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About this Episode
In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss last night's Canucks home loss to the LA Kings (3:00), plus the boys preview the NCAA Frozen Four with FloHockey prospects expert Chris Peters (26:38), and what to expect from Gavin McKenna.
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.
Hosts & Guests
Transcript
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Yo, what's going on? It's Ross and Mocha from the Ross and Mocha Show.
And please allow us to introduce ourselves.
Mocha and I are now hooked up to the pregnancy birthing simulator.
Are you ready to press the button?
No!
Loot of Chris, what up?
What's the word, my favorite people?
Yes and no!
No wait!
Jessica, you just won $1,000.
Oh my god.
Ross and Mocha's fixed my life.
What do you do when your favorite swear word becomes your kid's favorite word, too?
Ross and Mocha's hell of a story.
And then I knew right away I was in the mouth of a whale.
Oh, what a sack!
Between Ross and Mocha, Aaron, who's your favorite?
Uh, probably a favorite.
Cool thanks.
Do you want to know what?
Yes.
I just heard he's like a really small cool dude.
Yeah, that's cool.
There you go!
The Ross and Mocha show podcast available anywhere you get your podcasts from.
You're listening to Halford and Brough.
StarC camper comes into Roger's arena, stops all 19 Vancouver shots for his 39th career shot out
and the games get a crucial two points in their chase for a playoff spot at the Pacific
Division.
They end their four game losing streak with a four-nothing win over the Vancouver Canucks.
Ladies and gentlemen, a weekend.
Good morning, Vancouver 6-0-1 on a Friday.
Happy Friday, everybody.
Sweet, sweet Friday.
It is Halford and his Brough and his sports net 6-50.
We are coming alive for the Kintek Studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver.
Jason, good morning.
Good morning.
8th August, good morning to you.
Good morning.
And Ladi, good morning to you as well.
Hello, hello.
Halford and Brough, the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.
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Okay, to the guest list we go, it's the duic morning drive.
Brought to you by the duic auto group.
It begins at 630 this morning.
Chris Peters, content manager from Flowhockey is going to join us.
The NCAA Men's Hockey Championship is underway.
His teams look to advance to the frozen for tonight.
In a prime time game on ESPN dose, Gavin McKenna and Penn State
going to take on the hated Minnesota Duluth in opening round action.
We'll talk to Chris about that and look ahead to the NCAA.
Turn a little college hockey talk with Chris Peters at 630 7 o'clock.
AJ from AJ's pizza on East Broadway as Brough mentioned.
It is ask us anything Friday.
The best ask us anything gets a $100 gift card to AJ's today.
730 Dave Softy-Moller from KJR Sports Radio in Seattle.
Very exciting times for sports in Seattle.
You know what else I want to talk to about Dave is this millionaires tax
that they've got in Washington and how it's going to affect you and I.
We'll go down there.
Right?
What do we do?
They're going to look at us and be like,
tax those guys.
Those guys are so rich.
But 100 errors rolling through here.
I know it's been a topic of discussion down there and people are wondering how it's
going to affect sports teams and athletes willingness to sign or stay in Seattle.
So aside from discussing tax brackets with Softy,
we will also discuss the Mariners who opened their MLB campaign yesterday.
The NBA coming back to Seattle.
That took another big step this week.
And hey, the Seattle Crackin won a big game yesterday.
Dave Softy-Moller, one of our favorites is going to join us at 730.
8 o'clock.
It's Rick Dollywall, intrepid Canucks reporter.
Donnie and Dolly on check TV.
Canucks lost last night for nothing to the LA Kings to finish off one of the worst homestands
in franchise history.
I don't know where it stacks up.
I did not do the research.
But I can say with some good authority that that was one of the worst homestands
in Canucks franchise history.
So with Rick, we will talk about the game.
We will talk about Adam Foote or many Malhotra behind the bench for the Vancouver Canucks.
And some other stuff as well.
I don't like to give it all away.
You do.
I told you not to.
And now you don't.
Oh, that's why I don't do it.
Right.
So Rick's going to join us at 8 o'clock this morning.
Reminder, it's asking something.
Friday, all that good stuff.
Not going to run it in reverse without further ado.
Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened.
Hey, did you guys see the game last night?
No.
What happened?
I missed all the action because I was.
We know how busy your life can be.
What happened?
You missed that.
What happened?
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I do want to say the most rare what happened ever happened this morning.
Laddie was almost late for the program.
Wow.
You slept in.
You are, laddie.
But basically, I'm usually the first one here.
But you guys never talk about that.
I was going to the one time you are the bedrock of this show.
When it comes to showing up on time.
Yeah.
Laddie's consistent and thorough and diligent.
Always the first one in the door.
What did you get that Chevy Volt up to on the highway coming out?
So I wanted to talk all the way from Ladner.
Perfectly legal.
I'm sure.
So I don't want to be labor at this point.
But when I called you this morning,
I think you were still in a dream state.
Yes.
I think you said sorry, dad.
One point on a roll.
I just got to see it.
I don't want to get up for school click.
Well, that Chevy Volt certainly did some work on the way in.
So concutos to you for getting in on that.
I'm just so excited for Jay's opening day.
Yeah, I can imagine.
OK.
Last night, the Vancouver Conox, as mentioned,
finished off.
What might be the worst homestand in franchise history?
Darcy Kemper, 19 saves.
It was Trevor Moore and Quentin Byfield with a goal
and an assist to peace.
The Kings snapped the four game losing streak.
The easiest way.
Everybody knows how that's by playing the Vancouver Conox.
Four and nothing went in Vancouver.
There Rodgers Arena on Thursday.
Yeah.
It was yet another home loss for the Conox who felt
who ate 25 and five at Rodgers Arena.
So there have been 38 games at Rodgers Arena this year.
Eight times the Conox have won.
And the fans have been, yay, the Conox.
It is one of the worst home records in frankly,
NHL history.
And I'll rob the hockey guy said it was the worst
home team of the last 30 years.
There's this site called Stat Mews.
And it's basically that you can just query anything
about sports stats.
And so I put in worst home records in NHL history by season.
And the Conox are 20th.
Like this includes the 1928-29 Chicago Blackhawks
and includes the expansion senators,
the expansion sharks.
Lest we forget the 1930-1931 Philadelphia Quakers.
Yeah.
Oh, the Quakers.
Is that one really about Capitals team on there?
Didn't they have a really awful scene?
Yes, 1974-75.
The Conox are, I mean, they're not Quakers bad.
But they're pretty bad at home.
And last night was not a close game by any means
the King's dominated the Conox.
Panaren was really dangerous on Coupittar's line.
I thought, I think it was the best game
I've ever seen Quentin Byfield play.
Obviously, try not to watch many King's games,
but he was really good last night.
By the end of the second period,
it was three nothing for the King's on the scoreboard
and 31 to 12 on the shot clock.
Nobody played well for the Conox.
They were all overmatched by a middling King's team
that's still on the outside of the playoff pictures.
So as you mentioned, the Conox finished their eight-game
home stand with a two-and-six record.
They beat Nashville in the shootout
and took care of Florida in regulation.
Take that back.
Byfield, two-time defending champs
who definitely weren't trying
and we're looking ahead to their game in Edmonton.
The other six games were regulation losses.
There's no real point in hammering away at the Conox.
We all know they're a bad team.
Hopefully, this all leads to a better place in a few years
because it's pretty tough to watch right now.
And I expect it's going to be challenging
for a few more years.
At least next season, they might have a player
like Gavin McKenna in the lineup.
I remember the penguins the first year
they had Sidney Crosby.
They were awful.
But Sid was incredible.
The Oilers weren't...
Dick Tarnstrom was their leading scorer?
Yeah, Sid was the leading scorer.
When...
Oh, did he take over for Dick Tarnstrom?
Yeah, yeah, Tricky.
They look on your points.
The Oilers weren't very good the first year
that had...
McDavid, either.
I guess the difference is that the penguins
also had Malkin coming
and the Oilers also had dryside all coming.
Hopefully, in a couple of years,
the Conox have a guy like Landon DuPont as well.
They're going to have to stay really bad for a few years
but the payoff can be worth it.
Nothing is guaranteed.
But it's the only path forward
when you're as asset pours the Conox.
You're not going to solve it in free agency.
They can't trade their way out of it.
They're just going to have to be bad.
As for the game last night,
I liked the young kids at the end of the night
actually showing some frustration
and showing some fight.
Did it mean anything on the scoreboard?
No, but when Zeeb William is out there dropping the gloves
and Tom Vlander is out there roughing it up
and Linus Carlson,
I mean, I think that was good to see.
There was a clip going around a couple days ago.
I think it was Tyson from Conox Army
that put it out there.
And he caught a couple of the young guys
at the end of practicing fighting.
Working on the scrap.
Was it, uh, I can't remember who it was.
Maybe it was out there.
William was Ogrin or maybe DP.
I don't know.
It was three young guys and they were just having fun.
They were kind of working on their fighting
and then Booyam was like,
I'm going to apply this to the game.
And, you know, it's something, right?
I don't know what these young guys on the team right now
are going to amount to,
but it's nice to see them actually care,
which is the lowest of the low bars.
Like, hey, do you care?
Yes.
We'll get to the,
we're in the process of getting the audio ready.
How are we doing with the audio right now?
Do we have foot audio available and ready?
Okay, so there's a couple of things we do want to play,
which is a shocking turn of events
because the last, I'd say eight or 10 games,
we don't really have much post game audio to parse through.
I thought that Booyam and his post game media availability
sounded super frustrated,
and I don't know if it had to do with a little
tilly with Brent Clark because he wasn't talking about that.
He was talking about getting their asses handed to him again,
this time by the LA Kings,
but I want to put the frustration level.
Did you see the clip of Tom Villander on the bench just freaking out?
After you got stuck out there for like a three-minute shift.
Yeah, he was so angry.
It was good to see you had something in the tank though, after he's in good shape.
He was able to come back and slam the boards and everything,
and the coach, Kevin Dean had to tell him to like,
it's okay, calm down.
I mean, it's not okay.
We're terrible.
Yeah, calm down.
Glass half full, the fitness is there.
Glass half empty.
You were stuck out there for a three and a half minute shift.
Anyway, let's play some audio from Adam foot yesterday
when he was asked about his top line.
Now, obviously, his top line.
And whatever that is at this point,
I think it's a nebulous idea
because sometimes it's one line.
Sometimes it's another line.
But whatever the case, the top line did not score
nor did any Vancouver Knock last night.
So Adam foot was asked about it.
Here's what the head coach had to say yesterday
about his top line.
Maybe needing to give the team more.
Well, we want more from them, but that's for sure.
I mean, you know, I'm not going to get into,
get into all that right now.
Like, I'm not going to get on the negative train.
You know what I mean?
I get it.
You guys need your ticks,
but I'm not going to go there on that one, all right?
I'm going to make sure that we just keep pushing
in the right direction, see the positive of this.
We got a young team.
We got a big lot of things different
than having to share that you guys know are well aware of.
And I'm not going to get into that.
I wish you would have said positive train.
I'm not going to get on the negative train.
I'm on the positive train.
Can we acknowledge that instead of clicks, he said ticks?
We should acknowledge it.
Yeah.
What's a tick?
That's what your dog gets.
That's what the show is tick bait.
That's all it is, right?
These journalists out there, they want their ticks.
They just want their ticks.
They have special baths for those.
What's left?
Can I say anything and have these idiots not make fun of me?
I mean, no.
No.
You can't.
No, well, don't say ticks instead of clicks.
I think the frustration level,
and there's about eight different reasons for it.
Horrible season.
You know, listless performances.
Laws is piling up.
Many of them at home.
You know, when you know that, and you can see the finish line,
but you're not quite there.
And you know that the season's almost over,
but you still have to go through the exercise of finishing it.
There can be a level of frustration with that.
And I think it's really starting to like,
spew out of the players, the coaches, and everybody else.
Because this has been an absolutely miserable season.
When you look back on this season,
years from now, it's going to stand out,
not just because within a franchises history
that has plenty of bad seasons with a lot of losses.
I mean, the stat you pointed out earlier,
I keep going back to it.
And I went back to it a few times last night.
You are talking about, in the history of the National Hockey League,
one of the 20 worst home teams, single season,
in the entire history of the NHL.
And that's going back to the 20s and the 30s.
The Black Hawks were still in a lot of those lists.
They were still two words.
Black Hawks.
Like, that's how long ago it was.
And that's the company that the connects are keeping
from like, uh, from when it was like a 16 league.
Yeah, like teams struggled at home,
because two thirds of their lineup got drafted into the war.
Like those are the kind of teams
that the connects are being stacked up against,
historically now for their futility at home.
And this eight game homestand.
And we all saw this coming from a mile away.
This was obviously going to be,
and I know I've used inflection point a lot over the last month,
but this was going to be an inflection point.
You learned it from me.
Everybody in the organization
is looking at what they've just done on home ice.
And is very dejected with the way that it's gone.
So I'm very dejected with the way it's gone.
Because there was only two or three performances where you're like,
yeah, they showed some spirit and they showed some fight tonight.
I don't see how they bring foot back.
I just don't, I know there are some people that are like
sarcastically or not even sarcastically, you know,
saying like, you got to bring, you got to bring foot back
because he's the tank commander or whatever.
But you can't bring him back.
You can't, you still have to have, um,
you still have to have some sort of,
you shouldn't be there now.
Yeah.
I mean, it's, it's, I don't want to,
I think it's more like, I'm not fair to him.
But he wasn't, he wasn't ready for this job.
Oh, he is not done a good job.
He looks overwhelmed.
And he, it was a, it was, it was a, it was a desperate
and ultimately bad hire.
This was the guy that had, um,
head coaching experience, just a partial season in the WHO.
He didn't even last a full season in the WHO.
Yeah.
And Rick talk it, um, made a decision to leave it,
put the connox kind of in a tough spot, um,
and they figured, all right.
Well, Quinn seems to like Adam.
So let's make Adam the coach.
I mean, it was, it was a bad decision.
Yeah.
And again, I, I get people that are, um, like,
no, you have to keep, keep them as the coach
because we want the connox to be bad next year.
Yeah, but most of those people like myself
understand that he still can't come back.
I don't think, you know,
I don't, I don't think that even with the greatest coach
in the world that the connox can be a good team next year.
I don't, I don't think it's possible.
They completely lack the talent.
I, I suppose you could be like, well,
if Demko is super healthy and, and Lankan
and doesn't have to play all these games
and we'll get to that in a minute.
And maybe, you know, Headle comes back,
which he probably shouldn't do, but if he, you know,
and then the, the, the ever elusive, you know,
Pederson, what if they don't trade him
and he turns around like, I suppose,
no, they could be, no, no, not with it.
I mean, okay, here's the one thing they won't have.
Gold tending.
Well, they, they might though, like if Demko is healthy.
Well, he's having a big, he's having a big surgery
that they think is going to fix everything.
I'm ready to put if Demko is healthy
in the same category as if PD will bounce back.
Probably, okay?
Like, that's, that's, and that's totally unfair
to a guy that will ever play again.
It's totally unfair to a guy in Demko
that is trying his best to get back
and rehab and get healthy.
But at this point, you are looking at the guy
and his injury history and say,
there's a much better chance
that you're going to be abandoned
for the remainder of your playing days
than you are being, just bouncing back to full health
and being a Vezna caliber guy again.
Do we want to talk about Lankan
and getting a fifth straight start?
Do we care enough about Tolopilo?
I mean, all I really want to say is that
if you're going to make winning a home game
like last night's important
and that's apparently why Lankan
has made all these starts,
you got to at least be competitive in the game.
Otherwise, I'd rather they give Tolopilo some starts
to take what he's been working on in practice
and apply it to a game
and apply it to his development.
Lankan played well last night.
He made some really good saves.
He's stymied Panarin a few times.
You know, the goal that Panarin did score
probably wasn't the best one,
but he had a ton of shots on him.
Yes.
His save percentage was over 900.
It wasn't Lankan's fault last night.
He was battling out there.
It's not your fault, Kevin.
But I don't think the fans had a better time last night
because Lankan was in net and the connox
didn't, I mean, I guess they had a better chance
of winning because Lankan was in net
but like the chance was nothing.
They weren't going to win.
They were so thoroughly dominated
by an LA King's team that yes is desperate
and they do have some good players for sure
but man, they're not that good.
Okay, do we have the William audio ready?
I just want to play the first 25, 30 seconds
of his post game media availability.
Now, obviously he was coming in hot
because he ended the game with a scrap with Brent Clark
and he was, you know, visibly upset
and they actually, you know, the lines
been got in there in the middle of the tussle
and they shortly mentioned it on the broadcast.
Like he thought he actually,
the lines should have stepped out
because those two, Clark and William,
were not ready to give it up.
They were pissed off at one another
and they were ready to throw.
So I'll consider that when you listen to the tone
and tenor of what William had to say
but this is a frustrated young man
and you can hear it in his voice
and you can hear it in his words
talking about what went wrong last night
and a four-nothing loss at home
to the Los Angeles Kings.
Yeah, I mean, you saw it like she can't get anything going
and I think they pretty much dominated us
for most of the game so it just sucked.
Why do you think second periods have been such a struggle for you guys?
I don't know, I mean,
I think like today we, you know,
I thought we actually played
decently well in the first and then the second
we just, I think it's little things.
We just get caught out there for so long
and we have all of us all the day.
We all get stuck out there for at least,
you know, a minute and a half, two minutes
or something and the forwards get tired
and then they can't change
and then they get a change of worse so out there.
So it's just a cycle and we just got to find a way
to dig in in those moments and, you know,
find a way to not let that happen.
So there was also that there's a very small snippet in there
where he kind of conceded, he's like,
I thought we played decently well to start the game.
If you compare that to what his head coach said
after the game yesterday where foot came out
and his first remark was we played great
in the first period yesterday.
We had a great start.
Like there's a disconnect right there.
No, you didn't, you know,
and he didn't at all.
He wants to get on the positive train.
And we're sure.
No, he's got his conductor hat and everything.
He's all aboard the positive train.
And at this point does it feel like we're piling
on the coach maybe, but again, you said it earlier
with the greatest coach in the world,
this team's still probably 30 second in the NHL.
And I'm ready to put a ban, a show moratorium,
a ban on anyone saying that you need foot
because you need a tank commander.
It's dumb, reductive thinking.
It's for mouth breathers on Kanox Twitter.
Like I can't handle it.
Yeah.
When you hear a guy like that talk,
William, who's an aspiring professional
and wants to get better at his craft
and is saying all the right things about being around
and rebuilding the culture
and wants to be part of when things
turn the page in Vancouver.
You can't saddle that guy with a coach
who, and it's very obvious,
he's not prepared to
work with the team through a rebuild.
And a lot of you will say,
part of working through a rebuild
is losing lots of games.
Wrong.
Part of a rebuild is going down to the studs,
finding guys that you're gonna build with
and growing them along, teaching them how to play
instilling standards and the characteristics
and the habits and everything that you want.
These, all these things matter right now.
There shouldn't be throwaway games, right?
There shouldn't be games where
when you're getting stuck out there
for a three and a half minute shift
and he's pissed off.
And I hope it's a learning lesson for him
and I hope the coaching staff uses it,
but I have my doubts.
I really do have my doubts.
And I have my doubts that any of these young guys
that are saying the right things
and trying to do the right things right now
are actually getting better.
I know it's easy to pay a lip service like,
well, they're out there getting their reps
and they're learning from their mistakes,
but there needs to be some tangible evidence of it.
Otherwise, it's just a wasted season.
And that is no good.
Luke Texan.
I feel like mouth breathing gets a bad rap.
Nice, solid, direct way to breathe.
It's not efficient.
You use your nasal passages as much as you can.
I know it's tough during seasonal allergies.
Yeah.
That's why God gave you an hose.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, we spent the entire opening segment
talking about the connox, which we did not plan for,
but that's okay.
Because later on in the show,
we'll get into the rest of the NHL stories from yesterday.
There was a lot that happened across the National Hockey League.
We can also get into the World Cup qualifiers.
Canada now has a little bit of a clearer vision
on who they will play in their group.
It will either be Italy or it will be Bosnia.
That will get decided next week, Tuesday in Bosnia.
We can also get into anything else you want to get into
on a very busy Thursday.
And of course, now it's Friday in sports.
A reminder, if you want to get your thoughts in Dunbar,
or it's excellent, it's 650, 650.
Poor Ireland, poor Ireland.
That, by the way, added to my theory
that especially in soccer,
you can have a start that is too good.
There's was too good.
It was too good too soon.
They went up to nothing on Czechia.
And as soon as I saw that,
I was like, oh, they're not protecting that at Czechia.
Northern Ireland, Ireland, Wales, all bid farewell.
In pretty crushing fashion,
I think Northern Ireland was a little bit more expected,
Italy dispatched of the bid farewell.
There were lots of very sad Irish people
in my neighborhood yesterday.
I was really upset because Ireland
and the World Cup would have been great.
It's a good time.
Yep, it would have been great.
Yeah, they traveled really well to Czechia.
Joy and Parrot got a goal yesterday.
Scoring sensation, Troy Parrot.
Anyway, if you want to get away in on any of this,
also the MLB story, as Ladi mentioned,
as he rolled in here this morning,
Blue J season gets underway today as well.
As they are, one of the last teams in Major League Base
pulled to get their season underway.
Because they have a roof.
They don't need an extra day off.
That's true.
So there's lots to get into way in now.
Dunbar Lumbertex line is 65650.
Coming up on the other side, though,
we're going to do a little college hockey talk.
Chris Peters from Flowhockey is going to join the program.
Gavin McKenna, maybe the potential future canuck.
Gavin McKenna gets his March madness of hockey.
NCA tournament gets underway tonight as Penn State
looks to advance to the Frozen Four.
We'll talk to Chris Peters about that on the other side.
You're listening to The Halford and Breath Show
on SportsNet 650.
It's Canuck Central on SportsNet 650.
From exclusive interviews to insider scoops
and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all.
Tune in weekdays four to six PM on radio
and on demand through your favorite podcast app.
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To the phone lines we go, the Abel Auctions hotline,
Chris Peters, content manager for Flowhockey joins us now
on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650.
Morning Chris, how are you?
I'm doing well, fellas, how are you?
We're good.
This is an exciting weekend for hockey enthusiasts,
because not only is there a bunch of NHL games
on the horizon, but we are smack in the middle
of the NCAA Division I men's hockey championship
as well.
And tonight, it's the marquee matchup featuring Penn State.
Of course, Gavin McKenna taking on Minnesota Duluth.
It's a prime time game.
It's on ESPN, too, much Bally Hood matchup.
Set this one up for the listeners, Chris,
as Gavin McKenna gets his first game in here
at the NCAA championships.
Yeah, yeah, it's going to be certainly a good matchup.
I think it's a tough matchup for Penn State.
As Minnesota Duluth has one of the best top lines
in the country led by, you know,
the Zaman Max plant and Jason Shogabe,
all drafted players, all high performing players
in college hockey this season.
They've got a solid goalie and Adam Guyon,
who's been a little inconsistent, but still pretty solid overall.
And a really big decore that I think is going to, you know,
present some challenges to Penn State.
But the thing that you, you know,
you can really never count out Penn State for
is the amount of volume of shots that they're going to,
they're going to create the ability to generate offense quickly.
You know, I think it could, it has,
it has the potential to be a very high scoring game as well,
which could be fun.
If it is a high scoring game,
I do think that that helps Penn State's cause a little bit more.
There are more of a high event team, you know,
and there's a few guys on the roster
that can keep both teams in the game.
So it's going to be really interesting to see exactly
how this all squares up here.
But, you know, if I, if you were to ask me on paper,
you know, I do think Minnesota Luth is the more complete of the two teams,
which is going to present some challenges for, you know,
for getting McKenna to try to extend the season here.
Well, let's talk a bit about Gavin McKenna.
The last time a lot of our listeners would have watched them play
was at the World Juniors where the reviews were,
I think it's fair to say mixed.
How has this game been since then?
Yeah, you know, I think you've played a lot better in the second half.
There's no question about it.
The point production has risen.
He had no record setting game with any point game in there.
Again, so high of state, it wasn't just, you know,
any old pushover team.
So, you know, he's definitely played at a high level.
If he's somewhere around 19 points in his last nine games,
you know, and in the more critical time of the season.
The one thing that I will say that hasn't necessarily changed
a ton is his play away from the puck and still, you know,
as much as he has produced this year.
A lot of his points have come on the power play
and a lot of things, you know, EE has also been on the ice
for quite a few goals against them.
And I think that that's one of the things
that continues to raise some concerns.
I do think that his performance offensively
and the high upside that he shows with his skill
and his hockey sense with the puck on his stick
is a separating factor between him
and pretty much the rest of the draft class.
He's the most dynamic player in the class
and certainly should be the most dynamic player in this game.
