Scruffy’s This N That

1 – MARIO SAVES THE DAY: Would the Riders have beaten Toronto if the game had gone to overtime? It is a question we will never know the answer to thanks to Mario Alford.  There is so much to unwrap over what took place at BMO Field Friday night as Mace’s Men went to 3-0 with a 39-32 win over the Argonauts. Where do you start? Let’s start with the good:

• Where are the people that wanted Alford released before the season started? Once again, the armchair GM’s fail! I thought Alford gave the team the spark it needed to get going in the season opener with a big return and we all know what his effort in Toronto produced.  It wasn’t just the last return either.
• If you are a defensive co-ordinator, who do you focus on when it comes to Rider receivers? If it isn’t Samuel Emilus, it is Keesean Johnson, if it isn’t Johnson than it is Dohnte Meyers. Three games, three different 100 yard receivers.  Nothing wrong with that. What is it going to be like when all three are on the field at the same time and they have Kian Schaeffer-Baker out there as well?  What a nice problem to have!
• AJ Ouellette is the AJ Ouellette Rider fans wanted when he signed here. When he gets running the way he is, look out and good luck bringing him down.

The bad:

• Penalties.  That has to stop. I can understand a lot of penalties in Week 1 when the bullets are flying for real, but this is Week 3. 
• Brett Lauther’s early season struggles continued, and it has people gnashing their teeth. Lauther seems to have problems in the first half of the season, but he is money in the second half.  I’m not worried about him at all.  More importantly Corey Mace is not worried about him and that is all that matters.
• The defence needs to be better. Yes, they had a big goal-line stand at the end of the first half, but they had an opportunity to close out the game and they failed when it mattered the most. Championship-calibre defences have to pick it up and take it on their shoulders to finish the job and on this night they didn’t.  Alford bailed them out. 
• I realize the Blue Jays were playing at home but weren’t Rider games well-attended in Toronto in the past? What a terrible crowd! The same in Edmonton for Thursday’s game. You look at those two crowds and what was seen in Regina on opening night and there is an issue whether you want to admit it or not. I wonder what the new Commish is thinking, 

The bottom line is through it all, the Riders are 3-0 after beating three Eastern teams.   They haven’t gotten into it against their Western foes yet but that is going to change as the next four see BC twice, Calgary and Edmonton.  Buckle up—although you might be able to loosen the seatbelt against Edmonton a little.

2 – DROPPING THE BALL?  The CFL used to play Sunday games before Labour Day.  The day of playing Sunday afternoon games after that is not happening anymore due to the NFL season with the Grey Cup being the only Sunday game on the sked and that is something I think could be played Saturday night for a variety of reasons.  That is another topic for another time.

Why wouldn’t the CFL have scheduled games on Father’s Day? I thought it was dumb to have games in Toronto and Hamilton on the same day. Would it not have made more sense to maybe play the game in Toronto on Sunday so that father and son could attend? You could have had a tripleheader! While the Riders were on the road, can I suggest that next year the Riders play a Fathers Day home game as I think that would be a big seller.  We all have memories of going to the game with Dad. I still fondly remember going to Rider games with my Dad and I am sure there are a lot of you out there that would like to go to a game with your Dad or your son.  I just think the league is dropping the ball on that, but maybe I’m wrong.  Thoughts?

3 – ARE THEY STILL THE ELKS?: Edmonton’s CFL team played its first home game of the year Thursday night. In the 2^nd half of the game, a friend sent me a text asking about the Elks logo.  He noticed it was absent with the old Eskimos logo being more prevalent than the current one.  I chatted with a friend in Edmonton on Friday who was one of the 15,000 in attendance and he said you would be hard pressed to find an Elks logo inside Commonwealth Stadium with the old mascot returning.  The decision to rename the team was one that still holds some bitterness in the Alberta capital and when the team was purchased there was a thought the Eskimo moniker would return.  I think we may be close to that as it seems new ownership is doing its best to distance itself from the Elks name.

4 – RATS REIGN AGAIN:  The Stanley Cup isn’t going anywhere.  The Florida Panthers made sure of that as they dismantled Edmonton to beat the Oilers for the second straight year to earn the right to lift hockey’s holy grail above their head.  Florida left no doubt as to who was the best team with a dominating effort in the final.  Would the result had changed if Edmonton wins Game 2 in overtime? Probably not! Florida showed right from the start of the playoffs that they were a better team than the one that won last season.  It’s hard in a Stanley Cup era to win three and get to four straight Stanley Cups but if Bill Zito’s prediction that he can keep the trio of Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad holds true, you would be hard-pressed to bet against them. 

5 – NOW WHAT: The Panthers were a better team than the one that won last year.  The Edmonton Oilers were also better than the one that lost to Florida last year, but not being at 100 percent hurt them.  Mattias Ekholm was not the same player he was after returning from injury, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins maybe shouldn’t have been in the lineup because of what was reported to be a broken hand, and we will never know how much the loss of Zach Hyman hurt the Oilers.  His broken wrist might have been what killed the Oilers before the Stanley Cup even got started.  His presence was missed and was something that not many talked about.

