Commentary: Get On Board

(Listen daily for the RP Commentary on the All New Hits 98 CKHD & LTD Radio)

It’s Tuesday and time for the Good, the Great & the Ugly!

First the good: Honestly I could see this coming. It only took about 25-30 years.

In the 90s, for some reason, it seemed there were more kids where I lived playing soccer than there were hockey, football and baseball. It felt like everybody’s kids were playing soccer, even though our generation never had.

Sure there were plenty of children still playing those traditional Canadian sports but it was clear to me the popularity of soccer was mushrooming in this country. Not only might it lead to us being a player on the world stage, but definitely there would be millions more fans of the game.

Now here we are.

Canada versus Argentina in a Copa America semifinal at 6:00 pm tonight and like you, I’ll be watching.

Get on board or get out of the way.

Next the great: I call it a God-shot. (Got that term from buddy Clint Malarchuk). The publisher of the South Florida Tribune got ahold of me over the weekend and noticed that I was big into Panthers & Lightning coverage, and host a popular Florida NHL podcast.

He asked if, when I return to Florida in the Fall, if there’s any interest in joining the publication to provide NHL coverage this upcoming season? Their readers are clamouring for more Cats coverage but he doesn’t know anything about it. Oh, and since I live just down the street from the FAU campus, he wondered if I’d care to cover the Owls football program a bit for them too?

It was a quick yes and to me, that’s just great. It’s the final door I’ve been waiting to open.

And lastly the ugly: The interview with Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau this week was a hard read. The longtime Florida Panther admitted that it was tough to watch his former teammates win the Stanley Cup given all that he’d been through with that franchise, only to be reluctantly traded away to Calgary where he finds himself in another rebuild.

Huby – who was on the 2012 World Junior team when I called the games on Sportsnet – went on to say Calgary’s defensive system was to blame for his lack of production and for him not living up to his team-high contract.

Unfortunately I was there and watched the games and a lotta nights I had to check the scoresheet afterwards to see if he played.

It’s been ugly in Calgary with the hockey team. And we might not have even seen the worst yet.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary.

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm & 5 pm ET on Game+TV, WQEE Radio, Podcast & YouTube Live)