10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking shots …

1 – THE BUZZ: Spent the week, like all the rest, around football and hockey people. Grateful for this life! The gridiron guys come from the pro, college and high school ranks – and some agents – and they’re all at the end of their rope. In an article regarding the NFL Combine in Indy this weekend, this new breed of players was referred to as “the opt-out generation”. The Transfer Portal has caused chaos in the game, and in general, no longer is a deal a deal. It’s been forever since handshakes meant anything, but now signed contracts don’t either. The white-haired guys have thrown their hands up and called it a career (looking at you Nick Saban), while those with years left in the game are trying to find a way to deal with it without blowing a gasket.

Do we blame the kids? Or do we blame the parents? The age old question.

2 – COMBINING: When it comes to combines, I was far more interested in a John Deere 4421. But RP Show & TSN football analyst Jim Barker gave us reason to follow the NFL & CFL Combines this month on Friday’s show. “It’s the same thing as when you were in high school,” Barker reasoned from his Toronto home. “You said ‘I’m never gonna use Geometry!’ It’s not about that. This is a way to measure athleticism, although I can see why football people are more interested in this than most.” There are some pretty eye-popping numbers coming out of Indy this week and the CFL results will be interesting to follow too. Tip ‘o the cap to JB.

3 – CFL: The recent news of a former female staffer suing the Toronto Argonauts and QB Chad Kelly for wrongful dismissal and sexual harassment respectively are headlines the CFL would prefer not to have to deal with. But here we are. In discussions about it this week, one hallowed pro football figure from Toronto advised me “not to be quick to tar and feather Chad Kelly”. As usual in cases like this, there is far more to the story than has been reported – or even included in the lawsuit – and although times have certainly changed, one thing has not: the phrase “Innocent till proven guilty”.

4 – OLD SCHOOL: Saturday night’s Hockey Night In Canada pregame show with Ron MacLean and Kevin Bieksa had me checking my calendar to confirm what decade we’re in. Their preview of a potential Ryan Reaves-Matt Rempe fight in the upcoming Rangers/Maple Leafs game had all the feels of the 1990s. AND THEN IT HAPPENED! The heavyweight bout unfolded in the third period thanks to a questionable Rempe hit and Reaves asked him to square off. It wasn’t the greatest tussle of all-time, but it was far from the worst. The talk of “Fighting In Hockey” has reared its head this week but it’s evident the NHL is okay with the bouts as long as they’re not highlighted nor underscored by the teams.

5 – REMPE: He’s the Flavour Of The Week in the NHL – call him hockey’s Tommy Devito – but that flavour can still be good. Western Canadian hockey fans are no stranger to the 6’8″ forward from Calgary because he spent good time with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. But I never thought he’d go on to NHL stardom as a fighter. He never had more than 96 PIMs in the DUB! But apparently he learned to fight in the AHL because – at age 21 – he gave 37-year old Ryan Reaves all he could handle on Hockey Night In Canada. 

6 – FIGHTING IN HOCKEY: There are Karens who are up-in-arms that Rempe looks like a raccoon (double shiners) after just seven games in the NHL. I’m not exactly sure what they’re getting at by pointing out photos of Rempe at Rangers practice but I can guarantee you this: nobody’s got a gun to his head. Hopefully Rempe is being advised by the right people and is following the stories of Derek Boogaard and Bob Probert. Nobody wants his story to end that way but as Kevin Bieksa pointed out on HNIC, Rempe is “earning the respect of everybody in the NHL”. You’ve gotta respect the hell out of that.

7 – OTHER HOCKEY NOTES: Great trivia question from NHL Network during Saturday’s broadcast: Who’s the last man to win a Stanley Cup as a player, and head coach? The answer below. … A hockey follower asked if Chris Chelios – who had his #7 retired by the Chicago Blackhawks last Sunday – is the greatest righthanded defenceman of all-time? I had to think for a minute and the only other one I could come up with is Al MacInnis. And I’d still pick Chelly over all the rest! … It’s fun to field these questions though. … You simply cannot criticize any area of Auston Matthews’ game, from what I can see. When Leaf alumni are saying he is, or will be, the greatest Leaf ever, that’s saying a lot. … After a survey of our listeners conducted by WQEE Radio boss Ryan O’Neal, these are the names they came up with for an Atlanta NHL team: Red Wolves, Rebels, Serpents, Beavers, Peachnuts, Peachtrees, Longshores, Possums, Crawdads, Wolves, Tomahawks. … Thursday marked the leap year; February 29. NHL’ers born on the Leap Year include former Pat Lyndon Byers, Cam Ward and Henri Richard. … Trivia answer: Larry Robinson.

8 – OKAY BLUE JAYS: Disappointed that Alek Manoah has been scratched for Sunday’s Blue Jays/Red Sox tilt in Ft. Myers, FL since we’re headed over to watch it live. Manoah’s got shoulder soreness (FYI, so do I). … Last year at this time the Jays were ranked anywhere between 6th-8th in the Power Rankings and they ended up 9th overall with 89 wins. This year, they’re ranked 10th in all of MLB. That’s not bad!

9 – MEDIA: How is it that the PWHL is generating more media coverage than the CFL? I thought the gashing of Canadian sports media was what has affected the drop in CFL coverage but then my timeline and wire services are rife with womens pro hockey coverage. Is this here to stay? Or just a fad? … Saturday mornings are officially a wasteland for live radio. Used to be I’d look forward to a five-mile run on weekend mornings and listen to live coverage & previews of NHL games, college football and what have you. Now, it’s just a collection of re-aired podcasts. Did the explosion of podcasts cause this, or did radio kill itself? You be the judge. … And to be clear – I’m talking about weekends only, not M-F (as we say in the biz). The RP Show still airs live on WQEE in metro-Atlanta live daily. … If I can hear you breathing over the air, we need to do something about that. … The swamp is being drained. It’s fascinating to see who’s left lurking!

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Not surprisingly, Mike McEwen is the clear rooting interest for those at the Montana’s Brier in Regina. Despite Sask boys Hebert, Dunstone and Schneider in the house wearing different colours, the locals are cheering for the green. Did we really expect anything else? … You don’t need a lot of friends. Just a few really good ones. … Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark recently became the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division 1 basketball. This week the 6’0″ Des Moines product declared for the WNBA Draft, where she’ll make $76,000 per season. This, after collecting $1-million in an NIL deal at Iowa. … The football insiders see potential for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2024, thanks almost entirely to the positive infusion of rookie head coach Corey Mace. I too think they’ll be heard from in the end, but it’ll take until at least August to get get acclimated to new offensive and defensive coordinators, and their schemes. Continuity is a major plus which most other West Division teams enjoy headed into the season. … Hopefully you have better luck with the movie Argylle at Landmark Cinemas! I walked out. Thumbs down from the Monday Morning Goalie. … An RP Show viewer criticized the Paramount TV show Bar Rescue saying all the episodes are the same. HOGWASH! As a former bar & restaurant owner myself, I can tell you Bar Rescue episodes are like snowflakes and bull rides; no two are the same. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen