Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts
1 – RUSH HOUR: The Saskatchewan Rush improved to a league best 6-and-1 on Saturday night with a 15-10 win over the Oshawa Firewolves. For the second straight game Ryan Keenan led the offense with a four goal performance and seven points overall. Austin Shanks contributed two goals and five assists while Jake Naso won 22 of 29 faceoffs and led the team with 10 loose balls. Despite running into penalty trouble in the fourth quarter the Rush were clearly the better team of the two as they had the Firewolves on the run pretty much all night. The Rush are off next week but have a trap game on January 30th at Calgary, as the Roughnecks are league worst 1-and-5 after losing a game to the Georgia Swarm in Edmonton on Friday night. For those wondering, attendance at SaskTel Centre was around 6,000 and attendance in Edmonton for the Roughneck game was also around 6,000.
2 – NFL: For the first time in a long time (certainly as far as my memory goes) the NFL playoffs are wide open. At the time of this writing the Sunday games haven’t been played yet so I guess you could maybe say the Rams are the favorites but only slightly. Denver would appear to be in tough now that their starting quarterback is out for the season with a broken ankle, but I think an argument can be made for any one of Houston, New England, Chicago, and Seattle to win the Super Bowl.
3 – #DUVAAAL: The exchange that Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Cohen had with Lynn Jones has garnered some criticism although I have to say it was somewhat refreshing to see a non-combative exchange and a bit of praise handed out. After all, if reporters are allowed to criticize they should be allowed to compliment as well. The only thing I would have liked to have seen was for Jones to have asked him a question rather than compliment him and just move on.
4 – TOMLIN: The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t change coaches often. All they’ve ever known are lengthy eras by Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin. Those three have been their only coaches dating back to 1969. Talk about stability. Tomlin has taken a fair amount of heat in recent years but the fact of the matter is that he hasn’t had a good quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired. While Tomlin isn’t the GM, he does have a lot of say in the personnel decisions. So, Tomlin the coach has done a remarkable job considering the roster makeup. If it’s Tomlin who’s been largely responsible for who they draft and sign then he gets a failing grade in that aspect. Will the next coach have the same longevity as the previous three?
5 – ON THE ICE: If you’re a fan of local high-level hockey you may want to make sure you’re paying attention to senior provincials this year. Once again the Round Lake Bears have assembled an impressive roster as they try to bring home a Senior A pennant. Former NHLer Thereon Fleury will be the Bears head coach for their provincial run. The Senior D bracket has 26 teams if my count is correct.
6 – CBJ: The Columbus Blue jackets surprised many by firing Dean Evason earlier this week. I thought Evason had done a pretty good job with that team over the last year and a half and I’m left wondering what Don Waddell feels is a more realistic expectation. Hiring Rick Bowness could mean the dressing room is in shambles as that’s why he was brought in to Winnipeg. Speaking of Winnipeg, should they decide to fire Scott Arniel you have to think Evason would be near the top of the list to replace him. While Montreal requires French people to serve behind the bench, Winnipeg is pretty stuck on having Manitoba connections in their management tree. Evason comes from Brandon and he didn’t do a bad job in Minnesota either. The Jets could do worse.
7 – BASEBALL: Detroit Tigers star pitcher Tarik Skubal is headed for salary arbitration and the difference between the team and the player is remarkable. Skubal is asking for 32 million dollars while the Tigers have countered with 19 million. Needless to say the player isn’t going to starve no matter which side wins but it is a slap in the face to the back to back Cy Young Award winner to offer him what is really a below average salary for a pitcher who’s expected to anchor a rotation let alone someone who has won the top pitcher of the league award for each of the last two seasons. I guess the Tigers know that no matter what Skubal is walking out the door via free agency at the end of the year so why not insult him before he leaves.
8 – MORE BASEBALL: Which brings me to the subject of Kyle Tucker signing with the Dodgers and Bo Bichette with the New York Mets. The Bichette deal signals that players are willing to bet on themselves to some degree and sign short-term deals if the annual salary is crazy high. As far as Tucker goes there is no denying that he is a very good player but he has never hit more than 30 home runs in a season and has been injury prone in each of the last two years. For those folks who are upset that the Dodgers just sign whoever they want, I think I would be happy with this one because the Dodgers could have surely found someone better to play right field had they spent a concerted effort searching. Yes, Tucker is good. Top five player in baseball good? No. Regardless it would appear that baseball is headed for some form of labor stoppage at the conclusion of the upcoming season. I keep hearing how young people aren’t paying attention to baseball and yet the salaries are astronomical. I guess it’s just another example that these top pro leagues don’t really need fans because MLB lacks a cool factor to be sure when you compare to the NFL and NBA and maybe even the NHL.
9 – RATTLE THE RIM: There are a number of major and intriguing changes happening with Saskatchewan’s CEBL franchise– not the least of which appears to be a name change indicating we’ve heard the last of the Rattlers, which in my opinion was a great name and perhaps the only thing good about this franchise in the last half dozen years. The league released its schedule earlier this week and someone on social media pointed out that Saskatchewan’s home games are listed as being at a location TBD. While it’s no secret the SaskTel Centre is probably too big for what the Rattlers have attracted, the reality is that the other facilities that could be considered are really too small. Both the Merlis Belsher and the Physical Activity Center are great venues but their capacity is between 2400-2800. I maintain a good Saskatchewan professional basketball team that is marketed, even a little bit, and is in the mix to win a title will draw north of 4000 consistently. Maybe this TBD stuff is a whole lot of nothing and they’ll be back at Sasktel Centre come mid May when the season begins. I’m also hearing prices are going up and that would be ill advisable because most nights the team has been unwatchable. Build some goodwill with your fan base then hit them with an increase. I can only speak for myself but I’m not paying more to watch this team unless I see that they’re more competitive first.
10 – WHAT’S NEXT: While I’d like to criticize the change at GM as the team moves on from Barry Rawlyk, the fact remains his tenure was rather horrible as the Rattlers were only decent for one out of the last 6 years. Rawlyk did a nice job recruiting a yearly star player for most of those six seasons (Tony Carr, Justin Wright Foreman, Jalen Harris, and Teddy Allen) but the reality is that the team was truly awful. The 2024 version looked like a contender early but everyone left for greener pastures in other leagues and one has to wonder if the environment that surrounded the Rattlers was partly to blame. So while on one hand, making these major changes is concerning…surely things aren’t going to get worse. If the team gets purchased by a private buyer so that the league doesn’t have to run them anymore, that would be the first step in the right direction and changing the front office and the name of the team is a solid indicator that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster. Follow him on Twitter at @Stack1975)
– As long as kevin cheveldayoff is in charge of running the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club any roster he assembles will never touch the Stanley Cup. cheveldayoff has been in charge of the Winnipeg Jets for far too long his expiry date expired 10 years ago.
– Saskatoon Rattlers new team moniker will be the Saskatoon Canola’s in tribute to liberal guy marc carney, gullible Saskatchewanites will eat that up and come out in droves in support of the Canola’s.
How is Chevy different from Doug Wilson who is still revered in San Jose? He left and they went the DEI route and entire organization is a mess now. Winnipeg lost their first team and had John Paddock as their GM. Be very grateful for even having a team and they punch above their weight. …the new CEBL team will pick a name to most likely pay tribute to a culture/people who would n.e.v.e.r purchase a ticket. Saskatoon is a failed city. The real people live in Martesnville and Warman. They work in Saskatoon and get out of it as… Read more »
Saskatchewan needs a nick fuentes for premier
No Lord Stanley for the Jets.
…on the Carney note. Honest to goodness.
Country is over. Moe got the tariffs…lawdy it is a miracle!!!….China gets to keep buying fronted rural land.