STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

RIDERS VACCINES – As expected, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have announced a mandatory vaccine policy for future home games. In the event you don’t have a vaccine, there is an option to prove your virus status with a negative test. It’s interesting to me because I actually view the ‘negative test’ as being more reliable at this point because as we are seeing on the daily case count, up to 20% of each day’s cases are in those who are double vaccinated. Assuming the Riders sell out all their games now that demands of the fans have been met, you are opening up the possibility to a maximum of 6,000 cases. Granted a negative test is only as good up to the moment it was conducted so those aren’t fool proof either but, just my opinion, I value the negative test over the vaccine if you want to keep Covid out of the football stadium.

BOMBERS ATTENDANCE – Just over 22,000 was the announced attendance for Winnipeg’s fully-vaxxed home crowd against Calgary on Sunday. I’m told by a couple who were there that the actual ‘in the stadium’ number was less than that. That’s two crowds in a row of just over 20-thousand after the season opener of 29-thousand. Based on the notion that having unvaxxed people in the crowd is what is keeping people away, this is a concerning number for the Blue Bombers, who have been open to only those fully vaxxed since day one. I’m of the belief there just isn’t as much disposable income out there amongst regular everyday working people and it’s causing them to make some tough decisions when it comes to their entertainment dollar. The other thing at play could be the fact new habits were formed when sports was cancelled and it’s going to be a chore to lure them back from whatever else people have found to pass the time.

VACCINE PASSPORT IMPACTS – You can complain all day long but the reality is that most people do want to watch the Saskatchewan Roughriders bad enough so they’ll just go anyway regardless of whether or not it goes against one’s personal freedom beliefs. The same holds true for the Winnipeg Jets, who will require masks in addition to fully vaxxed status. These teams are at the top of their respective food chains.  But what about teams in other leagues who are constantly battling for the attention of their fans? Teams in the WHL and SJHL work tirelessly to attract more bodies to watch what they have to offer but if there are going to be rules in place that make it more of an effort to go, I do have some concerns about this being even more of a struggle. Will the Saskatchewan Rush still sell out if they require passports and masks? It’s an interesting question that I, honestly, won’t even guess on. The Saskatchewan Rattlers are already facing the dilemma of how to bring out more people to the games without having this divisive issue being a factor. Add in my other theories of less money to spend and new habits uncovered from people and it is, suddenly, a steep hill for all teams who aren’t in the NHL, CFL, NBA, or MLB.

JAKE MAIER – There is no love lost for Bo-Levi Mitchell amongst Rider fans so you can excuse them for being giddy over Jake Maier’s apparent success as a rookie through two games at the helm of the Stampeder offense but I’m here to provide some unpopular perspective, so that’s what I’m going to do. Maier’s record is 1-and-1 and he did pass for over 300 yards but he didn’t have a single passing touchdown. The kid looks like he has a future to be sure but there’s already talk of Mitchell coming back sooner than expected and if the Stamps are looking to be in the mix, they’ll need their veteran starter.

NINERS BATTLE – The San Francisco 49ers already have an injury at quarterback but it’s not the oft-injured Jimmy Garoppolo. Trey Lance will miss a week with a finger injury which means Garoppolo appears set to open the season as the starter. The name of the game is wins and if Jimmy G can stay in the line-up, it’s not going to be easy to remove him. He’s 36-and-12 for his career in the most important statistical department: wins and losses.

CFL POWER RANKINGS – I’ve been doing this the last few weeks so why not make it regular?  Saskatchewan remains first despite being off. Winnipeg didn’t look awesome but let’s keep them in second.  The Argos were also off last week and I’m going to put them third by process of elimination. I liked Hamilton’s response after losing the first two games of the year and so I’m jumping them from 9th to 4th. BC Lions are fifth after a win over Ottawa, who is really struggling to put up points. Because of that struggle I’m going to put the RedBlacks 8th and the Elks 9th because I’m just not sure how they respond to the Covid adversity and they were already playing in a way that lacks inspiration. I’ll rank Calgary 6th and Montreal 7th but if Vernon Adams doesn’t get it together, they may be 9th. I still feel Saskatchewan and Winnipeg are the class of the league with Toronto, Hamilton, and BC in the next tier. 

KOTKANIEMI OFFER SHEET – While it makes for some nice drama to say Carolina did this out of spite to Marc Bergevin for his Sebastian Aho offer sheet two years, the reality is that because Bergevin offer sheeted Aho it makes the Hurricanes doing it to a Montreal player ‘fair’. There’s an unwritten rule, it would seem, that teams don’t offer sheet other teams’ restricted free agents. This unwritten rule, of course, is silliness. Good players are hard to come by and if you can afford to sign one, why worry about whether or not you stay friends with the General Manager on the other side? I’m, frankly, stunned that more strategy hasn’t gone into this. The ‘Canes are overpaying Kotkaniemi for a year and if he surprises and has a break-out season then he’s well worth the qualifying offer next summer. If he doesn’t, Carolina lets him walk but are free to negotiate with him just like any other team would be. GMs are well aware of the salary cap predicaments of other clubs and so this works perfect and I suspect Montreal lets Kotkaniemi go in this instance, as well they should. Take the draft picks.

OTHER EXAMPLES – Ottawa forwards Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson are also restricted free agents. Surely there is a team out there who is in need of an influx of young talent and has the cap space available to add it, knowing the Senators aren’t exactly in position to match a possible overpay. Would the Sens match, say, a two-year deal at $9-million a season for Tkachuk? Batherson is a trickier one. He had a pretty good year with 34-points in 56-games. How much more of a ceiling does he have? You have to wonder if another team out there believes in him to the point of $5-million a year over five years would that scare the Sens away enough to get them to just accept the picks? I’m thinking the Detroit Red Wings could improve their team with both of these players and have the space to do it. Of course, this is all a dream. I’d almost bet the number of players offer sheeted for the rest of the summer will be: zero.

PFC – We are only two weeks in, but the cream has already risen to the top with the Saskatoon Hilltops, Regina Thunder, and Edmonton Huskies clearly separating themselves from the Edmonton Wildcats, Calgary Colts, and Winnipeg Rifles. The Thunder, who have destroyed Winnipeg in back to back weeks, are in Saskatoon for a big showdown on September 11th. Assuming that game is as advertised, you have to think the encore on September 18th in Regina (at Mosaic Stadium) is a can’t miss if you are a football fan.

TRAVEL EXPENSES – I just got back from southern Ontario and even though I knew from looking at a map, the reality of just how close cities are to each other down there when comparing those on the prairies really made an impact on me. I can’t help but think of the money saved by junior hockey and junior football teams in that area when compared to the PFC or the WHL. I was in London and within a two hour drive you have Windsor, Sarnia, Mississauga, Kitchener, Hamilton, and Guelph. Not bad for the OHL’s Knights, who also average 9-thousand fans a game to rank second in the entire CHL. The OFC’s Beefeaters play against Hamilton (1 hour drive), Windsor (2 hours), Etobicoke (2 hours), and Belleville (3 ½ hours). Compare that to the Winnipeg Rifles, who have a 5 ½ hour trip to Regina as their shortest road game and then there is Edmonton, which is over 1300km away and the city has two teams in the PFC.

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