THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

TAKING SHOTS:

1 – OLE OLE OLE: What a difference a week makes! One week ago the Montreal Canadiens vanquished the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 in Game 7 of a monumental upset series. Just a week later, those same Canadiens have Winnipeg on the ropes in Round 2, leading 3-0 in games following Sunday’s convincing 5-1 victory at Bell Centre. Bob Irving – the Voice of the Blue Bombers and Winnipeg’s sports conscience – Tweeted after Sunday’s blowout, “Jets are a hot mess right now. Top players not producing, confidence is gone, Montreal can do no wrong. Painful to watch for the Jets legion of fans.” That sounds a lot like what Jets fans were saying during the last month of the regular season! They promptly turned it around back then. I could honestly see them winning four straight but it starts with one, and that comes Monday evening in their first elimination game of the spring.

2 – SCHEIFELE: Everybody’s still talking about it. The vitriol that came out of “The Hit”, and the subsequent 4-game suspension, was distasteful to say the least. Of the mountain of analysis that came out of the Jets leading scorer blasting Montreal’s Jake Evans into next week in Game 1, I liked Hockey Night In Canada’s Kevin Bieksa’s take the best. “We don’t know what his intent was,” Bieksa said that night. “Maybe he had the intent, but it certainly doesn’t seem like he did.” I saw a guy who’d been criticized for a lack of backchecking all year go Mach 3 back into his own zone to prevent a goal and zigged when he should’ve zagged. I truly believe he didn’t intend to steamroll Evans, much less hospitalize him. That opinion’s been sliced and diced and some really nasty things have been said about me for it. Meh, it goes with the territory.

But the head-scratching decisions by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety hasn’t dimmed my love for the NHL. I don’t think anything could.

3 – KNIGHT UP: It comes as no surprise to me that the Vegas Golden Knights have roared back to tie Colorado 2-2 in their Round 2 series, including Sunday’s 5-1 pulverizing of the Avalanche in Sin City. I watched every Vegas game all year and know they’re every bit as good as Colorado. (Incidentally Avs star Nathan McKinnon was 0-0-0, -2 in Sunday’s Game 4). Now the series shifts back to Denver for Game 5 and the Golden Knights have all the momentum. This series could very likely be the Stanley Cup Final.

4 – OTHER STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF NOTES: Notre Dame Hounds grads remaining in the NHL’s Final Eight – Barry Trotz, Jon Cooper & Rod Brind’Amour. How ’bout that? … Boston’s Taylor Hall is proving he’s best served playing a complimentary role rather than being “the guy”. He’s been fantastic. … Still, the Bruins and NY Islanders are tied 2-2 in a series I’ve got the Isles pegged to win. … SEEN: Islanders and Regina Pats great Clark Gillies chugging a beer and crushing the can on the big screen at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Don’t ever change Jethro! … This run has cinched new deals for Habs coach Dominique Ducharme and GM Marc Bergevin. So where does Patrick Roy land? … Does Sportsnet really have one broadcast crew calling two series – COL/VGK, BOS/NYI? Oy Vey. … Still, Sportsnet play-caller John Bartlett is excellent. … Podcaster Taylor Medak in Edmonton asked me this week who’s my favourite play-by-play man to listen to? I still gotta go with Chris Cuthbert. … The Tampa Bay/Carolina series is bonkers. It seems Rod Brind’Amour’s Hurricanes deserve better than to be down 3-1. … NHL referees have clearly been given the edict to “call everything”. There have been some chintzy calls but you can’t really argue when a black & white infraction is whistled down. You can, however, complain when it’s not.

5 – ULTRA CONFUSING: The clock is ticking on the 2021 CFL season start date of August 5. Provinces haven’t cleared the CFL’s Return To Play proposal but I expect that to come in the coming weeks. With the report that the CFL has told the Players Association they’ll receive final direction on the season by June 14, doesn’t that equate to a “drop dead date”? If it does, that means there’s still some wiggle room for there NOT to be a season which would be beyond devastating. Every fan I’ve talked to around here fully expects the CFL to kickoff on August 5. (Where’s the schedule by the way?) And with TSN’s report that players will effectively be house-bound for the balance of the season, that also seems incredibly difficult to pull off, and enforce.

6 – EVEN MORE CONFUSING: We’re seeing packed indoor sports venues (i.e. T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas) and large PGA and LPGA outdoor crowds but Saturday’s The Spring League televised contest appeared to be played in a bubble in Midwest America. So … is America wide open or not? And what does this mean for Canada? Furthermore the fact the Canadian government has granted an exemption for the NHL to crisscross the border in Rounds 3 & 4 doesn’t necessarily mean the CFL will be granted similar status for its players. Again, the clock is ticking.

7 – USFL: Thursday’s announcement that the United States Football League is planning a re-launch in the spring of 2022 brought a smile to my face. Simply put, the more football, the better. The scorn which followed the announcement was disappointing, but not at all surprising. “USFL is a laughing matter,” one CFL coach texted me. It seems the man behind the latest USFL incarnation is Brian Woods, who doubles as the Owner & Founder of The Spring League, and reportedly has a stack of unpaid bills and unpaid coaches. There was further speculation how this development will affect the proposed CFL/XFL collaboration which prompted me to vent LET’S JUST GET ONE OF THESE LEAGUES ONTO THE FIELD AND PLAYING!

8 – SPORTS AROUND HERE: Thank God for the NHL. It’s provided at least some quality fodder for The RP Show and our blogs, and the viewers have eaten it up. The NBA Playoffs are rumour in Canada since the Raptors are out. As far as local sports goes, we’re without the CFL, WCBL, NLL, rodeos and our other favourite local sports we normally enjoy at this time of year. At least the Kings Park Speedway schedule fires up this month. We’re over a year into this thing and in Canada, sports largely remains a barren wasteland.

9 – OLD SCHOOL: Perhaps you can help me out. I’ve noticed a lot of my on-air phrases are flying over the heads of our younger viewers. For instance “a broken record”, “calling card”, “carbon copy” and “Coles Notes” solicit blank stares from Generation Z. What would be appropriate? A skipping CD? A Twitter bio? A photocopy? We’ve gotta get with it.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: A server at Original Joe’s asked Saturday night, “Are you the Pats announcer?” It felt nice. … Time Marches On. My Dad’s favourite song. … NHL coaches have to wear masks but the fans don’t? … I’m officially “these hockey players sure look young” years old. … Didn’t watch a shift of the World Hockey Championships, but I heard it was good. I’m trying to exercise moderation with my hockey watching. … Slap anyone who mentions the phrase, “You’re never in trouble in a series until you lose at home.” … The Edmonton Elks rollout on Tuesday was seamless and the franchise should be commended for completing such an arduous task. The logo and helmets really are smashing. … Whatever happened to Helen Hunt? … After Montreal’s home win on Sunday, it was nice to hear Jefferson Starship’s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us echoing over the speakers at Bell Centre. … Got your second shot yet?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen