THE WEDNESDAY THRILLER … WITH PHIL ANDREWS

Voice of the Pats Phil Andrews

– Huge congrats to former Regina Pats players Jordan Weal and Dyson Stevenson. Weal and the Manchester Monarchs won the Calder Cup on Saturday over Utica. Weal was named the AHL Playoff MVP for his 22 points in 19 games. You have to think he will be playing in the NHL real soon. Stevenson and the Allen Americans won the Kelly Cup on Sunday in a game 7 win over the South Carolina Stingrays. Stevenson had 5 points in the 7 game series. Two great people and great players. I am so happy for them both.

– Yeah it’s a dynasty in Chicago. The Blackhawks were just too much for the Lightning and took their 3rd Stanley Cup in 6 years. Tampa just couldn’t score and lost three straight. That was the difference. It wasn’t that Ben Bishop had a torn groin. which I must say is very impressive that he manages to finish the series. I thought the winner of the Anaheim, Chicago West Final would win but Tampa gave them a good run. The Lightning have just one unrestricted free agent this summer so it’s a safe bet that they will be a big contender again next year. I’m a little disappointed there won’t be a game 7…

– The Maple Leafs announced yesterday they have hired three new assistants under Mike Babcock. Among them is Jim Hiller, the former head coach of the Tri-City Americans. While they are a Western Conference team so us in Regina only saw them once a year but Hiller was always a good guy to deal with and I wish him all the best.

– Still we await news on the decision of Kelly McCrimmon on moving from the Wheat Kings to the Maple Leafs. Obviously a tough decision not to mention the process of finding his replacement in Brandon. I wonder how many more days I will search his name on Twitter 20 times to see if anything has happened…

– On to football and the Riders first pre season game against Edmonton. Obviously everyone was watching Darian Durant to see how he looked after missing the last half of last year. I thought he looked good, threw the ball well and looked his old self. Was good to see.

– Kevin Glenn came in and looked like the veteran of the league that he is. What an insurance policy he is at the QB position.

– I’m not surprised Tino Sunseri was cut after his performance in the game. That 4th quarter was a tough one for him. Yes he didn’t have a lot of time but I thought he held the ball too long and didn’t read that the pressure was coming pre snap. Brett Smith on the other hand was a pleasant surprise in the 3rd quarter. Threw a nice touchdown pass, used his legs well to make time to make plays. Very impressive.

– Another guy who caught my eye was receiver Naaman Roosevelt. I’m not sure if I’m alone in this but the former Buffalo Bill showed me why he was able to play some games in the NFL after being signed as a free agent. He only caught two passes for 17 yards but I liked his burst, especially after he made his first catch. The depth at receiver is definitely against him but I find myself pulling for him.

– John Chick picked up a sack in limited action on Saturday using a nice spin move. Is it just me or is that new? I don’t remember that one being one of his go to moves to get to the QB. I bet he leads the league again this year.

– Nic Demski is exciting to watch. That punt return was hopefully just a glimpse into his future here in Saskatchewan. Someone tweeted it looked very Corey Holmes esque and I don’t disagree.

– Lots of drops in the game for the Riders. Heard a lot of people saying it must be because of the lack of contact in training camp so far for the team. That makes sense but I don’t buy it just yet. Lets see what happens on Friday.

– Hated the number of penalties in the game. It was almost to the point where I wanted to turn the game off. I pray to god that we don’t see that carry over into the regular season. Last year the offenses struggled and made for some tough games to watch, this year it could be the referees could be the culprits.

– The Golden State Warriors are NBA Champions for the first time in 40 years. They struggled in the first four games of the series and in my opinion were lucky to be 2-2. Then they found it, offensively and defensively and manhandled the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lebron James just couldn’t get it done by himself, he had an unbelievable series but just didn’t get the help. Injuries were a big factor of course but credit the Cavs for their compete. Wasn’t in the cards and Cleveland fans will have to continue their wait for a major sports team to win a championship. Was really good to see Canadian Tristan Thompson have a great series. Rebounding and even added in some scoring. He is a heck of a player.

That’s it from me today, have a great week!

Phil
@PhilTheThrill18