Craig Button on the 7-7 Canucks, Tom Willander’s first NHL point and more

Craig Button on the 7-7 Canucks, Tom Willander’s first NHL point and more

Donnie and Dolly. The team is supported by abblections.ca. Closing your business. We can help. It’s Tuesday and all of our guests today, including Craig Button standing by in Nova Scotia, brought to you by our title sponsor, Able Auctions, auctions.ca. Craig Button joining us. Craig, thanks for doing this, sir. TSN scouting director. How are you? I I am great and it’s pleasure to join you all the way from the East Coast. Yeah, you’ve worn some outstanding shirts through the years on our show. This might be the top of the list, Craig. Oh. Oh. Oh, well, thank you gentlemen very much. And and Rick was speechless. The uh uh like that tells me everything I need to know, but I I guess now I have to just raise the bar a little bit higher at some point here in the next little while. We look forward to that. Okay, we’ve received in our uh Bayside Oceanfront Resort inbox several inquiries about this young man. He’s from Langley, plays for the Gina Pats. I believe he’s at the the under 17 challenge that you’re at in Nova Scotia. What can you tell us about 15year-old Liam Pew again from Langley playing for the Vagina Pats? In a word, he’s outstanding and and and he’s a 15-year-old. He Max Schultz was the first overall pick in the BAM draft and Liam Pooh Liam Puh was the third overall pick. They play together. They’re 15-year-old players playing against competition just at the U7 that are majority are a year older than them and and they’re two of the best players here. Liam is is highly skilled. He’s highly competitive and you you watch somebody at that age be able to play the game at at the pace and at the intensity that is required. I mean, you’re you’re looking at a star and and and there’s no question when you start looking ahead to the 2028 NHL draft. You’re going to hear the name Liam Pooh and you’re going to hear the name Maddox Schultz really really early in in in the first couple of picks. I mean, they went one and three in the Western Hike League bantam draft. They could go one, two, two-1 in the NHL draft. That’s how good they are. And and let me emphasize about Liam and Maddox. They play the game hard. They play it smart. And they got an enormous amount of skill. Yeah. Good on the hockey fans in Regina. They get to see Conor Bard for a couple of years and now and now Liam. Good. Good on them. Hey, Conucks over Nashville 54 in overtime. Craig, I I I know they’re probably not going to win the Stanley Cup, but the Conucks are seven and seven. Injury uh riddled. Adam Foot seems to be doing a pretty good job there. Just your thoughts on your your impressions on them having a 500 record. I’m impressed, Donnie and Rick. And I I I think that there’s one thing you can always control. You can control how you want to play as a group and and be be connected. That’s a word we use. But most importantly, how you’re going to compete, h how you’re going to dig in and compete. They were up in that game 4-2 and then you know the the game gets into a tie 44 and they just kept playing and they kept playing and ultimately with very little time on the clock and and Elas Patterson made a great play and and a good example of what he needs to do more of staying on the puck and and he didn’t let himself you know get pushed away. He ended up getting a stick on that puck comes right to Besser ends up being the the winning goal. But but they play hard and they play smart. And I I really believe guys and and I really do is that last year that Abbottzford Canucks team that won the championship, it’s hard to win a championship at any level. And when you watch some of the players that are now on this team for the Vancouver Conucks, like the Conucks are benefiting from what those guys went through that call it the dig in, call it the compete, call it the fire and and that’s what you need. And and and I think the Conucks have done a really nice job of that. Obviously Thatcher Demco back in the net healthy is a is a big boost. Kevin Lankanin is a really good tandem goalie along with Thatcher. Tommy Vlander looks like he he he he’s a keeper now. Quinton Hughes is still not 100%. When I say 100%, I’m talking about 100% in his conditioning and and and playing regularly. But you know, you you you you cannot be anything but impressed with what I call the moxy of this Calgary of this Canucks team. Craig, you mentioned Tom Lander. He didn’t have a great start to the season. We know his skating is elite. We know it’s going to keep him in the league for years, but the offense, you see him carry the puck up the ice last night with poise like Craig, if he can do that more often. I mean, this guy, you know, he he is really playing with a lot of confidence in about the last three or four games. Great. You know, Rick, when when you’re not sure if you belong, you you might play like you’re not sure you belong and and there might be a little bit of tentiveness and a little bit of hesitation in his game. And I’ve watched Tommy for a long time since the time he was 16. If when you watch him at 16, you could see some of what we saw at the beginning of the year, a little bit of like not as assured. And then as time went on, he just became more and more and more forceful. And I think that that’s what you’re seeing. And I Tommy doesn’t lack uh uh confidence, but you got to build your confidence. It’s no different than when when you’re trying to build your cardiovascular strength or your physical strength. There’s a process to it. And and and there’s no question that as you that he that as he sees uh a belonging in the NHL and he sees a capability from his skill set in the NHL, I think that that helps him grow and it’s going to help the banker. Now there I love him. I think he’s a terrific competitor. I think he’s a player that can be a difference maker. And now you start to look at it. You start to look with Philip Heronic and you and Quinn Hughes there. Well, now you got a you got three defenseman, you know, the the other Patterson, the other Patterson, you know, all of a sudden you got five defenseman that like now you got a good blue line and and and and they all have different elements and I think that that really helps the team be successful ultimately. And if Tommy Vander can hold his form, it’s going to be sooner rather than later. Hey Craig, I got to ask you about a local kid from Kquitlam, 18-year-old Ben Kandell. Five goals. I mean, he’s 18. Um, great family sports, M and dad, great soccer players, but he he’s blown everyone away, Craig, this kid. Yeah, he has. And and and we talked about Ben and and we talked about what a good player he was. And, you know, do I think 18-year-old players are ready for the NHL? The vast majority of cases, the answer is no. But you, you know, when you go to camp and you’re given an opportunity and and then you continue to show that you belong and and the tests only become more severe as time goes on, whether it be in training camp and preseason games, he’s played he’s passed the 10 game threshold now in the NHL. And and you’re watching a player that that is showing no signs of not being able to help a team and contribute. I I was in Winnipeg on uh on last Thursday and Saturday for the Pittsburgh game. And Friday I was talking to the assistant coaches, Mike Stuts, Rich Cloon, uh Nick Benino, and they couldn’t stop raving about how smart he is and how well he understands the game. And you know, I asked Rich Cloon, who who came who was part of the Toronto organization for a number of years, I said, “Would it be fair to say you could call him a lowercase Mitch Mner with the hockey sense and just with the size he’s at?” Rich said totally fair to say that and he’s got that type of intelligence. So as long as you’re holding your own and and and he’s he’s more than holding his own. He he is really playing well there. They have him on the power play. They have him play in the middle of the ice. There’s no reason to believe that uh he’s not going to continue on his ways because he he I I think like Tommy Vander he he just keeps building his confidence say hey I can play here and and and now he he’s showing that he can be a contributor there. You you mentioned Nova Scotia, you make regular uh stops in Toronto and your home base is Calgary, but you also said you just spent some time in Winnipeg. Craig, what do you like about the 9 and3 Winnipeg Jets having a great start? Yeah, one of the things I’m I’m a huge believer in this and I I think it’s a tenant of good teams. You run into injuries. Good teams don’t capsize because of of injury. Yes, you you miss those players. Yes, you know, you’re going to be stronger and better when they come back. No Lowry to start the season. No Samberg to start the season. No Perfetti to start the season. Lowry is going to return uh tonight in in LA. And I I you find out that other players can do more. You find out players given opportunity can can fill a hole. Now, you’re going to you’re not going to be able to to compete at the highest level if you don’t have your best players available. We know that. But good teams find ways to win games. And I think that’s been the most impressive thing. Morgan Baron has stepped in. You have Alex Athalo and Vlatty Nesnikov. Just players that aren’t household names. Tanner Pearson’s fit in there nice. And and I just think as time goes on, you you see that that players can fill these different roles. And for Scott O’Neal and the coaching staff, that’s comforting to know to know, not think, but to know that if somebody goes down, okay, this is the fix here. This is where we can put somebody in that in that role. And and I and I’d be I’d be remiss in not mentioning how great Mark Schiffley and Kyle Connor have been, not just offensively, but defensively as well. They’ve been killing penalties. They’ve been taking on a bigger defensive load in Adam Lowry’s absence. Been really good. And with Lowry coming back, I I think it just makes a Jonathan Tas who just keeps steadily improving and and becoming more impactful that much better with the front end uh support with Shaley and the backend support with Lowry. And you know, Mark wants to get that call from team Canada. Very quickly, uh Craig, Matthew Schaefer, we talked about this, I believe, yesterday on the show. Has he been better than expected? I I I don’t think there’s I don’t think anybody could say otherwise. I I think Matt Schaefer would would say the same thing. But, you know, Matt Matt is a wonderful player. He’s he’s a wonderful human being. And one thing that he’s always had is is that he he’s going to learn and he can learn quick player, but he doesn’t try to be a perfect player. He tries to be an impactful player. You you guys like I think you remember Troy Palamalu who played who was a great player for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah. USCers and Yeah. Yeah. And to head and shoulders, right? and he had great instincts for the game. You know, he would do things he would say, you didn’t put that in the playbook. He didn’t draw that out, but he had those instincts that said, “This is the play I got to make.” That’s Matthew Schaefer. And I think Matthew Schaefer with his great skills and those instincts, he he he’s already looking like a surefire superstar for the New York Islanders. We look forward to next week’s shirt, Craig. All the best. Safe travels in Nova Scotia. Yeah, fresh clams here. That’s the best. I could not I might be having them five nights in a row. Wow. Okay. Give us a report next week. Wow. Okay. Okay. You bet. I’m not a clam fan. I’m not a seafood guy. He’s a seafood I’m a seafood guy, but clams, I’ve got a whole I could do a two-hour show on

TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joined the guys and talked about the Canucks 7-7 record after 14 games and Tom Willander’s first NHL point last night.