Scruffy’s This N That

1 – REST UP: The final bye week of the season is here for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It comes at a time when Rider fans are gnashing their teeth after getting schooled in Winnipeg on an afternoon where despite the fact the defence came to play, so did Winnipeg’s as the green guys were held to ten-points-or-less since that clobbering in the Banjo Bowl a few years ago when many of the guys were sick when they took the field.

The final stretch will not be easy for the /=S=/. They have two against the Alouettes, one in B.C, one in Edmonton and one at home against a Calgary team that is sputtering. They are a team that could finish first and host the West Final, but the reality is they are also a team that could be the crossover seeing Winnipeg won the season series last weekend due to point differential.

The offence is not clicking on all cylinders, but one has to believe when A.J Ouellette, Sam Emilus and Kian Schaeffer-Baker get back onto the active roster that Trevor Harris won’t struggle as much as he had in their absence. The defence seems to have gotten problems under control, but they have four games against arguably the three quarterbacks in the running for the Most Outstanding Player.

What happens in the final five and where do you see them finishing up?

2 – DRIBBLE KICK: The dribble kick has CFL fans torn about whether or not it is a smart play or one that should be removed. Why is it the Montreal Alouettes are the only team that does this? Is it a dumb rule? Yup! Do the rules allow it? Yup! Does it make the league look bad? It sure does, but the single point off a missed field goal or a punt bouncing into the endzone made the look bad as far as I was concerned too because it was rewarding you for failure. That rule finally got changed and this one will hopefully too.

Some are arguing that this has to keep the defence on its toes on 2^nd and long and I agree. If you are going to throw 8 back and leave the field open, this is what could happen? DC’s now have to watch for it.

But again, why is Montreal the only team doing this when all teams could?

3 – JOSH HAGERTY: If the Dribble Kick wasn’t the biggest story in the CFL this past week than Josh Hagerty was. I know Josh Hagerty is a Regina guy who went to school at the U of S, but that takes nothing away from the heinous acts he performed last weekend against Montreal. He embarrassed the Saskatchewan football community and angered many across the league. No one is defending what he did with the exception of one rather deranged Lions fan on Twitter who went as far as saying this is what you get when you schedule back-to-back games.

I can understand in the heat of the moment punching an opponent south of the border once, but twice? That is simply unacceptable as is the punishment given out by the league. He gets two games for that?

That is so weak on the CFL. To me, that should be the end of the season for him. Do the Lions give him further discipline? They should, but they likely won’t.

4 – HALIFAX: The CFL did not say anything this week about a potential team in Halifax, but that didn’t stop so-called “supporters” of the league from shitting all over the league saying the Maritimes experiment must stop and that a proposed stadium being put forth by the City that will support Canadian football isn’t big enough. Why are so many content with the CFL being the way it has been for years? Why is it so many just don’t want to see this league grow and succeed? At no point did the Halifax Wanderers soccer team or the CFL say they are pursuing a team. All they said is they want to build a venue that will support Canadian football. Yes, the plan is for the stadium to seat just over 10,000 people but again this is NOT for a CFL team — at least not at this time.

So why is it when there is no mention of a CFL team going to Halifax that such a notion is met with such negativity? No matter what the CFL tries to do, its so-called “fans” just cry and bitch and moan about it. It is so laughable. People don’t want to engage in dialogue as to why any thing the league wants to do could be a positive — all you have to do is go back to the rule changes that are coming. It’s just negative, negative, negative. I guess perhaps that is the only way they can be happy. Meanwhile, I’ll wait for an announcement — if it ever comes, about a CFL team for Halifax and how this venue, if it gets built, can maybe provide that team that so many across Canada have wanted to see for years.

5 – NFL WEEK 2: Were the Bears really that good in Week 1? Were the Rams and Cowboys really that bad? Let’s not forget the Packers! Here are some tidbits going into Week 2.

After putting 59 up against Carolina in their season-opener, Chicago is home to Minnesota. Only the 1973 Atlanta Falcons had a better opening week when they scored 62. If Chicago can get 37 points against the Vikings, they will set the record for most points in first two games of a season breaking the record of 95 set by the 1968 Oakland Raiders
Tampa’s Baker Mayfield will face his former team, the Cleveland Browns, for the 2^nd time since leaving in 2022. Mayfield won 29 games with the Browns. Cleveland has won just 26 since he left.
Since 1990, history has shown that teams that are victorious in their season openers are more than twice as likely to advance to the playoffs as teams that lose their opener. During that span, 54.3 percent of teams (303 of 558) to win their opener have advanced to the playoffs. However, an 0-1 start is not impossible to overcome, as 25 percent of teams (141 of 557) since 1990 that lost a season opener advance to the playoffs, including both of last year’s Super Bowl participants – the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
Week 1 opening rosters showed Ohio State had the most players with 56 which is one ahead of Alabama and four ahead of LSU. No other school had more than 50. There are more than 390 players who tip the Toledos at over 300 pounds.

6 – DROP THE PUCK: Weren’t we just watching the Everett Silvertips skate around the Art Hauser Arena with the Ed Chynoweth Cup after beating Prince Albert? The WHL season is underway with the first set of games going Friday night. When it comes to the Regina Pats, I think everyone knows this team is going to be better than what we have seen for the last few years and that they will be a playoff team for the second straight season. What can Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue do in their first year as full-time WHL players? In the summer, I was told this was a team that would probably be fighting for 3^rd in the East, but a 7-0 preseason has changed that thought process. Some have them winning the East while others have them finishing second behind Prince Albert. Some are also saying this might be the best team the Pats have had since the season where they hosted the Memorial Cup.

I’m excited to see what this team will do and whether I am at the Brandt Centre watching some games or checking them out on YouTube, it should be an entertaining winter at the rink and I don’t know if we have been able to truly say that for the last little bit.

PS: Two thumbs up for the team for bringing back the bulldog jersey and doing it in blue instead of red! Might have to stop by the Pats store and get a blue bulldog Pats golf shirt or t-shirt.

7 – WHL RULE CHANGES: The WHL is making rule changes for the season with one of them being one that hopefully catches on in the NHL. That rule will now prevent teams in overtime from re-grouping once they have established possession in the offensive zone. If you go back into the neutral zone, you give up the puck.

The decision by teams to skate the puck back into the neutral zone or their own zone when they have control in overtime was one that wasn’t needed as the constant reset at times ruined OT. As mentioned, this is something needed in the NHL as well and hopefully will be as early as next year.

8 – #97 STILL #1. The TSN Top 50 NHL players going into the upcoming season has been released and surprise, surprise; Connor McDavid leads the way for the 10^th straight year. McDavid won the 2025-26 Art Ross Trophy with 138 points and the Ted Lindsay Award as the players’ choice for best player.

Nathan McKinnon was named number 2 for the 5^th straight year and then Macklin Celebrini rocketed up from 36^th last year to 3^rd this year. Is Celebrini the guy who will knock McDavid off the mountain? That’s who I would bet on.

Matthew Schaefer came in at 22^nd. How long until he cracks the top 10?

9 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

You can have a beer with one CFLer. Who is it?
The Oilers led the NHL in revenue last season at $431 million. I guess we can’t refer to them as a small-market team anymore.
If in a survivor pool and you took the Chargers, did you buy back in or say screw it?
If you’re an NCAA Football fan and you haven’t got caught up in the hype of Ole Miss-LSU this weekend, you need to check your pulse. Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford will have many eyes on it. The hate surrounding that return may be unequalled and it wouldn’t surprise me if Kiffin comes out wearing a helmet and bullet-proof vest.
If you went to Foo Fighters at Mosaic, you probably went in knowing it would be awesome and it was. What a show! Speaking of shows, who is doing the halftime show at Grey Cup? Has Calgary’s own Tate McRae been approached? If the CFL wants to attract the younger male demographic, that’s a pretty good choice.

That’s all I got. Have a great week!