Scruffy’s This N That

1 – WELP:  Guessing viewership numbers and interest in the World Junior Hockey Championship has disappeared after Thursday’s quarterfinal as Czechia beat Canada for the second straight year in the quarterfinal.

Let’s be honest. Team Canada got the short end of the stick in that 4-3 loss when it comes to officiating. The two kneeing penalties Canada took were very controversial in nature—made even moreso when a Czech player got away with a knee of Berkley Catton.  At the end of the day though, this does not fall on one game, it falls on a tournament where Canada simply was less than average.

Discipline was a huge issue as was a lack of offence. Canada has been known to score 13 goals in a game, but this team only had 13 goals total. How does that happen?

It took until the 3^rd period of the game against the Czechs for Canada to play the hockey they needed to be successful. Why?  

You can talk about the players and the roster all you want. There is no guarantee that players like Riley Heidt and Andrew Cristall would have resulted in this team winning the gold. To me, head coach Dave Cameron failed and failed miserably.

There was no chemistry and Cameron was reluctant to change lines. He seemingly didn’t want to hold any players accountable.  He had a chance to send a message by demoting Easton Cowan, who was terrible from the Latvian game on, but he didn’t. Gavin McKenna needed more ice time, but it didn’t happen. What also didn’t happen was practices. Why did Cameron cancel so many practices? So many questions to answer! Hockey Canada brass, including Regina’s Al Murray, tried defending the selection process after the elimination. Did they defend Cameron? By the way, its been said Czechia has more WHL players on its roster than Canada.  Hmmmmm!!! That snippet of info came from Colby Armstrong as well.  He, like many, is just as frustrated over what has gone on,

The only thing where Canada succeeded at was goaltending. That’s ironic considering many see goaltending as this country’s weakness.

What is also obvious is that this tournament, that TSN has turned into a monster, is no longer Canada’s property. There is no guarantee that the tournament ends with Canada hoisting the trophy. The game has gotten better and now one might argue that there are several countries with a better program than what Canada has. That isn’t a slight on the Canadian Hockey League either. The Western, Ontario and Quebec leagues are still the best developmental leagues out there. That isn’t changing anytime soon, but something has to change within the ranks of Hockey Canada.

Oh, don’t worry fans. I am sure Craig Button will pick Canada to win gold at the 2026 WJ’s.  (Insert eyeroll here)

2 – MADDOX MANIA: If you haven’t heard the name Maddox Schultz and you are a hockey fan, you might want to start doing some research especially if you are a Pats or Warriors fan. The 14-year-old, who plays for the Regina Pat Canadians, has become the talk of the Circle K (formerly Mac’s Midget Tournament) Classic in Calgary after a performance on Monday that likely will cement his status as an exceptional player.

With the Pat C’s trailing 6-3 to Pittsburgh with 5 and a half minutes to go, Schultz scored twice including the game-tying goal with one second to go. He then added the overtime winner for a 7-6 win as he finished the day with four goals and two assists.

Schultz leads the SMAAHL in scoring with 52 points (24g, 28a) in 27 games.  He will be the number one pick in this year’s WHL Prospects Draft and there is a very good chance as it sits right now that he could call Regina or Moose Jaw home.

I have heard a lot about this kid and all of it has been positive. I have not seen him play yet, but that will change as I will head to the Co-Operators Centre to check him out. I’m guessing I won’t be disappointed.

3 – REMPE LIGHT:  Many want Rangers forward Matt Rempe out of hockey because of his style of play. It has been one suspension after another for him. While there is outrage over Rempe’s play, I am not seeing any over the play of Zachary L’Heureux of the Predators. He was given a three game suspension this week for slew footing Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon. Going back to his junior days, it is his 12^th suspension in six years with the suspensions equalling 42 games. Where is the outrage here? It would seem his style of play is similar to Rempe’s as he is a danger on the ice to those around him. Why the silence around this guy?

4 – NOW WHAT:   Like it or not, the Riders seemed to have locked up their backup quarterback position with the acquisition of Jake Maier. While technically he is still a free agent, we all know the green-and-white were not making that deal if they knew they couldn’t get Maier under contract.

Was QB2 really the biggest need this team had? The front office seemed to think so which begs the question what’s next? I think the secondary needs to be improved a little even though Rolan Milligan Junior and Marcus Sayles had good seasons, but Amari Henderson did not. In reality, I don’t know if this question can truly be answered until free agency begins as there are many good players available with the Riders needing to keep some of the talent assembled  around. Talent like Jameer Thurman, Philip Blake, Malik Carney, Micah Johnson and Sayles.

5 – 2025 CFL SCHEDULE: CFL fans are asking where the 2025 schedule is. It’s apparently expected in mid-January.  I was told it was coming out in mid-December like it has been, but the snag is apparently teams aren’t happy with some game times. I am guessing one of those teams are the Riders and I am guessing they are trying to tell the league not to schedule a home game on a Thursday night as that doesn’t do their travelling fanbase any favours. Everyone knows around the 306 that there is no perfect schedule and most everyone should realize that Sunday afternoon games after the NFL season starts aren’t happening here or anywhere. It is no easy fix trying to satisfy what all nine teams want for a variety of reasons. Some will be happy with what comes out, others won’t be. FWIW, I would be more than OK with Saturday afternoon 3 pm games.  

6 – LUKE SAYS WHAT?: I am a big Luke Willson fan. The former NFL’er is one of the top analysts on either side of the border and his passion is unequalled. Willson went to “X” this week to talk about the CFL and how it needs to get some fans who are frustrated with the state of the NBA and NHL. Are fans frustrated about the state of the NHL? 

Back on topic, Willson says strike an agreement with the players Union about time allowed in the facility. I believe at the moment there are two off days in the CFL and certain days there are limited hours. He feels the more time spent as a team in the facility as a team that the better the on field results will be. I don’t disagree.

He also brought up limiting punts to five per game. That’s a little extreme to me and is gimmicky, but this is a league that is gimmicky with the single point that many CFL fans love. As you know, I am not one of those people.  Would you be OK if there was a limit on punts per game? I would have to do some research to see what the average punts per game is, but if you made the number seven I would think about it.

To my knowledge, this is the first time Willson has weighed in on the CFL. He would be a huge addition to what I think is a stale panel at TSN. I’d also love to know what other thoughts he has on the 3 down game.

7 – THE NEW YORK SACK EXCHANGE: Had the chance to watch ESPN’s 30 for 30 on the New York Jets defensive line that became known as the New York Sack Exchange in the 80’s that was led by Marc Gastineau.  This show made him complete look like a complete diva making me wonder if he was the first of the many divas that now adorn a gridiron.  He was certainly portrayed as a “me, me, me” guy in the documentary and the scene where he meets Brett Favre and chews him out for allowing his sack record to be broken is wild. Favre has no idea he is about to get ambushed when he meets him and you can see him wanting to get out of there asap.

What I also didn’t know was that Gastineau played in the CFL. I do not remember that! Did he ever come to Taylor Field?

8 – SORRY SAQUON: Eagles RB Saquon Barkley won’t get an attempt to break the NFL’s single-season rushing record. The team has determined Barkley, who is 101 yards away from doing that, won’t play on Sunday in what is a nothing game for Philly when it comes to seeding.

Barkley deserves an opportunity. If he comes out and says he doesn’t want to play Sunday than so be it, but this is the team saying this. I understand that as you want Barkley at 100 percent, who is arguably the NFL’s MVP, for the playoffs. However, if Barkley says he wants to play to try and get a record that he may not get close to again, how can you tell him no. How would this change if Barkley didn’t want to play in a game that meant something to the Eagles. We all know the answer to that.

9 – NFL WEEK 18: This is it. The last weekend of the regular season. Some teams are looking to improve their playoff seeding, some are trying to get into the playoffs and others (like my Seahawks) are done. Here is some information as you enjoy the last regular season Sunday.

• The Bills, who are home to New England, have had 12 games this season with 30-plus points, tied for the second most in a season in NFL history behind the 2013 Broncos (13)
• Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow has 4,641 passing yards and 42 touchdown passes in 2024. On Saturday against Pittsburgh, he can become the fifth quarterback in NFL history with 5,000 passing yards and 45 touchdown passes in a season, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning (5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdown passes in 2013 with Denver) and Dan Marino (5,084 and 48 in 1984 with Miami) as well as Drew Brees (5,476 and 46 in 2011 with New Orleans) and Patrick Mahomes (5,097 and 50 in 2018 with Kansas City).
• Washington’s Jayden Daniels can become the third rookie starting quarterback in NFL history to win 12 games, joining Dak Prescott (13 wins in 2016 with Dallas) and Ben Roethlisberger (13 in 2004 with Pittsburgh). The Commanders finish with a game against Dallas.
• The winner of the regular-season finale on Sunday Night Football between Minnesota and Detroit will be the NFC North champions, the No. 1 seed in the NFC and have home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs. Detroit is looking to secure consecutive division titles for the first time since 1970 (the Lions finished first in their conference in three consecutive seasons from 1952-54). Minnesota can win the NFC North for the second time in three seasons (2022) and tie a franchise record with 15 wins (15-1 in 1998).

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• I just don’t get the popularity of Stephen A. Smith. I don’t.
• If the CFP didn’t have a 12-team playoff, you would have likely had Georgia playing Oregon for the national title.  Neither are in the final four.  The 12-team playoff, which does need some tweaks, works!
• As long as Pierre Luc Dubois is playing for them, I am not buying any stock in the Washington Capitals. They have been the story of the first half of the NHL season though.
• The winning team at the Duke’s Mayo Bowl sees their head coach get a vat of mayonnaise poured over his head. How does the CFL get Duke’s Mayo get involved in the Grey Cup? Tell me you wouldn’t stick around to see that happen. As my good friend Cliffy D Pine from Montreal said to me on Twitter Friday night, let’s hope North Carolina is in the game next year so we could see that happen to Bill Belichick. The ratings would be incredible,

That’s all I got! Have a great week!