Scruffy’s This N That

1 – THE OLYMPIC HOCKEY ROSTER: As I said last week, the debate as to who should be on Canada’s roster for the men’s hockey game would dial up big-time after the announcement was made New Year’s Eve. No one is going to argue that McDavid, Crosby, McKinnon and Makar should be wearing the Maple Leaf in Italy, but the fact guys like Stone, Horvat, Doughty and Cirelli are, while guys like Bedard, Bennett, Johnston, Scheifele and Schaefer or not. 

I put out my roster in last week’s column, and a lot of those guys are on the team. I wonder how much the 4 Nations result played in assembling this team as many are back. We can bitch, moan and complain about the roster, but if the team wins gold, you don’t have a lot to complain about. 

Without Russia involved, it will likely be a USA-Canada gold medal game again and I have faith Doug Armstrong and company have picked a team that can once again defeat the Americans — let’s just not let it go into overtime this time around, OK?

2 – THE BEDARD DEBATE: There are a lot of people bemoaning the fact Connor Bedard isn’t going to Italy around Regina. I didn’t get a lot of time to discuss this with Rod when making an appearance on his show Wednesday, but I understand it. Connor Bedard is a great kid and a tremendous player. We all got to see that during his time with the Regina Pats. He is one of us because we got to share in his junior experience. As I said to Rod, would we feel the same way about Bedard if he was playing for the Vancouver Giants, the Halifax Moosehead or the Kitchener Rangers? Probably not! Bedard might get the call yet due to injury, but he will be a part of Team Canada at the 30 and 34 games, and he will likely get another invite to the Worlds if Chicago doesn’t make the playoffs this year. I wonder how much saying “thanks, but no thanks” to last year’s invite played a role in him not being part of the team this time around.

3 – CANADA 2: Now that we know who is going to Milan and who is staying home, we know a Canadian “B” team would be a formidable one. How does this sound? 

G – Mackenzie Blackwood, Jet Greaves, Joel Hofer

D – Evan Bouchard, Bowen Byram, Jacob Chychrun, Noah Dobson, Vince Dunn, Morgan Rielly, Matthew Schaefer, MacKenzie Weegar

F – Mat Barzal, Connor Bedard, Sam Bennett, Morgan Geekie, Zach Hyman, Seth Jarvis, Wyatt Johnston, Ryan O’Reilly, Mark Schiefele, Steve Stamkos, Ryan Strome, Robert Thomas. 

4 – THE “WINTER” CLASSIC: The New York Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 in the annual NHL Winter Classic at the home of the Miami Marlins. Many mocked the game because of the location. Yeah, it wasn’t in a winter venue like a Buffalo or Detroit, but if the NHL can stage outdoor games in California and Texas which are warm weather climates, why not Florida? 

Admittedly, the outdoor game didn’t have the same vibe as it did when it was played at place like Wrigley Field or Target Field, but not all outdoor games can do that. It is as simple as this: the Florida Panthers told the NHL they were interested in hosting an outdoor game and they gave the league a business plan. The league, who knew what challenges could result, asked the right questions and got the right answers and the game was played. When you watched it, did you care it was in Miami? If you did, perhaps that is a you problem. Oh yeah, the game was sold out so like it was when an outdoor game was played in Regina, it was a success — if you don’t count the final score for the home team. 

5 – SETTLE DOWN ROSS: NFL Radio’s Ross Tucker, whom I like a lot, went off a mini-rant New Year’s Eve about the gathering at midfield after games where players talk to one another with those on losing teams smiling and laughing as they speak with guys on the winning team. Tucker cited instances this year where he has seen teams that have had their doors blown off not being too disappointed at game’s end that they have been whupped. 

Tucker wasn’t naming names, although I am guessing he is talking about the New York Jets, but he feels the players shouldn’t be yukking it up with guys on the winning team as they leave the field and that they should be showing that the defeat they have been handed does not sit well. 

I just can’t agree with that in a regular season game. In a championship game, I can understand it, but if the Montreal Alouettes had just left the field with very little fanfare after losing the Grey Cup, they would be painted as poor sports. The same would have been said about the Riders had they been the losing team.

As fans, we have every right to be crushed if our team doesn’t win, but I also think we are man enough to congratulate fans of the other team if in attendance and not sulk on the way back to the car. Who’s kidding who, the end result means much more to those on the field than those in the stands. 

Players have every right to go congratulate friends, ex-teammates and coaches or whoever when a game is over. If there is some light-hearted conversation that results from that so be it.  

6 – YAY OR NAY: Running back and receiver are two different positions, but they are marquee positions with the game’s best getting significant dollars. It’s also interesting to see how fans of certain teams react to players on other teams signing big-deals. There were a lot of people in Rider Nation mocking the Bombers for signing Brady Oliveira to a three-year contract that will pay him 290,000 in the first year and 300-grand for the final two.  However, when the Riders signed Sam Emilus to a two-year deal that will pay him 285K in year one and 290K in year two, the reaction amongst those who cheer for green was great deal while others across the league said he isn’t worth it. 

This just in: both Oliveira and Emilus deserve each and every dollar they can get. Rider fans should be happy Emilus is back in green much like Bomber fans should be ecstatic that they have the homegrown running back under contract for three years. I had been told the Riders needed to make Emilus the highest-paid receiver in the CFL because if they didn’t. Montreal was ready to. Whether or not that would have happened is something we won’t ever and don’t need to know because Emilus is back and will be a key cog in the Riders trying to repeat much like Oliveira will be key to how the Bombers do. In something we all know, it is up to these two and many others that sign for big $$$ to show the investment was the right one.  

7 – WEEK 18 NFL NOTES: There isn’t a lot to talk about as the NFL’s regular season comes to an end as a lot of the games don’t have a lot of importance. Here are some notes though as you settle in for the last weekend. 

• Chicago and New England won division championships this season after finishing last in their divisions in 2024. In 20 of the past 23 seasons (2003-25), at least one team finished in first place in its division the season after finishing in last or tied for last place. With a win Saturday against Seattle, San Francisco will clinch the NFC West after finishing last in the division in 2024, earning their third division title in the past four seasons. With a win on Saturday against Tampa Bay or an Atlanta loss, Carolina will clinch their first NFC South division title since 2015 after finishing tied for last in the division in 2024. If Carolina and San Francisco both win their divisions, four teams will have gone from worst to first in 2025, the most such teams in a season all-time.
• Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford leads the NFL with 42 touchdown passes and is the only quarterback in the league this season with multiple touchdown passes in 14 games.  With at least two touchdown passes against Arizona on Sunday, Stafford can become the third player in NFL history with multiple touchdown passes in 15 games in a season, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning (2013 with Denver) and Dan Marino (1984 with Miami).
• Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson leads the NFL with 2,255 scrimmage yards in 2025 and leads all players with 5,605 scrimmage yards since entering the league in 2023.
• With a touchdown reception on Sunday against New Orleans, Robinson – who has 25 rushing touchdowns and nine receiving touchdowns in his career – can become the fifth player all-time with 25 rushing touchdowns and 10 receiving touchdowns in his first three seasons, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen, Chuck Foreman, Abner Haynes and Alvin Kamara.

8 – MY TOP 10: I sort of brought this up last week when I said the biggest sports memory of 25 for me was Game 1 of the WCBL Final when the Regina Red Sox battled Sylvan Lake in front of 2000 people at Currie Field. Here were the other sporting memories I take away from the year gone past: 

1. Red Sox get 2000 at Currie Field for Game 1 of WMBL Final and then win series in 3
2. Riders win Grey Cup 
3. Blue Jays lose World Series in heartbreaking fashion
4. Canada wins the 4 Nations Cup
5. Oilers lose 2^nd straight Stanley Cup Final
6. CFL announces controversial changes to the game
7. On the night of the CFL West Final, U of R WBB star Jade Belmore became the team’s career point leader with Lodie Kenyi scoring a Cougar single game record 58 points in victories over Lethbridge.  
8. Pats land both Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue at WHL prospects draft
9. Thunder/Rams lose to Hilltops/Huskies in PFC/Canada West Final.
10. Ovie breaks Wayne Gretzky’s goal scoring record 

9 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• Isn’t it great to see the talking heads on TSN and Sportsnet who refused to acknowledge that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be terrible this year at the start of the season now being forced to admit they may not be a playoff team.  Who told you that at the start of the season?
• The CFL needs to get Pop Tarts as a sponsor. Throwing a Pop Tarts Bowl theme to a CFL game would be outstanding. 
• Glen Erickson astutely noted in his outstanding WHL column that the Medicine Hat Tigers are 69-13-5-2 in games played (WHL regular season, playoff and Memorial Cup games) in the calendar year 2025. I’m not doing the research and I am not asking Glen to do it, but that must be one of the best records a junior team has had in a calendar year in any of the three leagues.
• The Saskatchewan Rush have improved their record to 4-1 on the season following an 11-7 victory over the Halifax Thunderbirds. Ryan Keenan led the way with 4 goals and 2 assists as the team remains undefeated at home this season. Up next for the Rush is a showdown on the road against the Vegas Desert Dogs.
• Changes to the NFL’s kickoff rules have resulted in record low punts, record high 4^th down gambles and more longer field goals as coaches get aggressive. Imagine a league changing its rules and the game getting better. Crazy! 

That’s all I got.  Have a great week! Happy New Year! Be good to yourself!