DAYTONA HOMES FRIDAY RODSERVATIONS
1 – BUCK THE BRONCOS: Well it’s finally here. The curtain rises on the 2015 WHL Playoffs in these parts tonight when the Regina Pats host the Swift Current Broncos in Game 1 of their WHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series (7:00 pm, 620 CKRM). Much has been made, and said, about this series all week long once the Pats’ first round opponent was determined Saturday night.
The records, the season series, and the top scorers have all been bantied about at length but once the puck goes down tonight in the Brandt Centre, none of that will matter. However as SportsCage junior hockey analyst Kelly Remple pointed out on Thursday, the Pats are statistically the much better 5-on-5 team while the Broncos have the edge in special teams. Other than that, there’s not much to choose between the two squads.
The series really is a pick ’em but I’ll stick with my prediction of Regina in six. Saskatoon Blades broadcaster Les Lazurak predicted on the SportsCage last night that it’ll be Swift Current who emerges from a six game series. Time will tell.
We’ll be broadcasting the SportsCage live from the Brandt Centre Friday with special guests Dave Struch of the Pats and Jamie Heward of the Broncos. But don’t worry football fans — we’ll have plenty of pigskin talk too with co-host Scott Schultz.
The gamesmanship of this series began on Monday when Broncos assistant coach Jamie Heward was asked to leave the Brandt Centre after witnessing a portion of Pats practice. In typical “Hewie” fashion, he said he was simply in the rink looking for his son’s lost shinpad and didn’t realize his presence was a no-no.
We asked Broncos Coach & GM Mark Lamb about it on the SportsCage on Wednesday and he said with a chuckle, “As an employee of the Broncos, Jamie shouldn’t have been in there.”
I thought perhaps the story would gain some legs in the local media but it died as quickly as it arose.
We’ve tried our best to whip up interest in the series but it’s been tough sledding. As of 5:00 pm Thursday there were 4400 tickets sold for Game 1 and 4100 sold for Game 2. That’s not bad, but there’s still a long ways to go to hit a sellout.
I also hope tonight – since it’s a special occasion – that the Pats play the GameChangers video before the Pats’ introduction. They’ve only showed it twice since the unveiling of the new clock but it’s moving, stirring and inspirational. Perfect for the playoffs!
2 – THE HISTORY: The Pats and Broncos have only met a handful of times over the years in the WHL Playoffs but one of the most storied series was the 1974 semifinal which the Pats claimed in six games. The series was notable because Broncos tough guy Dave “Tiger” Williams infamously climbed out of the penalty box and into the Regina Exhibition Stadium stands to start swinging his stick at Pats fans. The accompanying assault charge remains on Tiger’s record to this day but as he revealed to me a couple of years ago, Pats fans actually instigated the situation by throwing peppermint mints at Tiger in the penalty box. And thus began the time-honoured tradition of Regina fans being blamed for everything.
3 – THE PEST: Regina forward Jesse Gabrielle led all Pats scorers against Swift Current with seven points in seven games, according to WHL stats. Did they actually meet seven times after the trade deadline? No matter. Gabrielle figures to be a major factor in this series and the Moosomin, SK product was a hot topic all week long. I was vocal in my criticism of Gabrielle’s recent play because he seemed more concerned with his “agitator” role rather than filling the net, of which he’s more-than-capable of doing. Someone compared him to Boston Bruins pest Brad Marchand but, to me, that couldn’t be further from the truth. For now.
Gabrielle is a dazzling hockey player and seems to be just scratching the surface of his potential. However he can’t reach it from the penalty box, serving 10-minute misconducts. However Pats coach John Paddock told the SportsCage this week he’d rather have Gabrielle taking “10’s” than “2’s”. Far be it for me to question the WHL’s Eastern Conference Coach of the Year who’s proven to be worth every penny the new Pats owners spent to lure him here. However my comments seemed to have reached Gabrielle, who told reporters this week there’s a method to his madness. Hey, I’d rather fire up the Pats than fire up the Broncos.
4 – HAIL TO THE KINGS: The Memorial Cup champion Edmonton Oil Kings got everyone’s attention by going into Brandon and upsetting the Wheat Kings 4-1 Thursday night in Game 1 of their first round WHL series. I caught a bit of the Edmonton radio broadcast and was quite impressed with the play-by-play call of Corey Graham, however found it somewhat confusing when he said, “And the Kings are up 1-0!” Both teams are the Kings!
Brandon will go on to win this series, but Thursday was a wake-up call and coach Kelly McCrimmon probably didn’t sleep too well after the game. Remember the Pats-Warriors series a few years back when Regina won Game 1 handily at Mosaic Place only to lose the next four straight? The same could happen here but kudos to Oil Kings coach Steve Hamilton who talked the talk before the series and then saw his players walk the walk in Game 1.
Incidentally the crowd in Brandon last night was a paltry 3086.
5 – THE PAT C’S: This city seems to have sat up and noticed the impressive run of the Midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. The Cooperators Centre was sold out for Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over the Battlefords Stars which gave Regina a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five provincial final. Al Dumba and I had the distinct pleasure of broadcasting the game province-wide on Access and, judging by the reaction, the game had plenty of viewers. I even received a nice email from Stars coach Martin Smith complimenting us on our non-biased commentary. What a change!
Game 4 goes Saturday night in North Battleford and if necessary, the fifth and deciding game will go Sunday at 7:30 pm in Regina. Hopefully we’ll have the opportunity to call the final game if it comes to fruition.
6 – THAT’S JUST SILLY: Regina Pats great Mike Sillinger’s son Owen is the captain of the Regina Pat Canadians and is the league’s leading scorer. It’s infinitely head-scratching to me that Owen hasn’t been able to find a home in the WHL. We’ve been following his career closely and after being drafted by the Vancouver Giants, traded to the Saskatoon Blades, then dropped, invited to Regina Pats camp but not offered a spot, his WHL rights have finally been picked up by the Portland Winterhawks.
The knock on Owen Sillinger has always been his size but in Wednesday’s Game 3 he threw his weight around and generated a ton of scoring chances. He was great on draws and he always finds a way to sneak onto the scoresheet in some capacity.
It would be a glowing marketing opportunity to have Owen play for the Pats given the fact his father is the franchise’s second all-time leading scorer. However it would be an insult to the kid to add him for that reason. Are the Pats fearful of the perception of nepotism?
Perhaps, in the final analysis, as Kelly Remple said off-air on Thursday, “Maybe he’s just not good enough to play in the WHL?”
The story is still being written.
7 – CFL RULE CHANGES: Early Thursday evening the CFL sent out a news release detailing its list of proposed rule changes for the 2015 season. The full list appears in the post below this one.
It’ll take some time to digest the inventory of changes because some of them are quite radical, including moving the single point convert from 12 yards to 32 yards. CFL GMs are also proposing two point convert attempts be scrimmaged from the three yard line rather than the five.
They’re tinkering with the no yards rule, illegal kickoffs, challenging offensive pass interference and many more.
All I can think of is what American viewers will think when they tune into CFL broadcasts down south. They’re still confused by the rouge so what will they think now? And special teams coaches better get a raise because they’ll be in round-the-clock classroom sessions with players getting everyone up to speed.
A lot of this is unsettling to me. It seems the league is going a little overboard in an effort to increase scoring and open up the game. Perhaps they should’ve released this proposal on April 1. Granted scoring was way down in 2014 but are we throwing the baby out with the bathwater? I tend to agree with former CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon who surmised the 2014 CFL season was more of a phase than a trend.
And I’ve never been a fan of knee-jerk reactions.
9 – FREE WILLY: That’s what Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Drew Willy is saying as far as his contract is concerned. News out of Winnipeg suggests the former Rider pivot wants his current contract negotiated to put him up in the salary stratosphere with the likes of Darian Durant, Ricky Ray and Henry Burris. One problem: all of those guys have won a Grey Cup. In the CFL, quarterbacks are generally paid according to their resume, not their potential and as much as I really like Drew, he hasn’t done anything. Willy has one year left on his current deal and judging by what I’ve read, he could hold out to start the season. That got me to-thinking, who’s the last big name CFL player to hold out due to contract demands? For some reason the names of Charles Roberts and Mike Pringle come to mind but I can’t remember anything specific. Incidentally those two are in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
10 – UNFINISHED BUSINESS: We finish today’s column with a movie review! Last night we took in Vince Vaughn’s latest flick Unfinished Business at Southland Cinemas. We’re going to have to give it one thumb up. Usually Vaughn’s movies are a slam dunk but this one leaves you wanting more. The storyline isn’t too deep – which is great for me – but it ventures into the ‘goofy’ side a little too often for my liking. I would suggest it’s a renter.
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THAT’S ALL! TALK TO YOU FROM THE BRANDT CENTRE AT 4 PM
RP
@sportscage
Instagram: ridervoice
Haha Willy led his team to a losing season and wants more money? He should be thankful he may get a second season to start. First earn some respect then cash in.
I must be a bit of a traditionalist as I really don't like many of the proposed new rules. Are they intent on changing CFL Football into a new different sport? Maybe the fact that the scoring was down was inept conservative OC's like ours who did not adapt to changing circumstances and just was content to collect his pay cheque. I have never been a proponent of knee jerk.
Corey with an "e".
Willy doesn't want more money. He realized he's in Winnipeg for gods sake and wants out.
I'm guessing the old 96er might have a thing or two to say about the defense getting shafted from these new rules.
Once again, Cage will be must listen to radio today.
Wayne
Thanks for the weekly column Rod, it's a pleasure to read. As well, I enjoy the movie reviews on the blog.
Mike
Hi Rod, Really love the blog and love listening to the Cage, however I have a couple of comments to make. Kelly Remple should no longer be the junior hockey commentator for the show. Yesterday's 3-5 minute reading of stats and +/- was some of the most awkward radio I've heard in a long time. I felt bad for you because I don't think you really knew how to respond and were a little taken back thinking he would have had some better insight. I like Kelly, but with the caliber of your show being what it is I think… Read more »
Agreed! That segment with Remple was boring as hell. Anybody can rattle off stats and as Roddy said, they don't even matter now. It was clear the Silver Fox didn't like that.
The proposed CFL rule changes appear to reek of desperation from a league that is struggling to artificially create offense. Other than lengthening the extra point kick the other rules are gimmicky and, in my humble opinion, will not make for a more enjoyable football product. The no contact past 5 yards rule will likely lead to even more unnecessary flags which was killing the game last year. The problem with the league is a lack of quality offensive players, specifically at the QB position. You can change the rules all you want but it is like "putting lipstick on… Read more »
1) Like the new rules
2) I'm a Pats fan but I think Broncos
in 6.
3) Agree on the Remple comments, nice
guy but terrible contributor.
Proof in the pudding is his
comments regarding the Brandon
series and last night's results.
4) I believe the Pats ownership group
is smart to try and create this
rumour of building a rink to try
and help get what they want out of
negotiations and upgrades to their
present facility.
Fred
Paddock's comment that he would have players taking 10's than 2's, is because the 10 minute doesn't put the team down a man. The player misses 3 shifts, but the team itself doesn't lose any man power. Regina is a team with the depth to handle a 10 without missing a beat. The 2 minute, of course, puts the team down a man. That's why 10's are better than 2's.
I agree with rod we want american viewers to make a bigger name for our league but these rule changes will make our game look like we dont know what football is. I would be embarrased for this to happen and would only watch rider games.
I would recommend that football fans read the great book by Dan Daley titled "The National Forgotten League".
As the book outlines, the game of football has evolved constantly and dramatically over the decades and rules have changed with it. As the book points out, it is only in recent times that the mindset has become much more conservative. The history of football has been one of constant change towards improvement.
Old Hank
But these are big changes that change everything about the game the point system is the way it is for a reason. A touchdown is only two field goals without the extra point. You get rewarded for your touchdown with an extra point or two it shouldnt be hard to get the extra point it should be pretty much automatic and jusy slightly harder for two. Your changing the entire outline of the game this way.
They may be including the points Jesse got when he played Speedy Creek while still with Brandon?
So Rod have you applied for the soon to be vacant radio job with the Coyotes. That is the only reason you pump the Coyotes tires around here isn't it ??
First ff they are including Gabrielle's points against SC as a Wheat King… its the top scorers against that team not being a member of a certain team against that team… doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Roddy as for your comments about Corey Graham the Oil Kings radio guy…. he is a bigger homer then you were when you did Pats games on the radio. I have watched a few games on webcast that involved the Oil Kings at home (2 with the pats and 3 against other central teams) and this guy takes the… Read more »
they are weppler. jesse was almost a ppg player against Swift with brandon, 4 points in 5 games. and then a 1 1/2 ppg player against swift with regina, with 3 points in 2 games. solid on all counts. if he keeps up his production this series the pats will do alright. the guy that needs to get going is wagner. just 4 points in 13 games since january isn't much for a top line forward. super valuable on the pk obviously, but we need wagner making the offensive impact he made in December and January. in that regard he… Read more »
They'll probably hire an American for the Coyote's vacant radio job.
Rod should have the Jets job instead. Close to Regina, up and coming team, etc. Dennis Beyak is alright but Rod's way better.
If you say that Beyak is 'alright' then I'm not surprised that you prefer Pedersen. No thanks to both of them.