MOSAIC PLACE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

SIN CITY OBSERVATIONS

LAS VEGAS, NV — We were lucky enough to be last-minute guests on the annual Harvard Broadcasting client excursion to Las Vegas so that’s where we find ourselves for today’s column.  We arrived Saturday night with 100-some CKRM advertisers for five days of fun in the sun.  Here are some sports notes from the world down here along with some observations from home:

– The photo above is of the new 20-thousand seat, $350-million dollar arena being built just west of the Las Vegas Strip, directly north of Tropicana Blvd.  The facility – named the Las Vegas Arena for now – will have a street address on Frank Sinatra Drive and is slated to open in the spring of 2016.  It has the financial backing of MGM Resorts International and the Anschutz Entertainment Group.  There’s only one problem: they don’t have anyone to play there.

– Las Vegas would gladly take an NBA or NHL franchise but the current preference is the National Hockey League for a variety of reasons.  The 2007 NBA All-Star Game was held in Las Vegas but it attracted a string of thugs and criminal activity which left a bad taste in peoples’ mouths, which still lingers.

The arena is situated behind NY, NY

Billionaire Bill Foley is the man spearheading the effort to land an NHL expansion franchise here but their goal of securing 10,000 deposits for season tickets this winter died around the 8,000 mark.  If you follow this blog, you’ll know they weren’t taking any deposits outside a 30-mile radius of Las Vegas because they wanted to prove there’s enough local support.  My effort to purchase a pair of season tickets was rebuffed for this reason.  (I figured they’d be easier to flip than Winnipeg Jets tickets).

– Foley – who spent his childhood years in Ottawa but made his millions in real estate in Florida – is holding a meet-and-greet with fans at local hotel & casino on Tuesday.  What great timing!  I’m hoping to make his acquaintance and hopefully will report the findings here.

– Unfortunately hockey has a long ways to go to become front page news in Sin City.  In fact, they aren’t even close to the top headlines as the NHL playoff results appeared on the ninth page of the sports section in a local newspaper on Sunday.  Spring college football and womens college softball were featured.

And in the casinos on Sunday, the televisions were tuned to the NBA playoffs rather than the Stanley Cup.  Blondies Sports Bar had the Flames-Canucks Game 3, but no one was paying attention other than a girl in a Flames jersey and hat, who was giddy with the results.

– The big question remains – would an NHL franchise thrive here?  That’s the hot topic amongst the Regina area businessmen on our trip.  There are certainly gazillions of dollars here amongst the hotels but the prospective owners want to survive off the ticket-buying residents and that could be a tall order.  However since 40% of Las Vegas visitors are Canadians, you’d have to think there’s a big market there.  Would you go to an NHL game on a trip to Las Vegas?  I know I certainly would.

– One thing’s for certain: it ain’t cheap to even casually visit Las Vegas.  A coffee and newspaper runs you $10.  You can get both for less than half of that back home, minus the exchange rate.  But gosh are they worth it.

– Who will appear in the Stanley Cup Final?  No one knows but I’ve got Ducks and Canadiens in the annual SportsCage draft.

– Serious question: With L.A. Kings forward Jarret Stoll’s arrest for drug possession here on Friday, I’m told the Neudorf, SK product can expect a slap on the wrists legally, but likely a lifetime ban from all MGM properties.  That could extend to the new NHL arena here so would he have to miss games in Las Vegas?  Either way it’s a troubling situation and we’re praying for Jarret.  He is a fine person, no doubt.

– The Regina Pats’ season ended on Friday night with a tough overtime loss in Brandon in Game 5 however the Regina hockey season is not over.  The Regina Pat Canadians open the Telus Cup national midget championship on Monday in Quebec with a matinee against the Toronto Young Nationals.  We’ll be reporting their results all week long here on the blog.  Good luck to Brad Herauf and his crew.

– Herauf was the SMAAAHL Coach of the Year in just his second year on the job.  He told the SportsCage last week that he’d like to make a living in the coaching game.  He’s certainly well on his way, and he has pro hockey written all over him.

– The fashion in which the Pats season ended last week was certainly a tough pill to swallow, and that’s just from a fan’s perspective.  I can’t imagine the angst the team is currently going through.  Actually I can, but I’ll get into that a little further down.

The series turned in Wednesday’s Game 4.  Regina was on their way to winning that game, as anyone in attendance can attest.  The Wheat Kings were rattled and it was very evident.  They were targeting Pats MVP Colby Williams (it’s a wonder he survived) and were doing silly little things like kicking Pats goalie Daniel Wapple’s legs out while circling through the crease.  Alas, Pats defenceman Connor Hobbs was charged with a 5-minute kneeing major and it completely turned the tide in the game.  Brandon went on to tie the score at 2-2 on the 5:00 powerplay and went on to win the game in overtime.  Regina coach John Paddock was livid after the game, telling 620 CKRM, “We deserved to win the game.”  He was correct, and all signs had pointed to the series being tied up 2-2 with all momentum switching to Regina’s favour.

– Then, the WHL hockey gods intervened.  It’s frustrating because going to the game as a guest of the Pats owners, I actually thought the Pats stood a fighting chance.  I got sucked in again!  Then ugly memories of the 2003 series between the Pats and Wheat Kings came to mind when Regina’s Matt Hubbauer drew a suspension in Game 2 and teammate Colton Orr got a 5-minute major for flattening Brandon angel Jordin Tootoo.  In the end, just like 2015, Regina never had a chance against the “Brandon Factor”.

– Wheat Kings Head Coach/GM/Owner Kelly McCrimmon is a WHL powerbroker and the powerbrokers make the suits nervous.  The suits call the shots, whether it be consciously or sub-consciously.  However it appears John Paddock and the Pats owners will soon have a seat at the adults table in the WHL, and things should change.  Or, they may always remain the same.

However the other WHL powerbrokers (you know who you are) may want to align themselves with QSEG because they’re around for the long-haul and have NHL owner-type resources.  After all, who really are the Brandon Wheat Kings?

– The hockey world was buzzing in anticipation of Saturday night’s NHL Draft Lottery.  The Sabres and Coyotes stood the best mathematical chance of winning the #1 overall pick but when the ball fell, it had an Oilers logo on it.  Everyone in hockey groaned and rolled their eyes.  Outside of Edmonton, most would agree the Oilers winning the Lottery is the worst thing that could’ve happened to the NHL.  Hands-down #1 pick Connor McDavid would’ve delivered a much needed shot-in-the-arm to struggling hockey markets in Phoenix and Buffalo.  Edmonton’s struggling too, but it seems McDavid will only be burdeoned with more of the same foibles in the Edmonton capital.

– McDavid himself was forced to answer questions about looking less-than-enthused about Edmonton winning the Lottery.  He niftifly stickhandled around the situation, but his disappointment was abundantly clear.  Groan.  The only people who wanted this result was Edmonton.

– It’s a wonder why Canadian NHL television broadcasts haven’t gone with the Shots On Goal graphic their American counterparts have employed.  It’s a fantastic addition, especially when you’ve just tuned in and want an idea of how the game has gone.  Perhaps Sportsnet doesn’t want to admit they’ve been beaten to the punch?

– Speaking of stadium construction, the New Mosaic Stadium project in Regina continues to enjoy jaw-dropping progress.  While attending some minor hockey games at the nearby Cooperators Arena on the weekend, I was stunned by how magnificent the new home of the Roughriders already looks.  So much so that I had to stop and take a picture.  To the left of the photo you see how the upper deck on the east side has come along.  The stadium is slated to open in 2016 however the Roughriders still aren’t scheduled to play a game in there until 2017.  However if your house was built early, wouldn’t you want to move into it?  Here’s hoping.

– Local football officials have taken to calling the current Mosaic Stadium “Mosaic 1” and the new facility “Mosaic 2” to avoid confusion.

– As the Leader Post’s Rob Vanstone eloquently pointed out in Friday’s and Saturday’s editions, Roughrider quarterback Darian Durant was an outstanding speaker at Thursday’s Estevan Bruins Annual Sportsman’s Dinner.  He’s a different Darian now.  He’s calm and relaxed and seems to have had the weight of the world lifted off of his shoulders after winning the 2013 Grey Cup.  The chip is gone.  That doesn’t mean he’s any less hungry, in fact he may be even moreso because his next championship will make him the Roughriders’ undisputed greatest quarterback of all time.  That’s what drives him these days but he seems to be in a better frame of mind.  He admitted too, that Rider fans look at and approach him differently now that he’s a champion.

– Durant delivered some good news as well, saying he plans to play “seven or eight” more seasons so the need to develop the “quarterback of the future” is on the backburner for now.  He described himself as a “young 32” and there’s no doubt his body is in top form, which has to be a major relief to the Riders’ braintrust.

– Next up for the Roughriders is the 2015 CFL Canadian College Draft on May 12.  CFL personnel types agree this is one of the deepest drafts in years however there’s no consensus #1 pick for the Ottawa RedBlacks.  Also, no one knows which way Saskatchewan is leading with the #6 overall pick but they’re assured to get a good player.  One wonders if somewhere in the draft the Riders will take a running back to back-up Jerome Messam, a la Matt Walters in Calgary with Jon Cornish.