10 Weekend Things

Truth & Rumours

1 – TIME TO HUNT: The NHL preseason opened for both the Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators on Sunday with a doubleheader at Amerant Bank Arena. The Stanley Cup champions flexed their muscle, winning both ends by 3-2 and 6-2 scores. The matinee drew far more fans than the nightcap, with 8,076 onlookers filling the lower bowl; believed to be a Panthers preseason record. I’ll have plenty more coverage and analysis in my South Florida Tribune column this week, but it’s safe to say that Cats fans went home happy! Everyone was a bit surprised by the large crowd, given the fact the Dolphins were playing at Seattle at the same time (a 24-3 Fins loss). WHL grads Josh Davies and Gracyn Sawchyn both found the scoresheet for Florida on Sunday and are good bets to make the team, especially with so many holes in the roster after nine off-season departures. … This is my fourth season covering the Panthers! Joel Quenneville was the head coach when I first showed up.

2 – STAMMERING: There was just as much buzz in the building over the Nashville debut of Steven Stamkos as there was about welcoming the Cats back for the first time since they hoisted the Stanley Cup on June 24 with a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7. Stamkos may have toiled for the arch rival for 16 seasons, but Panthers fans have nothing but the utmost respect for the Markham, ON product. On Sunday night, Stamkos played on the #1 line with Luke Evangelista and Tommy Novak, scored a goal and was minus-3. He even flashed a smile a time or two! No looking back.

3 – UP WEEK: How do you spell relief? W-I-N. The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 37-29 win at Calgary on Friday did so many things. It snapped a seven game winless skid, was their first post-Labour Day victory in God-knows-how-long, and created a little cushion for the final playoff spot in the CFL West with four games to go (three points up on Edmonton, four points up on Calgary). Quite a switch, eh? We’ve heard the poopoo’ing over the fact the Riders only beat the CFL’s worst team but the age-old adage rings true now more than ever: They don’t ask how, they ask how many. I tabbed these “Up Weeks” for a reason. Riders newcomer Ryquell “Rock” Armstead – baggage and all – had the best debut by a running back in CFL history totalling 207 rushing yards. (Nobody ever said he was a bad player). If Armstead can keep his nose clean for another six weeks, he may save Saskatchewan’s season.

4 – CFL: There are raging quarterback controversies in Edmonton (Tre Ford & McLeod Bethel-Thompson) and BC (Nathan Rourke & Vernon Adams) and that may be the top story to watch the rest of the way. These situations have been fascinating to follow and remind me of some of the heated QB debates we’ve had in Saskatchewan over the years. The Riders’ indecision over starting Nealon Greene or Henry Burris – both fabulous guys – divided the locker room in 2004 and the same happened in 2008 when Michael Bishop was brought in by Ken Miller, choosing him over Marcus Crandell, Steven Jyles and Darian Durant. The teams will do their best to quell the storm outside their locker rooms but how it plays out inside, and on the field, remains to be seen. It just seems so easy from the press box or the couch!

5 – CFL II: The weekly CFL Game Notes provided some delicious facts, as always. NO team in CFL history has rallied from an 0-7 start to make the playoffs like the Edmonton Elks are trying to do. What a rallying point for head coach Jarious Jackson! … Meanwhile the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have had a better second half record than the first half in every season since 2019. Their recent mastery of the rival Toronto Argonauts has to have caused some knee-knocking at BMO Field. … At 11-2-1, the Montreal Alouettes are clearly the class off the field and can start booking their rooms for the Grey Cup in Vancouver in November. … Meanwhile the Calgary Stampeders have made the playoffs the past 18 seasons but with a CFL-worst record (4-9-1), their penchant for leaving things till the last minute may finally catch up to them. My task this week is to burn up the phone lines with the insiders, deciphering what exactly Calgary’s problem is.

6 – HOW BOUT THEM….: While driving home from the Panthers game, I tuned into the Dallas Cowboys radio broadcast with our good friend Brad Sham. “Awful! Terrible” spat the Voice of the Cowboys into the microphone. “TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE!” At the time, Dallas was trailing Baltimore 28-6 in the third quarter. My first thought was wondering if Jerry Jones ever hears those tapes? The Cowboys rallied late, but succumbed 28-25 to fall to 1-2. By now, you’ve probably seen the video of their volatile sideline arguments. Sigh … I’m glad I didn’t waste another afternoon on these jokers. … I maintain the only way Dak Prescott takes the Cowboys to the Super Bowl is if he’s driving a tour bus. … I kid you not, this week our home Alexa quipped, “Wanna hear a football joke? They call the Dallas Cowboys America’s Team because they’ll be watching the Super Bowl on TV like the rest of America!”

7 – COLLEGE: Miami Hurricanes QB Cam Ward entered the record books by hitting 15,000 career passing yards in Saturday’s blowout win over South Florida. Having seen him live, he reminds me of Warren Moon. … Texas Longhorns QB Arch Manning reminds me of his grandpa, whose name he bares. As my insiders pointed out, the youngest Manning is under the excellent tutelage of former Roughrider QB Steve Sarkisian, plus some pretty accomplished uncles. … Broadcaster Dan Patrick quipped that Gators boosters are already “doing the math” on a buyout for embattled coach Billy Napier. Then Florida went out and torched Mississippi State 45-28. … Kent Austin’s Auburn Tigers fell to 2-2 with a 24-14 loss to Arkansas. … Coach Prime’s Colorado Buffaloes pulled one out of the fire, beating Baylor 38-31 in OT. … Jeff Reinebold’s Hawaii Rainbow Warriors went to 2-2 with a 36-7 win over Northern Iowa.

8 – DUB HUB: The Regina Pats are 1-1 after splitting their opening weekend of the 2024-25 WHL season. (I’ll always follow the Pats closely). A video is making the rounds from the home-opener, displaying a cavernous Brandt Centre. Attendance for the 5-1 loss to Brandon was listed at 3,481. That’s going to be an interesting situation to follow. … Meanwhile 40 miles away, 4,447 showed up at the Moose Jaw Events Centre to watch the Warriors raise their first-ever WHL championship banner. Way to go Tribe! They lost this one, 6-4 to the Prince Albert Raiders. … We’re thrilled to add the weekly WHL column from Medicine Hat writer Glen Erickson to this page.

9 – THE WOJ: This isn’t an NBA column, so you may not know who top basketball insider Adrian Wojnarowski is, but his sudden announcement this week that he’s leaving his $7-million per year role at ESPN to become GM of an NCAA basketball team at St. Bonaventure has sent shockwaves throughout the industry. Perhaps Woj’s ESPN colleague Adam Schefter said it best: “To me, you don’t do these jobs. You live these jobs. And Woj was done living the job. He wanted to live his life,” Schefter said.

I felt that.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Somebody “poked” me on Facebook this week. That’s still a thing? … Not sure who invented the Honey Mustard flavour, but I hope they won a Nobel Prize. … TSN needs to cool it with their notifications. … Is McAfee anti-virus software on a MacBook that critical, or am I being scammed? … The bird doesn’t trust his wings till he jumps off the branch. … The National Toy Hall of Fame is floating the idea of inducting balloons. They are among the 12 finalists being considered for the honour later this year, alongside other first-time contenders including the trampoline and the party game Apples to Apples. Also nominated are the “Choose Your Own Adventure” gamebooks, Hess Toy Trucks, My Little Pony, Phase 10, the Pokemon Trading Card Game, remote-controlled vehicles, Sequence, the stick horse and Transformers. A panel of expert judges and the public will vote on which of the finalists will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The winners will be announced in November. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen