10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking shots …

1 – BREAK UP THE OILERS: How about those Edmonton Oilers? 30th overall in the NHL over the first month of the season, Edmonton’s NHL team climbed into a playoff spot (2nd wildcard) on Saturday with a 3-1 home win over Ottawa. It was their seventh win in a row; a feat they’ve achieved twice this season. The last time the Oilers won seven straight games multiple times? The 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons, when they won the Stanley Cup. The Florida Panthers also won their seventh in a row on Saturday – beating Colorado 8-4 in a wild one – so wouldn’t it be something if the Panthers and Oilers met in the Stanley Cup Final!

2 – BEDARD: Not all the headlines were good this weekend in sports. Chicago Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard suffered a broken jaw on Friday night courtesy of a rather innocent hit by New Jersey defenceman Brendan Smith. It’s the first significant injury of Connor’s already illustrious career (his broken wrist at age 11 notwithstanding). With this injury, Connor’s going to miss his homecoming game in Vancouver later this month, plus the NHL All Star festivities which is a major groaner for the NHL. BUT Connor can still always say he was an All Star in his rookie season and I feel this is just God’s way of slowing him down for a much-needed rest. As usual, he’s already done enough.

3 – SWIFT KICK: One reason my stress is low and my mood is high is because I’ve found a way to effectively block out the noise. Sure I heard the criticism that pop sensation Taylor Swift is the Yoko Ono of the Kansas City Chiefs (look it up) but I never believed it. And here on the last weekend of the NFL regular season, the Chiefs have already wrapped up the AFC West Division and Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce is just 16 yards away from 1,000 for an eighth consecutive season. No tightend in NFL history has done that. How do I know? Kelce belongs to the same gym as me – Johnny O’s Gymnasium in Boca Raton – and that stat was floating around the gym floor Saturday morning. Everybody’s excited to get Kelce back for training this off-season, and they’re hoping he brings his g/f in for a visit.

4 – DUB HUB: Of course I’m keeping close tabs on what’s going on the WHL and this week’s blockbuster moves involving Swift Current, Moose Jaw and Wenatchee have got tongues wagging. “What they hell are they doing?” one veteran coach huffed on the phone to me this week. “Swift hasn’t made the playoffs in forever and shipping their future to Wenatchee will ensure they won’t make them after this season for the next 10 years! Moose Jaw gave up their future too!” It was a fun phone conversation and I told him I’d do a little more digging. The word I got is Swift Current wants to make some bank this spring – they desperately need to – and they even beat Moose Jaw Saturday night. As for the Warriors, they may never have a team this good again and GM Jason Ripplinger pushed all their chips into the middle of the table. A bluff? Not on your life. Things haven’t been this exciting in the 306 as far as the playoffs go for quite some time! Too bad the Pats aren’t part of it, but they had their fun with Bedard. Looks like I’ll be back this spring to enjoy the playoff drama and can’t wait.

5 – TELEMIRACLE 48: Saskatchewan’s charity is featured this February and I’m going to be hounding you to donate to our page until we reach our fundraising goal of $5000 so you’re best off to donate now and get me off your back at https://telemiracle.micharity.com/product/the-rod-pedersen-show/! The online 50/50 has been very popular since its inception a few years ago as well so there are lots of ways to support. We’re very grateful to work with Telemiracle again and would love for you to be a part of it. All great Saskatchewan traditions!

6 – BURKE DALES: As I said, not all headlines this weekend in sports are good. Grey Cup champion punter Burke Dales passed away this weekend at age 46. I never met the former Steeler, Eskimo, Stampeder & Alouette other than standing in the odd media scrum with him but those who knew him, loved him. I’ll never forget famed Edmonton P.R. man Dave Jamieson saying to me once, “Burke Dales should be running this province!” That was enough of an endorsement for me. He was a 4-time All Star and made an indelible mark however for whatever reason, he struggled post-career. Our condolences to the friends and family of Burke Dales.

7 – CFL FANS REJOICE: Heading into the weekend, there was all kinds of CFL news for fans and media to chew on such as Bo Levi Mitchell’s 50%(ish) paycut in Hamilton, Saskatchewan releasing veteran LB Derrick Moncrief, and Edmonton releasing QB Taylor Cornelius, then turning around and adding veteran QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson. The CFL’s always been wild, whacky and unpredictable and I suppose at this point, it’s always going to be. For those howling about where the MBT signing leaves incumbent Canadian QB Tre Ford, they should remember that McBeth is proven while Ford, largely, is not. The pundits are scoffing and making jokes about Elks boss Chris Jones but I spoke to him two weeks ago and after cleaning up a massive mess the past two seasons in Edmonton, he feels like they’re primed to take a major step forward in 2024. Watch out for them.

8 – NFL: Big ups to Houston RB Coach/Associate Head Coach Danny Barrett for heading to the playoffs with the Texans in Year 1 of the DeMeco Ryans regime. They went 10-7 and clinched a berth on the road in Indianapolis Saturday night. Danny is the longest-tenured head coach in Saskatchewan Roughriders history but had no interest in being a CFL lifer, and took his shot south of the border. It’s paid off big time. …  If there was ever more evidence needed that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, look at tonight’s marquee match-up with Buffalo at Miami. The Dolphins and their fans were crowing all year about this being their best season in 20 years but now due to late-season injuries and other mishaps, the Fins are limping into this clash and the Bills are 2-point road favorites. A Buffalo win would rip them the AFC East title out of Miami’s grasp. … It’s best to stay under the radar, and leave the bravado to your foes. … I spent Saturday evening in the presence of a 17-year old high school senior baseball star who advised about the odds and picking winners, “Always go with who needs it more, like the Steelers tonight over the Ravens.” The little sonofagun was right. … I still suck at betting but our betting partner Bet Regal has advised to just keep talking about the games, and let the bettors sort it out for themselves. Works for me! … The RP Show will be at Super Bowl XLVIII thanks to $22/night rooms on the Vegas Strip. Grateful!

9 – CATS ‘N BOLTS PODCAST: Just another shoutout and thanks to the Florida hockey community and Panthers alumni for teeing us up with another great guest for our weekly NHL podcast. We asked Panthers fans which alum they’d like to hear from the most and the resounding winner was Peter Worrell. So we got the 6’7″ feared scrapper and he spent an hour with us discussing the two Memorial Cups he appeared in with the Hull Olympiques (1996 & 1997), the racial taunts he faced during his career (he said it was far worse in junior than the NHL), his toughest fights and hardest hits, and his current role as brand ambassador and youth hockey director with the Panthers. Thank you to our generous sponsors: Draft Kings, Beach House Pompano, Baresco, Johnny O’s Gymnasium & The Diamond Lab. If you can believe a Panthers fan wrote in this week and said, “Thank you for doing this podcast.” That, I believe, is a first.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Said ESPN’s Mel Kiper this week: “To the Jim Harbaugh haters, just shut the heck up!” … On the contrary, I always appreciated my haters. Without them, I’d likely have given up long ago. Thank you! … You see a restaurant worker not wash his hands in the restroom after using the facilities. What do you do?? … Nothing good will come from Spittin Chiclets posting senior hockey fights, minor hockey brawls and fan fights to their accounts. … “The General who plans ahead has the war half won.” … Is it a good sign or bad sign that the cops are routinely at your favorite restaurant? (Answer: it depends on what they’re doing). … Why does Facebook think I want to read news about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce every time I open their app? Because I do not. … A tornado touched down in Fort Lauderdale Saturday evening, however no one was injured. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen