10 WEEKEND THINGS

BREAKING IT DOWN …

1 – DUB HUB: Just over two weeks into Western Hockey League East Division Hub Centre play in Regina, the action has been an obscene amount of fun! Having seen all seven teams live now, my rankings have changed a tad. They are: 1) Saskatoon, 2) Brandon, 3) Winnipeg, 4) Prince Albert, 5) Moose Jaw, 6) Regina, 7) Swift Current. Individually, Winnipeg ICE star forward Peyton Krebs (a 1st round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights) leads all skaters with 14 points, followed closely by Exceptional Player Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats with 13. As far as goalies go, here are the leaders: GAA – Gage Alexander/Winnipeg (2.33), SAV – Reid Dyck/Swift Current (.917), WINS – Nolan Maier/Saskatoon (5).

2 – PLAYOFFS: There’s a buzz in and around the arena of the potential of some sort of WHL Playoffs. Of course Commissioner Ron Robison was non-committal at the outset of this venture because he simply wanted the teams to remain Covid-free and get the 24-game schedule in. However, touch wood, there’s been no positive tests and things appear to have run very smoothly. (Kudos to all involved for that!). From what I hear, playoffs are on the table but nothing’s been decided. It’ll depend on the pandemic situation at the end of April, will the teams want to stay inside the Hub for even longer? (The indication is that they will), and who’s going to pick up the tab? Fingers crossed.

3 – THE RAT: The Regina Pats are 2-4-2 and languishing sixth out of seven teams. I feel they’re better than their record indicates but as John Lynch blares, “YOUR RECORD IS WHAT YOU ARE!” They’re tinkering with things, particularly in goal, but if they had some consistency between the pipes Regina would be middle-of-the-pack or better. It’s a good year not to be contending because if you’re the 7-0-1 Saskatoon Blades, it really stinks to not have the opportunity for a Memorial Cup run. Multiple times I’ve been asked if the Pats will be a contender during Connor Bedard’s time here so I put it to our analyst Dale “The Rat” Derkatch. He maintains the Pats are the second-youngest team in the Dub Hub right now and Bedard will likely only be around for two seasons after this. They’ll be older and better by Bedard’s draft year, but Dale thinks GM John Paddock will have to make some moves to augment his lineup. The good news is, as we’ve seen over Paddock’s time here going back to 2015, he’s not afraid to pull on the trigger! So YES, the Pats will be in the running for the Memorial Cup in two years time. (For the record, Derkatch also feels ALL seven teams in the Hub should be eligible for a playoff. I do not.)

4 – CONNOR BEDARD: The Wonder Boy carries an 8-game point streak into Monday’s clash with the Swift Current Broncos (8:00 pm, AccessNow TV, 620 CKRM). The 15-year old from North Vancouver has 6-7-13 in eight games played with the Regina Pats. It stinks that fans aren’t allowed in the Brandt Centre but it’s a godsend that AccessNow has been able to televise all the games. Peoples’ eyes light up when discussing what they see in Bedard, and now I see why Connor couldn’t compare himself to a current NHL’er in our interview last summer; THERE ISN’T ANOTHER ONE LIKE HIM! He’s shifty, strong, a hockey clairvoyant if you will, and pretty tough too. His skills and maturity are unmatched for someone his age.

5 – THE HUB CENTRE: There’s thousands of hockey fans around here and they all want to know what it’s like in the Brandt Centre Hub. First of all, it’s an extraordinary privilege to be allowed inside so I’m incredibly thankful to be calling the TV games. Secondly, it’s not too fancy. Us broadcasters enter through a northeast door, check-in an hour before game time, and go immediately up to the press box. Bring your own drinks and printed game notes (provided hours in advance via email). Players, officials and staff enter on the south side and no one outside the bubble is allowed on the south side of the arena. Scouts and media enter through the box office and watch the games from the east stands. Other than that, it’s like any other hockey tournament.

6 – THE ROCK: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took five minutes off from the bench press and squats to check his Twitter mentions Saturday night. He clarified his comments on the CFL/XFL collaboration by Tweeting, “We’ll figure out a smart season that’ll create phenomenal opportunities for players and be the best experience for fans. I played ball for years and wrestled 280+ nights a year (for years) so I know the value in smart scheduling and recovery. ” For obvious reasons this got everyone spinning on an otherwise quiet Saturday night in the football world, and has everyone trying to decipher what he means. Fun!

7 – BALDY: NFL alum and NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger was on The RP Show on Friday courtesy of a hook-up through mutual friend Jeff Reinebold. (Call it the Good Guy Network). Baldinger’s familiar with the CFL as he had a fling with the Ottawa Rough Riders in the 1980s and obviously has several friends who’ve played and coached up here. The former offensive lineman is like a growing number of football people who don’t care how the CFL/XFL situation unfolds as long as both starving leagues don’t die, and pro football in North America is preserved.

“We need a feeder league to the NFL,” Baldinger surmised. “We need a place for players – because of the restrictions in college and the NFL now for practice and all that kind of stuff that’s out there, player safety – players need a chance to go prove themselves. Look, I did a series of TV shows last week with Kurt Warner. Kurt Warner wouldn’t have made the NFL, or the Hall of Fame, if it wasn’t for NFL Europe and the Arena League. I mean that’s just one example. I could give you a hundred.

“But we need a minor football league, if you want to call it that, a feeder league, to the NFL. If it’s in Canada, that’d be great. I’d be all for it. Play in cities that would support it, north of our border. If it’s in Europe, wherever it is, I’m a fan of another league where players can get an opportunity to go play. We can do all this stuff we’re doing now, testing and pro days, but if you can’t get on the field and play, the only way to get better at playing right guard is to play right guard. A lotta kids don’t get that opportunity.”

