Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Jays Are On A Generational Heater

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

In hour two, Mike Halford & guest host Josh Elliott-Wolfe chat the latest baseball news and notes with MLB Network's Adnan Virk (1:32), plus they talk the top football stories of the day with NFL.com's Nick Shook (29:12). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

It's time to chat with Adnan It's Adnan Ferkey's on the show We're gonna talk some baseball And take a trip to the silver screen That's right, it's time for Red Nen. Yes, Ed and Ferg, he joins us now. We'll head out to the ball game and talk about all the filthy scene. Seven o'clock on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. Halford Brough. Oh no wait, it's Josh Elliott-Wolfe on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough for the

morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal could get you on the road to being debt-free in just two weeks. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. As the music suggests, Adnan Virk from MLB Network is gonna join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour 2 is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at Jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at Jason.mortgage. And we are coming to you live from the Kintec Studio, Kintec Footwear, and Orthotics, working

together with you in step. To the Power West Industries hotline we go Adnan Virk MLB Network joins us now on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Adnan, how are you? I'm doing great. I believe we have technical difficulties right now. Can we drop that? Oh my gosh. Oh wait, we might have solved it. You sound so much better now. Oh, you sound so much better now. Okay, this is great. Good, good. Okay, thank you guys. This can't happen again though, it's Mike. We're good.

I was going to say, trials and tribulations of a telecommunications giant here in Vancouver. Okay, the Blue Jays and Yankees series, which is now wrapped, there's two very compelling stories from each team coming out of this series. We're going to start with the good, the Toronto Blue Jays win the series. They've now won seven of 10 against the Yankees. Their mastery of New York continues. How impressed are you with what the Jays are doing lately, specifically in that three game series win over the Yankees?

I mean, it has been nothing short of remarkable. I remember a couple of weeks ago, I think on our sister station in Calgary, they asked me are the Jays a contender? I said not yet. This was in the throws of the 10-game winning streak. I said let me just see a little bit more, maybe another starting pitcher to do the trade deadline, but no longer. This is a legit contender right now because what they've done against the mighty Yankees has been nothing short of phenomenal. That four game series, a couple weeks ago, I remember thinking, all right,

if the Jays win three of four, then they mean business. Remember it was a three game deficit. Instead they swept them and they've overtaken. And now they win two or three in this series. I mean, six of the last seven against the Yankees at home and doing so in convincing fashion has been awfully impressive. And there's lots of acclaim to go around.

Like the kind of part of the narrative has been, look how good their seven, eight, nine guys have been, the unheralded players the Addison bargers the Ernie Clements The Heinemans Rario Rodriguez the bullpen and the last let you game We go if he's sleeping after stars and there's Bob Jr. Driving into run scoring twice. There's Boba Shet hitting a home run There's Chris Bassett whose splits are unbelievable. He's like a two and a half year at home area over five on the road So as long roof what's unbelievable if they get to a happy area home here over five on the road to the audience but you're not going to be great and all great teams felt we know this in any sport

you gotta be great at home right here you never get a team that you say well the real world war is the only statement you got a whole server at home and the fact that they ripped off at the levin game always people like to which we had the same to they're an exhibition stadium. I mean now Roger Center has become a place where yeah it's tough to play there like that is what you want opposing teams to feel particularly for the Yankees like probably their most formidable

opponents their toughest nemesis and the Jays just handed it to them it's been amazing. Yeah that was the other very rewarding part of this series was it not the Jays played very good baseball and very sound baseball but they also played a huge role in the Yankees becoming unglued. They put a lot of pressure on the Yankees, especially in the field. We got a few questions I want to ask you, but the first is how seriously can you take this New York Yankees team when they boot the ball around with such regularity like they do? Well, unfortunately, Mike, it's kind of symptomatic of the team the last few years. Like inevitably this Yankees team makes the playoffs because of the fact that they can bang.

They always have a really good offense. They end up having these June Swoons, which has now traveled over into July, but they've got good starting pitching. Brian Cash will make a move with the deadline. Inevitably, they're in the playoffs. Now last year, they've got a fairly easy path towards the World Series, relatively speaking, and they're able to do so. And then against the Dodgers, what happens, what you're alluding to, sloppy play.

Nobody will ever forget two things. One, Freddie Freeman's walk-off home run, just a great moment, hat-tip to Freddie. But then also the sloppiness in that game five. And you kept thinking, if the Yankees win this game and push it to six, you know, the Dodgers aren't exactly a team that's known for closing things out. They've had their own issues with choking. So you're like, all right, hey, Yankees, we're gonna send it back to LA,

push it to seven, you never know. What happens? Aaron Judge takes his eyes off the ball, drops the ball in the center, hadn't made an error all year, Garrett Cole forgets to cover first. So it starts to become this narrative now, the Yankees, yeah, they're a good team,

yeah, they score a lot of runs, but man, they make some bonehead mistakes. And yesterday, you know, Ballinger a lot of runs, but man, they make some bonehead mistakes and yesterday You know Belanger didn't get charged with an error But that play gets proved costly when he loses the six inning flat ball Maybe it's not fair by the way because Belanger is their second best player behind judge and he is great defensively But Freed, I mean he's been their stopper He's been their absolute ace for him to match a season-worst six run four earned and five and a third

Like that's brutal. You're expecting him to be that guy. I know that little chopper there by Vlad, he throws it home quickly, Ascara can't handle the ball. Dominguez is an absolute butcher. I mean, he's just a terrible defensive player. I love him offensively. He hit a solo home run, but like he's going to make errors. So that's not a surprise there in left field. That kind of become the theme of this AQC. Like they're going to make the playoffs. I think now I don't know if they're gonna win the division I would have said that maybe a couple weeks ago now I don't know if they're gonna be able to stop the Blue Jays team especially because he's head to head but the Yankees will make the playoffs ultimately but this defense and that

sloppiness that's frustrating right again great team to do what the Jays do fundamental baseballs be well at home the Yankees can't have this kind of baseball expect to be winners. Yeah the the way the Jays have won seems to fly in the face of where baseball is headed with the the three true outcomes and all of that and the Jays are just out here playing small ball and and maybe forcing some defensive miscues. How sustainable do you think that is? Well one thing I love about Josh is that in today's game, which as you said, the emphasis is on the three true outcomes, which we've accepted now. I mean, I don't sometimes that clamor for the past and the youth and the 85 card,

and you know, a little hit run and just see guys scampering. But I get it. Nobody go up there like, yep, you can do more damage with a free run home run, cheap little base hit, who cares about the sack bunch, et cetera. But what I love about this Blue Jays team is in a sport in which it's come a hell or high water, hit home runs, feast or famine, power arms, power pitching, that's what matters in today's game, the Jays strike out fewer than anybody.

So that to me is like, all right, so this is your greatest weapon is power pitching, punching guys out. Well, we're just not going to strike out. I like that to me is impressive, kind of what Mike just said, put pressure on the team's defense, force them to make plays. There's real, real value in that. And I think if one of the stories, it's kind of been, again, unheralded.

That's kind of one of the stories of this Blue Jays team is how good those six through nine guys have been and Miles Straw stepping up and, hey, David Schneider gets a big base, all that kind of stuff. But if you want someone who's really unheralded, I would look at their hitting coaches. I mean, nobody has mentioned Matt Popkins, Lou Ayanati and Hunter Mentsch. Those guys

deserve a ton of credit for helping this approach to this entire lineup. They work pitchers and they hardly strike out. Rodan the other day threw a hundred plus pitches just to get through five innings. Again, Max Frieden, they were making them work. So I do think that approach is sustainable and clearly working to great effect for this Blue Jays team. He had a two-run home run last night, Beau Bichette, and he said the other day that this team, he said it feels like the atmosphere is similar to what he watched the Jays have in 2015-2016 and that this is the best team he's ever been on. Is it fair to compare kind of what the Jays are doing now to those two kind of magical years, I guess, with the Jays?

Well, there's definitely parallels, you're right, because especially that winning streak, they ripped off, you know, that they hadn't done that since that 2015 team. And that was a special team, no doubt about it. You think about, you know, Josh Donaldson and Bautista and Edmund and Cronach, and all the rest of it. It feels different only because those three guys I just mentioned like they were like really big boppers right like that was the team beasting on home runs

and they changed their philosophies and sacrificing run scoring for run prevention and just it didn't really work out right the Dalton Varshaw how about this I think I was the other day the Blue Jays are the best team right now in the American League East and yet you know the guys you would have thought are key cogs have not been contributors at all. Salton Varsha has been hurt. And Anthony Santander, who again, I went on record saying I thought it was a great signing.

Great. Like this guy had 40 plus home runs. I mean, he had eight home runs. He's done nothing this year. Either he's been hurt or ineffective. So like that's even more impressive. Just wait. If Varsha and Santander come back, if Pinoa comes back in August, he can do something.

So it's a different vibe than that team. wait, if Varsha and Santander come back, if Manoa comes back in August, he can do something. So it's a different vibe than that team. Again, that was big boppers, fearsome, intimidating. This team's kind of pecking and clawing at you, like a little more pesky, but both teams you can clearly fall in love with and you can see the irresistible narrative. And I just hope, I just hope, fellas,

a week to the trade deadline, that Jays truly do go all in, like make some moves to help fortify this. I like the bats at Barrios-Gosman, don't know how much I can trust Scherzer don't know what I'm getting at a Minnow in August Don't know how long Lauer can keep it up go get another starting arm go get a bullpen arm to help out Hoffman Like Hoffman's interesting. He's a guy like he's had a lot of saves also He's an ERA of like four and a half, you know, the one game they lost in this series What happened Ben Rice took him deep, Hoffman's not exactly automatic.

Go get another bullpen arm actually to help this team out a little bit too. We're speaking to Adnan Virk from MLB Network here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Let's turn our attention to the National League here for a minute and the story of the National League and really outside of Toronto, the story in baseball. Shohei Otani, five home runs in five games and it's 37 now leading the National League. At what point are we going to run out of superlatives and flowers to throw at Otani five home runs in five games and it's 37 now leading the National League at what point are we gonna run out of superlatives and flowers to throw at Otani are we ever gonna run out yeah what's funny Mike is

this it makes you think of Larry Burbank were famous in that three-point contest he walked in and says all the guys all right who's coming in second that's when I feel like now with Otani like every time you go all right who's coming in second for MVP because my virtue feels like now with O'Donnie, like every time you go, all right, who's coming in second for MVP? Because my version of the fact, if he just does what he's doing right now and gets like a 45 home run season and leads the league in OPS and pitches a little bit, like he's the MVP, like he's like no brainer. Like offensively on his own merit, he's the MVP because he's the leader in OPS, leader in war. Then you just throw in the pitching. It's like a little bit icing on the cake. I'm's the MVP, because he's the leader in OPS, leader in war. Then you just throw in the pitching,

it's like a little bit of icing on the cake. I'm like, oh, by the way, I'm gonna throw 50 innings and have like a two ERA. Like, there's like no one else that does that in the sport, I'm just gonna do that for fun. Like, it's ridiculous. And I think last year was such a great story because he doesn't pitch as a 50-50 season.

And you go, well, he's not gonna do that again. He's not gonna run that much, he is pitching this year. But I can still slug it. Like, five straight games home runs and now leading 37 like this is the one with this guy so the goal he has everything B plus like how Bellinger does everything well and like he's just a solid player. O'Brien does everything great like you look at his numbers everything's just great like no he's a great powerhead he's great at making content he is great at throwing strikes

he has great feel He has great below He has great breaking balls. I go every single thing. He does it's awesome I could so much fun to watch a guy who was truly a plus and seven Simon Dodgers history of players over to five straight games Nobody on this list you're gonna confuse with a tiny. It's like Max Muncie Peterson Adrian Gonzalez Matt Kemp Sean Gray Roy Campanella of course can't be a great three time MVP of the Dodgers, but Well, Tani is truly in a world of his own and uh It's fun to see because the Dodgers, we realize now with all the injuries they've had, right? 17 different pitchers in the I.O. They're nowhere near challenging that Maradies all-time wins record

They may not even win 100 games, but now they're starting to run into form Glassnow's back, he struck out 12 last night, first time since June 9th of last year. They're gonna get Blake Snell back at some point. The All-Star break is always an anomaly because you say to yourself, well, All-Star break, we're halfway through. No, no, no. After the break, a week after, as of now,

every team has played 100 games. There's only 62 games left. It's almost go time here. And for the Dodgers, you kind of sense that urgency. Like, hey, let's get to the trade deadline. I'm sure they'll make a trade and fortify their team, get to the dog days of August, and then try to win another World Series. They do kind of feel like a team you mentioned. I know they're dealing with the injuries and so maybe the regular season results are kind of underwhelming, but they do feel like a team

that's like, yeah, we're going to make the playoffs and we'll just wait to turn it on until we get closer to the postseason Yeah, I think that's totally been their MO like somebody said to me Why don't they get so many injuries their pitching staff? I go well because they purposely covet guys who are high performance for the high risk Their team is not durable again something else is really underappreciated guys for the blue J's their rotation doesn't get hurt When's the last time you heard about burritos being gone for two months or Gossman or Bassett? Right, it was like those three guys are horses. They go out there and they pitch every fifth day.

So like Zach Wheeler with the Phillies never gets hurt. So Dodgers would go, hey, Glass is an awesome pitcher, but he's gonna get hurt. Like, oh, okay, like we'll just accept the fact that he's only gonna make 20 starts, but just hope he's healthy in October. All right, works for me. Like that's kind of what they're at bow is, they get these guys high risk, high October. All right, works for me. Like I said, that's kind of what their MO is.

They get these guys high risk, high reward. Yamamoto, Japanese pitcher, they used to be between 177 days. Like to sit him a few times. Now, okay. And here's the thing what happened which is so frustrating, Josh, when you're the Dodgers,

you can take a relative risk on Sasaki. So again, talk about a guy who's been completely forgotten. Was supposed to be the free agent prize of the off season. They stopped him because he throws 100 miles an hour and throws a split and he's relatively young. What happened? He was ineffective. Then he got hurt. He's forgotten it. Nobody's mentioned to talk to like, yeah, no big deal. Like if you were the twins and you bank on this one kid, like, oh my God, if he goes down, forget about it.

Mizorowski with the Brewers, right? That's your A plus prospect. The Dodgers can make a move like that. You go back. Oh good. We still got snow and Elamoto and Glossnow and Otani and Kershaw still pitching really good with an all-star off the 11th time. Like it's just an embarrassment of riches. I do think the Dodgers, again, will be active to add more and they're going to really start to get rolling. We're speaking to Adnan Virk from MLB Network here on the

Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. With everything else going on in Major League Baseball, Adnan, and of course this weekend is the MLB Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Dick Allen, Billy Wagner, C.C. Sebastian, Ichiro Suzuki, and the recently departed Dave Parker. How much are you looking forward to this weekend's induction ceremony? I always look forward to it, Mike. It's great. I had not been to Cooper's since I was a little kid. My dad took me and my brother years ago and I went a few years ago to see my friend Tim Kirch and get enshrined.

So of course Tim, long time mainstay at ESPN was a great, great writer before he joined ESPN which is where we became friends and worked together. But I said, if I have any excuse ever to go to the Hall of Famers to see my friend get enshrined. So they do the writers on the Saturday and on Sundays the actual ceremony uh... but his features often a memorize the whole thing to be practical

required it was a baby exactly expected to be responding with self-deprecating i was so he'd been to the church karen i like it to hang out and and there's no better person to have their the water for as it is an amazing job on the expand for a baseball but also at the bottom twenty press the hall of famer so the dot may hotel or all the hip-hop ever take out it was ridiculous fell i'm sure you've got a situation where you go i could we don't belong here at

some point they're gonna kick me out but i'm hanging as long as i can and there i was watching weight bogs hang out with jeff bagwell and bob costas walked up with me about having a car ticketed knowing about the budget all favors i can talk to larry walker with the often of course really dropped the fact that the risk is the product and it is you know we have out of a child favors i can talk to larry walker with the often of course in the drop the fact that the risk is the product and it is a offer to the with larry walker part of the highland of all killed by the target al ripken of course

our could believe his brother at the network so it was really cool and i love all of them we can i encourage anyone who's never been a cooper stoned to go with no other hall of fame quite like it it's fun to drive up to will be on be honest, at night, a little treacherous. A lot of one lane roads, not a lot of lights on. I feel like it's a little dicey when you're driving at night. But it's a really special place. And specific to this year's list, Mike,

it's really sad that Dave Parker is not gonna get his moment in the sun, right? Just passed away. MLB Network did an extraordinary job. I know you guys watch the network, I hope others do as well. I'm sure we'll rerun it. It's called The Cobra at Twilight. It's a documentary we made a

year or two ago. Chuck D, of course, the public enemy, voiced it. He loved Dave Parker, the kid growing up. And it's an awesome doc. One of my buddies in Toronto just watched it, so it must have aired again recently. But the Cobra at Twilight, amazing doc. We did a Dave Parker. Dave Parker, dude, was awesome because he was big and bold and proudly black and in people's faces. And he was just a fun, fun player. And for like five awesome because he was big and bold and proudly black and in people's faces and he was just a fun, fun player. And for like five years he was like the best player in baseball, incredible arm, he's also in the video of the 1979 All-Star game when he did with the Pirates.

But also for guys our age, I removed the ace, right? The Kinsaco-Maguire bash brother. I felt Dave Parker on this team. He was like 36 but he was like a former MVP and again had that swagger that cockiness that big bat It really saddens me that Dave Parker just passed away will not get his moment in the Sun But those other guys you mentioned, I mean each year old absolute stud could do everything Well, no one will ever forget his impact on baseball as a sport the way the obviously Japanese players have performed since 2001 on And of course, Sebastian. How about this about Sebastian? You know, he wins the world series in Oh nine with the Yankees.

It was so great with the Indians all those years, but I'll never forget what he did with the Brewers got trade to Milwaukee. Everyone knew he was a rental and he was unbelievable. Fell. He was like, I got to look up the numbers. I think he was eight and no, the one six, one of your right. And seemingly every game through a complete game, like to me, that's what the most selfless things I've ever seen. Like he knows they're not gonna keep him. He could be selfish, worry about creating a team.

Nope, I'm gonna put this team into the playoffs. I think he goes to Yankees the next year, wins the World Series. Love, Stacey. Okay, Adnan, before we let you go, and I've been remiss in bringing this up on past hits, but everyone knows Cinephile, the podcast. Rest in peace, great podcast.

Cinephile, the book. Though I see this. Tell us a little bit more about it, how this came to be and where people can pick it up when it gets dropped. No, I appreciate it. My preorder is available right now at indigo.ca and amazon.ca for everybody back home. And yeah, it's a great companion piece, the podcast. I always want to write a book. It's always been a dream of mine. So I talked to a publisher, Mango in Miami, and he liked my work, thankfully, loved the podcast. So I talked to a publisher mango in Miami I do like my work. Thankfully love the podcast and I said I'm not gonna write the whole thing Let me know if you like it first. I wrote a few chapters. He liked it the way we went and it's great, man

I actually just got the physical copy sent to my house to the day I merely shipped out two copies to my dad's like there you go pops Really a lot of demarcation you guys will love I don't know father you written books or hope to one day But there's the line of one, which is just, hey, congratulations, didn't know you wrote a book, we're so happy for you. The next line, which is real friendship, is like a screenshot, hey, look, I ordered a copy

or whatever it is, and then the friend that you don't want is the guy who goes, hey, that's awesome, send me a copy. So to anybody out there who wants a copy, I only got 20 copies, literally I sent two to my dad. We're down to 18. This is I'm gonna hoard those like I'm not giving those to anybody. If one day I was a burning fire, I'm just gonna keep my books. I sent a file book. That's it. So please do support the cause. By the way, my buddy who asked for a free copy, I'm going to

send him a PDF. I'm gonna go listen. I cannot part with a hardcover or source to be an actual physical copy. It's not a hardcover. Yeah, listen, it's a great book. I've got stories about hosting the Oscars with Moonlight One Best Picture backstage for the hardcover our source to be an actual physical copy of our government we don't know into great book i've got stories about how to be honest with you might want that picture backstage for the academy uh... interviews with the near old margo robbie kevin harbour or slowly very jenkins mark walberg billy bop orton

you name it i've talked all these people and we'll be able to go back in the archives and tell them great stories about itself i know you to both love movies and i'm sure anybody was loves movies will love the book so August 26th it officially drops people back you in a book tour by the way Amazon is gonna be sending us back on the road again season two so I think I have a trip to Vancouver so hopefully I get to see you guys in person and hit up a local chapters there in Vancouver have a little book signing as well buddy let's do it that sounds awesome hey thanks again as always for doing this every week especially this this week. We appreciate you taking the time.

Congrats on the book. Enjoy the weekend in the MLB Hall of Fame ceremony inductions. We'll do this again next week. Thanks so much, Mike. Always fun, man. Thanks Josh. Be well, boys. Thanks, buddy.

Appreciate it. Adnan Virk from MLB Network here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. So throughout the course of the week, we have been asking for your questions as they pertain to the Vancouver Canucks. Your big picture, fun hypotheticals, bar room debates. Do people still debate in bar rooms? I don't know what kids do anymore. The debate has kind of been lost because you could just like Google stuff now. So it's like, ah, yeah, you're right. Fair enough. Mount Rushmore's ask us anything's alternate realities anything you want for example one We did today was if you were gonna take a player off the active roster

Brackets non Queen Hughes division and add them to the 2011 Stanley Cup final to help the Canucks get over the hump against the Bruins Answer that one. Here's one that we've dabbled in before The Canucks Mount Rushmore of guys that got away. Players that got away. There's a few stipulations here. They had to have achieved greatness after leaving Vancouver. They couldn't have had any real sort of glimpses

of it in Vancouver. Cause at that point you know what was getting away. Like, and then- Can't mention Cam Neely is the obvious one? Cam Neely is the centerpiece We can't count that one anymore because it's so obvious we got to pick others But you know throw them up there anyway because he very much belongs on yeah, he's probably the number one It's usually just a rush more of three because nearly is always on there nearly is always on there

So there are a variety of options you can throw out there if you want to go really old-school like Rick vibe So there are a variety of options you can throw out there if you want to go really old-school like Rick vibe Igor Larry on office a very difficult one we can get into his case for this later Gustav Forsling is absolutely become one But there's also some asterix on that one rj umberger a lot of people brought up time to time Jared McCann Where are you do you have any names that you want to like parse through here is so the debate? I guess the the definition of like ones that got away for me it was it was open to interpretation and that's fair because I was like you know we shall allow this you know who classifies as a couple that got away Matthew Kachak and William Nylander oh in my opinion you really went deep just

because I like your interpretation just because it's like man we especially could Chuck Chuck is the one where everybody was like Hey, you should take Matthew Kachak and then it did not happen and he went on to have all this success He's won cups in Florida. Who knows what would have happened if you know, he was drafted by Vancouver instead of Calgary Would he still be in Vancouver? Would he still have wanted out? Who knows? But to me, I think he deserves a spot Nylander is a little more wishy-washy, I guess, because he was picked a couple picks later, as opposed to just the pick after.

But to me, those are guys that kind of fall in the ones that got away territory. No, it's a great point to bring up. This is almost a secondary conversation we could have of the individual drafts where the Canucks misses, cost them badly. Because if you want to go back to the 91 drafts, which we can get into later,

where they missed on two guys in particular, also at Kachuk, there's something to be said for that as well. That draft though, missing on Kachuk, just a monumental whiff at the plate. And it was just like so immediate too. There was no like, oh, maybe Elevi will be good. It was like, ah, now he's dead. Compounded by the fact that Elevi was so poor. Yes. Like if you miss on Kichak, but you pick up someone who's at least a viable NHL or

who can give you games and justify that high of a pick, you can say, yeah, we missed out on the best player, but at least we got a guy that gave us something and you, Levi gave them absolutely nothing. Like we got a text from Ram us something and you levy gave them absolutely nothing like we get a text from Ramon They drafted McCann over David Pasternak too And it's like well at least Jared McCann was a good and it is a good NHL player Also one that got away also one that got away though. He falls in that category, too The other one I may be put in the category, but this might be more of a stretch is Wayne Gretzky Wow, but that's a That's more of a free agency thing. I do appreciate you you like, you know spreading the boundaries How would have Gretzky have been at that?

I mean not nothing against I know I mean it still would have been incredibly cool for him to play here I mean looking back on it, but at that point in his career I mean he was you know, whatever it was, three or four years from retirement, so. I mean, same as like if the Canucks traded for Sidney Crosby right now, I'd be like, ah, it might not be the best idea, but gosh darn, it's gonna be fun.

Yeah, but the difference is Crosby's still producing. Like Gretzky at that point, I mean, he was getting points, but he wasn't having like insane numbers at the end of his career, whereas Crosby's like still, you know, even at his age now dominating. By the way, can we, the Forsling thing, because we're doing a little bit of recency bias so that we can keep this current

and not talk about the 90s and 80s and everything else. The glow up and rise of Gustav Forsling is one of the more unprecedented things. I've seen guys pass through waivers a couple of times and get cast off by a few different NHL teams and become viable NHLers. But you talk about Forsling and the interesting thing about Forsling is if you even want to take him out of the Florida Panthers realm, the regard in which he's held by the Swedish national team

kind of gives you an idea of how valuable and what a commodity he is and For it because there's three different NHL franchises that sort of passed on. Yeah The Canucks obviously and then Chicago and then and then Carolina as well So it's almost like I can't even I can't even be too upset about it because multiple teams made the mistake Whereas it does hurt when you draft the player more though. Yeah, right Yeah just made the mistake, whereas. It does hurt when you draft the player more though. Yeah. Right, because at that point, there's an understanding that you didn't take a flyer on him either via waivers

or in some like handoff trade for Adam Klendening. You went out, you scouted him, you drafted him, you brought him along in the organization and they sold early. Now they sold early on something that was purely speculative because he was a fifth round pick back in 2014. But when you, I think if you look at where they got him and what he could have been,

if there was just some patience and that's the killer, right? Like other teams had an opportunity to look at him further along in his development. Like I can kind of understand why maybe Chicago and Carolina passed, cause they saw something and they were like, eh, he was a, you know, wasn't even a journeyman at that point. The frustrating thing I think for Canucks fans

was that if a little bit of patience was preached and practiced, maybe he still would've been able to hang around. Anyway, continue to send yours in. Dunbar Lever text line is 650650. We can do these throughout the show today and tomorrow because we're back tomorrow for the final show of the week, three hours here on the Halford and Brough show

on Sportsnet 650. Coming up on the other side of the break, three hours here on the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Coming up on the other side of the break, we're gonna talk a little NFL. Nick Shook from NFL.com is gonna join us. We're gonna go around training camps here. There are reports out there of a potentially catastrophic injury coming out of New York Jets camp.

Are you seeing this? Justin Fields, do we have an update here at all? He has suffered a toe injury on his right foot. The severity is unknown. He got carted off with a toe injury? his right foot. The severity is unknown. He got carted off with a toe injury. I guess so. Precaution. It's gotta be one hell of a toe injury.

Did he lose the toe? Is he going to find it? We'll talk to Nick about all that and more coming up next. Some NFL talk. As training camps are now underway, you're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. The 734 on a Thursday. I forgot it was Thrash Thursday here on the Health and Breath show on Sportsnet 650.

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on Sportsnet 650. Haliford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and Trusted Choice for Dead Help. With over 3,000 five-star reviews visit them online at at sans-trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program with the midway point of the show. Nick Shook from nfl.com is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hom and I get jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Visit them online at jason.mortgage to the Power West Industries hotline we go. Our good buddy, Nick Schuch from nfl.com joins us now on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Nick, how are you? Good, I feel like I haven't been on with you guys in what seems like forever, so it's great to be back. Yeah, it's great to have you back. We're pumped, like even just the sights

and the sounds of training camp has us fired up for NFL season and Of course with training camp comes the inevitability of injuries I'm gonna throw you on the spot because I know this just happened I don't know how up to speed you are with what's going on with Justin Fields in New York We got word courtesy of Adam Schefter that he was carted off in the early days of Jets camp Do you know anything on this front, anything other than what's going on on Axe right now?

Yeah, Aaron Glenn is in the middle of speaking if he hasn't wrapped up already. Oh, okay. And he said he believes that it's a toe injury and doesn't know the plan for testing it and will talk to the doctors before giving them, you know, everybody else more information. But hopefully it sounds like, you know, provided it's not like a significant toe, anytime you get

like foot involved, you think about less strength that could end the season. But hopefully it's not too serious and that it just might require some time off. The downside is that even if you can't be on a seat and it's a week or two process, it's still a week or two missed of training camp and getting into the rhythm and familiar with all of your teammates. But we'll see, we'll stand by and see. We don't wanna project too far ahead,

but yeah, as of right now, it sounds like it is a toe injury, according to Aaron Glenn. Okay, so we'll pause the drama there for now until we get more word on what's going on with Fields and his injury. But let's get to some of these other drama field situations across the NFL in training camps. Let's go to Miami where dolphins QB to a tongue of ILO says that his relationship

and the team's relationship with Tyreek Hill is quote, still a work in progress. Very kind of ominous words out of Miami. What's the situation with the Dolphins right now? Well, it's funny because Terry Hill essentially opened camp by telling the world that he hadn't been dedicating himself solely to himself, his family, and football over the course of his career. He let other things get involved and distract him

and whatever it might have been. And after he had a less than 1,000 yard season last year for the first time since I believe 2018 or whatever, you know, it might have been. And after he had a, you know, less than a thousand yard season last year for the first time since I believe 2018 or 2019, I think is what it was. Um, he, you know, he realized that, look, I'm not young and not super young anymore. I've got to get my stuff together. And so he's decided to rededicate his focus to football and his family and himself. And instead of all the extracurriculars and also on working on relationships within the building, being more of a leader. And talking about Lowe, somebody that has seen both sides of Tyreek and probably bristled at the idea that Tyreek had said that he was out, he was interested in going somewhere

else after the conclusion of last season and essentially removing himself from the second half of that game. So it wasn't, you want, you want to finish strong, finish on a very low note. Didn't really handle himself and behave himself, you know, like a leader should. So he's had to work on relationships with all of his teammates, but especially to his quarterback. And that's kind of what they were speaking about. It sounds encouraging. It sounds like they are definitely making a lot of progress. Now it's a work in progress because it's

never going to be perfect, I think, especially with a guy like Tyreek. But the fact that they're working on it and they're acknowledging it is better than, you know, leaving it behind the curtain and letting that type of thing fester, as we've seen happen with other organizations in the past. Different wide receiver drama in Washington. So the commanders come off this year,

a terrific year for Jayden Daniels, a quarterback. They get all the way, they make a great run in the playoffs. You would think that they would try and avoid drum all together, but they've got a little bit here. Is Terry McLaurin their star wide receiver, leading wide receiver last year,

absent from training camp as he seeks a new contract. How do you see this one ending up, Nick? Yeah, this one, you know, if you look at his contract, he doesn't really make a lot of money, especially doesn't make a lot of money in terms of guaranteed dollars this year, but the final year of his deal. So he has, you know, pretty much every right in the world to demand a new deal with some security

beyond this season. Now, you know, he's had a thousand yards by the last six seasons, um, as, as a receiver who's played with the revolving door of quarterbacks. And yet he's been the one constant for Washington as they've navigated what was previously trying times and what was a very fun 2024 season. He's an integral part of this offense. And he also established an excellent rapport with Jaden Daniels. They posted the second highest passer rating for a quarterback receiver duo in the entire NFL last year. And it was their first year spent together. So yeah, I would try to keep that guy, but he doesn't make nearly as much money

as some of the top guys at receiver. he finished second in receiving type stones last year to only Jamar chase who obviously took home the receiving Triple Crown But point being he needs to be made paid more money and he also needs security He doesn't have a you know a market a contract that's currently competitive on the market right now So he needs a raise and he needs time added to the deal with an extension and he hasn't gotten either yet and it sounds like they're not super close. So this could probably drag. I'm putting it up against Trey Hendrickson, which one ends first. I think both of these might drag a little bit. I'm glad you brought up Trey Hendrickson. That's where I was going to go next to Cincinnati

because it's not just the NFL's reigning sack leader who's without a contract. They've also got issues with first round Ricky Shamar Stewart there. And this isn't the first time that the Cincinnati Bengals have opened camp amid contract squabbles. I know Joe Burrow was outspoken about it calling it disappointing. Again, how do you see this situation playing out? Because it's not one, but two different fronts the Bengals are negotiating on right now. Yeah. I think that Stewart gets done eventually because, you know, how do you not find your first round pick over contract language? It's not like they're negotiating over actual actual dollars.

Sure. And you know, that's, you know, that sort of thing. Maybe they get a passage in like offset language. That sort of thing is what holds these things up. But yeah, there's there's a slotted system for a reason. So it's going to be a language thing and they're going to come to terms with that eventually. I think Hendrickson could drag out for a while just because that market is so high that he's probably not going to really get what he wants. I mean, TJ Watch

has got $41 million per year over the next three on his extension. And that's a guy who is a little bit older than Trey and also didn't lead the league in sacks last year with 17 and a half or put together 35 over the last two seasons. Now he's obviously an elite player, Watt is, but Henderson has an incredibly strong case to get paid right now. And he also is another player who needs contract security. I don't think the Bengals who are kind of up against it in terms of cap, they have enough space to probably get it done or at least kind of work through some things finagle it a little bit. But I also just don't see them handing him that type of cash.

So I think this could drag on for a while. And unless he's willing to, unfortunately, make a concession or two, I could see this lasting for quite some time. To continue the contract talk, what do you think happens with Michael Parsons and the Cowboys? I would love it if they would just sign him right now. So we could stop bringing our hands over it and so one of the best players in football could have an extension that he obviously deserves with the team that drafted him, with the team that should be absolutely interested

in paying him. But that is just not how the Cowboys do business. For better or worse, usually it costs them more in the end and like I said that market just exploded. I have a feeling that, and I could be completely wrong on this because this is not really anything other than intuition and trying to read the tea leaves as they talk about it but I have a feeling that they might just let him play through this year and then try to get it done and as wild as that sounds the fact that we're at camp now and you know he doesn't have an extension

already it I think that it's possible that he ends up playing out the contract year and and then you know they work on a deal in the 11th hour type of thing before he gets to free this year they franchise him to protect themselves because I mean they did this with Dak in the past you know back when he was looking for his extension they franchised him they put they took the risk Dak took the risk to him maybe a franchise you have no other choice but they they took the risk that, hey, he could get injured. And he did get injured when he was franchised and still got $40 million a year.

So I think that this is the way that they usually do these things. It's crazy when it comes to Michael Parsons that they're going to do it this way. But I think that he's probably going to be in a contract here throughout this year. So outside of all these holdout stories and the contract situations, are there any training camp situation stories that you are keeping an eye on? Well, I mean, we can start with the Browns quarterback competition. Is it an actual competition or not? It's hard to get the competition for four quarterbacks at once. I mean, there's a number of different storylines too. It's the Aaron Rodgers with Pittsburgh's,

how is that gonna look? As everybody rolls into camp, but yeah, and there's a billion competitions at other positions across the league. In fact, we did an episode of NFL Daily, Greg Rosenthal and myself, we went through 59 camp battles, 59 different camp battles. 59!

Yes, and that's how you know we're true sickos. So you can check that out as well on your favorite podcast platforms on NFL Daily, 59 different camps out. 59! Yes, and that's how you know we're true sickos. So you can check that out as well on your favorite podcast platforms on NFL Daily. Because there's a lot and some of it's more important than others, I'll tell you that. But one last thing I'd probably keep in an eye on that's already been dominating the headlines for the last day or two, as Giants reported a camp, is the whole quarterback situation with Russell Wilson. Because it seems like there is a groundswell of support

for Jackson Dart to get a shot, maybe not within the organization, but definitely in the New York metro area. And that could get interesting if Russell Wilson isn't very sharp in his first season with Brian Dable. So keep an eye on that, just because it seems like no other quarterbacks they have are quite the fit for Brian Dable yet he has multiple to choose from.

Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because we mentioned it, I think it was yesterday. Dable, I mean, he got out in front of it and wanted to announce that Russ is gonna be the week one starter. And it actually happened right around the time we were on the air. So we kind of went live with it.

We, I mean, we spent a lot of time talking about Russell Wilson on the show, as you know, and I thought it was interesting. I get it from an optics standpoint. Put the controversy to rest into bed early. Just anoint him as your week one number one guy. Don't put any pressure on Dart. But it almost feels like it's inevitable that that pressure's

going to be there, because you don't spend that kind of draft capital without there being some hype around the player, and the idea to get them in because everyone wants to see, everyone loves the backup to begin with, but when it's a highly touted high draft pick, there's even more. So I do wonder if all of this, you know, let's annoy it. Russ is our starter talk will be futile because eventually people are going to be clamoring for Dart anyway. Yeah, I mean, my man, I live in Cleveland. I've watched that process repeat itself. Time and time and time again. Over and over and over again, yes, since 1999.

Nobody loves a backup more than a Browns fan. But yeah, you're absolutely right. I just found it kind of strange, and maybe I just didn't take a second to take full stock of the situation, but it felt like as soon as they signed Russell Wilson, like, all right, there's a starter. Yeah, they spent a first round pick on Jackson Dart,

but clearly Russell's going to be the starter. The fact that David even had to get out in front of it is interesting to me, but you're right. I mean, that's a good reason for it is the fact that you have first round pick invested in the guy, and if they start, oh, they're going to want to see the guy. I do think they'll see the guy eventually. I don't think Russ is going to be the starter

for the whole season, unless they light the league on fire, which I don't expect. Although they do have a lot of talent at certain positions. So yeah, it's definitely a very interesting... because you still have Jamis in there too. Like not that Jamis is a starter, but you got Jamis in there to go for 400 if he wants and also throw five picks. Like there's a lot of intrigue there. We're speaking to Nick Schuch from NFL.com here on the Halford & Breff show on Sportsnet 650. I do have to ask you about the first quarterback taken off the board in this year's draft, Cam Ward going to Tennessee. Will Leves is going to undergo surgery. He's done for the

year. So Ward, the unquestionable one if he wasn't going to be anyway, but the talent surrounding him might be an issue. I know there was that sort of viral moment the other day from, uh, ahead of Titans camp where the brass was asked about if there was enough talent on the field for this team to win a Superbowl. And they kind of exchange awkward looks and awkward remarks. So they're obviously not designed to be good, but with a first overall pick and you know, as high as ceiling and as much promise and intrigue as there is around Ward How bad of a team is he going to be engineering and steering this year?

okay, so this kind of reminds me of I'm not so if Peyton Maying is a good come come good comparison, but They have been quarterbacks that we have seen become quarterbacks that we have seen become legends who start with teams that lack talent because they spend that first high pick on the quarterback and kind of surround them over the later years. I think if you look at this roster right now we're gonna look back two to three years and be like wow that was the team Kim Ward had to spend his rookie season with and all that's to say that it's not like they're completely without

talent. It's just they're not going to be a super competitive team. They'll be more competitive than they were last year because they have a quarterback. And I know that's crazy to say about a rookie, but that's how confident I am in Cam Ward. One of the least talked about first round picks in recent memory, if not this century. Nobody's talking about him. I mean, I know we are right now, but pretty much nobody's talking about him because they'd rather spend a lot more time talking about the guy drafted right after him. Number two, Travis Hunter. But I mean, look, I like Tony Pollard in this backfield. I like TyJ Spears as a two-lane product. Julius Chestnut's kind of more of a power guy behind him. That's fine. Calvin Ridley is your clear number one. What do you have left in Tyler Lockett? I know that's something that's near and dear to your hearts. Yeah But they trail on Berks is on his way out. That was a waste of a first-round pick back in the day He's produced basically nothing. I think this is the final year for him

Van Jefferson has become a bit of a mercenary who you know, I mean what's his most popular moment? His most famous moment was the fact that you know, he had to leave the Super Bowl after he wanted to go greet his new child Not not to knock him because he's made a play here and there, but he's just not super consistent. Shamiri Dike is a rookie out of Florida who a lot of people are excited about. I actually really like his tape coming out of there, but we'll see. It's just a lot of unproven guys. You have Xavier Restrepo there who ran a really slow 40 and surprised a lot of people because he looked more explosive at Miami

than he did on the combine field. Yeah, other than that, they've been spending time where it matters, offensive line, investing there over the last few years to better protect their quarterback. So it's the first step in a new era for them and the hope is they keep it together long enough to not break the whole operation

and most importantly, break the quarterback. Right, because we saw it a couple of to not break the whole operation and most importantly break the quarterback. Right. Because we saw it like a couple of years ago with the first overall pick, Bryce Young and how difficult his rookie year was because he was surrounded. I mean, granted, they're two totally different players, I would think. But also going into kind of similar situations where you join teams and this is sort of by design when you're the first overall pick, you join a bad team, right? The team was bad.

That's how they got the first overall pick, you join a bad team, right? The team was bad, that's how they got the first overall pick. But I mean, I go back to Young's rookie year and that was very tumultuous and filled with way more downs and lows than highs. And I just wonder if we're looking at something similar here or if Ward's got enough natural ability to overcome some of the hurdles that Bryce Young had in his first year.

It was less than 12 months ago that we had a conversation thinking Bryce Young's time in Carolina was over. Yeah. And it ended up changing. And it's because of what you just described. And this is what happens all too often. The hope is that they don't make a coaching change

after his first year, which does happen a lot, actually. You think about it, Urban Meyer. You think about the happen to Bryce Young. I mean, he's continued down that track for a number of, uh, Caleb Williams. Yeah. So, um, it does happen. The hope is that you can keep some continuity to avoid, you know, a massive amount of changes

that's then going to reset the quarterback. But yeah, you're, it's a great comparison because the issue in Carolina was Bryce young's offensive line wasn't very good. He's also not tall. And I also don't think that he and Frank Wright meshed well at all. It seemed like it was all a little bit too much for him. Oh, and he didn't have many weapons either. And look what it looked like after he came back from his benching last season.

And, you know, there's all that office in there. But even then, I mean, they spent another pick on a receiver in Tettig-Millen this year. They spent, you know, as Avery Leigh had last year, they got Adam pick on a receiver in Tettic Millen this year. They spent, you know, David Lee get last year. They got Adam Seelan on that roster. I like that group on paper, but people are still asking for more weapons for Bryce Young there, so you can't make everybody happy. But I do like that comparison a lot. And most importantly, above all, I don't care who Kam Ward's throwing to this year.

I just want to watch him throw and watch him handle the fire of an NFL game, because I watched Joe Burrow handle that when he was a rookie back in the day and knew by week two that he was gonna be an excellent player just because of the way he handled the fire of it. I think Cam Ward's gonna handle it very well with his experience too. Nick, you're the best buddy. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. As always, we appreciate it. Enjoy another week of training camp. We'll check back in soon. Alright guys, thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for coming on. Nick Schuch from NFL.com here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, we are through two hours on a Thursday show. Coming up in the final hour of the program,

we're gonna get back into the hockey talk. Ryan Kennedy is gonna join us. Editor in chief of the hockey news. The hockey news recently dropped their 100 top players in the National Hockey League. Who knows who's number one? Could be anybody. If you listen to the first part of the show, you know, but most of you didn't,

so you probably don't. Ryan will unveil as much, I hope. I hope he doesn't keep him behind a paywall. Then I'm gonna feel pretty bad for what I said earlier. Ryan, I already told them. Just saying. Ryan Kennedy's gonna join us at a,

we'll get into some bigger picture, larger scale off-season stuff. We can look ahead to the season this to be. It's a slow time in hockey, but there's always hockey news coming from the hockey news. So we'll talk to Ryan at eight o'clock. At 8.30 we're gonna do what we learned. So another friendly reminder to get yours in.

The Dunbar Lumber text message in basket is 650-650. Tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports. If you missed it from this show already, we've talked about the Blue Jays winning their series against the New York Yankees with an eight four win last night, some sloppy defense by the New York Yankees, some good ball by the Blue Jays played. And we talked a lot about MLS commissioner Don Garber

yesterday, last night at the MLS All-Star game, talking about the white caps future. Among the things that Don Garber said, quote, we have no plans to move the Vancouver white caps other quote, but right now they don't have a viable stadium situation. We've got video up right now at sports net six 50 on Twitter, including our breakdown from this morning and all the audio from Garber overnight. He spent a lot of time

talking about the league's frustrations and how untenable the current situation is with regards to the Whitecaps playing at BC Place. When he was asked about what update he had from the Whitecaps in the city of Vancouver on a new stadium, he said, the update is we got to get a new stadium situation for the Whitecaps in the city of Vancouver on a new stadium, he said, the update is we got to get a new stadium situation for the Whitecaps. So we've kind of reached situation critical from a league perspective. We've heard about the Whitecaps desires to find a new place to play, and we've heard countless anecdotes and bits of evidence about the tumultuous relationship between BC Place and Pavco, and then one of their anchor tenants in the Vancouver white cabs.

So you can weigh in on that as well. If you like Dunbar lumber text line, give us your, what we learns. Six 50 six 50 is the text line hashtag at WWL. We're going to do all those at eight 30. It's your chance to be on the radio, but coming up next, it is a Ryan Kennedy editor in chief of the hockey news. That's next in our three of the Haliford and Bref show on sports net six 50.