Commentary: Three Or More Thoughts
(Listen daily for the RP Commentary on the All New Hits 98 CKHD & LTD Radio)
What a week! Here are a coupla three or more thoughts entering the weekend …
#1 – Storylines are spilling over heading into Super Bowl Weekend. Absolutely every pundit I’ve seen has picked Kansas City to win the NFL title so you know what that means! Philadelphia will probably take it.
Other fun notes this week include the fact this is the cheapest Super Bowl ticket in six years, as you can get in for under $4,000. There are many theories for the drop.
Meanwhile we’re enjoying NFL officials’ tapdancing around the “Chiefs favoritism” story, and former Head of Officiating Mike Pereira called the idea of referees favoring K.C. a “myth” on Thursday.
Tough to deny when there’s video evidence boys …
#2 – Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin is now 17 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career record and the critics are howling that Ovie is doing it with a string of empty-netters.
RP Show viewers have been sending in the stats which show Ovechkin has far more empty-netters than Wayne did. It’s not really close.
Not sure about you but I give a really big “Who cares?”
They all count.
God bless the oldtimers who came up with lines like, “They don’t ask how, they ask how many.”
The NHL career goals record is Exhibit A.
And #3 – It’s been fun appearing on Canadian talk shows discussing the CFL’s pre-Free Agency window this week. Didja know the actual Free Agent Market doesn’t open till next Tuesday?
Yesterday on TSN 1200 Ottawa, I asked host A.J. Jakubec – the Voice of the RedBlacks – what’s left after the flurry of signings this week?
He answered, “Not much”.
But that’s okay! I think this fairly new process has satisfied teams, players and fans.
But the most interesting question I heard this week was from a fan who wondered why, if the CFL made so much money last year that they can afford to bump the salary cap substantially, are they skidding Commissioner Randy Ambrosie?
To that I’ll reply … “Good question.”
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary.
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm & 4 pm ET on Game+TV, Podcast & YouTube Live)
I’ve been following your blog for quite some time now, and I’m continually impressed by the quality of your content. Your ability to blend information with entertainment is truly commendable.
Gretzky started playing in an era when the 5/6 defensemen could barely skate backwards, and the goaltending was far Inferior. Do the cry babies acknowledge this.
…and Mike Modano started in the NHL with Shane Churla & Basil McCrae as his linemates – so to sit there and talk about Gretzky’s era of 1979 to 1999. You go tell Billy Smith, Ron Hextal, Rejean Lemilin, Mike Luit, Andy Moog the list goes on and on. Go cut across the middle and see how Scott Stevens handles you. Eras matter. The only era that gets any critism is 1969 to 1979. In this case you had basically a 3 team NHL out of 17. – Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal with the New York Islanders on the rise. Half… Read more »
They moved the net to stop Gretzky from getting so many assists from behind the net. So they took that away from Gretzky then he just started filling the net with pucks.
How many rules have they changed because of Ovie?.
Reminder, Gretzky scored 178 goals in the WHA. One might discount that, however, 4 WHA teams merged with the NHL.
And, IMHO, Ovechkin AND all Russian players should have been sent home since their homeland started the war in Ukraine. Ovechkin is very good buddies with Putin. And before you tee off on me, how about Gary Bettman and the farcical, hypocritical 4 Nations Face Off??!! NO RUSSIANS! Why? Oh right, they started a war with Ukraine……..I rest my case……..
Sure.
You are literally so limited it’s beyond the pale. First off. Ukraine is Russian. It’s part of it. Ukraine/Belarus/Russia that’s the original land mass. There are people in Ukraine that are Russian. The border changed and they woke up Ukranian. Second of all. That coke head Comedian President they have in Ukraine. He is mob backed. $200B in funding went there. Not a nickel to the front line or people. Third. They had/have independence based on the original 1991 agreement that eastern Europe is off limits to Nato. That’s like us setting up missile bases thru NATO pointed at USA.… Read more »
So sure, start a war.
Another thing. There was no NHL WHA merger. If you think that was an AFL/NFL or NBA/ABA merger it wasn’t. The WHA was absorbed in. The teams were disbanded and they were all free agents. Wpg, Quebec, Edm were brought in for those markets and anti trust issues. Hartford was a stop gap between NY and Bos. Never should have happened. That spot should have gone to Houston. Had Wpg not been broken up. That edm dynasty would have been Wpg. Glen Sather built the Oilers in that image. And not a mention of Bobby Hull and what he did… Read more »
NATO and the west have been pushing and provoking russia to war since the Berlin wall fell.
I’m not sure how you can say the goaltending was bad when they had pretty much no equipment on and still only gave up 3-4 goals a game.