STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

1 – RUSH SEASON – It’s, probably, unofficially over after a disappointing 17-16 loss to expansion Panther City on Saturday night in a game where, in the second half, it was a near 50-50 chance of each shot against Eric Penney and Adam Shute resulting in a goal. I don’t care how good the rest of the team is, when you can’t get a save, you have virtually no chance. It’s too bad because there is a lot to like here as the season moves along. Mike Messenger has been great on transition and players like Dan Lintner and Josh Currier are becoming more comfortable in the offense. From here, they go to San Diego where they won’t be favored to win even if they got a good performance in net and at 3-and-7, they need to reel off three or four wins in a row to be taken seriously and that, simply, just doesn’t seem realistic.

2 – STASTNY – It’s, frankly, disgusting to see Winnipeg media run hit pieces and Tweet disparaging remarks about Paul Stastny, who’s name was in the data leak of people who donated to the convoy that went to Ottawa last month. The former long-time play by play voice of the Blue Bombers even went so far as to say, “..and here I thought Stastny was one of the more learned, educated, intelligent, and level headed members of the Jets.” Here’s the thing that is lost on all of these political ideologues: Stastny’s dad defected from a Communist country. If anyone in the NHL is qualified to offer an opinion about government overreach and tyranny, it’s Stastny. Of course, you can’t get actual real truthful information from traditional media sources anymore so I’ll try and spell this out for the select few who have an open mind about things: this was not some sort of insurrection. This was a protest that started out against mandates for truckers and expanded to be one against mandates as a whole. I did see somewhere that if no plan to drop mandates was presented then they wanted the Prime Minister to resign. That’s hardly ‘an overthrow of government’. The Sask NDP have called for our Health Minister to resign several times in the last few months.Is that an overthrow? I just wish we cared about Jeffrey Epstein’s list as much as we care about a list of donations to the convoy.

3 – JETS GAME DAY – While on the topic of the Jets, I’m starting to wonder if the media and team are trying to orchestrate their way out of town. By continuing with their vax pass (segregation) policy, they are guaranteeing sell-outs are a thing of the past and a lot of the fans they are ticking off will not come back EVER. For those that do still go, the enjoyment level does seem to be diminished. One friend of mine who went to a game last week says, “It was clearly mentioned over and over that if you weren’t continuously eating or drinking, then you’re expected to have your mask over your nose and mouth. Doors didn’t even open until 5:45 for a 7pm face-off.  “A lot of people would buy a couple of drinks and some food and then sit down in their seat.  What are they supposed to do?  Just very shady and unnecessary, in my opinion.”  What a great game day experience by the sounds of things.  I don’t understand this aggressive stance on mask wearing.  If you actually announced to people that you had Covid but told them not to worry you will keep your mask on for the duration of your ‘close contact’, would these same people who are policing mask use feel comfortable enough to be near you and not contract Covid?

4 – JETS MEDIA – Since Christmas, the media in Winnipeg has picked arguments with Connor Hellebuyck, Blake Wheeler, and now Stastny. Before Christmas, they went hard after Kevin Cheveldayoff (rightfully so) for whatever role he may have had while working in Chicago during the awful period in which Kyle Beach was victimized. What I’d like for the media to do is dig harder into why the Jets feel it’s important to have a players’ dad be the head coach. It’s not like there is a shortage of options out there. On top of that, we’ve heard that Evander Kane was a dressing room disruption, Jacob Trouba hated Winnipeg, Dustin Byfuglien was tired of hockey, and Patrik Laine was selfish for wanting to be the focal point of the offense.  I’d like to know if the problems aren’t those four guys who left but rather some people who are still there. Also, worth noting as I believe I speculated in a previous column about this, but an article from someone who writes for Sportsnet seems to indicate Paul Maurice quit because endless Covid rules sucked the love out of going to the rink every day and it also appeared as though he was, increasingly, frustrated at being unable to get this core group to listen.

5 – HASEK – I won’t proclaim to offer much of an opinion on what’s going on in Ukraine.  At first, I thought I was fairly well educated on it.  Now, I’m quite convinced I know almost nothing and it seems more probable that there is just no such thing as a ‘good side’ in all of this.  Some are, obviously, more bad than others but there is nobody (including us) involved in this that deserves a pat on the back for being a global saint.  Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hasek hasn’t been shy to wade in.  He called Alex Ovechkin a ‘chicken shit’ and over the weekend went so far as to say allowing Russian athletes to compete in the NHL and elsewhere is tantamount to propaganda for the Putin regime because it keeps large amounts of money flowing to Russia to help fund war.  I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with him other than to say Hasek, like Peter Stastny, grew up in a Communist country and should be allowed more leeway than the rest of us on opinions over this.

6 – BASEBALL SHOWBOAT – My Twitter feed has been producing more and more college baseball video clips in recent days and former MLB pitcher Ben McDonald posted one where a batter blasts a home run and then showboats all the way to first base.  McDonald, who is now a radio announcer, says these types of antics are disrespectful to the game and it should not be tolerated.  I will disagree, but only on the condition that it be okay for that hitter to take one in the ribs next time he’s up at the dish should the pitcher so desire.  Let the players determine what is and what isn’t too much.  One problem, however, is that pitchers don’t have to hit.  If you are going to put one in the ribs, you should have to pick up a bat.  Having said that, Jose Bautista’s legendary bat flip was great and I love seeing a fired up pitcher leave the mound after a big K.  

7 – BRADY/RODGERS – Tom Brady has retired but his peers keep saying there is a decent chance he unretires to play for a team that isn’t the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  San Francisco seems to be the sexy pick but I wonder about some of the teams left wanting in the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes.  Rodgers may sign a new contract with Green Bay, but he’s also got Denver, Pittsburgh, and Tennessee on his short list.  With former New England teammate Mike Vrabel as coach, I wonder about Brady landing there.  Should Brady play for the Niners, he would be replacing the guy who was supposed to replace him in New England a dozen or so years ago.  It’s also possible that Jimmy G ends up in Tampa Bay as Brady’s replacement there.  

8 – NBA EAST – I don’t usually get into the NBA until the second round of the NHL playoffs but I’m a bit early this year and the excitement and skill level may be at an all-time high.  The Eastern Conference is wide open with Philadelphia retooling and adding James Harden.  Miami is currently first, but then you have Boston with Jayson Tatum coming off a 54-point game against Brooklyn and the Nets, despite being ninth, still have to be taken seriously too once Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving-Ben Simmons-Seth Curry are all on the floor together.  DeMar DeRozan is having an MVP type season with Chicago and don’t forget about Milwaukee, who was in the Finals last year.  

9 – NBA WEST – Phoenix, Memphis, and Golden State look to be the class of the West although the Suns are playing without Chris Paul and Devin Booker who are both injured.  The Warriors have been a .500 team since Draymond Green went down in January but they hope to have him back within two weeks.  Ja Morant may be, out of everyone, the top ‘must watch’ player in the league and he’s got the Grizzlies sitting second.  The Lakers are falling apart but any team with Lebron can’t be ignored.  New Orleans seems to think they may get Zion Williamson back before the end of the season, but they have a long road ahead of them as they are destined to be in the ‘play-in’ round.  

10 – TRAGEDY – This felt like an extra bad week for people in the sports world passing away prematurely.  Stanford women’s soccer star Katie Meyer died as a result of suicide.  She was 22.  Maryland junior hockey coach Chris Ceransky collapsed and later died as a result of a stroke on the bench during a game.  He was in his early 40s.  Shane Warne, who was a top Cricket player in Australia, died of a heart attack at the age of 52.  Former NFL offensive tackle Shane Olivea, who played for the Chargers during Ladainian Tomlinson’s heyday, died on Friday at the age of 40.  No cause of death released.

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