TUESDAY COMMENTARY – GO PATS GO - The Rod Pedersen Show

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

If you’re simply a fan of the Regina Pats, you must be thinking these are the best of times.

And when I say “simply a fan”, I mean not an analyst, nor a hockey guy, nor anyone who’s paid to critically watch the games and project the future.

No. If you’re someone who simply pays to go to games, scout out a strategic parking spot, wear your Pats jersey and eat popcorn and Twizzlers in the Brandt Centre and cheer like heck every time Connor Bedard touches the puck, then you’re enjoying some of the best times in Regina Pats history.

That’s 106 years!

6,499 did just that on Monday during Family Day and they saw the Pats down the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-2.

Everyone in the barn was smiling. I got to see just about everybody that I wanted to see and was having so much fun, I almost forgot to leave early! (Those R.E.A.L. parking lots can be a real pain).

And lots of things struck me while watching the game; not the least of which is that the Pats could just be a special enough team to pull off an upset in Round 1 of the playoffs. I haven’t watched them enough to say for sure.

Also there were lots of faces there from out of town. Lots. They made a weekend end of it, and therefore the hotels, restaurants and shopping centres were packed with the out-of-town folk.

A voice in my head said, “Connor Bedard sure has been great for the Regina economy.”

They’re printing #98 Bedard jerseys at the pace of an NHL team, and they don’t seem to run out. Imagine if he got a cut.

I guess we can forget the fact Pats tickets are outrageously priced for junior hockey. People have a choice how to spend their money and they’ve clearly made it! Go Pats Go.

And was we sit here today, a good case could be made why they never traded Connor Bedard away.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm ET on Game+ TV, YouTube Live and WQEE Radio)