THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

BUZZ FROM THE WEEKEND …

1 – E.B.U.G.: By a sheer stroke of luck, I strolled into Wendel Clark’s Classic Bar & Grill in Saskatoon on Saturday and was invited to sit with David Ayres (pictured) and his wife Sarah ahead of the Rush/Warriors game. What’s the current NHL sensation like? Well if you’ve ever met a Zamboni driver, then you’ve met David. As Def Leppard sang, “Just your average, ordinary, everyday kid”. He’s very serious about ice, and his hometown of Toronto. However he and his wife are very much enjoying their time in the spotlight, getting the white glove treatment, and are grateful for everyone being so nice around the continent. Watch for David on the RP Show in the coming weeks!

2 – A BREAKTHROUGH: The Saskatchewan Rush then proceeded to eviscerate the visiting Vancouver Warriors 17-7 at SaskTel Centre and Bleacher Report colour commentator Jake Elliot referred to it as “a statement game”. The Rush had stumbled at the Phone Booth most of this season and many felt it was starting to affect attendance. But this one wasn’t even a game, as the Rush built up a 6-1 lead in the first quarter and never let up. Personally I prefer a nail-biter, but the rest of the Rush Nation clearly doesn’t. They cheered louder and louder each time the poor Vancouver goaltender was beaten. Next home game: Friday, March 20 against the Georgia Swarm.

Meanwhile NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz dropped a bomb on Saturday night’s B/R broadcast that the league has a big announcement upcoming. “We’ve added 4 teams in the last 2 seasons,” Sakiewicz winked. “Very shortly we’ll be announcing our 14th team. It’ll be a U.S. market.” The MMG prediction: Las Vegas. And if that’s true, Sin City will soon have the Golden Knights, the Silver Knights, the Raiders, plus an NLL franchise. Not bad for a city that had NO pro franchises four years ago! Or, I could be completely off the mark.

3 – BRONZE FOR SASK: It took until Saturday night/Sunday morning for Saskatchewan to get revved up for the Brier and all it took was for Matt Dunstone’s team to make it to the semifinal. That game against NF’s Brad Gushue was a thriller but the old vet wasn’t quite ready to give up his throne to these prairie whippersnappers. What’s truly exciting for me is that this dream of Braeden Moskowy’s came to fruition right before our eyes (a super team out of Regina) and the best is yet to come. The 1980 Drought is easier to live with if there’s actual hope that it’ll end in the next few years.

4 – SERIOUSLY WEST COAST: It was a quiet week in the CFL. One of the biggest news items came out of Vancouver where only one TV station and just two reporters showed up for Commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s road trip stop. A lot of Canadian sports fans are snickering at the Lions but the blame should fall on the Vancouver media. Shame on THEM! This is what all the cutbacks in our industry gets us. And teams are starting to realize that the media has carried their message and given them free marketing for 100 years. It’s affecting all leagues in Canada except the NHL. Bad publicity is farrrrrrrr better than none at all. Fortunately the Lions have been one of the biggest supporters of the RP Show the last couple months and we plan to work together in 2020 to whip up some hype.

5 – COAST-TO-COAST: Being a radiohead most of my career, I under-estimated how big of a deal Friday’s announcement was that the RP Show is going on national specialty TV channel Game Plus Network on April 8. We’ll be available in hundreds of thousands of homes across Saskatchewan, over a million more across Canada, and on Cablevision in the USA! We identified a year ago the void in Western Canadian sports coverage, and this is a huge next step. IT’S SO MUCH FUN!

6 – SCOOTER: A hearty congratulations to Dean “Scooter” Vrooman, the former play-by-play voice of the Portland Winterhawks for being named the recipient of the WHL Distinguished Service Award for the 2019-20 season on Sunday. Scooter served with the ‘Hawks in various capacities for 32 seasons. The first time I saw the man was 1993 when the P.A. Raiders were in Portland and in a TV timeout, they had Scooter on the big screen waving his hands in the air and serenading the crowd to Naughty By Nature’s rap hit Hey, Ho! I thought to myself, “What the hell ….?” He once told me when the Winterhawks moved to Portland in 1976 he had no clue what hockey was all about, but he learned it fast. And became a legend along the way! Congrats Scooter.

7 – PLAY-BY-PLAY: Kudos to Leah Hextall and Cassie Campbell for being Canada’s first-ever female play-by-play duo during Sunday’s Calgary/Vegas game. Obviously – like Tony Romo’s whacky style on CBS – it took some getting used to. Truth be told, I’m not usually noticing the play-by-play because I’m focused on the game. But Leah’s a Western gal and she’s paid her dues. She covered many a Brandon Wheat Kings game while seated beside me in the press box at the Keystone Centre. And Cassie Campbell needs no introduction. It was an historic day.

8 – BACK TO THE CFL: We await word from the CFL on where the T.J. Jones situation goes next. The League and the Players Association have volleyed proposals back-and-forth on how to handle the Canadian NFL veteran who signed a $200,000 deal with the Argos, however had his deal suspended due to the new Canadian rookie salary restriction. RP Show analyst Mike Abou-Mechrek feels Jones should simply be thrown into the CFL Draft but that wouldn’t solve anything. Might I suggest an “Exceptional Status” clause in the new CBA for players like Jones? Everyone seems to want him in the league. But these salary caps and restrictions really seem to fly in the face of Randy Ambrosie’s dream of a “bigger, stronger CFL”. No?

9 – TD ATLANTIC: Hats off to the CFL for pulling off what’s appearing like an incredibly successful TD Atlantic. They smoothly put tickets on sale last week and, no surprise, they’ve quickly been snatched up by eager Rider fans. Rumour is they’re considering adding more seats. The game was the buzz of football types over the weekend who felt this event would’ve got an even bigger boost YEARS ago if the Riders had been featured from Day 1. No matter. No looking back. This is going to be the marquee event of the summer in Canada.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Kudos to the Huskies women basketballers for bringing home the Bronze Baby. U of S Athletics seems to have it figured out. … With all this Corona Virus talk, people seem shocked how many people DON’T wash their hands. This is news? It’s disgusting out there. … We ran a poll over which you’d rather have: blowdryers or paper towels. 73% voted for paper towels and I was one of them. … The definition of “phenomenon”: “An unusual or remarkable occurrence”. That’s David Ayres. … I was confused for David Ayres by an usher on the concourse at SaskTel Centre. It was … strange. … Because you asked, here’s the SJHL playoff results so far: Estevan/Melfort 1-1, La Ronge/Yorkton 1-1, Battlefords up on Nipawin 2-0 and Flin Flon up on Humboldt 2-0. Get out this week and watch some hockey across Sask!

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen