(upbeat music) Back in on Kid on Central, we're in the Kid Tech studio. Stan Reicho and Bick Dazar. In for Sad again, Sat still out on the IR with an illness. Again, send him his Get Well soon cards at Sat T.R. Shaw. Canucks Central is for Enzahn Pacific, Vancouver's premier Chrysler, Dodd-Ramm and Jeep Superstore on second Avenue between Campion, Maine, or at Enzahn Pacific Chrysler.ca. Let's bring in our next guest. It is Irfan Gefar, joins us every Tuesday. Canucks insider. What's happening, Irfan? - What's going on, fellas? How we doing? - Ah, we're doing well, you know. Try not to overreact to a loss last night, but as you know, it's always hard, right? You ride the rollercoaster of the season and with every three wins, you're planning the parade on West Georgia straight and then after every loss, you're saying, "Ah, this team is junk, "they're gonna be a first round exit." - It's more you, don't say we. - Okay, sorry. I guess it's more me, yes. - Wasn't that what you get paid to do? (laughing) - I guess so, I guess so. - What was your takeaway from last night's game against the LA Kings? - I mean, I really don't want seven games of that series, to be completely honest. (laughing) It's funny, the kid at the door of talks to Ian McIntyre after the game, and he's, I think the quote was telling the longest, is like, they don't make playing hockey fun. - Yeah. - They don't play fun hockey. Something along those lines, but it's very true, they don't. But the thing about the LA Kings is it's something that's worked for them, right? And I think from a Vancouver Canucks perspective, you know, you're unfortunate when your stars weren't your stars. I know Brock scored, I know Quinn got a point, but, you know, J.T. Miller really wasn't, you know, that much there. Elias Patterson, you didn't really notice him at all. Sound lost for the year, I got a beautiful goal, but he's not a star per se. They missed them, go, obviously. He missed the Elias Lindholm. Their face off numbers were basically even, or they were even in the game. So, you know, there's a lot to not like, but this is exactly the type of game that you might have to play to win a playoff series, right? It's gonna be tight, it's gonna be one of those games where you need to fight for every inch of ice and opportunity, and the Canucks just weren't doing that, getting into positions to find themselves as for goals. - Yeah, I guess where my, you know, calmness comes out is, as you mentioned, of what Zadorov said, the exact quote is, it's their goal to don't play hockey and don't let the other team play hockey pretty much. So, I look at that and it's like, yeah, I don't necessarily wanna watch seven games of that, but also if you lose a series like that, that's on percent on you, right? As much as we can sit here and say like, what other other Kings do is difficult to break down. If you can't beat that team, that's like a big flaw in you, more so than anything. - Well, yeah, but the thing is that they've beaten them already, so they've shown that they can do it. Quinn Hughes also said after the game, you know, he said exerting energy on making plays, and it's the plays that he was talking about where when he hit the blue line against the puck, one be one, he beats almost anybody. And then he comes down the board, he beats the other guy too, and you just go into like the hockey IQ, and where Quinn Hughes is so much ahead of other people, is that he's looking up when he as soon as he hits the goal line and there's nobody in front of the net. He wants to put the puck there and there's nobody there. - Well, there's only Kings doers in front of the net. - Exactly, but that's where the frustration was, right? There's no one fighting for space, and even J.T. Miller said the same thing. So there's a lot for them to work on, but it's one of those things where it's a good thing, because you know that these are the type of games that you will be having to play. - It kind of feels, they kind of feel or bring back memories of the wild, 2003. - Yeah, boring. - That's kind of the type of hockey that they play right now. I mean, Bick and I have talked about this. I feel like the Kings have more talent than they are willing to show with this play style, but that's the way they think they're going to win hockey games. So you're not going to change their minds on it at this point of the season. Linderholm's absence was, I think it was felt, I know he hasn't scored much, but you know, missing him in the face-off draw and he just, you know, they have to move pew suiter down in the bottom six. So now you've got Fieldie Giuseppe playing in the top line with Miller and Besser like we saw early in the season and it hadn't worked for a while. That's why they went away from it. And now they had to go back to it because they're short Lynnholm. It just, it's not so much that Lynnholm has had a huge impact offensively, but him being out of the lineup, you know, forced them to make some changes on some things in the top six that were actually working. - Yeah, I mean, look, he's a guy that's going to both ends. He's on the PK. He's really going to face-off, face-off circle. Well, yeah, I agree, you know, Fieldie Giuseppe has to go up to this, to basically what's the top line? And he's been in and out of the lineup all season. And it's a tough position to go into because you want to solidify all of your lines if you're Rick Talkett. You know, you don't want to just have guys up there and then your bottom six being a little bit weaker, you know, with having those guys down there. So, you know, losing one player, you know, affects basically the entire lineup when you really think about it. That's why when I go back to it and there's a lot of people that also feel the same. You know, just needing that extra forward at the deadline, if there was something that they could have done to try and bring another guy in. 'Cause you lose one guy, if it's not Lindom, if it's someone else, you know, there's, you know, the Nils of Mon, you don't have to come into the lineup. You know, there's other players that are there, but it's pretty thin as you head into the playoffs. - So, what do we think about this Lindholm injury? I mean, the Canucks have been so quiet about it and even yesterday, Rick Talkett didn't allude to too much on exactly what the plan is. He's just saying it's day to day. They're going to manage it. We'll see if he has to be shut down for a little bit. It was kind of a little bit all over the place on what the statuses of Lindholm moving forward after yesterday's absence. - Yeah, day to day kind of still remains the tune that, you know, we're hearing, but if you can keep him out again, like, and give him the rest that he needs to heal, I think that's something that they have to consider, right? He didn't practice on Sunday, didn't play on Monday. Obviously, they didn't practice today. That's another day. You know, we'll see if he ends up practicing tomorrow. If you don't play against Dallas, like you don't really necessarily need him. You should be able to take care of business against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday afternoon. And that's like about a week, right? And if it's an injury, that's something that, you know, needs time off and for it to heal, then I think it's something that you need to take a look at. But again, day to day, it's something that they're definitely going to manage and obviously see if it's something that he can play through. I know he's been playing through it for a little while at least. And I think it now is finally the time where they go and look at it and say, okay, you actually do need the rest because we're going to need you in the postseason. - So yeah, like this is all building towards game one of the postseason. And of course, you want him to be at his best then, but when things regress and take a step backwards in the here and now, it starts to run the gears for a lot of people, wondering if a worst-case scenario can develop, but in your mind that that's not going to happen? - No, I don't think so. I think that, you know, if you look at it, these guys are going to want to get back into the lineup completely. I mean, you know, that's your death cause probably going to play some games before the playoffs start. Life's sometimes going to want to get back into the lineup. I think from the connection perspective, I agree with what you said right off the top there, you know, this is all about the playoffs. This is about having your best team at the healthiest they can possibly be come game one. And, you know, that is your focus. You're, you know, President Trophy would be nice and things like that. And locking up the division, you know, is probably, you know, a foregone conclusion unless things go completely sideways. But now it's time to actually get ready for the postseason here. - It's a tough spot for Lindholm, right? He's got 14 goals on the year. He's having a down season offensively. He's an unrestricted free agent in the summer. He's with a new team, new environment. I guess, like, I just wonder, I don't feel, I feel he's built up enough of a reputation as a player, as a two-way player with some offensive upside that his, you know, status as maybe being the top center and unrestricted free agency isn't really at risk no matter what happens here. - Yeah, no, I don't think it is. I think that, you know, there's a team out there or teams out there that will probably pay a lot of money. - I mean, heck, we know the Boston Bruins. We're like, yeah, we'll take them. - Yeah, I mean, do you look at other teams around there, like, they're definitely like that. I mean, I'm not sure that Vancouver Canucks are going to depending on, you know, what is that, what the extension cost is going to be from Lindholm's camp, but, you know, for him, I think it's an interesting conversation to have, right? Like, he wants to play, he wants to do well. You know, obviously, as a player, maybe not just him, but in the back of your mind, you're playing through an injury, you know this is your contract year, you're already having a down year. So much change has happened in your life, both on and off the ice. It's got to be weighing in on you a little bit. So hopefully, maybe this time away, if he doesn't play another game, you know, help him kind of reset himself and get into the right mindset of going out there and, you know, putting up big points and being someone they can completely count on in the playoffs. - And while we're talking about some things that we saw yesterday as well and de-pairing's changed and things kind of getting ready for game one of the playoffs, did you take yesterday's de-pairing's change with Rona kind of sliding down as an experiment or is it something that is maybe more permanent? - I think it's, I think you have, I think for the big talk, it's the luxury that they have right now is that they're so far ahead of the pack they can tinker with things, right? You can take a look at different things in-game to see if you think it's going to work, right? You play that pair against the Dallas, or sorry against the LA Kings, you know, Rona had five shots on that and he was minus one, right? He led the team in shots. So usually the offense was there. I don't really remember too many of the shots to be honest, but the offense was clearly there. He's throwing the puck on that that many times. But I'm not sure. Like, do we think he's a guy that can drive his own pair? And I think that that's the conversation that a lot of people are having in a lot of different hockey circles when it comes to Rona and what his worth is, right? They ask at $8 million, no, absolutely not if you're the Kanak, so I think that that's a foregone conclusion. That's going to not going to happen. But then you get into the number of, can you pay him as much as you're paying when he was right now? Can he drive his own line or sorry, his own pairing? Like, when he does, obviously not the same player at all. But if you're paying a guy that kind of money, you're going to need to be able to depend on him a lot more often than not. It is interesting with the contract. It's now been a few weeks since Patrick Aldin said that they tabled an offer to Huronix Camp on this show. And yet it's been pretty quiet other than more speculation coming from Frank's Arab Valley that the number still starts with an eight as far as Rona's camp is concerned. So is this now just a staring contest between club and player of who's going to be the first one to start negotiating and come down or come up from their number? Wow, with Philip Ronik. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I mean, look, you're going to get to a point where you're not going to want to talk at all because you're getting so close to the playoffs. And that's where your focus should be. But as soon as the Canucks are eliminated from the playoffs and Patrick Aldin gets back down to business and looking ahead to next season, the conversation is definitely going to restart again if it already hasn't, if it hasn't already between the two sides. So I think that the Canucks will have to probably come up a little bit from what they've offered. And I think that they're willing to. I just don't know it's going to be too, too much higher. Is the messaging on this kind of interesting to you? The fact that Patrick, you know, with sat and Dan here said, like, yeah, an offer was made out. And the whole Patterson negotiation was, oh, we're just talking. We're just talking and suddenly things ramp up near the end where it seems interesting to me that they were so willing to be open about the offer being made. Well, I mean, it's a negotiation tactic, right? Just wants you, I mean, from the connet, then the Canucks are in a position of power. Things that we've offered them a contract. Yeah, right. Then it's not, you know, Alan Washington and Phil Roanix can't think, well, we haven't talked to the Canucks. You know, it's been quiet, blah, blah, blah. This, that, and the other, this is the Canucks putting their foot out and saying, okay, yeah, we've offered them a contract not up to them. Yeah, it's an interesting spot. And seeing him with Zadorov and seeing him away from Quinn Hughes, it hasn't, like, it hasn't looked great. Right? But I know what Roanix camp is essentially banking on and it's that our value to the Canucks is that, you know, we get the best out of Quinn Hughes, right? And sure, Quinn Hughes gets the best out of Phillip Roanix, but it's also twofold. The best version of Quinn Hughes has been when Phillip Roanix is his partner and that, you know, that's the bet that they're making, right? That's going to be enough to get the Canucks to come up. And, you know, I'm not sure if it should be, you know, the cap's going to go up quite a bit the next couple of years. Does seven and a half million today feel like it will in two years time? If that's the number you have to give to Phillip Roanix, I'm not so sure on that. No, I agree, but I think that you just kind of answered the question basically there, right? Like, Quinn Hughes, you know, depends on Quinn Hughes and he gives the best version of Quinn Hughes when Phillip Roanix there. But you can't pay Phillip Roanix that type of money to have Quinn Hughes being the best version of Quinn Hughes. Quinn Hughes is obviously going to make a bag in his next contract, but is the next best defense one on your team going to be making $7.8 million after Quinn Hughes? That's the conversation that they need to have, right? 'Cause that's where the number is, probably. You're not going to eight, so seven, five, seven, two, five, seven million in and around that area. I think they can probably get something done on the low seven, but anything higher than that, I think they really have to take a look at it. I know it was sort of said that Canucks are really only going to think about signing guys until... The only way they'll sign guys at this point is if they are able to work out some really team-friendly deals. So it feels as though any contract talks, even for Dakota Joshua or Teddy Blueger type, is it's pretty much all on the shelf until after the season. - Yeah, I mean, if I'm Dakota Joshua, I'm going to get my bag no matter what, to be completely honest. Like you go get your money. - Well, any of those guys want to just wait to the playoffs. If you have a good series, it'll pay for itself. - Exactly, but I think Dakota Joshua's done in off the season where teams are looking at it and saying, okay, if he gets the free agency, you know, they're willing to take a chance on him. - But realistically, like he's got 13 goals. How much is he really worth? Like $3 million plus? Well, that's $3 million, two and a half million more dollars than probably the Canucks are willing to pay him. - Yeah. - Right? - Yeah. - Like I don't think that, and I don't just, I don't think that you can be paying these bottom six forwards three, three and a half million dollars. We've went through that for how many years here? - Yeah. - You need to find value and you need to hope that some of your young prospects can get into the lineup as the contracts for your star players, you know, continue to go up. You look at Brock Besser. I mean, he scores 40 goals this year. What's his next contract look like? - Large. - Man, I don't want to think about that right now. - I mean, just saying. - You're not wrong. You're not wrong. Er, for the best. Always appreciate it. Thanks for this. - All right, gentlemen. Be well. - There he is. Er, fun, good far. I know we're focused on playoffs and playoff matchups and we should be, but it is also still somewhat disconcerting when you go to the Canucks cap friendly page and you see how many UFAs are there. And guys that have played big rules for this team this year that have helped them get to this point. And then you're sitting there thinking, well, how much of this team is going to be back come September? - That's the thing too, is people don't want to see a one and done. - Yeah. - And credit to Patrick Alvene, he's mentioned this in Jim Rutherford, that they don't want to be a one and done either. It's about being repetitive and constantly in the playoffs. And when you go look at the cap friendly page and you look, whoa. There's a lot of red markers there of UFAs. So who's going to be coming back and who signed for 2026 to be part of this team? It's a small number. - And you look at it because of the way most of these guys have played. Blooger, like, yeah, you want to keep Teddy