Scruffy’s This ‘N That

1 – DUTCHY:  When the word came down Thursday morning that Darren Dutchyshen had left us after a battle with cancer at the age of 57, it hit hard. I guess it is because I am also that age. I guess it is also because Dutchy was a staple of Canadian television and was someone you just marvelled at and wondered how he could get away with some of the stuff he said.

Before Dutchy came to TSN, he worked at ITV in Edmonton and that is where I first got to see this tremendous talent do his thing. His weekly comments with the cantankerous Bryan Hall were great! It was must-watch TV.

I didn’t know him well, but we had a chance a few times to talk sports. When he was in the room you knew it and while you didn’t know him well, he seemed like he was that buddy you catch up with every couple of years.  The stories he had were great and the best thing about it is he was just a Saskatchewan guy who was proud of his home province and his football team. The last time I saw him was a couple of years ago when the Grey Cup was here. He wanted the Riders to be in that game much the way he did in 2013 when he was here to take it all in. The TSN tribute to him was tremendous as Jennifer Hedger, Rod Smith and James Duthie eulogized him perfectly.

He will be missed by many.  

2 – FINISH THE STORY: I said last week I thought the Moose Jaw Warriors would win the Ed Chynoweth Cup in five games. I guess I gave Portland too much credit. The Warriors were just too good for the Winterhawks, and it showed right from puck drop in Game 1 as Moose Jaw completed the four-game sweep late Wednesday night– at least too late for this cowboy. I admittedly dozed off on the couch just as the 3^rd period started and woke up around 1:30. I rewound the old PVR to the final five minutes of regulation and as I did so, I thought man what if this goes into overtime, how late will I be up for? Will I just fast forward it to the winner? I didn’t have to thanks to Brayden Schuurman.  

Congrats to the Warriors for league title number 1. There are many people over the last 40 years who helped get the team to this point. It’s not over though as the Memorial Cup is next.  Can they finish the story? I don’t know if they can or not, but their game against London will likely be must-watch TV and it wouldn’t surprise me if the two teams are playing for the trophy on Championship Sunday.

3 – THOUGHTS? Riders main camp is underway and on Monday, the first pre-season game of the year happens at Mosaic as the Bombers come to town. I talked to a few people this week about last week’s column and my statement that I can’t put faith into a quarterback that will be 38 at the start of the season and has not done anything in the playoffs.

Some thought that statement wasn’t very fair to Trevor Harris and some believed it was accurate. The numbers show while Harris has thrown for a lot of yards in the league over his many years, but he has never won the Grey Cup. While the offence on paper appears to be better, I just don’t see this team being any better than third in the West.

I’d love to get your thoughts on the starting QB and your confidence level going into the season.

4 – WHO ARE YOU LOOKING AT? The head coach is new and as is the case every year, there are a lot of new players looking to wear Rider colours in 24. I think a vast majority of Rider Nation is excited to see running back A.J Ouellette here, but who else excites you.  If going to Monday’s game, what guys are you taking a good look at? The one guy I want to check out is linebacker Zakoby McClain. I think that guy has the potential to be a monster on defence as could fellow linebacker Diego Fagot.

5 – GUARDIAN CAPS: The CFL is allowing players to wear guardian caps if they want to during games. I think those things look dumb, but I fully understand why they are being used. If those caps can reduce concussions then you have to utilize them. It won’t look right though. Meanwhile, the league says the “short punt” isn’t going away. How do we feel about that gimmicky play?

6 – OATES ON MARNER:  Adam Oates is defending Mitch Marner. The veteran NHL’er saying on a podcast that William Nylander doesn’t have as many tough matchups as Marner does thus Nylander has more success.  Believe that if you want, but know Oates played a similar style as Marner as he fed the puck to Brett Hull as Marner does to Auston Matthews. Also like Marner, Oates didn’t play on a Stanley Cup winning team.

7 – VAL NICHUSHKIN: One wonders how the Colorado Avalanche playoff run would have ended this year and last if they had Val Nichushkin. Many remember Nichushkin was shrouded in mystery during last year’s playoffs when a heavily intoxicated woman was found in his room during the team’s first round series against Seattle which they eventually lost with Nichushkin leaving the team. No real reason was given and no punishment occurred.

Fast forward to this year’s playoffs and after a great first round, Nichushkin was suspended six months as he was placed into Stage 3 of the NHL Player Assistance program. Make no doubt it, the health and welfare of the player is what comes first, but it’s obvious in hearing from some Colorado players that while they supported him the best they can, he didn’t want to help himself and in the end hurt his team tremendously for the second year in a row.

One has to wonder if Nichushkin returns to the NHL and if he does, will it be with the Avalanche? I think we might have seen the last of him.  He needs to correct himself and so far he isn’t winning that fight.

8 – SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Safe to say the world’s number one golfer won’t forget his second round at the PGA Championship. He gets arrested on his way to the course after a misunderstanding, sits in a jail cell for a couple of hours and then comes out and shoots a five-under-par. I don’t know if Tiger Woods could pull that off!  I will say this.  Scheffler looks much better wearing a green jacket than an orange jumpsuit. What a wild story!

9 – SORRY BP!  I love Boston Pizza. It’s not my go to pie and I actually would rather have pasta than pizza from there. That being said, their ad campaign for the Stanley Cup playoffs saying maybe its time to cheer with one another is just outlandishly stupid.

Sorry, but I just can’t see one Boston Pizza in Western Canada where Canucks fans and Oilers fans are watching together hoping for a good game and I don’t think anyone in their right mind would cheer with a Leafs fan.  I said with and not against!

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