Halford & Brough in the Morning - Which NHL Teams Will Regress Next Season?

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

In hour one, guest hosts Josh Elliott-Wolfe and Randip Janda look back at the previous day in sports, they talk the Whitecaps signing Thomas Muller (3:00), plus they talk the latest hockey news and notes with ESPN NHL's Arda Ocal (26:12).  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.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. The story book continues. Vicki and Boko is true to the final. In the beginning of the third set, had that fall, got past that. Ambulance, call an ambulance, but not for me. Clement to left field, and that ball is gone. The Blue Chase has scored 20 runs today. You what? Welcome to Halford and Brough. No Halford, no Brough.

It's Josh Elliott Wolf and Randy Janda. This week coming to you live from the Kintech Studio in the Koove. Good morning, Randy. Good morning. From the Koove. From the Koove. Good morning, eh, Doug. Good morning.

Good morning. Hello, hello. Alford and Brough is brought to by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3,000 5-star reviews, visit sands-trustee.com. We're broadcasting live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear, and orthotics, working together with you in step. You can text in 650-650 on the Dunbar Lumber Text Line, Metro Vancouver's trusted choice

for contractors and Reno Warriors for over 50 years, visit them at one of their three locations, to serve you or online at dumbar lumber.com. You might be wondering, Josh, why are you calling Vancouver the cove? That's silly. Well, Major League Soccer did. For some reason, I don't know where they heard that. I don't know why they thought that was a good idea. But in their announcement and their hype tweet of the Vancouver Whitecaps

officially getting Thomas Mueller, they put the cove in there. You know it was just some intern trying to sound cool probably. They were so giddy with excitement, guys, that they're like, oh, what's the nickname for Vancouver? The cove makes sense. Second time I've actually heard that, you know, and it's always white caps related. Eric Hurtado, former player for the whitecaps,

referred to the city as the cove way back when. So maybe Eric Hurtado is running the social media for major league soccer. Maybe it's just an American thing. Americans think we're called the cove. We all been to the cove lately? That's what's going on. So that's the big story for today. Coming up on the show, we're going to speak to Arda O'Call at 630 about hockey.

and we'll get into some of the off-season storylines, and we do have a topic for today. Which teams around the NHL are you looking at as regression candidates, teams that could be underwhelming, and we'll talk to Arda about that, and do any trades open up if there are any overwhelming teams? At 7 o'clock, we're going to talk to Adnan Verk from M-O-B network, and we'll talk about the Js just demolishing the Colorado Rock.

I was kind of sad, wasn't it? It was a little sad. It was like, uh, especially towards the end. It was just like, oh, okay, okay. They're the Rockies. You can just score 16 runs. It's okay. Okay, they scored 20.

Not a Blue Jays fan, so I tuned out when it was like getting embarrassing because I felt like second hand, secondhand embarrassment. You guys didn't tune out, right? Uh, no, I watched every run, and it was one. I actually went for a nap when it was 10 one in the eighth, and then I woke up and it was 20 and I said, okay. That's too many runs. They just kept going, didn't they?

They did just keep going. So we'll talk to Adnan about that. What's going on with the Yankees? What's going on with the Mariners, the Red Sox, all of those teams that are making headlines in Major League Baseball at 7.30. We'll get back into the Mueller talk with Manuel Beth, who's been all over the story. Thomas Mueller coming to the White Caps.

We'll do that at 7.30. And then at 8, it's the Moge, but it's a Thursday. Because if I heard correctly on the show last week, is boarding a flight tomorrow at 8. So he's on today to tee up the Thai cats and lions. Rematch as the lions look to get back in the wind column. Can't wait. Never actually interviewed the Moge.

Whoa. I'm usually at like I talk to him at the rink all the time, but as far as in any interviews confirmed, this is the first time I'm ever going to be able to say spolumbos. Yes, directly to him on the radio. Talk about it. Wow. Okay.

So that's at 8. Working in reverse. That's at 8. Manuel Veth at 7.30 at 7. Adnan Verk and at 630, Arda O'Cal. That's what's happening on the show. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was.

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? 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.C.A. The big story, we were talking about it yesterday and we're like, wow, it's weird that it hasn't been made official yet. And then minutes after the show ended, it was teased and essentially made official. It's because we bullied them. They were listening. Yeah, they were like, oh, we'll put

all this content out. We forgot about the Schuster announcement. This morning show was really on our our ass about this. Yeah. Nobody else cares. The morning. show, though. That's what they did. The morning shows harassing us, so that's signed Thomas Mueller. Yes. And it was effective. They did do it. Thomas Mueller is officially a Vancouver white cap. I think clearly, undoubtedly, the biggest signing in their franchise history. And I think you can make a very, very good argument, probably the

right argument that this is the biggest athletic signing in the Cove's history. From a global perspective, and we promised we were going to retire the Cove after that. I'm so into it now. Today, maybe we'll give it a run, but 100%. When you talk about global recognition, the amount of trophies, goals, trophies won, goals he scored, and not only at the club level, but what he's been able to do with Germany,

Thomas Moodler coming to Vancouver is a huge deal. This is a player that is going to bring, I think, a lot on the pitch. And of course, when you're 35 years old, you're not the guy that you were 10 years ago. He's not maybe going to high press like he did. You know, in his prime with Byron Munich and really pressure defenders and midfielders to get the ball out. But at the same time, you know, as he's gotten older, he's become, I think, more a patient player. This is a playmaker in addition to being a goal score.

You're going to have, you know, a player that makes everybody else around him better. And that is rare because people listen to the show and listen to the station are probably like, yeah, we've heard that 100 times. But the reality is designated players in MLS do not mold into a team. It's usually the other way around where you have to alter your team to fit these guys in. Mueller's not that type of player where he's going to go into a winning team and say, all right, here are some gaps maybe. Here's how I can make you better. And that's why this signing is so big because you're going to a good team.

You're getting a real quality player even at his age now. and his style fits the white caps perfectly fine. And guess what? From a marketing perspective, it's a pretty significant ad as well because now the White Caps brand is going global when sure the Davies sale had a little bit of help in that regard. Yeah.

But this is taking it to the next level. Yeah, it's different, right? It's like, well, he kind of grew up here in terms of his on, for Davies, his on-field game kind of grew up here. And then he left like we're kind of used to seen in Major League soccer. It's different when someone has had all the success that Mueller has had and then comes over and you're like, we know what this guy is and we know how impactful and his legacy and all of that. It is crazy to think of how this year has kind of gone for the white caps to like get to this point

when you look back at where the season kind of started and we were talking about on the station like, man, could this team be potentially relocated at some point? they got to figure the stadium situation out. Now, obviously, that's still an issue. The stadium situation still has to be figured out. But, and then you kind of look at where things have gone for the team over the season. They're first in, when it comes to points per game in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer, they played really well.

They've been exciting. They've changed their coach. And that was potentially an issue. And it's worked out really well. And now you sign Thomas Mueller. It's like, things have gone so unexplicated. well for the Vancouver white caps, especially considering where things started at the beginning of the season. Yeah, this is a story, I think going back two to three years. It wasn't

a fun story to talk about in Vancouver Radio, right? When you talked about, you know, what the white caps were doing on the pitch and off the pitch. But I think a lot of credit has to go to actual Schuster who was on the people show yesterday. He talked about the process of signing Thomas Mueller. And there was a methodical approach. Like having that Bundesliga experience that Schuster had, you know, being on the management side of those clubs, he used that to his full advantage in this negotiation and even admitted that maybe, you know, didn't think they had much of a chance early on, but once the conversation started, there was a real, okay, we got this, we're going to take our shot. And I think that has to be credit has to be given to Schuster,

credit has to be given to the club because a deal like this is not cheap in the long term either. and it's a real signal of intent by the club to say if we have an opportunity right now, if this is a top two team, a top team in the West buy points per game, you've got to take advantage of it. So there may be an uncertain future long term, of course, but in the short term, you know what helps?

Bringing stars into a winning team and creating something that I think has been really missing from the White Caps experience in the city since they got into the MLS. That was a real positive, experience, something you can be so optimistic about, and just having a winning product. That is something that, like, they can build off of this and maybe it turns into something, you know, you're talking about the long term, the stadium and all that.

This short term story, whether it's a couple of years, a good story can lead to ultimate success, but you have to start with this. And I think there's a great starting point. It definitely is. And, yeah, we'll see what kind of impact it has on kind of the city as a whole, I do think a lot of the conversation around the white caps, it comes back to like, okay, how can they get the casual fans on board? And I do think the way they've been playing this year

has gone a long way. I usually factor myself into the casual fan perspective. We're a good actually mix here because I'm a hardcore soccer guy and you're the casual fan. Yes. And so usually I just use myself as the barometer for like, oh, is this white cap stuff like newsworthy enough to get

the attention of a casual fan? And when I heard that they were getting Thomas Mueller. I was like, no, they're not, because I've heard of him. And they're the Vancouver Whitecaps. But obviously it happens. And now it's like, hey, if I've heard of a player and I can look at like, hey, what he's been able to do. And the fact that he's coming to Vancouver, I do think that's going to have a really big impact on trying to bring casual fans and more people into BC plays. A question for Randy, since you're a hardcore soccer guy, a football guy, if you will. Yes, please. Please refer to as football. Footboard. Since Mueller is coming to

that and Kuva, sorry, the Kuw. Since he's coming to the cove from a much better league, even though he's older, is he going to, because he's going to a lower-end league, would you expect him to be more dominant than he is currently, or had been, because of the fact that he's going to be playing in the MLS? No, no offense to the MLS, but it's just a lower-end league, so he'll be more dominant. Is that a fair statement, or will he still have a harder time because of his age? Well, we have to think of two things, right? Like, one, he was not at his peak when he left Byron. So I think we have to understand that you got like one goal, right?

