THURSDAY RUNDOWN: CUP STORIES, RUSH NEWS & TORI’S TIPS!

We had a buffet of sports talk on Episode #325 of The RP Show, Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show! Here’s the recap:

• Rod and Dupes kicked it off with The Warmup covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) The CEWS has been extended till next summer likely signifying there won’t be a change to large gatherings in Canada anytime soon, 2) The Lightning dumped the Stars 5-2 in the pivotal Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, 3) The Blue Jays trounced the Yankees 14-1 to drop their magic number to one, 4) Week 3 in the NFL kicks off Thursday night with Miami at Jacksonville, 5) Which 2-0 NFL team is a mirage? (Not as good as their record): Buffalo, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Green Bay, Chicago, Arizona, L.A. Rams or Seattle? RP said it’s the Bills while Dupes pointed to the Bears, and 6) Fallout from the Edmonton Football Club’s termination of 49-year equipment manager Dwayne Mandrusiak.
• The Keeper of the Cup, Phil Pritchard of the Hockey Hall of Fame, joined the show from the Edmonton bubble. He said the Stanley Cup is tucked away in his hotel room and it’s the safest place in the world to be! Phil explained bubble life, said the tradition of the Cup visiting players in the off-season originated in 1989 but didn’t become a full-on tradition until 1995. He said each Stanley Cup presentation is special but perhaps the most rewarding for him was in 2001 when he helped Gary Bettman present the Cup to Colorado’s Joe Sakic who immediately handed it over to Raymond Bourque. It was another fun, wide-ranging chat with Phil.
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: When will the Blue Jays be a contender – 2020, one more year, 2-3 years or 4+ years? The majority of respondents said 2-3 years. RP feels that Jays fans shouldn’t take this playoff berth for granted and it’s time to catch Jays Fever!
• Hour 2 was broadcast on Facebook Live only and we were joined by Saskatchewan Rush GM Derek Keenan. He explained his decision to step down as head coach and hand the reins over to Jeff McComb. He also discussed the dynasty the Rush has built, recapped the 2020 NLL Draft from last week and looked ahead to the 2020-21 season. Keenan said nothing’s been decided yet and while they hope to begin in late-January, there are several contingency plans which could take them into August of 2021.
• RP Show NFL insider Tori Gurley joined the show for the weekly Tori’s Tips Fantasy Football segment presented by Wheaton Kia. Tori offered up his Week 3 Fantasy picks and said he’s bullish on the 2-0 Cardinals. He agreed with RP that the Bills are the biggest imposters so far this season. Tori also answered questions from viewers.
• The guys examined the termination of Dwayne Mandrusiak and RP said the Eskimo legend is doing as best he can with the news. They discussed the future of the CFL and said these are incredibly troubling times.
• Thursday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook page, you can catch the replay at 4:00 pm ET on Game+ TV, 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 10 am MT on Friday for Football Friday!