MONDAY RUNDOWN: DANEYKO, ZIGOMANIS JOIN PLUS BOOMER TALK!

Director Jordan says Episode #393 of The RP Show – Canada’s Daytime Sports Talkshow – was the best of the year so far! Here’s the rundown:

• Rod and Dupes got it going with The Warmup for Four Seasons Sports Palace covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) NFL Week 17 takeaways, 2) Boomer Esiason’s offensive (to CFL fans) commentary in Sunday’s Rams/Cardinals game regarding Chris Streveler and the CFL, 3) NHL training camps opened on Sunday, 4) It’s World Junior semifinal Monday with Canada/Russia followed by USA/Finland, 5) The Raptors are 1-4, and 6) Outdoor Hockey on the weekend.
• Rod went deep on the Boomer Esiason commentary saying what was offensive about it was his dismissal of the quality of play in the CFL, rather than his scathing analysis of Cardinals QB Chris Streveler. Nobody’s disputing the latter. RP said he asked a pro scout for an assessment of Streveler’s play and the response was “First game. Not easy.” The hosts reasoned that perhaps the former Blue Bomber pivot was put in a bad situation, and not given the best chance to succeed. Rod said the big question is whether the Cardinals will stick with Streveler next year and give him another chance, or move on?
• Former NHLer and current Fan 590 c0-host Mike Zigomanis joined the show from Toronto. He said he doesn’t skate on outdoor rinks unless it’s a Leafs Alumni event. The 197 NHL game vet discussed the opening of NHL training camps but admitted there’s still plenty of unknowns whether all Canadian teams will be able to play in their home arenas. Zigomanis also talked about the Leafs pairing Joe Thornton with Matthews and Marner on the top line and said he’s not a fan of it. “Who’s going to get the puck in the corners?” Ziggy questioned. “You can’t have three skilled guys on one line.”
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Do you expect to see Chris Streveler back in the CFL? At press time, over 70% of respondents said yes.
• Hour 2 was simulcast on Game+ TV and Facebook Live and after re-upping the Quick Six, we were joined by New Jersey Devils great Ken Daneyko of NHL Network. The Edmonton product previewed the World Juniors semifinals and admitted that Rod’s contention that the Canada/Russia semifinal is the actual gold medal game would rankle American hockey fans. He said Team USA is “very good”. Daneyko spent a great deal of time reflecting on playing every game of the 1979-80 Yorkton Terriers season as a 15-year old. He felt if he could survive that, he could survive anywhere in hockey. Daneyko also remembered meeting Terriers play-by-play man Chris Cuthbert for the first time and said, “My name’s Ken Daneyko and I’m gonna play in the National Hockey League.”
• The final 20 minutes of the show were dedicated to the Viewer Takeover and it was a lively debate with viewers about the Boomer Esiason comments and Streveler’s future. RP feels the CFL faces a fork in the road: Do they appeal to the NFL to become NFL Lite, or lean into the State Fair Football comparison and embrace the league’s zaniness? Dupes feels they can be successful either way.
• Monday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page, you can catch the replay at 4:00 pm ET on Game+, listen to the podcast by clicking on the CONTENT tab at the top of this page, or listen anytime to our 24-hour live audio feed at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive.
• See you at 10 am CT Tuesday on Facebook Live and at 12:00 pm ET on Game+!