THURSDAY RUNDOWN: A HOCKEY DAY!

These are exciting times on ice and we covered all the latest hockey news on Episode #423 of The RP Show – Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show! Here’s the rundown:

• RP and Dupes got it going with The Warmup for Four Seasons Sports Palace covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) Wednesday NHL leftovers (Oilers, Leafs & Canucks impress), 2) NHL.com’s Top 5 teams are Boston, Tampa Bay, Vegas, Toronto and Colorado, 4) The RP Show’s Bottom 5 are Ottawa, NY Rangers, Detroit, Nashville & LA, 5) J.J. Watt to the CFL? Rod says this talk is ridiculous, and 6) The Raptors visit the Bucks again Thursday and Kyle Lowry is a game time decision.
• News broke just before the show that the Eagles are trading QB Carson Wentz to the Colts for a pair of draft picks. The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Is Carson Wentz an upgrade from Philip Rivers for the Colts? Close to 70% of respondents said no.
• Sportsnet Montreal’s Eric Engels joined the show for a deep dive on the Canadiens and the Scotia North Division. He feels the Leafs and Habs are in a class by themselves but doesn’t agree with pundits’ assessment that there are only three good teams in Canada. Engels took questions from viewers on what the Canadiens need to acquire to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, and an array of other Canadian Division matters.
• In Hour 2 we re-upped the Quick Six and then were joined by Saskatoon Blades head coach and Team Canada World Junior assistant coach Mitch Love. The Quesnel, BC product offered an outlook for the Blades and said they’ll lean heavily on goalie Nolan Maier, captain Chase Wouters and Sharks prospect Tristen Robins. Regarding the Hub Centre in Regina, Love admitted details are “a little loose” at the moment but they’ll get more information as it becomes available. Given it’s a 24-game regular season with no playoffs, Love said they plan to approach the season like any other regular season. Regarding Canada’s loss to the USA in the World Juniors gold medal game in Edmonton, Mitch said they were proud of Canada’s effort throughout the tournament but just didn’t get the bounces in the final.
• Winnipeg author Geoff Kirbyson joined the show to discuss his latest book Broken Ribs & Popcorn, chronicling the 80s Winnipeg Jets. Kirbyson interviewed over 100 NHLers from that era for the book and takes a detailed look at why the high-flying Jets couldn’t get past the Oilers in the 80’s. The book is available now at McNally Robinson.
• Thursday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page, you can catch the replay at 4:00 pm ET on Game+, listen to the podcast by clicking on the CONTENT tab at the top of this page or listen anytime to our 24-hour live audio feed at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive.
• See you at 11 am CT/12 pm ET on Friday for a Flame Tech Football Friday on Game+ and YouTube/Facebook Live! Our guest list includes Cameron Judge, Solomon Elimimian and Derrick Moncrief!