10 WEEKEND THINGS
TAKING SHOTS …
1 – DUB HUB: With roughly 10 days left in the 2021 WHL East Division Hub, we have a race for the Subway Cup. We woke up Sunday morning with the Saskatoon Blades leading the 7-team loop with 31 points, just one ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings. On Saturday in the “Dubble”, the Blades fell 3-2 in a shootout to the Swift Current Broncos while Brandon downed the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-1.
The standings look like this: 1 – Saskatoon (31), 2 – Brandon (30), 3 – Winnipeg (26), 4 – Prince Albert (17), 5, Regina (15), 6 – Moose Jaw (15), 7 – Swift Current (9). The leading scorer, with Regina Pats rookie sensation Connor Bedard gone, is Winnipeg’s Peyton Krebs with 31 points in 18 games. Bedard is still 2nd in scoring with 28 points in 15 games.
Today it’s Winnipeg vs Brandon at 4:00 pm followed by Regina vs Prince Albert at 8:00 pm on AccessNow TV and 620 CKRM.
When this season is over, I’ll miss it dearly. However we’ll have the 2021 National Hockey League Draft to preview, and of course the Stanley Cup Playoffs to dissect!
2 – BEDARD MANIA: The 15-year old CHL star left Vancouver at 6:00 am Saturday, bound for Dallas, Texas and the 2021 IIHF World Under 18 Hockey Championship. The North Vancouver product joined his teammates with Team Canada to prepare for the tournament which will be played in Dallas suburbs Frisco and Plano later this month. Canada’s first game is Tuesday, April 27 against Sweden and we’ll be following it extremely closely. Imagine — a high level hockey tournament in Texas! The Great State indeed.
3 – CFL: We’re roughly 35 days from when CFL teams should be opening training camps. However with much of the nation under lockdown due to the pandemic and no end in sight, an announcement on the postponement of training camps is expected to come down this week. Rumours continue to fly around the CFL/XFL “collaboration” and the latest is that XFL owner Redbird Capital will fund a Return To Play for the CFL in 2021. To me, that’s a flimsy rumour at best. The hold-up for the CFL is not money. If they’re cleared to play, they’ll find the money somewhere whether it be from Redbird, the federal and/or provincial governments or the owners’ piggy banks. The “hope” the team presidents speak of is that enough Canadians will be vaccinated for at least 25% of stadiums to be filled by this summer/fall.
Playing out of a bubble or empty stadiums like so many other leagues have done would be a lot greater service to the players, staff and fans, but clearly that is not a road the CFL leaders want to go down. If Redbird is such a saviour, why don’t they pay for a bubble?
Meanwhile “out of sight, out of mind” is a thing. Thank God for the XFL talk, or else I don’t know where the CFL would be in the headlines. Likely not talked about at all, which is unthinkable for a PRO LEAGUE!
4 – THE NEXT CFL: Is the CFL about to experience a makeover or is it going to stubbornly drag its business practices into whatever the post-pandemic version of the league looks like? Only the suits know the answer to that, but the fans and media can’t seem to agree on what’s best. However if there is indeed a CFL/XFL merger on the horizon, I still feel a ratio for Canadian teams but not American teams would work. USA teams in the 1990s sported a collective record of 86-93-1, so they hardly ran away with it. In fact here are the all-time records from the CFL’s American expansion era – Sacramento Gold Miners (15-20-1), Baltimore Stallions (27-9), Shreveport Pirates (8-28), Las Vegas Posse (5-13), San Antonio Texas (12-6), Birmingham Barracudes (10-8), Memphis Mad Dogs (9-9). Let’s remember that era provided us with future Hall of Famers Anthony Calvillo and Eddie Davis.
Also over the past five weeks – since Ambrosie’s CFL/XFL announcement – we’ve gotten acquainted with hundreds of American football fans who identify themselves as CFL fans beginning in that 1990s era, plus XFL fans who are looking for their next iteration.
Growth.
5 – RATTLE THE RIM: Kudos to the Canadian Elite Basketball League for finding a way to play last summer, in the form of the Summer Series at the Meridian Centre in St. Catherines, ON. The games were broadcast on CBC and the CBC Gem app and drew big viewership. (We all wanted to watch something and the CEBL fit the bill!) Well the CEBL is bullish on playing again in 2021 – their third season – only this time they’re intent on playing in their own arenas.
