Scruffy’s This N That

1 – SCHEDULE SCREWS THE CHAMPS: I don’t know who makes the CFL schedule. I don’t know what goes into making the CFL schedule, but I know that most seasons it is ridiculous because back-to-back games should not be played in a nine-team league with the exception of Labour Day (rivalry) weekend — sorry Ottawa, Montreal and B.C. 

I also don’t know who is in charge of approving the schedule for the Riders, but someone made a big mistake in saying “yup, it’s OK with us”. 

As Riders colour commentator, and all around good schmuck Luc Mullinder stated, it is absolute BS that the team played Calgary on Monday, plays Winnipeg this weekend and then doesn’t play again until Week 2 is a joke because you have three weeks between games.  As Mullinder went on to say, these guys don’t get a game cheque and some of them will be going home after making the team. It will be a lonnnnnng break from May 23 to June 13, but that is where it stands.

Can someone tell me how it is that the defending champs aren’t even playing a game in Week 1? Shouldn’t the champs be at home in the opening week of the season? Shouldn’t Montreal be here? 

Yes, in a nine-team league someone has to bite the bullet in Week 1, but it shouldn’t be the Grey Cup champs. If you are going to do that, make the preseason better for the team that gets that Week 1 bye. Again, this is your CFL kids. Embrace it!

2 – SASKATOON PRESEASON GAME:  The Riders and the Bombers will meet in the second and final game for Mace’s Men Saturday afternoon in Saskatoon.  There are some in the Queen City and southern Saskatchewan that aren’t crazy about that as they want to see their team at the stadium which I completely understand. I had a couple of people tell me since camp started that they would have been happier in seeing the Toronto home game against the Riders played in Saskatoon.  I don’t disagree with that, but it may have been a logistical nightmare with TV and everything else.  At the end of the day, more $$$$ will be made for that game at Mosaic than it would be in Saskatoon. 

I also had some wonder if this could push the CFL as they look to maybe push the expansion envelope to consider Saskatoon as the home for a team? You would have to do a lot to Griffiths Stadium to make it CFL ready, and I have already said I think a team in Saskatoon would be disastrous for the Rider brand as all of a sudden, a province would be split when it comes to support.  While I think there is a desire amongst Saskatchewan CFL fans to see the league expand to places like the Maritimes, Quebec City or British Columbia, I don’t think the majority want a team in Saskatoon. 

3 – WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The usual suspects will start the game for the Riders, but how long guys like Harris, Ouellette, Emilus, Milligan Junior and Lokombo stay in the game is up to the coaching staff.  Some things that need to be decided is who will Harris’ backup be and I am guessing it will be Jack Coan unless Brayden Schager has another good outing with fewer reps.  Who will handle the kicking duties and who ends up being the starters on the defensive line?  Just remember when cuts are made that what you see and what ends up being the group that begins the season in Week 2 are two different things. 

4 – ONLY AT THE HALF:  May 19, 1984, is a day I will always remember. On that night, this guy—then a teenager—found himself at Northlands Coliseum for his first ever Edmonton Oilers game.  It was one to remember as Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Fuhr and others brought the Stanley Cup to Northern Alberta for the first time with a 5-2 win over the Islanders.  The season was over! 

Fast forward to May 23, 2026, and the conference finals have just gotten started meaning we still have a lot of hockey to go through.  The NHL really needs to look at the length of its playoffs so that we are not playing hockey in June.  If you are a fan of the Habs, Canes, Avalanche or Knights, you are obviously invested. If not, are you watching as actively as you were when your team was playing? I’ll admit I watched a lot of the first-round games, but the second-round games were not must watch TV for me and it will likely be that way until we get to a position where the fabled mug is handed out. 

That’s not to say that what we have seen so far hasn’t been good. Going into the Conference Finals, we have had 18 overtime games out of 67 played and 26 tying or go-ahead goals in the last 10 minutes of the third period. If you are watching, you have been entertained. 

