STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – RUSH EXCITING – In one of the more exciting sports games I’ve had the privilege of attending, the Saskatchewan Rush pulled out a much needed 10-9 overtime win over the Colorado Mammoth on Saturday night as Robert Church scored five goals, including the winner.  For the second straight week, the Rush dominated the Mammoth in just about every facet of the game except goals scored.  However, new netminder Eric Penney came up big early in the game so that the Rush could build a lead and not chase the score and then after a couple of questionable ones in the second half, Penney was the difference in overtime as he made several sparkling saves.  You have to love the NLL.  The 3-and-6 Rush are back in the playoff mix with a winnable game at expansion Fort Worth (Panther City) next weekend as Panther City did them a favor on Saturday by defeating the Vancouver Warriors.  The announced crowd of just over 9300 was a season high in what was the first post-vax pass game of the season.  As word of this one gets out, my assumption is that if the Rush are on a winning streak that number will go even higher for their next home game on March 19th (three straight road games).

2 – PREGAME – I didn’t get her name, but the lady who belted out the national anthems at the Rush game on Saturday deserves special mention.  Her American rendition was filled with passion and extremely well done, punctuated by the applause given by the fans in attendance.  When she sang the Canadian anthem, she got plenty of assistance from the crowd, which goes to show that no matter how hard politicians may try, you can’t completely destroy national pride and, in fact, I maybe have learned that acts of tyranny only galvanize the people who truly appreciate our way of life and are determined to protect it.

3 – WINNIPEG JETS – The Winnipeg Jets are ignoring what all provinces in Canada are doing and they will continue to require proof of vaccination at their home games for the rest of the season.  I look forward to seeing their sold-out attendance numbers going forward but I won’t be going myself.  I’m happy with my Rush tickets and the price is about ¼ of the Jets. The entertainment value is on par or better despite the losing season and it would be tough to top what I watched on Saturday night.  Even if the Jets drop the mandate for next year, they’ll have a lot of work to do in order to win me back, not the least of which will be putting a product on the ice worthy of the price tag to attend.  With all due respect to former Pat Adam Brooks, Evgeny Svechnikov, Dominic Toninato, etc. it’s not worth it.  Call me when you are in contention and willing to treat your customers equally, two stipulations that I don’t feel are unreasonable when forking over $200+ per game.

4 – MORE JETS – The Jets have way too many problems to list here but I will start with the fact they have one of the players’ dad as a head coach.  Bantam organizations know this is a detriment.  NHL teams should too.  Secondly, and I don’t put a ton of stock into +/- statistics but discrepancies within a roster tell me a lot.  Brenden Dillon is +18 as of Saturday morning and the next closest is Nik Ehlers, who has missed fifteen games (+8).  After that it’s Neal Pionk at +6.  Meanwhile, Mark Scheifele is -20.  That’s a contrast of 38 goals against where Scheifele has been on the ice while Dillon has not.  It’s also not like Dillon is seldomly used.  He’s around 18 minutes a night.  Scheifele’s -20 is not acceptable for a supposed number one centre.  Let’s look at a comparable team, Detroit, and their number one centre.  Dylan Larkin is +6 on a team with lots in the minus category.  I’ve said for over three years the Jets are overrated.  Scheifele has been a number one centre for one season in his career.  Meanwhile, the guy they chased out of town because he insisted on being the focal point of the offense (Patrik Laine) has 20 points in his last 10 games and, wouldn’t you know it, he’s +2 on a roster that has Oliver Bjorkstrand at -27.

5 – WHEELER MEDIA – Jets captain Blake Wheeler and one of the team’s media people got into a minor verbal tiff over the weekend when Wheeler answered a question about his leadership.  To paraphrase, Wheeler said it’s common to get no credit when things are going well and all the blame when things aren’t.  When challenged, Wheeler admitted to being sarcastic, but then the media person (looking to make a name for himself) pushed again and Wheeler came back with a snotty answer.  Wheeler is not going to win these arguments despite providing quotes that I found to be very honest.  He’s the captain of a team that fans think is the most talented in the league.  Of course, the fans are wrong.  This team has never ever been as good as advertised and I’m more than happy to debate anyone who says otherwise.  They have some nice players but all of them are playing one line above where they should be slotted.

6 – RUSSIA – These should be easy decisions and they should be made yesterday.  Russia is scheduled to host the World Junior Hockey Championship this December and also the 2023 World Hockey Championship.  The IIHF should yank both of those events right now, no questions asked.  My understanding is a decision is coming early in the week and may already be determined by the time you read this.  Other sports haven’t wasted any time moving events out of there but I don’t know why we suck up to these radical countries in the first place.  It’s amazing to me that of all the locations in the world to hold the Olympics, we’d choose Sochi and Beijing.  Incredible.

7 – OVECHKIN – Here’s the other thing that should happen:  pro-Putin NHL star Alex Ovechkin should be put on the next plane back to his homeland.  My guess is that any player who voices support for a ruthless dictator (Hitler, Stalin) wouldn’t be around too long so why are we putting up with this from Ovechkin?  I suppose he’s an all-time great so that gives him a free pass.  He’s been fairly clear and concise with his Putin cheerleading in the past but he’s doing a bit of a tap dance now when asked how he feels. I’ve heard some others suggest all Russian NHL players should be sent home as a means to further force some pressure as these multi-millionaires do have influence, albeit I’m not sure enough to make a difference on this issue.

8 – SUBBAN – I wish PK Subban was as determined to eradicate dirty physical plays from the game of hockey as he is about eliminating hurtful words.  Subban chopped Brandon Hagel on an empty net goal Friday night and Hagel was none too pleased about it.  “Dirty play.  I don’t care who you are.  I have a clear cut breakaway.  Like what are you going to do.”  Meanwhile, the Saskatoon native has emerged as a bonafide top six NHL forward.

9 – RIDERS CHEER TEAM – The Saskatchewan government removed proof of vaccination requirements two weeks ago, but the CFL Roughriders may not be ready to do the same.  On their webpage, they are calling for interested people to apply for their Cheer Team and at the bottom it says ‘vaccination status requirements will be determined in alignment with Club and/or facility regulations and will be communicated’.  I’m sure they can blame ‘the facility’, but let’s be honest.  What the Roughriders want, the Roughriders should be able to get.  

10 – USFL – The 2022 USFL season begins on April 16th with eight teams participating.  Many, especially those in Canada, are already writing obituaries for the league and I, suppose, it’s understandable as to why that would be the case but the CFL should still be concerned and not writing this league off, especially when attendance is way down across the board and it’s not just Covid or vaccine passports to blame for that as ten years ago we saw an average number of close to 28-thousand per game (league average) and this past year it was barely 19-thousand. Saskatchewan’s playoff game saw 9-thousand empty seats when in years past, the game would have been a sell-out.  Throw in Major League Baseball, likely, being still engrossed in a labour dispute and I think you will have a captive audience for the USFL.  Also, what is success?  I think all the games are being played in Birmingham, Alabama so costs/expenses aren’t going to be what you’d typically expect from a pro sports franchise.  Call me interested.

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