Scruffy’s This N That

1 – OVIE IS THE KING: What many of us thought would never be seen is about to be. Chances are history will be made Sunday morning/afternoon when the Capitals and Islanders meet with all eyes on Alexandre Ovechkin. He was oh-so-close so having the all-time goals record by himself after scoring twice Friday night against Chicago, but he couldn’t get that third one so goal 895 has to wait until Sunday at the earliest. Tell me if you were around a TV Friday night that you didn’t turn it to Sportsnet after learning he was one goal away to see if he could get the record?

It is unreal to think that a record many of us thought would never be beaten is about to be. Say what you will about Ovie, but the guy is a machine. He is 39 playing like he is 29. He will surely eclipse the 900-goal mark before he hangs the skates up and it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets to 1000. As it stands now, I can’t see anyone who can come close to being the next record-holder. 

There is no doubt Ovechkin is the greatest Russian to ever play the game, but where is he when it comes to all-time greats? Is he top 10? He has to be top 20? By the way, give him a lot of credit for saying he didn’t want to score the record-breaker into an empty net. As Friday’s game wound down, that is what I thought would happen. It was also great to see that the chase caught the attention of ESPN as it was their lead story on SportsCenter. When is the last time that hockey led the way on ESPN’s flagship show?

2 – NEW COMMISH: I am guessing the first order of business for new CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston will be when he is at TSN for the CFL Draft to presumably announce picks as commissioners have done in previous years. Will someone have to let him in or can he still use his swipe card? 

There is a lot of optimism for Johnston as he steps on board a ship he is all too familiar with because of his former title at TSN. When you are the league’s sole broadcaster, you have had many conversations with the league about a variety of things and now those talks will continue with himself at the other side of the table. 

You could ask 100 fans what his number one priority should be and you will get many different answers. The overall TSN broadcast is not high on my list, but it is up there. 

I have kept saying for years that the broadcast needs to be refreshed. The on-air talent is fine, sorry Glen Suitor haters, but new graphics and a new scorebug are desperately needed. Go back and watch TSN games from a few years ago and you will see the look has barely changed. I think the panel could use a refresh too. There are some on there that are very good and others—not so much. Just take a look at what is happening with the US networks and their game-day presentation. TSN and the CFL had a great chance to start this when they put Saturday afternoon games on CTV last year, but instead they opted to have basically a TSN telecast on a different network.

All I have spoken to are reacting positively to the announcement, but many did that when Randy Ambrosie came aboard. I don’t know what was the beginning of the end for Ambrosie, but the pandemic can likely take credit.   Let’s see what Johnston can do. I don’t know who else was in the running, but this looks like a good hire.

3 – UHHHHH NO! There was a suggestion on Twitter this week that with the success of the obsidian green jerseys that the Riders should maybe consider a rebrand. NOPE! While there were a lot of the obsidian jerseys that sold, are we going to categorically call it a success. I would say the look was about 50-50 with fans and that in my books isn’t a success. The Rider colours are green and white. You want to go to a full retro look than I am down with that, but that’s it. 

4 – MORE OFFER SHEETS COMING: Doug Armstrong’s gamble to sign two restricted free agents to offer sheets appears to be working. Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg have helped make the St. Louis Blues a better team while making Oilers GM Stan Bowman look like a fool for not matching. Oiler fans can only wonder where their team would be if Broberg and Holloway especially were still wearing Edmonton colours. 

It makes one wonder what GM’s are thinking as the off-season gets closer when it comes to offer sheets knowing the salary cap is going up. If a GM can better themselves by getting a player like Evan Bouchard, JJ Peterka, Marco Rossi or Matthew Knies than why wouldn’t you. Homework will have to be done to see where other teams are cap-wise but if they are stretched to the limit, why wouldn’t you. Toronto obviously wants to keep Mitch Marner around, but can they do that and keep Knies. Minnesota would love to keep Rossi, but they need money to sign Kirill Kaprizov. 

The offer sheet was once seen as something GM’s would not do, but that ended a couple of seasons ago when Carolina grabbed Jesperi Kotkaniemi from the Canadiens. It continued last year with Broberg and Holloway and I would think it would continue this season. 

5 – DEVELOPING A GOALIE OR TWO: The goaltender talk died down after Jordan Binnington’s performance at the Four Nations Face-Off, but the question remains as to when Canada will have a goaltender like a Martin Brodeur or Carey Price again that we can depend on in international play. While watching the Flames, I wondered about Dustin Wolf but like Hellebuyck, Oettinger, Swayman and Woll, he is an American. After his play at the Four Nations, Binnington should the starter if healthy at the Winter Olympics, but who are your other guys. Is it Hill and Montembault again? I doubt it. Chances are Logan Thompson is in the mix but after that—–?????

6 – WHL ATTENDANCE: The WHL is thriving. Just before playoffs, the league issued a press release stating 3.122 million people checked out a game this year with an average attendance of 4,175. The league has seen increased attendance since getting going again after COVID. The league did not break it down team-by-team which I wish they would have done. I know there is no way the Pats averaged 4,175 fans a game. I don’t even know what the percentage would be which to me is a better factor seeing you have small rinks like Swift Current and big ones like Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary. The bottom line is people across Western Canada continue to enjoy what I say is the best junior league in the world. With the new streaming deal with Victory+, I expect those numbers to go up as there will be many eyes on the league whether they be in WHL cities or not. 

7 – PAYING IT FORWARD: Two thumbs up to the Saskatchewan Roughriders Foundation. They are purchasing 1,000 helmets that will go to 125 football programs across the 306. There is no doubt Saskatchewan is the best province when it comes to football and this just cements that. It doesn’t matter if you are playing 12-man football in Regina or Saskatoon, or six-man football in rural Saskatchewan, there are kids that might be future CFL’ers playing with top-notch headgear thanks to the CFL team that is supported by them and so many others. That money comes from 50/50’s so buy those tickets Rider Nation and see the good that it is doing.

8 – GOODBYE TO THE BAY: I can’t remember the last time I walked through the Bay in the Cornwall Centre.  For that matter, I can’t remember the last time I was in the Cornwall Centre as seeing I don’t work in downtown Regina anymore, there is no reason to pay the mall or the area a visit. Yeah, I know I’m not alone with that thought.

My memories of the Bay were when it was on the corner of Rose and 12^th where my former workplace—Harvard Broadcasting—is. Some of the younger folks may not even know that. Do you remember the circular parkade? Do you remember going down to the second floor to the “Malt Stop”? In the 80’s, I got a lot of stuff from the Bay and if you are in the same age category as me, chances are you did too. We had places like the Bay, Eatons, Sears and Zellers to spend our money in. The kids today have Walmart. YIKES!

It’s sad to see these places that were favourites of mine growing up disappear. By the way, what was the name of the arcade that used to be next door to the Army and Navy? For those that don’t know that would be on the block where the Tim Hortons and the Impark office is. 

9 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• Last weekend, Oz the Mentalist was on CBS telling us who was going to be in the final four. If he is so good, why doesn’t he have a perfect bracket?
• The team no one wants to play in the 1^st round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is the St. Louis Blues. Winnipeg or Vegas have a tough first round assignment in front of them. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Blues beat either.
• Talk about the Torpedo bats all you want, but the bigger story to me is the fact the Cincinnati Reds lost three straight 1-0 games this week and were oh so close to being shut out in four straight games. 
• Hope no one went out and ordered a Trey Lance jersey! 
• Just me or is the TSN Curling music a little too dramatic. 

That’s all I got! Have a great week!