10 WEEKEND THINGS

TRUTH & RUMOURS …

1 – FEEL THE BURNS: In a soggy, rain-soaked affair in Moncton, NB on Saturday, the hometown Mustangs whitewashed the Fredericton Fleet 24-0 in Week 1 of Maritime Football League play. Of course the big story was 57-year old former CFL’er Darin Burns who suited up for the Mustangs, believed to me the first person in Canadian history to play organized football in six different decades. Burns played 20 snaps on Saturday, notched 2.5 tackles, and left the game at halftime with a hamstring injury. However this was no one-game stunt. Burns intends to play the full season and told the RP Show on Friday that he hopes to play in the All Star Game. However as we know, you can’t make the club in the tub! We’ll be following all season and the games are streamed in pretty good quality on Facebook Live. The calibre of play got the thumbs-up from John Frenzy, as we watched from his palatial South Regina estate.

2 – NEXT STOP TORONTO?: Burns has made no secret in interviews regarding his comeback bid that he’d like to earn a tryout with his favourite childhood team, the Toronto Argonauts. However there are plenty of hurdles and barriers to that, most notably having the Argos comply! I’ve been surprised by a few things regarding this Burns story: 1) The criticism from some CFL alumni regarding his comeback, and 2) The lack of media attention surrounding the story, given the lack of much else to discuss in Canadian sports these days. But then again, I suppose those things don’t surprise me at all.

3 – UPS AND DOWNS: A Yahoo News story I read this weekend said Canadians would be able to ditch our masks and gather in large crowds once herd immunity to The Virus is achieved in this country. However another story I read late in the week quoted an expert who said herd immunity will never be reached in Canada. A doctor even agreed with this on this week’s In Real Time With Costa Maragos program. The experts can’t agree, the politicians are beholden to them, and most of this country remains on the sidelines until the leaders figure it out. And you wonder why so many people are upset?

4 – RMF RISES UP: This week’s CFL Draft featured four Regina Minor Football alumni being chosen – Nick Cross (Hamilton), Robbie Lowes (Winnipeg), Kyle Borsa (Winnipeg) & Josh Hagerty (Toronto). The next crop of Regina-produced football stars is still in limbo thanks to the pandemic. The spring schedule has been postponed till mid-June however the league fully expects to be kicking off their fall schedule in September. (Health restrictions pending).

5 – FEEL A DRAFT: 3DownNation broke the unflattering news that TV ratings were down 20% for Tuesday’s CFL Draft on TSN. Obviously that should come as no surprise since the league hasn’t played a game since 2019 and despite objections, “out of sight, out of mind” is an actual thing. And while we all watched the Draft and know the players listed in Point 4 – plus the eight UofS Huskies drafted over the past two years which is a number not seen since the 1970s – we need to consider that the vast, vast majority of Canadians have no idea who the Canadian collegiate players are. So why would they tune in for a draft that was barely promoted on TSN? The ratings should surprise no one, and should either spur Canadian football people into action OR make them realize this is a losing battle. Which is it?

6 – STRUCH BOMBS 1: Regina Pats head coach Dave Struch joined our RP Show weekend edition on AccessNow TV to recap the club’s showing in the 24-game Hub Centre in Regina. “It was great!” the Flin Flon product smiled. “The hockey side was great. The way it was put together by the Western Hockey League, it really worked. It was very successful. When we were away from the hockey, that was the difficult side. Because of our families. I got three young kids, my wife Andrea, those are the things that became real difficult when we were stuck in our rooms. But the safety net, the release, was when we got together with our players.”

Struch noted that the players expressed daily how grateful they were that the league was able to find a way to play. For the draft eligibles, the graduating overages, for marketing purposes, you name it, this was a WIN! Can you imagine being robbed of witnessing Connor Bedard’s Exceptional Season?? Speaking of …

7 – STRUCH BOMBS 2: Struch said these days he spends the majority of his time answering questions about 15-year old phenom Connor Bedard who helped lead Canada to a gold medal at this week’s World Under-18 championships in Texas. But the coach doesn’t mind answering the questions. “There is a lot of it but it’s easy to speak about him because people don’t see all the things he does,” Struck explained. “We all watch him play hockey and he’s got natural instincts, high Hockey IQ and natural talent. But we see the stuff he does away from the game that nobody else sees. The way he practices, the way he warms up, cools down, and the maturity in how he carries himself. The atmosphere of energy around our group that flows from that, nobody sees. The way he prepares is already at a pro level. By the time he gets to the rink and they drop the puck, he’s already prepared. The game is just a bonus.”

You can watch the full interview on YouTube or tune into The RP Show at noon Sunday on AccessNow TV province-wide. We’ll also be joined by UofR Rams head coach Mark McConkey and John Frenzy for a CFL Draft review and look ahead to the Canada West season.

8 – NHL LEFTOVERS: Who’da thought Patrik Laine would outlast John Tortorella in Columbus?? … The Edmonton Oilers are a freight train at the moment and the Winnipeg Jets have lost their confidence. This could be a short series. … Connor McDavid reaching 100 points in a 56-game season seemed unthinkable in December. Now he’s hit it with three games to go. The question for me now is — are the Oilers more than a one man band? Or two? … Tipp can’t start Mikko Koskinen in the playoffs. … It’s been a tremendous season for Saskatchewan-raised NHL’ers including Ethan Bear (Edmonton), Tanner Jeannot (Nashville), Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim), Brayden McNabb (Vegas), Chandler Stephenson (Vegas) and many more and the best games are still to come in the Stanley Cup Playoffs! … Getzlaf passed 1,100 games played with the Anaheim Ducks franchise this week. … Golden Knights netminder Marc-Andre Fleury has worked his way into the Top 3 in career wins in the NHL. The top four goalies in NHL history (in wins) are all from Quebec – Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Fleury and Roberto Luongo. … The two games-played leaders are from Saskatchewan; Patrick Marleau and Gordie Howe. Patty has said he wants to return for a full season in 2021-22. We’ll see!

9 – MENTORS: Encouraging words are very important, especially in a world that doesn’t stop criticizing. I received some very impactful comments from two people in the sports & media world this week. They both mentioned that my 30-plus year career has been marked by accuracy, integrity and a solid reputation, and to keep going because this new road is a fascinating venture to witness. When you hear things like this, it makes you want to run through a brick wall! Thank you very much for the encouragement guys. It will not be lost on me.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: The Jays Care Foundation has awarded the Town of Moosomin, SK a Field of Dreams grant of $15,000! Jays Care, the charitable arm of the Toronto Blue Jays, uses baseball as a tool to teach life skills and create lasting social change for over 35,000 children and youth across Canada. Way to go Moosomin! … Everything happens for a reason. This week the SJHL’s La Ronge Ice Wolves hired Braden Malsbury as their Communications & Broadcasting Director. This comes months after the local radio station let Braden go amid the pandemic. He’s one happy fella. … Tune in live Sunday night at 8:00 pm ET for Brady Leavold’s Hockey 2 Hell And Back Podcast. Brady’s a former Kelowna Rocket, Swift Current Bronco and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect. The two of us will discuss our Recovery road and ironically, I’LL be the guest! You can find the podcast on Facebook. … Who cares if Donald Trump remains banned from social media? That tells me more about the social media platforms than it does about Trump. You realize there are far, far worse people on Twitter & Facebook than The Donald, right? … I’m looking forward to watching The Shift on TSN with host Kayla Grey this week. She’s talented, has paid her dues in the business, and has opinions. This should be good. … Kudos to Global Edmonton’s Quinn Phillips – formerly of CKOS-TV Yorkton – for winning Canada West’s Reporter of the Year award for her work covering U of Alberta sports. … Time to hit the tee at Deer Valley Golf & Estates again! I’m starting to realize there’s a link between being a good golfer and being stress-free. Who knew?? … Happy Mother’s Day!

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen

(Photo: Jason Bowie Photography)