5 – HERE WE GO AGAIN: The Montreal Canadiens are the lone Canadian team standing. It has people saying that all hockey fans in this country should now be rooting for Montreal.  Can we please stop this narrative that has existed for oh-so-long?! Are we that insecure that we need a Canadian team to hoist the Stanley Cup—a Canadian team that has the likes of Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson from the US, Czechia’s Jakub Dobes, Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovsky and France’s Alex Texier on it.  It’s almost as bad as fans in American cities chanting USA, USA even though players and coaches on the team are from Canada. While many decided to adopt the Oilers the past two seasons, they sure didn’t in Calgary or Vancouver. Leaf fans aren’t cheering for Montreal, and a country won’t cheer for Toronto if they ever get to a final. This attitude really needs to stop. 

6 – THE GOALIE CONUNDRUM:  Who’s kidding who – we all know the Edmonton Oilers need to upgrade their goaltending and defence if they are to become a Stanley Cup contender again. I am not sure how Stan Bowman, who I have zero confidence in, is going to get this team to a spot where 97, 29 and company can keep the window open. When it comes to goaltending, I wonder if Bowman looks at the Carolina Hurricanes.  Fredrik Andersen is about to become a free agent. He is 36 and he has question marks about his game as all goalies do. It sounds like Carolina would like to keep him.  If so, do you try and get either Pyotr Kochetko or Brandon Bussi.  Kochetkov was hurt for most of the season while Bussi had a fantastic season going 23-3-1 with a goals against average of 2.11.  If Carolina is going to keep Andersen then one of the other two will be seen as trade bait. Could you find a trade partner in the Canes? We’ll find out soon. At least I think we will.

Still with the Oilers, the Bruce Cassidy saga continues to drag along. Many believe Cassidy will end up being the new guy unless Edmonton runs out of patience. Some think a deal has already been agreed upon and it just needs to become formal with permission being granted by Vegas. I don’t know if there is validity to that, but I wouldn’t be surprised. 

Some of the names being floated out there are ridiculous.  Mike Babcock isn’t coming back behind an NHL bench, Jay Woodcroft isn’t returning and either is Dallas Eakins. Darryl Sutter isn’t coming off the farm either, but I would love to see that.

7 – EXPAND THE FIELD:  The Memorial Cup is underway in Kelowna as the host Rockets are joined by the Everett Silvertips, the Kitchener Rangers and the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. I love the Memorial Cup, but I wish the Canadian Hockey League would expand it.  The Centennial Cup sees 10 teams involved and the Telus Cup sees six teams. A 10 team Memorial Cup would be too much, but I’d love to see a six team one.  If you take this year’s field, the WHL is hosting so Kelowna and Everett would represent the West and the two teams that got to both the Ontario and Quebec finals would participate meaning Barrie and Moncton would be involved.  When the tourney is in Ontario, you have the host and the league champ and the same for Quebec.  More games mean more $$$ and isn’t that what leagues are trying to accomplish these days. 

8 – NOT MANY BETTER:  When the Everett Silvertips captured the WHL championship for the first time in Prince Albert, it capped off a season that saw them go 73-9-3-1. I didn’t dig into the numbers but that has to be the best ever season for a WHL team (hello Glen Erickson) , and one of the best records for a Canadian Hockey League team.  It isn’t the best record as I was informed on Twitter by a gentleman named Steve McLean that hosts a CHL podcast that the 2004-05 London Knights had a record of 75-9-2-0 with a 4-0 at the Memorial Cup.  That team had a bunch of guys that played a handful of games in the NHL, but they were led by Corey Perry and Dave Bolland. 

9 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• A Super Bowl in Nashville will be unbelievable. 
• Where is the CFL’s new app?  Where is their new fantasy game? This is another example as to why so many have a tough time taking the league seriously. 
• The Montreal Canadiens won two Game 7’s in 16 days.  The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won a Game 7 in 22 years. That tweet by yours truly triggered many a Toronto fan much to my delight. 
• Congratulations Hamilton.  You now have the distinction of having one of the worst team nicknames going.  Who approved Hamilton Hammers? That’s the American Hockey League affiliate of the Islanders if you don’t know. 
• Congratulations to Carnduff’s Carter Beck. He was named the winner of the Joe Carter award for top player in the Missouri Valley Conference. He is going to be a major leaguer and whatever team drafts him in the next few weeks will be getting a player. 

That’s all I got.  Have a great week!