THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

Taking shots …

1 – OMG: We’ll be buzzing for several days over the wild outcomes in the NFL Divisional Playoff round. This is why they call it gambling! Three road teams – Cincinnati, San Francisco and L.A. – moved on while the hometown Chiefs needed overtime to dispatch hard luck Buffalo Sunday night. On the best football weekend of the year (American), millions upon millions were glued to their sets for 12 hours of riveting football. Any guesses on who will be in Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles? Your guess is as good as mine. (Cue Bills fans complaining their team never touched the ball in the overtime session, and clamouring for a rule change).

2 – QB PREDICTIONS: Neither Aaron Rodgers nor Tom Brady were in the mood to discuss their futures in the aftermath of stunning home playoff losses (Green Bay falling 13-10 to San Francisco and Tampa Bay losing 30-27 to the LA Rams), but here’s my prediction: Rodgers has played his last game for the Packers while Brady will return in 2022 for the Buccaneers. Although it sure seemed like commentator Al Michaels was trying to write TB12’s swansong on Sunday’s broadcast.

3 – CLARK: The first time I ever laid eyes on Clark Gillies – in person – was at the 25-year reunion of the Regina Pats 1974 Memorial Cup team. It was in 1999, and we were at Flowing Springs Golf Club just northwest of Regina. Clark got out of a suburban and was wearing a red golf shirt, pressed black slacks and size 13 shiny, black loafers. My jaw dropped, as did everyone else’s in the parking lot who just stopped and stared. Nobody needed to be told that was Clark Gillies.

He just had that “presence”. But of course he was never one to put on airs. The first of many beers was soon cracked and Clark was immediately one of the boys again, elbowing each other, wrestling and laughing uproariously. God did not create us all equal. Clark Gillies was a Hall of Famer in every sense of the word and as someone pointed out over the weekend, probably the only guy who could unite Moose Jaw and Regina.

We all felt that one over the weekend. Our sincerest condolences to the Gillies family.

4 – BOA: From the moment our feet touched down in Calgary last weekend, this province was buzzing over Saturday night’s Oilers/Flames clash in Edmonton. Never mind the fact each team had midweek games beforehand; all that seemingly matters to these folks are NHL games between Edmonton and Calgary. And in a rather surprising twist, the Oilers came back to beat Calgary 5-3 and snap a 7-game slide. It breathed life into the once-dead Oilers franchise and while each team sits on the outside of the playoff picture looking in as they sit today, each club has a wealth of games-in-hand. A Flames/Oilers playoff meeting is still a distinct possibility, if they both get back on track in the second half. However the Oilers aren’t going to win anything with their current goaltending, and can’t rely on scoring five goals every night for a chance to win.

5 – LEON: After calling out reporter Jim Matheson last week and whiffing in Thursday’s 6-0 home loss to Florida, Oilers star Leon Draisaitl regained All Star form against Calgary, netting the winner and his 42nd career multi-goal game moved him past Ryan Smyth for the fifth most in Oilers history, trailing Wayne Gretzky (137), Jari Kurri (104), Glenn Anderson(76) and Mark Messier (70). It was impressive to see him back up his talk.

6 – JONES’ING: There’s plenty of CFL talk around here and the Chris Jones-led rebuild in Edmonton has certainly piqued Stampeders fans’ interest. Many are scoffing at the report of Jones potentially luring Duron Carter out of “retirement” and getting the band back together in the City of Champions. It’s not really much to scoff at. Duron never really retired, but rather hinted last season on Twitter that he’d been blackballed in the CFL. He’ll be 31 in March and once told me he’d like to play till he’s 40. Carter’s still got the skills, has NEVER been injured, and would relish in the chance to shut the haters up. You go Duron! And Jones too, for that matter.

Meanwhile, Calgary is one of the CFL’s great cities. Although the Stampeders haven’t finished atop the CFL West in a few years, observers here are predicting them to be in the mix in the upper echelon of the division in 2022, if not first overall. They point out that the Stampeders quietly went through a mini-rebuild in 2021 – replacing a rash of receivers and defenders plus introducing young QB Jake Maier – and they feel they’ll be in peak form come May. That’s another interesting situation to follow. There are repeated rumblings of a sale of the Stamps, and even a privately-backed new stadium but for now it just seems to be talk.

7 – GO BLUE: The Blue Bomber faithful are getting loud out of Winnipeg, and the talk of a 3-peat is echoing across the CFL. Any notion of the Roughriders or Stampeders challenging the Bombers for a Grey Cup berth in Regina next fall gets immediately shot down by the notoriously loud Winnipeg fans. They’ve been accused of being too cocky but I say let them have their day in the sun! Winnipeg’s won 12 Grey Cups but went 30 seasons between championships with the darkest of days in between. Frankly I’m enjoying the bravado. They’ve earned it. You go Winnipeg!

8 – FAJARDO: No one has yet to give me an answer, nor good reason, for why the wolves in the Rider Nation are howling at the door of franchise star Cody Fajardo. Calgary Sun writer Danny Austin – and a few others – surmise that Fajardo lost a lot of support when he called out his receivers after that loss in Calgary in October. To that I say, “That’s it?” If the 29-year old had faltered on the field, I could see (and even hear) the boobirds coming out of the trees. But he hasn’t. We’ve noted his accomplishments in columns past, but they seem to be falling on deaf ears. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. You go Cody!

9 – “ELVIS” PAQUETTE: During the RP Show residency at Grey Eagle Resort & Casino in Calgary, I had the great pleasure of taking in the Elvis Presley Tribute Show featuring Pete Paquette out of Toronto on Saturday evening. There were golden oldies in the crowd and in Pete’s song set, and there were several seniors with tears streaming down their face throughout the show. What a scene!

And in what I can only chalk up as a Divine meeting, I found myself working out alongside Pete in the hotel gym Sunday morning. We found a kinship as entertainers and had a long talk about our colourful careers which have led us to the exact same place. Watch for his show when it rolls through your town! Paquette might even end up on The RP Show. What a wonderful stretch this has been. Thanks Grey Eagle!

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: I notice they don’t wear masks in Season 4 of Yellowstone. … How do Albertans deal with dry, itchy skin and ridiculously chapped lips? … Canadians are being robbed of the opportunity to enjoy Wayne Gretzky’s analysis on the NHL On TNT. … I’m not a gambler but I’m getting into the betting lingo thanks to our partnership with Bet Regal. However I’ll likely never get into the gambling fraternity. It’s a cool one though! While getting off the elevator at Grey Eagle a pro gambler leaned over and offered, “Good luck at the tables!” Nice people. … “Wrangler Butts Drive Me Nuts” An oldie, but a goodie. … Former Rider defensive lineman Chad Geter has completed his US Air Force training and has been stationed in Minot, ND. … A great quote from Hall of Fame Roughrider Matt Dominguez echoed in my head while watching this weekend’s NFL games. “The regular season makes All Stars,” The Big D advised. “The playoffs make legends.”

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen