The Monday Morning Goalie For SUDS

TRUTH & RUMOURS FOR SUDS CAR WASH

1 – HERE WE GO: I saw somewhere somebody say, “For those still following the Stanley Cup Playoffs …”. I mean, who isn’t? I spend my summers in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and this is a hockey town if there ever was one; people jammering hockey talk morning, noon and night year-round. Love it! So of course everyone’s into the Stanley Cup Final which begins Tuesday with Game 1 between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes from Lenovo Center in Raleigh, NC. The VGK are on a six-game winning streak rolling into the SCF while the Canes have won four in a row. Vegas is also trying to become the third team to win a Stanley Cup after knocking off the top seeds from each conference on their playoff trail. The 1980 and 1983 N.Y. Islanders were the only others to do it. Vegas in six.

2 – BUTCH: Vegas has performed the role of villain in these Stanley Cup Playoffs beautifully but the simple fact is they’ve been hated since they entered the NHL nine seasons ago. Vegas had early and sustained success, put other franchises to shame on and off the ice, and that comes with jealousy (aka hate). This story of VGK GM Kelly McCrimmon not allowing fired head coach Bruce Cassidy the opportunity to interview for vacant head coaching jobs shouldn’t come as a surprise either. For anyone who spent five minutes working in the Dub while McCrimmon was running the Brandon Wheat Kings will know this is just “Kelly being Kelly”. When the season is over, Cassidy will interview with the Oilers and they will hire him (unless offers come from LA and Toronto first, but I’m told Cassidy’s attracted to the Edmonton job).

The Edmonton Journal and its popular blog The Cult Of Hockey picked up my Cassidy prediction (thank you) which ran in newspapers all across Canada and the US which blew up my phone from hockey people. They all agree. Vegas wouldn’t care to pay Cassidy the $4.5M to stay home next year, the Oilers want Cassidy and he wants them, so it’s lining up. Plus if Vegas was truly “blocking” the hire, Commissioner Gary Bettman would have stepped in, which he hasn’t. Out of it all, I’m proudest that Oilers writer David Staples referred to me as an “NHL insider” and “Florida Panthers podcaster”. I’ve worked real hard to build that brand! It also helps that the RP Show airs on Silver State Sports Network in Las Vegas so there’s a big tie-in there. Thanks again …

4 – CLAUDE LEMIEUX: Frankly I haven’t seen the hockey world reeling over someone’s death in quite some time, like we have with last week’s passing of Claude Lemieux. No, I didn’t know the four-time Stanley Cup champion who took his life at age 60 last week but I know plenty who did. He’s part of that tight-knit Montreal Canadiens fraternity – which is even more exclusive among those who’ve won Cups with the Habs – and here’s why they’re so devastated: Claude showed no signs. He had the honour of carrying the torch onto the ice prior to a Canadiens Stanley Cup Playoff game and three days later he was found dead in the warehouse of the furniture store he owns in Lake Park, Florida. Lemieux was not down on his luck. His friends tell me he was worth $50-million and as we all saw, looked to be in great shape. This whole situation could spawn a separate column, on Mental Health, which few know anything about, but suffice it to say you shouldn’t assume what someone else is dealing with. Claude’s friends feel like they let him down. Be there for someone.

#4 – REST IN PEACE #10: I’ll call Dennis Hull an NHL icon because we still talk about him to this day. He passed away this weekend at age 81 and the Chicago Blackhawks family is mourning. Dennis and I did events together in Prince Albert, Zenon Park, Delisle and Regina over the years and I’ll have to tell some stories on Monday’s RP Show. Dennis was a far better comedian than he was a hockey player but that’s only because he’s one of the funniest guys I ever met! Some of his lines: “Bobby and I are the highest-scoring brother combo in NHL history, on and off the ice. I have to say that now as much as possible because as soon as Keith Gretzky scores one we’re screwed!”, or “Our sister Maxine was a hooker outside the Montreal Forum. She scored more there than we ever did!”, or if there was buxom blonde lady in the crowd, “How would you like to be Brett Hull’s aunt?” One night in Delisle they were auctioning off a #10 Hull Blackhawks replica jersey and Dennis rubbed it between his legs and said on the mic, “Game worn!” What a man.

5 – THE MEMMER: Sam O’Reilly had a four-point performance, including three assists, to lead the Kitchener Rangers to a 6-2 win over the Everett Silvertips in the Memorial Cup championship on Sunday. Jared Woolley scored what stood up as the winner and Jack Pridham netted his tournament-leading fifth goal as the Ontario Hockey League champions pulled away for a repeat of their 6-2 win from Monday’s round-robin meeting. Christian Kirsch made 30 saves for the Rangers, who struck twice on a 5-on-3 power play to start the third period after leading 2-1 and 3-1 at the breaks. They never trailed with Luke Ellinas opening the scoring and Dylan Edwards making it 2-1. It is the Rangers’ third Memorial Cup in franchise history.

6 – CFL TV: Tenuous times for the CFL. Maybe. Or perhaps it’s the dawn of a new era? I’ve had significant talks with CFL powerbrokers over the past couple weeks and wholeheartedly stand behind the new broadcast deal which kicks in in 2027 and adds streaming partners YouTube and DAZN to the current TV rightsholder of TSN. In time, I believe you will too. Like you, I pick and choose my streaming services but in the US I pay $40CDN monthly to ESPN+ for all NHL games. Wouldn’t have it any other way. There’s the option to pay more for MLB, but I don’t. Hence, I don’t watch much baseball. So the big leagues are all doing it, but the CFL shouldn’t? It’s not 1985 anymore folks. Those days are gone and the CFL had to get with the times. Plus this adds new opportunities for broadcasters and analysts, so I don’t see a downside. The biggest problem the CFL has is the complete obliteration of the Canadian media landscape whereby it feels like hardly any media is talking about football’s greatest league. We’re here to change that…

7 – WEEK 1: It’s a beautiful start to the 2026 season. It kicks off with Thursday Night Football in Hamilton as Bo Levi Mitchell and the Tiger-Cats host Davis Alexander and the Montreal Alouettes. Why does this already feel like a big game? Friday Night Football features the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the Calgary Stampeders. (Did they announce details on the Stampede Bowl and follow-up act to Poison’s Brett Michaels from last year or did I miss it?). Saturday the Edmonton Elkimos visit Ottawa in what Sports 1440 Edmonton radio’s Jason Gregor calls “The biggest game in the history of the ‘Elks’ franchise”. Agree or disagree? John Frenzy would call these “E.S.B.G.’s” (Early Season Big Games). THRILLING!

8 – KULKAMANIA: If the TV and streaming networks who carry the games ever want to start digging into the CFL’s colourful alumni stories for pregame features, they’ll probably want to start with Glenn Kulka. I was with the Edmonton product all day Saturday (oddly we’d never met before but were hugging like brothers by the end of the day). Imagine a guy who played in the WHL for Spokane & Med Hat and pro hockey in the ECHL, played junior football before a star-studded CFL career, then broke into the WWF fighting the likes of The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase and King Kong Bundy alongside Bret “The Hitman” Hart? Kulka shattered his knee into a million pieces on Monday Night Raw in the Regina Agridome in 1998 (we were all there ringside), and never played again. Look him up. I got all their numbers.

Glenn was in Regina as the keynote speaker for Regina’s Youth Battle For Recovery on Saturday, celebrating prevention and Recovery from Addiction. Kulka was self-admittedly, addicted to everything but has been sober for 15 years. That’s the other side of us. A young lady named Lexi told her story before the sparsely-attended crowd at Darke Hall of being sexual abused before the age of 3 and having her foster parents take her out for supper years later only to inform her they didn’t want her anymore and putting her “back into the system”. She broke down on stage telling the story and I broke down in the crowd. Lexi then went on to tell her story of Recovery. I tracked her down afterwards and told her I’m proud of her. We have no other idea what people are living with, and have lived through…

9 – WE’RE THE MILLERS: It’s been a tremendous start to the Western Canadian Baseball League season which opened on Thursday. The Saskatoon Berries are mowing their way through the competition, starting 3-1 including an 18-0 victory over the Weyburn Beavers in the annual Rural Roots (Field of Dreams) game on Friday in Carnduff, SK. That’s the hometown of WCBL superstar Carter Beck but he’s not back in 2026 as he prepares for the MLB Draft in July. My Moose Jaw Miller Express are off to a 2-1 start under rookie manager Michael Gonzalez and each game has been a thriller! The Crushed Can Night Club was jammed on Sunday for the annual Meet The Millers night where baseball fans could enjoy a rib dinner for just $25 and meet the team. Somebody said this league has a real “Shoresy feel” to it and I can’t disagree. Love it!

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Movement is medicine. … We’ve got a big problem if the Zamboni driver wants to start in goal or if the groundskeeper wants to pitch. Know your role. … Why is mud wrestling no longer a thing? I was telling some of the young players about the phenomenon the other day and they were gobsmacked. Why do bars no longer feature it? It was simply amazing, and would be a ratings hit today. … Or it would get us all cancelled. … Every choice you make adds up. … A guy said to me other day, “I’d like to be cancelled, and start over somewhere else.” I said, “No you don’t.” … Rescuers fetched two men struck by lightning from a Colorado peak in what they believe were the highest helicopter rescues on record in the mountainous state. One man remained hospitalized in fair condition Friday while the other was treated at a hospital and released. The men from New York state, whose identities weren’t released, had decided to summit the mountain during a road trip, Alpine Rescue Team public information officer Jake Smith said. They first called for help around 5 p.m. after getting off course on their way up a technical route. Rescue officials guided the men back on course, and they made it to the summit. Minutes later, one of them called back to report they had been struck by lightning. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,