10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking shots …

1 – ICE & TURF: The world seems to be going googoo-gaga – at least North America anyway – about World Cup Soccer and March Madness NCAA basketball. But not here at RP.com world headquarters. (We’ll get into those sports further down). This website remains focused on our two main sports: hockey & football, and there’s plenty interesting things going on there. That’s to take nothing away from those other sports, but here we are what we are, and aren’t changing now.

2 – COMEBACK CATS: That’s the nickname earned by this year’s Florida Panthers, who on Saturday became the first NHL team this year to rally from four goals down in the third period to come back and win. It’s only happened 19 other times in NHL history. The Panthers also come back from three goal third period deficits on – I believe – three other occasions this season. This is a very special team and as you and they know, we’ve been covering the Panthers beat since Day 1 of the preseason. A notoriously close dressing room seems to have overcome the departures of head coach Joel Quenneville and forwards Owen Tippett and Frank Vatrano (trade deadline deals) to remain one of the strongest in the NHL. They’ve set a franchise record for home wins too. This SHOULD be their year.

3 – SOUTH FLORIDA: From what I’ve been able to discern, Florida hockey fans are no different than Arizona, or CFL fans in places like B.C. or Montreal. Give them a winner, and they’ll fill the barn. Unfortunately, like Arizona, South Florida has largely been an NHL wasteland since the 1990s and the market has gotten a bad rap for fan apathy. However now that the Panthers are among the NHL’s elite, the whole region has picked up and taken notice. They’re outdrawing Canadian NHL franchises on most nights. Why should fans buy tickets to support crappy teams? Especially with how expensive tickets are these days. (It should be noted that tickets for Tuesday’s Panthers/Maple Leafs game can be had for as low as $29! I’m taking an RP Show sponsor to the game, however with tickets for more expensive than that)  🙂

Florida hockey fans have long been starved for content/coverage. They’ve been tuning into Spittin’ Chiclets and Steve Dangle for the past few years, but now love the RP Show too.

(Incidentally, depending on the day, 60-80% of our audience still comes from Regina & area. Thank you for sticking with me!)

4 – TRIVIA TIME: This is an outstanding question: With Rod Brind’Amour poised to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to 100 points this season, he’ll become the third active individual to lead the same team to 100 points as both a player and coach! Who are the other two? (Answer at the bottom of the column)

5 – FLY THE COOP: Speaking of Notre Dame Hounds grads, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper coached in his 700th NHL game this week; a 5-2 home victory over Chicago. It’s impressive that Jon’s 700 games have all been with one franchise. He graduated Notre Dame College in the same 1986 class as Danny Hicke and my brother.

6 – MORE NHL NOTES: Marc-Andre Fleury is 3-0 since joining the Minnesota Wild. You heard it here first: the Vegas Golden Knights erred by trading the Flower away after his gaffe in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals last year. Change my mind. … Following a 6-4 home loss to St. Louis on Saturday, the Calgary Flames have now lost three in a row for the first time since mid-January, when they lost four in a row. That game was a playoff preview and as Flames radio analyst Pete Loubardias told the RP Show this week, the Blues are “a concern”. … The Edmonton Oilers have won a franchise record nine straight home games. If they can figure out at a way not to have to play road games in the playoffs, they will win their sixth Stanley Cup. … The L.A. Kings are the NHL’s second-youngest team. Carolina is the youngest! Chicago is the oldest. …

7 – MR. HOCKEY: Thursday would’ve been Gordie Howe’s 94th birthday. His son Murray marked the occasion on Facebook. I saw few other acknowledgements elsewhere. … The Mount Rushmore for the NHL consists of Gordon Howe, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and some other guy. Perhaps Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux or Scotty Bowman.

8 – JR PLAYOFF NOTES: The SJHL semifinals could be short. Flin Flon is up 2-0 on Humboldt and Estevan is up 2-0 on Yorkton. If you hear anybody say this spring, “You’re never in trouble until you lose at home,” kick that person in the shins. The Broncos and Terriers are in a lot of trouble. Humboldt lost theirs at home so they’re really in deep. … The Regina Pats are six points out of a playoff spot with six games to go however they were outscored 13-1 this weekend in a pair of losses. My Alberta hockey peeps were confident the Pats would make the playoffs however I was not, and it’s playing out that way. Now rumours are swirling Connor Bedard may not be a part of the team next year. JUST RUMOURS, but my gosh rumours are fun. … There looks to be some tremendous playoff hockey on tap this spring in Western Canada and I’m excited to be back for it! Don’t forget the RP Show will be broadcasting live all week from the Centennial Cup in Estevan May 20-29, with our coverage presented in part by Days Inn, Willy’s Taphouse & Tower Pizza. #TowerPizzaIsKing.

9 – RUSH HOUR: Calling it the toughest decision he’s made in over 30 years in the game, Saskatchewan Rush GM Derek Keenan fired rookie coach Jeff McComb on Saturday and replaced him with himself. That’s a huge shakeup in the NLL! Clearly with a 4-10 record, four games to go, and playoff teams within reach, Keenan feels this season can be salvaged. We’ve had Rush players on the RP Show all year and to a man, they never blamed McComb for their woeful season. However as the saying goes, you can’t fire 20 players but you can fire one coach. We’ll see if the move has the desired effect when the Rush hosts the Vancouver Warriors – a team they need to catch to make the playoffs – next Saturday, April 9 at SaskTel Centre. Get your tickets at Ticketmaster.ca!

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Trivia answer – Darryl Sutter (Chicago) and Lindy Ruff (Buffalo). … My thoughts on what everybody else is geeked up about; World Cup – it’s exciting and we’ll see you in November, March Madness – I bet it all on UCONN and was out the first weekend. See you next March! … There’s not a lot of CFL coverage this week because there’s just not much going on and I gave my thoughts on Touchdown Atlantic in the daily commentaries which are posted here Monday to Friday. Perhaps next Sunday. … Still waiting on the Jacksonville Jaguars to announce the hiring of assistant coach Henry Burris. … Saying that Henry’s hiring in Jacksonville is only due to the NFL’s minority hiring policy is low, IMO. … Again, thankfully Henry’s got a thick skin. … These are different times. Sportscenter on ESPN this weekend spent five full minutes previewing the Wrestlemania bout between Rhonda Rousey and Charlotte Flair. I’m sorry, did pro wrestling become real all of a sudden? … We’ll be back at Grey Eagle Resort & Casino soon for another 4-week residency with the RP Show. Come down and say hi! We’re live 10 am – Noon MT. … I’ll also be hosting the Grey Eagle charity golf classic at Bears Paw on June 20. Among the items up for grabs in the auction are TWO Connor Bedard signed jerseys plus a signed Bo Levi Mitchell jersey. How bout that?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen