10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking shots …

1 – SEEING STARS: Mike Modano finally got his due. The Dallas Stars’ all-time leader in games played (1,459), goals (557), and points (1,359) had a statue unveiled in his honour Saturday night at American Airlines Center, on a night the Stars dumped the L.A. Kings 5-1. Modano – the greatest USA-born hockey player ever, and my favourite all-time NHL player – was the Dallas Stars. Unfortunately his legendary tenure ended on a sour note – they all do – in 2010, and the Livonia, MI product had to wait 14 years for the proper recognition. But in true Texas fashion the team did it right, and big.

2 – MO: Modano was my favourite player but had a far more intertwined hockey relationship with my Dad, who worked 26 years for the Dallas Stars/Minnesota North Stars organization, and both of their hockey roots went back to the Prince Albert Raiders days in the WHL. (My cousin Christine’s dog was named Modano). Jim Pedersen won a Memorial Cup with the Raiders in 1985 and Modano famously showed up at the Communiplex in 1986 with a mullet, spiked hair and a mouthful of braces. Any WHL historian will tell you Modano is one of the greatest players the league’s ever seen, and he’s certainly the greatest skater I’ve ever personally witnessed. Former NHL/WHL defenceman Derek Morris says Modano was by far the toughest to defend, speed-wise. So, again, it’s fantastic to see Mike get his due.

3 – STATUES: You can talk about retired jerseys and numbers all you want, but there’s one thing sports people haven’t screwed up after all these years, and that’s statues. If you got one, you did something special. There are wayyyyy more in the USA than Canada, but that’s for different reasons. Across Canada, the ones that come to mind are Terry Fox (Vancouver), Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton), Dale Hawerchuk (Winnipeg), Lancaster & Reed (Regina), Gordon Howe (Saskatoon) and an army of Canadiens legends outside the Bell Centre in Montreal. In the States, it’s Kobe, Orr, Jordan, Gretzky (again), Marino, Landry, et al, and one day Brady. In other words, it’s a pretty small group.

4 – NHL NOTES: Alex Ovechkin is now 53 goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record. It’s literally 50/50 whether he’s going to catch Gretzky or not, at age 38. The NHL insiders say Ovechkin’s not in the shape he once once, and he certainly is not on a juggernaut team. Sarina says the hockey gods won’t let it happen. … Colorado swept Western Canada and has now won six in a row. They’d play Nashville in Round 1. … “There will be some heartbroken teams after Round 1,” said one NHL GM in the press box in Sunrise, FL last night. … Flames fans cheered their team’s 5-2 win over Montreal Saturday night but likely should be hoping the team loses at this point. … Meh, cheer however you want!

5 – PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS: It’s finally here. The Score App (the G.O.A.T. of sports apps) posts the Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoff match-ups daily and here they are on this Sunday. Read ’em and weep: EAST – Boston vs Detroit, Florida vs Toronto, NY Rangers vs Tampa Bay, Carolina vs Philadelphia, WEST – Colorado vs Nashville, Dallas vs Winnipeg, Vancouver vs Vegas, Edmonton vs LA. As it stands, I’ll take first round winners to be the Bruins, Panthers, Rangers, Hurricanes, Avalanche, Jets, Golden Knights and Oilers.

6 – CATS ‘N BOLTS: A huge thanks to those who came out to our inaugural Cats ‘N Bolts Podcast tailgate party on Saturday before the Tampa Bay/Florida NHL showdown at Amerant Bank Arena. … I had to put up with noise from fans of both teams, saying we favour one team over the other on our weekly podcast; Florida’s most-watched hockey show. That stuff used to bother me a lot but now it just makes me smile. It means they’re all watching. Similar to complaints over the RP Show, and our content. When you don’t hear from viewers, that’s when you have a big problem.

7 – NFL FREE AGENCY: It was a tidal wave of news throughout the week as NFL free agency opened on Wednesday and several big names switched teams. It continued through the weekend as the Chicago Bears ultimately traded QB Justin Fields to Pittsburgh. (Kudos to the Bears who promised a decision before the Draft, and delivered). There were several complaints from the fans like: 1) There’s no loyalty, 2) It’s hard to keep up with, and 3) How are we supposed to become attached to players? However there’s a couple of things we’ve learned the past couple of years and one is this — despite the merry go-round of players and popularity of one-year contracts, fans are not turning away. 97 of the top 100 most-watched TV shows in 2023 were NFL games, the salary cap increased by $30.6-million per team, and revenues have never been higher. Ergo, fans complain but never leave.

8 – CFL VS NCAA: Mitchell “Scruffy” Blair noted in his award-winning column on this blog on Friday that Fox Network will debut a nationally-televised College Football game on Friday nights this fall. Scruffy wondered if the CFL should feel threatened about this, and its popular Friday Night Football tradition? My thoughts are these: The CFL lost the popularity contest to the NFL in Canada 5-7 years ago and that war is now over. However it says here the CFL will never lose a ratings battle against the NCAA in Canada. Do you actually think Canadians would rather watch the Winnipeg Blue Bombers versus Toronto Argonauts on a Friday night, or Colorado versus USC? Apologies to Coach Prime, but it’s no contest. Patrick Mahomes versus Brock Purdy is a threat, yes, but not College Football teams. Next!

CFL NOTES: At age 66, coaching legend Jeff Reinebold says his current contract as Defensive Line Coach at the University of Hawaii will be his last. It’s his dream job, and the ship has come in. However I’ll believe it when I see it! Haha. … At Super Bowl, Reinebold suggested the two of us host a weekly digital (Instagram Live or Facebook Live) CFL show this summer with viewer interaction. Would you watch it? More importantly, would you sponsor it?? I’m not doing it for free. … USC QB Caleb Williams has raised eyebrows with some extremely bizarre pre-Draft comments, like saying veterans won’t be allowed to look him in the eye in the locker room. RP Show football analyst Jim Barker laughed on Friday’s RP Show, “That’ll last all of five minutes. Some veteran will get in his face and tell Williams he’ll look at him however he wants!” … The CFL’s national combine will be held this upcoming week in Winnipeg, with portions being live-streamed at CFL.ca. We’ll have top prospects on the RP Show during the week. Be sure to tune in!

9 – SJHL PLAYOFF MATCH-UPS: The regular season is over and the Round 1 match-ups are set – Flin Flon vs Kindersley, Melfort vs Estevan, Humboldt vs Weyburn, Battlefords vs Melville. We are very proud of our promo deal between the SJHL and RP Show!

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: The Canadian Firefighters Curling Championship is on NOW in Moosomin, SK. Draws go today at 8:00, 12:00 and 4:00 with entertainment provided Sunday night by teams NWT, PEI, SK, N.ONT, BC & NB. Sounds like fun! … If you’re bothered by what you see on social media, stay off social media. Y’er welcome. … The greatest show on TV right now – Louisiana Law – on Animal Planet. It’s Cops meets Duck Dynasty and their slogan is, “If you’re doin’ wrong, we’re gonna find ya.” Very binge-worthy! … Have I asked this yet? Do they still make music videos? I can’t find them on TV anywhere. … Everything runs its course. Everything. … Why are we surprised when we learn people with substance abuse problems aren’t stupid? Former NHL coach Bruce Boudreau said on NHL Radio this week of Evgeny Kuznetzov, who recently benefited from the NHL Players Assistance Program, “He’s actually quite bright!” Gee, thanks Gabby. … When players and/or staff want to keep their issues private, they come to me. … This week we had a discussion over what “Freedom” means in the Recovery program. Some of the responses were: Lack of fear, Choices, Clarity, Travel, Be me, New life, Peace, No more hiding, Feel good, No more isolation, Belonging, Rediscovering things we once loved. Sounds great doesn’t it? … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen