RODSERVATIONS

A REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

1 – The Regina Pats will attempt to complete a first round sweep of Calgary Thursday evening when they visit the Hitmen in Game 4 of their WHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal (7:00 pm, 620 CKRM, Access/Shaw). Regina leads the series 3-0, but they’re at an interesting point in their season. The team’s coaching staff has pointed out repeatedly this week that the club could do a lot more.

That’s got this Pats fan scratching his head saying, “They’ve won 11 in a row!”

However clearly John Paddock knows what he’s doing, and is wily like a fox. When the club lost four games in a row late in the season, the Pats boss was preaching for calmer heads and now he’s flipped the script, presumably making sure those same heads don’t get too fat.

Can they reach another level? For sure. Will they reach it when the time comes? Absolutely.

But I think it’s little late in the season for lessons. They’ll be just fine!

2 – *EDIT* The Colorado Avalanche signed UND star Tyson Jost on Wednesday, who’s also a prospect of the Regina Pats. This appears to have thrown a wrench into the Pats’ hopes of having the 18-year old winger – who’ll be 19 next year – in their lineup when they host the Memorial Cup in 2017-18. He now has three options: 1) playing with the Avalanche, 2) playing in the AHL or 3) playing playing in Regina. In the end, it’ll likely be up to him.

3 – The Moose Jaw-Swift Current series is now down to a Best-of-3 after the Broncos dumped the Warriors 5-2 last night in the Frontier City. As many predicted, this would be the longest first round WHL series.

4 – It was a quiet week in the CFL after last week’s hectic Marks CFL Week in Regina. However there was positive news out of Montreal as former Rider defensive lineman Marcus Adams Tweeted on Tuesday that he’s been hired as a scout by the Alouettes, “making my second dream come true.”

That is fantastic news for Chunky, and the Als.

5 – The Riders still have some news to announce regarding their coaching staff for 2017. On February 9, linebackers coach Phillip Lolley joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats leaving a void at that position. However Riders Head Coach & GM Chris Jones said on Monday’s SportsCage that the position “will be filled internally”.

6 – Fighting words out of Calgary? 🙂 Flames/Stampeders/Hitmen/Roughnecks President Ken King took a potshot at their rivals to the East on Wednesday’s Prime Time Sports with Bob McGowan on Fan 590 Toronto.

“If you want to see a football stadium in the CFL you should go to Regina,” King said. “Holy Mackerel. That may be the only reason to go to Regina, but it’s magnificent what they’ve done.  Beautiful, beautiful facility.”

Meh. It’s mere stadium envy.

7 – The citizens in Calgary are split on the Calgary-NEXT project, and the notion of spending $1-billion of mostly taxpayers money on new homes for the Flames and Stampeders.

For those aganst public money funding sports facilities, don’t forget the 2013 Grey Cup generated $97-million for Regina and area and the 2018 Memorial Cup will leave $25-million behind.

Also, don’t forget about the civic pride created by our teams which is immeasurable.

Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis might all be regretting the “no public money” stance now that their NFL teams have skipped town.

8 – CFL people noted last week that although Winnipeg and Hamilton have lavish new stadiums, Investors Group Field and Tim Hortons Field don’t have the convention/meeting/party facilities that Mosaic Stadium offers. That’s a big reason why our new home is so jaw-dropping.

It’s also the biggest reason the Dallas Cowboys have become the most-profitable team in the NFL despite the fact they’ve only won two playoff games the past 20 years; AT&T Stadium.

These days it’s all about the venue, and the massive profits it can generate. The Riders were right on the bit there.

9 – It’s going to be a very exciting spring around the Queen City, whatwith the Edmonton Oilers clinching a playoff berth for the first time since 2006, and this being an Oilers town. My Facebook and Twitter feeds have been crammed with exuberant Oilers fans still elated over Tuesday’s 2-1 win over L.A., and what the victory represented.

Was it too much of a celebration in Edmonton? Maybe, for a simple playoff berth, but that task has been anything but simple for the Oilers over the past several years and the Decade of Darkness is now over.

Let the Oilers and their fans have their fun! They’ve been through hell.

10 – I immediately wondered who should get the credit for the Oilers’ post-season berth: GM Peter Chiarelli, Head Coach Todd McLellan, franchise saviour Connor MacDavid, the NHL’s Draft Lottery balls, or Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish et al for putting them in position to win the lottery year after year.

However 630 CHED Edmonton’s Brendan Ullrich pointed out on Wednesday’s SportsCage that the credit should go to Oilers President Bob Nicholson for putting most of the men above in place.

11 – Last summer when the Roughriders visited Edmonton, you couldn’t help but notice GM Peter Chiarelli was getting skewered by the fans and media for dealing Taylor Hall to New Jersey.

Our thought at the time was, “Wasn’t he hired to make unpopular moves to improve the hockey team?”

And now this week my thought is, “Is it much different than the unpopular moves Chris Jones has made in order to make the Roughriders a contender again?”

12 – The Calgary Flames failed in their bid to clinch a playoff berth Wednesday night, stubbing their toe 4-1 at home against the L.A. Kings. However it’s just a matter of time before they do, and first year Head Coach Glen Gulutzan should get some consideration for the Jack Adams Trophy. Around December 1 they were talking about firing him, but the Flames have to have had one of the NHL’s best records since.

How did Gulutzan do it? He got the Flames’ best players (Johnny Gaudreau, Dougie Hamilton, Sean Monahan, etc.) to actually be their best players.

13 – It took two Saskatchewan boys – Todd McLellan (Melville) and Glen Gulutzan (Hudson Bay) – to get the two Alberta NHL teams back into the playoffs.

14 – The Regina Pat Canadians open up the Midget AAA Regionals on Thursday in Manitoba against the Winnipeg Wild. We plan to have full coverage of their progress right here.

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THAT’S IT FOR TODAY! SEE YOU ON THE RADIO
RP
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