10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking Shots …

1 – GAME NOTES: It was an historic Saturday in the National Hockey League. Where to start? … Five players notched hattricks on Saturday – Carter Verhaeghe, Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrnak, Alex Tuch & Noah Gregor – and that’s just the sixth time in NHL history that’s happened on the same day. … The Edmonton Oilers became the second Western Conference team to clinch a playoff berth (Vegas was the first), and goalies Stuart Skinner and Jack Campbell have recorded back-to-back shutouts. Watch out for the Oilers! … Tampa Bay clinched a playoff spot for a sixth straight season and will face Toronto in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs for a second consecutive year. Will the Maple Leafs finally win a Round 1 series? I have my doubts. … And in Calgary, the Flames host the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday on what should be Guaranteed Win Night (6 pm MT, Sportsnet) however the Winnipeg Jets host New Jersey (5 pm MT Sunday, TSN3) in another cliffhanger. Calgary is two points back of Winnipeg for the final Western playoff spot with six games to go. … Ladies and gentlemen, the playoffs have already started.

2 – GAME NOTES II: Absolutely cannot get enough of this stuff — Buffalo rookie Devon Levi became the third-youngest goalie in franchise history to win his Sabres debut at age 21 years, 94 days. Tom Barrasso was the youngest (18 years, 188 days), followed by Darren Puppa (20 years, 223 days). Behind Levi are Mika Noronen (21 years, 110 days) and Don Edwards (21 years, 138 days). I collected all these guys’ hockey cards as a youngster and am certain this is why these facts make me my heart sing so much.

3 – CHUCKY CHEESE: Last weekend in this space we informed you Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk was poised to become just the fourth NHL’er ever to record 100-point seasons in consecutive years with two different teams. The others are Wayne Gretzky, Jimmy Carson and Mike Rogers. … Well this week Matthew did it, in fine style with a hattrick at Montreal, and an RP Show viewer from New York City named Joe Lozito wrote in and thanked us for mentioning Mike Rogers. It reminded him of his youth! Rogers is a Calgary product who played 484 NHL games with the Whalers, Rangers and Oilers before spending years as colour commentator on Flames radio broadcasts beside Peter Maher. Y’er welcome. … The last word on Matthew Tkachuk’s father Keith saying this week on TSN Radio that the Panthers are soft —– hockey parents shouldn’t be doing interviews unless their name is Walter Gretzky or Louis Sutter.

4 – DUB HUB: So far my WHL Playoff predictions from Friday are right on track. There’s just one game on Sunday and it’s the Regina Pats at Saskatoon Blades in Game 2 at 4:00 pm MT on Access 7 live from SaskTel Centre. The Queen City Kids have a 1-0 series lead following a 6-1 spank job on Friday night where Connor Bedard netted two goals and one assist. (If you missed it, the highlights ran all across TSN and Sportsnet for 24 hours afterwards). Will the Pats go up 2-0 before coming home for Games 3 & 4? Tune in to find out. … In the past three games featuring Bedard and the Regina Pats at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, the Blades have drawn 39,801 fans. At an average ticket price of $20, that’s $796,020 in the Blades jeans. … They should put a statue of Bedard outside SaskTel Centre adjacent to Gordon Howe.

5 – APRIL FOOLS: I saw just a few attempts at April Fool’s jokes on Saturday and heard of just a few more. In Estevan they spoofed that the Bruins were joining the WHL following a relocation of the Winnipeg ICE (not necessarily a joke) while somewhere, someone pranked that the CFL was putting an expansion team in Alaska which would play on a cruise ship. That may actually happen before Halifax gets a team. The lack of creative April Fools jokes is the climate we’re in nowadays folks. As an RCMP buddy of mine from Kelowna named Ken Karasuik said last night, “There’s not many jokesters left anymore.”

*They* killed them.

6 – TB12: It was no early April Fools joke when I reported this week that Tom Brady was part of an ownership group kicking tires on the Montreal Alouettes this winter. A source close to Brady in Florida told me of this months ago and there was another big sports name involved, although they weren’t the money men in the group. “The application is on Randy’s desk!” I was told. However CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie was quoted on Friday as saying, “All I can say is I don’t remember talking to Tom Brady at any point during the process so I don’t know where that rumour came from.”

Three things on Randy’s quote: 1) That’s not a denial, 2) Who said he talked to Brady directly?, and 3) You could see why the CFL wouldn’t want this story to get out because many fans would prefer Tom Brady be involved with the CFL over Quebecor/Pierre Peladeau, the eventual owners of the Alouettes.

God bless you for believing whatever you’re told by those in charge. That’s what they bank on.

7 – TIM & FRIENDS: Host Tim Micallef looked like he bit into a lemon when announcing this week that his show Tim & Friends has been cancelled by Sportsnet. Its last episode will air on April 11. Micallef, a Score alum like myself and former Voice of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, has nothing to hang his head about. That show is similar to TSN’s Off The Record in that they both became part of Canadian sports broadcasting lore but also both fell victim to the spreadsheet-management tactics of their network lords. The way things are going, it couldn’t have been stopped and everything has a shelf life anyway. If anything, take a bow.

Now you’ll get to see the popular show NHL Now from NHL Network in that time slot and you Canadians will get to see what I’ve been raving about the past two winters. Jackie Redmond, Bill Lindsay, Stu Grimson, Steve Konroyd, Ken Daneyko, etc. That show is awesome!

Life goes on.

8 – BROADCASTING: I’ve gotta say the current broadcast landscape has made me appreciate even more the lords of The Rod Pedersen Show –> Game+/Anthem Sports, WQEE Radio, Dupont Media & IKS Media. Those entities are all owned and operated by broadcasters – not telecommunications companies – and they appreciate putting on a quality product, and talent. If you ever want to know why I’m so happy, this is why, despite the growing amount of opportunities from teams, networks and stations. I see no reason to change anything as long as it stays this much fun.

9 – THE GRIND PERFORMANCE: Really enjoyed being a guest on Sports Mental Strength Coach Zak Krysak’s podcast The Grind Performance Podcast this week. Zak is a former NCAA baseball player out of Saskatoon and is coaching young players and teams about the mental side of the game. Bright kid. He asked me in all of my work with successful NFL, NHL, MLB, CFL athletes, plus entertainers and military, in the Recovery world over the years, is there one similar trait that stands out? I had to think for a minute and then said yes, there is.

Each one of them was blessed with a certain amount of God-given talent, but what sets them apart from the crowd is their dedication. So many of their youth teammates quit at the first sign of adversity, but these guys never gave up and put in the work. (The stuff you don’t see as a fan). Discipline, drive and work ethic are hallmarks of their careers and made it real easy for me to coach them in Mental Health issues because they already had those concepts ingrained. Winners never quit and quitters never win.

I loved the interview! Thanks Zak. 

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Is Devon Levi related to Bo Levi? … Please join me at Saskatchewan sports dinners in Southey (April 22) and Pense (April 29). Message me for ticket info!! These events are the best part of my job and I enjoy seeing everybody. … CKRM would make millions if they aired The RP Show live from 10am – Noon Sask Time daily. … Donald Trump isn’t a good guy. This is news? … A thumb-and-a-half up for the movie Scream VI, now playing in Landmark Cinemas. It’s worth it to catch up with Courtney Cox but it’s a heckuva lot of blood and gore for a guy like me. Go see it, but not if you have a weak stomach. … Medicine Hat leads the league in traffic lights. When will they start talk of a bypass?? … I lead the league in Walmart tote bags (i.e. I forget to bring one EVERY time). However they’re worth it for $1.77 and come in very handy for someone who’s always on the go, like me. … Is Sarah Huckabee Sanders the illegitimate daughter of Tom Shepherd? … Howard Stern was discussing Maury Povich the other day and mentioned he is worth $80M and didn’t start The Maury Povich Show until he was 52 years old. There’s hope for us yet! … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen