10 WEEKEND THINGS

TAKING SHOTS:

1 – SASKATCHEWAN SUMMER: A year ago I distinctly recall thinking, “If we could only fast forward a year”. Well, here we are and not a ton has changed (although I do have ONE Covid vaccination shot since then). Other that that, not much has changed. The CFL is hanging by a thread, the WCBL around here has been shutdown for another season, and questions linger about the junior hockey season next Fall. It’s also the driest spring in decades, which has the farmers anxious. At least restaurants are opening up, the golf courses are open and it’s boating season! Take some time to count your blessings. It helps a great deal!

2 – WHAT A TRIP!: If Saturday’s opening night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was a precursor to what’s ahead, sign me up! Nic Dowd deflected in T.J. Oshie’s shot 4:41 into overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series. It was a war. The Capitals lost starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek to a lower-body injury early on, and backup Craig Anderson made 21 saves. Jake DeBrusk and Nick Ritchie scored for Boston while Tuukka Rask stopped 29 shots. There are three playoff games Sunday beginning at 10:00 am MT and running through 9:00 pm. This … is a godsend.

3 – PREDICTIONS: Here are the match-ups, and here are my predictions – SCOTIA NORTH: Winnipeg/Edmonton (Oilers in 6), Montreal/Toronto (Leafs in 5), HONDA WEST: Minnesota/Vegas (Golden Knights in 7), St. Louis/Colorado (Avalanche in 6), MASSMUTUAL EAST: Boston/Washington (Capitals in 6), Islanders/Penguins (Isles in 7), DISCOVER CENTRAL: Tampa Bay/Florida (Lightning in 7), Nashville/Carolina (Hurricanes in 5).

*We’d love you to enter our Rod Pedersen Show NHL Playoff Pool. The deadline is 9:00 pm Sunday night! It’s free to enter –> RodPedersenShow Playoff Pool

4 – NHL NOTES: RP Show NHL Insider (and Arizona luxury real estate agent) Eddie Lack predicted on Thursday’s show that Rick Tocchet will be the next coach of the NHL’s expansion Seattle Kracken. My NHL sources tell me it was indeed a mutual split with Tocchet and the Arizona Coyotes and that he’d truly “had enough”. … Less than a week shy of his 40th birthday, Craig Anderson collected the win in goal for Washington Saturday night making him the oldest goaltender in Caps history to win a playoff game. Mike Liut held the record at age 34. … Game 1 OT hero Nic Dowd is one of three Alabama-born players in NHL history. The others are Aud Tuten and Jared Ross. Betcha didn’t know that! I didn’t.

5 – CFL: On the heels of a pretty entertaining CFL Draft on May 4, this turned out to be not a good week for the CFL. Both the Ontario and B.C. governments refuted a TSN report that all six provinces with CFL teams had approved the League’s Return To Play proposals. Not so. I openly questioned on air why anyone would think they had if you even casually follow the news? This has turned a lot of people off and caused another wave of longtime CFL people to jump ship. That’s about all I can say. Hope to see them on August 5.

If they truly have “back-up plans for back-up plans” as Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has stated, it would be nice to know what they are. Otherwise things look grim.

6 – FILLING MOSAIC STADIUM: Premier Scott Moe – who’s done the best job of any premier in Canada amid this crisis – made headlines on Friday predicting Mosaic Stadium will be full by the end of the summer. That drew a large Hip Hip Hooray from the Rider Nation but my cousin Greg – who’s got rural smarts (the best kind) – offered this up on Twitter on Saturday: @stoneviewfarms: “I think the chance of the CFL playing is low. @PremierScottMoe is talking about Mosaic being full by the end of summer. I want the Huskies and Rams on Labour Day with the place packed. @rodpedersen @JohnGormleyShow”

*Greg’s right. Scott didn’t say anything about the stadium being full for Rider games.

7 – THE BUZZ: I suppose you’d have to know the personalities well enough to be able to read between the lines in their interviews, but you can see some coaches and GMs in the CFL are extremely frustrated that the League couldn’t find a way to play after 15 months of fact-finding and budgeting (i.e. a bubble or hub). The fact that some teams have boasted they still have plenty of cash left, or have secured private financing elsewhere, but still elected not to play would have to be pretty demoralizing for current staff and players.

It’s pretty fascinating to go back and forth on this, a la the NLL entirely shutting down because they’re even MORE dependent on ticket revenue, but theirs is not an apples to apples comparison to the CFL.

8 – JOHN CHICK: I’ve seen a handful of people mildly stick up for Roughriders great John Chick regarding his anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown stance over the past year. As a staunch, staunch Catholic, John has strong thoughts on the way Covid has been handled and while I don’t agree with them all, I respect his right to an opinion. However the things that’ve been said to, and about, Chick are far more disgraceful than anything he’s said. I’ve even seen a stomach-turning campaign to have the defensive end excluded from the Plaza of Honour (a Hall of Fame in which John assuredly deserves to be in). Here’s what you need to know about John Chick: he’s a man of incredibly high character and values and will not bend them for ANYONE. He’s never professed to be anything other than what he is and gave his heart and soul to the Saskatchewan Roughriders as well as the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars. If you don’t agree with him, John will be fine. If the Riders succumb to pressure and don’t induct John, he’ll still be fine. Nothing surprises me anymore. They caved to complaints about Gainer The Gopher’s stuffed tiger so what would they do with this? Either way John Chick is not what John Lynch calls a “P.B.C.” (Phony Baloney Christian).

9 – NETFLIX: You can only go golfing, boating, and for walks around the neighbourhood so much. Here’s a list of Netflix shows we’ve dove into over the past several weeks – Good Girls, Sons of Sam, Grace & Frankie, Baker & The Beauty, The Innocent (which I wouldn’t recommend), Superstore, Halston and Kominsky Method. We are eagerly awaiting the next seasons of Yellowstone, Animal Kingdom and Virgin River.

10 – RANDOMS TO END: Happy birthday Khari Jones! … In Maritime Football League play on Saturday night the Moncton Mustangs downed the St. John Wanderers 19-6. 57-year old Darin Burns played one snap before being pulled by the training staff. He expects to play next week. … The Canadian Premier League – the pro soccer league in which Saskatoon has been granted a franchise – has announced plans for a bubble season beginning in late June. …. The OHL released its schedule for next Fall but I wouldn’t expect one for the WHL anytime soon. There are tons of rumours out there about how the pandemic will continue to affect the local junior hockey season but it’s not prudent to discuss them here or now. … Like you needed another reason to follow the CEBL’s Saskatchewan Rattlers pro basketball franchise but on Friday they announced they’re bringing back veteran Kai Williams, a Regina basketball legend. … The most entertaining battle to watch this summer will be the one between Josh Donnelly and Sawyer Buettner to be the starting quarterback for the UofR Rams. … One of the greatest parts of the pandemic has been reconnecting with old hockey friends from the past quarter century and supporting each other, or just catching up. The addition of Connor Bedard has really brought the alumni together and it’s fun to predict what’s in store for the player John Frenzy said could be the greatest player to ever suit up for the franchise. What a shame it would be to not be able to fill the Brandt Centre to watch him!

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen