FRIDAY COMMENTARY – GET IN THE FAST LANE
(Listen daily for the Rod Pedersen Commentary on Cat Country 98 & Rock 98.5 FM)
IT’S FRIDAY, AND A GOOD DAY TO END THE WEEK WITH ANOTHER EDITION OF THE GOOD, THE GREAT, AND THE UGLY!
FIRST, THE GOOD: IT WAS AWESOME TO SPEND TIME THIS WEEK WITH THE NEWEST LEAD OF CURLING’S TEAM BOTTCHER, BEN HEBERT.
THE REGINA PRODUCT COULD RETIRE FROM CURLING AT AGE 39 – WHATWITH FOUR BRIER TITLES AND AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL ON HIS MANTLE – BUT HE’S GOT AN EXCITING NEW LEASE ON LIFE AND IT JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE WITH THE NEW VILLAINS OF MENS CURLING, BRENDAN BOTTCHER’S ALBERTA-BASED UNIT.
THINGS CHANGE. PEOPLE MOVE ON. EXCITING NEW OPPORTUNITIES PRESENT THEMSELVES AND BENNY’S STARTING OVER. AGAIN.
GET IN THE FAST LANE OR KEEP TO THE RIGHT.
YOU CAN’T STEER A PARKED CAR.
NEXT, THE GREAT: AS FAR AS JUNIOR HOCKEY GOES, THANKS TO COVID, TIMING IS OUT OF WHACK SO DEPENDING ON THE LEAGUE, THE PLAYOFFS ARE EITHER WELL UNDERWAY, OR SEEING THE CURTAIN RISE THIS WEEEKEND.
THE SJHL’S CANALTA CUP FINAL BEGINS TONIGHT IN ESTEVAN WITH THE BRUINS WELCOMING THE FLIN FLON BOMBERS. BOTH TEAMS HAVE ALREADY ADVANCED TO NEXT MONTH’S CENTENNIAL CUP IN THE ENERGY CITY BUT THAT DOESN’T MATTER. THEY BOTH WANT THE LEAGUE CROWN.
THE WHL PLAYOFFS OPENED LAST NIGHT WITH ONE GAME; EDMONTON TOOK GAME 1 OVER LETHBRIDGE 4-1. ALL OTHER EASTERN CONFERENCE SERIES OPEN TONIGHT AND THAT INCLUDES THE WARRIORS, BLADES AND RAIDERS.
YOU CAN PURCHASE THE STREAMING PACKAGE FOR JUST 70 BUCKS FOR THE WHOLE PLAYOFFS OR BETTER YET, BUY A TICKET AND GO! I’LL BE IN RED DEER TONIGHT.
AND LASTLY, THE UGLY: WE’LL SKIP THE LEAFS BECAUSE THEY’RE JUST TOO EASY OF A TARGET.
NO, WHAT’S UGLY IS THE REACTION TO THE STORY I BROKE THURSDAY THAT FORMER CALGARY FLAMES COACH BILL PETERS IS TAKING OVER THE AJHL’S GRANDE PRAIRIE STORM. (BEING IMMERSED IN ALBERTA HOCKEY CULTURE, I COULD BREAK A STORY EVERYDAY. IT’S FUN TO PICK AND CHOOSE).
PETERS WAS FORCED TO RESIGN IN 2019 BECAUSE OF A RACIAL INCIDENT IN THE DRESSING ROOM, BUT HE’S BACK IN HOCKEY, HERE IN ALBERTA, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE HOT.
YOU CAN SAY WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT BILL – I CAN TAKE OR LEAVE HIM AND HAVE KNOWN HIM FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS – BUT IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF HE DIDN’T GET A CHANCE TO CHANGE AND STAY IN THE GAME HE LOVES. I KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE BANISHED AND HAVE TO START OVER ELSEWHERE. IT’S NOT EASY, AND NOT ALWAYS FUN.
HOCKEY HAS ITS PROBLEMS AND PETERS HAS BEEN A PART OF THAT. BUT DEMONSTRATING CHANGE IS EXACTLY WHAT THIS GAME NEEDS AND WOULDN’T IT BE SOMETHING IF THE NEW STORM COACH IS A GLIMMERING EXAMPLE OF EXACTLY WHAT HOCKEY NEEDS RIGHT NOW? I’M NOT SURE WHERE I’D BE IF THE GREAT PEOPLE AROUND ME DIDN’T EXTEND A HAND AND GIVE ME THIS CHANCE I’M RUNNING WITH NOW.
BRAVO TO GRANDE PRAIRIE AND THE AJHL.
MAYBE THIS ISN’T SO UGLY AFTER ALL.
THAT’S TODAY’S ROD PEDERSEN COMMENTARY
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm on Game+ TV across Canada and the USA. Call your cable provider for details. You can also watch on YouTube Live or listen 24/7 at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive)
Bravo on Bill Peters. He made a mistake and he paid the price – $2M to be exact. NHL to AJHL? People are going to complain? That job he’ll coach hockey, sell rink board ads, and drive the zamboni. You know who has a problem with people getting 2nd chances? Mediocre talents who make it more about what actually happened. If anyone wants to talk about his “racial incident”, he told them to turn off music. Now kicking a player, that’s different and he paid for it. I also noticed all these guys persecuted by evil Bill…..nobody offered them a… Read more »
Roddy – this man should not be allowed to coach kids. I’m sorry, if you’re a racist you’re disqualified from coaching. There is no coming back from that. This guy has never showed any remorse or taken any responsibility. He ran away to Russia and hid while collecting a huge paycheck.
The Storm are a joke and should be ashamed.
Unfortunately I can’t put any stock in comments from a commenter hiding behind a pseudonym. I’m sure you understand.
Sure: I’ll be at your place to spin the DJ table and for 9 hours we’ll play; Ghetto Boys Ghost Face Killas Snoop NWA – three times Ice Cube Ice T Tupac Biggie Old school – Run DMC, Grand Master Flash. My guess is half way through Gin and Juice you’ll snap and start screaming to turn it off. Keep your mouth shut with the racism and don’t worry about the poor kids. The kids know how to play the game and push buttons to make accusations and all it takes is an accusation. If you don’t believe me then… Read more »
The racism incident wasn’t in Calgary, it was in Carolina……and it followed and caught up to him in Calgary.
Hey Al Sharpton – just to be crystal clear. This happened during the 2008-09 season…..10 years prior long after that kid washed out of hockey and had a gripe to grind. Go ask Brian Burke what the scouting reports on him were going back to Junior. While we’re on the topic of cancel culture. Mathew Goode has a show at the Casino. He got dropped for basically being a bad boyfriend…10 years prior. So now he has to do one man shows with no band to get back on his feet. I’ll be there front row center supporting this guy.… Read more »