Yeah. Last year he played in 30 plus games, but his contributions, and remember, Byron's like a top five club in the world. Yeah. Highly competitive. Well, that's why I'm curious to see like, because obviously the MLS is not. Yeah. So he's going to raise the bar, but I think anybody that's watching highlights from the 2014 World Cup expecting him to be that player, he's not that player. So you want to make sure that you have realistic expectations. He's still going to raise the bar. He's still going to be, you know, a player that manipulates the pitch and makes, you know, those wingers, whether it's the new sign in Kenji Cabrera or some of those other players on the white caps better. So if we're looking for, oh, is he going to get, you know, Leonel Messi three goals in the debut, he's not necessarily that player.

He is dangerous, but he is going to raise the bar. So, like, I look at this signing and I think with, you know, with Mueller, part of it's going to be being a little patient because the MLS game is different. It is, you know, a little bit more physical. it's a little bit more choppy at times. So for European players making that switch, it does take a couple of weeks to get used to a, the pace, the style of play. For some, it's, with Europe,

you've got, like, the ball is just constantly moving. The pace is different with the ball. In MLS, it's not to the same degree. So I think even though we're going to want immediate results, and you might get them, it's still going to take a while for him to get used to the style of play. Is the pitch different too? Well, there's always grass in Europe.

What I'm saying, yeah, because I know some Euro guys struggle with that. Like, is that a thing? I'll give you an example. Kenny Miller, when he signed with the Vancouver White Caps, different pitch back then. They've upgraded it. But the way that the ball bounced off the pitch was challenging for him. Because you think off grass, the ball kind of dies quicker, where it was bouncing off the pitch at BC Place. And you could tell that, like, a guy that's played at a very high level was struggling with that.

Little things like that. And the pitch is much better at BC Place. But even little things like that, it takes to. time to get used to. Okay, so talking about a skill set, Axel Schuster was on the People Show with Satyar and Bick Nazar yesterday, and he did mention

he was talking about the skill set that shoes, or not Schuster, Schuster has a skill set. He's got a good skill set. He's got a good. Really good interview. He'll be playing really good. Yeah. Mueller, the skill set that Mueller will bring to the White Caps, here's Schuster on the people show yesterday. There are two parts of it. The first,

obviously his individual skill set, this understanding for space, for how to create threat, how to find the spaces, how to give spaces for his teammates. He has a special title in the world of soccer that actually calls him the space interpreter, Raumdeuter in German. So that's the one thing. He is super dangerous in the final third. The other thing is he was and has always been a leader. and somebody who is speaking on the pitch, who is helping his teammates,

somebody who makes the players around him better the way he plays. So for us, not only getting a player who can help us in the final third, finding goals, scoring goals, finding spaces, also somebody who can take leadership and is not shy of being a leader and helping the players around him to be better, that's important for us as an organization that also relies on a lot of young top talented players. The Ramdeutter.

Am I saying it right? I don't know. Rom deuter. Oh, okay. I feel like I was, I went to Germany for two weeks. Rom deuter. There it is.

Yeah, that sounded right. You've got the, like, the extra. I can't get there. Yeah, I can't commit that hard. You've watched a lot of those Simpsons episodes where the Germans take over the plant. Well, just the big young boys guy. But, yeah.

Switzerland, but same out. That was a, that's okay. Axel Schuster, you can hear the full interview on the People Show podcast feed, But the one thing I am interested in, too, because we talk about like, hey, yeah, he is 35, who knows what he's going to be able to bring on the pitch, though we do expect him to still be pretty valuable to the white caps. I do wonder about his off field impact as well, especially on a team that is pretty young and hasn't really had anyone like this around them before. It seems like something that could have a lasting impact moving forward as well. Yeah, one of the things about Mueller that is really interesting over the last 10 years is that he's actually, first of all, his teammates never said anything bad about him.

And he relates to the younger teammates better. Like a lot of his social media had to, you know, do with younger players, like whether it was Alfonso Davies or go through, you know, Sirge Nabri, who's a little bit older now at Byron Munich. But there were involvement in just having that buzz around, you know, a younger player. So I'm looking at players like Jaden Nelson, Jiven Badwal, you know, you go up and down that list of Ali Ahmed. who these guys are going to benefit from it. So if I'm in that room right now, I'm absolutely ecstatic that you've got, A, one of the best players in European football

coming into your locker room, but the amount of knowledge and like the wealth of experience that he brings to that room is going to elevate them too. There's a certain culture setting that's going to be going on with this signing that I don't think you can put a value on guys. And that's something that's going to be really important for the white caps because they haven't really had that before.

Even when they had skilled players, never really had guys that set the tone. This is the white cap standard. This is what you have to do. Mueller can bring that because he is that type of personality. He's relatable. He's not a hard ass. But there's a certain level of professionalism

you have to bring when you are in a team with them. And if that translates over to the MLS, I think that entire locker room is going to benefit. So Schuster did mention as well that Mueller will travel to Vancouver on Wednesday, land on Thursday, and then his debut for the Vancouver White Cap

will be August 17th, so 10 days from now against the Houston Dynamo and tickets are very much still available. I got mine last week. So go scoop them up before they're gone because I do think it'll be a, it'll be a fun game, you'll be there. It'll be a fun game to be like, I was there with Randy Jando watching Thomas Muller's debut. By the way, Thomas Moodler played as well.

Yeah, less important. Randy was there. I will be there because I'm a soccer fan. And now the question is how many casual fans like you, Josh, are going to end up? I actually legitimately very much want to go. But we will see if I can. Do you think they'll sell out? I hope so.

I feel like they should sell out. Is Mueller enough of a draw that they will? They should. They should. They should because this is, you know, I'm going to borrow a phrase from the Toronto FC. It is a bloody big deal. No offense to Jermaine Defoe and that failure of signing. This is something that like it should get a lot of buzz.

And if we look at the average attendance for the white caps this year, I believe I saw it online of being around 19 to 20,000 people. Like the rest of the way here, I'd like to see 30, 35. I mean, it's crazy how many international soccer analysts you just see on your feed popping up covering the white caps, which you just never see before. It's like, what are you guys doing? They probably didn't even realize the white cabs existed until like a week ago. And now you see like all these like news services from around the world

they're covering the story. So obviously there's interest there. And they're all calling it the cove and we're like, no, stop! It's gotten out of hand. But yeah, so that's happening. August 17th, the debut for Thomas Mueller. Quickly, before we hit the break,

a very big story as well. Vicki and Boko. It was in doubt at times yesterday. It felt like, especially after the first set, lost 6'1, that she might be on the brink of elimination. Great story that maybe would have had a not ideal end but still would have been a great story

and she said the show goes on the story goes on she beat Elena Verbachna in three sets and it came down to the wire in the semis and Boko will move on to the final

to face Naomi Osaka the one word that comes to mind for her is resilient right like she's down 5'3 in that final set it looks like it's over she double faults and you're like All right, good run, kid.

Like, better luck next year. You have built a solid foundation. You can be a top 50 player. And then she turns the tide yet again. Yeah. She even fell. Remember, there was potential injury there. There was an injury concern.

There was numbness in her hand after she fell. All of that. Doesn't matter. And I think a lot of praise for Mbop. Sorry, Mboko, excuse me, for just the way she's been able to, you know, every match, just find a solution, right? not get to, yeah, there's a little bit of motion

in yesterday's match. You could see her maybe kind of smash the racket against her foot a couple of times. Yeah. You could see the nerves were there, but you're 18. That's going to happen. On the other side, her competitor,

like, there's a couple overhead smashes that were free. Yeah. And straight into the net. So it's one thing to actually get those opportunities. You've got to take advantage of them. And, you know, Vicki did exactly that. And now it sets up a final, which is actually,

if you're the organizers for the National Bank Open, and Josh. I think you're really happy because you've got the local kid and you've got a great comeback story in Naomi Osaka, which is going to get viewers too. So like this in a lot of ways is like a ratings bonanza for Sportsnet, right? It's our company, of course. We're going to be happy. Watch Sportsnet today. But it's a, it's a good storyline heading into this. Yeah, definitely. And it's, again, there were concerns that it was like, hey, you know what? Maybe it's not going to work out for her but she pulled through it was a it was a dramatic semifinal for her and yeah you mentioned the final goes today it is at three o'clock once again there's no jays games or

anything else you want to watch if you are a local sports fan if you're a mariners fan i don't think they play today either i forgot to check their schedule maybe they do um but vicky and boko three o'clock taken on naomi osaka at center court in montreal the mariners do play today white sox at what time one 10 ah you know what dip out of it early it's fine four innings is good enough yeah it's the mariners and the white socks the white socks are probably going to lose now that i've said it out loud they probably won't but regardless okay that's a good segue into our next topic we got a minute left here to talk about the blue jays they beat the rockies 20 to one yesterday they outscored them 45 to 6 in the series they out hit them 63 to 20 in the three games and that sets a record for most hits by any team in Major League Baseball history in a three game series was 63 the Rockies are so bad that's the moral of this story like all of those stats you listed offer great for the Blue Jays and Blue Jays fans and seeing those tweets I was like you know what you do you Blue Jays fans have a moment you have

have that moment, you've earned it, but how much does you really earn it? That Rockies team is trash. They are god-awful. They make you wonder about like the best AAA team. Could they beat the best AAA team right now? Like, I valid question. It'd be close. You know we have that question about oh, the Nick Sabin era, Alabama, would they beat the worst team in the NFL? I want to have that conversation about the Rockies right now because you said it. Outscored 45 to 6 in three games it was bad enough heading into yesterday's game

and then what happened yesterday and at some point if you're the manager do you just say okay yeah we can use an outfield player we can do all of this but at some point

we need to save some pride for our team like can we just like if you're the manager do you not pull the plug on that strategy at some point well they have an interim manager right now

he's not doing a great job no shot there yeah it's uh it was uh really good series for the blue jays really bad series for the Colorado of Rockies and the Blue Jays run differential,

which has been a topic of conversation all season. All of a sudden doesn't look too bad. It's a plus 55, doing pretty good. Not as good as the Yankees in Red Sox, but it's better than it was. It's getting there. We can we calm Michael K down a little bit. Yeah. Okay. The Yankees were plus one in their differential

yesterday, okay? They're good. They won one. They did win. Well done. Yeah, for them. Four straight innings of no runs to end the game. Who would have thought? Wow. Okay, so the Blue Jays, like I said, they are off today. They're taking on the Dodgers tomorrow for the start of a three-game series in L.A., which will obviously be a much bigger test for the Jays.

It is Halford & Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolf, and Deep Jand. I'm going to speak to Ardo Cal about some off-season NHL storylines next on Sportsnet 650. welcome back to howford and bruff no howford no brough it's josh elli wolf for and deep janda i i forgot what day it was i'm gonna be honest was not prepared it's like a nail gun in the back there's there's a lot going on man yeah thrash thursday is my very first experience yes in the break i was like i think i'm gonna scare randy here it's too early i'm like my brain is half asleep right now uh howford Brough is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit sands dash trustee.com. This and, uh, or sorry, now we go to the hotline powered by Power West Industries and we bring in Ardo Cal host of NHL on ESPN. I appreciate to take the time, Arda. How are you? I'm doing great. How about you guys?

We are doing really good and we're waiting for at the start of the summer. We were told. by all the insiders in hockey that there were going to be a bunch of trades this off season. It was going to be really exciting and you know what? I'm still waiting. It hasn't happened. How has your summer been with the lack of NHL news?

Amazing. Not going to lie. I'm able to take time off. Don't have to write anything. I mean, yes, as a hockey fan, you would love activity and we're all starving for hockey content. But I'll be honest, as somebody who goes through the grind like you guys

throughout the season. It's nice to take a little bit of pocket of time for the family here and there. So I'm enjoying that as much as I can because I also realize that this is probably the exception and not the rule. So I imagine that we're going to ramp up at some point, even if it's, you know, maybe not this offseason. There will be something that comes out at some point. Yeah, Arda, you're one of the busiest people I know as well. You know, host of NHL and ESPN. you've got sports center going on there as well. So you deserve a break. I'll say this, though.

You know, we talk about the inactivity. Isn't this the price of financial success? Like, everybody has cap space, so everybody wants to retain talent. Like, this is kind of the price of success. Yeah, and I mean, the Florida Panthers are really the perfect example of that, right? I mean, what they've, I mean, Paul Maurice has said that multiple times throughout the season, talking about the culture of the locker room and how he's never, quite seen anything like it in all of his years decades in hockey. And it also, they put their

money where their mouths are, right? I mean, Brad Marchand isn't a mercenary anymore. Their core, forget about the core four. It's the core 10 in, in Florida, right? Like with everyone resigning and they have pretty much every stakeholder under contract until 2030 or whatever it is. So they clearly are building a team of success in Florida. And that's the blueprint to create something special and to keep those players long term and not just a small core of them, but clearly based on what happened these playoffs, they're keeping all the pieces together. And Florida has an opportunity to truly redefine what a dynasty is in 2025, 26. Totally. It's a special moment for that organization. And I think I heard that a couple of years ago,

they were the 32nd ranked social media team in terms of following engagement, now they're first in the NHL. So when you start winning, people start paying attention to you across the planet. Now, part of that is also going to be, you know, Matthew Kachuk. And he was selected as the face of NHL 26 that's coming up. And I thought that was a little, like, I understand it from a character perspective. You know, he's got skill, he's got, he's an individual that is out there. He's got that personality.

But there are some better players. Like, were you surprised by that selection or is he perfect south of the border for the way you want to sell the game. I'll also add to your point about social media before I answer that question. The Florida Panthers have one of the best communications teams as well. Adeline and company there are extremely easy to work

with. They make their players as accessible as possible. So that goes a long way in creating the content with the players and also getting them engaged in the community. So shout out to the Panthers' front office staff because they're very much top-notch and they also deserve those cup rings that they have worked very hard for

behind the scenes. I'm not surprised. Guys, I'm not at all. I think Matthew Kachuk is an ambassador for hockey, whether it's simply south of the border. He might have this Brett Hart Foundation, 1997 thing going, right? Where he's beloved in one country and hated in the other country, where Brett was loved in Canada and hated in the United States during that time, in that time period, right? That's the Kachuk brothers, quite honestly. I mean, Brady's a little bit of a different situation, of course, because he's the captain of a Canadian team. team. But as soon as he wears the red, white, and blue, he's public enemy number one,

just like his brother. It's much easier for a Canadian to despise Matthew because he plays for a winning team, a cup winning team that's south of the border. So I understand all of that. I am not surprised at all that he would be the choice. I actually love the Kachuk family, the generations of Kachuk option, just like the Hughes brothers last year, the Kachuk family adorning one of the covers with Keith there as well. I think that's really cool because when it's all said and done, those are like, Randy, listen, you cover Canucks games all the time, right? Yep.

