Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts
1 – RIDERS SEASON FINALE – Just like how Chris Jones made a mockery of the last ever game played at Taylor Field, the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Elkimos made a mockery of the last CFL game to be played at Mosaic Stadium with a 55-yard line. The Riders, who clearly wanted to move into the crossover and play Toronto in the playoffs, defeated the EEs 16-12 in an unwatchable affair that saw both teams rest their starters for different reasons (Riders want to play Toronto, Edmonton wants to avoid injuries). I’ve been bullish on the Riders all season, even while they’ve struggled, but I have to say that going out and not trying in the last game of the season when you haven’t been playing well for two months is, often, not a recipe for success but we will see.
2 – CFL CAP – The CFL salary cap is a simple way to determine how the league is doing financially. From 2022-through-2024, the cap sat around $5.5-million and was stagnant. It jumped to $6.0-million in 2025 and $6.2-million this year and it’s expected to jump again in 2027. On one hand, you could make a case as to why does the league feel they need to, significantly, change some of the fundamental rules of the game if the league is on an upswing as far as revenue is concerned. The flipside of that is the argument the league is being innovative and sees a much higher ceiling. There seems to have been a lot of naysayers speaking out saying they don’t intend to support the league going forward because of the changes but I believe this to be coming from a small group of people and even from within that small group, most of those people won’t follow through with their supposed threats. Sports are hard to give up for people. It’s just not as toxic as gambling, alcohol, drugs, etc. For me, if I am entertained, I will support it.
3 – FORGOTTEN TROPHY – This story about how the Saskatoon Hilltops forgot to bring the PFC trophy to Regina last week so the Thunder ended up having no trophy to celebrate with when they, easily, dismantled the Hilltops 44-19 is as believable as a politician proclaiming to be here to help you. Oh wait….we have plenty who would believe that. But, on a serious note, someone had to have noticed long before the fourth quarter that there was no trophy and the trek from Saskatoon to Regina is about 2 ½ hours. Someone could have driven down well in time to have it for the end of the game.
4 – BAD ADMINISTRATION – Junior football in this country has a long way to go to reach credible status from an administration point of view. As much as this falls on the Hilltops, where was the league office on this one? It’s their job to ensure the trophy is at the stadium and in a presentable state of condition. There are some really good programs and there are some really good athletes but the people in charge of the various conferences rival those who run U-Sports and they should all be fired. When you look at what the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League does as far as being visible, promoting their product, brokering sponsorship contracts, etc. there is no comparison to the PFC, BCFC, or OFC. It’s also a topic for a different day but there are junior programs in need of serious help from their respective head offices. Kamloops, for example, is an absolute joke. They are bad year after year and this season went 0-and-10 and if you throw out their two games against Prince George (who were almost as bad) they scored double digits only 1 time and gave up 60 or more seven times. And, this happens every season. I just don’t know why Canadian sport organizations (junior hockey aside) put people in charge who have a total lack of passion for what they are tasked with leading.
5 – LINGERING QUESTIONS REMAIN – Just Bins made an X post on Friday linking to a statement that Bhishma Rajyaguru’s dad said RCMP told him that Jayden Dalke had tested positive for cannabis and alcohol. That link has since disappeared, which raises more questions concerning whether Bhishma’s dad has had second thoughts about making the matter public, or whether someone told him it would be in his best interest to remove the post. Just Bins has 36,000 followers on X so when something like this gets posted, it hardly goes into an echo chamber. CTV Regina, for example, has 65,000 followers and CJME has 21,000 so Just Bins is a player as far as a public following is concerned. I stand by my original opinion that all the information with regards to how the accident happened should have been released because it’s in the public interest to know and some of the information could be used by people to help protect themselves in the event of a similar event. From the perspective of the police, when all parties are deceased, the toxicology report becomes privileged health information and that may be the logic for not releasing but Canada has also been loose with how it handles private health information over the last seven years so that’s not as cut and dried an argument as it used to be.