And so I think that the, you know, to see how he is able
to kind of manage a much more challenging opponent
in a much, you know, a critical moment in the season,
it will be scrutinized.
But I do think that he's probably gotten himself
at least back into a more solid ground in terms of his case
to be the number one pick.
What do you chalk that up to his play away from the puck
and the fact that it's maybe a little bit lacking?
Well, he didn't have to really develop that element
of his game because the puck was always with his team
in medicine hat, you know, they did not have a lot of things.
The thing that college hockey has exposed is that, you know,
if you aren't working as hard to get the puck back,
you're not going to have it as much.
And so, you know, because the players at this level
are smarter, they're stronger, they're bigger,
in a lot of cases, they're older.
So they've been around for longer.
It's really not any of the junior hockey players fault.
They just aren't old enough yet.
And so because the challenges that present themselves
in college hockey are so much greater in terms of, you know,
how difficult teams are going to be on you physically
and defensively, you know, he's had to learn.
And I think it's improved, you know, I think he's gotten stronger.
I think that he's done a few things that have helped him
a little bit in that regard.
But the thing about where he's playing
is that Penn State has never traditionally been
a very good defensive team.
They have always been a high volume shooting team.
They have always given up a lot of shots.
And really the years, whether they've had the greatest success
or the years where they've gotten the goal technique.
And so they're kind of in between in terms of what they've
gotten this season.
Last year they had Arsene Sergio, who basically carried them
to the frozen floor.
And this year, you know, it's definitely,
they kind of have to outscore their problems.
And against teams like Minnesota Duluth,
and if they, you know, continue to advance,
that will be a much tougher task for them to do at this point.
How many of the players in this draft
would you say are going to be in the NHL next season?
Boy, that's a good question.
You know, I would have to imagine that McKenna is one of them.
You know, I don't see a team drafting him
and sending him back.
Beyond that, I don't really see any player in this class
that I would comfortably slot in.
I think probably the most pro-ready of the next group
is probably Albert Smith.
But again, you're bringing a player over from Europe.
I think that it's more likely that he would start in the NHL
than necessarily the NHL, but you know,
I think there's a lot of options there.
So I don't think there's a ton of immediate help.
And I'll be quite honest.
I don't think Gavin McKenna is ready for the NHL.
You know, I think if I had the choice,
you know, I would probably have him start elsewhere.
But the question is, you know, do you send him back to school
or do you get him into your system?
I think most teams would prefer to sign him,
get him into their system.
Yeah.
And do you think it's just a, you think it's a strength thing?
Is it a physical thing or is it just,
he's got to learn more of those details?
Yeah, I mean, I just think, I think he's, you know,
the strength is a major part of it.
He's definitely improved in that regard.
And that's a big reason he went to school
was to have more time in the weight room.
And I, you know, still, he had a long way to go at that point,
you know, and I think so.
We've certainly seen players come in, you know,
I think Jack Hughes was not physically ready for the NHL
and it showed any, any struggled quite a bit
and this is rookie season.
And you don't want to put players in that position.
Now, the interesting thing with McCanaugh is,
you look at who represents him
and they've often been the, you know,
they had Owen Power stay for an extra year.
Go ahead and quit and use stayed two years.
Like all these players have stayed multiple years in school.
Now, Celebrini did not, but he is also a freak of nature.
So, you know, that's the other part of it.
Is that, you know, you have to make the right decisions.
And, you know, I just, I just think that whoever
ends up signing him that the, the fervor is going to be so much,
or drafting him that the fervor is going to be so much,
they're going to feel, you know,
one, they have to sign him and they have to start him in the NHL.
That's a player that's like, hey, maybe, you know,
if you have the right situation in your NHL team,
that could be an option.
But, yeah, I mean, I think you also have to give strong consideration
to what's best for his overall development.
Because I think with, as we've seen this year,
there's still a ton of holes in his game.
The reason that he remains such a highly projected
and sought after prospect is because in this particular draft class,
he is heads above in terms of the skill and offensive capabilities
that he has relative to the rest of the field.
So, that's really the separating factor.
And there needs to be more than that to have success at the NHL.
Chris, are there any college free agents
that a team like the Vancouver Connect should be interested in?
Well, I think there's always players.
I don't think there's anyone out there this year
and not anymore that would significantly
change the trajectory of a team.
It's going to be interesting to see what happens.
Dartmouth has a trio of players that I think are very intriguing.
They just got bounced from the tournament yesterday.
Hank Cleves, who's got the NHL size
and good two-way capabilities, Hayden Stabrock,
who's been the top scorer in college hockey this year
in terms of goalscored.
And then CJ Foley, who's a really talented offensive
defenseman with good capabilities,
and you look at some of the recent college players
that have come out and I think of defensemen
that can move pox that have confidence with the puck on their stick.
I think Foley is a really good option for teams.
But you're probably not going to be landing anyone
that's going to be a top of the lineup player,
which is that's basically luck if you do find that.
I think you're more looking for players
that can fit into depth roles.
And the Dartmouth trio is certainly
one of the more intriguing groups.
And then on Michigan, you've got a number of players,
TJ Hughes, who is a Hobie Baker top 10 finalist.
Question is, is he like, is he like how legitimate
of an NHL prospect?
Is he, is he a really good AHL player?
Are you really good?
Could he find a way in the NHL?
I think he's certainly worth a contract to find out.
And then Josh Ernest, the young Michigan as well.
He's a huge human, good skater.
He's been kind of, teams have been trying to find both him
and Hughes for the last three years.
And they keep going back to school.
So those are some intriguing players
to at least keep an eye on that are still available.
We're speaking to Chris Peters,
Colley Hockey, analyst on the Health and Abrupt Show
on SportsNet's 650.
Hey, I wanted to circle back on the notion,
just the idea of a mechanic maybe not going pro
if he gets selected, first overall.
So, Craig Cafan, I'm wrong, but you mentioned no one power.
He's the last first overall pick in the NHL entry draft,
not to jump straight to the league, correct?
He went back to Michigan for one more year.
Right.
Yeah, and now the differences there, of course,
were that I think his freshman year at Michigan
got interrupted by COVID.
So there was a developmental angle to this.
Also, NIL and the changing landscape of collegiate sports
didn't exist when Owen Power was around.
Is there a scenario?
Is there any scenario that you could envision
where between the possibility of getting paid
and another year of playing college hockey
that McKenna might go number one in the draft
and then not actually legitimately go to the NHL next season?
Yeah, I mean, I think not, I don't see it.
I think there's a couple of reasons for that.
And one is, I think that there's certainly some doubt
in NHL circles about Penn State's ability
to develop NHL players in terms of that to me
is probably one of the primary concerns
about whether or not to send him back.
I think that in the situation of Owen Power going back
to Michigan NHL factory and playing in the big tent
goes a long way.
But I think that you also have to play within a system.
I mean, there's nothing NHL about Penn State's system.
That's the other issue is that they play a very wide open game
that quite frankly doesn't necessarily
lead to the most consistent results.
I mean, they had that game against Ohio State
where McKenna had eight points in that case.
And what that series or they were next game was way closer.
And it's just like, you have to wonder about that.
So I think that there's that.
I don't think that McKenna would go through a transfer process
and that would make much sense.
That was my next question.
And he wouldn't, yeah.
He's in the portal.
Yeah, does he just go to Michigan?
It seems like that's a factory.
So yeah.
Yeah, I mean, it is absolutely like,
the thing is you could do it that way.
I just don't think that would happen.
And on the other side too.
So Penn State was able to offer the largest amount
in terms of NIL dollars that any team would
and there were teams that just weren't willing to go
that high regardless of who it was for.
And I think that that also kind of, you know,
that does not match them.
He's not making as much as he would
on a entry level contract.
No, so that's the other part of it too.
If there is a financial component,
you know, when you start your contract,
all those different things,
I think the other reason that power went back to is,
I mean, quite frankly,
the longer you could stave off playing
for the Buffalo Sabers at that point, the better.
You know, so that was another factor.
And I think like, you know,
you might be able to say the same thing
about some of the teams that are at the bottom,
maybe one that's currently in your market right now.
You know, like that's just one of those things where,
the environment matters so much
for what you're bringing a player into.
And, you know, there are so few players
like Celebrity and Matthew Schaefer, quite frankly,
who can come in and instantly be the guy.
And I don't think there's anyone in this class that can do that.
Did you ever get a clear picture
on exactly what kind of money
McKenna pulled in this season?
I mean, there's been a lot of like,
there's been a lot of like soft denials.
And maybe it's not as high as you think kind of thing,
but I mean, it was somewhere, you know,
the numbers that I had kept hearing consistently
was somewhere in north of $700,000.
You know, no one has ever officially confirmed
or denied any specific numbers.
They'll sometimes say,
oh, it's not as high as people are saying.
It's like, okay, well, then how high is it?
So, you know, but I think it's somewhere in that range.
And for example, like Michigan State,
the one thing that I, you know, they have
Porter-Martone right now.
And I believe his NIL package is in the sixth figure range,
but it's below 200,000 as far as I've heard.
And they were not willing to go any higher than that,
you know, than any of that.
Because quite frankly, the amount of money
that's available in those pools
is not as deep as people think it is.
It's really not.
So they, Penn State kind of had to go out of their way
to offer what they did to McKenna.
Chris, where do you expect Caleb Mahotra
to go in the draft?
I think he's going to go pretty high.
And we'll see how this postseason goes for him and Bramford.
I mean, I do think that there is absolutely top 10 potential
because he is in the hunt and in the conversation
for being the number one center in the draft
that you think that there's potential.
He could go, you know, before some of the top tier
defenseman that we're talking about.
The thing that complicates is as good as Caleb's season
and he had a great season, obviously plays for a really good team.
But, you know, the question is,
is how high end is the offensive capability really?
He does have two way skills.
He's got tremendous work ethic.
He plays the game like a professional right now.
It just becomes more of that upside conversation
is like, can he be a number one center at the NHL level?
And I personally don't see that.
I see him more as a middle six center, a guy
that's going to really help your team.
And I think there's a lot of value in players like that.
And even if you do get a number two center in the top 10,
I think that's a really, you know,
that's a pretty natural place to find that level of value.
So I do think that he has tremendous potential.
He's committed to go to Boston University next year.
I do think that that will remain the plan for him.
You know, has a chance to go be the guy
that he's competing with for number one center
in this draft is kind of Lawrence who is already at BU.
But that, you know, I think it'll be interesting to see.
But Brantford is probably going on a very long run
in the NHL playoffs.
If Caleb Melhotra has a significant hand in that,
like I think he will, and you know,
he's not the top player on that team because it's loaded,
but he's going to be an important player.
That's the guy that I think would absolutely,
you know, make a, make a real push into that top 10,
top five, you know, top 10 lock, top five conversation
with the strong postseason.
Who is the highest upside center in this draft?
Do you see any potential legitimate one sees?
It's tough.
I mean, like I think Tyne Lawrence is,
he's being graded by me a little bit on a bit of a curve
because of how weird his draft season was
because he heard himself in the preseason
and then really wasn't available for a large chunk
of the season goes to the USHL, does well,
but not amazing while he's there,
then transfers to Boston University
and doesn't really produce very much on a team
that really struggled for the entire season,
didn't make the NCAA tournament.
So for me, you know, I still think,
based on what I've seen in the totality of the body of work,
and I was watching Tyne Lawrence at the USHL Clark Cup final
last year be the best player on the ice at 16 years old,
you know, I still think that there's probably more
total upside to him, but you know,
if you're talking about like hockey sense
and two way capabilities and other things
and you gotta get the edge to Mount Hoatra.
So it's really interesting to see those two centers
in the conversation.
And then I think there are other guys
that you kind of look down the lineup
in different, you know, different ways of like,
hey, maybe he could, you know, pop and be a pretty impactful player,
like a, like a Oliver Savonto
or who doesn't necessarily have the offensive upside of those two guys.
Like there's just a lot of,
there's a lot of maybe's in this class.
There's a lot of, I don't know, you know,
I, there's never a sure thing in pro, in prospects,
but there, it just feels like there are so many players
with more questions than there are answers.
And that's a tough place to be, you know, this season,
but I still think, you know, the scouts are putting in the work,
they're gonna have a different, you know,
different perspective on things as we get closer to the draft,
but yeah, it's just harder and harder to find
which of those guys are the guys
that I can really get excited about.
Chris, you're the best buddy.
This was awesome.
Enjoy the NCAA men's hockey championships this weekend
and enjoy the road to the Frozen Four.
Are you gonna go to Vegas?
I was, I was going to, but something else came up and now I'm,
I'll actually be in Toronto instead.
So that's like the opposite.
Okay, well, enjoying that.
Thanks buddy, we appreciate this.
See you, Paul.
All right, let's talk to you later, guys.
Have a good one.
Yeah, see you later.
Chris Peters, content manager from Flowhockey here
on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.
He was too bad that Penn State's
not a more robust development environment for NHL players
because I'm not gonna lie.
If you told me that I could make 700K
playing 40 college hockey games next year
or 925K, getting my head kicked in as a player
with the Vancouver Canucks, I'd take the college hockey
10 times out of 10.
It's a good life.
He's got down there.
You're maybe not wired the same as some of these guys though.
But think about it.
Just think about it.
All you're doing is just kicking the can down the road,
which is a very connect thing to do anyway.
You're already getting part of the organizational ethos.
You know what else is a thing that the canucks do?
Rush, they rush.
I mean, I know you're saying they kick the can down the road.
They kick the can down the road on their problems,
but they rush into potentially good things.
And if the canucks end up drafting,
Gavin McKenna, I'd be shocked if he's in the lineup.
No, he'll be in the lineup.
And part, I mean.
It's business.
Yeah.
And also, I had actually-
Not saying it's the right decision, by the way.
And Chris mentioned it on our show,
but I've heard this elsewhere as well.
Penn State is a very weird situation
because they're one of one in it.
They're the only one that's gonna offer that amount
of money to play hockey.
No other program is gonna offer that amount of money.
It's just, it's clear.
I've also heard it's not the most detailed oriented program.
That was the other part of it.
One of one, it's kind of like, go have a good time out there.
And it's, you know, and that's great.
And it makes for some entertaining games,
like that massive eight point game,
which is in terms of scoring,
it's an iconic NCAA game of all time.
And McKenna got it.
Yeah.
And he got it as a member of the Penn State and the Alliance,
but in terms of developing you for the future,
maybe they're not one of one.
Maybe they're one of one in the sense that they're no good at it.
And it's not a great environment to learn
and how to prepare to be a pro,
like say, the University of Michigan would be.
But the University of Michigan,
he used got a ton of commitments.
Sure.
But neither of those schools are giving anybody,
any singular player, $700,000 to play there.
Yeah.
Okay, we're gonna talk to AJ,
and then we got an open segment,
then Softy at 730, Rick Dollywall at 8,
so some entertaining characters coming up.
Get your ask us anything's into the Dunbar Lumber text line
after we talk to AJ,
we'll go into the Dunbar Lumber text line
and answer some of those to the best of our ability.
You're listening to the Health and Abrupt Show
on Sportsnet 650.
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