Scruffy’s This N That

1 – OUTCLASSED: The Regina Pats need a win in Medicine Hat tonight to extend their first-round series to six games and a game against the Brandt Centre, if anyone cares, on Sunday. This just in: Many of you probably weren’t going to the Brandt Centre Sunday and there will likely be no reason to.

I went to Game 3 on Tuesday night and watched Game 4 on Victory Plus. Regina worked hard despite losing the two home games and they had their chances, but Medicine Hat to me just seemed to play with their food until they were ready to call it a night. I understand there is a lot of apathy towards the Pats right now because of their ticket pricing system with many pointing out—-and pointing out correctly that it was cheaper to go to games in Medicine Hat and Saskatoon where the Blades are battling Edmonton in a first-round matchup, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the playoff atmosphere simply wasn’t there as noticed by the players. You don’t like hearing captain Ephram McNutt saying he would rather play in Medicine Hat because the crowd is larger and into it, but I understand.  The players and team are doing their best to make game night an occasion, but I understand why people are deciding to spend their money elsewhere. 

Playoff hockey at the Brandt Centre had been special. It was different than a Wednesday game against Brandon when it was 30 below outside. That simply wasn’t there in Game 3 as the crowd was barely above 3500 which believe it or not was higher than Game 4 where I was told it might have been between 2500 and 3000 even though the Grey Cup made an appearance.  Again, I understand why this is happening and the concerns are valid ones.  A lot of these concerns are ones raised for football games across the street so one has to wonder just how much of this is REAL’s fault or is any of it their fault? If they have a role to play in the negative feelings that are out there, perhaps it is time for REAL to sit down with both the Riders and Pats to make things better which will be a win-win for all involved. It is just sad to see what is happening especially when players are noticing it. It is just an ugly situation that needs to be fixed and fixed in time for opening night next season. 

2 – GAVIN MCKENNA: The NCAA Frozen Four goes in Vegas next weekend with North Dakota, Michigan, Denver and Wisconsin looking for the title. After grabbing the bag, Gavin McKenna did not deliver a spot in the Frozen Four for Penn State. While he had a good season, it wasn’t good enough to get into the championship and for McKenna himself, he wasn’t selected as one of the best three to win the Hobey Baker award as college hockey’s best player. Yeah, he had 51 points in 35 games and yeah, he will likely go number one overall at the draft, but he could have likely had another long playoff run in Medicine Hat and while we don’t know what numbers he would have put up in the WHL, he would have likely been the player of the year and maybe the CHL player of the year.  Was it worth it for him and Penn State? 

3 – WOE ARE THE LEAFS: One has to think Brad Treliving knew his gig as Leafs GM was over at the end of the regular season and asked MLSE to sever the cord now. One has to think Craig Berube will be following him out the door once Game 82 comes to an end. With all apologies to the great hockey we are going to see in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Leafs will be all the talk for the talking heads on both TSN and Sportsnet as rumours as to who will be Treliving’s replacement begin.  Hey, let’s just throw names out and there and see if it sticks because people will pay attention right?

Everyone in the hockey world knows the Leafs are a mess. While not retaining nor replacing Mitch Marner is a key factor, it isn’t the only one. What got me was the rather incredible statement by MLSE President Keith Pelley where he said they didn’t see the train coming as to how good division rivals Buffalo and Montreal were. Really? Is everyone in the hockey department too ignorant to see the talent on those young teams and how both were ready to break out this season. Yes, I don’t think anyone saw Buffalo doing what they have done this year, but everyone was waiting for it and everyone knew the young talent the Canadiens were assembling. It would seem to me as if there is a problem evaluating teams around them which asks the question as how good are they at evaluating the talent on their team. 

Toronto needs to get younger.  They need to start finding some prospects that help sooner than later. They are a mess. As someone who can’t stand the Leafs, I just sit back and watch this team swirl down the drain with a smile on my face. I have no idea what they do in the off-season, but would you really be surprised if Auston Matthews or William Nylander are back? I can’t see both leaving, but one of them may have to and Morgan Rielly’s days are probably done too. Pelley and MLSE seem to think the road back to being a contender isn’t a long one, but we saw Pelley and MLSE have underestimated a lot over the past couple of years. 

4 – MAKE THE FINAL:  The year was 1987 and this kid was in his second and final year of the journalism program at Lethbridge College. The Scotties Tournament of Hearts called Lethbridge home that year so that meant TSN was rolling in. Being a student, you wanted to get some advice from those who were firmly established and Vic Rauter was definitely one of those people.  You never know how these guys are when you approach them, but Vic was as generous with his time as he could be and told many stories not just to me but to others. He gave advice to me that I used throughout my radio days.  When one of the sports shows in Regina that I have been a part of was on location at Briers, Scotties or Canada Cups, I strived to have Vic on.  One year in Moose Jaw, I was in the midst of introducing him saying I had a true icon with me as to which he got up and started to walk away jokingly thinking someone else was supposed to be in his chair. He then “chastised” me for referring to him in that way saying I have extremely low standards. It was a moment I wish I could have captured before leaving CKRM as it was in a folder I had kept with great moments on it. After a show, I reminded Vic of that moment in 1987, and he was very gracious as he always was. 

