MONDAY MORNING GOALIE FOR PEDERSEN MEDIA SUMMIT 2.0
MONDAY ONE-TIMERS
1 – ALL OVER BUT THE CRYING: I don’t think any of us were quite ready for the hockey season to be over just yet. Whether it was a Game 7 of the WHL Finals which was scheduled for tonight, or the 10 day Memorial Cup which is to begin next Friday in Windsor, we’d all expected the Regina Pats to be there.
But not so. The Regina Pats let a late 3-1 lead in Game 6 slip Sunday night and wound up losing 4-3 in overtime to the Seattle Thunderbirds who claimed their first championship in franchise history.
And just like that – with that OT goal at 12:36 from Alexander True – the season was over in a snap of the fingers.
2 – HATS OFF TO SEATTLE: They may not have been the more talented of the two teams in the WHL Finals, but the Thunderbirds were the better team. I got in that argument with my brother on Saturday who said, “The trouble is, Seattle’s just better than Regina.” I hotly denied that, saying the Pats had more talent and he reluctantly agreed. But we both concurred Seattle was playing better and worked just enough harder.
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| Rider President Craig Reynolds at Game 6 |
That stings.
But as many of the NHL scouts surmised at Sunday’s game in the Brandt Centre, the Thunderbirds were the benefactors of a fruitless trip to the WHL Finals last season where they lost a five game series to Brandon.
A year later, Seattle taught the Pats a lesson in this series. You can’t let your guard down, you can’t take your eye off the ball, you have to relentlessly keep coming in waves, you have to punish the opponent’s star players, push the limits of what’s legal, and you have to want it more.
The Thunderbirds did all of that and that’s why they’re off to the Memorial Cup.
The Pats will be better off for this but that’s little consolation to 20-year olds Adam Brooks, Dawson Leedahl and Chase Harrison who are moving on.
Brooks departs this town with hero status. He’s in the discussion with Dale Derkatch for Pats legends as far as I’m concerned.
3 – LOOKING AHEAD: Will the Pats be a better club in 2017-18 when they are the host team for the Memorial Cup? I really have no idea. They’ll be good, but this Pats team just set a franchise record for wins at 52. They were a special group.
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| Drew Callander, Tim Hunter & Dryden Hunt at Game 6 |
Will the Washington Capitals and L.A. Kings send signed prospects Connor Hobbs and Austin Wagner (respectively) back to Regina for their 20-year old seasons?
Does goaltender Tyler Brown return as a 20-year old? (I sure hope so)
Will the Colorado Avalanche send 19-year old phenom Tyson Jost to the Pats? An NHL scout last night was adamant Jost can play in the AHL next year so that matter will need to be figured out pronto. Jost is a game-changer and can immediately plug the hole left by Brooks.
Will the Anaheim Ducks return Sam Steel as a 19-year old?
For now those are far too many questions with absolutely no answers.
It’s time to breathe and reflect. Honestly, it’s the best season of Regina Pats hockey I’ve ever witnessed and for that, I’m thankful.
Thank you Pats. All of John Paddock’s mid-season trades paid off in spades and they should have no regrets, other than letting Sunday’s late lead slip away.
4 – HOCKEY ISN’T OVER YET: The Memorial Cup’s going to be fantastic and Seattle will be our rooting interest. I assume Junior A’s Royal Bank Cup will be played some time, somewhere, but you don’t hear a peep out of that loop anymore. (They could benefit from the P.R. seminar I’m throwing in two weeks in Moose Jaw.)
And of course the Stanley Cup Playoffs are barely halfway done and we’re just nicely into the Conference Finals.
While President Donald Trump is scrapping tooth and nail for his life in the U.S., Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is holding news conferences in Canada asking hockey fans to pledge allegiance to the Ottawa Senators as “Canada’s Team”.
Do we really need to be told? And are Canadians going to jump on the Sens bandwagon anyway?
There’s nothing lovable about them and let’s be honest; with all due respect to Regina’s Denise Batters, who really loves a Senator?
And the NHL scouts chuckled at the Brandt Centre last night that Gary Bettman’s worst nightmare is lining up: Ottawa versus Nashville in the Stanley Cup Finals.
This will be fun to watch play out, however it’s not like it used to be.
5 – IT’S FOOTBALL SEASON!: The countdown is on. 13 days until Saskatchewan Roughriders 2017 Training Camp presented by Coors Light in Saskatoon. People are getting excited. We’ll be there for all three weeks and will have wall-to-wall coverage of the camp on this website, on 620 CKRM’s SportsCage and Access 7’s In The Huddle.
A smattering of comments from Rider fans over the past couple of days:
– What if Kevin Glenn gets hurt?
– Will Vince Young be content to be a back-up?
– What about our secondary? Who replaces Justin Cox?
– Will Justin Cox be back with the team when his legal matters are dealt with?
– Who’s the running back going to be?
– How’s our kicking situation?
– Is this the best receiver group in the CFL?
– Where will we start our Canadians?
These are all some questions we’ll delve into on the SportsCage today and as an added bonus, football maven John Lynch will bless us with an appearance in Hour 3.
6 – BADA BING: Zavian Bingham – the star defensive back out of Jackson State who lit up the Riders’ Florida minicamp – has hit town like a tornado. Bingham arrived in Regina over the weekend and has tracked all of his exploits over Snapchat, Twitter and whatever else he can find.
From weather reports to food reviews, Bingham seems to be someone you just can’t take your eyes off of.
He’s going to be fun to have around.
7 – THE COMMISSIONER SEARCH: Who knows whether it’s true or not, but a few more names have trickled out in the race to replace Jeffrey L. Orridge as CFL Commissioner. Randy Ambrosie, a former CFL’er and CFLPA secretary has reportedly shown significant interest. Ambrosie also has a strong background in business, and was head of HSBC Securities Canada. Another name which has surfaced is former Raptors and Knicks GM Glen Grunwald, a lawyer who’s currently serving as Athletics Director at McMaster University.
Either one of those guys seem like a good fit.
8 – OH YA, THE NBA: One check of the NBA Playoffs bracket is enough to make one roll his eyes. Golden State and San Antonio are meeting in the West Finals while the Cleveland Cavaliers are awaiting their opponent in the East Finals?
Wait, what year is it?
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver might want to due a little investigating into parity. This is like Groundhogs Day.
The Spurs have become the NBA’s New England Patriots and I think we’re all more than tired of them.
But, you have to be impressed by their dominance.
9 – AT THE MOVIES: With the Pats not taking up all of our time anymore, we’ll find ourselves at the Cineplex Odeon a lot more and we’ve already caught the flick Going In Style featuring Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin. It’s about three seniors who lose their benefits package after years of service so they hatch a plan to rob a bank, with hilarious results.
It gets ONE thumb up from the MMG.
However any movie with Morgan Freeman is worth the price of admission.
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| Roberts |
10 – THE SKIDROW CEO: Sought -motivational speaker Joe Roberts, “The Skidrow CEO”, is pushing a shopping cart across Canada to raise money for mental illness and awareness for the addiction crisis. The 51-year old Ontarian’s story is a remarkable one. He was a heroin addict on East Hastings St. in Vancouver however one day he had the epiphany to turn his life around and get clean. Within a few short years, he was the CEO of a multimillion dollar company and was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.
The significance of his shopping cart is that he used to push one around on skidrow in Vancouver.
Joe Roberts will be coming through Regina this Friday and there will be a ceremony and walk beginning at the Street Culture Project at 1174 Albert St. N. at 10:00 am. I’ll be the MC and hope to see you there!
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BIRTHDAYS: Happy birthday today to Rider alumni Bob Poley and Aaron Picton!
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RP
@rodpedersen
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