Stackhouse’s 10 Thanksgiving Thoughts

2 – PLAYOFFS – A home playoff game is unlikely, but possible, as the Riders would need to win all three of their remaining games and the BC Lions would need to lose both of theirs but the chances are increasing that Saskatchewan’s best chance of a repeat is to crossover into the East Division although a crossover team has never actually ever won the Grey Cup.  A month ago I had the Riders as the favorites to repeat but they’ve stumbled in a big way while some other teams have stepped up.  Call me crazy, but I still have no faith in Toronto so if the Riders do cross over I like their chances of being in the East final and then you are just one win away from being in the position of repeating and putting this second half collapse behind them.

3 – HELLEBUYCK LATEST – There are a smattering of reports this weekend of Connor Hellebuyck contemplating an eventual return to the Winnipeg Jets.  I think both the Jets and Hellebuyck are surprised at the overall lack of interest in his services.  I’ll be curious to see how that all unfolds as the longer the Jets are able to be respectable the more patient and undeterred Kevin Cheveldayoff is going to be in resolving the situation.  If Winnipeg fans leave his family alone and show some contrition, it does make me wonder if this can’t be patched up.  It’s only a handful of games and despite giving up a weak goal a game, Stuart Skinner has done enough to keep[ the Jets competitive and Clay Stevenson hasn’t looked out of place as a backup.  The need for Winnipeg hasn’t changed.  They need a second line centre and/or a top four defenseman.

4 – FLYERS DREADFUL – Rick Tocchet is in danger of becoming the NHL’s first coaching casualty of the season.  Tocchet was highly praised for the work he did last year in getting the Flyers to the playoffs, but they have been terrible since going up 3-games-to-0 against Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs as they’ve lost 12 of their last 13 and have scored just 17 goals total and have been shut out 3 times.  Their shot totals are also extremely low and what’s worse is that Daniel Vladar, their saving grace through most of the offensive ineptitude, has been very average to say the least so far to begin the season.  While it’s true the Flyers don’t have a superstar first line centre, there is still plenty of young talent and they should be a lot better than what they are showing.  Matvei Michkov, the young winger who many said was nearly as good as Connor Bedard in the 2023 Draft, has been benched and humiliated and one has to wonder if the Flyers haven’t just about ruined him.

5 – NHL TV VIEWING – With the NHL in full swing and the multiple streaming platforms airing their first games and attempting to suck more money from suckers (I mean fans), the comments got a little louder this week on how much it costs to watch games and how difficult it is to find them.  People raising very valid points about how this doesn’t grow the game and attract casual fans have been shot down by the VPN/IPTV crowd but those people are missing the point.  Diehards are always going to find games and they’ll watch no matter what.  It’s also been suggested Canada is a market  where fans can be repeatedly abused without fear of some sort of kickback because we are frightened to lose teams but what I see are changing demographics where the influx of immigrants and the younger ‘old stock’ Canadians simply aren’t as invested as the traditional hockey fan from Canada who is 45 and older and they, frankly, aren’t going to spend money on professional sports at its current price point.  

6 – ENJOY WHILE IT LASTS – Here’s the other thing I will throw out there to those who are finding ways around paying all of these streaming companies:  you are on borrowed time.  Despite the size of our nation, our media is heavily dominated by two companies.  While they’d appear to be in competition with each other, they really are not and both of them make out like thieves while the customer gets shafted daily with rising costs and diminishing content.  I don’t think we are far off from a day where Canada, simply, bans the use of VPNs.  Canadians are, openly, cheering the government as it moves more and more towards internet control, seeking to block opinions they deem to be ‘dangerous’ in an effort to keep everybody ‘safe’ and they also already have policies in place that restrict Canadians from seeing actual ‘news’ on social media platforms.  Canadians seem to be in two groups when it comes to these measures.  You either applaud the government for their safety laws or you blame the social media platforms for not paying more taxes.  Therefore, it’s not crazy to think banning VPNs under the guise of ‘protecting’ Canadian media (with pressure from Bell and Rogers to do this) isn’t far off down the road and Canadians will applaud that move too.  China, North Korea, Iran, Russia, and Canada are the most notorious countries who ensure people don’t see news on their social media feeds.  North Korea, Iraq, and Iran also ban VPNs so it’s much the same group of countries in both categories.  Love it or hate it, that’s who we are most alike when it comes to this stuff and love it or hate it, most people who live here WANT these heavily restrictive policies so why wouldn’t the government enact them to further insulate themselves from criticism while also telling you they are keeping you safe from online harm as you, potentially and needlessly, die in a hospital hallway or at home waiting for a call to have an urgent surgery that isn’t so urgent.

7 – MLB POSTSEASON – The payroll of the Los Angeles Dodgers is more than the payrolls of the other three remaining teams combined in the MLB postseason and while I’ve never really been one to go against the players when it comes to labour strife with owners the fact of the matter is that the Dodgers have been in the playoffs for fourteen straight seasons and have three World Series titles, including winners of the last two and are heavy favorites to win their third.  Baseball, simply, is not competitive.  

8 – BASEBALL YAWN – The other thing, for me, when it comes to baseball is that it’s just not all that interesting.  I don’t want to watch games cobbled together by bullpens.  In Atlanta’s case, they got dealt with a plethora of injuries and had little choice (I suppose) as they were down to Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle as healthy options.  Grant Holmes was ineffective, Martin Perez and Bryce Elder were injured.  The Chicago White Sox, aside from Sean Burke, ran openers and bulk relievers in every game of their series against Cleveland and, thank goodness, they are toast.  I, actually, have to tip my hat to Tampa, who allowed Drew Rasmussen to pitch 8-innings in a 1-0 game one win over Gerrit Cole and the Yankees in game one of the LDS.  Cole only went 5 innings and threw 82 pitches but it turns out letting him go deeper wouldn’t have mattered as Rasmussen gave up just 1 hit and fanned 10 and that’s what postseason baseball should really be all about.

9 – NLL – Every year, The Lax Mag conducts an NLL player poll and the biggest finding this time around is that 65% of the players are unhappy with the direction of the league, which was contracted by two teams earlier this Summer.  Jeff Teat (Oshawa) and Dhane Smith (Buffalo) are the league’s consensus top players and the preseason favorites to win it all are Toronto and Vancouver, with the Saskatchewan Rush coming in 6th.  I would have to agree with that assessment as the Rush have undergone some significant changes from last year’s club that looked like they were poised to be in the finals at the halfway point and then had to hang on just to make the playoffs as they cratered in the stretch drive.  The Rush are in Oshawa for the NLL’s opening game of the season on November 27th.

10 – PAY DISCREPANCY – UFC Middleweight champion Sean Strickland says he’s going on strike to protest low fighter pay and it’s tough to argue with him after boxer Conor Benn got $15-million for a one-fight deal from the Dana White backed Zuffa Boxing in which Benn ended up getting TKO’d in the second round against Ryan Garcia.  By comparison, Strickland says he was offered $400,000 to show and another $400,000 if he won a title fight against Nassourdine Imavov.  The best pound for pound fighter in the UFC, Islam Makhachev, makes around $3-million per fight and most of the top UFC fighters will appear on cards twice a year.  So, it’s fair to suggest there is some catching up to do if a non-title holding boxer can get $15-million.

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster. Follow him on Twitter at @Stack1975)