And you know how it is. Like some of those in-game interviews are just bland, right? And they're boring. And sometimes you're just like, I don't look forward to these because I'm not getting much and it's just performative sometimes. But then you get players like the Kachuk brothers. And it really feels like most of the time they're giving you thoughtful answers even to like intermission interviews.

You know, those are the kinds of players that you want to talk to because they're giving you thoughtful answers and meaningful answers. And also, you can tell that they're happy to do this role and they're happy to embrace being a mouthpiece and an ambassador for hockey. And I love it. I want to see more of that. And that's one of the big reasons why I'm happy the Kachucks and Matthew in particular are being ambassadors for the video game and being on the cover of NHL 26. I think it's a great choice. It does feel like their profile got raised pretty dramatically too with the Four Nations tournament and kind of being almost the faces of that of that

essentially from the American perspective too. How far do you think them potentially being the faces of that American team for the Olympics could go to growing the game south of the border as well? I think this is going to bristle a lot of Canadian listeners' feathers. I think long term, if I'm looking at it, I'm going to rent guys I'm going to put my pro wrestling hat on for just a second here we need some Kyle Edwards in our life I'm sort of in the environment of we just announced this whole ESPN WWE deal so I'm kind of like you know oh my gosh going back into the bushes like Homer Simpson and coming out with all my Kyle Edwards here so what I honestly if you're thinking about this long term like multiple Olympics perhaps the biggest thing that can happen for the sport of hockey overall I'm not talking about Canada I'm talking about the sport of hockey is for the United States to win the gold medal in the Olympics next year. I'm not saying I want that to happen. I'm not saying that Canadians should want that to happen.

I'm saying if you're looking at it from an overall interest and if you're booking it as if it's a storyline to make long-term interest, the Americans winning the gold medal and Matthew and Brady Kachuk at the forefront of that and them going on a celebration tour and showing the gold medal all around for all to see having a parade in whatever, St. Louis or wherever they go and then making it a big deal would overall be

a massive, massive thing for hockey. Those games will be great anyway. Canada, USA is always going to be destination. But if Canada is chasing the United States and the United States have that gold medal and the first major victory since who knows

when, et cetera, and how close four nations was and how incredible four nations was, and then you have Canada chasing them and the World Cup of hockey in a couple years and then the Olympics in four years with Canada chasing the championship now, I think that is extremely compelling. And I would also argue that more Canadians would get behind it because it's been a minute since Canada has had that sort of chase in the top levels of hockey, particularly on the men's side,

as it returns to best on best competitive play. Well, a rivalry is only good if both sides win. I'm a proud Canadian like you. I want to remind our listeners that Arda is Canadian. So before you start texting in, get this American guy off the air for saying that, Arda, you are Canadians. I want to remind listeners of that.

But you have to have that back and forth a little bit to be a true rivalry. And I go back to Team USA versus Team Canada in women's soccer, which prior to Canada really having success, it used to be a one-way conversation. Even though we thought it was a rivalry, it wasn't until Canada really got serious about winning games. I see this the same way where, you know, 1996 is a year that a lot of Americans say,

hey, you know, you've got to go, we even heard Bill Garron saying, we need to win the Olympics. We need to win something. I feel like there's going to be a lot of desperation for this golden generation of the American players in February. Without a shadow of a doubt. And again, yes, I am Canadian, born and raised. Sorry for the British Columbia contingent. I was born and raised in Ontario. I did work in Vancouver for a year.

I absolutely loved it. If I didn't get a job in the States, I'd still. be there, quite honestly. It was a beautiful time in my life. I will say, though, to your point, every hero has to have an equally strong villain for the story to work. Superman needs Lex Luthor. The Avengers need Dr. Doom. Luke Skywalker needs Darth Vader. They both need to be equally strong. Halkogen needed Roddy Piper, right? Like, if that, if you have equally strong partners where you don't believe you don't know who the winner is going to be. If Canada just keeps winning every single year, interest is going to wane. It'll be a fun moment, but interest is going to wane.

