STACKHOUSE’S 10 WEEKEND THOUGHTS

1 – RIDERS CAMP – Sounds like there is a real tight competition for the backup quarterback spot behind Trevor Harris at Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp. Incumbent Mason Fine and last year’s number three, Jake Dolegala, are being challenged by Shea Patterson. Patterson was taken first overall in the 2022 USFL Draft by the Michigan Panthers, but he was released after throwing 4 TDs and 5 INTs in about half a season and was replaced by Paxton Lynch, a former Rider who was on the roster during the Covid year.  Patterson does have some CFL experience as a short yardage QB with Montreal a number of years ago and with Trevor Harris turning 37 next week, it would be prudent for the Riders to have a long term plan at backup quarterback.

2 – NEW APPROACH – The offensive line has been remade and there is talk of an entirely different approach on offense, utilizing the strength of having two really good running backs in Jamal Morrow and Frankie Hickson. Personally, I felt they should have been running the ball heavy with those two last year but, for whatever reason, that never really materialized and then injuries struck as well. If Harris can get some protection, he will have the skill at receiver to get the ball down field. Jake Wieneke is only two years removed from his CFL TD receiving leading season (11) and at 28-years-old, he’s still in his prime. If Harris succeeds as Riders QB, you can bet a big year from Wieneke will play a major role in it. Kian Schaffer-Baker is expected to miss the start of the season after undergoing hip surgery, but there are still numerous weapons a proven passer like Harris can utilize and still be effective. Hopes may not be high in Riderland at the moment, but with all the turnover and unknown talent around the league, it wouldn’t shock me if the Riders resumed relevancy in short order. After all, Harris ranked third in both passing yards and YPA. He maybe would have led the league entirely had he played all 18 games (he started 15).  

3 – WHAT THEY NEED TO FIX – For me, I felt the talent on the Rider roster was good enough to compete for a Grey Cup last year, but they had a poor offensive line that was coupled with below average play from the quarterbacks. They got bad leadership from the quarterback position and even worse leadership from the coaching staff and management above him. The on-field discipline was a nightmare and the off-field discipline was just as bad. They also had to deal with the Garrett Marino fiasco and that divided the team whether you want to admit it or not. I’m still suspicious of the ‘stomach virus’ that ran its course through the players causing many to miss the game the week after Marino was released but that’s all in the past.  Nevertheless, if those things are not corrected, it doesn’t matter how much talent the team has. We saw it last year when they finished 0-and-6 after Marino’s release.

4 – DUBAS DRAMA – I usually can’t stand the level of media coverage given to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but I haven’t been able to stop listening to it for the last two weeks as I watch this trainwreck unfold. One thing that has become abundantly clear over the last few days is that Kyle Dubas is definitely a millennial and there are still too many non-millenials in charge above him so this notion of ‘gimme, gimme’ isn’t well received. What is not quite as clear, but may become so in the coming weeks when Brendan Shanahan hires his replacement is how willing was Shanahan to give up a bit of control. By all accounts, he is a micro-manager and Dubas, in addition to wanting a salary he hadn’t earned, was looking to streamline the decision making process so that it could be sped up. After angling for sympathy and crying a river on Monday saying how hard the job is, Dubas rebounded by Wednesday wanting a big, fat raise and more autonomy and I haven’t seen anyone anywhere that has been able to justify such an ask.  

5 – LEAFS FUTURE – Here’s the good news for Leaf fans: if Kyle Dubas goes to Pittsburgh, I will bet the Maple Leafs win a Cup before the Penguins do. Furthermore on the Leafs, they could do a lot worse than Brad Treliving as General Manager. Treliving is well-versed in how to handle moving out big contracts in a way that still keeps your team competitive. If you had Jonathan Huberdeau dipping his production by 60 points on your bingo card, then you need to apply for the Leafs GM job. My guess is Huberdeau rebounds next year with a different coach. If Treliving is hired and forced to move out one or two of the Leafs’ big contracts, you can bet he will get something back that is tangible.

6 – COYOTES RELOCATION – It seems to be a foregone conclusion the Arizona/Phoenix Coyotes are going to be relocated somewhere else within the next season or two after residents rejected paying for the construction of a brand new arena. One place you can be assured the Coyotes will not be headed is Quebec City, or anywhere else in Canada for that matter. You will roll your eyes at this, but professional sports leagues don’t normally like to expand into communist countries. Say what you want but the Canadian government made it very difficult for the NHL to do business here when the US was ready to move on. The league will want fewer teams here going forward, not more.

7 – SOCCER FLIGHTS – Two Saskatchewan soccer programs got a harsh dose of what life is like now in this country this past week when their flight to Toronto for a showcase event was canceled due to the never ending airline chaos. Most of the high school students were from Saskatoon and this would have been a chance to be seen by many post secondary scouts but that opportunity has vanished thanks to the WestJet – pilots negotiation that went down to the final moments as WestJet canceled flights all over the country to brace for potential job action. Meanwhile, Air Canada also dashed the hopes of these people by booking them on stand-by seats, only to cancel 15 minutes prior to boarding because the plane was over-capacity. I know some of you reading this will invoke ‘first world problems’ and shrug it off as no big deal because these athletes are probably ‘privileged’, etc. But, this is Canada and we should all expect a lot better than this. The problem now is that way too many of us care not one iota about the state of our institutions that have crumbled and the overwhelming majority have just accepted the lower expectations. 

8 – CHERRY REVISITED – Someone re-posted the Don Cherry rant that ended up getting him canceled in 2019 and I couldn’t help but wonder if Cherry made those same comments in 2023, what would it be that he’s even talking about. In particular, the bit about, “….you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey…”, well our way of life in 2023 is not at all like our way of life in 2019 and the only people that can argue as much are people who are content with ‘at least it’s not North Korea’ or ‘name a freedom that you lost’ without actually understanding or realizing some of their ability to choose has been taken away because they have agreed with everything the government has done.

9 – BAUER SLOW START – Trevor Bauer has been sent to the Japanese minor leagues after surrendering 14-runs in 15-innings of work. He allowed 7-runs in 2-innings in his last start. Many won’t feel the least bit sorry for Bauer and that’s fine but he really hadn’t pitched a meaningful game in almost two years so I’m not sure what was expected. Just look at Chris Sale, who missed a lot of the last three years with various injuries.  Sale was giving up a run per inning during the month of April, but he turned the corner in May and has reeled off a solid stretch of 27 ⅓ innings over his last four starts that has produced a 2.31-ERA and 32-strikeouts. Numbers that are very much like the Sale we saw for the first ten years of his career.

10 – SEA BEARS PRIMER  – The CEBL regular season starts this Wednesday but the Saskatchewan Rattlers won’t play their first game until the following Wednesday, when they host the Vancouver Bandits.  There is an expansion team in Winnipeg this year as well as Calgary, so the league isn’t nearly as heavy in the east as it has been in the past. I know there are some Winnipeg readers, so I’ll quickly go over what I know of the Sea Bears roster. Chad Posthumus is a local product who’s 6’11” and played a bit with the Rattlers a couple of years ago. Shane Osayande is another former Rattler on the roster.  Guard Teddy Allen averaged 11 ppg with Scarborough last year and AJ Hess averaged 12.8 ppg with Guelph so there is experience on the team and they should be competitive right off the hop. Their first game is next Saturday, at home, against Vancouver. Last year’s top Rattler, Tony Carr, from what I can gather, is still playing in Israel and their year isn’t finished yet. Could he still be added at some point?

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