10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking shots …

1 – HERE WE GO AGAIN: Friday’s 36-27 Roughriders home loss to Edmonton came as a surprise to many of us – certainly the oddsmakers who installed Sask as 3-point favourites – but maybe it shouldn’t have. Somewhere I read that the Riders are the worst fourth quarter team in the CFL and in this one, they were outscored 16-0 in the final period on the way to a critical loss. Above all, I’ll reiterate that these are the 1990s all over again in the Wheat Province; win the games you’re supposed to lose and lose the games you’re supposed to win.

Now, with five games to go, their playoff fate is in question. I’ll stick with my win projection of 8 for the Green & White. They may be fortunate to get that after Friday’s disappointing showing.

2 – ELSEWHERE: Zach Collaros threw three interceptions and his Winnipeg Blue Bombers were upset 29-23 at Hamilton in the Hall of Fame Game on Saturday. (Did you know it was the Hall of Fame Game?). The Bombers are now 10-4 with the 9-4 BC Lions nipping at their heels. Are the good times really over in Manitoba? I don’t know but I Tweeted as much Saturday night, just to get a reaction. It worked. … The Ticats victory with 3rd-stringer Taylor Powell moved them into a 2nd-place tie with Montreal – both at 6-7 – and put a crossover berth in doubt. … Sports betting expert Jo Madden predicted a BC-Toronto Grey Cup on Friday’s RP Show. She’s usually right. … What’s wrong with the 4-9 Calgary Stampeders? CFL On TSN panelist Jim Barker said on Friday’s RP Show that Dave Dickenson has too much on his plate after adding the GM role to his Head Coaching duties, and it’s affecting the team. … In my time in Calgary this summer, I heard it often around town: “Dave is no Huff.” Maybe Barker’s right.

3 – HE SAID IT: On Brendan Taman’s first day on the job as General Manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2009, we were visiting in his office and he said, “You’re no Bob Irving.” (the Hall of Fame Voice of the Blue Bombers. I looked B.T. in the eye and said “You’re no Eric Tillman.” (The 3-time Grey Cup champion GM).

Sometimes my mouth goes on auto-pilot, to my own peril.

The “Beav” and I were chatting last week about the 2013 Riders going into the Plaza Of Honor next month. He may or not be there for it, but I know I’ll be at the Florida Panthers 2023-24 home-opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning that night.

4 – PRIME TIME: College Football’s Colorado Buffaloes are 3-0 after an overtime victory over Colorado State on Saturday. Rams coach Jay Norvell got the country revved up by taking a seemingly harmless shot at Colorado coach Deion “Prime Time” Sanders on a local radio show this week, saying he prefers to take his hat and sunglasses off when addressing adults. People went off their rockers, and sold out Prime’s brand of sunglasses (named Blenders, an unknown company till Prime showed up in Boulder this spring). … I hope Colorado doesn’t lose a game the rest of the year. Confident people like Sanders intimidate insecure, average people and that’s when the jealousy and venom comes out. You won’t ever, never convince the haters otherwise so the only solution is to KEEP SHINING. I hope Prime ends up coaching the Dallas Cowboys.

5 – CAPTAINS: Much was made, and rightly so, about Adam Lowry being named captain of the Winnipeg Jets this week, succeeding Blake Wheeler. Even more is being made in Calgary about who will be the next captain of the Flames? My guess is defenceman MacKenzie Weegar, but we should know soon. … It’s such a delicate matter and I’ve been around the naming of captains for decades. Islanders great Clark Gillies and I have had long talks about it. Do the coaches want/need a guy to organize team parties? Or do they really need a northern star for the players to follow? Again, it’s a delicate subject. If I recall correctly, Clark had the “C” in New York but handed it off to Denis Potvin because he didn’t like the pressure which came with it.

We plan to have former Denis Potvin on an upcoming edition of the Cats ‘N Bolts Podcast to discuss this, and other interesting issues. Deny is a former Panthers TV analyst and I see him regularly at FLA Live Arena.

6 – THE KING: It started out as an interesting discussion. NY Rangers icon Ron Duguay – who lives near St. Augustine, FL – asked last week my thoughts on Rangers great Henrik Lundquist being named to the Hockey Hall of Fame. I proclaimed that it’s awesome because I’m a goalie guy, and King Henrik has the most wins by any goalie without a Stanley Cup nor in the Hall of Fame.

“But he never won anything,” Duguay pleaded. I shrugged my shoulders and said that doesn’t matter anymore. Look at Pavel Bure, Eric Lindros or Pierre Turgeon. “Oh,” Ron exhaled. End of discussion. Wah, Wah, Wahhhhhhhhh.

They killed it.

7 – ROOKIES: Rookie camps are like Puppy Love. It’s only serious to the puppies. Or in this case, it’s serious only to the rookies. But it was still heartwarming to be inside Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida this weekend – home of the ECHL’s Florida Everblades – for the NHL Southeast Rookie Showcase featuring top prospects of the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators.

The highlight of the day was Saturday night’s tilt between Shaunavon’s Kalan Lind of the Predators against Josh Davies of the Panthers. Swift Current area hockey fans would know them both well. Lind was the most eye-catching player on the ice of all four teams. A major pest. Other players who stood out were Mike Benning (Florida/Edmonton, AB), Ethan Gauthier (Tampa Bay/Scottsdale, AZ) and Luke Evangelista (Nashville/Toronto, ON).

**Connor Bedard potted a hattrick for the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday night.  NBD

8 – FAMILY TIES: Actually the highlight of the day was a chat with Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Jaydon Dureau of White City, SK. He’s been held out of the tourney due to ankle tendinitis but we had a great visit. I’ve known him since he was 10 and have been close with his family for ages. We’ve followed each other’s careers, including his hockey stints in Portland, Syracuse and Orlando. “So you’re just living in Florida, living a dream life?” he asked.

“Yes.”

9 – MEDIA: I’m told Calgary Flames radio Sportsnet 960 will be using rotating colour commentators this season, to replace Peter Loubardias. Bad idea. When people turn on their radio or TV, they want to know who’s going to be on. … But what do I know? … Hold on tight because as we’re coming out of Covid, in one way things are settling down in the media world while in another, they’re getting wild. Hockey Night In Canada czar John Shannon said it best on the RP Show recently when he said, “Corporate giants are going down and Mom & Pop Shops are thriving”. … For instance, on the cusp of training camp, the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins didn’t have a radio voice and somebody said they feel sorry for the radio station. I don’t. Kids won’t work for scraps anymore and the broadcasting corporations have been left scrambling; bandaiding things left and right. It’s their fault they’re in this mess. Good luck. … Meanwhile up in Edmonton, Bell Media pulled the plug on TSN Radio in June yet on September 5, local rich guys put their money together and launched Sports 1440 Radio with my good friends Kevin Karius and Jason Gregor captaining the shop. I was on their station Friday morning and they’re crushing it. … 10 or so years ago I pulled the money together, rather quickly, to launch an all-sports radio station in Saskatchewan but just one small thing torpedoed the whole project. But it could still be done, with the right people. … Meanwhile the #1 media personality in North America right now (Pat McAfee) wears a muscle shirt on the air everyday.

Get on board or get the hell out of the way.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: It was on my mind for several days: why am I hearing from all of these people I hadn’t heard from for 20-30 years? Then it dawned on me. When Shaw/Rogers picked up Game+ TV on August 25, the RP Show became available in 2-million more homes across Western Canada. Also, Game+ moved the replay of our show from 10 pm PT to 5-7 pm ET. That’s where all these people are coming from. … Thanks for getting on board, but I’ve been here all along. … They’ve actually had to put signs up in hotel elevators to tell kids not to jump in them, lest the elevators will get stuck. What has the world come to? … Looks like our Cats ‘N Bolts Podcast covering the Panthers & Lightning will be carried on WQEE Radio in Atlanta. We’re positioned well if the NHL ever returns to the Peach City. … Alligators can jump four feet straight up out of standing water. So therefore, keep your hands in the freaking boat! … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen