THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

FROM THE HOME OFFICE IN SOUTH FLORIDA

1 – COVID: The virus – in all its various forms – has wreaked havoc once again on the major sports leagues, and left more mass confusion in its wake. A total of six NHL teams have been shutdown and cross-border travel has been suspended for the time being. That decision has teams crying afoul about competitive imbalance, and rightfully so. (No owners are giving coaches and GMs a pass for losses accrued during Covid outbreaks).

However rest assured the league leaders never wanted any of this to happen. I’m scratching my head wondering why these outbreaks haven’t affected the lower level leagues? As one viewer observed on The RP Show, “Just wait”. Perhaps Donald Trump said it best when he opined over a year ago, “Just don’t test!” (Wish I had a nickel for every sign I’ve seen that blares TRUMP WON here in the Sunshine State).

2 – OLYMPICS: The NHL reportedly has until January 10 to make its decision on whether or not to send its players to the Beijing Games. Sounds like the decision will come far earlier than that, perhaps even in the next few days. The Spittin’ Chiclets guys are reporting the players have, or will, vote “NO”.

BTW if that podcast gets into breaking news, it’s over for EVERY NHL insider.

3 – MAURICE: The hockey world was shook on Friday morning when Paul Maurice stepped down as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets on Friday morning. Everyone was truly caught off-guard, as even my hockey spies in Winnipeg were perplexed and they directed me to PoMo’s live news conference on 680 CJOB. It really sounds like Maurice just woke up one day, had an epiphany, and said to himself, “I don’t want to do this anymore”. Big stones.

But they’re a great team who’s under-achieved. Something had to change.

4 – WORLD JR’S: Team Canada’s had two of their three pre-tournament games in Alberta scrapped due to Covid and will continue to skate as a team in Banff this week. Be sure to tune into The RP Show’s annual World Junior Preview Special on Christmas Eve (12 pm ET) on Game+ TV & YouTube as we get you ready for the tournament with Hockey Canada Director of Player Personnel Alan Millar, Assistant Coach Mike Dyck, broadcaster Peter Loubardias and USA Hockey writer Julie Robenhymer. Millar told me last week this year’s roster features more grit and fire, and you can’t help but notice the infusion of more WHL’ers into the lineup. The tournament is always must-see TV but the addition of Wonder Boy Connor Bedard has me extra keen. Regarding Bedard’s lower-than-expected point totals this season with the Regina Pats, Millar advised, “this isn’t an All Star team”.

5 – CFL: The first domino of the off-season fell on Sunday when the Ottawa RedBlacks named longtime Hamilton Tiger-Cats personnel man Shawn Burke as their next General Manager. Burke will meet with the Ottawa media on Monday. Shawn’s a highly-respected football guy, and a good guy, and seems to be the perfect fit for the rebuilding franchise. Team Chairman Mark Goudie said it was an exhaustive search – and from what I heard it certainly was – and it proved the high calibre of personnel people currently employed in the CFL including Danny McManus, Ted Goveia, Ryan Rigmaiden, Burke, and many more. The RedBlacks truly have nowhere to go but up.

6 – FEAR THE DEER: All eyes now fall to Edmonton where the Elks are in search of their next President, GM & Head Coach. From what I’m told, they’re interviewing for all of those positions but in the end it’s gotta be Chris Jones’ job if he wants it, doesn’t it? The most entertainment I’ve had lately is watching Elks fans fighting on social media over whether they want Jones back! I’d take him in a heartbeat.

7 – FREE AGENTS: Here’s my list of the top free agents for each CFL club as we approach Christmas – BC (Bryan Burnhan), Edmonton (Derrick Moncrief), Calgary (Kamar Jorden), Saskatchewan (Duke Williams), Winnipeg (Zach Collaros), Hamilton (Dane Evans), Toronto (McLeod Bethel-Thompson), Ottawa (Avery Williams) and Montreal (Jake Weinecke).

8 – REVENUE SHARING: It’s not surprising the Saskatchewan Roughriders admitted to being reluctant to embrace the CFL governors’ revenue sharing proposal. Coming out of Grey Cup weekend, the notion is that this is the first true profit-sharing model the CFL’s used in 40 years but, to me, that’s another head-scratcher. The Rider Old Boys Club tells me those Saskatchewan telethons in the 80’s and 90’s directed a lot of funds to other CFL markets in order to keep the league afloat; it just wasn’t presented that way. Is there enough money on the prairies to keep the entire CFL afloat in today’s pro sports environment? We’re about to find out.

Personally I think the revenue sharing idea is preposterous and the league’s weaklings should be forced to work harder and market better to increase revenues. But, it is Canada after all, where handouts are a thing.

9 – NFL: The star of Week 15 is Jared Goff, the Detroit Lions QB, who completed 21 of 26 passes for 216 yards with three touchdowns in Detroit’s surprising 30-12 victory over Arizona. … Aaron Rodgers, Packers QB, had three touchdown passes – tying Brett Favre on Green Bay’s career list – and the Packers became the first team this season to clinch a division title, wrapping up the NFC North with a 31-30 win over Baltimore. … DeMarcus Lawrence, Cowboys DE, forced a fumble and made two other big plays that led to 15 points in Dallas’ 21-6 win over the New York Giants. The win went a long ways to nailing down first in the NFC East for the Cowboys, who will assuredly be playing in the Super Bowl in Los Angeles. … Don’t look now but the Miami Dolphins have won six in a row following a 31-24 comeback win over the NY Jets here in the Miami-area. The Fins are just the second team in NFL history to get back to 7-7 after starting a season 1-7.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: The Saskatchewan Rush are 1-2-0 to start the NLL season and all have been one goal games. They’re going to be just fine! … In case you missed Friday’s big announcement, The Rod Pedersen Show will be taking up a residency at Calgary’s Grey Eagle Resort & Casino early in 2022 with 56 live shows from the casino in the first few months of the New Year. It’ll be exciting to delve further into NHL, CFL, NLL & WHL coverage from one of those most beautiful venues in the country! … I’m really, really, really enjoying doing this show, which is now in Year 3. Thanks for your support along the way! … Biggest difference between Canadian and American sports: tickets for the Capital One Orange Bowl on New Year’s Eve in Miami featuring Georgia and Michigan in a CFB semifinal START at $500. The game is sold-out out, and I’ll be there. It truly makes you marvel when you hear the grumbling over Grey Cup ticket prices, or sports ticket prices overall in Canada. … You could get into the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl just down the street from me for as low as $63. It wasn’t a well-attended game, as Bailey Zappe threw for 422 yards and six touchdowns in Western Kentucky’s 59-38 win over Appalachian State. … College football talk accounts for about 90% of the chatter on sports talk radio in South Florida. I wish junior hockey got anywhere near that amount of hype in the Great White North. … Hustle is outdated. Alignment is the new thing. … Read that again. … Watching TSN’s Sportscentre lately has really made me wonder what decade we’re in? NLL and CHL highlights? BRING IT ON!! Kudos to TSN.

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen