10 WEEKEND THINGS

Quick Hits …

1 – BEDARD MANIA: As if Monday’s Connor Bedard/Chicago Blackhawks visit to Toronto needed anymore hype, you’re going to be hearing a lot that Maple Leafs sniper Auston Matthews can be the first player in NHL history to open a season with three consecutive hattricks in this game! As it is, the Scottsdale, AZ product is just the fifth player to open the season with a pair of 3-or-more goal outings (Alex Ovechkin, Cy Denenny, Joe Malone & Reg Noble are the others). Oh ya, and then there’s Connor Bedard who picked up an assist in Chicago’s 3-2 loss at Montreal Saturday night, giving him a three game career-opening point streak which makes him the 10th #1 pick to accomplish that feat.

You might’ve seen Jeremy Roenick’s video on Saturday telling the world to can the Bedard hype. Pipe down J.R.! That horse is out of the trailer. It got out long ago.

2 – OTHER NHL NOTES: Who’s in the most trouble – Edmonton (0-2), Florida (0-2), Seattle (0-2-1) or Buffalo (0-2)? The correct answer is … none of them. But that won’t stop the panic in the City of Champions as the Oilers were the bettors’ pick to win the NHL’s Western Conference this season. (FYI: they still can. They’re just realizing they can’t just “throw their sticks out” as the hockey saying goes). … Former NHL’er and current Florida Panthers TV analyst Jeff Chychrun threw out on Saturday’s telecast, during the Panthers 6-4 loss to the Jets, that the team is lucky to be opening on a three-game road trip. That way they can get the kinks out before Thursday’s home-opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs. … Watch for “Chych” on an upcoming episode of our Cats ‘N Bolts Podcast, filmed in Downtown Boca Raton. … Jeff’s son Jacob is already the MVP of the Senators and his three points helped Ottawa to a 5-2 spanking of his Dad’s former team, the Philly Flyers on Saturday. … All is good in Winnipeg after that Jets win in the home-opener and it was nice to see Mark Scheifele do his best to earn his rich new contract, registering a Gordie Howe Hattrick. … The Flames were brought back down to earth with a 5-2 loss at Pittsburgh. Calgary should/will be there in the end but there will be some growing pains as they get used to a new coach.

3 – GO PATS GO: Don’t look now but the Regina Pats are in first place in the WHL’s East Division at 6-3-0-1. It does not surprise me as they have an excellent Head Coach (Brad Herauf), excellent General Manager (Alan Millar) and an excellent President (Gord Pritchard). I’ll caution you that it’s not even Hallowe’en yet but you can’t argue with these early season results. Whether the team’s in the running in the spring or not is anybody’s guess but the club will be competitive in the years ahead with this troika. … The attendance for Saturday’s 3-1 win over Lethbridge in the Brandt Centre is listed at 2,808. That’s not good enough, but Regina sports fans have their reasons. … Bravo to Daniella Ponticelli and Access for her becoming the first female to call play-by-play of a TELEVISION broadcast in the WHL. However you should recall Sarina Taylor is the first female to call a major junior game IN CANADA, having done so for the Pats on radio in 2004-2005. She was way, way ahead of her time. Probably too far ahead.

4 – ON ROUGHRIDERS: What’s left to be said? Saskatchewan lost its sixth consecutive CFL game Friday night following a 26-19 defeat at Calgary and are perilously perched on the playoff cliff. All they’ve had to do for a couple of weeks is win a game to clinch a playoff spot but they haven’t been able to do that. If the Riders can’t beat Toronto at home this week, and Calgary wins one of its next to games, the Riders will miss the playoffs. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! … Friday’s loss at McMahon Stadium was particularly inexplicable as the football pundits all agreed the Riders were the better team going in. However Sask was outscored 21-6 in the second half and didn’t have a lot of answers for it afterwards. … If the team blows their playoff chances, this will be the most epic collapse I’ve ever seen in CFL history. And I thought last year was bad!

It’ll be fun to see how they attempt to spin this.

