STACKHOUSE’S 10 THOUGHTS

RUSH – The Saskatchewan Rush just haven’t been able to put together enough complete games.  Once again, Eric Penney was solid in net but the offense went 40 minutes without scoring a single goal in a devastating 8-6 loss to the hapless Calgary Roughnecks on Saturday night.  Mark Matthews had four goals and two assists while Robert Church scored once and finished with five points.  The game really wasn’t that close as the Roughnecks led 8-3 in the fourth while the Rush sent a steady stream of players to the penalty box as they were, clearly, frustrated with how things were unfolding.  Nevertheless, the Rush outshot the opposition for the 12th time in 14 games but have just 4 wins to show for it.  As a new fan, this tells me the defense doesn’t need a lot of offseason work and maybe Penney is the answer for a netminder.  The next four games will, ultimately, go a long way in making that determination.

NEED MORE OFFENSE – While goaltending has been an issue for most of the season, the reality is that depth scoring is too.  If Church and Matthews are off, there simply isn’t anyone to pick up the slack.  Ryan Keenan had a big game last week and Jeff Shattler had one but they need more.  I’ve lamented the fact Ben McIntosh hasn’t been adequately replaced and that’s even more glaring today.  It’s hard to blame Shattler who’s, likely, in his final season.  Keenan has had a down year for sure while the other forwards simply haven’t been good enough for what is needed.  We’ve seen glimpses from the likes of Dan Lintner, Josh Currier, and Austin Murphy but it just hasn’t been enough.

HOCKEY CHANGES – A lot of the things that make lacrosse exciting for me are attributes hockey used to have but have been taken away by people in charge in an effort to make the game better.  There is much less offense than the Gretzky/Lemieux era. Some people will say there was too much back in those days.  To that, I say nonsense.  I’ll elaborate in my next point on this.  Pace of play has also slowed because every single possible missed call has to be reviewed by video. This was taken to a whole new level last week in an NCAA conference championship game when Minnesota State defeated Bemidji State in overtime.  As it turns out, the trophy was presented and all players went to the dressing room to continue celebrating.  After an hour had passed, it was decided upon video review the overtime winner didn’t legally enter the net so they called everybody back out to replay the extra period.  Thankfully Minnesota State still won.  I wonder if it’s too late to replay the 1999 Stanley Cup final game between Buffalo and Dallas when Brett Hull’s skate was in the crease?

LESS FIGHTING – I was sent a screenshot of some sort of intermission debate amongst the Hockey Night In Canada panel this past weekend.  I could be wrong here, but the impression I’m under was that Jennifer Botterill, if made Commissioner for a day, would institute harsher consequences for fighting.  I don’t understand what’s wrong with people.  If you hate the game so much, why continue to be involved with it?  You can say whatever you want but the reality is that when Chris Corbeil dropped the gloves last week in the Rush game against Rochester, that was the most talked about aspect of the night.  I also don’t see Corbeil complaining about having to fight and last I checked, the Rush (even with crowd numbers down) are outdrawing the top level of hockey available to watch in Saskatoon 9000-3000.  I talk to many people over the course of the week who love lacrosse for the same reasons I do (offense, speed, intensity, physical play) or are completely unaware of just how fast and rough it is and are suddenly more interested in learning about it because of these facts.

SUSPENSIONS – QMJHL defenseman Etienne Arseneau has been suspended for five games as a result of violating the anti-discrimination policy by which he uttered hurtful words during a game.  Meanwhile, the NHL suspended Auston Matthews two games for delivering a vicious cross check to the face of Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.  The message I take from this is that if you are at odds with another player on the ice and you can’t control yourself, you better decide to get your ‘revenge’ through something that is physically harmful rather than one that is verbally hurtful.  The penalty is much less severe.  

SECRET SERVICE – Retired Major League Baseball umpire Dale Scott confirms that in Game Three of the 2001 World Series at Yankee Stadium when President George Bush threw out the first pitch, one of the six umpires on the field was actually a Secret Service Agent with weapons and handcuffs stuffed under his uniform.  That was 21-years ago.  We live in even crazier times today so you can bet precautions would exceed that in 2022.  I’ve never been able to confirm it, but there have been various scattered reports of government snipers at Yankee Stadium for every single home game.  They are constantly scouring the crowd for possible violent threats. 

MELNYK – Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk passed away this week at the age of 62 after a lengthy illness.  Some folks may be unaware or have forgotten that Melnyk received a liver transplant in 2015.  He had embarked on a very public campaign for one and was subject to some criticism for ‘jumping in line’.  Melnyk may not have had the best reputation when it comes to fans but he is the single biggest reason why the NHL is still in Ottawa today and not some other place like Kansas City.

NFL MOVES – The Kansas City Chiefs are said to be on the hunt for an elite receiver after dealing Tyreek Hill to Miami.  Hill was just finishing a contract that had him priced at $18-million a season and he wanted a very substantial raise the Chiefs couldn’t afford to accommodate under the cap.  The top name getting the most attention is DK Metcalf of Seattle, who’s got one year left at $4-million.  With Hill in Miami and catching passes from Tua Tagovailoa, it will be interesting to see how much of Hill’s production was the result of having Patrick Mahomes as a QB.  It’s a similar story in Las Vegas with Davante Adams on the receiving end of Derek Carr as opposed to Aaron Rodgers.  My guess is that both Mahomes and Rodgers make elite receivers out of whatever it is they are given once next season starts while Hill and Adams suffer a decline in production.  For you fantasy gurus, look for a major spike in Denver WR Courtland Sutton’s numbers as Russell WIlson is much better than Teddy Bridgewater/Drew Lock.

SENIOR HOCKEY – I don’t have the time to organize this so hopefully someone else who reads this feels it’s a good idea and takes the bull by the horns and puts something together.  I think it would be great to have some sort of a Memorial Cup or March Madness style cash tournament featuring the top senior teams in the province and have them play at a neutral site that isn’t often exposed to senior hockey.  Of course, I pick Yorkton as the neutral site.  I think you could be able to find sponsorship to have $10,000 on the line and do this in early January before league playoffs and Provincials get going.

POLITICS – I’ve received a few emails from followers disappointed about my lack of political commentary that I used to sometimes mix in with the sports thoughts and while the reality is that other writers are allowed to say certain things because it falls in line with a particular narrative, I think regular readers know me well enough to know where I stand on most issues and I won’t take part in creating division amongst our population.  It’s also not fair to Rod to have to deal with Karens who are perpetually outraged yet insist on reading what I have to say knowing they disagree with it.  I’m convinced these folks aren’t actually offended by anything, they just want to see how much trouble they can get me (or whoever they don’t like) into.  The world would be a better place if politicians didn’t affect our lives the way they do today.  It used to be, I could see who won the election and just carry on with my day.  That’s becoming increasingly harder to do and maybe it’s just because I’m getting older.

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