STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – SJHL SEASON – So far, Saskatchewan health officials have not given the go ahead for the SJHL season to begin or any other season for that matter. I hope that they take into account the current virus situation as they continue to evaluate. As of August 12th, there were 0 active cases in eight of the twelve SJHL markets (Battlefords, Estevan, Flin Flon, Humboldt, La Ronge, Melville, Nipawin, and Yorkton). Weyburn had one active case and Melfort was at four. Kindersley has ten and Wilcox is part of the Regina region which has 38. 

2 – INTERPROVINCIAL TRAVEL – Saskatchewan Hockey Association released a memorandum this week with more details on what’s allowed for the sport but one of the more interesting notes in there is the continued forbidding of interprovincial travel. It would appear that will not be loosened until January, at the earliest, which could be a message to the Western Hockey League in addition to other travelling teams.  Remember, these aren’t rules created by Sask Hockey. Sask Hockey is just telling the rest of us what Sask Health will allow. If Sask Health says no travel for games outside Saskatchewan, then I don’t see how the WHL can play before January.

3 – WHAT’S THE GOAL POST – I guess I’d like to know what’s the goal post for hockey to resume in Saskatchewan? Do we need to be at zero cases for two months?  Do we need to have schools in session for a month with no issue? Do we need a vaccine? Is there not enough information as far as possible transmission during game play? It would just be nice to know what it is that is holding up the resumption of play. Fear of a ‘second wave’ doesn’t cut it for me. I’m no expert, of course, but if you can’t play as of today then I worry we can’t ever play. If it’s fear of a ‘second wave’ then why don’t we start playing and have plans in place to shut down as opposed to sitting around trying to guess whenever it is that the second wave should be here and when it should be over?

4 – CFL SEASON – I don’t think they are going to play and I don’t think they should even bother at this point. To rally and get things together within the next month would just further show how unnecessary all of this has been to date. Having said that, the CFL is played outdoors for the most part and I think it would be a great way to try and get back to normal by having a 6-8 game season with partial crowds. I’m told there are gatherings of a significant size happening in various cities as it is without issue. Winnipeg has a market at Assiniboia Downs where thousands are congregating and we aren’t hearing anything disastrous coming from that. So why can’t we try 5,000-10,000 people at a pro stadium designed for 30,000?

5 – DALLAS COWBOYS – I’ve been waiting for something like this and maybe an NFL team that I have despised forever will become my new favorite team. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says the Cowboys will play in front of fans this season. Texas law would allow for up to 50% capacity, which would mean about 50,000 fans per game. I have long felt the only way out of this pandemic for team sports is for a rich person who has a ton of power to just say ‘enough is enough I am going ahead and running my business and I dare you to stop me’. You can bet it will only take a couple of Cowboys home games for several other NFL owners to follow suit and then, as long as we don’t have people dead in the streets, the entire league will be playing in front of crowds to some degree sooner rather than later. It is interesting, though, that in situations where people have fun (beaches, bars) and the virus gets spread we hear all about it. But in other environments (protests, for example) where the virus is spread, not a peep. 

6 – CLEVELAND PITCHERS – It’s been obvious the virus hasn’t been taken seriously by Major League Baseball players right from the get go and even with two teams dealing with outbreaks caused from extra curricular activities it didn’t stop Cleveland pitchers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac from leaving their hotel and frequenting an establishment where it would be considered high risk for possible virus transmission. I can only imagine some of the private conversations the players have with one another. On television they say and do the politically correct things that folks who are scared of the virus demand but if they are saying anything remotely close to the things people are saying to me privately, you would make a fortune recording water cooler banter and then offering it up as pay per view/listen.

7 – BUILDING NHL TEAMS – You will never win an argument with an analytical sports nerd. They will cite numbers all day long to prove their point. The Toronto Maple Leafs are a perfect example of this exercise.  They are so analytically driven I often think their GM never watches the actual games. While they are 0-for-4 trying to win a first round playoff series in each of the last four years, there are plenty of Leaf fans out there who insist reducing their skill level would make them worse and they point to some solid analytical numbers to make their case. Yet, I look at the Philadelphia Flyers and I see a team that when they went into rebuild mode they made sure to look after their defense first and foremost. Any old school hockey guy will tell you that you build from the goalie out and defense is the hardest position to get right. The Flyers drafted the oft-injured Samuel Morin and that hasn’t panned out, but they unearthed a gem in undrafted Philippe Myers.  They then used draft picks on Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim and also paid significant dollars to Matt Niskanen, a proven winner. There are also no analytical numbers to determine the value of Sean Couturier or Claude Giroux but they are heart and soul players. The Leafs, on the other hand, drafted forward after forward after forward and then signed free agent John Tavares despite the glaring holes on defense as well as the one massive hole through the team’s heart and character. For me, I go back to the 2018 season when GM Kyle Dubas chickened out on acquiring Ryan McDonagh because he was too in love with his forward prospects. You have to think McDonagh was good for an extra win against Boston and then who knows what happens after that. 

8 – MARNER OR A DEFENCEMAN? – At his news conference earlier this week, Dubas said you need a top five draft pick in order to get a Seth Jones type of player and he seemed to offer no solutions as to how to secure a number one horse for his team. Yet, if you go back to Marner’s draft year the Leafs passed up on Provorov and Zach Werenski (who they got a great look at in the last series). Yes, Marner is a better offensive player and a marvel. But do the Leafs have a better team with Werenski instead of him? I believe they do and I don’t even know how it’s a debate, yet Leaf fans by the dozens told me I was crazy on social media.

9 – SPORTS VIEWING – I’ve watched a ton of sports since baseball, hockey, and basketball returned to play. Admittedly, basketball I haven’t watched nearly as much but I will once the Flyers are eliminated and the NBA playoffs start to hit full swing. What I haven’t watched are pregame shows, intermission reports, post game shows, or highlight programs. I have found them to be short on the nuts and bolts and long on virtue.

10 – VACCINE – I posted, tongue in cheek somewhat, earlier this week about Russia being all done with Covid. They’ve announced a vaccine and they will start administering on its citizens within the next couple of weeks. Heads are exploding because Russia has a track record of atrocities to its citizens. I get all of that. My point being if you think you can trust Canada then you haven’t been paying attention. The reality is that I would trust Vladimir Putin over Justin Trudeau and that’s not an endorsement of Putin I assure you. I don’t trust Putin at all, but with a gun to my head and forced to pick….  People need to wake up big time in Canada.  Our government may not be guilty of the direct sins the Russian government is guilty of, but they have destroyed the lives of thousands of people in Western Canada with their ideological economic policies that have decimated many families, leaving some of them homeless. It’s actually heartbreaking that other Canadian citizens don’t understand this. Just remember we have a government that gains politically through the continued confinement of its people. For that reason, I’m betting Canada won’t be anywhere near the front of the line for a vaccine and it’s also why our top health official is saying this may continue for 2-3 more years even with a vaccine. So, yes. On this issue I trust Russia over Canada and don’t apologize for it.

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