8 – COLLABORATION: The furor this CFL/XFL concept has created is head-spinning. Bravo Randy Ambrosie, bravo. However to quote my Mom, it won’t amount to a hill of beans if the CFL can’t get onto the field this year or the league be saved. We are 45-50 days away from 2021 CFL training camps opening but there has still been no guarantee of a season. The league is still in need of a cash injection and while some business people have told me the teams could still get it in the form of a government handout, an advance from TSN, or The Rock himself, time is ticking. Fast.

As long as CFL people think they’re in some sort of competition with the NFL, then this is all doomed to fail. The war was lost long ago. It’s time to admit it and surrender (i.e. if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em). It’s not about the quality of football or excitement of the game. Everyone knows the CFL is a better product. But a $10-billion per year TV deal and the NFL’s global brand is squashing everything else in sports, including the CFL. NFL Canada has come in and mowed the CFL’s lawn while no one was paying attention. To steal a line from Jerry McGuire, they “shoplifted the pooty.”

The NFL took over in terms of marketing, technology (betting, apps, etc.) in Canada.

In the CFL’s case in 2020/21, you can’t learn to swim when you’re drowning. Noah didn’t build the ark when it was raining.

Or … keep banging your head against the wall and see how it turns out with a shrinking business and dying brand (see: Blockbuster). It’s a free country.

9 – A CANADIAN CFL: God bless Rob Vanstone’s pea-picking heart, and Jim Hopson’s as well, for supporting the notion that the CFL should revert back to the old days where rosters are almost entirely made of Canadian players with only six or so American players. It’s a romantic idea. However for that to happen, the CFL would have to fold and take the current Collective Bargaining Agreement down with it. American players would obviously not vote in favour of this. Secondly, could you sell it? In the 1950s and 1960s, the NFL wasn’t even a threat let alone competition. In this country at that time, the CFL was held in the same regard as the NHL and higher than the NFL. (Ask anyone who was alive back then). This is a far different world now and a USPORTS, CJFL All Star/Alumni pro league would be a gigantic challenge in terms of “perception”.

10 – BLAME THE MEDIA: A lot would have to change in a hurry for this Canadian CFL to be viable. Football-wise, it wouldn’t take much at all. There’s enough players. But watch TSN’s Sportscentre tonight and Sportsnet’s Connected. The highlights will be filled with NHL, NBA, March Madness, PGA and soccer. They used to run CHL & AHL scores along their ticker. Not anymore. Canadian leagues like the NLL and CEBL have openly begged TSN to cover their games or at least show an incredible highlight or two but they are routinely ignored. The TV networks have had a HUGE role in the Canadian sports fan conscience that if you’re not NFL, NHL, NBA or MLB, you’re second-rate. Shame on them. Mid-level media has followed suit, and cut their coverage of those other leagues favouring coverage of the Big 4 in an effort to look “big time”. We’re not afraid to cover the CFL, CEBL, NLL, CHL, CJHL etc. at the RP Show because we truly love those leagues and there’s proven to be a huge appetite for the talk. You’re being brainwashed and you don’t even know it.

*BONUS – RANDOM THOUGHTS: 2.78-million Twitter impressions in the month of March from the account @rodpedersen — an all-time high. People like what we’re selling. … The NHL’s denial of the existence of “makeup calls” and “game management” this week and subsequent firing of veteran referee Tim Peel “to preserve the integrity of the game” is another indication of what’s wrong with sports right now. What’s going on is wrong, so don’t be fooled. I’m disappointed in the NHL with their stance on this. … If it takes you more than 10 minutes of Episode 1 of Yellowstone to “get into it”, don’t even bother watching more. Same goes for The Ranch. By the way those things do happen everyday in Saskatchewan. … We renewed our farm land rental agreement this week in a shop on a farm near Milestone, SK. The farmer said, “A handshake will do it”. That. is. Saskatchewan. However a contract promptly appeared. … Do we really need singers’ opinions on the games off the top of Hockey Night In Canada? I thought we realized with Strombo that this kind of stuff doesn’t work. … More young reporters have asked on Zoom mentor meetings what it takes to have longevity in the sports media business. The answer hasn’t changed: versatility, motivation, consistency and the willingness to work cheap. … I’d rather have a motivated, tenacious woman working for us than an entitled, aloof man. At DUBNetwork.ca we have Lizz Child covering the Portland Winterhawks and the Seattle Thunderbirds and she’s a 24-hour grinder. When she leaves for bigger things, we’ll wish her well and thank her for her efforts. Not try to hold her back. Meanwhile we’ve just added writer/reporter Rachel Bishop as an RP Show intern from Centennial College in Toronto. She’s in the mold of Lizz. As I wrote a few weeks back, I have no problem with the diversity movement. There are lots of young women who want to get into sports media and if they know their stuff, have at it! … Congratulations to Moose Jaw Warriors broadcaster James Gallo on his 1,000th game this week. It’s a wonderful league and a wonderful life. It was classy of Rob Carnie to go out of his way to acknowledge it the way he did too. … Junior hockey players who have protected Tweets are S-M-A-R-T. They can be on Twitter, but avoid the haters. … CBC Dragon and Oil & Gas baron Brett Wilson has the best take on haters. “Oh I love them,” Wilson told me at a fundraiser in Estevan. “Without the haters, how would we know we’re being heard? I’d be far more worried if no one reacted to what I say.”

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen

(Photo: Keith Hershmiller Photography)