Friday Commentary: Bless This Mess

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A coupla three or more thoughts entering the weekend …

#1 – You’ve heard of Black Friday. Is there such a thing as Black Thursday? Or maybe “Elimination Day” is more appropriate. That’s what it was for the Oilers and Stars, who were bounced from the Stanley Cup Playoffs Thursday night. One has to be considered an upset, while the other series was a pick ‘em.

#2 – Are you ready for a spring and summer full of Oilers talk? Connor McDavid referred to his team as “average” after Thursday night’s 5-2 loss which sprung the Anaheim Ducks to Round 2.

What a mess! There are many calling for the heads of GM Stan Bowman and/or head coach Kris Knoblauch, and rightfully so. But are fans, and the franchise, really prepared to start over when McDavid only has two years left on his deal?

What a mess indeed.

#3 – All eyes will be on the Bell Centre in Montreal tonight as the Tampa Bay Lightning face elimination against the scrappy Canadiens. I simply cannot pick a winner. Every game in this series has been a one goal affair and everyone can agree it’s been the best of the eight opening round series, if you’re watching.

With the young Ducks and Flyers already having moved on, it really feels like this is the “changing of the guard” year but it’ll be up to the graybeards in the Lightning dressing room to prove that not to be the case.

Must-see TV.

And #4 – Still not done with the CFL stuff. In fact I’m thinking of amping up our three-down coverage in the weeks and months ahead as teams prepare to open training camps in less than a month. All the changes to this great game seem weird but our ratings tripled this week as fans wanted to talk about them.

Maybe bad news is better than no news. And you can’t argue with the numbers.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary.

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