(upbeat music) - Can I talk central back in the Kintec Studio, it's Stanricho and Biknizark. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Soarfeet, what are you waiting for? Can I talk central as for Enzine Pacific Vancouver's Premier Chrysler, Dodd-Ramm, and Jeep Superstore on Second Avenue between Cammie and Maine, or at EnzinePacificChrysler.ca. A lot to get to on the program, including the mailbag. Yes, it is a mailbag Friday, so get your questions in. If you haven't already, via the Del Marlumber text message in box, 650, is where you can send some of your extra questions in. Like, who is Bik's favorite all-time player in football manager? Would be a great question. (laughing) People are also like, what the heck is football manager? - No, people know by now. - Yeah. - In 2024, and how much we talk about it on here? - Who's yours? Actually, you don't save it for the mailbag. Let's save it, we'll save it for later. Let's go to the dispatch plumbing heating and air conditioning hotline, the first call, the only call, the first call going to iMac today, Ian McIntyre, the triple threat on radio television, and of course, digitally@sportset.ca. What's happening, iMac? - Not too much, so football manager, you're talking about soccer. - Yes. - Correct, yes. - Or are you talking about an actual video game? - It's basically a computer game where you take, you take the job of a football manager, you run the tactics board, you pick your players, you motivate the troops, you make the transfers, you do the team talk at halftime the whole bit. - Okay, well, I think you just wanna be Pep Guardiola, 'cause he's the best there has ever been. - Why do you think I shaved my head? (laughing) - Good one, Vic, very good. - For me, it's Marcello Leepy, but anyways. - Oh, come on. - For me, it's Sir Alex Ferguson, but no, no, Guardiola is better than either one. - Oh, man. - I thought you would have been and posticon. - And for Alex, it's Scottish. Sir Alex is Scottish. - Correct. - It's me saying something. - Ian McIntyre, you. - Oh, go it. Ian McIntyre is brought to you by Avenue Machinery and Douglas Lake Equipment. So one of the things we were talking about coming up practice today and the comment from Rick Talkett mentioning, you know, some guys gotta get it out of third and fourth gear here as we got only 15 games left in the playoffs. It almost felt like a challenge to some of his players that they need to raise their level as the Canucks, you know, hone in on their playoff posture now that we're less than a month away from the postseason beginning. - Yeah, you know, Rick Talkett, by the way, he's like the gold mother load. If you just followed him around every day, he drops nuggets left and right. And yesterday, the nugget I loved that didn't get a whole lot of attention where is when he said, "I wish we were better on the wall." We have some guys who just aren't wall guys. Let's face it. Can they be five or 10% better and win some battles? I love that. And I also loved that one today about getting out of third and fourth gear. But he's talking, he's so honest in his observations and acknowledging, you know, what's really good about his team and what's not, which, you know, I think is a great trait to have. He's certainly equally honest with the players. And one thing, and I'm trying to think what the instant was, it might have been about a month ago, he was asked postgame about Pedersen and his quote, "Blue up." And people thought, you know, "Is there friction? Is Pedersen upset?" And Talking told me then, which I think is worth remembering all the time. And he doesn't say anything to us that he hasn't said to the players. So if he's telling us that the guys need to get out of third and fourth gear, you can bet he has told them that they need to get out of third and fourth gear. And I think it's all part of, you know, a pattern as we get near the playoffs here, that this team, which as a team has done nothing in the playoffs and even some players, like Quinn Hughes and Thatcher-Demple, will tell you they haven't really done anything this season either. As they get closer to the playoffs, pocket is trying to exhort them to a higher level, to impress upon them that, you know, this surge that they couldn't withstand, for instance, against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period, is nothing compared to what they're going to face in the playoffs. And if they want to be successful, they have to get to a higher level. They have to be in fifth gear, unless you drive a car like Richel drives like a Ferrari and it's got eight gears, but you gotta be more. - I would get in, well, that's pretty good too, but it's not Italian. I am so disappointed in you, Dan. If I could drive either a crappy Fiat or, you know, something really fast and expensive. - Hey, I'll support the Anielli family who also owns Eventus and Fiat anyway that I call him down. There you go. I think this is all part of pocket, you know, trying to impress upon his players to not be complacent, to not think that they've done anything, to not relax now that they have a little bit of a cushion and a leisurely, by NHL standards, scheduled down the stretch here at home. He's trying to push and push and push 'cause he knows. And I think we all do, including the players, that the playoffs are a whole other level. And, you know, if you're struggling in March, you know, to find your game and find top gear, it makes it that much harder in April to be in fifth gear or eighth gear, whatever the top gear is. - Regent and I were talking about the show too. Sorry, before the show, both that comment. That I admire the way Rick Talkett finds a way to say these things in a challenging tone, right? Like we've heard pointed remarks in media from coaches before that almost feel like shots or veiled shots. The way he punctuates these things are very much like, "Hey, the realities for your playing is going to change. "Here's the challenge for you to step up to it." - Well, I think the difference with Talkett and I think most of the really good coaches are this way. But not all, not all, and especially if you go back. In time, when he says things to us, as he pointed out, as I just said, it's not a revelation to the players 'cause he's already said it to them. But what he's telling us is not intended to push their buttons or get, you know, get in their head or make things uncomfortable. And there's been, and again, like especially if you go back, there's lots of coaches who have done that. They say things to make the players uncomfortable. They say things to maybe straight out piss off the player and hope that his player being angry at him is gonna be better on the ice. Talkett's not like that. He's not getting in these guys' heads. He's not playing mind games with him. He's just being honest about his expectations and accountability. And I don't think players like necessarily to hear some of the things that he tells us. But they respect it and they understand it and they appreciate that he's telling it to them, to their face and not telling it to us to get, you know, a message through the media. Like that's where, you know, yes, it works with some guys and a lot of guys will just see through that. And you lose, you lose your credibility as a coach somewhat once the players see through that and think that you're playing games. Talkett's not playing games. He's just being honest. This is the way he is. He kind of coaches to me. It seems he coaches the same way he played, which is what you see is what you get. And it's awfully intense and ferocious at times. - Ian McIntyre, our guest. So I heard you asking about Elias Lindholm today and the availability. And you know, he was on for the tying goal. He obviously had the big giveaway and the lead up to the tying goal for Colorado the other night. And generally his defensive play hasn't been the issue. It's just the offense hasn't been there. And I don't know how you're gonna get or how we should expect the offense to start to come out as long as he's sort of deployed in the way that he is on the third line and not getting power play one time, just as much lately, I think. - No, disagree with you totally, Dan, which isn't the first. - Apart from the course. - This is a talented team. Essentially what you're saying is you can't get offense playing on the third line and being on the second unit power play. And I think that's, well. - Well, I just didn't envision that they got him to play third line minutes and third line deployment. - No, but he played 18 minutes last night. - Yeah. - And I don't necessarily think that they had a preconceived notion about where it was gonna play. They obviously had hoped that something would work with Patterson and Lindholm. And it didn't work with Patterson as the center and it didn't work with Lindholm as the center playing together. So now it's kind of, I think, the natural progression. And in fact, I said early on after the trade that if this team is gonna become the best that it can be, you have to play your best centers one through four. And that's what they're doing now. So back to your point about Lindholm getting offense, he can get a lot more offense than he's had. He doesn't have no goals and two assists in the last 12 games because he's playing on the third line. He needs to, I think what's happened is, and I talked to Lindholm today as well before I talk to Rick Talkett, he has struggled so much offensively and is very aware of that and knows he needs to be better and also knows that coming to a new team he wants to show them his best self and he hasn't done that. So I think what's happened as a consequence, his fallback position is to focus even more on his defensive game. He's already one of the best two-way centers in the league. This is the guy who was a runner up for the Selky Trophy two years ago to Patrice Bergeron who by the way, should have the Selky Trophy renamed in his honor. But that's for another day, that discussion. So Lindholm, because the offense isn't working, because he's lost his confidence that way a bit, he's kind of focusing so much, okay, I'm not scoring, I'm gonna be really good defensively. Well, he's already good defensively, but he's probably been playing too conservatively and he needs to attack and he needs to get his feet moving in attack and joining the attack. I remember one of the things he said not long after he arrived here and I think he said it when he was first put on Pedersen's line, which of course was right at the start. He said, "Oh, my job is to be a high forward, "stay above the puck, let my wingers create "and I'll chip in offensively." You know, that's a paraphrase, but that's what he said. So his mindset is to always be the first guy back, be the guy defensively, and that's great. I mean, that's what makes him such a good center in this league, but he has to have the offensive side as well. And I think he's been focused so much because of his offensive struggles on making sure that there's not defensive struggles as well that he's become too conservative and that the team needs him to go forward more and talk it kind of alluded to that today as well. And as far as, you know, the quality of line mates, Hunter Garland has been one of the best, quietly, one of the best players on this team all season and certainly drives play, has the puck a lot. Basilipod Coles and everybody has talked about how good he has looked since he came back to the NHL, from the AHL, both of those guys will get on the puck, get on the forecheck and come up with pucks for Lindholm, Lindholm has to be willing to come forward and take chances. And yes, at times, take a risk. You know, maybe make yourself vulnerable defensively to go get into an offensive scoring position. And I think that's where he and the Canucks are right now in trying to get his game turned around. - What about the power play getting turned around? - Changes foot or should they live and die by what they have here? - Yeah, I mean, we've seen various combinations. We've seen Ronik, we saw Lindholm on the first unit before Garland got on the first unit. They, you know, there's nobody else coming to help. These guys are gonna have to, gonna have to figure it out. The power play has been, you know, pretty ordinary. As you guys know, it's been pretty ordinary since November. It should be better than it is. I don't know what the solution is. You know, this is something that I think Rick Talkett has to own a little bit. And there's been very few things where I think he could be critical of the coach this season. But, you know, when they let their assistant coach go last summer and Rick Talkett said, well, he's gonna coach the power play and Gonshar is gonna help and the sit-ins are gonna help. But, you know, I think Talkett would own this and he's the coach most responsible for it. So they have a month left here. I don't know necessarily that there's things that they can try that they haven't tried yet. Well, I mean, walk that back. There's always things you can try. I don't know that there's realistic solutions that they can still look for, that they haven't already tried. In the end, it's up to these guys who are top, top players in the league, extremely highly paid players in the league, extremely accomplished players offensively that they've got to find a way to execute and get the puck to the net and get goals. I think, I know that's kind of a cop out answer and it's not very specific about what they should do. But in the end, it's up to Pedersen, it's up to Miller, it's up to Hughes, it's up to Besser, whoever the fifth guy is, it's up to him too, you know, they're just going to have to figure it out. Last one, I know you got to run. But you get five shots to take at the 17th hole at Sawgrass this weekend. How many are hitting the green? It's 137 yards part three. Okay, I'm like getting those five shots in tournament conditions with 5,000 people on that hole watching me and lying down. Absolutely, yes. I'm getting none of them. All right, remove the conditions, how many are you getting anyways? If I was just playing there and it's one of the courses I've been lucky with my bucket list, I've played a lot of great courses. I have not played that one. I would say normal day if I'm just out there playing and no one's around from 147 today. It was playing. That's a nine iron for me. So if it's not windy, I should get, even with the island green, I should get the nine iron on the green, at least two out of three times. I'm hearing those birds in the background and I'm wondering if you're golfing right now. I mean, soundboard or something, that was great. Oh, no, no. But isn't it wonderful? Like suddenly spring is here in my backyard. It's incredible. When I talk to you guys, I find I need to walk. Does it help us to process? This is something I learned about raising boys. I don't want to go off in a tangent here and you're right. I need to get off the radio and get back to writing my story. But there's something in our brains, males process information better in movement. And so when I talk to you guys, I'm walking around my yard and it is just absolutely gorgeous. I'm hearing birds I haven't heard since last fall. So isn't it nice? I'm glad you get that pleasure on the radio as well. - I'm accurate the best. Thanks for this. - All right guys, see ya. - There he is, Ian McIntyre, the triple threat joining us here on Canucks Central. And he joined us via the dispatch plumbing, heating and air conditioning hotline. And also I'm Aq brought to you by Avenue Machinery and Douglas Lake equipment. Be a champion on the worksite, and find them together online at dleamc.com. - I can't believe the birds were-- - Oh yeah, I was like-- - We didn't hear birds for the entire time, but like we talk about golf and being outside and the birds chirp up. - I'm at Augusta, I'm like, what is happening? - I need to get back to my round guys. I'm playing Augusta right now. - It literally sounded like the sound effects of Augusta National where like, you're just hearing these random birds, there's beautiful azaleas around, the grass is so green, it looks like Kryptonite. - Jim Vance starts talking in the background. - Jim Vance is lulling you to an afternoon nap. It's perfect. - Is that why I play with Collapse on Sundays, I'd Augusta in the script tonight? - Pretty much. The island green, it should be an easy shot. Like it's one of the funniest things of golf. - I would get two of five on their round one. - Two of five? - Even if it's like tournament conditions, I'm locked there. - Not just pretty good, it is sports confidence. - It's great, but like every time I do it, so the confidence is right. - Well, I mean, it's to what level have you been challenged though? - So I recently saw-- - I'm realistic about it. - You just said sawgrass, I'll get two of five. - Two of five on the green. - In tournament conditions. - Yeah man. - Well if you miss the green, it's in the water. - Yeah. - It recently popped into my algorithm, the night out that Josh had with producer Vic, and he was tasked of taking 10 pKs on Vic, and scoring four of them, and he did. - Dialed in, just four. - Well I've got confidence in Vic's keeping abilities, but like I apologize, you're not Gigi Buffon. (laughing) - How dare you. - I don't know, after watching the video, I had second thoughts about Vic's keeping ability. - I didn't want to be-- - I shot like, I didn't want to hurt his confidence. - I shot four or five right at him too. Could have been worse. - I didn't want to-- - That seems like you had control over the decision. - I will say, Josh kind of like got in my head a bit, 'cause he's not a soccer player, he doesn't have much experience, so every shot just was curling in because he's right footed, so I was like, oh that's easy to read. But because he talks such a big talk, I was like, is he hustling me, and he's just gonna slot one the other side if I guess too far. So mind games, this guy's good, he's playing 4D chess or something. - 4D chess, that's Josh's game. All right, Dan Reicho, Biknizar, coming up, it is the mail bag. Getting your questions if you have a few extra 650, 650 on the Dunbar Lumber text message inbox. We'll answer them coming up next on Sports at 650. - Big opinions and good bets. It's the People Show with Biknizar. - Be sure to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. (dramatic music)
