WEDNESDAY COMMENTARY: WHO YOU GONNA CALL?
(Listen for the Rod Pedersen Commentary daily on Cat Country 98, Rock 98.5 & LTD Radio)
It’s time for this week’s edition of the Good, The Great & The Ugly!:
First the good: Will this finally be the year? 2023 marks the 30-year anniversary of the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup; the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
Will this spring mark the end of that drought?
You’ve gotta think we’re entering “It’s now or never” territory. And the Leafs, Jets and Oilers all seem to have as good a shot as anyone although the Boston Bruins are the Stanley Cup favourites today.
Leafs newcomer Ryan O’Reilly notched a hattrick in Tuesday’s 6-3 win at Buffalo and Toronto can clearly lay claim as Canada’s best NHL team. Edmonton and Winnipeg are hot on their heels with the Trade Deadline approaching.
The NHL is front and centre, and we’re here for it.
Next the great: The Blue Jays are in training camp and play their first Grapefruit League game this Saturday.
That came quick! Especially when you look outside and it’s minus-38 with the windchill. That’s definitely not great.
But what is, is the fact the Blue Jays are easily in the Top 10 of pretty much all preseason MLB power rankings I’ve seen. It’s great to have a chance, because we went a generation without one.
And finally the ugly: A nice lady DM’ed me this week wondering why there hasn’t been more coverage for Team Sask at the Canada Winter Games in PEI.
Frankly if it wasn’t for The RP Show’s Darren Dupont being live in PEI, I wouldn’t even know the Canada Winter Games were on.
I had to inform the nice lady that definitely isn’t my beat anymore, and perhaps she should call her local TV station or newspaper and pose the question to them.
The trouble there is, who would you ask for?
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily on Game+ TV, YouTube Live and WQEE Radio)
Photo: SaltWire.com
Edmonton Oilers
Toronto Maple Leafs
Winnipeg Jets
They’re just not ready. Lord Stanley resides Stateside indefinitely until further notice.
Wrong Winnipeg has a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup. The NHL has never been faster, played with more skill, tougher and there is zero space. When the playoffs happen then the top teams beating the pulp out of lesser teams ends. For the playoffs the skill is the skill. What’s going to tell the tale is which teams check the best and have great goaltending. Winnipeg is a St. Louis Blues hybrid and most important they have probably the top 3 or 5 Goalie. They have a Norris candidate on the blue line, and it’s roll 4 lines.… Read more »
I am a Jets fan and I’d love to see them win it all, but they lack the scoring punch and the defensive depth to go all the way. They can only ride Hellebuyck so far.
It pains me to say it but the Jets look better than they really are due to a soft Western Conference.