SCRUFFY’S THIS N’ THAT
Welcome to Friday and the usual thoughts running through my muddled mind. As always, they are in no particular order:
– The Montreal Alouettes of the NHL. That is how someone referred to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday when word broke of the Todd McLellan firing. As much as that hurts being an Oilers fan, it’s accurate.
Todd McLellan’s removal as head coach was somewhat surprising, especially since the guy who should be walking the plank is GM Peter Chiarelli. It is no secret he has been a disaster. Let’s recap:
*After getting Connor McDavid, Chiarelli traded Taylor Hall to New Jersey for Adam Larsson. This deal had to be made because Hall had been the leader of the team and the new leader had shown up. However, the end result for Hall, who is the reigning MVP, wasn’t even close to being enough. The Oilers needed more for someone of Hall’s ilk
*After a horrible playoffs, Jordan Eberle was traded to the Islanders for Ryan Strome. How did that work out?
*Milan Lucic was signed to a 7 year, 42 million dollar contract.
*He traded three draft picks to the Rangers for an unproven goaltender in Cam Talbot.
*He traded a first round pick for Griffin Reinhart. That pick ended up being last year’s rookie of the year Matt Barzal.
This is Chiarelli’s mess and not McLellan’s. Is Todd to blame for the fact Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto saw their development stall? That’s a question I can’t answer. If one was to go, the other had to as well. The fact that Chiarelli remains makes me think that Ken Hitchcock – or no Ken Hitchcock – this team is not going to be a playoff team despite the fact we still have three-quarters of the season to go. When that happens, Chiarelli then indeed should be gone. I can only wonder what Connor McDavid says about this behind closed doors. Let’s hope he finds the right Uber driver in Arizona so that we can find out.
– Dave Dickenson was fined this week for swearing. Huh? This is just another example of CFL buffoonery. What head coach doesn’t cuss a time or two on the sidelines. Has Chris Jones ever been fined for this? How about Jason Maas? Did Kent Austin? Did Wally Buono ever get fined for continuously wandering onto the field. All Dickenson was guilty of was swearing with a camera nearby. All coaches — OK, 95 percent of them — cuss and swear their hearts out. We don’t see them getting fined.
Still with Dickenson, if the Stampeders lose on Sunday what do you do? That will be three straight years Calgary will have gone to the dance and lost. Will John Hufnagel stand for that? There is already talk the Calgary dynasty will crumble if Bo Levi Mitchell heads to the NFL. I’ve bought into that narrative of Calgary not being as strong as they have the year previous and they just keep winning. If the Stamps win, this conversation ends. If they don’t, it will be a very uncomfortable December for Dickenson. This just in, I don’t think they win. I am taking Ottawa to win this game.
– In the midst of watching the NFL Thanksgiving Day triple-header, I saw TSN2 was showing the 2013 Grey Cup. It’s an event that you just have to watch whenever it is on isn’t it? Damn, Taylor Field looked great that day in what was maybe the old girl’s shining moment. I think it is safe to say many members of Rider Nation remember every moment of that November night. I don’t know how many times I have watched that game, but I didn’t realize until seeing it Thursday that Corey Chamblin got the gatorade shower with two minutes to go. That was a little early wasn’t it? It doesn’t really matter though does it.
– Congrats to Chris Jones for being named the CFL Coach of The Year. I don’t think there was really any doubt.
– The CFLPA announced its all-star team Thursday. How does Adam Bighill not make it amongst his peers? That’s a weird one. Is the Bombers linebacker not popular with his fellow players? There has to be a reason.
– Week 12 NFL Lock of the Week — Eagles over Giants
Week 12 NFL Upset of The Week — Browns over Bengals
– Monday’s Chiefs-Rams game may have been the best football game I have ever seen. What didn’t that game have? Big plays on both sides of the ball with the defense coming up huge for LA in the end. 10 TD passes were thrown in that game—-the Riders threw 11 all season. I think many are hoping for a repeat in the Super Bowl, but I think New Orleans will have something to say about that. I don’t think we have heard the last of the Patriots either.
– There is a long ways to go in the SJHL season, but one can’t help notice the Humboldt Broncos have the most wins in the league. How they are doing this considering what happened is simply amazing. They had to basically throw a new team together under the worst of circumstances. If they could keep this up and win a league title, you could just start making the movie now. You know a lot of people are pushing for them.
– If American Thanksgiving is the bellwether of who makes and who doesn’t make the NHL playoffs, then there will be a different look to the dance this year. Both the Penguins and Knights would be out, Buffalo would be in and so would Montreal. Calgary would be back as well.
Last year at this time, you would have had Ottawa and Calgary in and that didn’t happen. They say 75 percent of the teams in a playoff spot now can start printing playoff tickets. I guess we’ll have to wait until April to see. It is hard to think there are so many games to go, but we are talking about this. The numbers show there is a reason though.
That’s all I got. Enjoy Grey Cup weekend and get that credit card out for Black Friday specials.