6 – HELLEBUYCK SAGA ENDS – The Winnipeg Jets were never going to pay Connor Hellebuyck to sit home and do nothing. In my mind, the smart play here would have been to let the suspension elapse, bring him in for his physical, send him home and tell him he’s going to get a paycheque but he’s not welcome to be on the roster. I feel this would send a message to the teams kicking tires on him that the Jets are not bluffing when they say they’d wait for the best possible offer. It would have put the leverage back in their favor and they could have had their own privately imposed deadline, even if it’s just an additional week and then make the trade based on the best package. It would also, potentially, send Hellebuyck and his agent into a form of panic because, let’s face it, Hellebuyck wants to play. Knowing the Jets are willing to pay him to not play sounds nice in theory but his skills aren’t staying sharp doing casual practices with Antonio Stranges and Robby Fabbri.
7 – ARE JETS EVEN TRYING – Even if you accept the suggestion Hellebuyck is telling an elaborate lie about threats and harassment (because of his incredibly poor decision to celebrate winning a gold medal) to force his way out of Winnipeg, the fact remains that contracts should be a two-way street. Yes, Hellebuyck signed a long term deal with the Jets but that was based on the premise the Jets would do their best to ice a contender. The Jets have done no such thing. Aside from drafting Viggo Bjorck 8th overall in this summer’s draft, the Jets did not add to their roster in any meaningful way and we are 10-games into the season and Bjorck has 0-points centering the second line. It’s actually malpractice to force an 18-year-old kid into that role and keep him there when he’s clearly not ready for it. Yes, the Jets have received better than expected goaltending from Hellebuyck’s replacements and I’d submit they are actually playing better than Hellebuyck did for most of last season but the rest of the problems on the roster remain and there is no indication the team is even, remotely, interested in correcting those aforementioned problems.
8 – CHEAP GMs – Hockey General Managers are notoriously stingy. It’s been reported the Carolina Hurricanes ‘badly’ wanted Hellebuyck but wouldn’t part with any of Logan Stankoven, Jackson Blake, or Seth Jarvis. Well, then you don’t want him all that badly. To me, a Hellebuyck for Jarvis straight up deal made a lot of sense for both teams. Meanwhile, Washington has announced Ivan Miroschnichenko is being told to look around to find a possible suitor on a trade. The Caps aren’t going to use him but recognize he’s going to get claimed on waivers. Miroshnichenko was a first round pick in 2022, so he’s still young, and has shown he can produce when given an opportunity. The cost to acquire him would be minimal and yet it seems nobody is interested. This is exactly the type of player the Jets should be looking at and then give him some runway on the second line.
9 – OILERS FAN SUPPORT – There have been posts this week about the Edmonton Oilers pricing their fans out of going to the games. You can’t always believe what you read or see (thanks to AI) but one particular post went viral that showed a sparsely populated upper level for one of their games this week. As far as NHL entertainment goes, the Oilers are at the top. They boast the best player in hockey and have three of the top four scorers in the league. Their average ticket price ranks 9th overall but fans are speaking up saying it’s too much. I have a message for those people: Canadians have chosen a path of very limited disposable income for things like hockey games. They’d rather give whatever they have to Mark Carney so he can fight Trump and pay his wife to care for the oceans. If you decide you aren’t going to Oiler games, the NHL will find a city whose fans will. Good luck to all.
10 – UFC333 – Alexander Volkanovski solidified his status as one of the all-time greats by scoring a late second round knockout of Movsar Evloev in defending his Featherweight title. Evloev entered the match 20-and-0. Meanwhile, Peter Yan made a case to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in all of the UFC by outlasting Merab Dvalishvilli in a frantic five round war that saw Yan defend his Bantamweight championship. It was also the rubber match between the two as Yan has now earned two wins against Dvalishvilli and it’s expected he will defend next against Sean O’Malley at some point in 2027. As for Dvalishvilli, you have to think that was the last kick at Yan so perhaps he moves up Featherweight where Volkanovski may vacate the title and retire, although Volkanovski has been pushing for a retirement fight against Justin Gaethje.
(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster. Follow him on Twitter at @Stack1975)