5 – COMMONWEALTH: Still can’t believe the furor over the Edmonton Elks’ decision to tarp off the top half of Commonwealth Stadium – Canada’s largest stadium – for next season. If you’ve been paying attention, attendance has been so woeful for the Elks the past couple of years that they could’ve played some games in nearby Clarke Stadium, where the junior teams play. Sure there are going to be upset season ticket holders but back in the day, we’d offer a signed football, a team jacket or a phone call from the coach or quarterback and that usually turned peoples’ frowns upside down. I’ve heard varying reports of how upset people are in Edmonton but if the team isn’t doing everything possible to kiss their butts, the franchise deserves whatever heat they get.

6 – FEEL THE RUSH: On Saturday, November 25 the Saskatchewan Rush will oppose the Calgary Roughnecks in the NLL’s first-ever preseason game in Southern Saskatchewan. BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO! I begged and pleaded the Rush’s prior ownership – the Urban family – to play a game or host training camp in Regina and although they said they were interested, it never happened. In truth, they didn’t really need to because they were winning championships and SaskTel Centre was busting at the seams for Rush home games. However those days are long gone, as are the Urbans, and the team needs to do some outreach. It just so happens that it’ll be Moose Jaw. Are you going?

7 – NFL: While I don’t understand nor care about the infatuation of the Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift relationship, you can’t argue that it’s great for business for the NFL. The pop/country star has three times the social media following of the NFL and her current tour is projected to gross billions in ticket sales from “Swifties”. In this case, the NFL is just tagging along. Unbelievable! … The only way Dak Prescott is taking the Dallas Cowboys to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas is if he’s driving the bus. … My MVP front-runners at the moment – Tua Tagovailoa, Christian McCaffery & T.J. Watt. … I’ve been offered a suite ticket for the Patriots/Dolphins game later this month at a friends & family discount of 50% off. It comes out to $469US! Good grief. Of course I’ve gotta say yes.

8 – CALGARY READERS!: We’re very proud of the bridges we’ve been able to build in our time in Cowtown and are inviting you to participate in the inaugural charity poker tournament at Ace Casino November 4 benefiting Theoren Fleury’s Breaking Free Foundation. It’s a $275 buy-in with $125 going to Breaking Free, and that includes an Asian Buffet (trust me, it’s delicious). Breaking Free Foundation provides free counselling to trauma survivors and their current waiting list is two years long! Seriously. Stop in at Ace Casino and ask for Don the poker room manager for details or to register.

9 – RECOVERY CORNER: Health is Wealth! … All the money in the world doesn’t mean a thing if you’re sick or ill (physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually) and can’t enjoy it. … I heard a phrase this week that really struck me. It goes, “Every moment of your life is once in a lifetime”. Right then and there I made the decision not to ever spend another moment regretting, worrying, hating, wishing or anything other than being damned grateful and happy! I’ve been on a high ever since and don’t expect to come down. … A lot of really great people have helped me along this path and I’m happy to show you the way too. Contact me at PedersenRecovery@AOL.com, or follow my social media accounts at Pedersen Recovery Inc. and shoot me a DM. We’re licensed across Canada and in the State of Florida and have had great success with clients from sports, business and with the Armed Forces. It’s the best life.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: It’s still very weird if it’s true that Taylor Swift if traveling with the team on Kansas City team flights. In all my years, there was never ever a spouse or partner aboard other than maybe the owner’s wife and who’s got the nuts to say anything about that? Haha. … CBS Sports Network really is a helluva channel. It’s unheralded in the U.S. but aside from carrying CFL broadcasts in the summer, it airs Jim Rome and Boomer Esiason’s shows daily. Plus a pretty good Sunday NFL pregame show. … In a recent study it was unproven which playing surface causes less injuries in football – turf or grass. … Our Cats ‘ Bolts Podcast covering the Florida Panthers & Tampa Bay Lightning has been a lot of fun and generated more viewers than we’d anticipated. Thanks for checking it out! …  Somebody said in life there are two kinds of people – those you get it, and those who don’t. … Those who “get it” understand how huge of a deal it is that Flag Football is very likely going to be included in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. This week the host committee put forth the recommendation that the sport be included in the Games. So how grateful are we to have an existing partnership with USA Football, the American governing body for the sport? Whew! … What in my browser or search history would make Twitter think I’m interested in Tommy Chong’s new edible gummies???? I’ve never done drugs in my life and don’t plan to start. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen