Scruffy’s This N That

1 – ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY LATVIANS! It is that time of year where Canadians put a tremendous amount of pressure on a group of teenagers, many that they had no clue who they were until TSN’s World Junior preview, to win gold. Hockey Canada Head Coach Dave Cameron may to some have replaced J.T. as the most hated man in Ottawa after a shocking defeat Friday night because Canadian hockey fans are downright angry.

The mighty Latvians, who have been on the end of many one-sided beatings over the year, sent a shot across the hockey world by beating Canada 3-2 in a shootout. Yes kids, Latvia beat Canada at the World Juniors and the swords were out before the Canadians left the ice.

I didn’t watch all of the game, but it appeared to me as if Canada got goalie’d by Linards Feldbergs who stopped 54 shots. What he might have done is expose the biggest problem Hockey Canada might have.

Talk going into the upcoming 4 Seasons Tournament has been how weak Canada is in net compared to the other countries and that talk isn’t wrong. A guy like Feldbergs is playing his junior hockey in Sherbrooke. It is maybe time for the CHL to stop allowing European goaltenders to come across the pond so that some North American kids can guard the goal. Yes, the argument is there that the best Canadian goalies will find their way onto a junior roster which is fair, but don’t develop European goalies for them. We know the gap has closed when it comes to international hockey, which is good for the sport—as was the Latvian win, but let’s not help close that gap when the object is to be better.

Here in the 306, especially in Saskatoon, we will watch how Brayden Yager, Caden Price and Berkly Catton do. Hard to believe those three all played for the Saskatoon Blazers back in the day. How good was that team?  Going to see them at the Co-Operators Centre play the Pat Canadians would have been a treat. No, I didn’t forget Tanner Molendyk either. If there is a better d-man in junior hockey than the Nashville product, I need to know who it is. WHL fans have been spoiled the last couple of years seeing guys like Denton Mateychuk last year and Molendyk this. By the way, if you don’t know, Mateychuk made his NHL debut for Columbus this week.  

2 – MAIER IN GREEN: The Saskatchewan Roughriders just don’t want to develop a young quarterback. They would rather use castoffs than work with someone they brought in. Many of you believe the trade bringing Jake Maier to the Riders is a good thing.  I am not one of those people and frankly I am surprised that so many think it is.

The Stampeders got something for Maier which is a surprise in itself. I am guessing not many teams if any were interested in his services if he became a free agent, but the Riders believe a quarterback who has been terrible since being given the starters role in Calgary is now seemingly QB2 in Saskatchewan and with QB1 having a penchant for not staying healthy, this is a huge roll of the dice for the green-and-white.  I have zero confidence in this football team should Jake Maier be under center for a long period of time.

I would rather have Shea Patterson continue to progress and I hope someone sees enough in Jack Coan to keep him around.  The team hasn’t developed a quarterback that they brought in since Darian Durant. The last time I checked Durant had a pretty good career in Saskatchewan.  Hopefully this means more for Jack Coan going into 25.

3 – MOVING ON: Have you noticed how many former Rider QB’s have gone on to some plum coaching assignments south of the border? Tino Sunseri was hailed for his work with Kurtis Roarke at Indiana this year and is now moving on to UCLA to serve as offensive co-ordinator.  Steve Sarkisian is trying to take the Texas Longhorns to a National Championship, Danny Barrett has had a successful NFL career as an assistant coach as he is readying his Houston Texans for the playoffs. Then add the likes of Kerry Joseph, Henry Burris. Kent Austin, Tom Clements and many more and it’s evident just how much talent has been in the QB room at Riderville over the years.

4 – CFP COMPLAINTS: The great Joe Buck said it the best during the Monday Night game in Green Bay when the topic of the new 12-team college football playoff came up.  The first four games were duds. Let’s not try to sugarcoat that. Clemson tried to stay with Texas but they couldn’t.  It has many grumbling.  As Buck said Monday, if you had 100 teams in the CFP, there would still be complaints.  The bottom line is the 12-team playoff is good for college football and while there were blowouts, you never have a guarantee that a game will be close.

Take a look at some past Super Bowls. Did San Diego deserve to be in the Super Bowl when they got destroyed by the Niners, did the Patriots deserve to play for the Vince when they got hammered by the Super Bowl shufflin Bears?  Yes they did because they earned their way to that game.

I expect some tweaks to be made to the format and while some want 16 teams and no first-round byes I don’t see it happening immediately.  ESPN, who paid big dollars for the CFP rights, is grumbling over the first four games.  I wonder if they grumbled when the Packers beat New Orleans 31-0 on Monday. I guess New Orleans didn’t deserve to be included in the Monday Night Football lineup.

5 – VLADDY AND THE JAYS:  Is Vladimir Guerrero going to sign a contract extension with the Blue Jays or is he on another team by August 15^th.  At this point, it looks like the latter.  Guerrero told a podcast this week he turned down an offer of 340 million dollars as it isn’t even close to what he is looking for.  I don’t know what Guerrero is looking for, but he has apparently told the team.  If that offer is in the 375 to 425 million range then get pen to paper.  The Blue Jays, who for the second straight year, has done nothing to improve their team, simply can’t lose number 27.  If they do, it will spell disaster.  You showed you had the money when it came to Shohei Ohtani last year and Juan Soto this year.  Guerrero isn’t Ohtani or Soto, but he knows Toronto is willing to spend the money.  Guerrero has the leverage as he knows his contract can fit under what management has for a budget.

6 – NHL POST-CHRISTMAS: The unofficial second half of the NHL season is underway as post-Christmas play has resumed.  Did we have the Winnipeg Jets as the league’s best team as of Christmas Day?  While the Jets lead the way, they haven’t been one of the five best teams in the last two months.  That honour goes to Vegas, followed by Edmonton, Washington, the Devils and Toronto.  Washington?  As it stands now, Spencer Carbery has to be the coach of the year. 

As for the other award winners, I think we have a lot of great races with some tough decisions to be made. In my mind, there is no clear-cut favourite for top defenceman, top rookie and MVP.  Connor Hellebuyck would appear to be the favourite for the Vezina, but there is a long ways to go.

7 – NFL WEEK 17: Just two weeks to go in the NFL sked.  Here are some things to look for in this weekend’s games.

• The Bengals, who face 9-6 Denver at home Saturday, are 0-7 against teams with winning records this season, which is tied with the Jaguars and Patriots for the most losses without a win. Strangely, the Bengals have averaged 30.3 points per game in those losses
• Dallas linebacker Micah Parsons is a half-sack away from being the fourth player to reach double-digit sacks in each of his first four seasons since individual sacks were first tracked in 1982. The others are all Hall of Famers Dwight Freeney, Derrick Thomas and Reggie White.
• New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has 499 regular-season touchdown passes in 246 career games and can become the fifth player in NFL history with 500 regular-season touchdown passes, joining Tom Brady (649 touchdown passes), Drew Brees (571) and Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning (539) and Brett Favre (508). He can also join Manning (244 games) as the only players to reach 500 regular-season touchdown passes in fewer than 250 career games.

8 – WELL DONE SASKATOON: I don’t know who is running the marketing and promotions for the Saskatoon Blades, but they are winning.  Their holiday promotion is one that makes me go why didn’t someone think of this earlier.  The Blades put this out on Twitter earlier this week.

This made me laugh out loud at my desk when I saw it.  Well done Saskatoon. I can only imagine that meeting when the idea got put on the table.

9 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• To all of those who get so upset when Taylor Swift is shown at a Chiefs game, do you feel the same way when Matthew McConaughey is shown at a Texas game? The guy gets more airtime on the sidelines than TSwift in her private box.
• It isn’t nice to hope injury on someone, but if one of Canada’s forwards that will play at the 4 Nations Cup gets hurt, you have to think Zach Hyman or Mark Scheifele is the replacement. Both have been on fire since being snubbed.
• The NBA wonders why its TV ratings are sinking. Where do I start when it comes to how unwatchable the NBA is these days?
• Is anyone else at this time of year confused as to what day it is?

That’s all I got.  Have a great weekend and a great 2025.