SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

1) CONNOR GETS CLOBBERED: When Connor Bedard was doing his thing for the Regina Pats, a scout told me that one night he is going to cross the blue-line with a head of speed and he is going to get laid out by some defenceman because as good as he is he makes himself vulnerable.  It didn’t happen while he was wearing a Pats sweater, but it did for him Friday night in New Jersey. Brendan Smith laid Bedard out last Friday with what I thought was a clean hit. The future of the NHL knew immediately there was a problem and there was as we found out Saturday that he had suffered a broken jaw and will miss the next four to six weeks. It’s a tough break (no pun intended) for Bedard and it’s tough for the league as they won’t be able to showcase him on the ice at the upcoming All-Star game but there will be many more opportunities.

The NHL survived Connor McDavid breaking his collarbone in year one and they will survive again. If anything, this injury may mean Chicago ends up picking first overall at the next draft enabling them to get Macklin Celebrini.  If that happens, let the Kane-Toews comparisons begin to Bedard-Celebrini.

2)  TICK, TICK, TICK: It’s not often that Connor McDavid talks about the game that has made him famous and how it can be better. With that being the case, the NHL should listen to his post-game comments and take action. On Tuesday night, Zach Hyman scored a goal that would have given the resurgent Edmonton Oilers a 3-1 lead over Chicago. However, the goal was disallowed after what was a 5–7-minute video review because of offside. I thought the play was offside, but there was nothing conclusive to show it was. The rule states conclusive evidence must be seen to change the call which didn’t happen. What also doesn’t need to happen is the lengthy video reviews that we see constantly.  McDavid is 100 percent correct when he says coaches don’t get that long to ask for a review. At some point, the league and other leagues that use video replay have to say that if they can’t come up with a decision to overturn the call within 60 seconds then the call stands. You can argue whether it’s a goal or a catch or a foul or whatever, but you shouldn’t need more than 60 seconds to determine whether or not it is. I am all for video replay, but I am all for a change in the time that officials have to make a decision.

3) WHY? In the wake of that tragic death in England earlier this year when a player had his throat slashed by an errant skate blade, leagues like the WHL were very quick to make neck-guards necessary. I still don’t see NHL’ers wearing neck-guards. Are we just waiting for another tragedy or are we too ignorant as a league and players association to think it couldn’t happen in an NHL game? If so, they are wrong. Hopefully that isn’t proven before it’s too late.

4) CFL RULE CHANGES: The CFL winter meetings have been going on in Nashville and there is talk of rule changes. One of the things the league is looking at is having teams scrimmage at the 40 after a touchdown thus negating a kickoff. NO, NO and I repeat NO! You would still have kickoffs to start each half and in the final three minutes. With so many dynamic kick returners like Mario Alford, I don’t know if this is the way the league wants to go.  Yes, I understand player safety is paramount, but kick returns are something you can’t take off the board. I don’t have the numbers as to what the average field position was after kickoff, but if you are going to do this, put the ball at the 30 and not the 40. I still wish the league would discuss the rouge and tweaking that rule or eliminating it.

5) HE’S NOT WRONG: Dave Dickenson told a Calgary radio station this week that the merger of the XFL and USFL will be good for the CFL. I agree! With the two leagues merging and several teams not being a part of that merger, more players are available and that means those players will be looking at the CFL as an option to keep their dream of playing professional football alive. I’ve noticed the last couple of years that not as many NFL cuts are coming to Canada and while I think COVID restrictions had something to do with that at the start, I think the two leagues had a big part to play as well,  

I would expect teams to be able to find better American talent this off-season to bring to camp. Let’s see!

6) A SPORTSTALK PIONEER:  A long, long time ago I received a phone call from a radio station in Edmonton. A sportswriter by the name of John Short who was one of the first to do “Sportstalk radio” with a show called “Just A Game” wanted to talk to me about the Riders. Having lived in Peace River, Alberta for a number of years, I knew who John was as he wrote several columns for the Edmonton Journal. John had me on a number of times and finally one night after a chat, he asked if he could call me the next day.

He knew I was an Oilers fan and he wanted to know if I was coming to Edmonton to see either the Oilers or the Eskimos as he would love to meet in-person as he wanted to discuss some possible employment. A few months later I was in Edmonton and John said he wanted me to co-host with him and another young up-and-coming journalist by the name of Jason Gregor, Jason is now arguably the voice of Edmonton sports. I also met another good man named AJ Jakubec. He now is the outstanding play-by-play voice of the Ottawa REDBLACKS. I made sure I visited his booth everytime the REDBLACKS were here and got a big hug and a hearty handshake when doing so.

To make a long story short, John tried to get me onboard at what would go on to be TSN1260 but it never materialized. While working at CJME, I thanked him for trying his best. I’ve often imagined how life would have changed had that happened.

If you wanted to know what John was like, he was a calmer version of John Lynch. Short passed this week at the age of 86. He is an Edmonton sports legend and he will be missed.

7) THE HUNT FOR THE VINCE BEGINS: After 18 weeks that didn’t “follow the script”, it is playoff time in the NFL as 14 teams are still alive for the Super Bowl. At the start of the season, I said Baltimore would beat Philadelphia in Super Bowl 58 and while I think the Ravens can still take it, I don’t think Philly will be there.  We get six games this weekend to start us off and all have some type of intrigue. The weather will be a factor in KC and Buffalo. It won’t be as bad in those locales as it will be here this weekend, but the advantage has to go to the home teams.

Dallas should beat Green Bay, but Packers fans and Cowboys fans are well aware of Mike McCarthy’s playoff coaching so the longer Green Bay stays in this one, the better they are. By the way, if Green Bay comes out with the win, I will be taping “First Take” Monday morning to hear Stephen A Smith. The guy is the biggest loudmouth out there, but his anti-Cowboy rants are great!

Houston has been a great story with CJ Stroud, but these are the playoffs and Joe Flacco knows what has to be done.  Take Cleveland.

Matt Stafford goes back to Detroit with the Rams. Dan Campbell is a good coach, but he makes a lot of dumb decisions.  I would not be surprised to see that happen in this game so I will go with the Rams and while the Eagles are struggling, I think they can get their you know what together and get past Tampa.

8) WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Here are some things to note this weekend as you sit down to watch the NFL playoffs.  You might as well do that since it’s too cold to go outside:

• Joe Flacco will be making his 16th career postseason start when the Browns travel to face the Texans on Saturday. In his previous 15 playoff starts, all with Baltimore, Flacco compiled a 10-5 record with 25 touchdown passes. Seven of his 10 playoff wins have come on the road, while five have come in the Wild Card round.
• Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes this season while Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love ranked second with 32. When the two meet on Sunday, it will mark the second Wild Card matchup ever between the league leaders in touchdown passes from the regular season. The other was between Pro Football Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw and Dan Fouts in 1982 when Fouts’ Chargers defeated Bradshaw’s Steelers, 31-28.
• In 25 of the past 28 seasons, at least one team has made the playoffs the year after finishing last or tied for last. This year, both Cleveland and Houston qualified for the postseason after finishing last in their respective divisions in 2022.

9) BELICHICK: The man under the hoodie is done in Foxboro. 24 years and six Super Bowls later, Bill Belichick and the Patriots are parting company. The debate will be on as to whether or not he is the greatest head coach in NFL history. My vote goes to Bill Walsh in that category for what it is worth. Is he done? I think he is. In fact, my prediction is he ends up on the NFL Network with Rich Eisen and company on Sunday mornings. Bill did a great job with those guys in the “100 Greatest Players In NFL History” series. He was very good at that and I think he could be great in studio. Let’s see what happens.

10) WE’RE BETTER THAN THAT: Just a heartbreaking story from CJME’s Lisa Schick and CTV’s Wayne Mantyka about the death of a Regina man late last year.  Video from a business shows a man falling out of a city bus. He tried flagging down many people who drove by for help, but no one did so. They didn’t stop, they didn’t phone police, they did nothing. This is terrible, but sadly it is what we have become. We are better than that aren’t we? Sometimes I wonder!

That’s all I got. Have a great weekend!