Blooger, but also, do you really want to give him a David Comf type contract? Maybe you'd be okay with two and a half million, but maybe not four years for a guy that is going to be 30 years old. Dakota Joshua sounds like he's going to be pretty expensive. Sam Lafferty, I'm not sure he's one of the guys that they are really-- - That one, I really like the player and he's done fantastic with Sierra, but that one to me is like the easy-- - Yeah, I don't get the sense that they're prioritizing keeping Lafferty. - It's the easiest one to replace. - And then there's Myers, Zadora, Cole. All three of those guys have played huge roles on this team on the back end this year. And we know how hard it's been for this team to find defensement. So, a lot of question marks for the Vancouver Canucks. - Well, it feels like rather than position battles, where we're talking about like priority battles. - Yes. - Who's going higher up in the priority list? 'Cause you mentioned a couple of guys there, we mentioned Lafferty, it's like, okay, that's lower on the list. Honestly, like Ian Cole's probably pretty low on my list too. - Yeah. - Because Carson Soussey, when he's been playing on the left side, and, yeah, I should say-- - Aside from missing line changes. - Aside from last night. - Yeah. Carson Soussey is your Ian Cole succession plan. - Yeah. - Of who's gonna play second line, or second pair minutes. It's Carson Soussey. - Yeah. - He's been phenomenal. So you have that one sorted out. So it's the door oven Cole battling, and right now the door is probably ahead. - Yeah. - The aid profile, and now money plays a big role in this, but if you had to prioritize someone, I'm probably prioritizing Zadora over Cole. - And it sounds like the team is prioritizing Myers over all of them. - Oh, yeah. - Right handed D, man, it pays. - Yeah, pays to be a right shot defensement in six, seven. - I teach your children to be right handed. - Yes. Sorry lefties. - There's somewhere I want to go with this, but I will abstain. (laughing) - I know, I know. - It's Stan Richeo and Bick Nazar. So the Nashville Predators are as of today, now this is probably going to change final 10 games of the season. We'll see what happens, but as of today, the Nashville Predators are the most likely playoff opponent for the Vancouver Canucks. That is the one, if the season ended today, they would line up, I believe, against the Nashville Predators. So it's, I don't love the matchup. If I'm going to be honest with you, like if there's one team, if you're a one seed, what's the team you want to avoid at the beginning of the playoffs? - Well, hang on. - As a generalization, as a one seed, or as a division winning seed, facing a wild card, isn't the last thing you want to play the hottest team in the NHL in the first round of the playoffs? - That's why I want to ask. Are you worried about them being hot? Are you worried about the matchup? I'm more worried about them being hot. - So it doesn't really matter to you that like the stylistic match may be favors Vancouver, who by the way, the three and oh against Nashville this year. - Yeah. - Now mind you, those are ages ago, the Canucks have gotten better since then and obviously Nashville has gotten better since then. - What we have to go off of is the Canucks are three, you know versus Nashville this year and they haven't given up more than two goals in any of those games. And so I want to say it's plus, I think they've scored 13 in those games and given up six. So it's a plus seven on the aggregate reach. - Yeah. - So we love to reference. - Yes. - So like overwhelmingly it's shaping up to be a nice matchup. Now UC Charlotte's just come a great distance from where he was the last match up to where he is now. - Well, Roman Yossi. - Kevin Lankett and played one, at least one of those games. - I'm not worried about Kevin Lankett but-- - No, I'm just saying. You didn't even get Sorrows in one of those games at Rodgers Arena. - But so Roman Yossi is winning the late narrative push for the Norris, whereas Quinn Hughes was the early narrative. - You're getting a hot team, I get it. But matchup wise, I think there's some things that the Canucks can take advantage of. - So who's a better matchup, Nashville or the LA Kings? - This is one reason I wish there was like a three day break. - Yeah. - Maybe it cools the preds off a little bit, rather than if there's a one or two day break. - Yeah. - It just, it falls in line and you just kind of keep that rhythm going. - You don't lose your rhythm. Now look, there's still 10 games to go. Nashville might cool off finally, although they've been-- - Vegas might catch LA going this way for a month. Right now, I would say in this for a couple of weeks, but Vegas looks like the team you'd almost want to play. - So between Vegas, LA and Nashville, Vegas is the team I'd want to play right now. - I might say LA. - You might say LA? - Yeah. - Okay. - Yeah, I know it's grimy and it looks terrible. - Yes. - That team doesn't strike a lot of fear of me. - If that's the way they're gonna play. - And I'll say Nashville. - Look at us. - Nashville. - All three of us. - I know they're hot, but if you look on, you gotta look at the roster, you're like, that's the roster I'd rather play against in the seven game series. - Yeah. - Like, yeah, LA plays a boring style, but. - They play well, they're coached well. Like, Nashville's pretty good. - They are good, but like the Canucks could have lost every game to LA very easily. - Yeah. They could have also won every game against LA. Even the 5-1 game. - I don't know, like the 5-1 game you're like, maybe they took chances that we were discussing in the bullpen, but they lost 5-1. It's like, oh. - I do agree with Sam here. Well, why are you worried about anything? They've been in the first place all year. It's like, I'm not too concerned about any of these teams, to be honest. - Yeah. - If you're a number one seed, you're gonna act like a number one seed. - And also, you gotta beat these teams at some point. Like, just, you gotta play one. - Vegas is the ultimate wild card. I'm not the first person to say this, but with Mark Stone potentially coming back with Tomas Hurdle, he still hasn't played a game for the Vegas Golden Knights, so you don't even know how he's gonna fit in, but, you know, if it all jives and works, they could be very dangerous. You know what? We'll pick this up coming up after the break. Shano Bryan's gonna join us. We'll get his take, former Canucks view of how they're shaping up for the playoffs. That's coming up next on Canucks Central. - Catch up on What Happened in Vancouver Sports with Halford and Bruff in the Morning. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Back into the Kintec Studio, Stan Reicho and Vic Nazar here on Canucks Central. And we welcome in one of our favorites. Former Canucks, missing curfew podcast. It is Shano Bryan. What's happening, Obie? - Bob, thanks for having me. Lots of hockey on the night, so it's a good night to watch the boys snapping around. - Yeah, I know, right? This Washington Detroit game, the Eastern Conference playoff race is just like, I don't know, it's a bit of a snails race. I thought Washington would have been out a bit by now, but somehow they're still hanging on. Obie's found the fountain of youth again. - I'll tell you what, yeah. I almost took the caps at the start of the year to make the playoffs. I didn't have the guts to do it. Then Obie got off to her register, like we said. You know, for them to hang in it, and now Obie seems to go to Blake's bag. I don't know, it'll be interesting to see, like you said, it's kind of a snails race, but I kind of hope the caps get in there just 'cause they're a good old veteran squad. - But we'll leave the Eastern Conference for a little bit later. - No, you don't, hang on, hang on. I gotta put applause on this. Obie, you missed this in the last week. Reach last Monday. - Oh, okay, now I'm gonna get called out over here. - On these airwaves and in podcasts and everything. And said, you know, I don't know if Obie's gonna make the record and then, sure enough, in the last nine days, he's put up seven goals. So he's trying to skate on by on this. - Oh, he looked awful when the caps were in Vancouver. He just looked so slow on this, like, how's this guy gonna get another 60 goals? It seems like too much. Now he's got seven in a week, and he looks fine and dandy. - Yeah, well, obviously he got him going. He obviously listens to your content. So take that as a call for that. But listen, I'm with you, Dennel at the start of the year, and I bumped into a caps man when I was in Scottsdale for the old wasted management. And this guy, he knew a lot of people in the organization and he said that Obie, from the start of training camp, to halfway through the season was hurt. Right up to the all-star break was hurt. Deal with he said something in his stomach or groin or something like that. So I don't know if this guy maybe had his facts straight because since the all-star break, Obie's on healthy, he's looked like he had some jump. Now for his game in Vancouver, I know he enjoys the city from my Vancouver days. I used to see him out on the boat, whatever the caps came and count. So Dennel maybe had the old rocks he flew or something in Vancouver. Maybe he was enjoying the city too much. - It's entirely possible, but he looks pretty good right now, and caps are hanging on in that playoff race. But Canucks are still first in the Pacific, and it looks like they're gonna see this one out as Edmonton's got a pretty big hill to climb. What have you made of the Canucks here? You know, all-star break hit, and they seem to have tailed off a little bit. They're not scoring for fun like they were early in the season. Still getting a good amount of results, but they've just cooled off a little bit, Oops. - Yeah, I think it's a great story. You know, as an extra cannot come, I'm excited to see, you know, the building back. So being loud the way I used to be back in my days, and I've always said about the Vancouver Canucks fans, when you win and put a good product on the ice, there's no better, better city to play in the league. So I'm excited for playoff hockey. It was my favorite time to be a Vancouver Canucks soul. I'm actually going to try to get up their voice for game one or two of the first round-up. I'm not sure we're going to make it happen, but as for the team, listen, that they've held the fort, right? That's your depth goes been hurt. You got to give Casey to Smith a lot of credit. He's coming and played well. You know, like you said, the scoring has cooled off. I love the size on the back end. When I've watched them play lately, listen, I love home lander. I love Connor Garland. But to me, when I look at their forwards, they look small with me up front and come playoff time. That is probably my biggest concern. That and their lack of playoff experience. But to me right now, up front, they look kind of undersized. Actually, I was thinking about you, because you've mentioned many times that this time of the year when the Canucks are heading to the playoffs, how great it is to play in front of these fans. I don't know if you saw the clip of JT Miller's daughter in the crowd and the whole crowd chanting his name and how amazing that look. And I was thinking, like, this is the reward that so many players that have played here talk about. Absolutely. I mean, our building used to be a lecture. And we were lucky, even in regular season, listen, honestly, it was different back then, right? There was more physicality and more fights. I actually probably think people maybe drank a little more at the game. The beers weren't quite as expensive as they are now, but come playoff time in Vancouver, it is the absolute best. And boys, I cannot wait for game one. They're going to have home ice, like we know, for the white towels, New Rock, and to the Canucks fans out there, they don't need me to say this, but get going. It used to be a big time home ice advantage for us. And I just cannot wait to see those white towels. Too many people count in carbs nowadays when they're at the concession stand. That could be it too. We've seen this team, like, Rick Talkett, you know? He's so candid with us. We're pretty lucky to have him here in Vancouver. Not going to lie. When we have him on for an interview, he's always really good. And every day talking to the media, it hasn't seemed to wear him down too much. But he's still giving us good quotes almost after every single game. And he's got this team playing a defensive style. Maybe Vino-esque, I don't know. You could tell us. But he's finally taught some of these guys, like the young guys, Pedersen and Hughes, just how to be responsible on the defensive side of the ice-- or maybe not taught. But he's gotten the buy-in. And when we watch the Canucks play now, they're not the run-and-gun team that they were a couple of years ago. They're hard to break down. They play tough through the neutral zone. That's kind of what the Canucks identity is now. Is there a defensive hockey team under Rick Tockett? Yeah. And I love Tockett. And you mentioned the way he handles the media. I think there's two years or whatever it was, maybe a year and a little bit that he did with TNT. He was so good at it. And I think it made him realize that you can use the media as almost an asset to yourself, right? And Tock's is such a great guy. And listen, there's no BS with Tock. You know where you should. I've got to know him over the last couple years. He's been great team at Mr. Murphy. But since he's coming to Vancouver, even from day one, his first game in Seattle, I think, or second game. He won his first game at all with a new win in Seattle. Got pumped last year. And he just said, this is a good enough. I wish I had more practice time. He's just honest with this guy. And then you have Adam Foote, Sergey Gonshar. Those guys behind the bench as well. But listen for me, boys, it's J.T. Miller up front. Yeah, I took some heat when Borjovall off left tackle. There's some Canucks there. And I'm like, just J.T. Miller's the guy. Trust me. And I think he's the guy up front. But that's for Rick Talkett. I think he's been unbelievable. And listen, that size. And hopefully, Devco will get back between the pipes. I'm sure he will. Would you have Devco in that size in the seven game series? I mean, they're as good as anybody. You were kind of alluding to it a second ago, too, just about, you know, Hoaglander Garland. We just got a tweet from Dave, who's just saying, I don't know if there's any teams in the West that are thinking, oh, great, we get to play the Canucks. Yeah, I mean, I think if you ask the boys in the West, you know, people are probably saying, oh, Vancouver over achieved. And, you know, maybe they're, you know, playing with the house's money and this and that. But like I said, once you get in the playoffs, and you have a league goaltender like Fashard Emko, listen, boys, the West is, it's going to be tough. I mean, if you look at the standings right now, I think Vancouver would play Vegas. That's almost not fair, right? You win the Western Conference, you get the Fenny Stanley Cup champs. So the first round, it's going to be a tough test for them. But I do think they have some speed up front. I am concerned about the size of their forwards, but when you got Fashard Emko in Big D, you never know what could happen in a seven game series. Should we be scared of Vegas, Obie? I mean, they still don't look great, right? And Thomas Hurdle hasn't played yet. We don't know what's going to happen with Mark Stone. I know like their high end can be as good as anybody, and they could go on a run to the cup if everybody gets healthy. But we just haven't seen it for a while. They've been like a 500 team for a couple of months now. Yeah, and then obviously, Aidan Hill got hurt last weekend. So I don't know what's going on with him. It's lower body. I watched that game. It looked like a groin or something to me. I watched the place St. Louis last night. Now, obviously, St. Louis is not a powerhouse team in the West. There was a big playoff atmosphere, but it kind of had that feel of the Vegas from last year, right? Big, strong. They don't have petrol, Angelo back. But I wouldn't want to play Vegas if Aidan Hill's healthy, and they're healthy with Hurdle in there, and Petri Angel, and Hana Finn, and Theodore, and that championship DNA dental, I don't know. I do think they're going to be a tough out. Do you enjoy watching the LA Kings? They're like the easiest skip on the dial every night. And we've had to watch three times in the last 25 days. And it's been so easy to just look over and be like, I don't know if I really want to watch this team. Is it possible to even beat that? Yeah, you know what? All year I've said, the Kings aren't very good. And maybe I should start to reconsider, but I'm with you. I just, listen, it looks like they're going to play Edmonton again the first round for the third year in a row. Another reason of my opinion that it's time to go back to the 1-8. I mean, how many times do you want the same teams to play each other? But I'm not so many LA Kings. I don't love the gold tending, and I don't love their back end. I think I'm funding. I've got good depth and good size, especially down the middle. But you know, you play quantum and gambling on dry soil. I just think their defense and gold tending is going to get exposed. That 1-3-1 through the neutral zone, man. It brings back like bad memories of Jacques Lemair in the Minnesota wild here in Vancouver. Yeah, no, but 1-3-1 is not good for anyone, except for maybe me back in the day when I was out there having to defend people. But if you're trying to sell tickets and get escrow down, the 1-3-1 is not good for that. Yeah, it's been a tough watch with the LA Kings. And I wonder how it all comes together. But at the end of the day, you still look at the Western Conference and Vancouver, yeah, first in the Pacific. But the way Edmonton's going and the way McDavid's plan, the way Colorado's going with Nathan McKinnon, I still feel like Colorado and Edmonton are probably the two favorites for me. Now, for me, I took Colorado at the start of the year to win the Stanley Cup, but a month before the deadline after the all-star break, I wasn't loving the winter playing. And once again, I didn't know if they had enough depth up front, and then they made those two great moves to bring in some big sides and some depth up front, and then bring in Sean Walker on the back end. They look as good as anybody to me right now. I don't know what's going on with my buddy, Gabriel Landeskog. I'm not expecting him to play. But, man, if you could somehow get him in the lineup, he'd be real playoffs, but to me right now, the best team in the West is Colorado. Daniel, but listen, the West is-- it's no joke, man. I mean, it's going to be tough to get out of there, and it's going to be fun to watch. Was there a player that you played with or played a game that you're going to talk about levels start to raise at this time of the year, going into the playoffs and everything like that, that you looked at and said, man, this guy's almost like a chameleon, that for 60 games, he's just kind of chilling. And then the last 20 and into the playoffs, he just a force. Yeah, I'm going to go back to my Kentucky. So I don't know if I would say this guy was a [BLEEP] thing, he's actually having to build up via force. But Kyle Wellwood, I mean, Kyle Wellwood to me-- you know, he's a great regular season player as well, but don't get me wrong. And I think he was probably our third ententers through most of my two years of Vancouver. But come play off time. Well, he would get to that. He'd get to those dirty areas. He'd be great in the face off circle. He'd always have a cot on his face, a black guy. Get hit with a stick or puck. Kyle Wellwood to me off the top of my head when I think of my days of Vancouver was a guy that I do come play off time. And he was your step in game up. I can guarantee there's not a lot of people that we're expecting that answer for Kyle Wellwood. But we were kind of sizing up some of the potential opponents. And you mentioned Vegas is a potential opponent for Vancouver, the LA Kings. But even Nashville, your boy Ryan O'Reilly, he's got them going pretty good right now, that Nashville team. Since they got taken away from that U2 concert, they're the best team in the league, Obes. Yeah, no kidding. By the way, I love U2 and I know the spheres that you think. But if I've been Vegas, I would have been happy to cancel the mandatory concert because I would have had a few other things up my sleeve. Listen, I love the fact that he ran O'Reilly. I picked Nashville at the start of the year to be Wild Card 2. I did not see this coming all the run that they're on. I think you've got to give credit to Andrew Burnett as well. We saw what he did on an interim base with the Florida Panthers. He's come in there and put his touch on his team. But anytime you bring Ryan O'Reilly into your dressing room and people can be around him and watch his work ethic, and watch the details, and watch how he works off the ice. And the Mojoi brings to his dressing room. You know that I'm a big believer in the dressing room and the way guys get along and bleeds on the ice. I think that's what's going on in Nashville. And it's a great city. I mean, when you play there, the fans are great. The city's always buzzing. And when you win, it's even better. I was there a moment in your career where the coach had to pull the veto and say, guys, can't go do this. I don't-- I mean, the only coach to ever give us curfew in my career that I can remember is Joe Socko gave us curfew on New Year's Eve, too. We lost a lot of the stinkers to someone and he gave us curfew on New Year's Eve, which rattled me because I had everything lined up for the boys. But I can't remember a coach pull the plug. I can remember the coach taking away a day off, right? You're supposed to have a day off. You play a bad game. A/V did that to us a couple times. And as a player, that stings. When you have your day off and you think no matter how you're going to play that night, you're going to be able to rack relax next day. You've got to come in. That stings. But whatever-- it obviously worked. The boys didn't get to see this year, but they've been humming ever since. So Bick and I were kind of discussing this while we were watching the game last night. But right now, Sydney Crosby, I guess the Penguins are winning. But it looks like a tough situation for Crosby. Does he need to be rescued from Pittsburgh for the final couple of years of his career here hopes? Yeah, it's a great point. And if you're Kyle Dubas-- listen, I was hard on Kyle Dubas when he was in Toronto. But now he's put himself in a situation of where he may have to be the guy to trade Sydney Crosby, right? It's obviously up to Sid. Does Sid want to play his whole career for one city? Like Stevie Y did, like Ryan Getlove did, maybe he does. But if I'm said, he's still so good and could help a team get over the hump for Stanley Cup. And off the top of my head, I think, imagine you went to Colorado and played with McKinnon, who they work out together. They're boys from Nova Scotia. Listen, Kyle Dubas is a tough situation. And I would want to be the guy that's to figure out the Sydney Crosby situation. But he's getting paid very well. And he's going to have to be the guy to figure that out. Hope so. We always appreciate the time. You're the best. Hopefully, we'll see you up here for a playoff game. If not, we'll be listening to "Missed and Curfew." Thanks, boys. I appreciate you. Thanks for having me. There he is. Shane O'Brien, ex-Kanak joining us here on "Kanak Central." And you can also listen to him on the "Missed and Curfew" podcast with one-time PTO, Kanak, Scotty Upshaw. Wasn't he, like, going on the trip to China? And then he got a contract with the St. Louis Blues or something? Yeah, like that. It was an interesting time. But nonetheless, the Sydney Crosby need to be rescued. So you brought this up to me last night during the game. Well, I was watching the games on Sunday. Yeah. And they were flying for 36 minutes. The penguins were, yes. Against the abs, it was going great up for nothing. They look great against the abs. And then the next 24 minutes, it all came when done. Four goal lead vanished and fast. Yes. They were up for nothing. Sean Walker scores 16.05 in the second period. And abs go on to win the game. 5.4 on OT. Yeah. And it was just-- like the first he played a role in all four goals, and you're thinking, man, this guy's