THURSDAY RUNDOWN: LET’S TALK HOCKEY, FOOTBALL & WINNIPEG!

We were back at it Thursday for Episode #410 of The RP Show – Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show! Here’s the rundown:

• RP and Dupes kicked it off with The Warmup for Four Seasons Sports Palace covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) Is Buccaneers/Chiefs in Super Bowl LV the greatest match-up ever?, 2) Who’s the greatest GOAT of all the GOATS? (That was our poll topic and the options were Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan or Other?), 3) NHL.com’s Top 5 in the Power Rankings are Vegas, Tampa Bay, Washington, Montreal and Dallas, 4) The RP Show’s Bottom 5 are Ottawa, NY Rangers, Carolina, Detroit and Arizona, 5) Jim Rutherford resigns as GM of Pittsburgh and John Chayka is suspended by the NHL till 2022. Are we obliged to know the reasons why?, and 6) George Springer meets the Toronto media.
• On Bell Lets Talk Day, RP gave an address on Mental Health saying he applauds the initiative by Bell but it’s a 365-day effort to make a change. He said the corporate giant BELL is doing its part, but it’s up to the rest of us to do ours if we’re going to gain any headway.
• Estevan Bruins Head Coach & GM Jason Tatarnic joined the bunker and spoke on behalf of junior coaches across Canada about the state of things during the pandemic. Tatarnic has coached Junior A in the Maritimes and BCHL (and now the SJHL) so he’s qualified to address the issue. He explained the SJHL has a Return To Play Committee and they’re hopeful the league will get a season in for 2020-21. The Niagara Falls, ON product and former Notre Dame Hound detailed the Health & Safety protocols around them hitting the ice this past fall and expressed his disappointment at the season being suspended since they were playing safely. He also talked about coaching John Chayka with Junior A Woodstock and said he’s not surprised he was named the NHL’s youngest-ever GM at age 26 back in 2017.
• Sportsnet Flames host Ryan Leslie joined us on game day between the Flames and Canadiens in Montreal. He feels it’s the Game of the Night among 14 in the NHL as the Habs are hosting their home-opener and the Flames are out to end a 2-game slide. Leslie addressed the Tkachuk/Muzzin fiasco at the end of Tuesday’s Leafs/Flames game but feels it wasn’t that big of a deal. He asserted “This is still the NHL!” and that flare-ups are going to happen between intense divisional rivals.
• Hour 2 was simulcast on Game+ TV and Facebook Live and after re-upping the Quick Six, we were joined by The Sports Doctor Dave Petrishen from Winnipeg. He and Rod went deep into the CFL’s current situation and the Doc said it’s tough to make a prediction on the 2021 season because so much is unknown, and nobody’s saying anything in the CFL. Regarding Scott Milanovich earning a reported $500,000 as Head Coach with Edmonton despite not coaching a game, and the Riders Charleston Hughes only being paid $10,000, the Doc huffed “That’s out-of-line”. And regarding the Patrick Laine/PLD trade, Dave figures each Jets fan has their own opinion but he agrees with Rod that it could be “addition by subtraction”.
• Regarding the Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question, at press time the leader by a longshot was Wayne Gretzky.
• 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, or listen anytime to our 24-hour live audio feed at RodPedersen.com/ListenLive.
• See you at 10 am CT Friday on Facebook Live and 12 pm ET on Game+ for a Flame Tech Football Friday! Our guest list includes Reggie Begelton, Martavius Bryant, Tori Gurley and John Frenzy.
• *NOTE: Beginning Monday the RP Show will air at 11:00 am Sask Time (CT) and will air for the full two hours on Game+ TV as well as YouTube and Facebook Live.