10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking shots …

1 – ONE WIN AWAY: The games in Florida were a lot tighter than the ones in Las Vegas in this Stanley Cup Final, but the Golden Knights are heading home for Game 5 with a 3-1 series lead and the chance to clinch the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup on Tuesday night at the Fortress. The Golden Knights are looking just too dominant, the Panthers are banged up, and you can’t get upset if and when the best team wins. A lot is being made about Golden Knights owner Bill Foley’s prophetic vision six years ago that his expansion franchise in 2017 would win a championship within six years. Now they’re on the verge of it, in Year 6.

Ironically, in Florida, they’d say “he manifested it.”

2 – COMEBACK CATS: However I wouldn’t turn my back on this series, nor the Florida Panthers. They’ve earned the nickname of “The Comeback Cats” for a reason and with Sergei Bobrovsky in goal, they can steal a game at anytime. You also know Florida coach Paul Maurice will have the team laser-focused on Game 5 and his nicked up squad will have an extra day to get healthy. Judging by the ratings, everybody’s watching to see how it unfolds.

3 – LEARNING TO WIN: There are a heckuva lot of lessons to be learned in sports and in life no matter how long this series goes. Having spoken at length with people from both teams, it became clear to me that the fire of losing the 2018 Stanley Cup to Washington still burned in these Golden Knights and their hunger and desperation is clearly evident. “You need to lose in order to learn how to win,” the saying goes. Ask the 2022 Colorado Avalanche, the 2020 and 2021 Tampa Bay Lightning, or even the ’84 Oilers and ’80 New York Islanders.

As for Florida, they’re primed to be a great franchise for the next several years – have made the playoffs the past four seasons – and will be back. I’m glad to know I’ll be there for it, and it’s been fun covering them up close the past two seasons. The Panthers could not be more first class, and that starts at the top and filters down through every facet of the organization. It’s how they’ve gotten this far.

4 – OTHER NHL NOTES: It shouldn’t feel out of nowhere that the Calgary Flames are set to hire Ryan Huska as their next head coach, according to reports. The Cranbrook product has been in the Flames organization since 2014 and an assistant with the big club since 2018. Ryan’s survived a lot of turnover and that’s because he’s smart, good at his job, adaptable, and the players like him. Sounds like a good fit, right? I’ve known Ryan a very long time – he was an assistant on the 2012 Canadian world junior team when I called the games – and he’s got a long WHL history including winning FOUR Memorial Cups! Winner. Let’s do it. … Gregg Drinnan took vacation during the Memorial Cup? Weird. That’s like Santa taking vacation during Christmas. … If Paul Maurice and Rick Bowness can’t get these Winnipeg Jets to give 100%, who can? … What a conundrum for that franchise. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has built a Stanley Cup-contending roster of talent, but they got major attitude problems. How do ya fix that? … Still wondering where Patrick Roy lands after the legend announced he’s not returning to the Quebec Remparts, yet the New York Rangers said he’s not being considered for their opening. That doesn’t leave too many jobs left. … Do you really think Gary Bettman wants the Golden Knights to win this Stanley Cup like some conspiracy theorists are suggesting? I do not.

5 – RIDERS: Week 1 in the CFL closes late Sunday afternoon in Edmonton as the Elks host the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Something’s gotta give in this game, as the Riders have lost seven in a row while the Elks carry a 4-game skid into the clash and an overall home losing streak of 17 GAMES! Oh yeah, we forgot about those streaks didn’t we? … TSN’S Matt Dunigan called this one a “pick ’em” game on the RP Show this week because there are questions surrounding both franchises and this is the earliest pressure cooker game we can remember in years. … Here’s a stat courtesy CFL Game Notes – 2022 marked the first year that BOTH Saskatchewan and Edmonton missed the playoffs in the same season. What a dubious footnote for both teams. … Yours truly will be at the game! Will you? I’ll wave.

6 – ELSEWHERE: Cody Fajardo is 1-0 as the quarterback of the Montreal Alouettes following a 19-12 home win over the Ottawa RedBlacks on Saturday. The former Rider was 14/21 for 261 yards, 0 TDs, 0 Ints, 15 yards rushing and an efficiency rating of 109.4. Critics are already picking apart his debut but here’s what Cody does consistently: W-I-N. I’m pulling for him likely more than I’ve ever pulled for any former Rider. After an exit from Riderville like that, all you can do is hold your head up and flourish at your next stop and Saturday was a great step in that direction for Fajardo. … BREAKING NEWS: TSN’s Matt Dunigan predicted a Winnipeg-Montreal Grey Cup on Thursday’s RP Show. … The Blue Bombers were on pace to score 84 points in their Week 1 home game against Hamilton, leading the Ticats 21-4 after the first quarter. They held on for a 42-31 victory, in a game Ticats coach Orlondo Steinauer admitted his quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell wasn’t at his finest. … In the week’s other game, BC won 25-14 at Calgary which nobody’s calling an upset except the oddsmakers, who installed the Stampeders as 2.5 point favourites. … The attendance at McMahon Stadium was 17,942 which reportedly is the lowest for a Stamps game this century. … What to do about CFL attendance? … I don’t know other than to give the league solid, consistent coverage from our platforms. … I love the CFL. It needs to love itself!!!

7 – BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL: How bout this — it was an honour to be the keynote speaker at the Canadian Angus Association National Convention Saturday in Saskatoon. My grandfather Peder Roarbeck (P.R.) Pedersen was the President of the C.A.A. in 1957 and that knocked the boots off the ranchers from across Canada assembled at the Sheraton Cavalier. My hour-long address covered my cattle/grain upbringing in rural Sask, Mental Health Awareness, and plenty of CFL, WHL & NHL stories in the Q&A. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

Most of the questions centred around the National Hockey League and TWO guys separately brought up Brad Treliving and said, “How could the Leafs hire him as GM after he screwed up the Flames?” I answered to both guys, “Brad did not screw up the Calgary Flames.” And we went from there …

8 – RP SHOW: It all makes sense in my head but I suppose from the outside it may not look so clear; our road map for the RP Show includes, in the near-term, broadcasting live from Ace Casino Airport Calgary for most of the summer months beginning Monday. We hope/plan to host shows from the IKS Media studios in Regina this summer as well and there’s some talk of broadcasting from Toronto at some special events in August but it hasn’t been confirmed. There are some more corporate speaking events on the horizon so we need to work around those too. Another great tip: Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable! It’s actually fun as hell.

9 – LIV/PGA: Talk about a loaded question. A cattleman from Prince George asked my thoughts on the LIV Golf/PGA merger and if the NHL would ever be worried about “blood money” infiltrating its sacred league. Honestly I tiptoed around that one because I’ve learned quickly that you can lump LIV Golf in with politics and religion as topics you should steer clear of. People have strong opinions on these things and aren’t particularly open to hearing the other side. … I pulled the guy aside later and explained more one-on-one but put it this way — after a lifetime in this perilous trade, I’ve learned one thing: Take the money.

Another guy asked how sports betting companies have changed the game in sports & media sponsorship. I told him it’s evolving rapidly but our show is well positioned for it. I also told the crowd that I would wear panties on my head and sing Yankee Doodle Dandy daily on TV if that’s what our official betting partner Bet Regal wanted.

10 – RANDOMS: Happy birthday to my Dad! The greatest man I ever knew. … Happy 25th birthday also to Winnipeg Jets forward Kristian Reichel. … My Dad has more Stanley Cups between the two! 😀 … What was Nik Lewis doing interviewing fighters in the UFC cage Saturday night? Oh wait, that was Daniel Cormier. … The Canadian Elite Basketball League has set a record for attendance out of the gate. There are two games on Sunday including Calgary at Saskatchewan and Scarborough at Montreal. I implore you to buy a ticket and check it out if you haven’t already. You will NOT be disappointed! … The RP Show is currently not providing wall-to-wall coverage of the NBA Playoffs. The NHL & CFL are enough and our audience really seems to appreciate that focus. … It’s become a little exhausting reintroducing myself to all these new viewers, listeners and readers but obviously it’s worthwhile. Fortunately I have a tremendous team around me taking care of a lot of that. My favourite recent question came from a guy who said, “How does a guy who apparently took every wrong turn in life end up in the most beautiful destination?”

Isn’t that the $64,000 question. …

AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen