Commentary: The Good, The Great & The Ugly
Photo: Philadelphia Eagles
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It’s Tuesday and time for the Good, the Great & the Ugly!
First the good: To say the NFL does it right would be the understatement of the year. The world’s biggest league has been dropping selected games this week ahead of Wednesday’s 2025 schedule release which will feature hours-long coverage on the NFL Network and ESPN2.
As a teaser, we learned Monday that the NFL season will open Thursday, September 4 with my Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia.
Loss.
I’m still getting used to how the NFL calendar works but we’re just three months away from the season! How can this be happening so late? Does nobody mind?
If CFL fans don’t get their schedule by the end of January, they’re ready to riot! But that still gives them at least five months notice.
Perhaps NFL fans are just a little more patient. And that would be good.
Next the great: By now we’re past talking about the Edmonton Oilers ignoring the naysayers and overcoming a 2-0 deficit in Round 1 against L-A because that was so long ago. Now, they’re up 3-1 on the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 2 and on the cusp of appearing in the Western Conference Final for a second straight year.
The last time they did that was a 3-year run from 1990 to ’92. Dreams of an all-Canadian Stanley Cup Final still dance in our heads and that would be really great.
Although there are many who feel Canada couldn’t handle an all-Canadian Stanley Cup Final and I might be inclined to agree.
And finally the ugly: The NHL’s going to need to crack down pronto on contact with the goalies. Toronto’s been without Anthony Stolarz since he was knocked out of Game 1 by Florida’s Sam Bennett and last night Edmonton’s Evander Kane steamrolled Vegas ‘tender Adin Hill, touching off a melee. (Or at least what passes as a melee these days).
Crease crashing is nothing new, especially this time of year, but from our vantage point, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety is doing nothing to protect goaltenders. I’ll stop short of saying they’re the most important players in the game but I’ll tell you what — if the Florida Panthers lost Sergei Bobrovsky, they’re done.
If nothing’s done about this from the higher-ups, that’s when teams will take it into their own hands.
That’s when it gets ugly.
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary
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