10 Weekend Things

Truth & Rumours

1 – WE’RE REALLY ROLLIN’: Some say “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish”. Meanwhile one Hall of Fame CFL coach has long said, “It’s how you start, play in the middle, AND finish that counts.” But for the 2024 Saskatchewan Roughriders – at 2-0 following Sunday’s 33-30 walk-off victory at Hamilton – they’ve passed all the tests under rookie head coach Corey Mace so far and have every reason to feel great about themselves on the trip home from The Hammer. 

2 – SPRINKLE OF JESUS: Just like their Week 1 victory at Edmonton, the Riders were fortuitous in the late stages of this Week 2 clash at Hamilton. Saskatchewan defender C.J. Avery picked off a tipped ball at the Hamilton 37-yard in the final seconds to set up a Brett Lauther field goal, which was no gimme. Bigger picture, Rider quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 390 yards and two touchdowns and narrowly outplayed Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell, who was the victim of bad bounces around him. Similar to last season when Saskatchewan started 3-1, they will go as far as Harris takes them. So far, so good. … As one Rider staffer quipped to me, “Harris is even more ‘Jesus-y‘ than Cody!”

3 – AROUND THE CFL: Week 2 is complete and there are plenty of discussion points. … Winnipeg is 0-2 but rest assured head coach Mike O’Shea knows exactly what ails them. RP Show football analyst Jim Barker feels lacklustre offensive line play is the culprit, and a lack of confidence. They should be able to get over that quickly. … Edmonton is similarly 0-2 but as one well-known U.S. football coach, who’s been catching the games on CBS Sports Network, said to me, “They could be 2-0.” But should they be? … The BC Lions are 1-1 but as that same coach advised in the same conversation, “QB Vernon Adams is already getting beat up. Why do they have him in for short yardage?” … At 2-0, the Montreal Alouettes are the class of the league and QB Cody Fajardo feels they’re better than last year’s team which won the Grey Cup. … Ottawa is 1-0 and first-year QB Dru Brown looks flashy, as advertised.

4 – ATTENDANCE: The Lions were the talk of the land – Stanley Cup Final aside – after drawing 53,000+ to BC Place for their home-opener on Saturday (a 26-17 victory over Calgary) and the pregame concert by rapper 50 Cent. Let me get this straight: some CFL fans are crapping on the Lions fans for not staying till the end of the game? Oy vey. … Some of these people will ridicule anything! Has singer Alessia Cara been heard from since being trounced for her 2018 Grey Cup halftime performance by these same “fans”? I thought she was great. … Attendance is up in BC and down on the prairies. It’s upside down!

5 – STANLEY CUP: The Stanley Cup Final which many opined was the worst in memory took a hairpin turn Saturday night with Edmonton’s 8-1 home rout of the Florida Panthers to avoid a sweep. I had a weird feeling about Game 4 going in. The Panthers faithful seemingly felt a win was in the bag and hundreds of fans and staff made their way to Edmonton on the weekend to see the Cup get handed out. You can’t blame them, but it certainly seemed presumptuous. But the Cats are still in the driver’s seat heading back to The Bank.

6 – GAME 4: The Oilers were all over the Panthers from the jump on Saturday night, and clearly weren’t going to be denied. Cats N Bolts Podcast co-host Sarina Taylor, a staunch Edmonton fan, simply quipped “The Oilers woke up”. I guess they hit snooze a couple of times. …  Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky was lifted Saturday night after allowing five goals but as coach Paul Maurice explained, Bob had simply “seen enough”. PoMo wanted back-up Anthony Stolarz to get some minutes in a Stanley Cup Final. A comeback was out-of-the-question at that point. … Not for one second did I feel the Oilers were running up the score on Saturday, like some maroon posted to Twitter. IT’S THE STANLEY CUP! Every time I see a stupid comment on Social Media, I put my phone down. My SM consumption has gone down by 90%. …  By the way hats off to Winnipeggers who are cheering for their former head coach (Paul Maurice) to win a Stanley Cup. Very classy!

7 – GAME 5: So now the teams and NHL staff are making the trek back to South Florida for Game 5 on Tuesday. Ticket prices for the potential Cup-clincher range from $1000-$6300. Sadly, many Cats season-long fans are just getting squeezed too much and can’t afford to be in attendance however they plan to rally outside the arena. … TSN analyst Craig Button feels Saturday’s loss won’t put even a sliver of doubt in the Panthers’ mind about how this series will turn out but I disagree. How couldn’t it? … However I feel Florida will come out with its best game of the season on Tuesday and Bobrovsky, a Vezina finalist, doesn’t have back-t0-back stinkers. … My pre-series prediction was Panthers in 6.

8 – HOCKEY BUZZ: While the Stanley Cup Final stretches well into the summer, the hockey world is busy with its usual off-season business. One hot rumour over the weekend is that Brad Lauer will be taking over the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, after spending last season on the Winnipeg Jets staff under Rick Bowness. Three weeks ago it was announced Lauer will not be returning to the Jets.

9 – MICKEY MOUSE: One of the best evenings I’ve enjoyed in a good, long while was spent on Saturday at the Regina home of former Regina Pats & Calgary Stampeders broadcaster Kevin Gallant, enjoying steaks and wings. Kevy, my broadcasting idol, retired to Regina after 25 years with Maple Leaf Foods in the Vancouver area and Regina now serves as home base for his Junior Hockey-playing boys Matthew and Michael. … Former Pat Brad Lauer’s name came up of course, as did the father of Edmonton Oilers young star Dylan Holloway, who – if you can hear this in Kevin’s inimitable voice – “is the son of former Pat Bruce Holloway.” … Kevin was vilified in 1986 when, as Voice of the Pats, referred to the Moose Jaw Warriors as a “Mickey Mouse organization.” A plaque commemorating Mickey Mouse Night at the Crushed Can sits in the Gallant basement.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: It’s a big sports week around here! The WCBL’s Moose Jaw Miller Express host a 4-game homestead Wednesday-Saturday and I’ll have the call on Home Team Live. … The Saskatchewan Rattlers host the Calgary Surge on Thursday on Indigenous Night. … How is #80 not retired by the Roughriders? … Roughriders great Kerry Joseph is now the QB Coach with the Chicago Bears and is eager to get his hands on #1 overall pick Caleb Williams. … I thought somebody stole the Dodge logo off my vehicle this week. Turns out it was peeled off in the Coop Gars Bars Touchless Wash and the staff had it waiting for me the next day! Moose Jaw is a very special place. … “Not until you’re comfortable in your own skin will you truly feel at home in this world.” … Don’t those 1-inch microphones look silly in would-be reporters videos? … Noah and Kristen Dweck have seen a number of black bears around their home in Vermont but this week was a first. It was a bear relaxing on their hammock! Noah Dweck took iPhone video of two young bears in their yard in Waitsfield on Tuesday with one sitting on the swinging hammock before he shooed them away. Dweck said he was sitting at a desk with the screen doors open when he heard the jingling of the hammock. He then realized there was no wind, and immediately knew it was the bears and then shot the video. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen