack Michaels 630. It's James Sharman. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddy, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? Oh, what happened? I missed all the action because we know how busy your life can be. What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies some tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. We will get into what happened to the Vancouver Conorx on Saturday in just a moment. But last night, the Vancouver Conorx were officially eliminated from playoff contention. I know it's going to come as a shock to us all. I thought they were going to make a late run.

5:15It's a low bar in this conference too, right? So I thought they were going to make a late run, but they couldn't get it done against him. That was it. That was the straw. So with a record of 21, 40 and 8 was 50 points with 13 games remaining. Somebody look at the standings and say, but wait, if the connox were to win all 13, they'd finish with 76 points. Alas, it should be noted that because the predators and kings still play each other twice this season, 76 points would not be enough to clinch a playoff spot. So last night officially, your 2025, 2026 Vancouver Conorx, were eliminated from playoff contention. You can look at it positively though. They are first place team in elimination. The very first in elimination. First team to get eliminated this season. Congratulations to you, Vancouver Conorx. You are now officially eliminated from playoff contention. Well, we are through six games of this connox eight game homestand and the connox are two and four so far after the three won loss to St. Louis on Saturday night. Games remaining Tuesday against

6:21Anheim and Thursday against the Kings. And here's a prediction. Someone's going to try and make this whole like spoiler thing a thing like, you know, we've got an opportunity to play spoiler. We can ruin someone else's games. Yeah, we've already ruined ours. Saturday's lost to St. Louis was one of the connox poorest performances of the homestand and really the season. I know the blues have been playing better late, but the way they dominated the connox was was pretty striking. Vancouver managed just nine shots on goal at even strength. The connox only goal came on the power play, of course, after blues defenseman Logan Maew, tip to filiparonic point shot past Jordan Bington. That was just terrible decision by him too. But that was the only way the connox could beat Bington when one of the blues put it past him. That goal actually made it a one goal

7:22game in the third period, but the scoreboard did not really reflect the play on the ice. The blues ended up scoring into the empty net to put it away. In terms of expected goals, I know you love that stat. I do. That was one of the worst offensive games the connox have had all season and it came at home against the St. Louis blues. I know we got some audio to play Adam foot on trying to create more shots here's Adam foot. Yeah, but yeah, we won't, especially when we go low to high and direct real quick, and we want our D like you saw Phil do in the third, when there was chaos at the net. If they're going to double up in the corners, we were stressing or a D, get it back down quick. If we remit out, then you can do a D to D. You might have a three high play, but we have to get your right shots at the net. I can also anchor the net. When we have the anchor there, we can funnel and throw pucks at the net. We're looking for two clean plays that

8:23aren't there. When we get pucks down and jam the net, you're going to have to find a way to get those dirty goals. That was a lot of terminology. Second question, Adam. What? A lot of funneling to say that again, and in like a sentence, if you could. Can I have been or even two? Can I have been held to two goals or fewer and five of their past seven games? Everything's a struggle right now. Although I'll say they only, I mean, conceding goals against the blues wasn't the problem. The problem was they had absolutely no offense whatsoever. And I suppose there is some merit to finding the greasy areas at this time of the year and trying to get some pucks on that. But for them, it's not because there's a lack of space and they're fighting for every goal they can to try and make the playoffs. They just need some semblance of offense. And I guess outside of Marco Rossi right now, who again got another point and has now extended his point streak to five games. It is a team that is really bereft of offense. Part of it is a talent thing for sure. Like let's not get that twisted part of this is

9:26that they just don't have the talent whatsoever. But I don't want to continue to harp on the teaching and the lessons that need to be learned. But I do really struggle at times to wonder if the guy that we just heard and the guy behind the bench is the right guy to navigate through these waters where you should be taking something from these games, something from these games as opposed to the things that you're not doing. There should be some semblance of, and I know we use these buzzwords all the time, but structure and philosophy and identity and the things that you need to do to be successful at the NHL level. Even if it's an execution problem, right? That's my, I think that's my biggest issue here. Count your point. Landon DuPont. Can I come to the defense of Adam foot just a little bit here? You absolutely. The connects don't have a consistent play driver. Nope. Not one of them. And it's hard to compete without anyone who can push your team in the right

10:26direction on the ice. Queen Hughes was a play driver. How many times did we hear that? That, oh, he's a one-man breakout. Connor Garland was probably the second best play driver. Obviously, those guys aren't here anymore. I mean, key for sure would. Got the play going in the right direction. It's another reason they're getting, they're getting pinned in their end so much. They got, they got no one who can just say, like, crap, screw it. I'm taking the puck. And if you watch a hockey game and notice who is constantly making things happen when they're on the ice, that's likely the play driver. So who are you watching right now on the connox? And you're like, man, that guy's making a lot of things happen. He just, he just says, screw it. I'm taking the puck. I'm going to move my feet and get things going in the right direction. Nobody. Nobody. There's no one. Like maybe heroic. Maybe. Yep. Okay. That's fair actually. Do you know what the numbers suggest? The numbers. Maybe not the eye test, but the numbers suggest who the best play

11:29driver up front is. Linus Carlson. Oh, okay. I was going to say the other. I'll Liam Ogan. But yeah, okay. Carlson sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Why not at this point? The numbers can bear that out. You know, I obviously, I like what Rossi's been doing lately. But I don't watch that game and be like, oh, Rossi's taken it over, right? Rossi's, he's a talented guy. He can make some nice touches, make some nice plays. But he's not like, all right, guys, you know, get on my back. We're going for a ride here. It's funny. You mentioned Rossi because after the game, he had the quote where he said, I think we play too cute. We play too much on the outside. And we're not going enough to the inside the dirty areas. I think that's missing in our game. I always, I always kind of chuckle when I hear that because it's like, it's easier to send than done, especially if you've got the puck. Yeah. You know, like, you can go to the inside without the puck. That's that's no problem. But when you've got the puck, see what what the other team tries to do is they try to defend their net. Yeah. So they don't want you coming to their net with the puck. It's hard to be there. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, so, so look, everyone knows this. Well, most people know this.

12:35What we don't know is how they're going to solve this fundamental problem. They're planning to solve it through the draft and hopefully they can do it. When is the draft anyway? Is it soon? Could it be? Could it be tomorrow? Nope. It's it's a few months. Three months away. Hey, by the way, was foot listening to the show on Friday because batch, batch texted me before the warm-ups of the Blues game. And he's like, you don't ever guess who's taking the drills first because it is the Rossi line, the bro line. Yeah, the bro is now listed as the top line for the conucks supplanting the Pederson line. It's Rossi, Besser and Overn. I'm your one see now. Marco Rossi says, bro line gets to sit in the front seat because it's good at sports. And that's the way it should be. It's all about merit here. Okay. I'm going to move on to some other stuff because I want to get into what happened to Edmonton over the weekend. And it was another, it feels like every time we come in on a Monday, there's something eventful that's happened with the Edmonton Oilers over the weekend. And this weekend was no different. I want to start with the comments

13:39that Connor McDavid made about coaching following a five-two loss to Nikita Kutrov and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. I mentioned Kutrov because lost in all of this was the fact that Kutrov courtesy two goals and two assists on Saturday night. Leap frog past Connor McDavid into first place for the scoring title. I looked at the Hartrofi odds. McKinnon is still the favorite, but Kutrov is catching up. He's climbing 118 points now on the season. That's not a bad total considering we haven't finished playing the year yet. But after the game, McDavid wasn't interested in talking about who was going to win the scoring title this year. He decided to focus on coaching. This is a very interesting breakdown from Connor McDavid here. And it raised the eyebrows of many fans and media members both in Edmonton and across the National Hockey League. Here's Connor McDavid on coaching from the Tampa Bay side of things following that loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday. They had a great system. They're perfectly coached. They all know what they're doing all over the

14:47ice. It's impressive. And when you do break them down, they go to heck of a goalie to backstop. Is that just a bunch of time doing the same things over and over again? Like how do you guys get to that? To be that reversed? To have that system. You can rely on all those things. Where's that come from? How do you guys get it? Yeah, that's a coaching question. You can ask Nover that question. You know, obviously, we've been playing together a long time and we feel like we're somewhat rehearsed and organized, but not to their level. Time to chat with Nover. That was one of the funniest things I've ever heard when he's just like, man, they've got such a good coach. And oh, the goal tender is just just amazing. Sometimes here's what here's what Chris, Chris Noblock had to say about it. We actually do have Noblock audio. Despite the tears, they're falling for so much better than Sarah Plain or Tom. So Noblock was asked immediately after McDavid said what he said

15:48about, hey, what do you think about what 97 said about coaching? And I feel bad for Noblock because he was clearly caught off guard by this. And I don't think he understood exactly what Connor McDavid had said. But we're going to play it anyway. Here's Chris Noblock following the five two lost to Tampa Bay and following what Connor McDavid had to say about coaching. David mentioned just talking about the lighting how organized and rehearsed they are. They've been together a long time. Is that level of organization and rehearsal lacking overall in your game compared to what this team has done the past couple of years? Like, are you still trying to get back to that level? I don't think so. I think where the organization is fine. You know, we've got a lot of new players right now with the injuries that we have. We've got some turnover. I think they had obviously headman being out. But yeah, they've been together for a long time,

16:53the group, and our core guys have been together for a long time too. So when things are going well, you know, things are, yeah, that looks organized and they're playing well. So but they got a lot of good players. It would be hilarious if Noblock was like, well, the one thing that really stands out for me about the Tampa Bay Lightning is they have a great general manager. He is just a terrific general manager. He always makes the right moves and brings in the right guys. He's passing the blame over it. Yeah, he's a genius guy. I love our owner. So can we just talk about how hilarious the Pacific division is? I mean, let's not, let's, we're going to talk to Jack Michaels later about the other so we can, so we can dip into more detailed stuff about the oilers and the dry side of injury and the expectations there. But uh, this whole division is, is laughably bad. It's terrible. And honestly, it, it starts with the,

17:59I don't start, but it includes the first place team in the division. I watched Anaheim last night against the Buffalo Sabers and they managed to win the game six, five and overtime, but they blew a lead at home. Um, and, um, you know, like they're terrible defensively. Yes, they got a minus several different. They don't play, they don't play the type, they're still young and they're still learning. Um, and they don't play the type of hockey that's going to win in, in the playoffs. But I don't know if the rest of the division does either. Right now, the ducks have a four point lead on second place Vegas for first in the division. And they've got one game in hand on both Vegas and Edmonton and Edmonton is five points back of Anaheim. Anaheim has a negative gold differential minus seven. And right now they really are in the driver's seat to win the thing four point cushion. Yep. Which is 11 or 12 games left for teams like that's, that's a pretty big cushion. And then

19:01like you, you go down the list on the Pacific division Edmonton. We all know they have issues. Vegas might have worse gold tending issues than the Edmonton Oilers. Yep. Eight in Hill is, I mean, he can't make saves these days. Um, Vegas is lost through. So this last week, consider with the playoff chase heating up, especially in the east where you look at the wild card teams and they're on 83, 84, 85 points. And then you look at the West and you look at the Pacific division, just consider this. The Pacific division has the worst team in the NHL. That's your Vancouver cannot. Yep. They have the fourth worst team in the NHL, the Calgary Flames, who are 29th in the NHL. Then you go to the teams that are quote unquote fighting for a playoff spot somehow the sharks of last four straight, the Kraken of lost three straight. Vegas is lost three of its last four. And during those four games, he scored four goals. The ducks, as you mentioned, hottest team in the division because they've won two of three Edmonton is lost two of three. So in this week where everyone is fighting and scrapping and climbing tooth and nail to trying

20:03it into the playoffs, you are going to enter a world here. And this is wild to me. But the team that wins the Pacific division, the first place team in the top seed in the Pacific might end up having fewer points than the first team that misses the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. And Santa Heim plays Utah. Utah is a significant favorite. The wild card team would be a significant favorite in the series against the Anaheim docs. And frankly, I don't even know where you want to, you want to get Anaheim probably. If you're Vegas or Edmonton, you don't want to get each other. But right now, you're probably going to get each other. You probably want to the ideal scenario would be if you finish second or third in the division. And like if you're Edmonton, and then Vegas wins the division. So you get, so you, so you avoid either Vegas or Utah. But I have no fleet. It's crazy. It's crazy. It's crazy. Edmonton have the ability to catch Anaheim. And that's with a four-point lead.

21:07Yeah. That's what confidence I feel about this. I mean, it is, it's stunning that this has happened because it wasn't that long ago that the Pacific division was a powerhouse division. And I remember the beginning of the year when Anaheim got off to the hot start and San Jose got off to a nice start. And the kings were still looking like they might be something of a contender. Say, oh, yeah, California's back. It's a tough road trip. It's really flatline the second half of the season. And the division's collective play since the Olympic break has been so poor. That's why you're seeing all these conversations come out about the disparity in playoff seating and how this divisional alignment won't work. And I want to play more audio from Connor McDavid here because Connor McDavid acknowledged that there's no reason that the Edmonton Oilers should still be a top three team in the Pacific division given that they're five, four and one in their last 10. They've lost two in a row. They've got a plus one goal differential. They can't win games when they need to yet. They're still pretty comfortably in a playoff spot.

22:08Here's Connor McDavid on the pillow fight. That is the Pacific division. So you wake up in the morning tomorrow. You didn't lose any ground to anybody. Your thoughts on being in a division that's pretty forgiving right now. Obviously we're fortunate to play in this division. A lot of teams are fortunate to play in this division. It's a bit of a pillow fight right now. But yeah, thankful obviously to not a lot of things around. That being said, we've got to find a way to win some games here on the road. Two big ones obviously against Utah and Vegas. And we've got to make some ground too. Does it make you think, what if the Kanox hadn't totally fallen apart over the last couple of years? This was the year you could squeak in. Squeak in. Squeak in. Yeah, I mean more than that, I think. Not squeak in. I'm talking about what if, what if, you know, I mean, look a couple of years ago, you're looking at a scenario where,

23:08hey, we got a couple of good centers. We got, uh, you know, actually, yeah, we got Miller and Patterson down the middle with a Brock Besser. He's playing well because he's got chemistry with Miller. We got a Norris Trophy caliber defenseman in Quinn Hughes and we got a Vesna Trophy caliber goalie in fact, your dump go. I mean, I mean, you're suggesting what if everything went right? What if Miller, what if everything went right? What if everything just kind of stayed the stayed the way it was stayed just stayed just Miller, just Miller, pity hating each other. No, that would have had to just yeah, but yeah, but like the players, you know, yeah, what if, what if Miller wasn't traded? What if Hughes wasn't traded? What if Petey didn't, whatever happened to Petey? You know, and Besser is clearly, um, I think, you know, look, does he need to play better? Yes. But it's very hard to be a player like Brock Besser without it getting any service from your center. And then that your dump goes injury concerns. We all

24:11know those, but they would be definitely be in a playoff spot right now. If that hadn't, that had not, and you're probably looking at the other teams and going, geez, we can at least get to the conference finals. Yeah. Why not? There is a why not us element about all these teams that are in the race. And this is partly why teams that aren't that great chase it because if you are in this division, like you pointed out, you get through your division, you're looking at your one of the final eight or final four teams in the NHL without having played a real heavyweight yet. And it's going to suck for whoever's in the central. I know we said this a million times and we're kind of, we're not breaking any new ground here. But the fact that the central right now has three teams that have 90 plus points. Do you think those guys are jealous of Utah and the potential path for Utah? Yeah. Because again, Utah right now in the first wild cards, a way more fortuitous spot. Yeah. You're going to, you're going to, you're going to, Anaheim in the first round. And they're actually up on, in terms of points, they're up on, you probably mentioned this already, Vegas and Edmonton in terms

25:12of points. Yeah. Like it's, it's, it's hilarious. But it's also, it's also pretty wild. Now, watch one of these Pacific division teams get to the Stanley Cup final. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. The rules of adoption, not in the world in sports. They're tricky, right? Like when we talk about adopting a team for the playoffs, there's certain teams that are just a no go. Yeah. And Edmonton, I think, that's the top of the list. Yeah. Yeah. That no one, if you're like, I want to see, McDavid, I have a Stanley Cup fine. Well, this year. But while I'm not sure we can adopt them as a show, where are we on the Montreal Canadians? Because they are watching the Habs player. They're super fun to watch. They're, they're really fun to watch. They might be the most fun team in the NHL. Well, Cole called field on a Saturday night. Yeah. And I get to done. Yeah. So Cole called field scored his third career hat trick and had a pair of assists for a career high five

26:13points. Habs win seven three against the Islanders on Saturday night. Huge party at the Bell Center. The Habs look as though they are on their way back to the postseason. I know that we kind of talked about adopting Buffalo. And I still think that's the right choice, even though it's fraught with risk because, you know, once they leave, I want to adopt a team that probably isn't going to win the Stanley Cup. Yeah. Because I adopted one back in 2010, 2011. And they just happened to beat the Vancouver connects in the Stanley Cup final. And so I'm a little, I'm a little hesitant. Don't you have to, okay, do you have to adopt a team that you want to win the Stanley Cup? See, I think the opposite. I'm with you on the first thought that you had. You adopt the team that's nice and cute and fuzzy. Yeah. And they're kind of plucky. But they're underdog. But they have absolutely no shot. It's like taking a 15 seed at March Madness. Yeah. You know, it's like the school has 800 kids in it. Good for them. Yeah. It's built on an old burial ground.

27:16Like, oh, you know, it was a cool thing. But you never really take them seriously. First of all, the absolute goal of brough adopting a team on his team is a cup contender. That blows my mind. You were just playing with fire, man. I know. But it didn't happen. It didn't happen. It didn't happen like this. The world was different. Halfer and I, we were doing curtain blog radio late night. And don't forget Luchich was on that Bruins team. And he was still very popular here in Vancouver. And it was like, man, maybe we can watch the Bruins. They're pretty fun. We had no idea who Brad Martian was. They play a really heavy style. And the Bruins hadn't want to Stanley Cup forever. And Luchich was fighting everyone. And he was still very well regarded in this city. And we'd just come up. And I'd just be like, you know what, games I like, I like watching Bruins games. They've got a good energy about them. And it was also the year they'd come off blowing that three nothing lead to Philly. So it seemed pretty harmless.

28:19It did. And Boston wasn't as nauseating at the time. We barely knew Patrice Bergeron. We didn't really know Tim Thomas. But, you know, I was, I thought about a few teams to quote unquote adopt. A bunch Montreal is one of them. Although that would go against my don't cheer for Canadian teams. Montreal, I just like, I like the group players. They're fun to watch. Buffalo would be another. And frankly, another one in their division. I would have no trouble if Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup. I like that team a lot. How can you not like watching Kutra off? I mean, we spoke glowingly about John Cooper last week. And I know it was the kind of a John Cooper celebration because he was on after hours on hockey night in Canada on Saturday night. You know, I don't think there's many people that would be that upset if Tampa Bay won another Stanley Cup. They've already won cups. It's what are you going to do? Is there no skin off my teeth?

29:24They're like plain yogurt at this point. Like, it's fine, but it's bland and it's uninteresting. Not to me. Not to me at all. They've already won a Stanley Cup. Oh, in terms of their storyline. Yeah. But I think they're storing the team. But I think their storyline is more interesting than you're giving it credit because what's interesting about what's interesting is their longevity. Is the fact that they've managed to stay competitive. And a lot of people, including myself, have wondered in the last few years, are the lightning cooked? Are they done? Are they just getting too old? Is it stale there? Is it all the same? And you know, you look at the blue line and what's happened to the blue line there. Victor Hebbman is no longer the Victor Hebbman of old. And they managed to find some guys that can not only play big minutes, but produce. But can they do it in the playoffs? Are you going to win a Stanley Cup with a top pair of Darren Radish and J.J. Moser? I don't know. But I think it's really impressive what Tampa Bay has done to remain competitive. The decision they made to move on from stamp coasts and bring in Gensel is not what

30:31a lot of other organizations would do. You are shipping out and in some ways, the way some people portray it, disrespecting one of the greatest players in franchise history and you're choosing a different guy over him. Those are the types of ruthless moves that, first of all, good teams make, but that can also backfire. Like it does have the potential to backfire because I think one of the most impressive things about Tampa Bay is how long they've kept this culture and how long they really haven't had many. I mean, they certainly haven't had two of their players get into a big fight and one of them as forced to be traded. I think they're really interesting too. Okay. What about Columbus? Consider the case for Columbus. You have this great story with Rick bonus coming in at the ripe old age of 71 taking the team over mid season. They go on

31:33an absolute heater. Everybody loves bonus. He's got ties to the connox, obviously. They have a former connock, a recent former connock in the fold in Conor Garland and in terms of organizations that have gone through unimaginable disappointments and tragedies and everything else with no postseason success really to show for them. They are. There's so many tragedies. It's in the blue jackets organized. We had air imports line. Look, just for the record, I do not want to make light of any of these tragedies and I don't want to use them as some sort of syrupy narrative to try and like play a bigger story. Just acknowledge that it exists. Just acknowledge that throughout the course of that franchise, several awful things have happened to individuals within that organization. Okay. Also, and also, I mean, so I was asked the other day, why do they have netting up in the rank? Yeah. Well, that was also from Columbus. That was horrible. Yeah. So take all this into account. Take into account, they have zero postseason success to speak of other than a couple of playoff

32:35round victories. They've been around for long enough that you could call them a hard luck franchise. And I think that would be under selling it. And if they do make the postseason, right now they're sitting third in their division. They've really come on strong over the last two months of the season. They have a legitimate shot of making noise in this postseason because they're going in on such a heater and they might get like Pittsburgh in the first round. Yeah. And that's listen, we all know that the penguins have been a good story and we all know they got they got Sid and but that's not it's not the toughest matchup. You could imagine for Columbus in the first round. Do they have the players though? No. I mean, it's another reason that it's safe to take them. Right. I'm Zach Burensky's a hell of a player. But then you look up front and you're like are they going to get it done with here's their center depth, Fantilly, Monahan, Charlie Coil, and Boone Jenner. Now, I think a guy like Marcchenko was one of the more underrated players in the

33:37league. I think he's used a terrific player. But I don't particularly look at that lineup and go that's a Stanley Cup champ. So maybe that is a safe bet. Yeah. I mean, I thought about this one quite a bit over the weekend because it does. Look, I do not want to get behind a team that's going to win the Stanley Cup, especially if it's one that hasn't won a Stanley Cup before. I think it's too dangerous. I don't want to do it. So you don't want to get behind Buffalo. Do you think they've got a chance? I don't know. I'd take Buffalo. That's definitely the most interesting team. So would you worry? Would you be worried that they'd actually win the cup and then the connects would be the only team in the sad club? That's exactly what I would also be kind of funny. So I wouldn't mind seeing it. It would be funny in a tragic way. Yeah, that's why like I put my I put my eggs in the basket of the sappers. You know what would be hilarious though is how quick the narrative would change on Buffalo in that it was literally this season when we were like, what is wrong with these guys? How can they continually rack up the amount of talent that they do

34:41in the draft and they still stink? That was the same season we'd be having guests on and I'd been asking like, how has Kevin Adams not been fired yet? How is he still the general manager? And then maybe a first in NHL history, we get a new GM bump. Yeah. Has that happened before? Has there been a new GM bump? I've never seen a new GM bump like this. I see a new GM come in the team maybe has a little bit of choke chain response but nothing like this. Is it a new GM bump? Is that what it is or is that a coincidence? We had Paul Hamilton on the show right after and he did say like Yarmo came in and there was an understanding from the top down there's like this ends now. Whatever they turn it into a professional organization. Oh, but I think I think he really did threaten some guys. He's like, I will move you out. I don't care. Yes, but but but here's I remember hearing that and being like, was that really a threat? I don't know at the time. Was that a was that a huge thing? Oh, no, don't trade it on a Buffalo. Don't threaten me with a good

35:42time. Yeah, but well, that's actually what I was wondering. So I do wonder what's happened there and Laddie, this one's for you. Sometimes I wonder if it's just like, yeah, the goalie started making more saves. Like, how much does that have to do with something? Yeah. It's a major part of it usually. The goalie started making more saves. Yeah. Thank you for that. Thanks, buddy. What do you want me to add? What do you want me to add to that? Anything really. I don't know. I, I'm scared of Buffalo. Put it this way. If I was to pick the teams in the east right now, I'd go, Tampa, the cup would go through Tampa Bay first. Maybe this is the year that Carolina does it. Carolina's got to be looking at this and thinking we have to get to the Stanley Cup final. But now I'm going to throw. Now we have to we have to do it. I'm going to throw Laddie back in the spotlight here. Can Carolina win a Stanley Cup with Brandon Bussey in that? He's going to be like, I don't know.

36:43If the NT and the Emmy can win a Stanley Cup, then yes. So that's it. That's a thinking, right? It's probably better than NT and the Emmy if it was at any point in his career. That's the thinking is that if it's a wide open year, maybe this is the year you also win with a goalie that's not because he's done really well during the regular season. There's no debating his numbers. He's been very good during the regular season. Goaltending is always seemingly upended. The hurricanes at some point during the post season. So I wouldn't be surprised if he's shaky. But this might be the year. This might be the year in the east where you can get through because Florida ain't there. No. Tampa Bay is good. I don't know if I'm ready to call them great this season. You're talking about the top team in that division. It's Buffalo. Feels like it's too early for them. And then you look at the rest of the field and you're almost saying that's the field. No one really stands out there for me. No. If I'm Carolina, I just actually just coming to grips with this right now. They have to get to the Stanley Cup Final this year. They can't they can't bow out meekly in the second or third round again.

38:08Hey, no three on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Halford Bruffs. Force 9.650. Halford and Bruff the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Do you have to see our A-Debt? Sands and Associates could get your debt by a 80% with no upfront fees. This isn't today's. We're going to need to address this. No, no, it's perfect. I can't. It's too long of a pause. That was great. Never get so old. Sands and Associates. Anyway, visit them today at sands-dash-d.com. We are in hour three of the program. Hour three is brought to you by the Duacotto Group. Find out what it means to do a deal. I know what he has. Since 1926, visit DuacGM on Marine Drive, visit them downtown, visit them in Richmond. Visit them online at DuacottoGroup.com. We're coming to you live from the Kinsex studio. Steps strong with orthotics and footwear from Kinsex. To the Abel Auctions Highline, we go our next guest. Connect Central. Connects pre- and post-game host. All right here on Sports

39:139.650. Sat here, Shaw. It joins us now on the Halford and Bruff Show. What up, Sat? What's happening, boys? Hey, Sat, another yo. Yeah. I cut you off there, sorry. I love being important. I don't worry. Our Dunbar Lumber text line, I know it's spring break, but it is real quiet this morning. Maybe the most quiet Monday I can remember. What's it like on the post-game shows now? It is a bit more quiet. We still get the people texting a lot, but I think I wouldn't say necessarily significantly less interest, but people are, I think, waiting for the finish line to get here. I guess it is spring break too, so I guess maybe last week and this week is a bit more quiet if we try to cope a little bit about why people are taking it easy, but anyone listening. It's not what it was going on, but it has kind of gone quiet. Look at the building. There are fewer people in the building,

40:15for instance. I see a lot of people in the next day, the listen to the post-game show on. Podcasts or whatever. I see people texting and it will be halfway through the post-game show. I don't watch the game, but I just tune in to see what's going on. I think people are, in many ways, just waiting for the finish line to get here, because in watch the games too, the Tampa game, at least you got to watch Kuchirov and Tampa do some stuff the other night, it was just not being very good and it's not very entertaining, so I kind of get it. Yeah, but I mean, look, everyone always jumps down our throat now when we criticize and performance, because it's like, this is what you wanted. They're tanking, but that was one of the worst games of the season against St. Louis, and I do wonder if it's just even the players, or like, listen, I'm done with this. Let's get this season over, or maybe it's just they are so

41:17bereft of talent and play drivers and guys that can make things happen out there that this is what's going to happen against even some of the other bad teams in the NHL. I think you've nailed it about the play driving. I think that's a big part of it, and I'm sure the other factors play a part as well, this late in the season with some of the veterans, who just get to finish line, and maybe some of the young guys, as much as they're happy being the national hockey league when the season's kind of gone as a rise it has. But if they have nobody driving play, like even Marco Rossi, who's been tremendous offensively, he's shown some chemistry with Ogren and Besser particularly, but a lot of that danger hasn't come off consistent play driving shifts by that line, where they're tilting ice in their fever in a massive way. They've had a couple games that they've done, so and I'm not taking anything away from it, because they're still guys they can create offense, they're still guys like them produce on a power play, and it's good to have offensive contributors, but you need to have your high end players be play drivers. Perhaps for Rossi, he'll be the better version of himself last year, but it comes back down to EP40,

42:21and if he's not going to be anywhere near a play driving force down the middle, then who is the engine? You might have a few shifts here and there, and maybe depending on what the opposition does or doesn't do, perhaps more importantly, they can have games where they tilt ice in their favor a bit more consistently, but they don't have guys that can just do that offensively, even their wings, like, you know, it's funny, Hogi might be one of their better play driving wings, but he drives play to nowhere. Yeah, exactly, right? So it's like, you know, and this is why sometimes I kind of laugh at some of the other line numbers, it's like, well, here's a Hogi Lander has a controlled zone entry, and he has a high danger shot, but it's like him from a weird angle that's full sort of net, that's really not that dangerous, and the play doesn't really develop into anything, and people on the post game show go, oh, Hogi look great, he's got to keep him more ice, and I'm like, sure, he did some exciting stuff, but he didn't beat it anywhere, and that's kind of part of the issue is even the guys that can drive play forward, aren't connecting it as well as some other players did in the past, and it's funny because you think

43:22Hogi Lander has the tools to be a corner of Garland's high player. Well, Garland, as much as sometimes, he did too much spin stuff and too much puck handling, he was genuinely driving play, he was genuinely connecting play off the phone, that's something that's really been lacking in Hogi Lander's game, so when one of your best play drivers doesn't even connect play all that well, and he plays down your lineup, I think that tells you a big story about how much they're lacking up front. Who do you think their best play driver upfront is right now? Oh man, I mean, I mean, it's funny because you're doing a corner? Yeah, the numbers suggest maybe Lena's Carlson, but I just, I can't accept that, I can't accept that. Yeah, I mean, it's okay, so he's been really good, right? Like, and I think we can look at the minutes that he's played, but again, if you look at it from the analytic standpoint, he's still playing relatively sheltered minutes, he's playing less than 12 minutes per game, with those numbers, look as good if he's playing 17, 18 minutes or 16, even consistently, I doubt that they would, and anytime we've seen him get elevated, and I don't

44:26think Lena's Carlson fan, like I think he's taking a big step, I like the contract, I love watching him play, I love his shift to shift consistency, he's great along the dirty areas, great along the boards, he does a lot of small little things that help you have success, plus he's scoring at a high rate considering how little he plays, but I don't think you're going to see those numbers in terms of play driving, be anywhere near as good if he's playing 17, 18 minutes of game, and anytime we've seen him get elevated, he's had a hard time sticking, and I still want to see him get a look over a guy like Evander Cain, but it is telling that late in the game, when you know, the coach's looking for a moment, up the top line, he elevates the weather's the bros, he elevates Evander Cain, and I know we can be skeptical about Adam Foto, so perhaps that's not the best argument to say, okay, does he, is he making the right decision to some extent, but anytime I've watched Linus Carlson get elevated, I've seen him struggle to keep up with the pace of higher end players, especially the opposition when you're playing against the other teams, you know, top lines, top detairs, that lack of speed doesn't allow him to drive play as consistently, so I don't even think it's Linus Carlson despite what the numbers say, I mean, it could even be

45:29EP 40 if you look at some of the numbers, but that's also like not even, not even in a good way, you know what I mean, like that's more about if you look at it by default, perhaps he ranks really high, but that's also again, not very compelling, they don't have guides that drive play consistently, they just don't exist on this roster. Who do you think would be a better play driver if you dropped him into the NHL next season, Gava McKenna or Stenberg? I'd say then, I'd say McKenna, because of how he transports the puck and that's to handle it, I think that he can probably help you a lot with the entries to with the speed you can play with, except the fastest player, but he plays quick, he's dynamic. Stenberg might be better in terms of handling the puck along the boards, a bit better holding on to pucks a bit more, so really comes down to your play style, but I would say McKenna, I'd give a slight edge too, but I don't think there was a big separating factor in terms of their overall impact on the game and even play drive, I think it just comes

46:30down to them being slightly different players and certain traces you like better than others, but I'll probably lean McKenna. Okay, let's talk about the coaching staff, and first of all, I'll ask you, what are the chances in your opinion that Adam Foot is the head coach next season? And then secondly, how important, this is a weird question to ask, do you want a good coach for next season? Because people will be like, I want the conucks to finish last overall again and have a chance at Landon DuPont, which is absolutely fair enough, but it also seems crazy to think like, I don't want to have a good coach on this team, and you do have a lot of young guys that need to develop and pan out for the conucks. Well, I think that's the part there. I think maybe even more important than a good coach is a could teacher, and I know the NHL isn't necessarily a developmental league, but you're still developing

47:32young players at the national rock league level, and something that talk did well was teach guys, tricks, right, or tricks in the trade, I should say, not tricks in terms of like, here's a cat coming out of the hat, right, but maybe that's the story of this season. Those are allusions at that trick. Yeah, yeah, exactly, they're allusions, not tricks. And that's what I want, this whole season has an allusion in many ways, right? But I think you need somebody who's a teacher, and I think if you look at, I know football is a bit different, but you look at some sports like football. They always talk about having guys that can teach certain traits of teach certain things as part of their game players, and just overall methods that you can have in terms of your playing position where you can get better, and there's always room for you to learn. So I think the best teams have guys that can teach, and I think even teams that are, you know, developing, you need to have those sets of players. That aspect, I can't say, with any certainty whether foot is a good teacher or not, one thing that we see is a team struggle in many ways, but that could be, you know, go to down to bigger coaching, or just over other roster, not being good enough, and all those other factors. But I don't think you need to coach us that can, you know,

48:36make this team into an 85, 88 point team, and then punch above his way. I think what you need is somebody that can teach these guys how to play it again in the right way, and get better incrementally. And I think part of the issue, the season has been, we haven't seen enough players, especially the younger guys, get incrementally better. Like we've seen Lena's Cross, essentially, be good from the start of the season, and he's been consistent, right? I think we look at the young guys, reaching some ups and downs from both Veylaunder, from Buium, from DPD, and perhaps that's just the journey for young players, regardless. Like the stone had a great start, but he hasn't really taken off, right? Look at Arturatu, he's gone through his struggles all year. I think your hard trust to identify any single player who's taking a significant leap from where they were in the beginning of the season to the end of the season. But perhaps you can chalk that up to the NHL not being a developmental league, but I do think you need to have a coach that can get players on the right track, and get buy-in from the players in terms of how to get individually approved at the very least. It's such a fool. I do think matters. Go on. I'll just say, I do think it matters.

49:39I do think coaching matters, despite the fact you want to be losing. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.