Halford & Brough in the Morning - Should Kadri Make Team Canada + WWL

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

In hour three, guest hosts Jamie Dodd and Dan Riccio are joined by The Athletic's Julian McKenzie. Julian talks Ottawa Senators potential new arena, Jake Sanderson's value, and if Nazem Kadri should make the Canada Olympic squad. Then, it's what we learned time. 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.

Welcome back to Halford and Brough here, SportsNet 650, Jamie. Dan Riccio filling in for the fellas this week. Alfred and Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates. He's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit sands-trustee.com. This hour of halvin-brough is brought you by Campbell & Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit Campbell-Dashpound.com today.

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He is Julian McKenzie. Julian, thanks for doing this today. How are you? I'm doing very well yourself. Thanks for having me. Yeah, it's our pleasure. And as I said, thanks for doing this. We're doing well.

A lot to get into. And I wanted to start with the team. you cover for the athletic, which is, of course, the Ottawa Senators and a really interesting team certainly on the ice going into this season to see if, you know, a young up-and-coming team can take that next step, but also a lot of interesting stuff happening off the ice for Ottawa as well. And most notably, I guess baby steps is maybe the best way to say, but steps being taken towards the building of a new downtown arena for the Ottawa Senators. What can you tell us about this project, where it stands, and how much it would mean?

to the senators to get that project finally built some point down the road? Yeah, I think you have it right when you describe it as baby steps. I mean, getting a land purchase agreement of 11 acres is not a small feat by any stretch of the imagination considering what the organization

and fans have been waiting on for a handful of years, even when Eugene Melnick owned the team, they've tried to make this happen where they could have some land closer to the downtown core where they could build an arena as opposed to where they are now in Canada, which is basically 30 minutes west from downtown. But the fact that the senators and the National Capital Commissioner at this point

where they have an agreement in place and they have that land, which the send last year said that was their goal for this year, that's a win for them. The only thing now is just figuring out the decontamination process and figuring out all these different studies on zoning and transit and mobility and figuring out, how you're going to be able to make it work with that area, which again, close to downtown, but a lot of people are already worrying about the potential congestion, and if the public transit system in place is able to handle the influx of people who would want to come in every other day for a game or even a musical event or any other concert that's happening in that area, too.

There's a lot of questions that need to be answered with that, and in talking to people around the team, I don't know if that's something that's going to happen in a flash. Like when I was in Calgary, coming to Calgary Flames, when they got their deal done, it's a process that's ongoing. It looks like 2027 could be when we see that arena being built. In Ottawa, the Sends say that they expect to be around, the number that's been going around is that they should be at their current arena for the next five years. But that could change depending on how some of the other things I mentioned in terms of decontamination and zoning and all that. That depends on how that goes, right? So I think a lot of that is up in the air in terms of when we'll see shovels in the ground,

but the fact that they're at this process where they have the land, that's still a win in itself considering what this team has gone through with getting it downtown arena. Yeah, and it's pretty remarkable, as you said, this goes back to the Eugene Melnick days, the talks of trying to figure out something with the city. And of course, with the change of ownership and now Michael Anlauer owning the team, it really is interesting how they take the big step forward and make the playoffs. we're talking about steps toward a new arena deal. Just how much has ownership changed the outlook for the whole franchise,

on the ice, off the ice, all of it, since And Lauer has taken over. I think there's a general perception change from Sands. I've only been around the team for like less than a year, but I think in the last few years of the Melnick days, it felt like something was wrong all the time. It felt like there was some fire that needed to be put out. And there were times when Eugene Mellick would stoke those fires themselves with stuff that he would say or the way that he would treat players.

And it didn't help with the Sends being out of the playoffs as long as they were. And when Enlauer inherits the team, yeah, they go through a lot of different stuff themselves. The Pierre Dorian miscue with the Afghani Dadenov trade, Shane Pinto suspension, and then missing the playoffs in his first year. But I think the fact that Anlauer has put his stamp on his team, in terms of trying to improve the facilities and then around the Canadian Tire Center and having his guy Steve Steos in place

to kind of build a, try to at least try to bring a winning team for them and the fact that they made the playoffs last year, fans have noticed. We had a pull-up, the athletic a couple months ago, where we got fans to rank all the different owners in the NHL and Ann Lauer ranked knights among all the fans who voted. like that's that's pretty surprising

as an outsider like that's pretty surprising to see how fans have latched on to tan Lauer but I think it also speaks to the fact that this organization has been kind of been in the weird mushy middle slash I don't have the right word for it but just it hasn't been that great I don't want to say dumpster fire but I

I think dumpster fire might not be that far off for what they've endured the last eight or nine years but to see them at least try to end that right direction by making the playoffs getting that arena deal a lot of people expecting them to make the playoffs again, it seems like they're taking a step in the right direction,

and Lauer, I think, is at the forefront of that. So the senators, the offseason, I'm looking at, you know, how the team is setting up here, Julian, and kind of feels to a certain extent like they did some of their offseason shopping at the trade deadline, right? The Dylan Cousins deal and even Fabian Zetterlin, like these are guys that are going to be big parts of the team this year and aren't necessarily under the category.

of big off-season acquisition. Do you see that as well? Yeah, I definitely agree with you. I think they did most of their shopping at the trade deadline, the tweaks they did in the off-season in terms of landing Jordan Spence via trade and then signing Lars Eller as a free agent. I think those are moves you do to enhance your core.

It's not as drastic as what they did a year earlier where they were able to get Lina's Allmark in the off-season, David Tehran, among some of those additions as well, Michael Amadio, too. a very different summer in comparison to last year, I think. My biggest question, though, I have to mention Fabian Zetterlin, too, getting acquired at the deadline and trying to get some of his scoring along with Dylan Cousins.

But I just, the biggest thing for me is, did they do enough to keep up with everyone in the division? Florida's still Florida. I have questions about Tampa, but I still consider them a power in that division. Toronto, they lose Mitch Marner, but I still think with the way that they're constructed, they should still be able to be among those top three teams. Montreal's been trying to get better.

I'm not sure about Detroit's moves, but they're still kind of hovering around there. I don't know if you ever want to really sleep on Detroit, but I'm not really a big fan of what they've done this offseason, so to speak. Boston is trying to get better, and I get it. Like, Boston might still miss the playoffs,

but, like, you could do worse with a top three of Charlie McAvoy, David Posternak to Jeremy Swayman. I still think if they find ways to all play better, Boston should be at least a little better than what they were last year. And while I think Ottawa was a playoff team, this is a team that struggled to score at five-on-five last year, and they're hoping for a lot of internal growth,

and they're hoping that some of the guys that they were able to get before the end of last year can, you know, go into a new season, fully settled, and then progress from there. I have to see it for myself. I'm waiting to be surprised with everybody else about how they play. But I see a playoff team with the Ottawa Senators.

I just don't know if they're going to take another step beyond being a first round team with the roster that they have. And again, they can surprise me. I'm always open to surprises. I'm cool with that. But I see a team that I think has done enough to just make the playoffs again. Well, one of the young players for the senators

who had just a massive breakout season last year was Jake Sanderson on the blue line. And of course, he does it for Ottawa. I got a chance to represent his country at the Four Nations as well. And certainly I mean, turned heads around the league for those of us out here on the West who didn't get a chance to watch him day in, day out with the Ottawa senators

like you did. I mean, just how good was Jake Sanderson last year and where's the ceiling for his game? What? Still just 23 years old, I believe. This is one of the best young defensemen in the league. This is a guy who you can put on your top pair and can go up against the league's best players. He can provide offense.

This is the guy who had a slow start last year, worked with a skills coach and did everything he could to get himself better, and we saw that happen in real time. I think him playing at the Four Nations also opened a lot of people's eyes to his game. I mean, he's not going to be, he's not like as flash as like a Quinn Hughes per se. Like the edge work is not nearly the same, but in terms of stability, in terms of the offense that he can generate, whether I'd even strength or on the power play, I think this

is a guy who is a very dependable and capable number one defenseman. And I think he'll get better with time. You guys mentioned just 23 years old, just turned 23 in July with a lot of room to grow. And, I mean, it's one thing for his teammates to prop him up. I know we had a lot of fun with the Tim Stilc's a quote going around where he thinks he's top two. But I think this is genuinely one of the best defensemen in the national hockey league today with the way that he plays. And, yeah, I think there's a lot of room to grow for Sanderson and a player of his caliber. Absolutely.

I know there's been a lot of speculation around Brady Kachuk, and he's shot it down on numerous occasions, but it just keeps hanging around, like it won't go away. And he's three years away from unrestricted free agency. It feels somewhat similar to the position that Canucks are in with Quinn Hughes, where, you know, this question is going to linger until maybe a new contract is in place. unfortunately, but is how much is team success a factor in Brady's

desire to stay in Ottawa because it feels like making the playoffs this year was a big step towards keeping Brady happy in the nation's capital? I have to think it has to be a big part. Like, I've seen those comments too. We asked Brady a lot about that. Michael Ryan Lauer spoken about it.

ESPN comments from Keith Kachuk, too, about Brady wanting to be loyal and staying in Ottawa. I hear all of that. And I can respect the fact that that's his position and he wants to stay in a market like Ottawa and make it work. And Brady feels very passionate about the fans

and he loves the market and all that. But if the Ottawa senators stagnate and fall off in the next three years and they're not a team that's prime for success, what do you do if you're Brady good track? Do you want to stick it out? Do you want to be in that situation? I think there's something to think about with that.

And that's not me trying to put those rumors out there again and make that into a thing. I'm not trying to make that into a thing. That's just something that if anyone was in his shoes, it's something you have to think about. But also, I get it. I'm not ready to check. I can't speak for him. But I have to think that if you're the Ottawa senators and you show that you're committed to winning and you're showing progress, I'm not saying the senators have to win the cup in the next three years.

I think if they just continue to be a playoff team and they show that they're getting better year in, year out, and they continue to add players to that core that keep the Ottawa senators in a contention position, I think that could be enough for Brady Contruct to stay longer. I think that's more than enough for him to want to stay longer. For him to be the face of that team, to be the leader, to have that startup around him,

and he's able to do that in Ottawa, which is a small market, by comparison to some of the bigger markets out in New York, even you guys in Vancouver. Like, I think for Brady, he seems to like that. I think he enjoys the life that he's able to build in Ottawa with the team that he has and getting everyone behind him. And if this team is built to win, that makes it all the better. But this team also has to win.

If you put yourself in a position where you're not winning, you put yourself in a position where more and more of those questions and rumors and quote-unquote soft tampering comes up. That's just natural. Julian McKenzie, our guest. So Nazim Codry, you had the piece at The Athletic. He commented on the orientation roster with a couple of question marks, and you followed up with him. And the quote that's gone around and has gone a little bit viral in hockey circles, Julian,

is I feel like I deserve a chance. I think over the last few seasons, I've certainly proven that with my statistics in the winning pedigree, I think it speaks for itself. And, you know, Cadry, I think he does get somewhat underrated. in NHL circles to a certain extent at the same time. I mean, to make Team Canada's roster, like we're looking at a select few of the select few players in the NHL and certainly that are of Canadian descent. It just, I get where Cadry's coming from, but also this is a really difficult roster

to crack. Even the orientation roster is difficult to crack. So I understand both sides of it. What did you feel getting the sense from Cadre and you speaking to him? I'm not surprised he said what he said, because as long as I've watched Nas and, I mean, a lot of us across his country have watched him and heard him from his days with the Leafs and following him in Colorado and now the last few years out in Calgary. This is a person who is very confident in himself. He bets on himself consistently. So to hear him say that he feels he deserves a chance, part of me thought, well, what else is he going to say?

Right? Like, I could understand him, you know, seeing that list of players and being like, really? Like, I didn't get picked. Like, if any of us were in his shoes and you're in your age 34 year and you score career high, 35 goals in the season, I mean, you could be realistic with yourself and be like, yeah, I get it. I'm a little older. And there's so much talent at the center position.

But if any of us were in his shoes, we'd all be, we'd all be like, what am I chop? Liver? Like, why am I not getting an invite to camp? Like, I can totally understand where he's coming from with. that. I also think that he's very realistic in the fact that it is a challenge to end up

on a roster of that caliber, like Team Canada, and he even says it himself, you know, he's, he, he's, he he's been a long shot before, like, why not put that pressure on himself? I also appreciate the fact that he knows he was trolling a little bit, too. Like, I asked him straight up,

like, do you think putting, like, the question mark emojis out there in the universe and the social media universe, is that going to help you or hurt you? And do it was just like, Man, who cares? Like, at the end of the day, like, he does at the end of the day, like, he wants to give himself a chance. But, like, it's kind of fun at the end of the day. Like, this wasn't something where he's, I don't think we're going to go, you're not going to walk around Calgary.

You're not going to see, like, campaign posters for Nazan Khadry to make hockey canning for February 2026. Maybe that's a promotion idea. I don't know. But, like, I don't think we're going to get that serious with it. But I'm also not surprised that Nazan is going to bet on himself at any point. He has nothing to lose in this scenario. I do feel like part of it, and this is just me speculating, but like, he's in Calgary, the camp's in Calgary.

If I was in his shoes, I'm like, guys, I'm already here. You know what I mean? Let's just give me the invite. Yeah, dude, I would feel the exact same way. I'm like, dog, I'm like, right here. I'll come to camp and just hang out for a couple days. Like, you know some of those guys on the team, like there's boys. Like, come on.

Like, I would feel a way to. And again, I think Dodson wasn't necessarily coming at it from a point where he felt extremely disrespected. I think it was just like a, what do I have to lose kind of small stakes type deal where, yeah, you can stir the pot a little bit. He literally says stir the pot. And, you know, he gets to bet on himself a little bit.

He gets to dangle the carrot in front of himself, right? Like, I think a guy like Nas, again, who's bet on himself at so many points in his career, I'm not at all surprised that he would want to say that and feel so confident in himself that he wants to play on the best, possible team of NHL players

with no disrespect to the team USA but move with Canada, right? Like that's the goal for a player like Nassum Khadry. You should want to strive for something like that. Julian, thanks for the time, man. We really appreciate it.

Enjoy the rest of your summer. You too, guys. That is Julian McKenzie from the Athletic covering the Ottawa senators and as mentioned, great peace chatting with Nazim Khadri about some of his comments and social media posts

about not being invited to that team Canada orientation camp next week in Calgary. Well, it kind of feels like just, you know, thinking, as Julian was mentioning that, like, Cadry, stir in the pot, it gets his name in the news and for, you know, the local team here and how many other teams looking for a second line center around the league, you know, is Cadry sneakily putting himself on the radar for, you know, GMs being like, oh, yeah, I'm not. Yeah, he's been pretty good. Right. Oh, yeah. He scored 35 goals last year. Is Calgary going to be traded that guy some point this year? Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, will be on our trade, trade watch. I don't know if you've heard, but there's a few teams

randomly looking for a second line center. Just a few. Yeah. A lot of teams. Maybe, maybe like half the league. Exactly. A lot of teams could use a second line center. By the way, did, uh, did Jack Roslivik sign with anybody yet? Nope. Nope. Mark Roslavik is just hanging out.

I think we need to Jack Roslavik watch. Is he, uh, is he an open for like the, you know how some like backup quarterbacks will wait. Like, I'll see what if someone gets injured in training camp or something. And so team gets, gets desperate. Is that what Jack Rollswick is doing? Surely he's got contract offers. Yes. Surely he's got a few.

Even Elliot Friedman and 32 thoughts. He's got he's got multiple options. He's weighing right now. How long does it take? Knowing that the Canucks have been sniffing around it, it feels like, man, if you haven't signed with the Canucks yet, I'm pretty sure they're not at the top of your list of destinations you hope to be playing for in the year 2025. But we'll see. Jack Roscovick still hasn't signed.

Well, maybe Jim Rutherford just hasn't got back from the cottage. a jet. It's like, oh, we'll do the deal. I'm just, I'm going to be in, what is it? Muscoca. I'm going to be in Muscoca for a little bit. We'll do it when I come back. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, Jack. We'll see. Jack, you'll get your contract. Don't worry. Or maybe it's, you know, well, what was it with Kevin Lankin all summer last year, right? Yeah. Is he going to sign? Is he going to sign? And then the Canucks got to train in camp and saw, we do not like our goalies. We're going to sign him. And they ended up getting a really good deal on him. So the Canucks have done this before a target that they like and they waited out. We'll see there's no pressure point.

is the thing. There's no pinch point to really make it happen. Oh, wait. Artur Shilovs is maybe not ready for this opportunity to be our starting goalie? Yeah, we don't want to go in with Archer Shilovs and Yuri Patera as our starter. Demko's still not close. This might be tough. All right, 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. And of course, what we learned is coming up. Dunbar Lumber Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online.

at Dumbar Lumber.com. Send your What We Learned submissions in. We could definitely use a few more. So you've got a good chance of getting it read. 650, 650 again is the number. Hashtag WW, what you've learned in the last 72 hours in sports. But before we go to break, we'll maybe do one of ours on this side. We can get into a couple of the lengthier ones we have on the other side.

But of course, of course, I've got to mention my what we learned is that Little Mountain, Little Mountain Little League from Vancouver, representing Canada at the Little League World Series. They got their first win of the tournament yesterday, 12-0-0 over Australia. They really piled it on late in that one. I want to give a shout out to Tyson Grimsrud Rontz, who was on the mound. Fantastic, four no-hit innings, five strikeouts, only one walk. They brought in the reliever for the fifth and final inning because they got the mercy rule in effect. They were one out away from a combined no-hitter.

team Canada, which would have been pretty cool, but still pick up the comfortable 12-0-0-0-1. And, you know, I'll put on my, I'm literally wearing my baseball coach hat here. So I'll put it on baseball coach, Jamie. But I got to say, total team effort. Great pitching, great hitting, some great fielding plays, heads-up, base running. The fundamentals reach. That's what you love to see from the 12-year-olds out there. Classic coach speak from Jamie Dodd.

It was great. What about their bad speed, you know? I don't know about that. But you know what? They put a lot of balls in play. They put pressure on the defense. I will say the first run they scored. It was, I think it was like a walk,

a runner advance on a fielder's choice, bunt, and then a sacrifice fly. And I was like, I feel like I'm watching the Jays. That's a Jays run right there. Just scratch out of run. Just scratch out of run. Let's get after it. Anyways, total team effort, as I said,

awesome to see. Congrats to the kids from Little Mountain. They will play either Aruba or Chinese Taipei. if I had to bet, I would bet on Aruba because they're playing the loser of that game. So Chinese Taipei, usually pretty good at this. So they'll probably play Aruba in a tough matchup to keep their tournament alive tomorrow.

Jamie, are you betting on Little League games? No, I saw the, I was going to, and then I saw the message from the Little League World Series begging everyone to stop, please stop betting on the Little League World Series. So I don't have the odds. I don't know what the line is for tomorrow. I will not be engaging in that whatsoever.

I am strictly watching to cheer on the boys from Little Mountain. All right, give us a moose. there. We'll take a break. We can get into a couple of our other what we learns on the other side and we need some from you too. So send them in 650, 650. It is Halifunabruff here on Sportsnet 650. Now for my favorite part of the show. What is they say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God. This is always dead.

It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time It's what we learn time On the show Welcome back Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650 Jamie Dodd and Dan Richo in all week

In replace In replace? To replace? In place of, that's what I was trying to say. In place of Halford and Brough. This hour of Halford and Brough is brought you by Campbell & Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound

visit Campbell-Dashbound.com today. And of course, Alfred & Brough is brought you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit sands dash trustee. Dot com 650.650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice

for contractors and runner warriors for over 50 years, visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Dumbar Lumber.com. All right, send your text in. We'll get to them in a second, but we do have some of our other what we learns prepared, reach. Yeah, I learned, well, I learned a lot of things, but I also learned that Quentin Tarantino said once upon a time in Hollywood is his favorite movie of his. Interesting. He said, Inglorious Bastards is his best. Okay.

but his favorite movie is once upon a time in Hollywood of his own now I also heard that he like canceled his his uh he did he wasn't liking it he was like nah this is just once upon a time in Hollywood all over again I'm scrapping it was supposed to be the the finale of the Tarantino movies the movie critic has been scrapped now so I don't know what what's going to happen for the finale I like Tarantino guy I whole I wholeheartedly agree with him that once upon a time really is my favorite Tarantino this is this is this is this is this is like an amazing, um, you know how sometimes people in like the depths of August will be like, was Wayne Gretzky really the best hockey player of all time? And it's like, yes. The answer is yes.

We can't just stop the discussion. Yes, he was. He's got more assist than anybody else's point. There is, like, I can't think of a, a less controversial debate than what is Quentin Tarantino's best movie because it is so clearly pulp fiction. Like, why are we even having a conversation? And it's like, I really like in glorious bastards. It's great movie. Number two. Number two for me. But like, come on. What are we talking? about. It's Pulp Fiction. It's for the best movies of all time. I didn't like once a time. I'm like the one person I know that didn't like it. I love Tarantino movies too. I love most of them. It's almost a perfect movie. I feel like he made it for himself. Maybe, but

I loved it. He made it for Quentin Tarantino. That's why it's his favorite. And the ending is just incredible. It definitely made the close-ups of the girls' feet on the car for himself. That was a little treat for Tarantino. I just couldn't get past those scenes. Like, I swear. I'm not putting like Jackie Brown at the top of the list. Once upon a time at Hollywood was... I like Jackie Browns's a good movie. Yeah, Jackie Brown's underrated. And for romance, very good as well. Sure. I would, the only one I would say is a miss for me was the hateful eight.

Didn't care for the hateful eight. Didn't, yeah. Didn't care. Same. But everything else is great. But it's Pulp Fiction. Like, we, come on. What are we talking about? Quentin? I mean, I'm not going to debate you too wholeheartedly about this, but this is a preference. It's very subjective. That's true. On a bigger scale, sure. Pulp Fiction is the more loved Quentin Tarantino movie. But for me and my personal standards once upon a time in Hollywood is my favorite Tarantino movie. Pulp Fiction is one of my favorite movies of all times.

Come on. It's fantastic. All right. Give us a moo cow there. Laddie, do you have a what we learned? I do. Well, the Mariners outfielder Victor Robles is rehabbing down in AAA. I don't know if you guys saw this. There's what he did last night.

And the first pitch from Estes. Swung on and fouled off on a pitch that hit him. He picks up the bat and throw at Estes, he's been tossed. So the visuals are pretty good too because he, when he goes to throw the bat, the helmet does this like pop-off thing up straight in the air. And apparently he's been hit a few times on this rehabston,

so he wasn't happy about that. He's been hit by this pitcher before. He wasn't happy about that. But to go out and throw your bat at the pitcher. It was interesting too because, and I think the audio actually captured it, it's not a pure instant reaction. Yeah.

Like there's a beat. where he's kind of, you know, you've just been hit and he's shaking it off. And then he's like, I'm going to throw my bad at this guy. Now, is that because he swung? Was he thinking like, I swung at that. He swung on, fouled off, and it hit him. Like, what?

How does every outcome possible happen? It's a bizarre play and he's going to get suspended probably a dozen games for this. I don't know what. What do you guys think? I think Victor Robles is probably that's a significant suspension. Yeah, he's getting a suspended from baseball. Last I checked, you can't throw your bat at the pitcher.

Shouldn't be throwing bats at people. Little League's story. I actually was... Do you throw your bat? No, no, no. I didn't throw my bat. I have a friend who gets a little bit, you know, flies off the handle every once in a while.

He was hitting in front of me, and he threw his bat at the pitcher after getting hit. Guess who was up next to the plate? And guess who got Bean straight in the forearm on the first pitch. If we're ranking... Your Little League was... You guys took care of business. a team from downtown Hamilton so I think

that lets you know. Did you swing at the pitch? I didn't swing. He didn't swing. Did you charge the mound? He didn't Victor Robles it. He was thinking about it, I think my buddy, and he just decided to flip the bat out at the pitcher, which didn't go over well. Shockingly. Shockingly. To me, nothing really tops the

Roger Clemens' bat throw splintered bat throw at Mike Piazza. The postgame comments are what stand out more, that he thought it was the ball. Yeah. So you whipped it at the guy running to first. That's what you do with the ball, right?

In baseball? He thought a giant shard of a bat. Was the ball. It's another moment where he misremembered, I guess. And it was the World Series, too. A bat throw in the World Series? The Subway World Series was just incredible theater. All right.

Give us a new cow there for Laddie. Elon. So now that we have the four major sports, all the schedules are released. The next sports equinox, which is the NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB, all play on the same day will be Monday, October 27th, NFL Monday Night Football Chiefs, Commanders, NHL, only two games on the docket. NBA, we have 11 games. MLB will be World Series game 3, Brewers Jays. All right, there you go. You're looking into the future. I love it. Brewers Jays. I love

that prediction. Brewers Jays would be a sick World Series. That is fantastic. I love when they all cross over there. Thank you for that. Elon, give us a new cow there. All right, we will go into the inbox and print out some listener's submissions. And of course, what we learned is brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. You've got to try this bar pie, 14 inches of cracker thin crust topped with tomato sauce, matza and cheddar only at AJ's pizza online at AJ's dot pizza. And we will start from the inbox with a non-basketball, what we learned from basketball

fill. And we were going to hit this one anyways, but basketball fill texts in what we learned. Rob Manfred was talking about expansion and realignment in Major League Baseball, and the realignment talk is awful. It would be pure regional and would get rid of the traditional American national leagues instead of going with an Eastern and Western Conference. That's from basketball, Phil. A lot of layers to this one. We have a little bit of audio from Rob Manfred on the Little League World Series classic broadcast last night. Here is the commissioner of Major League Baseball. In my mind, I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity

to geographically realign I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel and I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for you know entities like ESPN because you'd be playing up out of the east out of the west and that 10 o'clock time slot where we you know sometimes get Boston Anaheim would be two west coast teams and that 10 o'clock slot that's a problem for us sometimes becomes a real opportunity for our west coast audience. So I think, you know, I think the owners realize that there's demand for Major League Baseball in a lot of great cities, and then we have an opportunity to do something good around that expansion process. That is the Commissioner Major League Baseball, Rob Manfred, and a lot to

dig into there. At a rave, apparently. Sounded like it. Off the top, I'll say, I love that the Commissioner does not know that the Angels no longer refer to themselves as being from Anaheim. They're just the Los Angeles Angeles. Haven't had Anaheim in their name for a while now, but good effort there, Commish. I mean, facts only. They're still in Anaheim. They are. They want to be Los Angeles or not. They're still an Anaheim. You can't just call them Anaheim anymore. It's like, no, I've been that for years.

That's not what they are anymore. Anyways, but two things there that stand out. One, the realignment talk is basketball Phil texted him, but also just the kind of casual mention of expansion. And he's sounds like he is pretty interested for a lot of different reasons about the possibility of Major League Baseball expanding. Seems like

everybody is following, would it be the NHL suit or Major League Soccer? Because MLS has been expanding like crazy for the last. Majorly, it feels like every team the White Capp's played. I'm like, they have a team? Like, what? You guys have an MLS team too? This is insane. But NHL has obviously done it quite a bit.

And, you know, they've had more American markets to expand into because of the higher amount of Canadian teams that exist in the NHL. But we're going to see the, the NBA do it, and MLB is not too far away. I've loved that Vancouver is kind of always on the outskirts of these conversations. Like, potentially, you know, we know Adam Silver has brought up Vancouver's name. In the past, MLB has brought up Vancouver as a potential expansion city. We know the obvious question marks in this conversation where are you putting these

stadiums. But it's nice that Vancouver is considered on the fringes of these conversations, even if it is a long shot. It is interesting, though, because you look at a lot of these expansion conversations with the different sports, there's very obvious markets sometimes. You know what I mean? Like, certainly for the NBA. How long have we been talking about Vegas and Seattle? That's where they're going.

They're going to Vegas and they're going to Seattle. Or even if it's relocation, right? And you think, like, you know, from going back to the L.A. Ram still being in St. Louis. It's like, well, if a team moves, they're going to L.A. Because it's stupid that L.A. doesn't have a team. Right? Like, sometimes there's just blindingly off.

obvious spots to go. I don't really see that for Major League Baseball. Like what's the market? You know, the A's are theoretically moving to Vegas. So that kind of every team is in a run or every league is in a rush to get to Vegas. They're going to do that. Have they figured out Tampa situation? No, not really.

It's the only a stadium. Yeah. The two names they brought up this time were Nashville and Salt Lake City, which we've heard Nashville many times. They're basically going to get one. But Salt Lake City, that's usually Portland or something else. But even that, like Salt Lake, Portland. Those aren't.

I have nothing against them getting a team but again it's not the same kind of like wow this is a massive market and there's a demand and we have to go there and it feels like baseball doesn't really have those types of markets but anyways I think the interesting thing about Vancouver as it figures in these discussions as leagues

continue to expand there's almost like a process of elimination thing going on you know what I mean because if you're talking about Vancouver trying to get an NBA team against Seattle and Vegas that's a really tough thing to do right there's going to be tough markets to beat out. If you're talking about competing for a major league baseball team with

Salt Lake and Portland, I think that's a much easier competition. Not to say that they can do it, but then you're in the tier of cities where it really comes down to do you have a super motivated ownership group and do you have a stadium solution? And that's where the rubber meets the road and where you know, you really have to start finding solutions. But I guess what I'm saying is like I don't think it's completely pie in the sky because I don't see the obvious overwhelming favorites that would trump Vancouver in the race for a major league baseball team. Is Las Vegas still considered?

A lot of people in the Oakland camp are starting to have second thoughts. Las Vegas numbers are down. It's not a huge market. When you look at the market itself, like it's not a major market. For a sport that plays almost every day in the height of summer, the building they were building, they're like, that's a tough sell man in Vegas.

I don't know if you guys know, it gets really, really hot in Vegas. And it's way different than playing, you know, eight home games a year in the fall if you're the Raiders or inside if you're the Golden Knights. Like, I don't know about that one. So the Vegas plan has never made a ton of sense to it. Well, the other part is, you know, all the travel issues right now

going down to the U.S. And Canadians clearly not going down as often in Vegas. I don't know if you guys have been on the TikTok algorithm that's showing how empty Vegas has been, but I've seen it over the last couple of months. And, you know, if that tourism factor isn't there to the same extent that it has been in the past, that's going to really affect the sports teams, the NFL team, certainly the NHL team, and a major league baseball team that needs... It's got to sell tickets for 81 games a year. You don't have as big of a local fan base to draw from consistently, so that's going to be difficult on that.

I know why they've, you know, all the major sports leagues have wanted to go to Vegas, but I can also see why... Maybe it's a questionable decision. I'm just thinking if I'm taking like a midsummer trip to Vegas, which first of all, don't do that. But it's so hot. But anyway, it's very warm.

If you are, I've done it before as well. If you are and you're sitting there and you're in your hotel and you're planning, okay, like what do we want to do today? Do we want to go to Cirque to Saleh? Or do we want to go see the A's play the Angels in a hundred degree weather? It's like,

let me go for the one that has AC. Yeah. That's a pretty easy sell. At least the Raiders, like you said, it's only eight home games. You can miss kind of some of those hot. spells with the baseball team you're playing through every single hot spell and you're playing

three times in a series like it's it's going to be interesting so for a vancouver sports fan would you uh i guess the term on this show is would you drather yes would you drather uh MLB team or an NBA team I'm into Vancouver I think this came up on the show last week and I said NBA for the simple fact that I already have a favorite baseball team and I don't have a favorite NBA team selfish yeah it's purely selfish purely selfish yeah I I don't know. And I miss the Grizzlies. Yeah. Like it's, there's a nostalgia factor for me, certainly. I loved going to Grizzlies games as a kid. I was a huge Grizzlies fan. As sad as that was, as crushing experiences that was. So it's always been the NBA for me.

I've never kind of Jonesed for the MLB as much because I was already a Jay's fan. So it wasn't like, oh, I wish I had a team to cheer for. I do have a team to cheer for. Now, having said that, I love baseball and getting a chance to go to games in the summer would be incredible. It's also just always felt more realistic an NBA team to me because they can share a building theoretically with the Kinnucks. Now, would that building be Rogers Arena? Would there have to be a different solution?

Who knows? but finding the space and the money and willingness to build an up-to-par major league baseball stadium feels like just such a big lift in Vancouver. It's for me it's baseball. I don't know. I just, I love going to ball games 81 times a year and you maybe go to 40. It's just like it's even just going to Canadians games. How good of a time is it?

Sometimes you don't even care what's happening in the game. You're just there enjoying the sunshine. Nothing better than a Vancouver Day where it's beautiful out, you're at the net. Like imagine that, but an MLV game, it would be so good. It would be so, so good, even though NBA would be pretty fantastic as well. And wasn't there the story a few years back where, like, the Diamondbacks ownership was up touring Vancouver or something like that? So you never know. I mean, there's relocation possibilities as well.

Basketball Phil brings up 15,000 plus for the WNBA on the weekend at Rogers Arena. first WNBA game outside of the U.S. of course until the Toronto tempo go into existence for next season. But, you know, it was a good crowd at Rogers Arena. WMBA is as hot as anything right now as far as popularity index. And that could be a less expensive option to get basketball into our town. Well, if we're talking about next potential expansion team to come to Vancouver, I mean, I think you have to have the WMBA pretty high on the list.

Yeah. the rapid growth of women's sports across the board, but here in Vancouver specifically, right? With the PWHL and the Vancouver rise, like all of a sudden there's a real burgeoning market for that side of things. And as you said, it's a lot more affordable. It would be a lot easier for an ownership group

to get involved with the WMBA. Like, that might be number one if we're talking major leagues to expand to Vancouver next. I mean, think about the Blazers going for $4 billion to Tom Dundon. Wild. Who, like, who's got that kind of money? Small market, non-market. key team. I know there's

people that got a lot of money in Vancouver. Don't get me wrong. But, like, who's going to have, what are they going to charge for an expansion fee? Five billion dollars for an NBA team? It feels like at least. So it's a big ask for anybody, anybody that is a potential owner. There's not a lot of people across

Canada with that kind of cash to make it happen. No, absolutely not. All right, let's dive into the inbox here. We got a few minutes left in the show to read some listener, some additional listener, what we learns. Sheldon from Surrey says, what we learned, the Alabama and NC State men's hockey teams will be facing off at Truest Field in Charlotte for an outdoor game on November 15th.

I definitely just learned that. Thank you, Sheldon. I did not know that Alabama or NC State had men's hockey teams. Had the big enough programs. The Wolfpack had big enough programs to be able to put on an outdoor game. Is it like just at an outdoor rink without many stands? or... No, truest field.

Is that where the Panthers play? Yeah, it's a big one. No, no, that's not where the Panthers play, but it's a minor league baseball. Okay. Stadium. You know what, Sheldon, you're reaching deep with this one. Oh, that's what it's all about. But I think it's like, and there's in there, was it, there's an HBCU, historically black college or university.

Yeah. That's starting a men's hockey team. All of a sudden, like, in the south. men's college hockey exploding. Who would have guessed it? Arizona State, of course. I mean, hey, college hockey, college sports in general. If there's one that's going to grow more, it's going to be hockey.

And the way that it's gone the last couple of years, and now with the expansion of, you know, what we've seen with the whole situation, Canadian hockey league players being able to switch over and not have to worry about getting paid or anything like that, I think it's going to change college hockey forever. Robin Surrey says what I've learned is that there's nothing to worry about in regards to the Canucks not being active right now.

They not only signed Lankinen late into September last year. They also signed Pew Souter very late two summers ago. And that's, of course, ties into our conversation about Jack Rosavik and what exactly is he waiting for to make a decision. And as we were saying, sometimes you just get to this part of the summer. And it's easier to just kind of let things ride, see what plays out in training camp and all that. And if there's one thing we know about Jim Rutherford in the Canucks front office, yeah sometimes they like to be really aggressive but they're willing to play hardball too

right they're willing to have these kind of contractual staring contest I mean we just saw a play with Brock Besser they waited past what we all perceived as the deadline of free agency opening Brock Besser hit the open market was free to field offers from every other NHL team and they still were able to circle back and get a deal done so things lingering on

and I think Rob is right to point to a past history as well with Lankin and impuse suitor I'm sure there's been a lot of conversations between Roselvic and the Canucks, and I think the fact that it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't happen. It just means they're comfortable biting their time to see how this plays out.

I think they understand Roslovick isn't kind of like a make-it-or-break-a-kind of player, and they're waiting for him to come down to his price. And if he doesn't, he signed somewhere else, Selah V. A couple of more on the Dunbar Lumber text message inbox, Woodrow the eligible Bachelor debating Quentin Tarantino movies has kicked off the Canucks Talk

versus Canucks Central. That's right. I wonder what Drance's favorite Tarantino movie is I don't want to know what Drenz's That's probably true I bet he'd say like reservoir dogs or something He'd say like Kill Bill or something Seems like a Kill Bill guy

Kill Bill's good Wait you got something against Kill Bill? It's not my favorite Tarantino movie No it's not my favorite but it's good Not a big Kill Bill guy Adam the former bath guy I learned that I can add Field of Dreams To sports movies that make me tear up

Along with a League of Their Own And Hardball Sure Field of Dreams was kind of weird. Yeah, I'm just going to go out and say it. I'm not a big field of dream. Like the premise in general is just weird. Is it a sports movie?

It is technically. Ray Liotas isn't it? Baseball is a backdrop, so I guess. Yeah, more than anything. What we learned, Justin and East Van says the BC Lions announced that they will retire the number 56 for Solomon Eliminian in a special halftine ceremony on October 4th at the Stampeders or versus the Stampeders, I should say. So congratulations to Solomon.

in Elamimian for that one. I wanted to shout out this one as well from Tyler. A Lions, what we learned. He says a PSA, what we learned. I don't know how many people Nova Lions are doing this. After every win, the merch shop has a discount for 24 hours equal to the total points they scored. For example, yesterday, there was a 36% discount. Oh, wow. That's quite the promotion. I like that. So if they really fire it up one day and crack 40 or 50, make sure you get to the BC Lions merch shop and get those sweet deals. Okay, that is the show for today. Thank you for listening. I'm Jamie Dodd. He's Dan Riccio. We'll be back for the rest of the week and tomorrow.

For more, Halford & Brough here on SportsNet 650. Hey, it's Lena. Want even more sports content? Check out Sportsnet 650 on social. I'll show you the lighter side of sports and take you behind the scenes at Rogers Arena. Follow at SportsNet 650 on X, Instagram, and TikTok.