Scruffy’s This N That

1 – LET THE QUEST BEGIN: The puck drops Tuesday night on another NHL season as the Carolina Hurricanes look to stay on top of the mountain. I don’t know about you, but I think parity is alive and well in the NHL and that will be proven this year as there are many teams that can challenge the Hurricanes. Is it safe to say there are over 10 teams that you could call legitimate Stanley Cup contenders right now? The Atlantic Division will be a dogfight all season long and the Pacific and Central should be fun too. 

When it comes to Canadian teams making the playoffs, I see Edmonton, Winnipeg (yeah, you read that right), and Montreal making it. I can’t see Toronto finishing any higher than 5^th in the Atlantic and they should be better than Ottawa while Calgary and Vancouver are still disasters.

Who is hoisting the Stanley Cup? Is it too early to take Montreal knowing they would have to go through a lot of good teams to even reach the final? Yeah, it probably is. I’ll take Dallas.

2 – BABCOCK/MESSIER: Mark Messier had the NHL world talking this week when he said he was horrified when the Oilers hired Mike Babcock especially with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman having a huge part in that hiring. Hearing that from one of Edmonton’s all-time greats sent shockwaves across the league. 

This is what the Oilers wanted, and this is what they are going to have to deal with no matter their record this year. However, I will give Babcock, McDavid and Hyman credit for trying to throw cold water on the issue when asked about it. Babcock telling the Edmonton media he has nothing but respect for Messier, but what is he supposed to say? He isn’t going to bury Messier in Edmonton. Everyone has their opinion on this hiring. If Edmonton wins, it will have been the right choice. If they don’t, they will be skewered as they should be. Right now, they are 0-0-0. 

3 – NO PRESEASON: Rod Brind’Amour doesn’t think an NHL pre-season is needed and that the league should just go to 86 games. I like Brind’Amour, but I don’t like this idea. First off, I am against an 86-game regular season. How about a 78 or 80 game season so we can give the Stanley Cup out at a proper time? Yeah, I know that isn’t happening because owners won’t reduce the amount of home gates they get. 

Leagues need a pre-season. The NFL sees many clubs not play their number ones until Game 1 of the regular season and it shows as you usually see sloppy football in Week 1 and in some cases, Week 2.  CFL teams don’t get enough evaluation in two games and the football in the first couple of weeks is sloppy. This is what would happen in the NHL even though players are in shape. While Brind’Amour may know what his opening night roster is, do rebuilding teams know what their roster will look like? It is why you need exhibition games across the league!

4 – DON’T DO IT: Talk surfaced this week that there is interest in bringing the NHL back to the desert. WHY? I realize money talks, but can Gary Bettman not see that the NHL and Arizona are not a good marriage. They have tried and tried and tried and failed and failed and failed. Houston, Atlanta and Austin seem to be drawing the most interest.  I’ve always wondered why Houston isn’t in the league already. Atlanta has tried and failed twice much to the delight of those in Calgary and Winnipeg and I don’t know enough about Austin. 

Is there no interest in Kansas City? Is there no interest in Quebec City? Have we given up on putting a 2^nd team in the GTA? It would seem as if the answers to those questions are no or else we would hear about it. 

5 – RIDERS-LIONS: I think we knew going in that Friday night’s game in Vancouver would have a playoff feel to it and it did. A.J Ouellette and Kian Schaeffer-Baker returned, but their presence could not get the ball into the endzone as the team sputtered in the red zone while Nathan Rourke found a way to make some plays as he torched the Riders D for 375 yards and four touchdowns against a secondary that looked lost. 

The result means Saskatchewan is now 3^rd in the West. They were a late Toronto field goal from being in 4^th. With the Lions showing no signs of slowing down, one wonders if there will be playoff football at Mosaic as Edmonton isn’t slowing down either. Four games are left including a pair against Montreal that you know won’t be easy. Buckle up Rider fans, it could be a bumpy ride in October as we head down the stretch.

6 – QUEBEC CITY/CFL:  CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston is getting it done. He is making changes to freshen up what has been a stale league, he has gotten advertisers on board, he has crafted a tremendous new television package for the league and now he may have found a much-needed 10^th team. 

We are a long way away from having a team in Quebec City take the field and having a shovel breaking ground for a facility, but I think one has to have some cautious optimism after hearing news that a conditional franchise has been granted to the Trudel Group.  That group wants a 25,000-seat open-air stadium at the site of Le Colisee which has basically sat empty since the Nordiques left. 

People in Quebec would much rather have the NHL back to restore the Canadiens-Nordiques matchup, but football is huge in Le Belle Province and I am guessing if this comes to fruition that a Quebec-Alouettes rivalry will be one that could rival the Riders-Bombers. 

I have heard people cite several reasons as to why this part of our nation is perfect for the CFL and Football Canada and I can’t disagree. 

As mentioned, you can have some cautious optimism, but it may be time to start welcoming a 10^th team to the league. Now can we get Halifax and Kelowna on board? 

7 – IT’S TIME, ZACH! The Bombers had to go with Dru Brown Friday night because Zach Collaros was unable to go again because of a head injury. I have said this before about Collaros, but it is time for him to call it a career. I know football players don’t like having that conversation with themselves but with the amount of head and neck injuries Collaros has had during his career, the time has come to say that’s it and ride off into the sunset. He has accomplished a lot in his CFL career and there is a spot in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame waiting for him in a few years. He has shown us he does good work on television so perhaps there is a future for him on DAZN or TSN broadcasts. I would love to see Collaros on the TSN panel as they are missing a player that has played the game’s best position. Look south of the border and the number of QBs on the various panels. TSN has had a QB on the panel since Matt Dunigan left which I think is a mistake, but I digress. 

I don’t know if Zach has played his final down this season and if he hasn’t, I hope he can get through the rest of the season unscathed. The bottom line is it is time Zach. Your post-football career awaits. 

8 – NFL WEEK 3: Eight teams will be looking to go to 3-0 this weekend while six teams will be looking for their first win of the season as Week 3 of the NFL season is upon us.  Here are some tidbits of information going into another busy Sunday. 

• The Buffalo Bills are the third team in NFL history to start 2-0 despite allowing 30 points in both games, joining the 2000 Rams and 1991 Bills. No team has ever started 3-0 and allowed 30 or more points in all three games. The Bills are home to the 0-2 Chargers.
• The Seahawks go into Washington to play the Commanders. Seattle Head Coach Mike McDonald is the 3^rd head coach in NFL history under the age of 40 to win 12 straight games including playoffs 
• Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are home to Minnesota.  Mayfield is two passing TD’s away from 200 career and goes into the game having thrown a TD pass in his last 23 home starts. 
• The Las Vegas Raiders are in New Orleans to meet the Saints.  The Raiders have not started a season 3-0 since 2002. 

9 – ON TO NEXT YEAR (MAYBE)!  The baseball playoffs begin this week. The Toronto Blue Jays teased you through August and September about being in them, but the reality is they just weren’t good enough. You can look at various reasons as to why this team went from being a below 500 club after taking the Dodgers to Game 7 of the World Series last year. Sorry if you don’t like it, but the reason can be found at the locker of Vladimir Guerrero Junior.

He didn’t have the worst season amongst some major leaguers, but you can’t tell me he isn’t leaving Toronto with egg on his face for the winter after what was a disastrous campaign. 

Guerrero dropped a pipe-bomb on everyone before a game this week when he told a Spanish reporter that he was being paid for what he had done in the past, not what he was going to do in the future which obviously did not go over well. He then doubled down on those statements when pressed by reporters. After team higher-ups got a hold of him and a good sit down with PR staff, he became contrite and apologized for what he had said as the spin machine started to chug.

Fans of your team expect you to be a leader. They are OK with you being lighthearted from time-to-time, but many have grown tired of your post-game Gatorade bucket dousing to teammates after a win that really isn’t consequential in the long run. They are tired of the seemingly immature approach that you take to the game. If you had an “average” season, this team is likely going back to the playoffs and in a weak American League you might have gotten back to the World Series because one could argue the 26 version of the Blue Jays was better than the 25 one because of guys like Okomoto, Cease, Bateman and Smith.

I don’t think we are going to see a full baseball season in 2027, and we may not get one at all as this labour dispute is going to get uglier. What is known is when the Blue Jays get back on the field that a much better effort is needed. Much better! You also have some more PR work to do to because your image has taken a battering. 

10 – GARY BROTZEL:  After more than two decades, Gary Brotzel announced it was time to step away from the Regina Red Sox. Regina would not have the Red Sox if it weren’t for Brotzel and the outstanding baseball community Regina has would not be as strong if it weren’t for Brotzel. What he has done over the past two decades can not be measured and to say his contributions will be missed as he steps into retirement is an understatement. Mitch MacDonald will take over and he will do a great job, but those cleats will be hard to fill. Enjoy retirement, Gary and reduce that handicap by a few strokes!

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• Who is the best 0-2 team in the NFL? Chargers, Texans, Colts or Tampa? 
• If any team is to beat the Dodgers in the MLB playoffs, it will be either Philadelphia or Milwaukee, but neither could do it last year. They are the only teams with pitching staffs that can get it done. 
• I try, but I just can’t watch exhibition hockey, football or baseball
• The NFL fined two players for giving the “chugging a beer” motion after scoring TDs. Somewhat hypocritical when Bud Light ads are seen in just about every commercial break.  Are we sure those guilty aren’t chugging milk?

That’s all I got.  Have a great week!