Bottom line here is that Vic Rauter is and will always be one of my favourites. TSN made curling a household sport and Vic is a major reason for that.  “Make the Final” is a phrase that most Canadian sports fans know.  Curling will not be the same on TSN next year. Hopefully his last broadcast this weekend is saying “Make the Final” after Matt Dunstone wins a world championship. 

5 – TANKING: The NBA wants to put an end to tanking.  The NHL won’t come right out and say it, but they want to put an end to tanking as well. The NBA put out some initiatives that teams will vote on later this year to “prevent” teams from tanking. Why?  Both leagues have very good draft lotteries in place.  There is no guarantee the worst team in either league end up getting the number one draft pick.  The Islanders weren’t the worst team in the NHL last year and they got Matthew Schaefer with the first pick and the Dallas Mavericks weren’t the worst team in the NBA last year and they got Cooper Flagg.  Look what happened to Buffalo years ago when they tanked in an effort to get Connor McDavid.  It didn’t work. I’d have to go back and look to see if the worst team actually got the first overall pick over the last five years. I know Chicago didn’t have the best odds to land Connor Bedard in 2023, but San Jose did land Macklin Celebrini after having the worst record overall in 2024.  There is no guarantee Vancouver will land the top pick this year. Of course, the lottery could end up falling Toronto’s way and I think I speak for many when I say Gavin McKenna doesn’t deserve to be a Leaf. One can only imagine how bad that would be for those like me who thinks this year has been an absolute pleasure to watch. 

6 – IN THE MEANTIME, AND IN BETWEEN TIME: If you are a fan of Stampede Wrestling, you know exactly what that is.  If not, it was one of the catchphrases of the late, great Ed Whalen who was the voice of Stampede Wrestling. 

Some of my favourite moments in my teenage years was going to the old Exhibition Auditorium in Regina to watch Stampede Wrestling on Tuesday night and lemme tell ya, it was something else. Oh, the stories that could be told.  It’s why I continue to be a wrestling nerd today. I meant to throw this into last week’s column, but the WWE as a lot of you probably know by now announced former Stampede heel Bad News Allen was going into its Hall of Fame.  He joins Stu Hart, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, the Honky Tonk Man, Davey Boy Smith and others that used to call Calgary home in that shrine. It made me wonder if there is a Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame because if not, there should be one! Those that I mentioned would definitely be first ballot entries, but so would guys like Dynamite Kid (who I don’t believe is in the WWE one for whatever reason), Archie “The Stomper” Gouldie, Makhan Singh and Karachi Vice, Leo Burke, J.R Foley, the Cuban Assassin and of course, Ed! 

7 – THE ABS SYSTEM: The Automated Balls and Strike system is in place, and it is great. Accountability is the key and we have quickly found out why umpires fought so hard to reject this technology.  With Angel Hernandez and Joe West now out of the picture, C.B Bucknor is considered as one of the worst umps in MLB and we found out why in Cincinnati last weekend when he had six of eight calls overturned.  The system gave us the receipts we needed.  Some of the umps have no right being in the majors and it showed.  Accountability is the key and fans across MLB were getting into it as there is that anticipatory buzz in the crowd when we find out there is a challenge. 10 seconds later, the crowd either erupts or sighs. It is great! 

8 – ROOKIES ARE RAKING:  If the ABS system wasn’t the talk of MLB in Week 1, than it had to be the performance of some rookies. There is a lot of great young talent coming up.  Some of those guys made their debut last year, but many more made their debut this week and they were impressive. 

Chase De Lauter of Cleveland hit four homers in his first three games and added his 5^th yesterday against the Cubs. Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle had four hits in his Opening Day debut only becoming the 3^rd major leaguer to accomplish that feat. 

Chicago White Sox 3^rd baseman Munetaka Murakami is having no problem adjusting from Japan as he started the season with three homers in three games and Toronto’s Japanese 3^rd baseman Kazuma Okamoto had a six game hit streak to open the season snapped in Friday’s extra-inning loss to the White Sox and MLB’s number one prospect, Konnor Griffin of Pittsburgh opened his major league career Friday by ripping an RBI double in his first at-bat. 

The young talent coming into the majors, especially at shortstop,  is great for the game and is a huge reason why more and more people are re-investing in the game.  It is why it is paramount that MLB and the Players come to terms on a new labour agreement so that the momentum we are seeing doesn’t come to a full stop.  That will probably happen, but one can dream right? 

9 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• There are always good stories in sport. Gary Woodland winning the PGA’s Houston Open just 30 months after having brain surgery and two weeks after opening up about PTSD and the struggles he has been experiencing is one of them.  As he said after winning, if you are struggling, don’t give up and keep fighting. 
• Is John Tortorella going to be the Mike Sillinger of head coaches? He still has a ways to go to get to Silly’s level!
• Where is the CFL’s new website and app? I’m hoping they break out just before the draft. Key word —hoping!
• It doesn’t matter what the attendance is for a Pats game, the traffic snafu continues after.  At some point, something needs to be done to alleviate this. For the many drivers who are frustrated—you can help out by letting people in to make the exit smoother and quit being an a-hole. If that offends you, I am guessing you are one that doesn’t make the exit smoother as you need to get out a whole half second ahead of the other guy.

That’s all I got.  Have a great week!