Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

2 – AND STILL MORE EXCUSES – I have no concrete proof but I’m going to call the announced crowd for Edmonton’s CFL game on Friday night of over 20,000 a total lie.  Judging by the capacity of the lower bowl and the glimpse of the stands (which TSN works very hard to never ever show a wide shot of) I’d estimate closer to 13,000.  The zealots will tell you there would have been 40,000 there if not for other events happening throughout the city that the CFL has to compete with.  It was also murderously hot at 29-degrees Celsius.  Of course, back when the Eskimos were in their heyday, nothing else ever happened in Edmonton so you either went to the CFL game or stayed home and stared at the wall.  The weather was also perfect with just the proper amount of sun, heat, wind, etc.  With climate change, 29-degree days are the norm and people are passing out in the seats so best to stay home.

3 – QUARTERBACKS INJURED – Bo-Levi Mitchell is, presumably, out for the season.  Zach Collaros just hit the six game injured list.  I would assume Nathan Rourke is also going to be out for six weeks.  It’s too bad because the quality of the games in the CFL to this point have been at their highest level since the post-Covid extra woke era began in 2021.  In a league that seems willing to double down on alienating a segment of their fan base through administrative actions, quality of play is about all they have to try and win back fans.  That’s not going to be easy if we are headed for weekly results akin to what we saw on Friday when Edmonton narrowly beat BC even with Chase Brice throwing four interceptions upon coming in for Rourke.  

4 – UFC FIGHT NIGHT – Dricus du Plessis scored a lopsided unanimous decision over Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC Fight Night last night, which sets the stage for an interesting next fight.  Had Usman won, it’s likely he’d have rocketed to a middleweight title fight against Sean Strickland but now we have a situation where du Plessis wants to fight Strickland to try and regain his belt.  du Plessis is 2-and-0 against Strickland so, on the surface, it makes sense to run it back a third time but du Plessis was dominated by Khamzat Chimaev a year ago in the title match where he lost the belt.  Chimaev was then beaten by Strickland earlier this year.  To me, it makes the most sense to have a Chimaev-du Plessis 2 with the winner facing Strickland. In the meantime, Strickland probably should have to defend the belt against someone and the top rated fighter outside of du Plessis and Chimaev would appear to be Nassourdine Imavov, who has won five in a row and would appear to be a bonafide challenger to Strickland, meaning it could be Imavov who is the champion by the time we figure out whether it’s Chimaev or du Plessis who should get the next title shot.

5 – JAYS SNUB ALOMAR – The Toronto Blue Jays celebrated their World Series championships of 1992 and 1993 this weekend and totally ignored the fact Roberto Alomar was a part of the team.  Alomar was, arguably, the best player on those teams so to act as though he was never there makes the entire celebration a farce.  It should be pointed out Alomar has been accused of sexual misconduct and while MLB put him on the ineligible list in 2021, nothing criminal has ever been filed.  Being ineligible to work in Major League Baseball shouldn’t disqualify a guy from being part of a ceremony honoring past World Series champions. You can pretend all you want, but Alomar’s magical homer against Dennis Eckersley and his tremendous play overall were a big reason why the Jays won.

6 – CEBL MAMBA LATEST – Two weeks ago, the Saskatoon Mamba looked like a shoe-in for a playoff spot.  Today, not so much.  The Mamba have lost five of their last six and have said good-bye to two key starters with Jaylin Williams gone to the NBA Summer League and Tevian Jones being granted his release.  Meanwhile, the Calgary Surge have won four in a row and sit 2 ½ back of the Mamba with seven games remaining.  It all makes for a crucial game this Wednesday at Merlis Belsher between the Mamba and the Edmonton Stingers.  Both teams have 7 wins and the Stingers have won the last two head to head meetings.  It’s a must-win for Saskatoon.

7 – SJHL BOMBERS STORIED HISTORY – The Flin Flon Bombers are in the processing of preparing to celebrate their 100th season.  On top of that, they will also be the defending SJHL champions.  The Whitney Forum is the Wrigley Field of small town hockey rinks as far as I’m concerned.  If you have never been, you need to mark it as a must-visit.  There is a lot of history and nostalgia inside that facility and if you are lucky enough to tour the dressing room, you can easily see that honoring their alumni is a priority.  There are a lot of things they just do better than any other Junior A or Major Junior team and, for that, they should be commended.  I’m most looking forward to when they host the SJHL Hall Of Fame banquet in late September.  You can bet the Bombers will do it up just right.

8 – BEDARD SIGNS – On the heels of the Anaheim Ducks matching Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet, the Chicago Blackhawks have finalized a five year contract with Connor Bedard that will see the former Regina Pat make $15-million a season.  Bedard just underwent shoulder surgery, which will shelve him for the first couple of months of the upcoming season but the Hawks, clearly, didn’t want to risk Bedard signing an offer sheet so they made sure to put pen to paper as quickly as possible.  Bedard appeared to breakout last year with 75-points in 69-games and looks very capable of being a perennial 100-point player but, to this point, the Blackhawks organization has shown no interest in surrounding Bedard with decent players.  I’m a bit surprised he signed.  He deserves better than what the Hawks have been for him through three seasons.

9 – YZERMAN TARNISHED REPUTATION – Steve Yzerman may go down as one of the most overrated General Managers in NHL history.  Yzerman, who was one of the greatest players in NHL history, was successful in his managerial role with the Tampa Bay Lightning but how the Lightning have been able to maintain their excellence after Yzerman’s departure seems to indicate the overall cast of front office people was set up to allow for almost any leader to do well.  In Detroit, Yzerman has been an abject failure as he’s taken the cowardly ‘rebuild’ path but he’s been at the helm for seven years and the Wings haven’t seen the playoffs at all during that time frame.  Earlier this week, Yzerman and the Wings announced he’d be leaving his position and being reassigned within the organization. This comes amidst rumours of Dylan Larkin wanting a trade with Yzerman unwilling to accommodate.  

10 – FUTURE NHL COACH – The Abbotsford Canucks (AHL) have hired Ryan Papaionnou as their new head coach.  Papaionnou spent last year in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers and they went 46-20-and-6.  The former WHL goaltender spent the prior sixteen years as head coach of the Brooks Bandits where he led the organization to seven AJHL titles, one BCHL championship, as well as four national Junior A crowns.  Simply put, he has been the most successful junior hockey coach since the turn of the century and maybe ever.  At 42-years-old, I’m going to suggest there is an NHL future here and I wouldn’t want to bet against him.

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster. Follow him on X/Twitter at @Stack1975)