Halford & Brough in the Morning - Micah Parsons Has Been Traded

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason get NFL.com writer Nick Shook's (7:00) reaction to the Dallas Cowboys trading the league's best past rusher in Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers, plus they talk Hockey Canada's Olympic orientation currently underway in Calgary, as Sportsnet's Eric Francis (26:10) joins the show from camp. 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.

It's the gilphing in the background that really makes it in the background that really makes it. We are really back. So back. Fiesta Friday. Yeah. Adog's already posted a video onto social media, me talking about Elias Pedersen. Yeah, but you sounded positive and people are surprised.

Who is this guy? I was doing my best to be positive. Yeah, you're like, this is very odd. Pete, he's jacked, rough is compassionate, left is right, up is down. What's going on here? You know what I'm looking forward to, by the way? If Pedersen comes back and is amazing, is like people saying that I was wrong.

You're looking forward to that. He showed you. Like, no. Because he's, like, all I wanted to do was put in the work and come back and be at the level that we've all seen him before. I just look forward to the tweets every time PD scores, it'll be like, cry harder, bruff. But like, why would I, why would I want him to fail?

This whole thing has been driving me absolutely bonkers. There's going to be a meme, and it's going to be, Elias Pedersen and Evander Cain shaking hands and then underneath it's going to be hitting bruff shaking hands Together we're defeating him But like you know what I mean I know exactly what you're saying

If they prove you wrong That's great for the team It's great for the team No but you're not you don't get it What have I made of in terms of predictions about Pedersen I just all I've done is point out That he's been not good for the last year and a half That's it

Yeah And I've been critical of him. Yeah. So if he comes back and plays well, does that mean he actually was playing well last season? Oh, so ultimately, by proving you wrong, they'll be proving you right. Yeah, well, in some ways, honestly.

And that's the important thing. So the people would be like, oh, bro, if you were wrong, I was like, oh, so he played well last season and he was really good in the playoffs against. I like this angle. And if he falters, you can be like, ah, see, oh, there's something wrong, I told you. No, I won't be.

I'll just be, I won't do that. I'll be like, man, we're really in trouble now. We won't gloat about it. The whole reason this criticism started was because we've seen him play at such a high level, and then he so badly fell off.

He so badly fell off. We're very, very, very off track now. You're going to need to tell Nick shook we're going to be late. It's 704 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Halford Brough, SportsNet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning

is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. visit them online at sands dash trustee.com. We are an hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to by Jason Hominoch at jason. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Visit them online at jason.orgage. We are coming you live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. Okay, to the phone lines we go. Our next guest is the owner and proprietor of AJ's pizza, the driving force behind the $100 gift card for Ask Us Anything Friday. AJ joins us now on the Halford and Bruff. Show on Sports 9-650.

What up, AJ? What is going on? I have some rapid-fire questions for you since we haven't spoken in so long, okay? One, as a Dallas Cowboys fan, who are you more upset with? Jerry Jones or Micah Parsons? Michael Parsons. As a New York Yankees fan, are the Yankees going to catch the Jays and win the AL East? They are.

As a international traveler. So he's over to. How is it? excited are you to go to New York next week to watch the U.S. Open and the Jays take on the Yankees. I am very excited.

I'm very excited for both. Yeah, the Yankee game's game's going to be great. Open's going to be awesome. So, yeah, lots of fun. I was watching the open late last night. So the match that I was watching was Tommy Paul and, oh my God, I forget. Oh, Noorges, a Portuguese player.

The match ended at 1.45 a.m. at Eastern time. I didn't realize this, but after midnight, they just give up with crowd control and you can go sit wherever you want to. It's great. It's such an underrated sporting event. It's great.

Okay, and finally, and stretch your legs on this one, this isn't a quick answer one, but tell us everything as the owner and proprietor of AJ's Pizza on, he's Broadway. What's going on with AJ's next door, both a liquor license is all sorted out, and what's going on this weekend? Because there is a bevy of college football

and a lot of other sports to watch this weekend. Oh, exactly. I mean, the Jay's Brewers, College Football, plus if you come to the new side, it's $20 bar pies and $5 cans of beer. Beautiful. I mean, 20 ounce, but you can't beat it. But only on the new side and the whole entire weekend.

And that is going to start tonight, Friday night, and I go all the way through to Monday night. So will you be joining us next week from New York? I will be. Okay, beautiful. I look forward to talking to you then. enjoy the week, enjoy the weekend. Everyone go by AJ's, drink beer, eat pizza,

check out the new side. And when we do this next week, we'll be teed up for the U.S. Open and for that Jay's Yankees game. I'm jealous of you, buddy. Right, you guys have a wonderful weekend. Yeah, you too. Thanks, dude.

That's AJ from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway here on the Halford & Bruff Show on Sportsnet, 650. We are rambling and moving along here. A quick reminder now that we spoke with AJ. Get your ask us anything's in, hashtag him, A-U-A, put a pizza emoji into your text. The best ask us anything

It's a $100 gift card to AJ's pizza on East Broadway. Andy is currently getting our next guest. It's going to be Nick Shook from NFL.com in a moment here. We booked Nick earlier in the week. We had no idea. Oh my God, I forgot to ask AJ. I forgot. That was the whole point of the entire thing.

An hour before the trade yesterday, AJ texted me and said, just so you know, Jimmy Aces says that Parsons trade is done. I'm like, okay, great. Like, perfect. Like, sure. whatever didn't think any of it went back to sleep woke up an hour later the mike of parsons trade was done jimmy aces it was weird when he texted that because like i never hear him called parsons yeah just i was like parsons jim parsons i was like oh mike parsons right yeah yeah yeah that's

one of those names are you need they need them both actually that's a good point yeah you need them both yeah it can't just be like parsons it sounds like the weather guy for more on the Parsons trade. Let's go down to the phone lines. Our next guest comes courtesy the Power West Industries hotline, Nick Shook from NFL.com. joins us here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sports 9 650. What up, Nick? Hey, guys. Nah, a pretty eventful day yesterday. You know, just a little bit. It's funny because there was rumbling, right? This had definitely been in the work for a couple of days. It was worked on quietly, but it was something that, you know, those kind of new.

we're bracing for. And, yeah, it definitely came at a time in the day where, kind of in that news dump window almost, but sent shockwaves through the football landscape as expected. And I think we'll continue to be discussed. Luckily, we're essentially on the eve of week one, but it'll be discussed over the next week. It delivered in a bit of news dump fashion,

but definitely commanded the spotlight. I mean, you're watching a much sports center last night after the Nebraska-Sincinnati college football game, and it's the lead story. And, you know, you could break it, you could slice it about five different ways, but it's shocking nonetheless. So we played the Jerry Jones audio.

We didn't do the full 11 and a half minutes of uninterrupted Jera. We cut it down to about a minute 30, really zoned in on the point that he seemed to make at least the most sense in terms of logic, where he felt like they needed to stop the run and they were going to get a run stuffer on the interior defensive line and he had some other reasons about

how they could mitigate Parsons' his pass rush because teams could run the ball against him, yada, yada, yada. Did you buy anything Jerry was saying yesterday about that being the reason why he traded Micah Parsons or was this purely personal? No, I didn't buy it because no matter how you look at it from a football

perspective, this guy is legitimately a walking future defensive player of the year. He's a three-time all pro in his first four seasons. He almost won defensive player of the year as a rookie. He is a game wrecking force that you just don't see. He is a generational player. He is somebody who has proven over his first four years that he can make one play that completely flips a game in the Cowboys favor. That's somebody that you have to account for at all times, regardless of whether

you're running or throwing the ball. If you're running, you're running away from him. If you're throwing the ball, you're dedicating two plus guys to blocking him. And none of that, I guess, matters enough to Jerry to keep them because the contract, you know, they could never get the contract done. There's a lot of strange details to this. Like the idea of not involving the agent when trying to make an offer, just the way this all was handled, it just doesn't make a ton of sense. and most importantly, the fact that he's trading away this type of player.

I don't care what type of haul you've got. I don't care what the Herschel Walker trade did for you in 1989 and in the future years. This just didn't make sense to me from a football perspective. And, yeah, he had a bit of a point in the fact that they needed to be able to stop the run. But there are different ways to do that. Trading Micah Parsons for two first round picks and Kenny Clark is not how you do that. It's just that's the nuclear option that was unnecessary. area. I just, I can't believe it. And I think a lot of people, you know, remain shocked because we live in this world now.

And I'm definitely one of those people that was at least initially surprised. We live in this world now where trade requests are usually, you know, kind of taken with a grain of salt or, you know, casually because ultimately players get done. These deals get done. Terry McClorin, Terry Hendrickson, Miles Garrett. T.J. Y. W. didn't request a trade, but, you know, it was trending in that direction. So you're all players that got paid this year in semi-siller situations. And the best player out of all of them, no offense to Miles Garrett, but Michael Parsons is younger, gets traded. It just, it still doesn't make a lot of sense. No, Nick, you're right about that because there's a script to these things, right? Like there's the holdout and then the, and then the agent will leak to someone who will report, you know, like, well, we might get a trade might happen. or maybe the team leaks the information,

but it's kind of a dance that they do and then it gets down to the final day and something gets done. And that's why everyone assume this would get done as well. And also because it's Micah Parsons and like, what are you doing, training away him? I do wonder if Micah Parsons kind of sleeping on the sidelines in that preseason game,

do you think that it's possible that that was, that was significant in this whole situation like Jerry Jones might have seen that and said like no I'm not being shown up like that we're trading him yeah I kind of had the same thought

you know it's there's controversy over whether he was sleeping or not but just the the body language itself wasn't good and that's that kind of what adds that's what just makes the same continue you know more more strange is I mean I think about the shots of him you know walking out on the

practice field in his like his sauna suit jacket or whatever it was weeks ago at training camp. The fact that there were daily attendance reports on him, you know, him walking around street clothes, but wearing his practice jersey, that's like college or high school football stuff that they were kind of both subjecting him to and that he was also, you know, forcing on them because by not participating. But I agree. I think that was probably the bad book that maybe, you know, spurred this trade. Well, never now because we'll never get the full story on why, especially with, you know,

Jerry yesterday talking about how this was not a move that was, this wasn't anything vindictive or anything like that. This has been in the works since spring. But from a football perspective, guys, there's just, I don't care how you try to present it as this gives us an opportunity to rebuild. It just doesn't make sense. You don't trade away that guy at his age and expect it. And only for two first round picks, I thought he would fetch more.

Deshawn Watson, fetch three, okay? And by the way, it's the Packers who are a playoff contender, and especially Willey with Micah Parsons. Those ticks aren't going to be in the first or near the, even the middle of the first round unless catastrophe happens in Green Bay. So, you know, how valuable do they end up being, not nearly as valuable as you'd like? So, yeah, from the football perspective, I just, I can't.

I mean, Kenny Clark's a great player. You know, he's been a great player over the course of his career. He's 29 going on 30, and his cap number rises over the next two years. years. You just can't explain it to me from a football perspective. I'm sorry. We're speaking at Nick Shook from NHL.com here on the Halford and Brush Show on Sportsnet 650. We do need to talk about what this means for the Packers. I know the focus, and rightly is on the Cowboys because of how the relationship broke down and, you know, and Jerry Jones, obviously. But what this does for the Packers, at least from a betting perspective, is vaults them into contention for the division and

their Super Bowl odds increased as well. You know, I don't think anyone doubts that Parsons is a superb talent, and you've kind of suggested that as well. And I've heard some people say that he might be the best pass rush over the last 20 years in terms of raw natural ability. And we talked about the historical context of the Herschel Walker trade. A lot of people are saying from Green Bay, this is Reggie White 2.0. So with all that said, how profound an impact is this going to have on the Packers this year in terms of being a Super Bowl contender?

If you think about the Cowboys, it takes them out of consideration for a lot of people, right? I already had them out of consideration, by the way, because I didn't like the way that they operated in the offseason outside of Parsons. The Packers, I mean, you would think it instantly vaults them, you know, up the leaderboard or towards the top for contender because it's a, he's a game-wrecking talent. Having said all of this, though, you know, football is still an 11-on-11 game,

and there's head questions about the Packers. And maybe it was defensively for most people. You know, Jeff Halfley's in his second year's defensive coordinator. They did, you know, round into form kind of in the back half of the season last year under him, but they lacked pass rush. Like, that was probably the weakness, if you looked at them, was pass rush. Their willingness to, you know, move on from Jay or Alexander at a corner, definitely put some, you know, question marks on the secondary as well.

Not on the entire group, though. But you had Parsons opposite to Rashon Gary, and suddenly you've got a hell of a one-two punch as a pass-rushing duo there. and it makes people pay, you know, a lot more attention to you and give you, you know, more prestige, more expectations going into the season. So, yeah, I mean, it's instantly going to make them better, you know, rushing the passer, obviously. It's going to, you know, give them more options than what they could do. It's probably going to free up Rashon Gary to have a good year, which, you know, statistically he's had good years, but he wasn't quite the same guy over the last year. so in that defense and ultimately I think it also frees up you know some of the other players that

are at the second level that that I'm excited about you know last year's you know sensational rookie who was limited by injury but was clearly an excellent player by the end of his rookie season which is edge Cooper yeah the idea of having Michael Parsons edge Cooper rashon gary all in the same group I mean that's kind of scary that's kind of scary so I think that they're they feel as if they are, you know, one step away and that now is the time to go all in. And again, honestly, I don't think they're going to miss those two first round picks that much, especially when they're coming, if they expect it on the back end of the first round. So it's, it's going to make them into a much better team. The weird thing is

that I kind of didn't expect as much from them as I did last year because they're in such a tough division. Yeah. But I'll tell you what, now, you go play JJ McCarthy a couple times, you go play Caleb Williams a couple of times, even Jared Gough. You know, Michael Parsons coming off the adjad. It's going to get a little hairy for those guys. Apropos of nothing, actually, the engagement, but how are you feeling about the, how are you feeling

about the Chiefs this year? I think that people are very down on them because they're, you know, still riddled with Chief Sateague and they believe that they can't move the ball down the field explosively anymore. I feel very good about the Chiefs this year. And maybe I was one of those people

who, you know, I don't know if you would call me a shill or some sort of Chief's Apologist last year. But look, Patrick Mahomes statistically didn't have a great year. But I spent time and I think I spent time with you guys and I spent space on the internet trying to explain to people that if you watch him on a per play basis, he's still having a very good season. It's just not the gaudy numbers that you come to expect from the chiefs. I feel bad for Patrick Mahomes sometimes. Not because of his life situation. You know, he makes millions of dollars. He's the best

quarterback on the planet probably or one of the best. Everything's in his favor, right? But I feel bad for him because he had such an explosive start to his career that that is now the standard for him every season and it gives him no room like he there's no way that he's going to please people unless he throws for gaudy you know passing yards totals and and he also you know a lot of those coming 70 yard bombs just he did that with tirey hill a lot and that's just not the way the chief offense has trended in the last few years I will say all of this to tell you that I think it's going to go back in that direction this year and and a lot of it is because of you know additions of guys like Taekwon Thornton, you know, a speedy receiver who never really found

himself in the right opportunity earlier in his career. I think he's in the perfect place of the Chiefs, and if you're going to take advantage of that. Something about this offense just makes me feel a lot better. They got time to get healthy. Yes, they're not going to have Rashid Rice for, you know, six games because he's suspended, but they also, by the way, have Xavier Worthy, and Judy Smith-Schuster even looks pretty healthy as, you know, a guy who's not going to stretch the field, but be a reliable target for them. So, look, I know it's free season, but when they came out with their starters and played a couple drives in week three the preseason I was like

oh baby the chiefs are on a mission this year even though it's the preseason I just feel a lot better about what they're going to do offensively than I did in years past and especially over the last couple years and I think people will come to realize that you know eventually not maybe not in the first month or so but eventually they'll come to see that

who do you think will lead them in receiving yards hmm that's a good question that's a tough one sorry yeah I mean probably I would say worthy because the thing is like Worthy was very hit or miss last year because the only real skill he had coming to the NFL was the speed and they didn't take a lot of shots and they would just take one randomly every few games and but by the end of the year he was making a big

difference they also have Hollywood Brown there by the way who's dealt with injuries and everything I have a hard time you know putting a lot of stock in him just because of the way his career's gone ever since he left Baltimore so I'm just oh god that's tough it's been Kelsey for the last yeah but last year he kind of started to show signs

of his age last year oh god that's difficult but he got rid of all the distractions so he'll be fine this year yeah yeah you know I mean he picked out the ring

and here's the thing he picked out the ring before the season that's right so you know that's a great move for him I don't know who to pick here I guess so he could go Kelsey

okay a couple more we'll go up against it for time a little bit here I was reading one of the article zero friend NFL.com talking about

Justin Fields in New York and the Jets General Manager believing that he can be the next comeback quarterback like Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, who have sort of set the narrative now for guys to bounce around before figuring it out. Do you believe that Fields can follow in the footsteps

of Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold? I felt like Darren Moody the GM in the Jets organization was backed into a corner with that question. Yeah, and answered accordingly. Yeah. And I kind of felt bad as I was writing it and just like reading and listening back to what he said. I was like, oh, God, I don't, like, this is not fair to him.

It's going to be tough. There's very little evidence from Justin Fields in the preseason to go off of. I mean, through nine total passes, he could have four of them. So, and it's a new system. And Tanner Inkstrains, you know, talked positively about him and everything. That's all great. But, like, there's just so many unknown things with the Jets. I do know this.

They've invested in their offensive line a lot over the recent. and years. They got two very good running backs in Brees Hall and Berlin Allen. They got Gary Wilson out there. And I really like the way they approach their draft. And they have adults in the room now. I don't know if that's going to produce results immediately. And I don't know how much field is going to try to take over the game and lift them, you know, to success. But I think he's in the most stable situation. He's probably been in his career. Yes, I'm including Pittsburgh last year because Russell Wilson, you know, took that job back. And maybe that'll help him. But this is his last shot. So if he's going to do it, he better.

Nick, this was great, bud. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We really appreciate it. We will get caught up next week, either on Thursday or Friday, when we finally get to talk about some real live NFL action. Thanks, bud. All right, thanks, guys. Talk to you next week.

Yep, thanks. That's Nick Shook from NFL.com here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650. That was a tough question I gave to him. Who's going to leave the Chiefs in receiving yards on August 29th? Yeah, it's the tough one. He's the best in the biz. Well, it's been Kelsey. Like, even last year when Kelsey was only,

only of just over 800 yards he led the team Kelsey was as the kids say buns last year or cheeks you can use the other one he wasn't good I had to be fantasy buns I've never heard that

that's a thing yep you can use it if you want Which kids are saying this? Ass Which kids are saying this The youths The youths Yeah he was buns man

Yeah he's cheeks so cheeks You don't have to emphasize it so much Yeah we don't need A surfer talk either. Oh, bro, he's cheeks. End of this segment's been cheeks. Yeah, they're kidding. Your delivery is buns.

Okay, we got to... Honestly, no cap. No cap. No cap. No. Okay, let's reset. It's the midway point of the show. We're going to go to break.

When we come back, we're going to dive back into the hockey talk. You want to say something? No, no. Keep going. You want to say something? No, I don't. What is it that you want to say? Nothing.

Nothing. They're out of your system now. Who's coming up next? Eric Francis. He's suss. Eric France suss. A joke was sitting right there. Eric,

we have to worry about Team Canada's defense being little buns in the Olympics. Eric Francis is going to join us from Calgary. Who knows what hijinks will ensue? You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet, 650. This is as close to license music as we can get. What's going to say? Feels pretty licensed.

I wonder how much creative liberty you can take with. Like a folk song, a historical, traditional song like this. I think it's all public domain now. after a certain number of years. Like, is Labomba belong to anybody? I don't think anymore. I think it has to be around for like 80 years and then it falls into public domain.

You made that up. No, there is a... There is... He made the number up, for sure. There is... It's between 60 and 80 years, I want to say, before it becomes public domain. Is Merry Christmas public domain?

Yes. Anything that's that old, like, happy birthday and that kind of stuff, it's public domain. Okay. Or almost, like, all classical music, for example, like, we could play Mozart if we wanted. We wouldn't get in trouble.

I like to think that if you just play it poorly and off key enough That makes it your own I like Mozart Mondays I like the way you're thinking There we go It's a little elevated for this crowd Is La Bamba Public Domain

The song itself The traditional folk song Dates back to at least The 17th or 18th century That's up for grabs Then yes it is You are listening to the Halford and Brough show

You're learning a lot this morning By the way, we're going to do what we learns at the end of the show. Get them in now. Hashtaget at WW. Dunbar-L on our text line is 650, 650, 650. Halford and Brother of the Morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com.

We are in our two of the program. With the midway point of the show, Eric Francis is going to join us from Calgary in just a minute here. Our two of this program is brought to by Jason hominock at Jason. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you, visit them online at jason.mortm, to the PowerWest Industries hotline we go. Eric Francis, Flames reporter, and Canadian Olympic reporter joins us now on the Halford & Brush Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Eric, how are you? I'm great, boys. How are you? Good to hear from you.

Yeah, it's good to hear from you as well. We're going to thank you for taking the time to do this today because your boots on the ground right there for all of the Canadian Olympic news coming out of Calgary, although the biggest news that's come out of Calgary, is about that guy that plays for Edmonton and what his contract future is going to look like. How much oxygen did the Connor McDavid contract story take over the last 48 hours from what is a Canadian Olympic orientation camp? Yeah, I'm not sure how happy hockey Canada is

that that became kind of the focal point. But to be fair, like it was a 15-minute press conference and like we got that out of the way like two minutes in. And then it was, you know, Olympic questions. how great sit is and what style of play it's going to be and all the other you know we did all the other all the other topics but yeah i mean hey it's natural i mean the best player in the world um doesn't have a contract past this year we don't often see guys go into you know become lame duck you know players in their final year when they're that good and when

they do it's a massive story slash distraction so i did get a chuckle out of you know and i thought McDavid's come a long way in terms of his public persona. He's got a little more personality now. And he kind of laughed it off and said, well, he's not even a softball question about the Olympics. You're going right for the contract talk. But then, you know, he said, I'm taking my time. And he can.

He has that right. But then at the very end when he says, I just, you know, I just don't want any distractions. I want the guys dialed and locked in from day one. Well, you can control that narrative more than anybody else. and like I just don't imagine this is about money I mean nobody thinks this is about money he could ask for $22 million

I mean they don't have that cap space but it's not about the money it's about whether they're doing everything that they can to help him win a championship and I think that they've exhibited you know just demonstrated that they're trying in every way possible to do that the one's sticking point of course is they still don't have

an NHL goalie but that's a whole other story how surprised were you at the admission that he would go into the season without having signed a contract? Yeah, I think probably his agent said to him, look, you know, give yourself as much leverage as possible and be vague and keep it open. Like, you know, my intentions, you know, I could almost hear his agent telling him what to say. My intention is to win a championship in Edmonton. And you can read that in a couple different ways, right?

he's intending to do it but if they don't make it easy then I'm going to have to leave so he's putting pressure on them for whatever reason and I guess you've got to do that no matter what the number is going to be but I was surprised that he said

I guess you got to leave every possibility open because if you say I definitely don't want to go into the season with this hanging over us then it does put pressure on the player more than anyone else I think to sign before the season starts but again he doesn't need to have

leverage. Like he has all the leverage in the world. I honestly wonder if he's looking to go into this season and seeing what some of those young guys are like, like Matt Savoy and Isaac Howard, who they got in a trade because the Oilers don't have much in the system. And if he's thinking about signing a three or four year deal or an eight year deal like Drysidle did, then he wants to know that once guys like at home and Nugent Hopkins and Hyman age out that there's going to be someone there to replace them. And you also mentioned the goal-tending angle. Like, there's a lot of question marks on this roster.

Yeah, but yeah, and I'm not going to disagree. And I think there is certainly an aspect of wait and see with those two young guys you named in particular. I think they're both really exciting young players. But, you know, I would counter that by saying, you know, the one thing that has always made me

believe, and I think most people believe that he is going to stay is his buddy Leon up for eight years. And if you think that they didn't have a long conversation or 10 about, you know, hey, I'll sign. If you sign, you're going to sign, I'll sign. I'd be pretty stunned if he was sitting there crying at the podium and I promise Leon, I wouldn't do this.

You know, like, I just, I can't see him betraying that relationship. Hey, business is business. And at the end of day, you know, I guess you do what you got to do. But I still think, look, there were, again, two years in a row, they were that close to winning a cup. And you got your best friend and maybe the second best friend. and maybe the second best player in the world who's committed long term.

I think that's pretty much all the impetus you really need to stay there. In my world, if I'm McDavid, I sign a one-year extension. I really do. And keep the pressure on the organization always to remind them that if you don't continue to do the things I want you to do,

I could leave. But from what I'm hearing from a lot of different people, it looks like he's going to sign a four-year deal. That's just what I keep hearing for people in and around the team. and so I guess there's a reason why he's going to do that. You know, guaranteed money is kind of nice too. We're speaking to Eric Francis, SportsNet, Calgary here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Okay, let's get into some of these other Olympic stories here. The general manager, Doug Armstrong, fielding a lot of questions this week, obviously. I like what you wrote about the fisticuffs at the Four Nations. One of the biggest takeaways is the three fights in nine seconds. As exciting as it was, Armstrong says he's not going to let that determine shaping the roster for the Olympics. What more did Doug Armstrong have to say about that dynamic? Yeah, like that was my big question.

I asked Sid, I asked the coach, I asked the GM. I'm like, come on, that's the biggest talking point. Tom Wilson's in camp. And look, Tom Wilson's a 30-goal scorer now. Like, you know, he's there on his own merit, but he's also quite the nuclear deterrent. He says, look, we're going to do everything we can to have a similar team and build for a team.

that plays exactly the same way we did at the four nations outside of those nine seconds. And the reality is, you know, I sure think they want to continue to make sure they've got physical players and aggressive players. But the guy, you've got to remember, it's the double IHF rules, right? If you think Matthew Kachuk is going to drop the gloves one second in and a huge game against Canada at the Olympics, you're crazy. You're crazy because he's out of the game. and hey the reality is

you know could Chuck miss the rest of this you know a good chunk of the season last year and it was debated surgery all year because of that fight I'm not sure he wants to do that again so I don't see Fistak's being an issue at the Olympics because you're out of the game immediately but I do see the guys who can stand up to the vitriol

and the aggressiveness and the hatred that we saw and in that vein run back the same team as far as I'm concerned well that was going to be my next question how much roster turnover do you think there's going to be I don't think there's going to be much but I have to preface that by saying you know injuries I don't know potential suspension I think things happen but I it's an interesting debate guys and you could probably you'll be asking yourself this right up until January 1st when the rosters are announced is it do you have to play your way off of the roster

or do the new guys who haven't been on the team for the four nations do they have to play their way on or is it a combination of the both I would say it's probably both right you know a guy like drew dowdy's got to prove that you know one year older you can still do what he does meanwhile there's a ton of great young players on the blue line that are pushing to try and knock him off so he used him as an example actually on that yesterday

so Armstrong did. So, yeah, I think it'll be a very similar team. I mean, and that'll be a national debate, won't it, for the next, you know, three months, four months, who deserves to be knocked off, who deserves to be elevated? Like, Celebrini's going to be pushing real hard, if you asked me, for a spot on this team.

Yep. And they made it very clear, look, you know, everyone thinks that him and Bedard are just here so that they got experience, and in four years' time, you know, they'll have that under their belt. And they were very, you know, quick to point out, we've told both of those guys, it's what you do from October 7th to January 1st

that matters the most in terms of determining your fate this year. What about the goaltending position? What are Armstrong say there? He said it's the most wide open competition by far on the team. And I thought it was really interesting. He said he has reached out to all the other Canadian goalies that are on their radar, explained why he only brought three to this orientation camp. They're the same three as he had, of course, at four nations. and told them all, look, again, same thing. It's a wide open competition.

You guys, you know, open our eyes with some crazy stats and some great play. And we'll consider you. Now, that said, Doug Armstrong has a pretty soft spot for Jordan Bittington. We knew that already. And especially since Bittington won Golden was key in that, you know, key throughout the whole tournament. But especially in overtime, he helped Doug win a Stanley Cup in 2019 and St. Louis. Like, he's going to have to play his way off of the starting gig. if you asked me, Jordan Fittington.

I mean, Logan Thompson, arguably, had the best numbers in Canada last year, but he wasn't even considered for the team. I still think Jordan's got to be the guy. He's going to have to have a horrible start for him to not have the job. And I just want to go back. In terms of him speaking to the other goalies and saying, you guys are on the radar,

he shocked me yesterday when he said he has a list of 50 other Canadian players outside of the 42 that are on at the orientation camp, 50 other players that they're going to be watching very closely. I'm like, that's 90-some players that he's going to be watching. You're almost insulted if you're a Canadian player and you're not on the list at this point. Like I'm not on the list. I know that for sure. He confirmed that.

Okay, I've got to ask you a flames question. Rasmus Anderson. Michael Backlin had some comments. Some very direct comments. Yeah, he's getting traded, obviously. True? When's that going to happen? Oh, yeah.

I mean, that's not really a revelation. I guess it's interesting because it's coming from the mouth of a player and the captain of that, and they're good friends out in Sweden. But, you know, that's been a well-known fact forever. There's very little chance that the bridge can be gaped between the two in terms of his ask and what the flames are interested in paying. They just didn't get the value, the offers that they think he's worth all summer long. So they're like, no, we're not selling him for a penny less than what.

what we think he's worth. So if that means starting the season with him, him upping his value a little with a good start, that's great. But with that comes tremendous risk of injury. I mean, he's blocked the third most shots in the league last year. That's dangerous. And also, you know, the possibility he doesn't get off to a good start.

And then on top of all of it, I still maintain that it's going to be a big distraction for this organization moving forward because he's one of their key leaders. So when one of your key leaders has one foot out the door, not because he doesn't want to be here, and I think that's important. Like, we're so used to that narrative here in Calgary where, you know, some guys just don't want to be here because it's a small market, it's too cold, their whites don't like it, whatever.

This is not the case. This is a guy who simply is saying, on the open market, I think I'm worth $9 million a year. Flames are offering more in the neighborhood of $7 million a year. Therefore, the gap way too large. We'll agree to disagree and we'll move on. Eric, this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it.

Enjoy the remainder of the off season. Whatever it's left and it will get caught up as we get closer to training camps and stuff. Thanks, boys. Make sure you get off to a good start to the season because Team 10 is watching. Oh, we know. We got eyes on us here at Sportsnet. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it.

See you, boys. See ya. Eric Francis, SportsNet, Calgary, here on the Halford of Brough show on SportsNet 650. It is Friday. Let's ask us anything Friday here on the Halforda Brough show on SportsNet 650. Best Ask Us Anything gets a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza on and he's Broadway. I've got one here.

This one's, from Phoenix came in just a short while ago. Ask us anything. Are you a fan of going to sporting events with your significant other? I am dragging my wife down

among others to the Husky season opener tomorrow night after being fortunate enough to stumble upon free last minute tickets. Okay, first thing I want to do, I don't want to make this about like, oh, having to watch sports with women.

That's reductive and we're a We're a forward-thinking radio show. So let's make the premise that you are taking someone, regardless of relationship and regardless of gender, that's not into sports. Let's just make it that. Okay. That's easy, right? Phoenix, I'm going to tell you something. You are taking the non-sports enthusiast to probably the worst sport to watch live.

What? Husky Stadium? It's a spectacle. Football. Yeah, but it's a cool event. College football. I would push back on that. I'll push you right back.

Because the amount of... The amount of live action in a football game is probably the worst for some of that doesn't know anything about sports. What's the best sport? Would it like golf be worse? I think golf would be more. I actually don't think golf would be worse. Why wouldn't golf be worse?

Because there's always someone coming through on the hole. If you're not following a gallery, you just watch people come through. If you go... Depends where you're sitting at golf. If you're just chilling on on a par three and... You bring, like, a couple chairs and just sit? It's nice. That's nice time.

How badly did I mean? What did I say? Just tell me. I'll play it back if you want. You got to read right away? It might be too. Okay. It's pretty graphic.

I think I know what I said. Yeah, you don't have to describe it like that. There's a lot of ways to describe it. Anyway, golf would be in the conversation, though, as a slow. Like, if Brough took me to a golf event, I would want to walk into traffic. You know what the best one might be? Why? It's boring to watch.

I just don't find golf interesting. It's fine. Like in person, if you're, watching these guys like hit the ball along the way. I think it would be like, oh, this is cool for about 10 minutes and be like, all right, I'm good. Well, actually, honestly unless it was like a star, like, I don't recognize. I don't love golf in person.

I'd rather watch it on TV. You know what the best one, honestly, is Ponky. Yeah. I think it is. So it's funny. It's the most fast paced of every sport. Soccer's not good. If you bring someone who doesn't understand soccer, soccer.

And like, I know, I know it's easy to understand. It's like, he's got to put that. See that ball? That's got to go in the net, right? But, I mean, most people know the rules, the general idea of soccer, even if they're not into sports. But like a soccer game can start with five minutes of like passing it around. Yeah. Just like no attack whatsoever. The reason I mentioned the American football is because I've had a similar situation as I took someone to their first ever NFL game.

And they're blown away at how much time there was not playing football. Sure. Because when you watch on television, there's halftime analysts, they're size. Headline reporters and there's commercials. Yeah. Remove all of that. But wouldn't half of the, would it be just being there in the stadium with all those people be part of the reason it would be cool? The spectacle, yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

But the action is very tough. I honestly think it's hockey. Everyone watches sports very differently though, right? Some people, like when I go to a game, yeah, it's about the game, but a lot of it's about being there in person. And Husky Stadium, to me, Husky Stadium, end of August or beginning of September, it's the most, beautiful scenery you're going to see at a sports event outside of being like Augusta

or something like that which when Adog would walk into Augusta traffic which is quite heavy around the masters but quite light otherwise yeah several textors have mentioned what I said I think that's exactly how I said it and there's some regrets

not many though yeah it's good all right I got another ask us anything here this is for a mustard shoe Jeff ask us anything as a lifelong cowboys fan I find myself farther and farther from caring about them or even football have you ever fell off from a favorite team or found yourself completely indifferent

or apathetic towards a team you once were passionate about this is a trap? Yeah it's a trap what's he gonna say that's bait that's bait I'm looking out that's bait For me Come on, obviously Well, I'm not

Okay Come on No, the Blue Jays for me 92, 93 I was so into them And then they Taking the Blue Jays No, I have

I'm still I'm not I'm not apathetic about the Canucks I sometimes can't stand them But last season I thought you were going to say The Messier era Canucks Because didn't you check out

I did check out Last season Last season of the end of life I did and I stuck through all that, and I was the only one of my friends group that did. I never let them forget it. At the end of last season, the Canucks had one of the most historic comebacks in the history of the

National Hockey League, and I don't think either of us saw it. We were checked out. Yeah. We were checked out. And you know the one I'm talking about. The Dallas one. Yeah, they scored five goals in the final 30 seconds or so. I don't even know what it was. Yeah, it was nuts. But they set all kinds of records. It's going to go down to the history

books is the greatest comeback in NHL history in terms of overcoming a score. My interest for them hasn't fallen off. Like, I'm still very curious to see how they come out this season. But the JAs, for me, were just so mid, as the kids say. For, like, what, Lattie? Like, you were watching them. Yeah, they were like two decades.

Well, yeah, it was like the most, they were the most 500 team ever. That was the prime of me growing up as a Jays fan, was watching that check-out era. They had some good individual performances, good pitching. They had Halliday all the way through it. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Never amounted to anything, though. Never amounted to. Cheeks era.

And baseball's an easy sport. It was the cheeks air. Baseball is an easy sport to check out because there's two months left in the season. You can just peace out. I'm done with this team. You can't really do that in hockey because you're kind of in it, you know, through Christmas most of the time. Conzo brought up a good one. And this is a very, only select markets have dealt with this, but the Grizzly's final year.

That's when you know the team is leaving and you, that is. I suppose fans did the same thing in Montreal. That's the ultimate feeling of being checked out. Because really you ask the question, like, what's the point of doing this? Like, it becomes an existential thing. It's like, what's the point? Yeah. They're gone.

They're actually not going to exist beyond that. And that's tough. That was like the Oakland fans last year. They showed up for that one game to show that they were still there. Yeah. And then checked out. Tyler, with an ask us anything, of the five major sports, which one has the most exciting playoff structure?

What do we do? What's the fifth major sport? I was going to ask him that. I was going to reply. MLS, just because it says Major League Soccer? MLS has the worst playoffs. It's the stupidest playoffs. The regular season has no meaning in MLS.

None. 18 teams get the chance to be in the playoffs. 18. Because if there's five major sports, truly in North America, the fifth one is college football. And you can have a good conversation about the playoff format there because it is...

It's not good. It's a disaster. I think hockey. Hockey. It's pure. Drans wants to mess. with it. I know, Dran Swanson. Oh, with the play-in.

Yeah, yeah. Let's reward more mediocre teams. Going back to the 1 to 8, which I think they still should. What? Go back to the old format of the 1 through 8 in the conference. Yeah, I don't like, I've never

I don't like the, I don't like the fact that they initially came out and they were like, okay, we're going pure divisions one versus four and then the PA I think pushed back on it. I was like, we don't like that. And then, so they have this wild card. So it's like this weird mixed version that nobody really likes.

I also don't love that the NHL playoffs peak in the first round. Yeah. You know, that's tough. Yeah, that's always been like that, though. Yeah, but that doesn't make... So are you voting for football then, NFL? They might have it. I mean, one game, right?

They've diluted the wild card, though. Every game is the seventh game, right? Yeah, but they've diluted the wildcard. Wildcar weekend's tough to watch now. There's so many lopsided games. Yeah, Houston on a Saturday morning. Yeah. Every time.

Where do we put the Texans? And so I was like, I know. All right, we got to go to break one final hour to go. The Moge is going to join us next. And then we're going to do what we learns and ask us anything as you're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet, 650.