STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – MAJOR JUNIOR RECRUITS – I’ve seen many arguments for and against the use of major junior players in the SJHL and here is my take that I don’t think has been mentioned anywhere else. This is an opportunity for regular Junior ‘A’ players to see where they stack up against those who are, ordinarily, in the WHL. Granted he’s 20 so there won’t be any major junior interest in him, but Yorkton’s Philippe Bond stoned Jaydon Dureau and Reece Newkirk a number of times on Friday night showing he’s capable of playing at this elevated level. Bond’s goaltending partner, rookie Jacob Herman, has 2 shutouts in 2 starts. You don’t think WHL teams are noticing? Vaughn Waterodt is a 16-year-old capable of playing a top six role on the Terriers. Good chance WHL teams are paying attention to this. Scouts will be watching the SJHL closer than ever this season and having WHL regulars to compare them to benefits everyone–including scouts in the NCAA who recognize the calibre of play only goes up with major junior veterans sprinkled about each team’s roster so Friday night’s effort by Bond may resonate with the colleges. For players like Herman and Waterodt, it’s only going to increase their options moving forward.

2 – SJHL STARTS THIS WEEKEND – Despite not having fan restrictions loosened, the SJHL will open its regular season this weekend with a maximum 150 fans in attendance. Estevan put out a release Monday night and it was hard to argue with it when you look at it from their perspective. 150 represents 6% capacity in their building. They have sold approximately 600 season tickets. I’d be surprised if they will be allowed to get to 600 anytime soon, but I do feel that having been to two games myself in Melville that allowing every team to play in front of 300 would be totally fine. Meanwhile the science in Manitoba is different as they are allowing 25% capacity at the moment (recently reduced from 50% in light of the spike in cases).  In Alberta, the AJHL is set to begin November 13th with capacity limits to be decided by each individual community if I’m understanding the release correctly.

3 – NHL START DATE – The National Hockey League is eyeing January 1st as it’s start date publicly, but there are rumblings behind the scenes of the league calling off the season entirely citing financial hardship.  The NHL is a gate driven league, which means no fans equals no money. Some teams have been absolutely decimated with the pandemic, but Commissioner Gary Bettman says damage caused by skipping a season would do far more harm to the league in the long term than playing out a season in empty arenas would in the short term. Bettman is right assuming there is actually a long term for the NHL. The virus isn’t going away so the only avenue to playing with fans would be for a near 180 shift in health opinions as far as just living with the virus and there doesn’t appear to be anything of the sort on the horizon.

4 – OHL NO BODY CONTACT – There does finally appear to be a little bit of backtracking on the Ontario government’s attempt to alter the game of hockey by banning body contact. Of course, there is no science on this and it’s just a power-starved politician flaunting power. You can bet this attempt at changing hockey isn’t the first time a politician has used this pandemic to further an agenda completely unrelated to science and yet here in Canada many of us are fast asleep and willing to just let ‘health experts’ and politicians rule our lives as they see fit. Wear a mask during sex they say. Ban body contact in hockey they say. Yeah, I got lots of confidence in our health officials, don’t you? There used to be a joke that began with ‘I am from the government and I’m here to help you’. That’s no longer a joke. Most Canadians believe it to be true.

5 – OTHER ONTARIO HOCKEY IDEAS – I have been fortunate to be part of Amateur Sports TV’s Return To Play broadcast that has aired online every couple of weeks and Ryan Wood, a former coach who now lives in Ontario, is part of our panel. He’s suggested the removal of body contact is just the beginning for changes in hockey. There’s discussion (I can’t call it serious because that would mean I can’t laugh at it) about moving to 4-on-4 for the full game, banning face-offs and just having the team scored on start in their own zone, and calling a penalty shot instead of a penalty to guard against virus spread in the penalty box (apparently the virus isn’t present on the actual player’s bench). 

