THURSDAY RUNDOWN: BARNABY, RICHARDS & MORE

NHL All Star Week is in full swing in South Florida and there’s both good and bad news with the world’s #1 hockey league. We covered that and much more on Thursday’s Episode #931 of The RP Show – Daytime Sports Talk – on Game+ TV, WQEE Radio and YouTube Live! Here’s the rundown:

• RP and Moose Dupont got things rolling with these Quick Six show topics: 1) The NHL Alumni defeated the Florida Panthers Alumni 15-10 in their celebrity hockey game Thursday night in Coral Springs, FL. Rod was there and told many stories, 2) Connor Bedard put on a show before 17,223 fans in the Saddledome, scoring the shootout winner in a 6-5 Pats victory over the Hitmen, 3) Wednesday NHL leftovers, 4) RP’s NHL Top 5 are BOS – CAR – NJD – TOR – DAL while the Bottom 5 are SJ – VAN – ANA – CHI – CBJ, 5) Football buzz including CFL & NFL, and 6) In the NBA the Raptors fell 131-128 at Utah while the Hawks won 132-100 at Phoenix.
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was Round 3 of our NHL Reverse Retro Jersey Bracket: Whose jersey is better – Buffalo or Washington? At press time, the Capitals were leading.
• Famed NHL super pest Matthew Barnaby is 18th all-time in NHL penalty minutes and he told stories of appearing in many NHL Alumni games across the continent. Regarding All Star Week, Barney said he’s always a big fan of the spectacle no matter what the format is and if people don’t care for it, then they shouldn’t watch! He agreed that he may not have been able to play in today’s NHL, which favours smaller players and speed. Ottawa viewers asked Matt if the Senators should make a coaching change but he steered clear of it.
• One of the big news items coming out of All Star Week is that NHL TV ratings are down 22% from last year. We debated the reasons why and were joined by famed sportscaster Mike Richards of Sauga 960 Radio to break it down more. He feels the biggest reason for the downturn is because of all the changes made to the TV broadcasts! Regarding the product, Richards agrees that the NHL has never been better.
• A viewer from Winnipeg posted the question: Which is the NHL’s best Cup-winning duo? He offered Gretzky-Messier. There were several opinions from the audience including Bossy-Trottier, Crosby-Malkin, Kane-Toevs and Geoffrion/Richard.
• Wednesday’s Rockstar of the Day was Hustler Paterson of Winnipeg Sports Talk. Thursday’s was Matthew Barnaby!
• If you missed the show you can catch the replay at 10 pm PT/12 am CT on Game+ TV, on our YouTube Channel or wherever you find your podcasts.
• See you at 12 pm ET Friday live from The Beach House in Pompano Beach, FL! Our guests include Rich Sutter and former Eskimos WR Andrew Nowacki.