The Monday Morning Goalie For SUDS

TRUTH & RUMOURS FOR SUDS CAR WASH

1 – KNIGHTS’ NIGHT: It kinda looks like the hockey gods are on the side of the Vegas Golden Knights, no? The Stanley Cup Final still feels like it’s a lonnnnng ways from being over but Vegas went up 2-1 in the series Saturday night with a 5-4 double overtime victory in the Fortress (so much for this being a low-scoring series). Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner broke Maurice Richard’s 69-year old record with the fastest hattrick in SCF history (6:10). The Rocket did it in 6:21. Marner also became the first player ever to record four points in a single period of a SCF game, and has set a franchise record for playoff points (28). To top it off, original Vegas misfits Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb tagteamed on Saturday’s game-winning goal. I still got Vegas in six, but some pundits feel Carolina won’t win another game. Game 3 feels like a backbreaker.

2 – MARNER/TORONTO: If they could only see how they look. The media is one thing (they’re bad enough), but the Toronto hockey fans are just as bad, if not worse. In fact in Toronto, I get the two mixed up; Leafs media is basically Leafs fans. Anyway, a Toronto friend of mine wrote on Facebook after Saturday’s game “Nothing against Mitch Marner, but why couldn’t he do this in Toronto?” Here’s the simplest answer to that, and please read my lips: TORONTO IS THE PROBLEM. A lot of what the reporters have said about the likable, 29-year old forward is unspeakable and the saddest thing to me is that Marner’s been villified in his hometown. He can never go back. I’m wondering if he’ll even take the Stanley Cup there this summer? Lesson: after a messy split, go live your best life and don’t look back.

3 – BOLTS NATION: It’s been quite a week for the Tampa Bay Lightning. They may have been bounced by the Montreal Canadiens in a seven game, Round 1 series but Jon Cooper took home his first-ever Jack Adams Trophy as NHL Coach of the Year, while goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy got the nod as Vezina Trophy winner, symbolic of being the NHL’s best goaltender. It was 2020 and 2021 when this pair won Stanley Cups together, and they’re just now getting their individual due. I’m certain they’d rather still be playing and chasing Lord Stanley, but these awards look nice on the mantle too. I point it out because – believe it or not – nobody’s talking hockey in Florida currently. The Dolphins and Bucs are in OTAs, the Marlins and Rays are relevant, and so many New Yorkers living in SoFlo are salivating over the Knicks in the NBA Finals. So simple coverage like this is why the hockey fans and teams like me. I’ll take it!

4 – CFL: In 2025 the home teams swept Week 1. In 2026, the road teams swept Week 1. ICYMI, the CFL season is here and Montreal opened with a 30-27 OT win at Hamilton, the Blue Bombers scored a 30-28 walkoff win at Calgary, and the Edmonton Elks went into Ottawa and hustled a 29-21 victory in a downpour. I was 2-1 in picks (got the Bombers-Stamps game wrong). How about you? I watched parts or all of all three games. The football guys are raving over the performance of Edmonton QB Cody Fajardo, who threw for 266 and a tud. Cody’s the most accurate QB in CFL history (look it up) and all he does is win. Death, taxes, and …

5 – WESTJET: Brandon Bridge was “Air Canada”. I’m still the only one calling BC quarterback Nathan Rourke by the nickname “WestJet”, but I don’t care. i love it. TSN named him the #1 QB in the CFL this week in their yearly Top 50 ranking and there’s a clear push, for whatever reason (maybe his passport), to make Rourke the face of the league. However for my money, it’s Montreal’s Davis Alexander. And frankly, the football guys I speak with say the same. Hey – let’s be clear; we’re choosing between pizza and ice cream here. Both are AMAZING! We’re witnessing the changing-of-the-guard at the QB position in the CFL and it’s beautiful to watch unfold. However the OGs like Bo Levi Mitchell, Trevor Harris, Zach Collaros and Cody Fajardo feel otherwise. Oh, and Bo Levi at #2 in the rankings? What are they smoking …

6 – ATTENDANCE: I guess I gotta mention it, because it’s all the talk coming out of Week 1, but the attendance at all three games in Week 1 was atrocious. Frankly I don’t know what the reason/answer is, other than a complete breakdown in media coverage across the country thanks to the gashing of the media industry. The Stampeders people are banging their heads against the wall because they’ve been working their tails off to promote the club (nice job landing country star Dasha for the Stampede Bowl). It was a Friday night game, perfect weather, and an abhorrent crowd. Meanwhile the Flames will sellout an 8:00 pm game on a Monday with ticket prices which are exponentially higher priced. All I know is, the more people talking about the CFL, the better. Preferably positively…

7 – WEEK 2: It’s not too early to look ahead. The schedule lines up perfectly for summer TV viewing again this week. Thursday the Hamilton Tiger-Cats visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Chris Streveler Retirement Night. As the Naperville, Illinois product said, “It’s gonna be LIT!” On Friday the Toronto Argonauts are at the Montreal Alouettes (Chad Kelly vs Davis Alexander), and the week closes on Saturday with the BC Lions at the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a 5:00 pm MT kickoff in Canada’s football capital. Will I see you there??

CRUISE WITH US: Score a touchdown in the Caribbean! Join CFL legend Adam Bighill and Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Jameer Thurman on a 7-day cruise departing from Fort Lauderdale on Feb 20^th, 2027. A once in a lifetime experience for CFL Fans. Prices from $1899.00 cruise only. Contact Neal Chark at neal@uniglobecarefree.ca. Uniglobe Carefree Travel is the official travel partner of the RP Show and the CFL’s BC Lions.

8 – BASEBALL: Somehow this summer has been busier than I’d planned but that’s just great! I like it, and I need it. But it hasn’t left much time for Blue Jays-watching. What I hear isn’t good. However the Western Canadian Baseball League season is well underway and we’ve got home games this week for the Moose Jaw Miller Express on Tuesday, Friday & Saturday. It’s FANTASTIC NCAA baseball and I’m enjoying calling the games, and getting to know the players so much. … The 2026 WCBL All Star Game & Homerun Derby goes July 18 at the Berry Patch in Saskatoon. … Kudos to WCBL alum Carter Beck for being invited to the 2026 MLB Combine! The star outfielder put Carnduff, SK and the Berries on the map.

9 – CKRM: A heartfelt thank you to CKRM Radio, where I spent 24 years, for recognizing me as one of their nine century icons this week as part of their 100-year birthday celebration. When I left that job seven years ago, I truly wondered “Why did I work so hard?” But now with this recognization, I see why and can’t thank them enough. It was such an honour to work there and serve the Saskatchewan listeners for a quarter century. Please join us July 18 as we celebrate at the gala at the Centre of the Arts.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Old people “get it”. … Jonn Hamm is in so many Canadian TV commercials that you’d think he’s Canadian. … Jon Hamm is from St. Louis. … I feel like everything at the Dollar Store should be priced no more than a dollar. But they’re not! … Great appearance from former Rider Ass’t GM John Murphy on the RP Show this week. I said to Murph that in Sask, they love you win or tie. Murph quipped, “Sometimes not even then!” … Evian spelled backwards is “Naive”. Just sayin’ … It’s always California, Texas and Florida getting called into the principal’s office. Always those three. … One man gives up, the other grows up. … A buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its flowing blond hair has been spared from sacrifice after shooting to fame, and will instead be cared for at the national zoo. Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of 170 million people, celebrated Eid al-Adha, the “feast of the sacrifice”, on Thursday. The 1,500-pound bull, a rare albino buffalo with a flowing helmet of light hair resembling the signature look of the US president, was due to be slaughtered to mark the day. But hours before it faced the knife, the government stepped in and saved the animal, which has become an online sensation. “The livestock department requested us to take the buffalo from the owner as it is a rare animal,” Mohammad Ruhul Quddus, officer-in-charge of Dhaka’s Keraniganj Police Station said. “They said that the albino buffalo is still very young, and can be raised for a few years.” … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,