THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE
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| Keith Hershmiller Photography |
11 LONG POINTS & SHORT POINTS
1 – Yeah, yeah I get it. All anyone wants to talk about about around here is the Saskatchewan Roughriders and that’s awesome. We’ll get to Canada’s Team in a minute, but first let’s discuss the next hottest topic: the Regina Pats and their second round WHL playoff series with the Swift Current Broncos which is currently tied 1-1.
Usurping Vince Young on the weekend as the #1 question I get asked about via text or social media is the status of Pats forward Adam Brooks (pictured). The Regina captain left Friday’s Game 2 victory with an apparent lower body injury – so I’m told, because I wasn’t there – and the Pats have been very tightlipped on the matter since.
Can you blame them? These are the playoffs! And it’s 2017 which means all you have to do is check the Regina Pats Twitter account at @WHLPats for any sort of an update on Brooks but nothing’s been posted.
CTV Regina’s Bianca Millions Tweeted that Pats coach John Paddock wouldn’t divulge Brooks’ status after Game 2 but the good news is the 20-year old from Winnipeg was seen walking around after the game.
Have we already forgotten the gamesmanship that comes with this time of year? Why would Paddock tip his hand to the Broncos in advance of Monday evening’s Game 3 (620 CKRM, Sportsnet)?
Frankly I don’t expect any word until the roster for Game 3 is announced an hour or so before game time although the Pats could shock us all and provide an injury update on Monday.
2 – Friday evening I was in Kipling, SK speaking at the KW Oil Kings senior hockey team’s first ever Celebrity Sports Banquet along with Scott Schultz and Mike Stackhouse. When I announced late in the evening that the Pats had won Game 2, the roof went off the Kipling Rec Centre.
You see, as it turns out, the people of Kipling and area have all been watching the Pats games on Access throughout the winter and are very in tune with what’s going on. They’ve been listening to the games on 620 CKRM as well.
This record-breaking season has massively enhanced the Pats’ brand across the province and the fact all their games have been on TV for the past month has grown the team’s popularity EXPONENTIALLY!
That’s exactly what QCSEG was hoping for.
3 – However the fact remains that I don’t get invited to these sports dinners around the province to tell Pats stories. Rather, they want to hear about the Green & White.
On Friday in Kipling I gave my usual 30-minute presentation on my 18 years with the Riders and tell funny anecdotes from behind-the-scenes with the likes of Cal Murphy and Alan Ford, Roy Shivers and Danny Barrett, Eric Tillman and Kent Austin, Ken Miller and Jim Hopson, Brendan Taman and Corey Chamblin, and now Chris Jones.
However on Friday I never spoke of my current thoughts on the club, waiting instead to field questions during a Q & A segment which never materialized. It was 10:30 by then, and the 200 patrons were more than ready to get the party started. They went well into the wee hours.
You can always get my thoughts on the Riders daily on the SportsCage on 620 CKRM. However to recap: 1) I think the Riders can achieve 10 wins this year and the team agrees, 2) Vince Young is a huge centrepiece for what they have planned this year however if he doesn’t pan out, the roof won’t cave in, 3) Kevin Glenn is a mostly proven quarterback who’s capable of winning games and even though he’s never won a Grey Cup doesn’t mean he never will, and 4) Chris Jones is the real deal and he’ll win a championship here before he leaves (whenever that may be). His coaching staff and several players followed him for that exact reason, and none of that has changed.
There ya go. And you didn’t even have to go to a sports dinner to get it.
4 – But the fact remains that no matter where I go – whether it’s Kipling, Assiniboia, Estevan, Meota, Chamberlain or anywhere in between – fans across the province tell me they’d be happy if we talk nothing else but the Riders on the SportsCage year-round.
On the other hand Tiger Williams told me last weekend that “It’s too much Rider talk”, and he listens daily from his home in Stewart Valley, SK.
So, we’re left to try to strike a delicate balance in the winter months because the other sports are worthy of the coverage. Hey, the easiest thing for me to do would be to crack the mic and talk 100% Riders around the clock but I have to do what I think is right.
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| Regina Leader Post |
5 – The alumni interviews are still my favourite, and my favourite all-time Rider Jeff Fairholm (slotback 1988-1993) appeared on the SportsCage on Friday to give his take on the current state of the Green & White.
“I follow the Riders more than I do anything else,” Fairholm said from his home in Calgary. “And when I say I ‘follow’ them, I only know enough to be dangerous. I follow the CFL, I love the Riders and I’m a Rider fan so that’s who I follow.”
So clearly “Fairway” has been following the Vince Young saga very closely.
“Vince Young,” Fairholm paused. “I’ve thought a lot about it. I think it’s a great media and marketing story. I’m on on the fence as to how he’ll play. He’s 33 and I was retired by then. I couldn’t even imagine playing football at 33 but he’s an amazing athlete and a great specimen. I think his talents are perfectly suited for the CFL. Will he be able to use those talents a la a 22-year old Vince Young? Who knows. I hope they give him a good shot but not so good of a shot that it takes away from an eventual starter.
“To be perfectly blunt I think Kevin Glenn is a great talent but he’s long in the tooth as well. He’s a great back-up and insurance policy but what worries me about the Riders is that there’s no bonafide starter. That to me is the biggest thing. I see a lot of signings of very good receivers but who’s going to get the ball to them?”
So Fairholm would prefer an effort be made to develop the young quarterbacks the Riders currently have on the roster (Brandon Bridge, G.J. Kinne and Bryan Bennett). How does he propose the team goes about doing that?
“I would’ve kept Darian Durant to help groom someone else!” Fairholm laughed. “That’s how I would’ve done it. I think Kevin Glenn is a good way to groom some younger guys too, but how is Vince Young going to groom somebody else if he’s never set foot on a CFL field? Kevin Glenn can groom to a point but Kevin Glenn is certainly not the accomplished quarterback that Darian Durant is.”
And of course in just over a week the Rider quarterbacks and a hundred-or-so hopefuls will take to the field in Vero Beach, FL for the club’s annual spring minicamp. Would Fairholm have liked to participate in such a camp in the Sunshine State back in his heyday?
“I would’ve hated to go to a minicamp in Florida because that means I would’ve had to start training earlier or stay in shape all winter!” Fairholm chucked. “Things have changed Rod. These guys are in great shape. Some of the things I see in the gyms from these guys, it’s so exponentially different now from my time. These guys are in amazing shape and the concept of a minicamp is really good. I would’ve hated to do it, but I think now that I’m older I can see how they can put a better product on the field because of it and the fans are better for it.”
Chats with Fairholm are always enlightening and refreshing.
6 – How come former Rider Mike Abou-Mechrek can predict Edmonton will finish last this year and the Eskimos barely notice yet when I picked them for the basement, they screamed and cried for months? I don’t get it.
7 – First Edmonton had a celebration for their Oilers making the NHL playoffs in 2017 and then this weekend they did the same in Toronto for the Maple Leafs. It look over-the-top, but it also looked very exciting in ACC. These Stanley Cup Playoffs are going to be FUN in Canada! But are the celebrations a little too much?
It would seem so, but that’s the way sports are these days.
It made me wonder what the celebration will be like in Saskatchewan when the Riders get back to the CFL playoffs and I’m sure it’ll be similar. And it’s only been a two year drought.
8 – A huge CONGRATULATIONS to 30-year old Peter McDougall of Lumsden, SK who made his NHL debut as a referee on Thursday in Dallas. The former Weyburn Red Wing is the son of former Regina Pat Kim McDougall and his story has been big news around here.
You can read all about it here.
9 – It doesn’t stop there. Former Regina Pats captain Garrett Mitchell – a Regina product – made his NHL debut Sunday night for the Washington Capitals in a 2-0 home loss to Florida. “Mitchy” saw 8:48 of action and registered two hits. Way to go Garrett!
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| Todd Holt Sunday in Estevan |
10 – Alameda, Saskatchewan’s Todd Holt is the Swift Current Broncos’ career goals and points leader which is astonishing when you think of the calibre of players who’ve gone through there. At 5’7″, he was also drafted by the San Jose Sharks in 1993 and had a pro career which took him through Kansas City, Birmingham, Roanoke and Germany.
“I had a secret I was going to take to the grave,” Holt told the crowd. “But as it turns out, that secret almost put me in the grave.”
Todd Holt was also one of the Broncos players sexually abused by coach Graham James and his life was nothing short of a living hell for many years, up until recently. In short, he walked through the fire but has come out on the other side.
And on Sunday morning, Holt found himself on a stage in Estevan speaking at a fundraising breakfast for the Broken Arrow Youth Ranch, a home for children who’ve been separated from their families as their parents battle addictions. It’s a cause which struck a chord with me, and there was NO WAY I was going to miss that event and the chance to support Todd.
With his parents in attendance on Sunday, Todd broke down a few times on stage. “I’ve done this speech 500 times and I still cry,” Holt whispered.
His story was one of triumph, tragedy, and recovery.
“So many people have asked me how I could perform so well at hockey given what was going on with me away from the rink,” Holt recalled of his time in Swift Current. “I just remember thinking that when I was out on that ice, that was the only time he couldn’t touch me. It was just me and the fans.”
Holt’s living in Cochrane, AB now, working for Hallmark Tubulars and out telling his story.
“The media that are here, and people like Mr. Rod Pedersen, are my voice,” Holt declared. “They get my story out. And I need to be out speaking because it helps me.”
He did an amazing, amazing job and I’m so proud to call him a friend.
11 – THAT’S IT! I’ve off to Las Vegas on Monday and will be back in time to call Game 5 of the Pats and Broncos on Access and Shaw on Good Friday. Until then, it’s time to take the foot off the gas and relax a bit.
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THANKS FOR READING,
RP
@rodpedersen
IG: rodpedersenofficial
SC: Pedersenmedia
