STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – LETESTU RETIRES – Former Edmonton Oilers forward Mark Letestu announced his retirement on Monday. Letestu, who played last year for Winnipeg, was a player I followed fairly closely over the years as he emerged from the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs and turned himself into an NHL player through what can only be described as unrivaled determination. Letestu was playing Junior ‘B’ in 2002-03 when Pontiacs coach Jeff Pister convinced him to play in Bonnyville. “I didn’t believe playing in the NHL was the way it was going to go,” said Letestu back in 2016. “You find a way to adjust, somebody believes in you, gives you a chance and you try to make the most of it.”  

2 – LETESTU’s JUNIOR ‘A’ COACH – There’s another story here. Pister was a coach who first surfaced in Neepawa back in the late 1990s. I got to know him very well and he was, genuinely, one of my favorite hockey people. He was extremely smart and knew talent when he saw it. He’s maybe the best I’ve ever witnessed in this regard. When the OCN Blizzard were in their heyday, it was Pister’s Natives who were the only team to almost beat them despite being a small market by Junior ‘A’ standards. After Pister’s Neepawa time was up, he moved on to Bonnyville and then I don’t think he ever coached again after that. We were Facebook friends, but he vanished off the face of the Earth about 6-8 years ago and there isn’t much of a digital footprint of him. I worry something bad has occurred but I hope not. Jeff wasn’t without baggage that’s for sure, but he was still my friend. 

3 – SITUATIONAL FOOTBALL – In the category of the galactically stupid from Saturday, the Las Vegas Raiders purposely neglected to score a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and set up their field goal kicker with a 22-yard boot to take a 25-23 lead over the Miami Dolphins with about twenty seconds left in the game.  Had they scored a touchdown, the score is probably 29-23 but there would be a minute left. My assumption is that Jon Gruden looked at the mathematical probabilities and decided three points and twenty seconds left is better than seven points and a minute left despite the fact the name of the game is to score more points than the other team and the best way to do that is to get as many as possible. Leaving four on the table never ever makes sense. If you watched the game, you know what happened next. Ryan Fitzpatrick completed a long pass and was also hauled down by his face mask, which tacked on 15 more yards, and then Jason Sanders kicked a 44-yard field goal to win it for Miami. A much-deserved loss for the Raiders.

4 – RODGERS MVP – Aaron Rodgers won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award on Sunday night with his 4-TD performance against the Tennessee Titans. As much as I like Patrick Mahomes and view him as a Gretzky/Jordan/Tiger type of athlete, there is no debate here against Rodgers who, despite being 37 and having watched his team draft his replacement this past April, has been the NFL’s top performer by far this season. In fact, Rodgers deserves to be discussed as one of the all-time greats and I know people love to point to championships when deciding the greatest but I also point to Bill Belichick as a coach and Mike McCarthy as a coach. Tom Brady was blessed while Rodgers certainly was not. That’s not to say Belichick is the reason for Brady’s success but rather to say you have to have both a great coach and a great quarterback in order to win on a regular basis and New England had that in both Brady and Belichick. Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers weren’t as fortunate but should be talked about in the same breath as Brady but never will be because of the championships.

5 – BAD DECISIONS – Coaches make these kinds of decisions (like the Gruden one, where the project is overthought) a lot but the chances of them backfiring are often slim. Look at baseball where Kevin Cash was named the AL Manager Of The Year. He, by and large, does a bad job but when you are loaded with talent you can get away with it most of the time and the accolades may still come in. In Cash’s case it’s because his talent wasn’t making a ton of money and so people assume that because the roster isn’t as high priced as the Yankees or Dodgers that it must somehow be not as gifted. A common mistake made by pundits. However, when it comes down to a big moment on a big stage at a critical juncture of a game the lack of feel for knowing your athletes can show through in a big way and that happened to Cash in the World Series where he was the single biggest reason why the Rays lost.  

6 – SNELL TRADED – MLB Network’s Casey Stern once coined a phrase that I like to use on people who fall in love with young, unproven players. “Prospects are cool, parades are cooler.” I will add to that by saying I have never figured out why having a bright future is more important than having a promising present.  Tampa, who almost won a World Series, has decided to deal away Blake Snell (their best starting pitcher) for a collection of prospects. Snell is under team control this year, next year, and the year after so it’s not like he was walking out the door in free agency anytime soon. This isn’t an isolated trade made by an isolated team.  Franchises know there are a lot of fans out there who love dreaming about the future and so they aren’t accountable because they just keep moving their high end talent for more hope down a road that has no end.

7 – LAINE FUTURE – ….which brings me to my next point and Winnipeg winger Patrik Laine, who’s probably going to play his final 56 games as a Jet over the next few months and fans aren’t going to have a chance to say good-bye in person as everything will be done in empty buildings. Unlike the Jacob Trouba trade, where the Jets got Neal Pionk, this is going to be a move for a collection of maybes and hope you hit on something. It has to be because there isn’t going to be a player available that has Laine’s ability so you give up the best player and hope you recover by hitting on each of the different parts you get in return but there is no replacing a player like Laine.

8 – JETS PROBLEMS – I’ve talked about this before and didn’t really put too much thought into it when Evander Kane was ushered out of Winnipeg, but the Jets are developing a reputation that isn’t good. Trouba didn’t want to be there, Dustin Byfuglien didn’t want to be there, Laine seems to want out, and now we are hearing Jack Roslovic isn’t keen on staying either. Roslovic isn’t exactly a guy who can pick and choose where he can go. I’ve never subscribed to the notion that it is the city when players want out. There is lots to dislike about Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh as much as there is Winnipeg and Edmonton. If you build a quality organization you maybe can’t attract talent through free agency but you surely should be able to keep the ones you already have. The Jets have lucked out on below market contracts for Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck but there are too many others that have forced their way out and ownership should be investigating why.

9 – NBA EARLY THOUGHTS – I’ve watched more NBA in the first week of the season than I have, maybe at any point in my life, if I don’t count playoffs. I don’t follow the league on a daily basis like I do NHL, NFL, and MLB but I am into it so far. So much so that I went looking for a livestream of the Portland-Houston game on Boxing Day after the Raptors game concluded. Random opinions so far: New Orleans doesn’t have much after Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram and so I don’t think they’ll be a playoff team. San Antonio could be the most improved team as they give larger roles to their younger players who seem ready to step up.  Toronto is going to find it’s tough sledding when you don’t have a game breaker. Dallas’s Luka Doncic is really good.

10 – JOE THORNTON CHRISTMAS – You’d have to be totally off of social media in order to have not seen the picture of Joe Thornton and his five maskless Maple Leafs teammates in front of a Christmas tree at one of their homes. Assuming they are in Ontario where the province is in the gray stage (total lockdown) of restrictions, which means if you don’t live in the house you are not to be there, I am at a loss as to how this isn’t an egregious offense when it comes to Covid rules. However, we are learning the further along we go in this that the rules really aren’t for the rich. After all, if wearing a mask during a workout doesn’t hamper your performance and is perfectly safe; why aren’t all these NFL, NBA, junior hockey players, etc. wearing masks during games? I do have to chuckle at the coaches, who remove their mask to speak moistly at the referees or players to get their point across.  

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