Round 2???

[Fight Guy]

So, there are three possible teams the Pats can meet now.

First off...if Medicine Hat takes game 7, we play the Tigers...something I don't particularly want to see.

BUT...if Red Deer can pull off the upset, then the Pats will either play Calgary or Brandon. After the last game against Calgary here, I REALLY don't want to be facing them. The Pats didn't come out to play that game at all, but Calgary still looked to out play them ridiculously. And if Kootenay comes back and wins that series, then we would face Brandon...which I have a lot more confidence in the Pats play. They played them very well this year, and that is who I am hoping to see the Pats play in Round 2! Plus that will be a messy series! nhl3

What do YOU think?

[luv_the_pats]

I would love to play against Brandon. We had a great season against them. Kootenay, I wouldn't mind playing them. I would hate to go against Medicine Hat, but I have faith in our boys. :thumb:

[Bran]

I have faith in this team! I don't think there's a team they can't beat...that said, I think Brandon would make for an excellent series and are probably the best opportunity for the Pats to win.

[Fight Guy]

I would love to play against Brandon. We had a great season against them. Kootenay, I wouldn't mind playing them. I would hate to go against Medicine Hat, but I have faith in our boys. :thumb:
Won't be playing Kootenay in any situation.

[luv_the_pats]

Won't be playing Kootenay in any situation.

So it will be Brandon, Medicine Hat or Calgary. Brandon would make a GREAT series. I would love to go on the bus to one of those games!

[nivek_wahs]

www.rodpedersen.com



Monday, April 02, 2007
Off To Round 2

SWIFT CURRENT -- What a weird feeling. I haven't experienced it since April of 1998 ... the Regina Pats are off to the second round of the WHL playoffs.

They did it in thrilling fashion, winning 2-1 in overtime here Sunday night. Brett Leffler scored the winner with 6.55 seconds to go in the first extra period. The Pats' bench spilled onto the ice and mobbed Leffler in the Broncos' zone after he scored on a goal-mouth scramble.

Garret Festerling put the Pats up 1-0 in the 1st with his fourth goal of the series, on the powerplay. Levi Nelson tied it at 1 with a PPG in the 2nd and the 3rd period was scoreless. Regina outshot them 10-9 in OT, but were outshot 34-25 overall.

"What a game," observed Pats' assistant coach Terry Perkins on CKRM's postgame, "I think what our guys learned is how hard it is to win that fourth game in a series and eliminate your opponent. We really had to work at it and the Broncos put up a great fight. Our best player was (goalie) Linden Rowat, which is a good sign for the road ahead."

Right now, that road is foggy. The Pats could play anyone of Medicine Hat, Kootenay, Calgary or Brandon in Round 2. The Hitmen are up 3-2 over Kootenay going into Monday's game in Calgary and the Tigers host the Rebels in Game 7 Tuesday. I'll post the scenarios later on on Monday. There are four of them.

The quote of the playoffs so far goes to Rowat when I asked him after the game how much different of a goalie he is now that he has a playoff series win under his belt. "I'm the same goalie, just happier," was his reply.

Of course you're all wondering how the scene played out with the angry Broncos' fans who threatened revenge after my 'vaseline on the broadcast booth prank'.

Well Bronco superfan Big Ern, whom I've become great friends with, met me at the door when we arrived at 4:45pm. He assured me I had nothing to worry about prior to the game, but afterwards could be a different story if they lost. "But you really shouldn't have done that Roddy," cautioned Big Ern, "that wasn't too smart."

Three security guards stayed by the Pats' dressing room for two hours prior to the game and one Bronco staffer assured me they wouldn't let things get out of hand. Assistant GM Eldon Moberg was a little more coy, "you brought it on yourself," Eldon smiled, "I hope you didn't wear your best suit!"

I got into the booth an hour before the game and stayed there. Later on I heard a guy below tap a stick on the floor and say, "I won't get vaseline on my hands but somebody might." Another asked CTV's Lee Jones "why didn't you bring the weather girl and leave Pedersen at home?"

pedersenmedia cameraman T-Bot was on the concourse and called my cel saying, "there's a bunch of 'em down here with sticks and pucks and they llok angry. They're rubbing their hands together." I asked Trevor to video any shenanigans in case it got out of control.

Pats' assistant coach Todd Strueby, a member of the Regina City Police SWAT team, joined me in the booth just prior to faceoff. When the Broncos entered the ice, the pounding on the booth was deafening. He said no wonder I was annoyed by it.

When the Pats scored in the 1st, Struebs turned and started pounding on the walls and I yelled "DON'T do that! You're just going to rile them up!"

Some fans brought anti-Rod signs to the game but security destroyed them before I had a chance to snap a photo of them.

One guard came into the booth in the first intermission and said he'd toss them out if I wanted but I said if gets no worse than this, it would be fine. Let 'em stay.

Aside from the group of teenagers heackling me from below, and a PA announcement razzing me, it was tame the rest of the way. After I wrapped up the postgame show, the crowd had dissipated.

I shouldn't say that. There was a group of Bronco fans sitting in the crowd, obviously dejected. "Good luck in the second round Roddy," offered one of them. We chatted for a brief second, and I headed down to the room to join the celebration. But it wasn't much -- it was more a look of relief on everyone's face.

Seeing that group of Bronco fans made me stop and think though. They're fiercely proud of their team and their town and cheer for the Broncos with all they have. Just like those in Moose Jaw, P.A. or Brandon. The Warriors are the only one of them facing the loss of their team, but they CAN'T lose it. THIS is where hockey matters, moreso than the major markets in my opinion. Grassroots. I hope the WHL governors think long and hard before they ever consider the notion of removing these franchises in the years ahead.

So now the Pats have five days off before opening the next round, presumably on Friday.

It's going to be a fun week.