THURSDAY RUNDOWN: ON THE BUTTON, KRAKEN TALK & THE CFL’S LATEST!

More big laughs and lots of fun on Episode #533 of the RP Show – Canada’s Daytime Sports Talk Show – on Thursday! Here’s the rundown:

• RP and Moose Dupont got it going with The Warmup for EECOL Electric covering these Quick Six show topics: 1) Kraken Expansion Draft leftovers, 2) The CFL On TSN unveils its 2021 broadcast crews with Rod Smith moving into play-by-play and Kate Beirness taking over the panel, 3) An emotional Jerry Jones says he’ll do anything to win another Super Bowl, 4) CFL Notes – Andrew Harris is out for another week in Winnipeg, 5) Are we into the Olympics?, and 6) The CHL announces a new broadcast deal with TSN and CBC, and Connor Bedard is left off Hockey Canada’s U20 camp invite list (we later learned he’ll be attending the U18 camp at the same time).
• TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joined the show from his Calgary home and to go over Seattle’s expansion draft. He was impressed, and feels they’ll be in the running to make the playoffs next season. Regarding the Shea Weber news that the Montreal captain could be dealing with career-ending injuries, Craig explain Weber likely didn’t even know the severity of his injuries while on the Habs’ Stanley Cup run. He said that’s just the way NHL players are built. Button was Rod’s Dad’s boss with the Dallas Stars for two decades and he told some stories of the Stars’ 1999 Stanley Cup championship. They also examined the Saskatchewan players on both the Kraken’s and Vegas Golden Knights’ rosters.
• The daily Capital Auto Mall/Universal Collision Centre poll question was: Did you watch the Seattle Expansion Draft TV extravaganza? At press time around 60% of respondents said no.
• In the Hour 2 Second Half Kickoff for the Four Seasons Sports Palace we discussed the latest CFL news including Edmonton releasing WR Kenny Stafford because he’s not a “cultural fit”. Rod felt Elks coach Jaime Elizondo was likely just being honest but may have wanted to choose his words more carefully. Stafford has taken umbrage with the characterization and Rod said he hates how teams have all the power to damage a player’s reputation.
• Sportsnet Flames host Ryan Leslie joined the show to discuss all things Flames. He knows former Flames captain Mark Giordano well and said him being exposed in the Draft and taken by Seattle was a shock. Rod said the same is likely felt by Jordan Eberle. Leslie feels there’s no clearcut favourite for the next captain of the Calgary Flames. The guys looked ahead to next season for Calgary and discussed Seattle as a hockey market. Ryan admitted he’s never been there.
• Rod and Moose unveiled plans for the inaugural Green & White Luncheon on August 6 at Crave Kitchen & Wine Bar featuring former Rider President Jim Hopson. You can purchase tickets here:
• 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+ 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 12 pm ET/10 am MT on Friday for a Flame Tech Football Friday on Game+ TV and YouTube/Facebook Live!