THE WEDNESDAY THRILLER … WITH PHIL ANDREWS

Voice of the Pats Phil Andrews

A tip of the cap from this guy to the Los Angeles Kings. Wow are they a resilient and overall good team. In games 1 and 2 at home to New York, they very well could have lost but found ways to battle back and win in OT. And then game 3 was a piece of art, a good defensive effort.  The Rangers could do nothing right on their powerplay that had six chances. This is looking like a sweep, though for the sake of the Eastern Conference saving some face, I hope the Rangers do get a win. Yes the West was the best all year, I just didn’t think they were this much better. Not to mention the Kings have played the maximum amount of games necessary to get to the Final. Unbelievable really.

—

Two Regina Pats prospects have been invited to attend Canada’s national under-17 development camp this summer. Forward Sam Steel and defenceman Liam Schioler have been invited to the camp in Calgary which starts in late July. Pats assistant coach Josh Dixon is one of the coaches on the staff for this year’s U-17’s, the second year he will coach in the tournament.

—

The Tri-City Americans have hired former Prince Albert Raider Brian Pellerin as their associate coach. Pelerrin was most recently an assistant in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage. His last stint in the WHL was with the Portland Winterhawks from 2004-08.

—

The Saskatoon Blades and Prince George Cougars completed a trade on Tuesday. The Blades sent 98 born defenceman Joel Lakusta and a 6th round pick in 2016 to Prince George in exchange for the rights to 94 born goaltender Collin Olson. Olson is an American kid and was taken by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 6th round of the 2012 NHL Draft. If Olson reports to Saskatoon it would fill a big hole for their team ahead of this season.

—

On to football. The CFL and the CFLPA have come to a tentative agreement. Great news for the fans and for most people, simply because football will go on. However there’s been a few players speak out about the deal saying they are unhappy with the terms. Now I get that a player wouldn’t be happy that the salary cap is over a million less than what the PA originally asked. However, if you don’t like it, then vote the agreement down. Maybe I am way off here but I don’t want to read about how players will vote yes because they don’t have faith in the execs and legal team … then fire their asses and get people in charge who will get what you want. This whole process has been comical. All I know is I will be happy to be at Mosaic on Saturday working the pre-season game.

—

Another CFL note, the fact that pass interference is reviewable is a joke. I watched parts of the Winnipeg-Toronto game on Monday night and Scott Milanovich challenged a non-call in the fourth quarter. The review took what felt like an hour and was overturned. All I know is that pass interference is always a judgment call, there is no definitive line to gain or foot to get down in bounds. Its at the discretion of the refs whether in real time or on video replay. I don’t like it one bit and I have a feeling its going to get worse and worse the more challenge flags we see thrown as the season gets going.

Drew Willy looked pretty good in his first action as a Bomber. Threw a touchdown and for over 100 yards. Then in came Max Hall and Brian Brohm who didn’t do much but the 4th stringer Robert Marve showed some play making ability and almost brought the Bombers even late in the fourth quarter.

The Argos auditioned 4 guys at running back. Curtis Steele is the lone back with any CFL experience, Steve Slaton, Jeremiah Johnson and Canadian Anthony Coombs are the rookies. From my perspective there was not one guy who was head and shoulders better than the rest. Will be interesting to see how that shakes out as the pre-season continues.

Overall it wasn’t the worst pre-season game ever played.

—

The NBA Finals have been great to watch through the first three games. The Spurs lead 2 games to 1 after a road win in Miami last night. I love watching playoff basketball. These two teams are fantastic and the fact the Spurs shot a record 75 percent plus in the first half is super human. They could not miss a thing. The Heat made a game of it in the second half but couldn’t come all the way back. I tell you what the NBA Finals have been better entertainment than the NHL.

Oh and can Donald Sterling please just go away?

—

The Toronto Blue Jays have lost three of four, and in those three losses they have been shutout. They are still 12 games over .500 but I am getting worried this could be the start of a bit of a slide. This team is fun to watch and I hope that continues in the coming months.

—

Lastly a big congrats to everyone involved in Sticks on Rose this year. Over 100,000 dollars was raised for the Shooting Stars Foundation.

That’s it from me today, have a good week.

Phil
@PhilTheThrill18