6 – OTHER SPORTS – There are other sports that should be playing right now and aren’t, namely volleyball and basketball but there are many others as well and we should acknowledge all of them despite the fact that it’s hockey getting the attention. I’ve long thought the future for volleyball and basketball is to move them away from the school system and into more of a club one and then have leagues much like the SJHL except for volleyball and basketball for athletes that are of high school age and a bit older. I know those types of set ups do exist already to some degree but not to the extent of the SJHL or WHL do in hockey. I watched a lot of high school basketball when my son went through the system and I found the games to be very entertaining and even attended some games where he wasn’t involved. As a young media member, Brandon Bobcat basketball used to get most of my free time and I enjoyed it immensely. I think there’s an opportunity here.  There’s definitely enough players and if it was structured in the age bracket the way junior hockey is you could see some really good quality hoops with 19 and 20 year-olds who aren’t in university programs.

7 – NLL FUTURE – What is happening with the National Lacrosse League? It feels like the league was on the brink of breaking through and becoming a real player in the professional sports landscape and I don’t know how it survives a canceled season but I don’t see any avenue to it playing in 2020-21. At the moment, the plan is to start April 9th of next year and they’ll almost assuredly have to have a Canadian Division (Saskatchewan, Calgary, Vancouver, Halifax, and Toronto). They’ll also have to have fans at the arenas. It would be a real shame to see this league crumble because this time last year I felt it was on the verge of something really big as far as a breakthrough.  

8 – MITCHELL MILLER CANCELED – The Arizona Coyotes and North Dakota Fighting Hawks have renounced playing rights to Mitchell Miller, who was found to have bullied another boy in 2016 at the age of 14. A few thoughts here. First of all, this is a watershed moment for me as far as a Young Offenders Act and why it’s vitally important to keep the names of kids who are charged with a crime a secret from the general public. Secondly, I wonder what happens if this was Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid. I’m betting not nearly the same outcome. It’s simple to virtue signal to a media mob demanding a pound of flesh on an 18-year-old 4th round draft pick who hasn’t played a professional game. Thirdly, if I was running an NHL team I would employ a person whose only job is to dig up dirt on players of opposing teams and make it their sole purpose to ensure those players are canceled as it improves my team’s chances of winning provided I do my homework and draft choir boys. But why stop at players? Maybe coaches and other GMs will have skeletons in their closet that show they have been less than perfect people in their life and never issued a proper apology. Go read Steve Simmons’ book The Lost Dream and then ask yourself how is it that Sheldon Keefe is allowed to coach the Maple Leafs. Look I’m not judging anybody and that’s my point. Whatever this Miller kid did is of no business to anyone outside of those directly affected.  

9 – KNOX JR CHARGED – The Saskatchewan Roughrider players who were so vocal and expressed their disgust with the fans during the summer over the lack of empathy for Jacob Blake seem to be fairly quiet on the Jeff Knox Jr attempted double homicide charges. Again, I’m not judging anyone but when you start to flaunt your moral superiority I would hope you aren’t going to be selective about it. Some media outlets actually keep a running count of professional football players who end up charged with violent crime. If there are enough of them to warrant such a list then why aren’t football players advocating to clean up their own backyard before preaching about what is right and what isn’t when it comes to other professions?

10 – POLITICAL SPORTS COMMENTATORS – For me, there isn’t a more repulsive ‘sports’ reporter in the country than Bruce Arthur and I don’t even want to give him attention by saying his name but here I am doing it anyway. I blocked him on Twitter years ago but occasionally still see the odd comment from him and apparently he was on TSN in some capacity over the weekend sounding moral alarm bells over Bobby Orr’s political affiliation. If TSN brought Alex Jones from Infowars on for an opinion on the political landscape, heads would explode and justifiably so as he’s also repulsive. Arthur is Alex Jones, just the opposite end of the spectrum. This is why TSN is never watched in my house unless it’s an actual game being played. Their talking head shows are of less than zero appeal to me. Having said that, I’m not interested in launching a cancel crusade, I figure if people just decide to not watch that will make a bigger impact. 

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster. Follow him on Twitter at @Stack1975)