The Monday Morning Goalie For SUDS Car Wash

Truth & Rumours For SUDS Car Wash

1 – SUPER BOWL LX: It’ll be the Seahawks & Patriots in Super Bowl 60 in two weeks in San Francisco after Seattle and New England emerged from an epic Conference Championship Sunday. In the early game, New England held off the Denver Broncos 10-7 in a Colorado snowstorm and predictably spoiled the playoff debut of Denver QB Jarrett Stidham. But admit it — were you like me and thought in perfect conditions, the Broncos were primed to pull off an upset? It looked that way in the first half, till the snow hit. The conditions ruined the game, but at least it was equal for both sides. … Then in the late game, it was close but Seattle really seemed in control throughout as they upended the LA Rams 31-27 in the Pacific Northwest. I never bought the line all week that Seahawks QB Sam Darnold was ailing, and he sure looked 100% in vanquishing the Rams.   

2 – EXTRAS: So it’s a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX in the Desert when Malcolm Butler intercepted Mr. Unlimited on the goalline to preserve a Patriots victory over Seattle in 2015. Long gone are Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, but the teams are back, with new faces. … Robert Kraft has owned the Patriots for 32 seasons, and been to 11 Super Bowls. He’s done it with three different Coach/QB combos. … Mike Vrabel can become the first man in NFL history to win a Super Bowl as Head Coach and as a player with the same team. Not sure how many people have done it in the CFL, but Kent Austin’s done it with Saskatchewan in 1989 and 2007. … Not sure why the narrative is always that when a team loses, it may be the last game for their coach. That was the talk on the postgame radio show regarding L.A. and their 40-year old Head Coach Sean McVay. They just got to the Final Four and their QB is in his prime — why would he leave?? … It’s hard not to cheer for Denver linebacker Alex Singleton. He plays the game with more passion than anyone I’ve ever seen. … The Seattle Seahawks have been around for 50 years. That’s cute! The Saskatchewan Roughriders have been around for 126.

4 – NHL NOTES: You can’t prove Connor McDavid intentionally kicked Washington’s Tom Wilson in the groin on Saturday night. … Should Toronto’s William Nylander be disciplined for flipping the bird to a Sportsnet camera on Sunday? No. … There’s a lot of panic around South Florida about the Panthers but frankly, I’m surprised they’re as close to a playoff spot (3 pts) with all the injuries they’ve had. They’re returning from a three-game road trip where they went 3-0. … It would be weird not having the Stanley Cup Final in Florida for seventh straight spring. … San Jose is going to be good for a long time. … It was great to catch up with Saskatoon’s Drew Remenda, the longtime Sharks TV commentator. He said he regularly watches the RP Show in California on Game+TV! Turns out the Golden State is the 33rd state which carries the channel. …  Vegas’s Mark Stone had points in 14 straight games until being shutout in the Golden Knight’s 7-1 loss at Ottawa on Sunday … Tampa Bay had points in 15 straight games heading into Saturday’s 8-5 loss at Columbus. … It’ll be nothing short of a miracle if the Winnipeg Jets turn this season around and get into the playoffs. Even Hustler of Winnipeg Sports Talk has them written off! It was a treat to guest on his show this week.

5 – HE WHO LAUGHS LAST: The biggest story in the NHL this week was Mitch Marner’s return to Toronto with the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday (the VGK won 6-3). The build-up for the game was Super Bowl-worthy but the Toronto media was wayyyyyyy out of line. I used to work with some of these guys – and I won’t name names – but they were out of control. Let me put it to you this way: bashing Mitch Marner for nine straight seasons and lighting him on fire on his way out of town, causing him to say Toronto’s a hard place to play, and then turn around and bash him all over again for those exact comments? Pro tip: It’s abusive and when the victim speaks up only to be belittled yet again, that’s the definition of toxic. Glad he’s out of there.

6 – STORY #2: Prior to the Marner story, the biggest thing in the NHL was Monday’s goalie fight between Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky and San Jose’s Alex Nedjeljkovic in Sunrise. It was the first goalie fight since Feb. 1, 2020 when Edmonton’s Mike Smith took on Calgary’s Cam Talbot on Hockey Night In Canada. On Monday I was watching a mild skirmish in the corner when a hockey guy from Ontario seated beside me starting elbowing and yelled, “Look out – here comes Bob!” It was a helluva bout and “Ned” got the win simply because he landed on top. Afterwards Bobrovsky was cool as a cucumber when asked about his first career fight, and all smiles. Bob said Nedjeljkovic had crossed a line but his English is so broken, we weren’t sure what he said at the time.

7 – HOUSE: What an absolute pleasure it was to catch up with one-time Regina Pats career penalty minute leader Al Tuer at Monday’s game. The man they call “House” is working as a pro scout with the NY Rangers after many years in the Panthers scouting department. Tuer went into the Western Canada Pro Hockey Scouts Hall of Fame last summer in Okotoks, AB along with my Dad, but we never got a chance to visit that night. It was too crazy. Al ran the Moose Jaw Warriors from 1993-98 while I was Voice of the rival Regina Pats and we agreed that was the PEAK of the Pats/Warriors rivalry. Somehow, we always got along through that. Maybe it’s because he was a Pat. Oh, and House L-O-V-E-D his time in Moose Jaw. As do I.

8 – CALL TO THE HALL: This year’s Western Canada hockey scouts Hall of Fame induction dinner goes August 28 in Okotoks and the 2026 class consists of Regina’s Jim Bzdel, Garnet “Ace” Bailey, Mike Barnett, Dan Ginnell, Craig Channell, Paul Charles, Marcel Comeau, Jeff Crisp, Marshall Davidson, Laurence Ferguson, Thomas Gradin, Randy Hansch, Rich & Ron Sutter, Ryan Jankowski, Kelly Kisio, Jack McIlhargey, John Williams, Ray Dudra and Mark Johnston. Here’s hoping longtime Saskatoon Blades Voice Les Lazaruk is honored with the Bob Ridley Golden Microphone Award! Last year it was Portland’s Dean “Scooter” Vrooman.