THURSDAY RUNDOWN: HOCKEY & BLUE JAYS TALK, PLUS GIFTS!

We were back at it Thursday with Episode #469 of The RP Show – Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show! Here’s the rundown:

• RP and Moose Dupont kicked it off with The Warmup for Four Seasons Sports Palace covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) Wednesday NHL leftovers (how do we feel about Connor McDavid’s elbows?), 2) RP feels the cancellation of the World Womens Hockey Championship is about Covid and business, not sexism, 3) CFL leftovers – the hosts feel the CFL missed the boat by not playing in the USA but an August 5 kickoff is the best we can now hope for, 4) Lebron’s deleted Tweet, 5) Robin Lehner goes off on the NHL, and 6) The Blue Jays split with Boston. When will George Springer return?
• Brandon Wheat Kings trainer “Scooter” said it’s “not okay” that RP was wearing Winnipeg ICE gear on Wednesday’s show so Wheaties voice Branden Crowe brought an avalanche of Brandon gear for the show staff. We were honoured and will wear it proudly!
• TSN 690 Montreal’s Joey Alfieri joined the show for a wide-ranging chat. He feels a Montreal/Edmonton Stanley Cup Playoff series would be wild but still isn’t sold on new Habs catch Dominique Ducharme. Joey explained that Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin is in the last year of his contract and his fate is tied to Ducharme, and how this season turns out for Montreal. Regarding the CFL, Joey’s disappointed with where the league’s at and said the Alouettes face an uphill battle for relevance in their market if they don’t play this year. He’s also not in favour of a CFL/XFL merger and wonders why the CFL should have to “bend” in order to accommodate American football?
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Which 20-year old WHL goalie would you sign first – Max Paddock or Roddy Ross? At press time, Paddock was winning by a large margin.
• In the Hour 2 Second Half Kickoff we debated NHL topics plus the future of minor-pro and amateur leagues in Canada. Rod wonders if people just want to sit on the couch and watch NFL, NHL, NBA & MLB or will they actually get out and support the CHL, Junior A, NLL, CEBL, WCBL, etc. once the pandemic is over?
• Sportsnet’s Arash Madani joined the show to discuss the CFL’s Return To Play possibilities and his popular interview on the XFL Markcast. Arash feels the interview was likely so popular simply because he was honest. He and Rod had a lengthy discussion on the Blue Jays, their midweek series against Boston, and the exciting times ahead with Bichette, Biggio, Guererra, et al. They also previewed next week’s NFL Draft and Arash said he’ll have a feature coming out on trainer Jordan Palmer who’s personally guided #1 NFL Prospect Trevor Lawrence from Clemson.
• Thursday’s show is available for viewing now on our Facebook/YouTube pages, 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.
• Don’t forget to tune in for the Regina Pats & Swift Current Broncos from the Dub Hub at 8:00 pm on AccessNow TV! Rod and Darren will have the call.
• See you at 10 am MT/12 pm ET Thursday on Game+ TV and YouTube/Facebook Live!