The true interest, the peak interest will be if the United States win the Olympics and suddenly Canadians are like, is this our sports bill? What's happening here? Is this a golden generation of the United States and hockey? Should we be concerned? And then the fight back to that next gold medal game or that next World Cup of hockey final and that game going to overtime. Imagine what that would feel like for long-term vision. That's what I'm saying there. From the story perspective and the interest perspective, nothing could be better for the sport of hockey than America winning the next Olympics in my opinion. As long as we get a Canada-US gold medal final, I think it's okay. I think, I mean like people north of the border here are definitely not just going to be

okay with that, but as long as we get the spectacle of a U.S. Canada final, I think we'll take it. We should specify. We are working media, so we're looking at this from a storyline perspective, right? Completely. You're absolutely right. Completely. Because people listening are looking at it from a

strictly a fan, patriotic perspective, like, I'm cheering for Canada, I don't care. There is a section of fans that are like, I cheer for Canada, I don't care, I'm going to watch every game anyway, and I want Canada to win every single time. I get that. I was that guy. I grew up that guy. I understand that completely. The lens that we are in now from a what will

generate the most amount of interest, those fans that cheer for Canada every single time, they're going to watch whether America wins or not. We have those fans. Those fans are going to return and watch every single international game. I'm talking about the fairweather fans or the casual fan that is not necessarily going to tune in if Canada keeps winning. If they need an extra storyline or something extra compelling, that would be compelling for them to return and watch. could possibly break records in that situation for the return match. It is Halford and Brough, Josh L.A. Wolf, Randy Janda, speaking to Arda Ocalfe of ESPN. So getting back to the NHL side of talks, one thing we've been kind of discussing over the

offseason now that it's legitimately an option is Connor McDavid's next contract and Carrillo Caprizov, I guess, to a lesser extent as well. Just because when it comes to McDavid, the big question is like, okay, how many years is he going to sign for it? It does feel like he's going to be extended by Edmonton at some point, but the question is how many years, what's that number going to look like? Is it going to be crazy big? Is he going to take a little less to try to give Edmonton some help? What do you think kind of happens they're moving forward with McDavid and the Oilers? Yeah, I wonder he takes the Sydney Crosby approach and he takes less money to help the team win.

I mean, the cap is going to help be in his favor or the team's favor, right, the increasing cap so that they can continue to get help regardless how much McDavid is making. But that's an interesting one because I firmly believe that when it's all said and done, if Connor McDavid in his career, whether it's with the Edminton Oilers or not, does not win a Stanley Cup, that would be a shame for the sport of hockey. We need the image of Connor McDavid in some uniform raising the Stanley Cup. now from all the people that I've spoken with I've asked Connor this question I've asked his teammates this question I've asked front office personnel and many others this question it really feels like Connor McDavid though there could be some frustration that he would love to see it through with the Edmonton oilers now that could certainly change we maybe his primary motivator is winning a Stanley Cup in Edmonton maybe it is money maybe not so that will all come out obviously as we get into the final year of his deal, what term that will be, maybe that will be determined to

bribe frustration. What if the Edmonton Oilers win the Stanley Cup next year? How will that factor into things? You know, getting a deal done early versus waiting. Like, there are a lot of factors here. But the thing I go back to, guys, is Connor McDavid needs to win a Stanley Cup, whether it's in Edmonton or otherwise, that is necessary for us to document and archive for the sake of future generations falling in love with hockey. He needs to needs to win at least one. Looking at the team success, obviously, that's something that is going to dictate the long-term attachment to that franchise.

But I also just see him as being the first $20 million player in the NHL. Maybe not on this next contract. Maybe it's when the cap goes up to $113 million. Like, if there's a player that demands that price, it's certainly Connor McDavid. Now, Caprizov's interesting because Bill Garan is, you know, he's getting off those contracts that kind of weighed him down with the Preezy. and suitor deals. So, you know, could he be a $15 million player?

It seems like Minnesota is willing to play ball, but, you know, he's a UFA. There's thoughts that he wants to stay in Minnesota, but we haven't really had the conclusive, yes, he wants to. If he hits the market, you know, what are we looking at here? Because that could be a game changer for a lot of teams across the league. We're looking at a max contract, without a doubt. He's worth it.

We're looking at genuine interest from, I mean, you could probably count the teams that wouldn't be in the running versus that would and the only reason they wouldn't be is because Carrillo Caprizov wouldn't want to go there I suppose but he's yeah he's also a megastar caliber player

that will likely win you know one or more Stanley Cups in his career and has that capacity and so I'm with you I can see it being a $15 million figure I could see it being a max contract and I can see multiple teams if he does hit the market being

interested in Caril Caprizov without a doubt If you wear the number 97, you're in a good shape at the moment. Yeah, one thing we're planning on talking about at some point today or tomorrow is teams that are potentially up for regression this season or maybe just underwhelming. And speaking of Caprizov, one of the teams I had on my list was the Minnesota Wild. How much of that, like, Caprizov's future comes down to what the Wild are able to do this season in particular? Oh, I think it's a lot. I think that there are regular, I assume there would be regular conversation about what the immediate future of the team looks like, what sort of support and what depth that team can add, what will they do at all positions to support Caprizov because that's going to factor in. If I'm Caprizov, I want a good team around me and I want to be competitive.

And if that's not going to be in Minnesota, if they're going to be in rebuild mode and that's what they tell me, then if I'm, if I'm in a win. now mode, then that's obviously going to dictate my stance and my position. So those conversations, I assume, are ongoing, and they're definitely going to be, they're going to matter now, and they're going to matter yesterday, and they're going to matter tomorrow. All right. Before we let you go, you know, I had to squeeze it in. You mentioned it earlier on. ESPN is now the home of WWE premium events. So, you know, your history with the WWE. For those that don't know, Arda was a member of the WWE. He was Kyle. Edwards. That was your moniker on air. Like, how amped are you that you're going to be on the same

network as WWE again? Oh, I'm stoked. I have a great relationship with WWE now. I go to the head office in Stanford probably once every five or six months and do a lot of like talking headwork for documentaries and things like that. It's funny. Like they always say once you get caught with the wrestling bug, once it's in your blood, never really leaves your blood. And I agree with that. Like, it's not as prominent as it used to be. There was a part of my life, like, especially when we were doing aftermath on the score, that it was my entire life and it engulfed my life. And, you know, making it to WWE was certainly a dream come true.

But I always grew up with hockey as an aspiration. So I'm very happy to be doing that and proud to be doing that. But if this deal means that I get to dip my toe back in WWE and contribute in some meaningful and fun way, then I absolutely will embrace it. And, hey, I count me as one. one of the people, I'm sure all of us in this conversation are in this boat, but tell me is one of the people that are happy to find the zany, wacky, fun intersections between hockey and pro wrestling, like the goon. Maybe next interview we should just do a whole

deep dive on the goon and why he never became intercontinental champion in the 90s. Love it, love it. Okay, here's an intersection. Noted Winnipeg Jets fan, Brock Lesner returns to WWE. What did you make of that? Yeah, that's a big thing. Obviously, there's a cloud on. top of that with what is ongoing litigation-wise, but certainly in hearing what Triple H had to say and what WWE officials had to say, the crowd reaction was very strong. WWE decided now it was a good time to bring Brock back, and yeah, he's a big Winnipeg Jets fan, right? He's a Canadian now. I think he lives in Saskatchewan or somewhere, and he

has gone to Jets games, and there was that clip of him accidentally stepping on the logo. which was kind of funny because like who's going to tell Brock Lesnar this giant human being that hey you're stepping on the logo you can't do that and if you were to go back and like jump not that he would but if you were to go back and stomp on it who's going to stop him unless you have like a whole row of enforcers ready to go but that would have to be uh yeah that I would not want to be in that room let's put it that way yeah it'd be a tough sell Arda appreciate you taking the time and enjoy the rest of your summer yeah you too there is Ardo Cal

from ESPN talking talking hockey, talking wrestling as well. Used to be on WWE. He was one of the commentators, one of the guys. Also, he worked for the Weather Network here in Vancouver, worked on the score, is now at ESPN. He's done everything, man. And like I said, proud Canadian, although we got a lot of texts coming in saying, how dare you?

How dare you suggest the Americans win? I want to outline two days ago on this show I said my priority is Canada winning and if they don't win I'd like to see a supercharge recharge Recharge Elias Patterson and Sweden get the job done And then well after that is the United States Like I don't even want to consider that

I think I would rather every other country win than the US Shouts to Finland Hey Kazakhstan if you got a chance Is Nick Antropov still playing for them If Kazakhstan plays against Canada in the gold medal final I might be cheering for Kazakhstan I don't know what to tell you be an underdog story for the ages

Fair enough. We'll see how it goes. Against the U.S., yes. Against Canada, I'm still cheering for Canada. All right. Fair enough. Your priorities right. Yeah, I'm sorry. 650, 650. This one, Jason and North Bend, we need Canada to win the gold medal so that Quinn equates

playing with his brothers to lose in. Fair enough. Okay. Would help? We got this one from Rocket and Langley. I appreciate your guest. I appreciate what he's saying. I'm sorry Canada does never want to lose in any major compensation.

addition to the U.S. We don't care. Okay, the fan aspect, the proud Canadian meat, I agree 100%. The media guy in me, like the back and forth of having skin in the game, tasting defeat, and then hitting the opposition with like a haymaker after that to say, no, we got it back. Yeah. Like there is, there is a special drama to that. Yeah. But I still would rather Canada just keep winning. Yeah, I don't, that'd be more fun. I don't want to put that into the ether, you know. I just don't want to even try and become a reality, so I don't want to imagine it. I don't want to deal with four years of Americans being like, we're better now, you know?

That'd be pretty embarrassing. It's too long, four years. Way too long. Yeah, because the four nations is a nice thing to have on your resume, but the Olympics is what really mentioned. Yes, definitely. 650, 650, Dunbar Lumber Tax Line. Keep the text coming in there.

On the other side, we're going to speak to Adnan Verk from the MLB and NHL Network. and we will talk about everything going on in Major League Baseball. It is Alfred and Brough, Josh Elliott Wolf, and deep chandall in Sportsnet, 650.