Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

2 – MEDIA VOID Part A – The reason for having very limited media attend the festivities this week is because most local media organizations have been gutted to the bare bones and the conglomerates who own them now have zero interest in truly investing any amount of money to add to the overall coverage.  Watch NHL Trade Deadline day and you will count upwards of 20 talking heads giving you wall-to-wall boredom all day long all from the same studio but yet we can’t have multi-person sports departments in regional centres across the country to cover all the other sports people may be interested in.

3 – MEDIA VOID Part B  – I’ve written about this before, but part of the reason for such apathy when it comes to local sports is because there is no mainstream coverage anymore.  You look at Saskatoon where there used to be weeknight highlight shows and serious in-depth newspaper pages dedicated to just about every sport you could think of.  There should be a reporter from one of these outlets that is dedicated to covering and traveling with the major teams (Rush, Blades, SJHL Wolverines, Huskies, Hilltops, Mamba, Berries, etc).  It’s so bad now that I’m not even sure a sports reporter would be cleared for a mileage expense to head to Warman and cover an SJHL game.

4 – HELLEBUYCK ANTICLIMACTIC RETURN – It was a wild Tuesday night in Winnipeg as Connor Hellebuyck made his return but the New Jersey Devils opted not to play him, which only further raised the ire of heated Winnipeg Jets fans.  In a league that prides itself on hiding and protecting the stars from any form of an uncomfortable setting, my guess is that the Hellebuyck example will become the norm moving forward.  Nights like what Ottawa had where they, unceremoniously, booed Brady Tkachuk are likely a thing of the past.

5 – HELLEBUYCK LYING, JETS FANS ARE SAINTS – The consensus from fans on social media is that any claim Hellebuyck made with regards to threats and harassment to his family are fabricated and outright lies.  The only problem with that is Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff admits Hellebuyck did bring concerns to him immediately following the US gold medal win at the Olympics as Canadians went absolutely ballistic on Hellebuyck for receiving congratulations at the White House.  The other problem with that is I’ve been quite active on social media defending Hellebuyck and the replies I’ve received from fans border on the unhinged to say the least so it’s not a stretch for me to believe Hellebucyk got various forms of communication from ‘fans’ that made his decision to ask out a lot easier.  I’m not saying the threats are the only reason, but it’s an easy one to put front and centre.  I also saw some of the online vitriol in real-time as it happened and wondered how much Hellebuyck would put up with.

6 – DEVILS FOLLOWED TO HOTEL – The New Jersey Devils broadcast team confirmed on Wednesday that a number of ‘fans’ followed them back to the hotel on Tuesday following the game, hoping to get a glimpse of Hellebuyck for further catcalling (and who knows what else).  A video has also surfaced that appears to show Hellebuyck entering a hotel while fans hurl insults his way and there is a photo (who knows if it’s real or not because you can’t trust anything) making the rounds that show a couple of fans flipping Hellebuyck off with the finger as he skates onto the ice for pregame warmup.  Further to that, there are reports of fans yelling at Hellebuyck during the pre-game moment of silence in honour of Remembrance Day.  We still think Hellebuyck is the problem?

7 – RUSSIA OVECHKIN – A handful of people protested in Ottawa this week to take a stand against Alexander Ovechkin playing in the nation’s capital as a form of support for the government opting to block Russian juniors from playing at the World Junior Hockey Championship next month.  While I admire the attempt at consistency to block Ovechkin, since we are blocking teenaged hockey players, the fact of the matter is that Ovechkin’s open support for Vladimir Putin has been well-documented for many years, basically since he entered the league.  As recently as April 2025 Ovechkin was widely celebrated by hockey fans everywhere (including Canada) as he chased down Wayne Gretzky’s goal milestone with some even saying they wanted Gretzky erased from the record books because of his association with Donald Trump.  But, now that the media and government have started to tell people how to behave, we’ve decided Ovechkin isn’t so good after all but we aren’t really going to go too hard after him because he isn’t wearing a Russian flag on his jersey or Russian sticker on his helmet.  As I’ve said numerous times, it’s easy to take a stand when the stand you are taking doesn’t affect you as far as any personal sacrifice is concerned.  Blocking Russian juniors helps Canada’s chances to win while getting rid of NHL Russians could affect one’s favorite team so we will just leave that alone.

8 – CAS RULING – To clear this up, the reason why Russia and its participation in the World Juniors is in the news is because a recent ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport ordered the IIHF to allow Russia and Belarus to play in their events, citing a lack of evidence to justify its actions of banning them.  The CAS is the authority here and if they tell the IIHF they have to do something, they are bound to do it.  The CAS does not have the ability to tell Canada who they can and can’t let in to the country so that is the work around to prevent the Russians from icing their team.  To that end, the IIHF can levy major penalties and sanctions against Canada for refusing to cooperate; however the key word here is ‘can’ as opposed to ‘must’.  My guess is the IIHF just lets everything slide, the Russians don’t play, and it’s business as it’s been since they were banned in 2022.

9 – NLL IN MOOSE JAW – The Saskatchewan Rush defeated the Calgary Roughnecks 12-10 in Moose Jaw last night to close out the preseason.  I’m not sure of the official attendance but when the Rush hosted a game in Moose Jaw last time they got just over 4400.  I did see a social media post from someone who contemplated going but felt a $70 ticket for an exhibition game was a bit steep and I have to agree.  I have a flex pack and really good seats at Sasktel Centre for the upcoming regular season at $60 per ticket.  As far as the game itself goes, newcomer Sam Firth scored three as did Robert Church.  Frank Scigliano got the start in goal and rebounded in the second half after a shaky start.

10 – UFC – UFC334 had a wild main event with Heavyweight champ Cyril Gane defending his title in a five round war against Josh Hokit.  My guess is the two will meet up again because there is really nobody else in the Heavyweight division for either of them to fight and this match was so good, people are going to want to see a repeat.  The Co-Main Event featured Kayla Harrison defending her Ladies Bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes by securing a rear naked choke.  It was Nunes’ first fight since 2023 and Harrison’s first in almost 18-months.  

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