STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – PLAYERS PATIENCE – I’ve written in the past about Canadian sports team owners recognizing what is going on south of the border as far as reopening and not being willing to continue to lose millions in Canada with fans continuously being banned from attending up here. As it turns out, I was very wrong on that and the owners are showing tremendous patience and are continuing to follow the guidance of what health officials in Canada want. What we are seeing instead is that some players are starting to grow weary of the drastic differences in the level of restrictions. This is especially true for American NHL players who are ‘stuck’ in Canada working while their US friends and family are pretty much back to normal living. It will be interesting to see if there is a pushback come September in the event Canada is still quite a bit more restrictive when compared to the US.  

2 – NATE THOMPSON – I think it’s easy for us to forget the restrictions Canadian NHL players are living under because it’s not on video or even talked about all that much. Winnipeg forward Nate Thompson, who is an American, talked during a press conference last week about how he hasn’t seen his 6-year-old son since just after Christmas when he left home for Winnipeg to begin the NHL season. I don’t care how much money you make, but that takes a real toll and the one thing these government orders have taken from people that you will never get back – time. When the Jets first went in their tailspin a few weeks ago I was quite frustrated with them as they are my favorite team. I now look at how many Americans are on that team and I would not blame them one bit if they mailed in their playoff series so that they can just go home.

3 – HRUDEY ON VANECEK – Saturday night I read a quote from Kelly Hrudey that reaffirmed my choice to skip pregame, intermission, and postgame analysis on Sportsnet has been the right one. Hrudey asserted that Vanecek pulled his groin on Boston’s first goal of the game due to the fact he didn’t properly stretch during warm-up. Unless Hrudey was privy to some inside information how could he possibly know this? One has to assume Vanecek got himself ready for the game the same way he gets ready for every game and that’s proven to be effective to this point. Sometimes players just get injured and there is no fault but we live in a world now where we seem to think all things are preventable and if something goes bad, well you need to blame someone or something.

4 – UNPOPULAR TOP PLAYERS – You don’t hear his name mentioned much anymore, but if I have my pick of the litter for a hockey team, I’m taking Sidney Crosby second after Connor McDavid. There is lots of hype surrounding Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl, Nikita Kucherov and others but give me Crosby any day of the week. In goal, I’m taking Marc-Andre Fleury over anyone else in these playoffs although you can definitely make an argument for Andrei Vasilevskiy. Also, the deeper they go the better the chances are the rest of the hockey world discovers just how truly elite Shea Theodore is amongst NHL blueliners.

5 – PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS – I’m going with Tampa over Vegas in the Stanley Cup final with first round winners being:  Toronto (5), Edmonton (5), Vegas (5), Colorado (5), Boston (7), Pittsburgh (6), Tampa (6), and Carolina (6).  I have to admit I don’t know how they are seeding the teams once we get to the final four, so is Tampa and Vegas even possible?  With the Jets expected to be a non-factor, I am likely to rekindle my NBA viewing again and there are some tantalizing match-ups in that league to start the playoffs, including a the Play-In game between Golden State and the Lakers, which I’m watching as I type this and it’s tied at 93 with five minutes to go.  

6 – STILL TOO DANGEROUS – Elliotte Friedman tweeted on Wednesday night that NHL teams have been notified that it will not be possible to hold a Canada-based CHL draft-eligible prospect event because there are too many Covid-related obstacles and challenges. Instead, they’ll hold a similar camp in Erie (USA) beginning on May 31. I know a lot of you are happy because it shows our government is very careful and cautious while the Americans are once again showing how reckless they are playing Russian Roulette with people’s lives. So be it. You win. 

7 – BASEBALL – Last Thursday night I was watching the Red Sox-Athletics game and Oakland batter Mark Canha stuck his elbow out to try and get hit by a pitch that was in the strike zone. The umpire called him on it immediately. The next pitch from Garrett Richards was up around Canha’s eyeballs and that drew a strong rebuke from Red Sox color man Dennis Eckersley, who said you just don’t do that despite the fact Richards was mad for Canha’s cheap attempt to get on base. I look at it this way: if Canha wants to go out of his way to get hit by a pitch to get on base, then Richards may as well send one upstairs at him to help the process along.  One of the lost arts of baseball at all levels is a pitcher’s strategy to brush batters off the plate. 

8 – SIX NO HITTERS – We are at six no hitters and counting this season in Major League Baseball. The record for most no hitters in a season is seven, which has been done three times. There are still over 100 games per team left to play. It’s not a good look for MLB and I blame The Shift. It’s resulted in hitters swinging for the fence more often than not and it also means fewer runners on base and fewer base hits overall. I’m a diehard so I’m always going to watch but it’s boring.  

9 – JOHN CHICK – I could offer an opinion here on what I think of his stances that have people triggered but I won’t for a couple of reasons. What I can tell you is this: whether you like it or not if the right person who has some pull decides they don’t want Chick in the Plaza Of Honour then he won’t be. It’s that simple.  While everyone is entitled to an opinion, the reality is that if yours isn’t politically correct and if a powerful politically correct person sees that opinion and wants you cancelled, you are cancelled.  

10 – ESPN HEXTALL – ESPN has announced the hiring of Leah Hextall to be one of its play by play voices for the National Hockey League this upcoming season. I knew Leah from her high school days in Brandon when she was one of the best young athletes in that city and it’s been impressive to see how she’s advanced through broadcast media and now she makes history being the first female to get the nod on a national network to call games.

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