This past week the CEBL held its Draft and with the #1 overall pick, the Saskatchewan Rattlers chose 6’3″ guard Nervens Demosthenes out of Bishop’s University. With their other picks, the Rattlers chose Huskie products Alexander Dewar and Tyrees Potoma. In fact there were six Canada West talents chosen and aside from those two Sask picks, the others were Brandon’s Anthony Tsegakele (6th overall/Fraser Valley Bandits), Alberta’s Adam Paige (9th overall/Fraser Valley Bandits), UBC’s Grant Audu (20th overall/Fraser Valley Bandits) and Lethbridge’s Colton Gibb (21st overall/Edmonton Stingers) were all selected.
The Rattlers open their season Monday, June 7 at home against the reigning champion Edmonton Stingers at SaskTel Centre.
6 – CPL TO SASKATOON: You might want to familiarize yourself with the name Alan Simpson. He’s the Saskatchewan-based multimillionaire whose Living Sky Sports Corp is the money-backer of the expansion Canadian Premier League soccer franchise for Saskatoon (and the new soccer stadium at PrairieLand Park) plus the new baseball stadium proposed for Downtown Regina, home of the WCBL’s Red Sox. A simple Google search will bring up tons of interviews with Simpson where he professes his love for this province, the need he recognized for quality sports venues for our youth, and teams and leagues for them to strive towards playing professionally. If I’ve met Alan Simpson, I don’t recall. He seems very much like an under-the-radar guy.
Until now.
To be honest, I can’t believe the groundswell of support behind soccer in this province however it shouldn’t be a surprise. They’ve been working hard at growing the game here over the past generation. Now their time has arrived. What do I need to know?
7 – HAIL MARLEAU: Hockey Night In Canada should be applauded for its wall-to-wall coverage of Patrick Marleau’s historic 1,767th career NHL game Saturday night, tying him with Gordon Howe for #1 all-time. The Minnesota Wild ruined the party however, scoring three times in a 1:18 span to beat Marleau’s San Jose Sharks 5-2. The Aneroid, SK product will break the NHL record for games played Monday when the Sharks visit the Vegas Golden Knights. How bout that? Unfortunately the Aneroid-arm of the Marleau clan won’t be in attendance at T-Mobile Arena due to Covid.
It’s a very proud thing for us to say the top two games-played leaders in NHL history hail from Saskatchewan. It’s also a treat to have called Marleau’s games as a Seattle Thunderbird (versus Regina) and to have been at Pittsburgh’s Civic Centre in 1997 when he was chosen #2 overall in the NHL Entry Draft. We’re very proud of you Patty!
8 – BIRTHDAY HATTY: Scoring a hattrick in the NHL on your birthday is a rare feat. Shoot, scoring a hattrick in the NHL is rare enough. However Pavel Buchnevich of the New York Rangers – who turned 26 on Saturday – scored thrice in a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils to stay in the playoff chase with their third win in a row. Other NHLers to score a hattrick on their birthday include Wayne Gretzky, Dino Ciccarelli, Pavol Demitra, Viktor Arvidsson and Patrick Sharp.
9 – RANDOMS #1: Why can’t the Queen retire? … The Weyburn Red Wings are looking for a radio broadcaster after Nick Nielsen accepted a position in Kindersley as morning show host and Voice of the Klippers. Congrats Nick! My God, I’d have cut my arm off for that job as a teen growing up in Southeastern Saskatchewan. I might throw my name in now! … Couldn’t they have found blue goalie gear for David Rittich in his Maple Leafs debut this week? There’s a SportChek ACROSS THE STREET from Scotiabank Centre. The Toronto goalie looked Junior B wearing red-trimmed pads and gloves. … No offense intended to our friends in Junior B, but you know what I mean. … I’ve noticed they repeat a lot of programming on the Fox Sports Racing channel. But I still watch it! NHRA races in Vegas this weekend looked amazing. … Last week I asked whom you think I’ll vote for between potential U.S. Presidential candidates The Rock and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. For those who chose the former rodeo queen, you’d be correct.
10 – RANDOMS #2: Marshawn Lynch is hosting his own YouTube show. That’s rich! This from the guy who wouldn’t respond to reporters’ questions at Super Bowl Week. “I’m just here so I won’t get fined.” … Newsflash: Not everyone who wears a cowboy hat is a cowboy and not everyone who hosts a podcast is a broadcaster. Some of us have dedicated our lives to the craft. … Join us Monday morning for Verge Agriculture’s weekly podcast. I’ll be joining the Calgary outfit here for a chat on Farming/Ag and Mental Health/Stress Management. What a great partnership it’s been with Verge Agro and The RP Show. … For those wondering how the newly-signed NHL On ESPN deal will benefit the league, The Worldwide Leader In Sports is now showing hockey highlights on Sportscenter and discussing the NHL on its morning shows. (Albeit not much, but some is better than ignoring it altogether). If sports people only knew how important media coverage is. … How do the golf announcers know which club the players are using? … Feels great to be 50% vaccinated! Hope that second shot comes soon.
Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen
#4 – I really believe that 4 down/NFL Lite will kill both CFL and XFL. Americans will watch high quality Football that is recognizable but different from the NFL/NCAA. We should embrace our quirkeyness and give the Yanks more credit to being open minded. #6 – CPL – I started playing soccer when I was out on the West Coast in my late 40’s and the guys I played with explained the off-side rule to me. Its not that hard to understand and its a ton of fun to play. I see a team in Regina playing in Mosaic and… Read more »
Don, I’ve always been a Royal watcher/fan, but what really brought it home for me was when I binge watched The Crown on Netflix. It gives an entire new appreciation for what they endure. Shakespeare was right – “Heavy is the head that wears the Crown” People can criticize them all they want. The Royals become educated and they all do military service. Over here we get the Kardasians and Justin Trudeau. Prince Philip is one of the most intriguing characters on The Crown and the Queen is just a class act in all matters. The kids did not have… Read more »
On this side of the globe we have a tendency to criticize soccer but it is the most watched sport in the world I believe. The players are on the field for the full 90 minutes. It has been estimated that in football, a player may play around 14 minutes. Think of the 40 second clock in the NFL, routinely run down to the end, 3 separate units, time outs etc. A play lasts seconds. Soccer is a game of finesse & skill, no less so than football or baseball. Like any sport you have to grow into it. Low… Read more »
There’s more than one way to look at stats. In 1994 the CFL clubs had the core of their rosters. The American clubs, in every way from ownership on down, were learning on the fly. One year later the Canadian teams had a 66-78 record, the Americans a 51-39 record – the difference being 12 more wins for Americans over the Canadian division. It was openly stated that the American teams benefitted by playing, for example, 5 Americans on OL. You need only look at how many Nationals have started @ Tackle over the years. It was a huge upset… Read more »
You make a good point. The XFL used NFL/CFL hybrid rules, and the biggest of which was the 25 second play clock. When I looked at the coaching rosters in the XFL I immediately said the advantage will go to June Jones in Houston and Marc Trestman/Jamie Elizondo in Tampa. Tampa also had Jerry Glanville calling the Defense. Those two teams moved faster on Offense, and then Tampa’s Defense called Blitz on every play. The QBs could not adjust. Don Mathews in Baltimore his team never skipped a beat as it was all CFL guys coaching high end Americans. The… Read more »
I would say not every broadcaster is a podcaster…broadcasters started podcasting when their industry hit hard times. 🙂
Wrong. That is completely wrong they are completely different industries relying on a similar unique skill set. With broadcasting they need a style, but you go by what the head office says, and speak exactly how it is to be said, and you better not deviate off script. It is pablum formula garbage and that is why advertising rates are down and local broadcasters are either downsized or “retiring”. Local/Regina Terrestrial radio has been unbearable to listen to because people now have options versus what is rammed down their throat. Broadcasting = John Gormley or Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon. If… Read more »
You’re actually 100% vaccinated against dying and other severe outcomes. Good work! But still a good feeling to know that, at worst, you’re dealing with a cold now should you get it. No trip to the ICU for you. Unfortunately, you can still spread it around (although not as easily as before) so masks, etc still needed until there are more of us like you. But I understand your view, just not the wonky math 😉 Looking forward to joining you!