Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 8/18/25

Episode Date: August 19, 2025

Guest hosts Jamie Dodd and Dan Riccio tell us what happened in the last 72 hours in sports. The Athletic's Julian McKenzi joins. Julian talks Ottawa Senators potential new arena, Jake Sanderson's value, and if Nazem Kadri should make the Canada Olympic squad. Then, Co-host of Yahoo Sports' NFL Podcast, 'Inside Coverage' Frank Schwab joins the show. 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.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Half-Ford and Brough. Swung on, hit high, left field, towards the corner, Nimmo over, he's looking up, and it is gone. Home-run, Cal Raleigh. That's going to be close. Close to the hole now, picking up speed, getting close, Scotty Schaeffler, and that is right. He did it in.

He made it. Chip and Bernie. Oh, my goodness, do you believe it? Good morning. Welcome to Halford and Brough here on Sportsnet 650. The fellas. Mike Halford, Jason Brough, they are still on vacation. So I'm Jamie Dodd here.

And joining me for the week. Very excited for this. None other, you hear him, of course. On Canuck Central throughout the season, he is. Dan Riccio, Reach. What's going on, man? Oh, you know, not too much. Am I Halford?

Are you, am I rough? What? I don't know which one I am. I'm sitting in Brough's seat, but I'm doing Halford's job. All right. So I don't know. Adjust accordingly. A little bit of both, I guess.

I can be the sad club commish for a week. Please do. If I absolutely need to be. Please do. Maybe we'll get Mount Reach. going off here. I think the other element of this week's morning show that people are excited for are is a Canucks Talk versus Canucks Central sort of feud that has, I don't know.

I was getting texts about it last week during the People's show 650, 650 on the Dunbar Lumber text message inbox. So I don't know if people expect us to like fight this week or something. Last week on the show, and you'll find this out, by the way. Yeah, you'll discover all of the great little bits on the Halford and Brough show. They do ask us anything Friday. And somebody asked, who would you most want from 650 to go on like a long road trip with? And I said, Bick.

Yeah. And then I was like, I don't think Bick likes me very much, though, because he always complains when he has to host the people show with me. And B, I saw later people were text, Big sent me. Someone was like, why don't you like Jamie? And then somebody was also like, well, who would be the worst people to go on? And I was like, maybe Drans and Reach. And I was like, they are like, I can't tell if there's like real, a real feud there or just a fake feud. So maybe someone thought I was, I was saying that you guys have beef, but not to my knowledge.

Well, we'll let the, we'll let the people believe there's a feud. We'll figure it out. That always brings more ratings. Reach is, exactly. Reach is here for the week with me. We got producer Elon here as well. Good morning. Good morning.

And of course, Laddie. Hello. Hello. Lady, doing his best to keep us on the rails. Trying. Finding those golf clips. Just an absolutely thrilling golf clip to start off the show. Radio golf clip, too.

Better than radio golf play-by-play. I mean, it really matched just the absolute incredibleness of the shot that Scotty Sheffler hit on 17 yesterday. It was pretty good. Radio play-by-play for golf for the BMW championship, too. Not even a major. We might have to rank radio play-by-play sports at some point during the week. We're going to need the content, so I don't know.

That's an interesting one, actually. I like that. All right. It is Halford and Broughier. What's coming up on the show at 6.30, Frank Schwab covering the NFL for Yahoo Sports. He will join us, of course, preseason week two in the books for the NFL. A lot of hype, a lot of excitement about what the Seattle Seahawks did in their preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on the offensive side of things. We'll talk to Frank Schwab about that.

We'll go around the league with him at 630. At 7 o'clock, Josh Goldberg. He covers the Blue Jays for Jays Nation and the DFA podcast. Jays lose yesterday but win the series against the Rangers and some really interesting questions developing for the Jays about their playoff rotation, what it might look like, how they're going to handle the imminent debut of Shane Bieber. So lots of stuff to dig into with Josh Goldberg. And then at 8 o'clock we'll chat with Julian McKenzie from the athletic. He covers the Ottawa senators and there's a lot to get into with Ottawa. Of course, new arena is moving forward slowly but surely it seems like for downtown. A really interesting. team going into next season. And also, he had a good piece and a good chat up with Nazim Cadry recently as well that we can dive into. And Cadre of some interesting comments about where he might figure in the pecking order for team candidate at the Olympics, which I think is pretty fascinating. So we can dive into that with Julian as well at 8 o'clock. And then, of course, 8.30

will do what we learned. So start sending your text in now, 650, 650 to the Dunbar Lumber text line. I should point out as well. I've all thrown off having a chat with you. I haven't any of the many, many reads that I have to do in the first segment of the show. So, Halverna, this show usually feel, whenever I tune in on the podcast, it feels like a NASCAR. 90% reads. It's just like, what has happened? It essentially reads like a European hockey jersey. I usually, uh, there's just all kinds of sponsors.

I usually listen to the first, uh, the first segment of the show like during the season as part of my prep. And it's always like, I put it on on Spotify and then I hit the like skip ahead 30 second button. 10 times and it's like and then I'm it's like oh still doing ad you listen to every ad ad what are you talking about still doing it anyways halverdumbrough is brought you by sans and associates learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt free in just two weeks visit sans dash trustee dot com and we are coming to you live from the kintech studio kintech footwear and orthotics working together with you in step and 650 650 is the dumbbar lumber text line. That's where you should send

your What We Learned submissions. Hashtag WWL, what you've learned in the last 72 hours in sports since it is a weekend, and we will read those at 830. Never too early to send them in, though. All right, that's what's coming up on the show. First, let's tell everyone what happened.

Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I moved. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Miss it? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance,

making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit BCCSA.c.se.compa packed sports weekend, as I was just mentioned in there in the rundown. And we heard the clip from golf, NFL, baseball, tons of stuff happening. But of course, we got to start local. And of course, we got to start with the scene at BC Place yesterday. Thomas Mueller makes his white caps debut. It really happened. He came onto the pitch.

He played a little more than half an hour for the white caps. However, the Houston Dynamo, and I guess a very overzealous linesmen, spoiled the party a little bit at BC plays because the white caps. That linesman's got some stones, man. Oh, man. The white caps concede late in a one-one draw against Houston.

Brian White scored from the penalty spot in the six minutes. So his incredible goal scoring season continues. for the White Caps. White Caps had plenty of chance in this one. As much as we can talk about the linesman and the call on the Mueller would have been goal. The White Caps had plenty of chances. Could not convert. Let Houston hang around. Muler came on in the 61st minute, hit just a lethal volley shortly after for what looked like it was going to be a goal in just an incredible moment. And you could see the celebration happening in the stands and watching at home. I was like, oh my goodness. Are you kidding me? That's an incredible story. I was literally saying to myself, wow, he hasn't had a good. good touch since coming on to the field and then bang oh my god he scores this unbelievable worldly of a goal now reach was texting me it was like thomas mulles the new oliver eckman larsen here it's like whoa reach calm down buddy he's been on for five minutes hey that's Stanley cup champion oliver that's true unfortunately brian white was off side so that goal will uh will we'll will go down in vancouver sports lore as what could have been what could have been the most credible moment the most vancouver thing to

happen. Like, if you're a Vancouver sports fan, like, is there any way you could have scripted it better? Yeah. It's like, what's the way that most unpredictable thing to happen, but when it happens, it's like, yeah, this feels very Vancouver. And that's exactly what happened with Thomas Mueller yesterday. It shouldn't take away from what is still a very exciting time to be around the white caps. But then it follows up with them giving up a goal against the run of play and not even getting the three points out of a match that they dominated for essentially 89 minutes. Yeah. And And so our tour for the Houston Dynamo, the midfielder scored in stoppage time. And again, as you said, very much against the run of play.

It's two points dropped, really, for the white caps, as much as it is, you know, a positive result in the sense. You pick up the point. But for a team like the white caps in the position in the standings where they are hosting Houston, you look at that as you want three points. You want to continue your push for the best possible playoff positioning. And especially now with Thomas Mueller in the fold. However, I mean, the result is secondary, right? was about getting Thomas Mueller into the squad, getting him his, you know, getting the first

game and the first action out of the way. And it was a really cool moment. It was a sellout in the lower bowl for BC plays. But now I'm very, very excited and curious to see what the next steps are and where this goes. Because you were kind of joking there about, man, he's not a ton of great touches. And there were moments where you could see him trying to develop that link up play with Brian White. There were some not up to his standard touches as well for Thomas Mueller.

I also wonder, and we were just chatting before the show and I was thinking about this watching the game as well, what must it be like if you are, I don't know, Sebastian Barhalter or pick a name, pick a name out of a hat from the Vancouver White Caps. And you know, you're a really good MLS player and Bearhalter's gotten called up to the U.S. team as well. So that like he's a, he's a good player, but he's not playing with Thomas Mueller on a regular basis. He's not playing. He's not playing with players of that stature on a regular basis. And all of a sudden, this guy who just landed last week has had one training session with you, but you've seen him on TV winning Bundesliga and winning the World Cup and winning the Champions League. Now he's standing, you know, 20 yards

away from you calling for a pass and you've got a decision. Am I passing to him? I'm taking this guy on? What am I doing? That adjustment for the rest of the white caps must be really, really difficult to make. It's inevitable. A player of that stature coming into your squad is going to have an effect. They've got a presence about them. And that's exactly what happened with Thomas Mueller yesterday. It almost felt like they kind of started to go away a little bit from what was working in the whole team identity thing because, oh, we want to get Mueller the ball. We want to get him his touches. We want to get him integrated. And so it almost felt a little bit forced to me at different points, but I get it. And I think that's part of the natural growing period that they're going to

have around Thomas Mueller. And so it needed to happen. You get him his 30 minutes. Maybe he starts next week again at home next Saturday. Those are things that they have to develop. You have to remember and remind yourself as though this guy, yeah, he's a golden boot winner and has scored a billion goals for Bayern Munich over the years, one of the best players of the last 15 years. And all of world football, but you have to remember he's only been in town for three days. He had one training session with his new teammates and with his new club. You have to give it time for him to really start to gel and understand where he's going to best fit into this squad. Yeah, and it does set up pretty nicely actually for them the schedule with no match between now and next weekend,

and they're at home as well, right? So you'd think they'd be able to get some good time in on the training pitch, really start that process of integrating him. And that is going to be the fascinating challenge for yes for sorensen and for thomas muller and the rest of the squad but the manager in particular is integrate a unique because this is not just a great european football player coming over right he's also he was unique within the context of european football right like they they had to invent new words to describe the position and the role he was playing for byrne for byron munich and germany often so it's not just as you're taking in okay this guy's a classic number nine and we're just we know exactly what he's going to do put him he's going to lead

the line. We're going to get him service in the box. He's going to score goals. Mueller's a unique player. So inherently, there's going to be a bit of a process to figure out how do we retain what we do so well as a team, what's made us one of the best teams in MLS, while now bringing this distinct player in who has so much to offer, but is also distinct and keep the best of what we've done while integrating what Thomas Mueller can do. And I think that's going to be, you know, everything we heard was that Mueller was really impressed with what he heard from Yesper Sorensen. So certainly there's a plan. I'm sure they have a lot of ideas about how to go about doing that. Now they're going to have to get down to the nitty gritty

of putting that in place in training and then hopefully on the pitch next weekend as well. Well, and we even saw him on the field start to dictate positionally where he wanted to play and what he was seeing. We saw Jaden Nelson flip to right wing later on in the match towards the end of it there. And Mueller was kind of in a left. wing hybrid support striker role next to Daniel Rios at the time up top. So there was a couple of different looks and he clearly showed some leadership on the field as well. It's just, you know, I almost felt like he wanted to make the most of the moment too. He had the great goal, right? Which, you know, and he talked about it after the match. It was incredible. The fans, my teammates,

the way everybody reacted. It's unfortunate it was called off. But what an incredible. moment that was when it did happen. And then you kind of felt that afterwards he tried some audacious passes, like flick passes and things of that nature, which he did normally at Byron Munich. But it almost felt like he wanted to entertain the crowd at the same time and understanding that he's the guy now more than anybody else. Whereas at Byron Munich, even though he was a finisher and

it's such a big part and such a fan favorite for that team, like there's other guys that some other pretty good. players there too. Take some of the load off of your shoulder. So there is an adjustment period here for him as well, which he acknowledged post-game. Yeah, and we'll try to get Esper Sorensen on the show at some point this week and maybe dig into what his perspective is on some of these questions a little bit and how he plans to use him. But next up for the white caps they host

St. Louis on Saturday at BC Place. So that would be the next opportunity for Thomas Mueller to be in action for the white caps as they draw Houston 1-1. So there's a couple other things I wanted to get to on the cats before we move, move on. And away from Thomas Mueller, like there was a lot going on. You get Ali Ahmed back in the squad as well, coming back from injury. That's another big part for the team. Kenji Cabrera makes his MLSWI.

Kenji Cabrera. He looked like bad for Kenji Cabrera. He was going to be the big signing. And now everyone's like, who's this guy? And then they were doing like introductory pictures with him and Thomas Mueller. Like, there's a juxtaposition here. Two people are basically of the same resume. Yeah.

But a couple of takeaways from last night's game. Jaden Nelson, wow, he was putting on a show yesterday at BC Place. I wish he would have finished that great solo goal coming off the left wing. He is an incredible fun. What a coup for Axel Schuster to bring this guy back to MLS still in his early 20s, already Canadian capped, and looks like he's starting to realize his potential that put him on the map earlier in his career for a move over to Europe, didn't work out, comes back to MLS, and is starting to shine and hash on all year right from the get-go

when he started with a goal and three assists in his first caps match of the season. Love that. The midfield still looks great with Kubas and Bear Halter. Bearhalter's been a revelation this year. I mean, I don't know where this breakout came from, but every time I watch the guy, I am super, super impressed. And my biggest concern about the white caps is on defense. Tristan Blackman had to come out at halftime.

So you're essentially down your two starting centerbacks in that moment because Blackman's nursing a bit. of an injury, and you've got Veslinovich, who's out for the year. So not that they were under duress a lot, but when they were, it didn't feel very comfortable for the white cats. And it's coming off the midweek match where Utvick was in the crosshairs from fans, right, for his defending on the two goals. So they're like, they didn't give up a lot, but they didn't give up a lot because of the way they play as a team. But late in the match, when Houston did start to put a little bit of pressure and they made a couple of substitutions and you saw some of their attackers take

defenders one on one, that's when you felt the white caps get a little bit more uncomfortable and eventually it led to the equalizer. If I'm a Caps fan, that's probably what I'm worried about most now is, you know, do we have the right defenders to truly be an MLS contender given the injury to Vasilinovich and how Blackman is clearly not at 100%. And there are a few days left in the transfer window for MLS. So that's something to monitor. for the Whitecaps. I know Manuel Vath, who's been on the station, reporting that they're talking to a team in Belgium about a central defender. So they're aware, I think, is the sense. They want to upgrade it and it's just going to be

a matter of finding the right piece. And then as always with MLS, getting them integrated, getting them up to speed. So you trust them. And so they're a positive part of the squad by the time the MLS Cup playoffs roll around. All right, we'll quickly touch on the other event at BC place this weekend, which was the BC Lions who are back to 500. They cruise to a 36 to 18 win at home against Montreal. Nathan Rourke

through four touchdowns. Kian Hatcher had a monster day at wide receiver. 11 catches for 156 yards and a couple of touchdowns as well. This was a game. The Lions very much were expected to win, considering Montreal's quarterback situation, but you know, that's a revenge game or anything like that.

But that doesn't account for the excellent offensive showing, right? You can say, oh, it's a backup QB, sure, but your offense was still clicking at a really impressive rate. And now I look at the Lions and you look at the schedule coming up. They got to go to Toronto, then they have a bive and they play at Ottawa. So that's you know, too, a lot of time out east, but still neither of those teams are that impressive. Then you come back and play home against Ottawa. Very favorable stretch with Ottawa and Toronto, both at the bottom of the East Division. So that's great. Okay, hey, you get this win, you get back to 500. Now you can look at the rest of your schedule and say we've got a chance to

build on that and maybe even surge well above 500. I also look at their body of work as a whole of this season. The only West division team, the Lions have beat this year is Edmonton. Their next game against one of the top three in the West, not until September 19th in Calgary. So I do kind of feel like whatever they do on this next stretch, even if they rattle off three or four in a row here,

the question is going to be, okay, you can beat some of the poorer teams in the East Division. You can beat Edmonton. can you beat Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Calgary? Because if the answer is no, if you're not up to par with those teams, if you can't measure up to those teams, well, then you're not going to be a great cup contender. And so we're in this kind of month-long,

I don't want to say a pause or anything, they're still playing games, but it's this vacuum for the BC Lions where the major question that they have to answer, which is how they stack up with the rest of the West Division, with the top of the West Division, they're not going to get a chance to answer for the next month here. Well, the offense is kicking into gear, right?

And it's been that way for a few weeks now. They've got just putting up a ton of points. Overall, I think their second best offense in CFL right now, at least from points scored. The defense has got to come around, but it's not going to get tested a ton, as you mentioned, until they start playing some of those bigger teams. The Argos do have an offense that can put up some numbers, so that'll be a bit of a test for the defense. We'll see how that goes, even though the Argos are, what, 2 and 8? on the season. So I'm just, you know, I think early on, I wanted to see more from Nathan

Newark, and now the offense is really starting to kick it into gear with what we've seen over the last three weeks. And if that continues, you know, maybe we see a really strong second half heading into the CFL playoffs for the Lions. Yeah, it would be nice to see, no doubt about it, as you said, especially with Nathan Roark and his performance turning up right now. We'll save the baseball stuff for a little bit later on in the show. Lots to get into if the Jay's, the Mariners were playing in the Little League classic against the Mets in Williamsport yesterday as well. But while we're talking football, we'll touch quickly on the Seattle Seahawks who beat the Chiefs 3316 in week two of NFL preseason action. And look, adjust your preseason Super Bowl games.

Adjust your preseason Super Bowl teams. Elon is on my wavelength here. Because look, they draft Gray's able in the first round. And look, I love. And now they have the best offensive line in the league. I love a guard who can get out and mall people in the run game as much as the next guy. Okay? It's awesome.

It's fun to watch. I understand it. And they had some great snaps. The old line had some great reps in that game. Let's pump the brakes a little bit. All right. The amount of, oh my gosh, this is incredible. His offense is poised to explode.

Clint Kubiak, what a genius. The system. The Clint Kubiak system and the play action and the running and the identity and the offensive line. Guys, it was a preseason game. And I'm not rooting against them. I hope it is entertaining. I would love to be able to watch a Seahawks team that has that identity, that has a stud offensive linemen in the run game that can go out and be a problem for teams.

The type of guard that other teams have to game plan against, which is pretty hard to have. That would be amazing. Let's just, let's get him like a couple of games in the regular season before we start going there. That's all I ask. So you're pumping the brakes. I'm pumping the brakes just a little bit here. Having the best O line in the league. Yeah.

I'm going to take the under on that. It's Monday. You don't have to be so negative about things. Okay. So a couple of things. Obviously, it's preseason. So you got to take everything with a grain of salt. Yes.

Chiefs had about half of their defensive starters out there. Chris Jones didn't play. I think their linebackers didn't play. Their top two corners didn't play. So, you know, there's the context you're looking for as far as what you need to know about who the Seahawks were actually playing. So, yeah, of course, you've got to take everything. with a grain of salt in the preseason. But what else do you want them to do?

They showed about as well as they could possibly show. It's a good performance. And now, through two preseason games, I think their run game is at like five yards per carry in the Kubiak system. Now, okay, it's going to change a lot during the regular season. But you know what? Last year, their offensive line, not only was it not up to snuff talent-wise,

but I think the scheme and everything about the Ryan Grub era as we found out over the course of the season was not right for the group. And now you've got something that's tried, true, tested the Kubiak, Shanahan, zone run scheme that's worked forever in the NFL. You've got some of that here,

and it's going to make this Seahawks O line better than the sum of its parts, and we're starting to see that early on in preseason. So I'm positive. I will say, I think that style of offense is a great fit for Sam Darnold as well. I think it's a great fit for Ken Walker

at the running back position. So I'm not saying they're going to be a disaster or anything. But, man, I don't know that I'd, I can't remember the last time I saw Seahawks fans taking a preseason victory lap quite like that. I mean, it's the NFL preseason, man, you know, like, we're all bored. What else are we supposed to do? We're watching highlights yesterday of Spencer Rattler versus Tyler Shook, you know, like what is what it's all about? Man, who's winning that crazy quarterback job in New Orleans? Well, you know what?

Maybe we can ask Frank Schwab about Spencer Rattler. We can get into that. next with Frank Schwab. He covers NFL for Yahoo. He's also the co-host of Yahoo Sports NFL podcast inside coverage so we can chat. Seahawks offense and O-line and the rest of the storylines around the NFL preseason with Frank Schwab next here on Halford & Brough Sportsnet 650. Welcome back to Halford & 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, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3,000 5-star reviews, visit sands-trustee.com. This hour of Halvin & Brough, it's brought you by Campbell and Pound Real Estate Appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound visit Campbell dash pound.com today. And of course, we are broadcasting live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics, working together with you in step. Guests on Sportsnet 650 call in on the hotline powered by PowerWest Industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at powerwest.ca today.

And now joining us on the PowerWest hotline. He covers the Ottawa Senators for the Athletic. He's also the host of the Chris Johnston show. 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 are 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 your 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, Vesnes 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 and that's still a win in itself

considering what this team has gone through with getting a 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 Abgeny 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 in and around the Canadian Tire Center and having his guy Steve Steos in place to kind of build

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 pretty surprising.

As an outsider, like that's pretty surprising to see how fans have latched on to Ann Lauer, but I think it also speaks to the fact that this organization has been kind of been in the way, 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 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 are expecting 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 offseason 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 Lena Soulmark 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 Zetterland, 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 is 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 has 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 the top three of Charlie McAvoy, David Posternak and Jeremy Swayvitt. 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 is 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, you know, didn't get a chance to watch him day in, day out with the office. 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 open a lot of people's eyes to his game. I don't, I mean, he's not going to be he's not like as flashy 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 in 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 turn 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 Stutz's the 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 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 Ian Lauer spoken about it. ESPN comments from Keith Kichuk, too, about Brady wanting to be loyal and staying in Ottawa. Like, I hear all of that.

And I can respect the fact that, like, 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 track. 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 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 them. 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. You're listening to the best of Alford and Brough. Julia McKenzie, our guest. So Nazim Kadri, you had the piece at The Athletic. You know, he commented on the orientation roster with a couple of questions. 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 and the winning pedigree, I think it speaks for itself. And, you know, Cadre, 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. the select few players in the NHL and certainly that are of Canadian descent. It just, I get where Cadre is 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 can 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 issues, 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's, he, he, he's, he, he, he's, he, he, he's, he, he's, he, he's, he's been a long shot before, like, why not put that pressure

on himself? Uh, I, I, I also appreciate the fact that he, he knows he was trolling a little bit, too. Like, I asked him straight up, like, do you think putting, like, the question marked 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, like, at the end of the day, like, he, he, 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 Nassan 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 camps in Calgary. If I was in his shoes, 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, but there's boys. Like, come on. Like, I would feel a way, too.

And again, I think Noglum 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 through 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 Dawson country. You should want to strive for something like that. that. Julian, thanks for the time, man. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of your summer. You too, guys. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Covering the NFL for Yahoo! He is the co-host of Yahoo Sports NFL podcast Inside Coverage. He is Frank Schwab. Frank, thanks for doing this today. How are you? Hey, good. What's going on? Not too much. So out here, the buzz for week two of the

NFL preseason, definitely centered around the Seahawks performance in their win against the Chiefs and not just the win in preseason, but the manner they went about it, really relying on the run game, mauling the chiefs who, yes, of course, we're not starting their entire first string defense in that one, but a lot of excitement about what that could portend for the Seahawks, and especially their offense under Clint Kubiak, the offensive coordinator this season. How much optimism should Seahawks fans have about what that unit can accomplish this year? Yeah, and, you know, I mean, Kubiak is very. respected offensive coordinator.

It went south last year with the Saints, but they got off to a great start, and I got a bunch of injuries. I can't blame that all on him, so, and yeah, I think it will be a different approach for the Seahawks. I do think they want to run the ball more. I do think they want to, you know, emphasize a physical side of the

game, for sure. They have the two great backs there. Now, the question is, can you off of the line hold up? They look good, obviously, gets the chiefs. What to make? Like, you kind of alluded to. What do you make of that? It's pre-season, pre-season results don't always matter that much. But you'd rather play well than not play well. I mean, if you're given a choice. So I thought it was a good outing. Sam Darnal look good. Yeah, everything is trending positively for them. And especially you look around there, you know, Rams are having

their issues with Matthew Stafford. And, you know, the Seahawks are coming off winning 10 games last year. There should be some excitement there that they take another step in Mike McDonald's second year. Yeah, I guess the, you know, the biggest question is Sam Darnham. I really don't mind the play to, okay, you're going to trade Gino Smith or not pay him what he's looking for, and then you get a little bit cheaper with Sam Darnold and younger with Sam Darnold and see what he can do for you as you go about the quarterback situation that way. And if the offensive line does hold up, I think that Donald can have success. How much of last season do you think was a flash in the pan and how much was for real for Sam Darnold and what we saw in Minnesota, what he did. did with Minnesota last season.

I mean, I think that it mostly, I don't want to say for real, because is he going to finish, you know, fifth and the MVP voting again? Probably not. Fair enough. That's probably not going to happen. But I do think a lot of the things he showed can repeat themselves. I think that, you know, he's not going to be the guy we saw with the Jets and Carolina and all that.

I think he's taken a step in his career and he's going to be a lot better and a viable starting NFL quarterback. It doesn't mean he's necessarily going to replicate what he did with the Vikings again last year, but he could still be a good quarterback, and I don't think he's going to regress that far. I think those final two games really messed with people's heads when it came to Sam Darnold. And they just decided at that point, well, that's who Sam Darnold is. He's back to being terrible. Well, yeah, he had two rough games where the Vikings didn't block for him very well against, you know,

a Lions team that went 15 and 2 and a Rams team that was hot as anybody by the end of the season. I don't really sit there and say, I think Sam Darnold was just, you know, the clock struck midnight or anything like that for him. I just think he had two tough games against two tough opponents, and that can happen. I think he's a perfectly reasonable quarterback. I think Gino is probably better, but he's older, like you said, more expensive. They got a draft pick back when they traded Gino. So I understood the move. I have no problem with it.

I think Sam Donald's going to be just fine. I don't think Sam Donald is going to be the Seahawks issue. It's just they're going to have the block for them. And it just seems like we've been talking about this for 15 years of the Seahawks. Hey, if the offensive line does this and if the offensive line is good, the Seahawks are probably going to be okay because Sam Donald doesn't function well under pressure. We all know that. Like that's most quarterbacks, especially Darnold.

So I think the Seahawks are better on the offensive line. I think that's a huge deal for them. We'll see. We'll see because, again, the Seahawks haven't been able to figure out that offensive line in a long, long time. You know, the Rams are supposed to give an update on Stafford today, but I'm not sure I'm expecting anything different than what we've got over the last couple of weeks, Frank. And, you know, it just makes me feel like this NFC West is absolutely wide open right now. We're expecting the Niners to bounce back, but that roster is aged. And I got some questions of if that defense can still be elite as they have been in the past. The Rams without Stafford, Jimmy G. should be okay under center,

but they're going to need Stafford to reach their ceiling. And the Cardinals, you know, kind of like the Seahawks, I could see it going either way for the Cardinals this year. How do you handicap the NFC West? Yeah, and I think he put it really well. I think the key to all of it is Stafford. Like you said, like, you know, everyone training cats started and he wasn't already. I was like, okay, no big deal.

I mean, it's Matthew Stafford. He'll be there. Now you're like, well, we're kind of deep in August. I haven't seen Matthew Stafford and gotten any positive results. So you get a little bit more nervous. I really don't have many doubts that Matthew Stafford is going to be there on opening day. He'll play. He's a tough dude.

I fully assume he will he be anywhere close to 100%. That's what I worry about. Can he stay 100% through the season? I don't know that either. I just think that there's a lot more to just, hey, is Matthews Stever going to be on the field week one? there's more nuance there. If he is, the Rams are a really, really good football team. Their defense came along great at the end of last year.

So we'll see. But the Rams have some questions. Like you said, the 49ers, the 49ers lost double-digit games and had probably the worst offseason of any NFL team. So, yeah, I expect them to bounce the back because the injuries won't repeat and stuff like that. But I don't know for sure that the 49ers could be great. And like you said, the Cardinals could be good.

Like, I don't doubt that. I do have questions about Kyle. though. I don't know what his ceiling is anymore. He kind of just is what he is. So, yeah, the O.C. West is really, really fascinating because you can make a case for all four teams winning it. You make a case for all four teams finishing the last place.

It really is wide open. It does feel that way, especially with the Stafford injury.