The Monday Morning Goalie For SUDS
On the eighth anniversary of the Humboldt Broncos tragedy, we remember and honour the victims, survivors and those impacted on that day. We are all Humboldt Strong.
Truth & Rumours For SUDS Carwash
1 – CLINCHING WEEKEND: There weren’t any ski goggles nor champagne bottles like their colleagues in baseball – that I saw – but the Buffalo Sabres had plenty to celebrate on Saturday after snapping a 14-year playoff drought. Yes folks, the Sabres are headed back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and have the NHL’s best winning percentage since December. Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Lightning clinched a playoff spot on Saturday too, and the Bolts have matched Colorado for the longest current playoff streak at nine years and counting. … The Montreal Canadiens have clinched a playoff berth for a second consecutive season; the first time that’s happened since 2020 and 2021.
2 – ON THE FLIP SIDE: The Detroit Red Wings realized how hard it is to win at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, falling 4-1 to the non-playoff bound Rangers. They returned home Sunday night only to lose 5-4 to the Minnesota Wild. As of today Detroit is two points behind Ottawa for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and should they miss, that’ll make 10 straight seasons and will likely cost GM Steve Yzerman his job. … Looking at potential playoff match-ups is pointless because, if you can believe, 10 days are left in the regular season and nine playoff spots are still up for grabs. This is why Commissioner Gary Bettman said a year ago that they won’t be moving to an NBA-style play-in tournament. The NHL is currently IN the play-in tournament.
3 – MORE NOTES: The firing of Patrick Roy makes no sense. … I was with some Philly fans on Sunday and they were bouncing off the walls as first round pick Porter Martone scored his first NHL goal, the OT winner for the Flyers in a huge 2-1 victory over Boston. That moved Philadelphia into third in the Metropolitan Division. … The Vegas Golden Knights clubbed the Oilers in Edmonton 5-1 on Saturday and are now 3-0 under new head coach John Tortorella. Told you not to bet against Vegas, even if it meant firing the coach. … Erik Karlsson recorded his 58th career 3-point game on Saturday, tying him with Brad Park for the 9th-most in NHL history. … Islanders rookie #1 pick Matthew Schaefer notched an assist Saturday to officially pass Phil Housley for the most (58) by a teenaged defenceman in NHL history.
4 – BATTLE OF FLORIDA: You can only imagine – or maybe you can’t – the back and forth going on in the Sunshine State where the Lightning are headed back to the playoffs while the Florida Panthers will not (the Cats were officially eliminated with Saturday’s 9-4 loss at Pittsburgh). The news that Florida is missing the playoffs was splashed across every screen at Tampa Bay’s Benchmark International Arena during their Saturday home game vs Boston. … It’s no overstatement to say the Tampa and Florida fanbases HATE each other, and the teams aren’t particularly fond of each other either. Siggggggh, it makes my heart sing. When I came here five years ago, the Lightning and Panthers actually got along and their fans supported each other! It was nice, but not good for business. Now it’s the best rivalry in the NHL, bar none. And the Panthers are taking their lumps with folks saying “the reign is over” but all that’s doing is serving as motivation. The Cats will be back on top of the league next year. Book it.
5 – TIGER: You can’t turn on the radio, pick up a newspaper, walk by a TV or open your phone around here (South Florida) without someone talking about Tiger Woods’ DUI arrest last week, and being whisked off to treatment out of country. The news coverage is just too hard to believe, and I want to illustrate how the sports community is intertwined here. Cop bodycam video showed Tiger’s first call upon his car crash was to President Donald J. Trump. Crazy? Not really. Tiger is dating Donald Trump Jr.’s ex-wife Vanessa in Jupiter, FL, just 40 miles from me. Donald Trump is good friends with Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk. I’m around Tkachuk nearly every day. The cynics will say, “Oh Rod – but you’re not connected to Tiger!” No? I’ll be headed to a VIP event at Tiger’s The Golf League facility next week after accepting an invite. However Tiger won’t be there, which brings us to …
6 – ONE DAY AT A TIME: There are plenty of skeptics that Tiger Woods wlll be able to turn his life around and you can add me to that group, specifically since learning Woods has been transported out of country to a treatment center which will protect his privacy. I didn’t like the sound of that. On a much smaller scale, but still relevant, do you think it was easy for me to walk into my first 12-step meeting in Regina 11 years ago, knowing everyone there would know who I was? But I didn’t care because I wanted change so bad. And you know what those guys said? “We don’t give a shit who you are! Get your ass in the chair, shut-up and listen!” I did, never drank again, and those guys became my closest friends to this day. Will Tiger allow himself to be broken down? That’s entirely up to him, which is what success in Recovery always boils down to.
7 – JUNIOR LOOP: Calgary Hitmen forward Ethan Moore has become the first WHL player since 1996 to score all four game-winning goals in one series and he did it in a first round sweep of Brandon this spring. The last player to do it? Jarome Iginla. For this, they’re saying Moore “is the first player in modern WHL history” to accomplish the feat. You know you’re old ‘when’!! We are officially pre-historic. … The Regina Pats season ended in heartbreak with a 5-4 OT loss at Medicine Hat Saturday in Game 5. To me, the only shock here is that they won a game. However the Pats are getting better and the future is extremely bright with Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue on the horizon. I see the rampant complaints about Pats ticket prices and the nearly-empty Brandt Centre but I can boil it down to one thing: owner Shaun Semple doesn’t care. Hopefully that helps you sleep better at night. It does for me. … The SJHL is down to the Final Four: Weyburn vs Flin Flon and Battlefords vs Yorkton. Both semifinals are tied 1-1. … The 2026 Centennial Cup is in Summerside, PEI.
8 – RHI 2.0: You’re going to be hearing a lot more about the resurgence of Roller Hockey International. The famed inline hockey league, which operated for six seasons in the 1990s, is attempting a comeback and their Florida-based investors group approached me to be involved. It wasn’t hard. They waved the investment package under my nose at a meeting in Jupiter, FL a few weeks ago and I blurted, “I’M IN!” Since then, whenever I mention RHI to hockey people and fans, they smile. For the kids who don’t know, RHI played in NHL arenas and featured teams like the Anaheim Bullfrogs, Vancouver Voodoo, New Jersey RockNRollers, Chicago Cheetahs and many colourful more! RHI had TV deals with TSN & ESPN and the list of alumni is long and distinguished, including former NHL’ers Scott Daniels, Craig Coxe, Al Secord, Walt Poddubny and even Manon Rheaume! The winningest coach in RHI history is Chris McSorley, Marty’s brother. Glad and grateful to be a part of it!
9 – FOOTBALL NOTES: The biggest news in the NFL last week was the Las Vegas Raiders signing 37-year old QB Kirk Cousins. RP Show football insider Mike Davis – HC & GM of the IFL’s Vegas Knight Hawks – called it three weeks ago on our show and on Friday, explained why. “Do the research,” Davis advised, which hardly anyone in the media ever does. … You could say there’s not much going on in the CFL, but one quick glance at 3DownNation.com would prove you wrong. … The latest Grey Cup futures odds from Covers.com: Montreal (+300), BC (+400), Saskatchewan (+600), Hamilton (+700), Calgary (+800), Winnipeg (+850), Toronto (+1000), Ottawa (+1100), Edmonton (+1800). … That doesn’t look much different than mine, but why is everyone so bullish on BC?
10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Scott Oake & Vic Rauter announced their retirements this week. Salute! Who’s gonna fill their shoes? … Michigan & UConn have gone the distance to meet in Monday’s March Madness mens bracket final. … Great crowd in Columbus Friday, and a great UFL game on Fox! … How on earth has there never been a Snickers Blizzard? … I got the NASA moon trip confused with LA Kings forward Artemi Panarin. FYI I’m on a news break. … April Fools may be making a comeback. There were some good pranks out there this week from the BC Lions and also Flames Nation. Credit the Florida Gators mens hockey team for announcing they’ll be playing an outdoor game in The Swamp. That got people going! … The NCAA Mens Hockey Frozen Four is in Las Vegas this upcoming weekend featuring North Dakota, Wisconsin, Denver & Michigan. College Hockey Inc. Executive Director Sean Hogan will be on the RP Show on Tuesday. … Reports on April Fools Day of the death of the world’s oldest living land animal — a 193-year old tortoise called Jonathan — were greatly exaggerated. Jonathan is still kicking — albeit slowly — on the island of St. Helena. An account on X, falsely claiming to be by Joe Hollins, a veterinarian who had worked with the reptile on the island in the south Atlantic Ocean between Africa and Brazil, said he was heartbroken to announce the death of the “gentle giant” that “outlived empires, wars, and generations of humans.” The post quickly accumulated nearly 2 million views through Thursday, mostly an outpouring of condolences. But hold the phone! “It was a hoax,” Anne Dillon, head of communications on the island, told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I can just assure you that he is very much alive.” … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?
Y’er welcome,
RP
Patrick Roy brings that team along and that happens. Tortorella is one thing. DeBoer had this mystical hold on NHL GMs as some kind of guru. It helps he has term left on his deal. Tiger Woods was that close to being Florida version of Saskatchewan Cathy McCay. He could have easily wiped out an entire family. If I got “mad” at Eldrick Woods it was frustration. He is a defacto heroin user when it comes to meds. He is surrounded by sycophants and users. Nobody tells him no. Florida is the ground zero of pill mills. The difference between… Read more »