Scruffy’s This ‘N That
1 – HERE KITTY. KITTY!!!: The final that some predicted at the start of the NHL season is here. Even though they somehow had muddled themselves to a position of being 31st in the NHL on November 14, 2023, the Edmonton Oilers are now in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.
Yeah, I am probably highly biased because of my love for the Oilers, but I see them beating Florida. The Panthers aren’t as strong behind the blueline as Dallas was. Edmonton will get more than 10 shots on goal, and they should score three or more in each game. If Sergei Bobrovsky can hold that potent Edmonton offence to three or less than give him the Conn Smythe.
This series will go six or seven, but surprise surprise, I’ve got Edmonton winning the Cup which will cement Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl as one of the greatest twosomes in the history of the NHL. It can finally end the tiresome no Canadian team has won chatter.
I have said it before, and I will say it again: there is only one Canadian team I want to see win the Stanley Cup and that is the team I cheer for which is the Oilers. This cowboy would never cheer for Calgary or Toronto in the Cup Final. This Canada hasn’t won the Cup talk is so tiresome. The last time I looked, the Stanley Cup spends a lot of time each summer in our country. Are we that fragile as a hockey nation that we need a Canadian team to win the Cup? You do realize that there is a less than 25 percent chance at the start of the season that one of the seven teams will win it all right?
2 – UMMMMMM……: A video has circulated showing Connor McDavid and his fiancée buying beer and loading it into his vehicle as fans cheer him on while basically pestering him. I understand going ga-ga when McDavid is around, but let the guy live his life! You could see he was a little perturbed and I don’t blame him. The same could be said with Riders in this town. I still remember being with a Rider at a Regina pizza place one night and he had to leave because of all the people who wouldn’t let him enjoy his meal. It was sad to see that fans couldn’t respect this player’s time but that is today’s society these days.
Back to McDavid, the fine people at Molson Coors had to be ecstatic to see 97 putting their product in the back of the car but the question I have is “WHY ISN’T ANYONE DOING THIS FOR HIM!!” Did the Oilers not have some intern or anyone who could make a beer run for McDavid? That just seems so odd. Makes me wonder if Connor after a home game pops into his closest 7-11 for a couple of taquitos before calling it a night. A few years ago I was in Edmonton and was staying at a downtown hotel. I walked over to a 7-11 on a Sunday morning to get some Proline tickets and coffee when a guy came in wearing an Oilers jacket. His English wasn’t very good and later I found out, it was Jesse Pulijarvi who lived in a nearby condo and was on his way to the rink for the morning skate.
3 – THE TOP 50: Let the debate begin as TSN unveiled its top 50 players going into the CFL season. Zach Collaros was named the top player for the 3rd time and that doesn’t surprise me. It would have surprised me had it been Chad Kelly. He is the reigning MOP of a team that was by far and away the best in the regular season last year, but he also has some legal problems that you are well aware of. At least he did when the voting happened as the lawsuit with the team’s former strength and conditioning coach has apparently been settled.
The league couldn’t afford to ignore Kelly, but they couldn’t ignore the lawsuit either. In the end, he was placed at 5 which surprised me a little. I thought he might be a little lower.
4 – BUCKLE UP! Is your seatbelt on? Are you ready? Did you bring snacks? The 2024 CFL season is upon us. It means football is with us every Thursday night from now until the end of the NFL regular season. I don’t have to go far before I am asked how the 2024 version of the Saskatchewan Roughriders will fare. The good news is this team will win a game after Labour Day which hasn’t been the case the past two years as you all know, and they will win more than six games. The bad news is don’t make plans for a home playoff game.
A few have overdosed on the green Kool-Aid again in the off-season thanks to the hiring of Corey Mace. Yes, he has injected some enthusiasm into Rider Nation, but a Twitter poll this week showed three quarters of those who answered think this is a football team that will win between 8 and 11 games.
Things can change in just one play, but I don’t see the Riders being able to challenge either the Lions or Bombers for first and second. I see this squad being around 500 battling Edmonton for 3rd in the West. That makes the opener big as you want to get the early advantage.
Trevor Harris has told people he is fully healed from that gruesome injury last year, but like I said last year, I don’t put a lot of faith into a QB who is in his late 30’s who has put up good numbers in the regular season but has not had a lot of playoff success. There is no doubt the Harris injury last season sent the team off the rails, but just remember that had Harris played a full season, Craig Dickenson is likely still here just like Jeremy O’Day and Craig Reynolds are now.
The first few weeks of the CFL are ugly as first-team offences that didn’t get a lot of playing time in the pre-season try to mesh so don’t expect brilliance right away.
5 – QUESTION MARKS: Every team has question marks going into the season. The health of Trevor Harris and the arrival of Corey Mace are the two biggest ones in Riderville, but one has to ask what type of offence will we see under Marc Mueller? You didn’t go out and get AJ Ouellette and Jemarcus Hardrick if the emphasis isn’t going to be on the run, but what will the run/pass ratio be. I’m not crazy about the linebackers and secondary, but in the CFL there is always turnover in those areas. We will see how C.J Avery and Demarcus Fields will perform with the lights on. Bottom line is it’s time to play football!
6 – MESSAGE SENT: The Riders found out how much fan apathy there was in 2023 this week as the team announced a loss of 1.1 million dollars. There are many fans who are upset over what is happening at Mosaic Stadium. Some have been appeased somewhat by the arrival of Corey Mace, but there are many others still upset over the fact that Jeremy O’Day and Craig Reynolds were not told to hit the road after back-to-back six-win seasons. There are many other factors though with one being prices. As several have said, go to the websites of other teams when it comes to merchandise and then go see what the Riders are charging. Winning changes attitudes and this football team should be better in Mace’s 1st year than they were in Dickenson’s last two. If they are not, expect another loss. If that happens, that will perhaps be the impetus to make Riders football a little more affordable and a little more accessible. Some have said they are not even trying to do that, but I think they are. At the end of the day, wins is what matters. It’s Marketing 101!
7 – CAKE ON THE OCEAN: Get ready for that on Grey Cup Sunday. The CFL is way ahead of things in announcing the Jonas Brothers as the halftime act for this year’s game and I think it’s a good choice. I am of the older demographic now and I know the CFL wants to attract a younger audience. I don’t know who else was available, but I’m OK with this. I actually thought the league might look Tate McRae’s way after the NHL all-star game because she would certainly attract that younger audience the league desires.
8 – DON’T BLAME SCHNEIDER: No, I’m not talking about Rob Schneider or “Ron Schneider” as one media outlet in the city had in their story.
Like I told you at the start of the Blue Jays season, the team is terrible, Toronto goes into the weekend two games under 500 and sitting in last in the American League East. The optimist will tell you they are only three games back of the final wild card spot. Many want John Schneider to be canned and I understand that, but at the end of the day the problem isn’t John Schneider. Can someone tell me why this team hasn’t fired hitting coach Guillermo Martinez? He should have been let go last year especially after that anemic playoff performance.
Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro are slowly letting this team rot. They let the organization down after not bringing anyone of substance in during the off-season and are squarely to blame for what you are seeing and what you have seen over the past couple of years.
They have slowly gotten worse over the past couple of years and despite the Toronto media wanting so desperately to see Vladimir Guerrero Junior succeed, he is not and you are seeing Bo Bichette now go from one of the best players in the American League to being a shadow of himself.
You can beat a bad White Sox team, but you are not going to beat good teams consistently like the Orioles and Yankees. Just remember though, each seat at Rogers Centre got its own cupholder in the off-season.
9 – ITS ABOUT TIME!: Word came out this week that Dr. Pepper has surpassed Pepsi as the number two soft drink when it comes to sales behind Coke. As someone who has put many $$$$$ down over the years to drink the fine elixir known as Dr. Pepper, all I can say is the hard work from me and others has finally paid off. Look out Coke!! PS: Are there any women out there that like Dr. Pepper? If there are, I’d like to know where you are because 95 percent of the women I know can’t stand it.
That’s all I got. Have a great weekend!
