Scruffy’s This N That

1 – COMPARISON TIME:  The Riders are 4-0 and on a bye week. They were 4-0 at this time last year as well. As the clock was winding down at Mosaic, Glen Suitor asked this question to Dustin Nielson on the TSN broadcast: Is this year’s Rider team at 4-0 better than last year’s?  I say absolutely it is.  AJ Ouellette is having a Most Outstanding Player like season and is healthy, the receiving group is better and Trevor Harris – when he is in the lineup – is slicing and dicing the opposition defence with either Sam Emilus, Keesean Johnson or Dohnte Meyers.  We saw in Saturday’s win over BC that the offence is not the same without Harris in there as Jake Maier was quite pedestrian and that might be too kind.  It’s no secret that a team is not that good when their number one QB is on the sideline and both teams showed that in Saskatchewan’s double-digit win. Add that to a defence which is basically intact from last season and while I don’t think they are at the top of their game yet, they are close. Some are already crowning that this team is Grey Cup bound. Let’s just pull the reins on that back a little as we haven’t even hit the one-third mark but all signs are encouraging, What do you think?

2 – NEG LISTS: It seems as if some things that the CFL were hesitant to do in years gone past are being done.  Last week, it was putting the Canadian flags on all jerseys which is something that should have been done in the 60’s and not 2025 and now something fans have called for is happening, On Wednesday, the league announced you can see the team’s “highly confidential” negotiation lists.  How did this change in thinking happen? Simple: it’s new Commissioner Stewart Johnston who could probably see this is something that could get people talking which is what this league needs oh so badly.  He probably saw it and heard people ask why these lists weren’t for public consumption when he was at TSN.

For years, I have watched NCAA games and looked at guys saying to myself—that player has the potential to be a CFL’er.  Hello Derrick Moncrief, Jack Coan and Jamal Morrow for three examples. Now fans can check out what players are doing whether they be in an NFL camp or still in college.  One guy that Rider fans might be interested in is quarterback Zach Zebrowski. He was named the top player in Division 2 football the last two years at Central Missouri. He is headed to Vikings training camp from what I’ve read.  Yes, the Riders have Coan and maybe Kurtis Rourke battling it out to be QB1 once Trevor Harris leaves, but he could be another guy.  Also interesting to see that Trey Lance and Chase Claypool are still on that neg list which shows the /=S=/ are still interested in both. I don’t think either ever play a down in the CFL but who knows. Another guy on the list who likely never comes north of the border is Shedeur Sanders as the Argos own his rights.  There would be more of a buzz for Sanders across the CFL than there was when Johnny Manziel was in the league. 

Now that the neg lists are public, is it too much to ask what players are making? Other leagues do it so let’s drop the curtain on that too. C’mon Stewart, don’t stop now!!

3 – WHERE IS THE BIG PLAY: Let’s be honest.  The first four weeks of the CFL were not great! A lot of that can be attributed to the fact that many starting quarterbacks have already spent time on the injured list, but no matter who is under center, the play has been pedestrian-like.  In the recent stats package from the CFL, the league said there has been 85 big plays this year.  Big plays are ones that are a 20 plus yard run, a 30 plus yard catch, a punt return of 30 yards, a kickoff return of 40 yards and a 30 plus yard return on a field goal miss.  Do the math and you will see that averages out to just barely over four a game.  Are you OK with that?  I’m not! I don’t know what the average number for plays a game is through the first four weeks but four in whatever is not strong. I want to see the big runs, I want to see the deep routes, I want to see the big returns. I think with the wider field there should be more big plays than what we have seen in the first four weeks. Saskatchewan leads the league with 14 big plays, but to me there needs to be more to create more excitement.  The start of Week 5 showed us more big plays as the Winnipeg-Calgary and Hamilton-Toronto games were full of them.  That is the CFL I want to see. What are your thoughts on that?

4 – THE STAMPEDE BOWL: Give credit to Calgary, they are trying to do something to get people into McMahon Stadium and one of those things is the formation of the Stampede Bowl.  Much like the Labour Day Classic and the Banjo Bowl, the Stamps will host Winnipeg on the eve of the Calgary Stampede with the winner getting the Stampede Bowl. It looked like it was a fun atmosphere in Calgary for the game with a lot of things going on. I am not 100 percent sure if you had to make the awarding of the trophy resemble that of a Grey Cup game with the winner on stage and the Commissioner presenting the trophy to the winners but whatever.  It gave the game a big-game feel early on in the season, but maybe it could be dialed back just a little. Do the Bombers do something similar after the Banjo Bowl? 

