THURSDAY COMMENTARY – SHOP LOCAL

(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)

IT’S ONE OF MY FAVOURITE DEBATES, AND IT REARED ITS HEAD THIS WEEK WITH THE CALGARY FLAMES ON TRACK TO LOSE THEIR TWO BEST PLAYERS. BOTH AMERICANS.

THE DEBATE IS – HOW MANY LOCAL PLAYERS SHOULD YOU HAVE ON YOUR TEAM? AND SHOULD YOU BUILD YOUR TEAM AROUND THEM?

WE’RE SEEING IT EVERYWHERE. JOHNNY GAUDREAU LEFT THE FLAMES FOR FAMILY REASONS, HE SAYS. HE’S FROM NEW JERSEY BUT SIGNED WITH COLUMBUS. MATTHEW TKACHUK HAS TOLD THE FLAMES HE WON’T RE-SIGN WITH THE TEAM AND HAS GIVEN THEM A LIST OF TEAMS HE’D BE WILLING TO BE TRADED TO.

NONE ARE IN CANADA.

TAKE A LOOK AT OUR BELOVED FRANCHISES: THE SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS AND REGINA PATS. THEY WERE BUILT BY LOCAL PLAYERS.

POLEY AND ALDAG. ATCHISON AND SHAW. GETZLAF AND HUGHES. NOWADAYS IT’S CLARK AND PICTON.

TAKE A LOOK ON THE WALL OF REGINA PATS RETIRED NUMBERS. ALL BUT ONE ARE FROM A 45-MILE RADIUS OF REGINA. NAMES LIKE HICKE, SOBCHUCK, GILLIES, STANIOWSKI, HORNUNG, SILLINGER, EBERLE AND CALLANDER. SHOOT THE ONLY ONE THAT ISN’T IS DALE DERKATCH, BUT HE LIVES IN REGINA NOW.

I DISCUSSED THIS THEORY WITH PATS GM JOHN PADDOCK AND HE SAID HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT LOCAL PLAYERS. HE WANTS THE BEST PLAYERS, AND TO WIN.

WHEN THE PATS WERE PLAYING IN THE 2017 WHL FINAL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 33 YEARS, THERE WASN’T MUCH I COULD SAY.

BUT THOSE ’89 FLAMES BOASTED ALBERTANS LIKE MIKE VERNON, LANNY MCDONALD, TIM HUNTER, AND ADOPTED SON THEOREN FLEURY.

AS SOMEONE POINTED OUT TO ME THE OTHER DAY, THROW IN THE ONTARIO GUYS WHO MADE A HOME IN CALGARY AND NEVER LEFT LIKE JAMIE MACOUN, JIM PEPLINSKI AND THE REST.

I KNOW – PEOPLE MAY THINK I’M THE OLD FART LONGING FOR THE GOOD OL’ DAYS. THE ONES WHO SAY “SPORTS ARE DIFFERENT NOW, ROD.”

THOSE ARE THE SAME ONES CRYING TODAY THAT THEIR FAVOURITE PLAYERS LEFT TO PLAY CLOSER TO HOME.

THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET & 10 pm PT on Game+ TV across Canada and the USA. Call your cable provider for details. You can also watch on YouTube Live or listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)