Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

2 – RUSH RECAP – Robert Church scored four goals while Austin Shanks (3-4-7) and Ryan Keenan (2-5-7) also led the team on offense.  Mike Messenger also had a big game with two goals and five points to go along with nine loose balls.  Messenger and Matt Acchione filled in for the injured Jake Naso on faceoffs and neither fared well, losing 26-of-33 draws to Justin Inacio.  It wasn’t Frank Scigliano’s most shining moment in goal for the Rush as it felt like even with the Rush up by five at one point that the lead wasn’t going to be safe if the Roughnecks ever found their offensive groove.  The Rush are back in action next Friday at Ottawa, who lost 16-13 to San Diego in week one.  The next home game for the Rush comes December 20 against Georgia.

3 – CFL NEUTRAL SITE – Kelowna is set to host two CFL games next season (June 27 and July 4) and it’s being suggested the BC city could be next up as an expansion team.  In a league where seven of nine existing teams are losing money, perhaps the price of an expansion franchise would be a welcome shot in the arm.  I have no idea what each team would get for allowing Kelowna to join but there is a ton of cash in that city and the Apple Bowl, apparently, can expand to be a 17,000 seat stadium and while that sounds small, it’s about right in my mind as far as how big a CFL stadium should be.  Kelowna would be a much wiser target for the CFL than either Moncton or Halifax.  There are more people in Kelowna and, as stated, they have more money.

4 – CFL BROADCAST RIGHTS – I’ve seen on social media some CFL pundits discussing what the next television deal will look like and I hate to put a pin in the balloon of everybody but the fact of the matter is this:  if the Toronto market doesn’t care then there is no basis for any kind of a tv contract that will line the pockets of the owners.  Amazon Prime, for example, isn’t going to take a CFL Game of the Month or anything of the sort just to cater to Bomber and Rider fans.  The CFL would, perhaps, be best served to start its own online game broadcast channel and hire a sales staff to help drum up advertising revenue but I’m not sure the league has the right people in place to pull such a venture off despite the current commissioner coming from TSN.

5 – JETS STRUGGLES – The Winnipeg Jets are 2-6-and-1 since Vezina Trophy winning goalie Connor Hellebuyck hit the injured list, badly exposing the holes on this team that have been prevalent for a number of years but always camouflaged by the outstanding play of their netminder.  When Hellebuyck struggled in last year’s playoffs, it was a miracle the Jets were able to go as far as they did but the reality remains that this is a team without any scoring depth beyond the first line, which really would be better suited as a second line on most contending teams.  The Jets GM seems to get a free pass despite ignoring the fact there was a massive hole on the second line with Nikolaj Ehlers leaving via free agency.  There also seems to be incredible reluctance to use their forward prospects in top six roles, namely Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov.  For his part, Kevin Cheveldayoff has also offered quotes suggesting he doesn’t believe a trade is possible to improve the roster either.  I predicted the Jets may miss the playoffs this year as I expected Utah to make a push and it would appear that’s going to be the case.  

6 – OUTDOOR GAME – Winnipeg will host the 2026 Heritage Classic NHL Game next October.  The Jets hosted an outdoor game back in 2016 and it drew over 33,000.  Maybe this time Winnipeg will, at least, score a goal as they fell 3-0 to the Oilers in their first one.  For me, these outdoor games have run their course but the league deserves credit for still being able to squeeze some juice out of them.  Let’s be real.  Nobody in the NHL today has ever played, regularly, on an outdoor rink.  The NHL, itself, doesn’t even want teams in cold weather cities anymore.  The viewing experience of the game itself is poor because you are sitting in seats designed for football.  However, ticket prices will be grossly inflated and the game will sell out.  For that reason alone, the NHL should continue to go to that well.  I don’t get it, but I don’t have to.

7 – SPLIT PERSONALITY – Minnesota Vikings quarterback JJ McCarthy has not had a banner first season as an NFL starter and there are even some weird aspects coming out about his personality that suggests it may be difficult for him to be a leader on the field.  McCarthy admits to having some sort of alter-ego when he puts on his helmet and he refers to this person as ‘Nine’.  It’s really odd behaviour and, if it worked, I’d be willing to look past it.  It also just goes to show that young people of today are not getting a rude awakening when they hit the real world.  Rather the real world is getting the rude awakening and we will adapt to accommodate strange individuals like McCarthy rather than grill him on what the heck is he talking about when he refers to ‘Nine’.   

8 – OLYMPIC HOCKEY – This whole situation with the hockey arena in Milan, Italy not being ready to host the Olympics is just further proof that the awarding of the games is a farce as far as doing due diligence on who would make the best host is concerned.  LIke it or not, NHL hockey players participating will be the highest profile event of the games and they can’t even get the dimensions of the ice correct.  I’m sure it will get rectified in time for the Games but the entire issue screams Mickey Mouse.

9 – UFC 323 – In a stunner, Petr Yan battered Merab Dvalishvili for five rounds to win a unanimous decision and lay claim to the Bantamweight title.  It was the second time the two have tangled with Merab having won the first.  You have to think there will be a third fight down the road.  Meanwhile, Joshua Van won the Flyweight title over Alex Pantoja when Pantoja had to surrender just thirty seconds into the fight due to a broken arm, suffered on a fall after he tried to deliver a head kick but fell awkwardly as he tried to bring his leg back.  Van may defend first against Tatsuro Taira, who knocked out Brandon Moreno earlier in the night. 

10 – WHERE TO LIVE – In light of some criticism of Wayne Gretzky abandoning his Canadian roots, I did a quick search to see if any American sports figures moved to Canada to spend their post playing days and there are no widely cited examples of famous American athletes moving to Canada solely for retirement.  Meanwhile, the list of other Canadians who moved to America to retire is endless.  From Gretzky to Mario Lemieux to Larry Walker to Mike Weir to Eugenie Bouchard.  I even tried to open up my search to non-athletes.  Still no luck.  But ask just about any Canadian and they’ll tell you we are the better country despite people with money heading for the exits. 

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)