5 – INCOMING DYNASTY?  When is the last time a team has been to the Stanley Cup Final for four straight years? The Florida Panthers are giving us every indication that they will be and it isn’t a stretch to think it could be five or six.  After beating the Oilers to win their second Stanley Cup in three years, GM Bill Zito told James Duthie on the ice that his squad would do everything it could to re-sign Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand. Some scoffed at him for that, but he has found a way. There is no way Marchand is playing until he is 43 after inking a six-year contract extension but that doesn’t matter right now.  The bottom line is the Panthers aren’t tired of hoisting the Stanley Cup high over their head and no matter what the other teams are doing, they are a step ahead of the rest.  You can talk about the state tax thing all you want, but Ekblad is obviously happy to not have to move his family elsewhere as he takes less but also gets stability which at his age is what he wants.  The same could be said for John Tavares in Toronto. He took less to stay in an environment that makes him and his family happy.  

6 – WHAT NOW WINNIPEG? Why does the national hockey media forget about the Winnipeg Jets? While everyone is talking about the Leafs and what they’ll do without Mitch Marner and how the Oilers have seemingly fumbled in the first days of free agency by losing many and not getting a goalie to Vancouver retaining some key players to Montreal improving their roster, no one wants to talk about Winnipeg.  Losing Nikolai Ehlers is a blow, but maybe not as big as some think, losing Mason Appleton and Brandon Tanev hurts their bottom six and adding Jonathan Toews is admittedly a question mark.  This is still a good team with the likes of Connor, Scheifele, Morrissey, Hellebuyck, Vilardi and Lowry,  I don’t know how long the window is open for in Winnipeg, but I think Winnipeg has some assets to land themselves a top six winger to replace Ehlers and still be a force in the West.  GM Kevin Cheveldayoff worked some magic to keep the Jets competitive last off-season by convincing Scheifele and Hellebuyck to stay long-term. He will have to do it again!

7 – WHO TAKES A TUMBLE:  Interesting article from Edmonton’s Jason Gregor about 100-point teams in the NHL. Gregor says there has been a trend where teams getting 100 points end up missing the playoffs the next year. The New York Rangers led the NHL with 114 points in 2024, Boston and Vancouver each had 109. They all missed the playoffs in 2025 with all three seeing their point total take a steep turn downwards. 

Nine teams had 100 points last season.  They were Winnipeg, Washington, Vegas, Toronto, Dallas, LA, Tampa, Colorado and Edmonton.  Do you see all of those teams back in the Stanley Cup hunt next year.  It’s as interesting a trend as is the one about teams that are in playoff spots at the end of November being a playoff team.  If I had to pick one team that would not make the playoffs, I would go with Washington,  I am still trying to figure out why they were so good last season as are others. I also think LA got older and may have a tough time competing in the Pacific with a Vancouver team that will be better and an Anaheim team that could return to the playoffs.  The argument could be made about Edmonton too, but things would have to go big-time south for McDavid and Draisaitl not to be involved in the playoffs.  The hockey talk never stops does it!

8 – CH-CH-CH-CHANGES! Barring a last-minute change, you will find me at the U of R again this winter doing the in-house for Cougars volleyball and basketball. I’ve been the in-house guy at the CKHS for basketball since the venue opened and when the women’s team was playing, I have looked over to my left and watched Dave Taylor do his thing.  That won’t be the case this year. Taylor announced he is leaving the program to take a similar position at UBC. He leaves with a resume that makes him one of the top coaches in the history of Canada West women’s basketball.During my days in the media, Dave was likely my favourite individual to deal with. He is as good a person as he is a basketball coach and if someone shows him this, I will say I’ve been hacked. HAHA!

It means another one of my favourite individuals, Michaela Kleisinger, comes on as the interim coach. The former player and top-notch individual has been destined for this job since she came on board as one of Taylor’s assistants a few years ago.  It shouldn’t be much of a problem for Cougar Athletics to turn interim into permanent much like it was for Mark McConkey and the Rams.

The program is still in great shape and will be with Michaela now calling the shots.  If anyone knows what is the U of R’s marquee program and maybe the best overall sports team in the city, it would be her.  

9 – NBA SALARIES: Mama, get your boys shootin baskets! We sit there and talk about some of the salaries that MLB and NHL players are getting.  The hockey world discussed the Evan Bouchard contract this week as well as many others and all await to see what type of money will be involved in Connor McDavid’s extension.  That extension is rumoured to be in the $13-$15 million range. That is chump change compared to what those in the NBA are getting.  Shea Gilgeous-Alexander of the champion Oklahoma City Thunder just signed a four-year, 285 million extension. McDavid isn’t getting that boys and girls!! Look at some of the top contracts in the NFL and it isn’t even close to what the Canadian is getting.  It is just insane to see what NBA players make. The league isn’t suffering though.  

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: 

• Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw hit the 3,000-career strikeout mark. Are their any pitchers who have just started their major league run who will get to that level?  With starters hardly going 7 anymore, I doubt it. Same for 300 wins. 200 might be the standard now.
• Did anyone ever figure out why the Oilers were playing “Pink Pony Club” during the playoff run?
• Why are fireworks such a big deal? 
• There is nothing more vomit-worthy than watching Joey Chestnut on July 4^th.  No thanks! 

That’s all I got. Have a great weekend!