THURSDAY SHOW RECAP: HERITAGE, PRAIRIE CLASSIC TALK!

Thursday was Episode #101 of The Rod Pedersen Show! Here are the highlights:

• It was another full show and Rod opened The Warmup with The Sports Doctor Dave Petrishen from Winnipeg and The Silver Fox Kelly Remple. They jumped full-on into NHL Heritage Classic festivities and Saturday’s game between the Flames and Jets at Mosaic Stadium. All three will be attending this historic game!
• News broke during Hour 1 that Zach Collaros will be the Blue Bombers starting QB for their Friday Night Football home game versus Calgary. The Sports Doc offered his thoughts on the news, and is hoping for the best.
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Which is Canada’s Game of the Week in the CFL? Taking the majority of the vote was Calgary/Winnipeg, followed by Saskatchewan/Edmonton, Hamilton/Montreal and then Ottawa/Toronto.
• Sirius/XM NHL Radio’s Matthew Barnaby joined the show via video chat from his Ottawa home to discuss the Senators’ home win over Detroit, his role in the Heritage Classic, and some fight stories including bouts with Stu Grimson, “The Grim Reaper”.
• Tampa Bay Lightning Assistant GM Al Murray joined the bunker in Hour 1 to talk about the Lightning’s quest for the Stanley Cup, the possibility of an outdoor game in Tampa and how big of a deal the Lightning are in the Florida Gulf Coast region. Al is also a personnel man with Hockey Canada and offered a preview of this year’s WJHC.
• In Hour 2 Rod was joined by the Voice of the Regina Pats Phil Andrews and CTV Regina’s Jackie Perez. They went deep on the Heritage Classic and Prairie Classic (featuring the WHL’s Pats versus Calgary Hitmen on Sunday). Phil revealed that around 14,000 tickets have been sold for the junior game. Jackie was live from Mosaic Stadium on CTV Morning Live on Thursday, and talked about the makeover Mosaic Stadium has undergone.
• The topic turned to whether or not Saskatchewan could support and NHL team? That drew a ton of reaction from viewers and listeners. Jackie feels the province could support a team, since hockey is born and bred here. However Rod and Phil don’t think it can because fans complain about ticket prices as it is, and there’s a lack of corporate dollars. They also talked about the new arena movement in Saskatoon, which is Phil’s hometown.
• One fan asked if NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will be booed in Regina this week and Rod said that’s nonsense. He explained that whole tradition began in the 1990’s when Bettman didn’t understand how important Canada is to the NHL but the Commish has since “figured it out” and is Canada’s biggest supporter.
• With it being show #101, the crew recognized sports figures who’ve worn number-1 in their career and the list includes Henry Burris, Omarr Morgan, Ed Staniowski, Warren Moon, Kory Sheets, Terry Sawchuk, Johnny Bower, Shaq Evans and Cam Newton.
• Thursday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page or you can listen to the podcast by clicking on the PODCAST tab at the top of this page.
• Be sure to join us at 10 am MT for Football Friday as Rod, John Frenzy and a bevy of guests will tee up Week 20 in the CFL, Week 8 in the NFL plus Canada West match-ups and the PFC championship game in Saskatoon between the Hilltops and Huskies! You can also listen at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive.