10 NEW YEARS THINGS

THE RANKINGS EDITION

1 – NEW YEARS WISH #1 – Before we get to the rankings from our various favourite leagues heading into 2021, I have a favour to ask: Please don’t forget about the CFL, WHL, NLL, SJHL, PJHL, SCA, etc. All but one of those leagues (CFL) should be playing right now but for reasons we all know, they aren’t. We’re all abuzz with Bowl Games, the World Juniors, the pending return of the NHL plus exciting action in the NFL and NBA. Little kids are falling in love with Trevor Lawrence, Trevor Zegras, Chase Claypool and Fred VanVleet. But don’t forget about the players you can watch right down the street. This is what I feared; out of sight, out of mind.

2 – NEW YEARS WISH #2 – If we learned something in 2020, it’s that the Canadian Football League has a HUGE brand. Commissioner Randy Ambrosie was right. Its absence from the playing field was a gigantic void in the pro football world. If CFL governors truly voted 6-3 IN FAVOUR of playing in 2020, then I still don’t know why they didn’t. However what’s done is done. When it comes back, I’d like to see two things: 1) All player salaries be made public and 2) An established injury reporting system where all rosters are declared 48 hours before game time. These two advancements would make this league much easier to cover and add much-needed credibility. The secrecy has to go.

3 – CFL POWER RANKINGS – It got quite a bit of buzz when I Tweeted my CFL rankings on New Years Eve, and the reasons why. In case you missed it (ICYMI), here they are:

WEST
Winnipeg – Still the best till they’re not
Saskatchewan – They were 13-5 and 1st place the last time we saw them
Calgary – Always in the hunt, but not necessarily kings of the regular season
Edmonton – New coach, great QB and lots of talent. Now go prove it
BC – We love em, but they have tons to prove and are in the toughest division in pro football

EAST
Hamilton – They’re still p*ssed off from the 2019 Grey Cup. ‘Nuff said
Montreal – Primed to bust out under HC Khari Jones, QB Vernon Adams Jr. and a host of talent
Ottawa – An exciting new Head Coach and Quarterback and plenty of pieces. Let’s go!
Toronto – Sorry. I really love these guys but someone had to be 4th. And a rookie Head Coach and unproven QB have me a little anxious

4 – STATE FAIR FOOTBALL – Former NFL punter Pat McAfee hosts a daily talk show and was voted the NFL’s Top Media Personality of 2020. If you’re not paying attention to what he’s doing, you’d better start. ICYMI this week he and his staff referred to the CFL as “dead” and “state fair football”. Anybody who loves the 3-down game would be offended by that. But it shows the massive amount of work this league has to do to restore credibility. Not playing in 2020 could ultimately be fatal. The relief effort in 2021 and the years ahead is beyond enormous.

Regarding the rules, I think most of us would agree Canadian rules (including the 20-second playclock) make the CFL the most-entertaining brand of football around but in terms of cred in the football world, it may be time to re-think going to 4 downs, 100 yards, no yard-off-the-ball, and goalposts at the back of the endzone. That may be all it takes to be taken seriously in the U.S., if you care about that.

Chris Jones should not have to defend the CFL daily in NFL circles. But he does. Meanwhile no one laughs at the American Hockey League, or even the ECHL.

YOU are responsible for your reputation. Maybe it’s time to look at things.

5 – JUST GO WITH IT – When I released my rankings on Thursday, somebody responded with “Who are you trying to kid? The mask mandate and lockdowns aren’t going anywhere in 2021.” Who knows where the world is going in the next 12 months? Dr. Fauci said last week the worst is yet to come, but I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. Financial analysts say the worst is still to come in the economy regardless of what the virus does. Either way, I’ll go along with all these CFL announcements and cross my fingers like everybody else. Got a better idea?

6 – FREE AGENT FRENZY – According to Pool Master Larry Schwentke, here’s the list of remaining free agents by team after 81 have been extended over the past few weeks: Ottawa (40), Montreal (33), Edmonton (32), BC (32), Winnipeg (30), Calgary (26), Hamilton (24), Saskatchewan (16), Toronto (14). Riders GM Jeremy O’Day has been busy! From what I’m told, there are some more big name free agents in Riderville who won’t be brought back due to money issues, however we’ll let that sit for awhile. Don’t want to be a Debbie Downer on the first weekend of 2021!

7 – NHL CANADIAN RANKINGS – As each day goes by, the NHL seems to be incrementally inching towards a return by getting clearance from different provincial health officials. One thing about the NHL: they know what they’re doing and are fairly transparent. (i.e. Trust) Here are my North Division rankings and the reasons why:

Calgary – All they were missing was a goalie and now they have one in Jacob Markstrom
Edmonton – They were #1 out of Canadian teams last season. I know, shocking
Montreal – Lots of great moves but something tells me they’re fool’s gold
Toronto – They lost to a Zamboni driver last year. They’ll finish high enough, but fizzle in the playoffs
Vancouver – They’ve been building for awhile, but it never goes totally right for them. It won’t this year either
Winnipeg – Has the window closed? I fear it has
Ottawa – They’ve made some great moves (Matt Murray) but they’re in a tough division and it’s a long way up from the bottom of the mountain

8 – I HAD A DREAM: At the risk of sounding like Friends of the Riders Lottery President Tom Shepherd, I had a dream where the NHL scrapped the 2020-21 schedule and went to a province-by-province, state-by-state, 3-on-3 tournament to decide the Stanley Cup winner. I was named GM of Team Saskatchewan (remember, this was a dream. I kid you not). We had Jordan Eberle, Ryan Getzlaf, Patrick Marleau, Chandler Stephenson, Jaden Schwartz, Tyler Bozak, Brayden Schenn, Braydon Coburn, Hayden & Cale Fleury, Ethan Bear and Braden Holtby. I named Dave Tippett as Head Coach and his Assistants were Mike Babcock and Jared Bednar.

We won it all.

9 – DUB HUB: The rumour of a wealthy private donor underwriting a 2020-21 WHL or CHL season was just that; a rumour. It came from a trusted hockey source whom I can’t ever remember being wrong, but all we can do is wait and see how this unfolds. My preseason predictions for the WHL East last season looked like this: 1) Saskatoon, 2) P.A., 3) Winnipeg, 4) Regina, 5) Moose Jaw, 6) Brandon.

They ended up like this: 1) P.A., 2) Winnipeg, 3) Brandon, 4) Saskatoon, 5) Regina, 6) Moose Jaw.

With the exception of COMPLETELY WHIFFING on the Wheat Kings (sorry Kelly), I’d say I had them pretty close.

10 – TWITTER CONTEST: Lots and LOTS of friends and family asked if I’d gone looney by offering $1,000 USD to a random Retweeter/Liker of my post from New Years Day. The answer is maybe, but that’s nothing new. However at the time of this writing, the Tweet had 13,762 engagements and 143,320 impressions. I went with US dollars because 1/3 of viewers of The Rod Pedersen Show are in the USA so if one of them wins, it’s a cool grand. If a Canadian wins, they get $1,270 CDN. If I’d bought $1,000 in traditional advertising for my corporation, no one would’ve batted an eye. However this has been farrrrrr more valuable than that plus it’s going to brighten someone’s life. Welcome to the new age. Stay tuned for the winner …

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen

(Photo: Tim Reid, REAL)