STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – JETS DEAL DUBOIS – It’s hard to pick apart the return the Winnipeg Jets got for Pierre-Luc Dubois this week as Gabriel Vilardi is almost as good as Dubois on his own.  Toss in Alex Iafallo, who’s a useful middle-six forward, and prospect Rasmus Kupari, who doesn’t come with the same pedigree as Quinton Byfield, but has a similar career trajectory so far; and the Jets and their fans have every reason to like this deal.  Dubois, who signed for 8 years and $8.5-million per season, made no secret his desire to be out of Winnipeg but even if he wanted to stay, the Jets would have likely traded him anyway if that’s the number it would have taken to get him signed.  Unless he finally decides to play consistently, he’s grossly overpaid for what he brings to the table.

2 – RANGERS ADD WHEELER – While they maybe didn’t get as much attention north of the border, the New York Rangers are in a similar situation as the Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs in that they may have a bad dressing room mix that is preventing them from reaching their potential.  Adding malcontent Blake Wheeler doesn’t figure to improve the issue unless Wheeler is content with playing on the third line and doesn’t present himself as a distraction or organize a mutiny against a coach like he’s done in Winnipeg to the last three coaches that team has had.

3 – NHL DRAFT DREAMS – Teenagers realizing their childhood dreams of being drafted into the NHL is wonderful to watch unfold but I can’t help but wonder if we will ever see a kid emerge from poverty to become a number one pick.  The game continues to get more and more expensive for people to play so while the focus continues to be on race and sexual preference to include everyone, the reality is that if you don’t have the funds, you aren’t going to go far in this game no matter who you are attracted to or what color your skin is.  If you are interested, Google the occupations of some of the current, young NHL superstars’ parents and then do the same for Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Guy Lafleur.  You will see quite a difference in income.  

4 – COLBORNE – I can remember Joe Colborne of the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks going in the first round of the NHL Draft back in 2008.  Colborne left Camrose for a two year stint at the University of Denver and then embarked on an NHL career that spanned 295 games with Toronto, Calgary, and Colorado (he never played for Boston, the team that picked him).  The knock on Colborne, according to a couple of hockey scouts that I had as contacts at the time, was that he maybe wasn’t hungry enough to succeed because his family already had enough money that an NHL career may not alter his life all that much.  His dad, Paul, was an oil and gas executive.  Fifteen years later I would hazard a guess to say there are several Joe Colborne types going in the first round and the knock on them isn’t that they aren’t hungry because it’s just become the norm.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t fault families for succeeding financially.  My hat is off to them for working hard to get where they have.  I just wish we could pave the road for those with modest financial means to also reach the pinnacle of the sport.  It used to be possible and it can be again if we truly want it to be. 

5 – EDMONTON LOSES AGAIN – I didn’t watch, but I checked the scoreboard (when it was available for viewing) and took a great deal of glee in seeing Edmonton lose yet again to drop to 0-and-4.  Edmonton CFL fans were clinging to the hope Jarret Doege would be the answer at QB, but he threw three interceptions in a 26-7 loss to nearly equally as hapless Ottawa.  Edmonton is now just 14 losses away from losing every game this season and I still believe it’s well within their reach.  I shed nary a tear for them.

6 – FAJARDO WINNIPEG KRYPTONITE – Has Cody Fajardo ever had a good game against Winnipeg?  The scoreboard shows Montreal lost 17-3 but Fajardo apparently threw a touchdown pass to Austin Mack if you go look at the game statistics.  CFL.  Stats you can trust.  Personally, I watched the first half and that was good enough for me.  Even when Fajardo seems to be at his best, he struggles against the Bombers and this week was no exception.

7 – CFL TALENT DRAIN – I’ve watched with a bit of amusement the Tweets of a number of CFL media types who mocked the XFL and USFL and said these leagues wouldn’t have any impact on the CFL and that neither league would survive beyond this year.  Well, now I’m seeing the same people lobby for opportunities for those who play in the USFL to also play in the CFL in the same season.  If you can’t beat them, join them. The CFL has a leadership problem.  We’ve known this for quite awhile.  But, the CFL has also had a long standing Little Man Syndrome problem amongst a portion of its fan base and nobody has bothered to acknowledge the talent drain of players due to expanded NFL practice rosters as well as the creation of these two leagues in the US.  It’s nearing the point of being too late.  Raise your hand if you know who Alex McGough is.  He should be in the CFL and he’d be one of the top pivots in this league if it weren’t for the USFL.  If the USFL wasn’t all that great a league, McLeod Bethel-Thompson would have turned the league on its ear.  He didn’t do that.  He had a season that was much in line with what he’d do in the CFL.

8 – ATTENDANCE NUMBERS – I’ve had a few people ask me why sports teams and leagues (it’s not just the CFL that does this) lie about their attendance numbers and the best answer I can come up with is sponsorship.  When a team or a league approaches a sponsor, they like to have strong attendance numbers to back up interest in the product.  It’s becoming more and more evident that the true number of people in the building doesn’t matter much for a team’s bottom line.  Look at the Roughriders, who turned in another strong season of $3.9-million surplus despite diminished attendance numbers.  That number doesn’t even include the $3.3-million from hosting Grey Cup (and if you recall, ticket sales weren’t brisk for that either).  Contrast that with 2019 when fan interest appeared to be much higher and the Riders reported a small loss of just over $200,000 and I would submit to you that actual people in the stadium watching has almost no bearing on whether a team can make money even though the Riders say 40% of their income last season is based on gate receipts.  That number was 43% in 2019.

9 – RATTLERS CIRCLING DRAIN – Justin Wright-Foreman set a franchise record this week with a 37-point game and he scored 29 more on Sunday but the Rattlers lost both and are 4-and-8 on the year.  How bad would they be without him?  We saw for two games earlier in the year and we may see again on Wednesday as Wright-Foreman was the victim of a dirty trip late in the game against Niagara on Sunday and appeared to injure his hand.  The team is already without Malik Benlevi (injury) and the situation could be ugly when Ottawa comes to town this week.  

10 – EVERT/MARTINA – I would never encourage anyone to read a newspaper but there’s a great article on Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on how they’ve gone from bitter rivals to beloved friends and now survivors as both fought cancer together.  I used to watch a ton of tennis during my teenage years and never missed a Grand Slam match that featured Evert and Navratilova.  If you want to read the article, you can still Google it.  I’m not sure when Canada’s censorship law kicks in, but as of Sunday night, Google was still giving me results (although this is written by an American publication so perhaps that’s why).

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