DuPont’s 10 Holiday Things
By: Darren Dupont
Merry Christmas! Hope this finds you well, huddled up by the Christmas tree with a hot cup of coffee. But, wherever you are or whatever you’re doing, happy holidays.
1. Ottawa – Christmas came early for me as I spent last weekend in Ottawa with my good friend Peter Loubardias watching three world junior pre-tournament games. It was a great way to kick off the holidays and a great way to see our nation’s capital for the very first time. To me, although I would rather watch the world juniors when it’s overseas in the early morning hours, this was a great way to experience a tournament at home. I got a great chance to see Team Canada up close and I’ll still get to watch the games from the comfort of my living room on Boxing Day.
2. TD Place – I didn’t think this was going to be as big of a deal as it has turned out to be. When I first walked into TD place I was confused. First, there was no Jumbotron or scoreboard hanging over Centre ice… Weird. Next, I looked across and there were like six rows of seats on the other side only. Peter looked at me and said “yeah it’s because it’s underneath the football field.” I was blown away… and then I loved it! How Canadian to just put the hockey rink in every possible place we can. I put a short post on social media and it clearly resonated with Canada. As of last count, there were over 200,000 views and numerous comments about the rink, the city, the history and everything in between. Now, to be clear, the rink is underneath the stands … but the point still stands. Unreal.
3. Team Canada – It was also great to watch Team Canada with maybe our country’s foremost expert on the product. Lou has an appreciation and love for this team and country like nothing I’ve ever seen. Canada has a very good first line. Calum Ritchie, Easton Cowan, and Bradley Nadeau makes something happen everytime they’re on the ice and have created instant chemistry. TBH, I like Gavin McKenna with Ritchie and Cowan and they created some chemistry too. Canada is deep, strong and talented but so are other countries in this tournament and it won’t be easy. What’s cool, is the amount of Saskatchewan on this team. By my count, there are four players from Saskatchewan on Team Canada, and they should make a big impact. You can add Saskatoon Blades defenceman Tanner Molendyk, who will be an anchor and a leader on this team.
3. McKenna – We watched Canada‘s first pre-tournament game against the Swiss and Gavin McKenna, the projected first overall pick in another year, was nervous, uncomfortable, and out of place in the first period. But, he got the puck on his stick early in the second and instantly settled in and became a force every time he was on the ice. The kid is so creative, patient, and thinks the game like very few can at this level.
4. 2025 Draft – This summer’s projected top pick Porter Martone has not jumped off the page for me so far. He wasn’t bad but I left the game feeling like I never really noticed him. Meanwhile, defenceman Matthew Schaefer has completely knocked my socks off. Back in November Craig Button had Schaefer projected to go number four in the draft, but I fear that may change. This kid is making things happen EVERY SINGLE SHIFT. Oh, and at both ends of the ice too.
5. Christmas Morning – We’re gonna leave the world juniors now and switch to football. But before we do, it’s a chance to walk around the quiet condo Christmas morning and have another cup of coffee. We have an Nespresso machine and I love it. Leanne picked up some of the holiday coffee pods and as I take a sip of one of the new flavors, it just warms my soul this Christmas. We’ve had a simple Christmas, as I mentioned we didn’t go home this year. But, it’s been fantastic, and we even got a fresh dump of snow, which makes the season so much better for me. In a few minutes, breakfast will be in the oven and we’ll get on with our day. So before we let you go, let let’s get to some football!
6. CFP – Oh baby! They’re fighting at ESPN, and people are crying on the Internet over the opening round of the College Football Playoff. While Indiana and SMU were getting smoked in their opening around games, college football fans, notably those in the SEC, were taking the opportunity to trash the playoff and create a narrative that the best 12 teams weren’t in the tournament. Clemson got smoked too, but they have a recent rich history and didn’t seem to get caught in the crosshairs. Then, Tennessee got smoked by Ohio State and things got really quiet. What did we even learn?
7. Who Cares – First, it didn’t look good early for the committee, selecting SMU and even Indiana, ahead of Alabama, South Carolina or Miami. But that quickly changed to Tennessee’s loss to Ohio State. There’s a narrative about the best teams versus the most deserving. Wins versus strength of schedule. Who cares? Blowouts, to me, are not bad for college football. They happen. At the end of the day, those teams that are sitting at home watching have the opportunity to win games, but they didn’t. Are you telling me Alabama never made a national championship with a soft schedule? Get outta here.
8. Joel Klatt – If you want a good college football follow, along with the Kirk Herbstreit and others, I’d suggest Fox’s Joel Klatt. He’s the only guy I’ve seen bringing the other side of the conversation. The average margin of victory in the opening round of the NFL playoffs last year was over 17 points. The average margin of victory in the opening round of the college football playoffs was less! If you pick the best teams to make the NFL playoffs, there would be teams you would put in that aren’t going to make it based on the record. Do we want college football to be like NCAA basketball where we don’t really care about the regular season and all we care about is the tournament? I like that the regular season, the conference championships, and the CFP all matter. If we eliminate the other conferences from an expanded college football playoff, we are going to lose the love for college football across the country. There are some years where the top two or three teams in the country come from one of our major junior leagues, but yet all leagues are represented at the Memorial Cup, and I don’t think we’d change that.
9. Changes – There absolutely will be changes to the CFP though. The fact that Ohio State, who are favoured by 2 1/2 points, is playing number one Oregon in the quarterfinal is a shame. This should be the national championship or at worst a semifinal. The most logical thing to do will be for the committee to see the teams appropriately after they determine who’s in the bracket. I think they’ll still have representations from the conferences, but the seating and the way this thing is laid out will most likely be altered. Either way, the games are naturally going to get better and I hope we can find a way to enjoy it for what it is. Sounds like I’m saying this every week.
10. Randoms – Congratulations to Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke for winning the Cornish trophy as the top Canadian in NCAA football. It wasn’t close this year… Homemade buns are one of the most underrated staples during the holidays. So are jujubes… Canada opens the WJ’s against Finland on Boxing Day and we get the return of the US New Year’s Eve game. Fun… Puzzles, also an underrated staple of the holidays.
Ok … Enjoy the holidays and Merry Christmas!
DD
