SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

1 – WHO GETS HOCKEY’S HOLY GRAIL?  The Stanley Cup playoffs start today. Are you ready? When you look at the eight first-round series, who do you think is a lock to move on? Where is the biggest upset? And at the end of the day who gets their hands on that fabled mug?

Here are my thoughts on Round 1:

Tampa Bay-Florida: This series could be the best one of the eight first-round matchups. The Panthers have shown last year was no fluke. The Lightning are far from dead as guys like Kucherov, Stamkos, Point, Hedman and Vasillevskiy are far from done.  I can see Tampa winning in 7.

Boston-Toronto: I just don’t think Toronto has the blueline to compete with Boston. Can Matthews, Marner and Nylander get their act together? It sounds stupid, but those guys have to score if Toronto is going to win. They also need some 3^rdand 4^th line guys to come through with big goals.  Is Samsonov really the answer in net? We’ll find out.  Boston in 6

Carolina-Islanders:  Carolina has found some offence.  The Jake Guentzel trade was great for them. I don’t see them having a problem with the Islanders.  Carolina in 5

Rangers-Capitals:  The Rangers won the Presidents Trophy which has become a curse in recent years. Alexandre Ovechkin seems to be revived.  With Igor Shesterkin and Charlie Lindgren in net, not a lot of goals will be scored in this series, but the Rangers will get enough to beat Washington in 6.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see a lot of overtime in this series either.

Dallas-Vegas: How did Vegas get themselves into this position? Losing to Anaheim on the last night of the season on home ice is not the way you want to go in.  The Dallas defence should be able to neutralize that talented group of Knights forwards. The key word in that last sentence was “should”.   Dallas in 7—-but I say that with little confidence.

Edmonton-LA: The Kings haven’t been able to beat Edmonton in the first round the last two years and that trend will continue.  LA just isn’t built to beat Edmonton in a seven-game series but they will test the Oilers. I will be honest. I didn’t think the Oilers would beat Vegas but luck is on their side going in.  Not only will they be well rested after playing six games in the last nine days to end the season, but they avoid the Knights. Edmonton in 6

Nashville-Vancouver:  If there is going to be what you consider to be an “upset”, this might be the one. I am really looking forward to this series. It will likely come down to who wins the goaltending battle between Jusse Saros and Thatcher Demko.  Is Demko in game-shape after missing the last chunk of the season with injury. We will find out.  I’ll be shocked if any team in this series gets to 5 in a game.  Predators in 7 in what should be a ring-a-ding-dong dandy with a lot of good players on the ice for both teams.  One of those players is Elias Pettersson.  He has disappeared in the last couple of months.  Vancouver needs him to win this matchup.

Winnipeg-Colorado:  There is a lot of talk about the Jets getting to and winning the Stanley Cup. I just can’t subscribe to that. Winnipeg beat Colorado in all three matchups including a convincing 7-0 win in Denver at the end of the regular season. That being said, this is Colorado! This is Nathan McKinnon, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, Devon Toews and perhaps the best lineup top to bottom in the playoffs.  Connor Hellebuyck is the league’s best goalie and that Winnipeg defence might be the best of the playoff teams, but I don’t know how they can control Colorado’s speed.  I don’t think this is a short series, but it is if the Avalanche walk out of Winnipeg with two wins and that wouldn’t surprise me. If Winnipeg can get it done in the first round, they might be able to get to the final.  I just don’t see it happening though.  Colorado in 6 and 5 if they win both at Canada Life Centre.

How does it end up? I’ve got Colorado beating Carolina in the Stanley Cup final, but what I really want to see is Edmonton beat whoever in the East. If that happens, my credit card will take a beating. Sit back and enjoy!

2 – BEDARD’S ROOKIE SEASON: An injury derailed him from having a complete first season, but it is safe to say Connor Bedard did not disappoint as a rookie NHLer. He averaged almost a point a game getting 61 in 68 with 22 of those 61 points being goals. One must remember he really had no one to play with. Chicago is in good shape with Bedard and maybe, just maybe Macklin Celebrini leading the way. Some want to say he is not deserving of the Calder Trophy. I am not one of those. I don’t know if he will play for Canada at the upcoming Worlds, but I am hoping he does because of the talent that will surround him.

3 – SHUT UP SHELDON: Leafs Head Coach Sheldon Keefe is plain and simple—a complete bonehead.  Keefe told Toronto media after their game last Saturday night that the run to 70 goals has been a distraction and that you could see that during that contest against Detroit where they battled back from a 4-1 deficit after one only to lose in overtime.

If Keefe thinks the run to 70 has been a distraction, what does he think it will be if his team makes a long playoff run with a fanbase and yes, a large part of the country watching every shift with interest? As a caller said on NHL Radio this week, Sheldon Keefe has been in over his head since he took over the position. That caller in my opinion wasn’t wrong. If Boston beats the Leafs in the first round, Keefe will be out of work before the Cup is handed out.

4 – CFL SALARY CAP:  Cheaters aren’t supposed to prosper but in the CFL they are. Yes, cheating might be too strong a word but for the 2^nd straight year the Winnipeg Blue Bombers went over the salary cap this year, Hamilton and BC were also guilty. They were only 26 thousand over so that is the fine they get. They were fined 65 grand last year. When Winnipeg makes a sizable profit, that 26 thousand is pocket change. If a team is over the cap by 100,000, they lose draft picks, but if you are over the cap shouldn’t you be penalized with more than a dollar-for-dollar fine. I don’t know all the ins and outs when it comes to the cap but the fine to me is toothless. It has no bite. A team knows they aren’t going to be punished if they are under 100,000 over.  That’s wrong. The CFL has to get tougher when its teams when it comes to this.  It’s obvious teams have found a way to get around it.  It’s almost like the Bombers are the Vegas Golden Knights of the CFL.

5 – TOUGH BREAK FOR OTTAWA: I want the Ottawa Redblacks to succeed. I like Bob Dyce, I like Brendan Taman, I like Chad Hudson … end of story.  The team took a huge step backwards this week when it was learned that arguably their best player—running back Devonte Williams will miss the season with a torn Achilles suffered while training. That is a tough loss for this team this late in the off-season. I don’t know who takes his place, but whoever it is has big shoes to fill.  

6 – YOU KNOW YOU’RE TOUGH WHEN: Last Saturday’s UFC 300 will go down as the night where Max Holloway won the BMF title in the main event with what was a last-second knockout over Justin Gaethje.  However, in an earlier fight, Alex Pereira beat Jamahal Hill. Just before Hill went night-night, he caught Pereira with a low blow.  Instead of buckling as many of us would do, he told referee Herb Dean he was good and continued on with the knockout punch coming seconds later.  Take a kick to the onions, shake it off and knockout your opponent seconds later.    Yeah, that’s tough.  The guy could be a hockey player.

7 – CONGRATS MARTIN ACADEMY:  The Martin Academy in Regina is 10 years old.  Yes, that caught me off guard as I didn’t think they had been going for that long but they have.  The academy has helped a lot of athletes pursue their sport of choice with many more to come. One of those athletes is the daughter of Riders GM Jeremy O’Day who has accepted a diving scholarship at the University of Alabama. That facility has done tremendous things for local sports in this city. Congratulations to all!

8 – CONGRATS JON RYAN:  The Regina native has officially called it a career after signing a one-day contract with the Seattle Seahawks.  Jon is Seahawks royalty. Some think the reason I am a die-hard fan of that organization is because of JR but that isn’t the case as I have been a fan since Day one.  If you know football in this city and this province, you know about his exploits.  His TD pass in the NFC Championship game off a fake field goal against Green Bay is one of the biggest plays in Seahawks history and one of the most memorable plays in NFL playoff history.

He and his family are just good people.  I wish as do many others that his late father Bob could have seen the career he had and what a career it was.

9 – AN ESTEVAN SCOTTIES?: Tell me again how a new downtown arena/facility doesn’t improve the local economy.  We have seen how much Moose Jaw has benefitted from the Moose Jaw Events Centre by getting some big-time events and concerts and now Affinity Place in Estevan is looking to increase its profile and the city’s profile. That city’s curling community is making a bid for the 2026 Scotties. That event has been a huge success in Moose Jaw and I have no doubt that if Estevan puts together a solid bid that they could be host to the Canadian Ladies Curling Championship.  Estevan has played host to what I think was a Canada Cup of Curling and the provincials have been held there so they know what they’re doing.

10 – BRING THE ESSO HOME:  Good luck to the Regina Rebels as they begin play at the Esso Cup this weekend in Vernon, BC.  The Rebels, who won the bronze medal last year at this event, are certainly deserving of being there after posting a regular season record of 26-3-1 and then going undefeated in the playoffs.  One of their players, Stryker Zablocki, is considered as one of the top under 18 players in the country and a couple of others have already committed to major Division 1 schools in the US.

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