STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – WHL DELAYED – The Western Hockey League made official what we’ve all figured was the case and that’s the January 8th start date will not be met. The Board of Governors will convene at some point to try and determine other potential start dates. If fans are required, I feel there likely isn’t an avenue to play at all.  Time is running out. Ordinarily, the regular season is over by the third week of March so setting up an early February start date doesn’t leave a lot of time even if you go into the end of April. Playoffs will take, at least, a month and then I don’t think there is any avenue at all to a Memorial Cup when you factor in as far away as the WHL is from playing, the OHL would appear to be even further away. The QMJHL has played some games but their season is now up in the air as well. To assume all three leagues will be in the same position to crown a champion at the same point in the calendar is wishful thinking. Canada, as a nation, also seems fairly intent on continuing social distancing and mask wearing even after vaccinations are complete so what that means for sports here remains to be seen.

2 – THE IMPACT – Families who aren’t involved in sports will never understand but we are destroying the very young lives of kids on 22 teams in the WHL. That’s, roughly, 500 young people. Then there are, approximately, 35 Junior A teams across western Canada, so that’s another 875-1000 teenagers we are sacrificing. No, they won’t die. But, whatever you call this isn’t living and it’s incredibly damaging and many won’t recover. I haven’t even touched on the U18 teams or those on university sports, nor have I gone into the other sports like junior football or collegiate baseball. I could be looking at it all wrong but I would donate my own 45 year old life for these people. I have to believe, if asked, you’d find that the overwhelming majority of the folks we claim to be protecting would be of a similar opinion. When you’ve lived a long time and you know you are at the end of the road no matter whether there is a virus or not, you tend to have a certain amount of humbleness to you and don’t wish to inflict this kind of damage on those who should have another 60-75 more years of living in front of them. But, the politicians and the screaming left wingers who hate sports don’t see it that way at all. It’s also not just the sports. Think of a punishment for your child for misbehaving. Would it be as bad as forcing them to live indefinitely without having a friend over to the house? And, if you did punish your child in this way, you can bet someone would report you for abuse. But, since the government has ordered it, then it must be not that bad. We are all in this together, after all. This isn’t the answer. If we aren’t willing to accept virus related deaths, we shouldn’t be alright to accept lockdown related ones either. One final thought here on this: my sample size is small but I also believe older people would rather roll the dice on the virus as opposed to dying of loneliness. But, again we have politicians and health ‘experts’ making those decisions for us.

3 – PETRUIC SCORES – If you are a frequent reader of the column, you know I’m a big fan of Chantz Petruic, last season’s SJHL scoring champion. In fact, I would put him as the most dominating single Junior ‘A’ player I’ve watched in twenty years. Petruic was supposed to play Canadian university hockey this Fall, but Covid and the school system’s hyper-willingness to cancel their season put a damper on that. Instead, Petruic debuted on Friday with Wichita in the ECHL and scored a goal on his first shift. It’s too bad NHL teams decide players are ‘too old’ by age 20 to ever make an impact at that level because I see Petruic as someone, who if given the right opportunity, could make it. He skates well enough and certainly shoots well enough.

4 – ADOLPH RETIRES – Long time Saskatchewan Huskies hockey coach Dave Adolph packed it in last week after 27 years (I think) at the helm where he led the Huskies to seven Canada West titles and 16 appearances at the national championship. I’ve never met Mr. Adolph, but all reports I’ve received on him are exceptionally positive and the one thing that appears to be clear is how deeply he cares for his players.  The ability to be sincere with people will give any coach an edge as there are a lot out there who are great with X’s and O’s; but don’t know how to get that little extra and I believe it’s because they fail to tap into the human side. Former Roughrider coach Ken Miller was like that. He was maybe short on the technical aspect, but the players would go through a wall for him. Former SJHL coach Don Chesney had a similar quality and I believe Adolph, by all accounts, did too from what I’m told.

5 – NEXT HUSKIES COACH – To me, being the Head Coach of the Huskies would be one of the most sought-after hockey jobs in Saskatchewan. Coaching positions at post secondary institutions tend to be a lot more stable than regular club ones and also the U of S is in a good position to attract top level players. I believe even those currently employed in the WHL or SJHL would be wise to put their names in. Dean Brockman’s rises to the top for me. He’s an excellent recruiter and also has that ‘caring’ intangible I mentioned in the previous point. I’ve also long been a fan of Dave Hunchak and he also has a great track record as far as recruiting goes. I don’t think he wants to coach anymore, but Jamie Fiesel always found a way to get WHLers to report to Melville as well as other players I never thought he had a sniff of getting.  Current Nipawin bench boss Doug Johnson would be a great fit too. Johnson coaches in a smaller SJHL market but always has his team near the top of the standings. He also brings a tremendous amount of passion. Another name I’ll throw out there is Bryce Thoma. He has a different make-up than the others but he knows what he wants in a team and has connections. Of course, it’s possible none of these guys are on the list and I’m purely speculating.    

6 – CANADIAN DIVISION – I’m going to waffle on this between now and January 13th, but as I look at the seven Canadian NHL teams, there is only one that I feel confident will be in the playoffs – Toronto. I am not saying Toronto will finish first, but they are good enough that even if they underachieve, they will be in the top four. Calgary and Edmonton should also be good enough but I have concerns about goaltending with the Oilers. The Flames weren’t without significant holes last year but do have Jacob Markstrom now to give them stability in net. Vancouver has had a bit of a make-over, but also should be fine. That leaves Winnipeg, Montreal, and Ottawa. I don’t think Ottawa gets in but they should be better than people think. I also don’t think the Canadiens have enough top end talent but don’t count them out. The line-up is deep. The Jets could be anywhere from 1st to 7th in this division. They’ll need a repeat season from Connor Hellebuyck, fewer injuries, a rebound from Paul Stastny, and they’ll need to keep dressing room turmoil down to a dull roar. If you forced me to pick today, I say they miss the playoffs.

7 – NHL VACCINE – The National Hockey League has made its intention known to privately purchase vaccines for those directly involved with the league so they can move forward in a more worry-free environment. As long as their purchasing doesn’t hinder those most vulnerable from getting vaccinated, I have no issue with this. I actually wonder if they won’t end up buying a ton of vaccines and then building the cost into a ticket price so that if fans want to attend a game, they have to pre-arrange their vaccination beforehand. I could also see airlines doing something like this or even big factories where social distancing and/or mask wearing really makes it a challenge to conduct daily work. For what it’s worth, the National Football League says it will wait its turn and won’t jump the queue. 

8 – CLEVELAND NEW NAME – The Cleveland Indians are changing their name after the 2021 season, citing the need to be more sensitive. This Sid character from the media circle in Toronto lectured the organization saying the baseball team deserves no credit for finally dropping the nickname as it should have happened a long time ago. What I’d like to know from Sid and all the other grandstanders out there: show me what you are doing for reconciliation.

9 – NO END – The Chicago Blackhawks are next up on the target list to change their name. My guess is by this time next year they’ll be called something else. Also, the Vancouver Canucks have an issue with their logo and if the usual political appetite in Vancouver is any indication of what they’ll do, I’m guessing they’ll have a new one by the weekend. As a reminder, I said back in 2011 the Winnipeg Jets would have a problem with their name because there are those (not sports fans of course) who will be very upset at the notion they are glorifying war. I was laughed out of many a room for making that suggestion but it’s not so farfetched today is it? I think the solution to all of this is get rid of the names and logos on every team and go with sponsors. As long as the companies aren’t Republican or Conservative, we shouldn’t have an issue.

10 – PAID GREETINGS – I guess I’m late to the party on this, but I discovered Memmo and Cameo over the weekend. If you are like me and unfamiliar, it’s a website where you can pay money to receive a video message from a celebrity. There are numerous sports figures on there. At first I couldn’t make up my mind whether this is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen or one of the most brilliant. Either way I was hooked and wasted over an hour watching various messages from these people and decided that if you get the right celebrity, it’s outstanding. Some of the Christmas wishes, Happy Birthdays, and other commentaries are as phony as a 3-dollar bill. But, there are others that are very genuine and I would say worth the price. Pierre Bouvier of Simple Plan even broke out in song for someone. Mick Foley was asked to wish a Merry Christmas to a man who wasn’t feeling overly cheerful because his mom died this time last year. Foley went on for several minutes about Christmas and how it should be a happy time but it also brings up a lot of sad memories for people. It really allowed me to take a peek into who these celebrities really are as far as people go and Foley, as it turns out, was not just a great wrestling entertainer (maybe the best ever), but a tremendous human being with a sensitive side that relates well to just about everybody. 

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