still a stud. Now, who's on the ice for some of those goals against, too? But he was so spectacular. And I couldn't help but think of, like, you can't-- He's been so spectacular. Like, you can't rely on your teammates? If the penguins were to make the playoffs, Crosby would have a shout at the heart trophy. Yeah. And should have a shout at the heart trophy for how he's carried this Pittsburgh penguins team around. But their fourth last in the east. Yeah. And I'm looking at this. It doesn't look like it's going to get prettier for the penguins. How? Yeah. Where? Where's the cavalry coming? They spent all of their capital. Like, they had so much cap space last summer, and they spent it all on very mid-players. Riley Smith and-- Yeah. Ryan Graves. Ryan Graves-- yeah, it just-- it hasn't worked. And I don't know what the solution is moving forward. And I just couldn't help but think. And I don't know if we joke about it some time, so far. Oh, it gets Sydney Crosby. But that one on Sunday was just devastating. I don't-- can anybody else make play here? I don't want to live in a world where Sydney Crosby doesn't play another playoff game. And that reality is emerging. Yes. And I like to do this thing, too. Especially at this time of the season, you start looking at the players that aren't in the playoffs. Yeah. Well, what players are we missing out a season of their career on? That this guy's not going to play us. I look in the west, nobody from San Jose I'm too concerned about Chicago. Like, Baddar, just a rookie. He'll have plenty of times. Anaheim, Arizona, Seattle, there's nobody really there. Calgary, not really. Maybe Markstrom, but like-- Caprizov. It's Caprizov in the west. That's the only player in the west that I'm like, this guy's a bona fide star. Yeah. And those guys deserve to be in the playoffs. Yes. So it's only Caprizov in the west. In the east, maybe a Rubenski, but Columbus is such a mess. We're Ensky's falling off quite a bit. Maybe Brady could check out Ottawa, the Sens. Yeah. Somebody might rescue Brady could check this summer. Rasmus Darlene. Rasmus Darlene. But he's still young. Yeah. These guys will have their day. Jack Hughes, he's been there. He's will have his day moving forward. The two guys I thought of crossed me in Barzell. That's it. And Detroit, I really want Dylan Larkin to get there. Yeah. But I don't know. I don't know if he's in the Barzell category for me. Larkin has a gear that gets him into the elite tier. When he's in that gear, he's just not often like he's in a he's in a lower gear most of the time. But when when Detroit was here last season, he had that big game and he was my god. Fantastic. So good. But the two guys I look at, it's like Barzell and Crosby. And their situations don't look like they're going to improve at least with Larkin. It looks like it's improving. You wouldn't save Bo Horvat from the New York Islanders. playoff bow. He had 10 goals that one year. I mean, Matt Barzell's been a fantastic player. Yes. I don't even need to get into the art video. No. Matt Barzell's an unbelievable player that can put up on a 90 point season if he didn't play with the New York Islanders. Matt Barzell might be one of the more underrated stars in the league because of his situation with the New York Islanders. I know he's gotten a little bit more love this year. Look, Aquitlin's very own hasn't had enough of an opportunity to shine in the way that he could. But every other team, you look at that, that's in the playoffs. You think, oh, yeah, like this guy deserves a shot at the cup and I'm looking at Sidney Crosby. I'm looking at Matt Barzell and I don't see how their situations are going to improve moving forward. The Islanders have so much money tied up to bad players, well, not just bad players, but like money that's tied on the wrong side of their career. How about that? Players on the wrong side of their, you know, of their primes and they aren't making the playoffs. And it's the Anders Lee's of the world, the J.G. Pajos of the world, even the Poulox. Yeah, I like those players, but they're 29 now, they're the next season, they're only going to have an add the same impact as when they signed their pass. And it's just tough to overcome that. Paul Meery. I don't see any world where Sidney Crosby is and the Penguins ever become a Stanley Cup contender again. Like they're not in this current iteration of the Penguins. They're a distance away from wildcard. Yeah. They're a distance away from out. Like even for them to get into a wildcard spot at this point is almost a pipe dream. You know, like they have work to do to stay 500. They are further away from the postseason picture than they are getting back into the postseason picture. And that means beyond this season. So what do you do if you're Sidney Crosby? As Obie said, it's his decision. If he wants to ride it out into the sunset with the Pittsburgh Penguins, that's what he will do. If he says to Kyle Dubas and the Penguins, I'd like to go somewhere where I could potentially win, then that's a whole different ball game. We'll find out this summer. If he signs a three year deal to stay with the Penguins on July 1st, then we'll have our answer. He's going to ride out into the sunset as a Pittsburgh Penguin and be a one team only guy. But for me, with the way he's playing, I want to see more games of Sidney Crosby and the playoffs in big moments. We'll at least get that in the Olympics. I hope it just not as believable because of the 10 year there that maybe he just stays in Pittsburgh. You can totally understand it. Barzell is the one I look at and I just say, the young player in his prime still, dude, we got to get you out of there. Somebody save Matt Barzell from the New York Islanders. All right, coming up, we're going to get to more on Canucks Central as in, do the Canucks have a potential 50 goal guy on the roster? A lot of talk about Sam Ryan Hart and Zach Hyman lately. Is there somebody on the Canucks roster that can reach that milestone, that reach that plateau? We'll get to that and some other stories from around the league. It is Canucks Central. Dan Racho, big desire back for one more segment on Sports at 650.
