Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts
1 – ARGOS BEAT COCKY BOMBERS – With back up quarterback Nick Arbuckle leading the way, the Toronto Argos throttled the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 41-24 in the Grey Cup last Sunday, cementing the Bombers’ reputation as a very good team but not a great one. I know I’m over-simplifying the analysis, but I’ve always felt the Bombers are way too cocky for their own good and it has hurt them over the years in several big games. Based on how I perceived them in previous years, my guess is they spent the week leading up to the Grey Cup by prematurely celebrating and it came back to bite them hard. Almost nobody outside of Winnipeg feels bad for them and that’s saying something because the Argos aren’t exactly lovable.
2 – CHAD WHO – Not surprisingly, the CFL media spent a majority of the week and the game pretending Chad Kelly never existed. Kelly is not looked upon favorably after he violated some weird gender-based violence policy (he never laid a finger on the accuser based on information made public but violence is defined differently than it used to be) and served a 9-game suspension to start the year. Kelly, after returning, was inconsistent but it’s obvious to me he is the most talented quarterback in the CFL and also has the highest ceiling. Hopefully he recovers from his devastating ankle injury and performs to his utmost capabilities next season but make no mistake about it: the Argos aren’t in the Grey Cup had Kelly not played this year.
3 – UNIVERSITY SPORTS – I had a great discussion this week with a friend regarding Canadian university sports, in particular, university football. He was searching for the Regina-Laval game and even after seeking it out, it took him almost an hour to get all of his credentials set straight so that he could watch it on CBC Gem. When you look at how university sports in Canada is marketed versus that in the United States, a person can really only draw one conclusion and that’s the people who run university sports in Canada actually hate sports and wouldn’t mind at all if their institutions just got rid of it altogether. Furthermore, in a country where the government dictates what airs and what doesn’t air nationally, shouldn’t we ensure national semi-final university football is widely available on mainstream television? If my friend, who wants to watch and is trying to find it, needs an hour to get settled in for his viewing experience, what’s that like for everyone else who, casually, is interested? If you go back to the COVID era, universities were eager to get rid of sports. I could write my entire 10 thoughts on the state of university sports in this country but I’m not going to other than to say it’s a disgrace right from the top down. Thankfully there are good coaches and great athletes that are saving it from totally going under but just about everybody above the coach level needs to go and that’s nationwide. Heck, most people don’t even know the name of the actual governing body. It used to be CIAU, but was changed to CIS and now it’s the ever stupid U-Sports. The person who dreamt that up, surely, had extinction in mind. It’s truly sad because outside of the NHL, CFL, CEBL and NLL it’s the best sports level in the country. Games are underpriced for fans to watch and there are athletes doing truly extraordinary things yet nobody is aware of any of them.
4 – NLL STREAMING – The National Lacrosse League took a step forward this week by launching its own streaming service and they’ll offer games for fans to watch at no charge. It will be a step forward after being on TSN+, which required a subscription fee. Reference my thoughts on the comment above and this is how you attract new fans. You have to give them a taste, but ultimately the app isn’t going to pay for itself and they will have to charge subscription fees. I’m a big fan and didn’t mind the TSN+ model but I get why they are doing this. So far, I’ve lost over half an hour of my life watching highlights from last year and various other small feature vignettes. The NLL has something here.
5 – INJURY MYSTERY – Always a mystery to me why the NHL is hellbent on keeping injuries a secret. Auston Matthews has gone to Germany to get his upper body looked at. Just think of how dumb that sounds to even discuss treatment for a part of his body that nobody knows what is being talked about. “I had something in the preseason and thought it was better but it ended up getting worse,” said Matthews. Is this strep throat or something? And what is upper body anyway? Above the waist? Has anyone defined that? It gets worse though. In situations where players could use a bit of privacy, the NHL and its teams don’t offer any at all. Take JT Miller, for example. Miller has left the Canucks for personal reasons when, really, all that is required based on how the NHL reports absences, would be to say Miller is out indefinitely with an upper body injury yet we have to give people a taste of dirty laundry. I’d would easily argue the details surrounding Miller should be kept more of a secret that some player who leaves a game after an obvious physical ailment. I mean do we really need to know Patrik Laine and Jack Campbell were in an NHL treatment program? Why can’t they be out with upper body injuries for an indefinite period instead?
6 – FLAMES GAME – I took in Saturday afternoon’s game in Calgary between the Flames and Minnesota Wild. It’s the second time I’ve visited the Saddledome and I know I’m in the minority on this, but I don’t think they needed a new arena as bad as everyone suggested. On a separate note, last year when I went through the turnstile I was given a gift certificate for their merchandise store and left with a hat. Today, fans were given free Harvey The Hound bobbleheads. Say what you want, but it’s a token thanks for coming to the game and as I hear the Saskatchewan Roughriders are doing surveys with some of their fans on how to better improve the game day experience, I’m going to suggest these little nuggets as fans come through the gate would be a nice start.
7 – NO KAPRIZOV – It was disappointing to not see Kirill Kaprizov in the line up on Saturday. Kaprizov suffered a lower body injury (knee) after a hit in the Edmonton game on Thursday night and he’s slated for an MRI on Sunday after the team returns home. Kaprizov did go for treatment after the hit on Thursday but returned and finished the game. He told reporters after that he felt he’d be okay but Wild players were clearly agitated in their interviews after the Calgary loss on Saturday and you do have to wonder if Kaprizov is looking at an extended absence. With all due respect to Nathan MacKinnon, the best player in the NHL right now is Kaprizov and everyone is a loser if he’s going to be on the shelf for multiple weeks. I know it’s a dinosaur-like approach, but the change in rules geared to reduce fighting does make star players like Kaprizov a lot more vulnerable to hits that could result in injury.
8 – POWERPLAY RULE CHANGE – The PWHL is experimenting with a rule tweak that I think is a really good idea. Teams who go on the penalty kill must start the penalty kill with the same players who were on the ice when the penalty was called, minus the player in the box. It gives an added advantage to the team on the powerplay. I’d go one step further and outlaw the ‘free’ icing that penalty killing teams are allowed to do. Why should the rules change just because you are down a player? Either you are at a disadvantage or you aren’t.
9 – RUSH ROSTER – The Saskatchewan Rush have finalized their roster in preparation for their season opener November 30 at Albany. The Firewolves were last season’s runner ups to Buffalo so it’s a tough test right out of the gate. The Rush have playoff aspirations and have proclaimed themselves ready to take the next step but they will need to have a few things go their way in order to accomplish the goal and they’ll be asking a lot of their youngsters. Rookie Jake Naso is going to take over face offs. He dominated in the preseason but the regular season is a different kettle of fish. I’m a new lacrosse fan so maybe this is normal, but Naso’s position on the roster is listed as FO, which I assume will mean he leaves the box immediately after taking the draw and he won’t play offense or defense. Rookies Levi Anderson and Brock Haley will need to be an improvement over Nathaniel Kozevnikov and Patrick Dodds on offense. Frank Scigliano has to repeat last year’s performance in goal, and the young defense corps needs to take an additional step in its development, and having Matt Hossack return via dispersal draft to mentor should be a positive step in that direction.
10 – HEALTH TROUBLE – Sadly, in a world where everyone is at a greater risk of a significant health event than what they were five years ago, we end this week’s column with news that New York Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly will be out of the lineup indefinitely as he is set to undergo a very normal heart procedure that affects many physically fit 30-year-old professional athletes. The issue was found during post-concussion tests but the condition is not related to the injury. It sucks to hear about these stories. Meanwhile, former Saskatchewan Rattler and current Winnipeg Sea Bear Chad Posthumus died this week. The 33-year-old suffered a brain aneurysm and then passed away from complications sustained during the corrective surgery.
(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)