I don’t know if Stuart Skinner can stay.  The Edmonton goaltender has shown when he is on his game there aren’t many better, but when he is off his game —- well, you know.  If you don’t know if you are going to get a hot Skinner or a cold Skinner than it is perhaps time to give the crease to someone else. I don’t know who that might be at this time, but I wonder if Edmonton unloads him.  Personally, the guy I think they need to do something is Darnell Nurse and I have said that for a while.  The problem is what team will want to absorb that gross contract that he has and if they find someone can they convince Nurse to waive his no-trade clause.  Evan Bouchard showed that he can be a top 10 defenceman in the league with his play during the playoffs, but Nurse continues to be a huge anchor, and no team will realistically want to absorb what is left of his 9.25 million per year contract that doesn’t run out until the 29-30 season.  There is talk of Connor McDavid not wanting to stay, but that talk is just hope from the Toronto media who doesn’t want to anger the team they cover and fellates them mightily. If Leon Draisaitl is staying, Connor is staying and there is no doubt about that.  The fact that Mrs. McDavid is also entrenching herself into the city and becoming part of the community as well means Oil Country is not in danger of losing their captain anytime soon. 

6 – THE FIRST SIX! The debate as to who should and who shouldn’t be on Canada’s team at the Winter Olympics can officially begin as we know the first six players named to Canada’s roster. I don’t think anyone should be surprised at Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan McKinnon, Cale Makar, Sam Reinhart and Brayden Point being named.  Should Jordan Binnington have been on the list after his play at the Four Nations? An argument could be made, but I think it is safe to say he is likely patrolling the pipes for Canada’s first game unless he is injured or something else.  

With Brad Marchand having the playoff year he is having, would you add him? The same can be said for Sam Bennett! I think Hockey Canada brass have about a dozen or more players that are ready to head across to Italy with the other 10 being determined as the season rolls along next year. 

7 – A NEW BASEBALL FACILITY:  If you didn’t read Darrell Davis’ column in the Leader-Post this week about the need for a new baseball facility in Regina to replace the aging Currie Field, go read it because he hits the nail on the head. 

There is literally zero reason on most nights to hang out in downtown Regina. Many attempts have been made to do that, but it isn’t happening, and it won’t happen for a variety of reasons.  Going to a baseball game or something else at a new facility is something that will draw people downtown and it will likely be just the start.

Does anyone really think that Shawn Semple doesn’t want to have a rink alongside this facility? Moose Jaw has seen tremendous benefits from its new rink, the Ice District in Edmonton has met expectations and more. The same can be said for the area around Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg and the area around TD Place Stadium in Ottawa. Head to downtown Minneapolis when the Vikings, Twins or T-Wolves are playing and you will see the area is alive.  If you build it, they will come.

The facility can’t be paid for on the back of taxpayers and there are solutions that can prevent that.  The bottom line is Regina needs a new baseball facility to grow the game and give the city something that has been needed for a number of years in what will be a perfect location. It is something that should have happened years ago. I don’t want to get into the history of Mosaic Stadium, but do you think downtown Regina would be suffering now if Mosaic Stadium was in the Railyards?  Get it done! 

8 – THANK YOU ACCESS!  As many of you know, I have co-hosted a one-hour show on local sports in Regina for almost 20 years called Locker Talk.  This week, it was a bittersweet night as the last show of the year was taped, and it was last in more ways than one.  Pete Paczko, who pioneered that show and ran with it, is sadly calling it quits as he enters the final stages of a battle with liver cancer. 

I had said that when Pete was done, I would be done as we could go out as a team. Thus when I said goodnight, I said goodbye as someone else will take over in September with both Pete and I sincerely hoping that whoever takes our chairs can keep things going and promote the local teams, athletes, coaches and events that makes Regina’s sports community great. 

Thank you to all at Access over the years for allowing me the opportunity to help give many their 10-15 minutes of fame. I have no idea how I will spend my Tuesday nights from September-June but I’ll find a way. 

9 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: 

• Thanks to Luke Willson for acknowledging me in his best of CFL fans/people list this week. He isn’t calling me a Numpty so that’s a win. Luke says I get the media side. He doesn’t know how well I know the media side.
• I don’t think this happens now that Pete DeBoer is gone in Dallas, but would the Edmonton Oilers try and see if they could get Jake Oettinger in a trade? I’m guessing the Oilers wouldn’t be the only team making a call. 
• I love the Jonathan Toews to Winnipeg signing. He will be huge to that team come playoff time.
• I wonder how society has sank to what it is and why and then I get my answer when a promo for Love Island USA comes on. Our future is watching this show. YIKES!