10+ WEEKEND THINGS

Taking Shots …

1 – NHL: We’re nowhere near the halfway point of the season but we’re nearing Christmas where the wheat separates from the chaff. That’s great news for the Jets & Maple Leafs, bad news for the Senators, Canucks & Canadiens, and so-so news for the Flames & Oilers (whom occupy the wildcard spots in the Western Conference as of today). … Last week I mused that NHL hockey is rivalling the 80’s for entertainment this season (minus the fights) and the very next night I saw Mark Messier on an NHL Network commercial saying the exact same thing. “NHL hockey has never been better!”

Goals, comebacks, fisticuffs. Right now the NHL has it all!

2 – NHL PART II: Less than a week after suffering a stroke, Pittsburgh star Kris Letang led the Penguins in Time On Ice (22:14) on Saturday and received a standing ovation during the Pens 3-1 victory over Buffalo. … Stories like this provide unbelievable inspiration and motivation for others who’ve suffered the same issues. … For my money, the Buffalo Sabres are still the most exciting team in the NHL right now. … Hard to believe the Central Division-leading Jets have pretty much the same roster as last season when they missed the playoffs, and had a coaching change. … At what point do the Flames figure things out? Nearly being shutout by the basement-dwelling Columbus Blue Jackets this week is inexplicable. … You can’t score from the penalty box. … Two nights later the Flames lost 5-4 in OT at Toronto. … If the Leafs win the Stanley Cup, I’ll be as happy as anyone. It would be nice if somebody from Canada won it, finally. … Jordan Eberle and the Seattle Kraken visit the Florida Panthers Sunday evening. Don’t look now but the Kraken are 3rd in the NHL’s Pacific Division while Paul Maurice’s Panthers are out of the playoff picture. … However Sunday’s featured game is Boston at Vegas, the battle of Conference leaders, and again Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy faces his former team after beating them 4-3 in a shootout last week in Boston.

3 – CFL: All that’s going on in the CFL right now – aside from the odd player re-signings – is the coaching carousel and the focus largely centres on Montreal’s head coaching search and Saskatchewan’s offensive coordinator search. For months we’ve heard that Jason Maas will be hired by the Alouettes, reuniting with his old Edmonton Eskimo chum, Montreal GM Danny Maciocia. What’s the hold-up? … Meanwhile I’ve learned all the details of what’s holding up the O.C. search in Sask but I won’t divulge them here, as a favour to the Roughriders. However what’s turning candidates off isn’t entirely the lame duck position of GM Jeremy O’Day and head coach Craig Dickenson (both with only 1-year left on their current contracts), and the absence of a quality starting quarterback under contract for 2023. … We’ve reported all along that current Rider assistant coach Kelly Jeffrey was the leader in the clubhouse so why not just name him? That’s one thing about football I’ll never understand, but most teams do it. Obviously, the same goes for Montreal. … Not surprisingly, fired Riders offensive line coach Stephen Sorrells landed on his feet, taking up the same position with the rival Elks. Elks boss Chris Jones brought Sorrells to Canada in the first place.

If the Riders do in fact go with Kelly Jeffrey as offensive coordinator, this website implores the Rider Nation to give him a chance. He’s got a quality resume as USPORTS Coach of the Year, is a CFL vet and has enjoyed stints in the NCAA with Mayville State and Dickinson State (the alma mater of Ken Miller, Chris Walby and Rocky Treleaven). … It’ll be fun to watch how this plays out.

4 – CFL ODDS: Courtesy our exclusive betting partner Bet Regal, here are the futures odds for the winner of the 2023 Grey Cup!:

Winnipeg +300
BC +425
Toronto +550
Calgary +600
Montreal +750
Hamilton +750
Saskatchewan +900
Ottawa +1200
Edmonton +1600

5 – COLLEGE FOOTBALL SALARIES: Hopefully you’re sitting down for this one. Kirby Smart, head coach of the #1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, earns $10.25-million per season. His 10 assistant coaches earn a combined $8.4-million and the football program support staff makes $4.8-million collectively. That’s the most in the USA, but salaries are going up all across NCAA Division I programs. The SEC alone has 21 assistant coaches making $1-million or more. Now you know why football guys are jumping over each other  trying to get college jobs, and why Kent Austin will never return to Canada.

Meanwhile the CFL coaches & management cap is roughly $2.5-million. Apples and oranges, I know, but it would be nice if the CFL’s wages were growing.

6 – COLLEGE FOOTBALL PART II: Another thing about college football I don’t get, but am learning fast, is how coaching staffs can bail on their team between the end of their regular season and Bowl season. Deion Sanders did it by leaping from Jackson State to Colorado last week, and Hugh Freeze – along with offensive coordinator Kent Austin – jumped from Liberty University to Auburn University this week. The Liberty Flames will play Toledo in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl next week with a fill-in coaching staff with Freeze and Kent gone.

All I ask is, what message does this send to the players?

As one veteran NFL, CFL, NCAA coach noted to me last week, all these hirings have been pushed up due to recruiting and the Transfer Portal but it’s created a sloppy mess. Same with the N-I-L program. U.S. College Football is very similar to U.S. politics – highly confusing! – but I’m figuring it out as we go.

7 – JAUCH TALK: Former Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Joey Jauch (1994-95) will be one of the featured guests on The RP Show next Tuesday, Dec. 20 as we broadcast live from the Boca Raton Bowl on Game+ TV, WQEE Radio and YouTube live! Jauch – son of former Roughriders head coach Ray Jauch – is a former Liberty assistant coach and now ESPN TV colour commentator and will be in Boca for the Bowl game against Toledo next week. Thanks to a blessing from our football friends, Joey quickly accepted our invite to come on the show. It’s going to be great telling old CFL & Rider stories, and previewing the match. The younger Jauch spent five seasons in the CFL in the 1990s with Hamilton, Sask and Montreal.

8 – PAT CHAT: The Regina Pats are 2-0 in the absence of Connor Bedard, who’s with Team Canada in Nova Scotia. They beat P.A. 3-2 on Friday on the road, and returned home Saturday to defeat Calgary 5-2 on Teddy Bear Toss Night. Both teams are behind Regina in the standings. At 16-12-1-1, the Pats are 6th in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Head Coach & GM John Paddock continues to bristle at suggestions the team trade Bedard in advance of next month’s deadline.

The attendance at Saturday’s game was listed at 3,992. We’d love to see the Brandt Centre soldout every night and there are plenty of reasons why it’s not. What I’m hearing most from the fans is that they don’t feel a connection to the team anymore but this has been building for a long time. With the club long ago scrapping the year-end awards banquet, having no Sportsman’s Dinner anymore nor Faceoff Breakfast, there aren’t opportunities for fans, sponsors and players to mingle like there used to be.

That’s just my $0.02. I don’t wanna be the guy pining for yesteryear. Suck it up and move on if you don’t like how things have changed!

9 – S-J: The Battlefords North Stars are the #1 team in all of Canadian Jr. A hockey and ran their record to 25-0-2-1 on Saturday night with a 4-1 win at Nipawin. That’s right; it’s nearly Christmas and they haven’t lost in regulation. With GM & head coach Brayden Klimosko away at the World Junior A Challenge, interim coach Garry Childerhose is 3-0 on the Stars bench. … Here’s hoping the RP Show can make it to a second consecutive Centennial Cup in 2023, in Portage, MB. I expect to see the Stars there!

10 – COMEBACK WEEK: With the Kris Letang story preceded by Baker Mayfield’s heroics on Thursday Night Football, you could aptly call this Comeback Week. Two days after signing with the L.A. Rams, the deposed quarterback led the defending Super Bowl champs to a last-second 17-16 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium. Left for dead by Cleveland and Carolina, Baker showed what he all know he has, in prime time in Week 14. 

The only way to stop Baker Mayfield would be to put a bullet in him. That’s why I love him. A guy or girl like that can play – or work – for me any day. 

Sometimes you just have to change your address.

11 -RANDOM THOUGHTS: You can bet on Grand Slam Curling at our exclusive betting partner Bet Regal. Sign up for a free account today and get playing! … CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie and league General Managers will convene in Kananaskis, AB the week of January 10 and hold a media day. In 2018 I attended and covered this in Banff and it was AMAZING! Lucky are those who get to attend next month. … NETFLIX: Started out liking Casey Anthony in the 3-part series on her but by the end, ended up loathing her. … The 123rd Army-Navy game was not fantastic on Saturday. Army went into the game at 5-6 while Navy was 4-7. However it got exciting when it went to double overtime and Army won 20-17! The television presentation was fantastic. … In a poll of NHL fans, the #1-rated mascot in the NHL is Al The Octopus in Detroit while the least favourite, #32,  is Harvey The Hound of the Calgary Flames.  … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK!?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen