THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

DROP THE PUCK

1 – A LIFELINE: The $4-million in funding the Sask government is providing to its WHL and SJHL teams predictably got tongues wagging across the country. Within hours the junior hockey teams in BC had a proposal into their government and while they didn’t get immediate relief, the response from B.C.’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture & Sport was, “Sport plays a vital role in helping our communities heal once the pandemic is over.” Finally something we can all agree on! 

2 – GETTING SOMETHING STRAIGHT: Again, as was noted in the weekend 10 Things column, it was interesting to see the reaction to the Sask government’s announcement. On cue, people were sticking up for other sports (curling was the first I saw) and wondering when they can expect a cheque? I’d like to point out that in Canada, hockey is an industry unto itself. Similar to football in America. It’s not a side-hustle or hobby. Thousands upon thousands of people make their full-time living from hockey at all levels. Curling, in a lot of cases, is a sideline activity. If you are unable to make a living due to Covid then you should be eligible for government support. Otherwise what are we paying ridiculously high taxes for?

3 – HOCKEY NEWS: The Scotia North division of the NHL is off to a roaring start and Monday night features the most delicious match-up so far – the unbeaten Winnipeg Jets (1-0) at the Toronto Maple Leafs (2-1), who are the #1 team in Canada. Also Monday, the up-and-down Edmonton Oilers (1-2) host the surprisingly stout Montreal Canadiens (1-0-1). After another lopsided loss Saturday night (5-1 to Montreal), Oilers coach Dave Tippett preached consistency at his postgame Zoom news conference. You have to wonder if the Oilers are ever going to get it? … The Golden Knights are home to Arizona Monday night. Vegas has four Winnipeg products in their lineup (Mark Stone, Ryan Reaves, Cody Glass and Keegan Kolesar) while the Jets have none. It’s not a criticism, but rather an observation. … This is the first year I bought NHL Centre Ice for $189 from Access Cable. Every year prior to this, I got enough of the Coyotes, Golden Knights or Stars when they swung through the NHL’s Bermuda Triangle (Calgary, Edmonton & Winnipeg). However now with just one Canadian division, I had to fork over the dough to see my team. A small price to pay for the entertainment!

4 – GAME NOTES: There were some interesting things occur over the weekend in The NHL. 41-year old Joe Thornton and 19-year old Tim Stutzle scored their first goals of the season. The age difference is 22 years, 197 days. Thornton has become the second-oldest player to ever score for the Leafs. The oldest was Allan Stanley in 1967 who was also 41, but older by a matter of days. … The Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes are leading the NHL in attendance   The crazy stuff didn’t end with 2020.

5 – JUNIOR NOTES: The Melville Millionaires Twitter feed alerted me Sunday that forward Jaydon Dureau of Regina (a Portland Winterhawks regular and Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick) is headed to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. Dureau started the season with the Mils but got shutdown when everybody else did. …. In a statement late Friday, SJHL President Bill Chow stated, “Our focus and commitment remains to complete our 2020-21 season. Our initial focus is to have our players return to their SJHL communities to continue their training and hockey development as soon as possible”. … Clearly Dureau got tired of waiting, and is headed to the pros at age 18. Same story for Regina’s Cole Sillinger who, in his draft year at age 17, suited up for the USHL’s Sioux City (S.D.) Stampede on the weekend and scored in his debut Friday night. It was a beauty top shelf, 40-foot snapshot over the goaltender’s shoulder. Sillinger is property of the Medicine Hat Tigers, who are also stuck in “PARK”.

6 – CFL CUTS: Star Blue Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill wrote a revealing essay on the team website on why he accepted a six-figure paycut last week (reported by TSN’s Farhan Lalji to be $145,000). “Truthfully this is a massive financial blow to me and my family,” Bighill wrote. “We’re building a house in the city and have been counting on a lot of things to come through. But I also want to make this very clear: we’ve opted to stay here because this is a good team that’s part of a good organization in a good city. It’s now home for us and I am also building a financial business here.” Bomber fans already loved Bighill, but they’ve fallen even more for the Montesano, WA product after reading of his commitment to the team. Over to you Charleston Hughes. Will he take the cut proposed by the Roughriders, or shop his services elsewhere across the CFL?

7 – CFL II: A CFL agent texted me saying, “There will be some form of a season, just not sure what it’ll all look like at this point”. That sounds positive, but also sounds like what every single WHL GM told me in December about their league. Weeks later, they’re still sitting on their hands. The only announcement I care to hear from the CFL in the months ahead is how they plan to play without fans – or at the very least with limited fans – in 2021. I assume their silence means they’re working on something extra special and a splashy news conference in late-winter, early-spring will unveil all the details of creative funding and how the leaders have saved the CFL from peril caused by Covid. Could happen.

8 – OFFICIATING: It’s funny how fans, media, coaches and players call for rules to be changed when they go against their team, or cost them a game, like the goalline fumble for the Cleveland Browns in Sunday’s AFC Division Playoff loss at Kansas City. The CFL has the better rule, where in that situation the offense maintains possession at the 1-yard line. However in American rules, it results in a touchback and change of possession. This actually happened to the Roughriders and Weston Dressler in 2008 in Hamilton and I had no idea what was going on while calling the game. Ticats coach Charlie Taaffe was in fits. Again, the CFL rule is better but no one cried for the NFL to change their rule till Sunday.

9 – MORE NFL NOTES: I was 4/4 for weekend NFL picks but am not bragging after going an embarrassing 3/6 last week. … Don’t forget the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had their way with Green Bay in Week 6, winning 38-10 at Raymond James Stadium and tortured Aaron Rodgers all day in one of the worst games of his career.

10 – THINGS I’VE LEARNED IN THE PANDEMIC: … People love dog pics on Instagram. And Mikko and I love watching Yellowstone together under our fleece Roughriders blanket! … The new status symbol in sports media is to have a sports betting partner. Ours is Come On!, and they’ve quickly become our biggest partner. … Thank God that Costco is on the other end of the city rather than right down the street, or we’d be there everyday. … I could make a nice living by charging my sports buddies to use our home steam. What a tremendous investment that was from Bronco Plumbing & Heating. … I need to budget my sports watching, selecting just the best games rather than watching the full buffet. That, in turn, has me checking all the schedules and start times daily and thus staying on top of everything. This is why I keep reminding people not to forget about the CFL, NLL, WHL, etc. It’s easy to get caught up in the major leagues. … Access Cable has a free NHL Centre Ice preview going for the first two weeks of the season. It’s glorious. … Happy birthday today to Luke Tasker, Mark Messier and Josh Holden!

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen