STACKHOUSE’S 10 WEEKEND THOUGHTS

1 – NHL CANADIAN DIVISION – It looks like the Canadian government is going to throw cold water on this idea and the seven National Hockey League teams that usually play north of the 49th parallel could be headed for American homes in 2021. I know many readers think I’m bananas but I feel there is a real possibility one of them never comes back and as many as four of them never call Canada home ever again. If you look at things like the value of the Canadian dollar, pending massive increases to the carbon tax, and other job killing government policies why would an owner want to have an NHL team here? When your revenues are Canadian, your exorbitant taxes are Canadian, and your other expenses are in American dollars it becomes fairly challenging to run a profitable business especially when you can do much better south of the border.  

2 – FUTURE OF PRO SPORTS IN CANADA – If Canada ended up losing its MLB team, NBA team, and say four NHL clubs because of government policy during the pandemic, what would the feeling be amongst Canadians? We saw last year when Justin Trudeau kicked out the Toronto Blue Jays (despite allowing dozens of other international flights per day into Canada’s biggest city) it drew immense praise from coast to coast.  Probably the best word I can use to describe the reaction to this mass exodus: apathy. Canadian people simply don’t put much value on sports. I’m not saying that’s a good or a bad thing. It’s just the way it is.

3 – WIESBLATT – By now, you’ve seen the video of Calgary’s Ocean Wiesblatt getting arrested for violating a public health order by playing hockey outside. I’ve forever advocated for people to simply comply with police orders. Regardless of your opinion on the pandemic, Ocean wasn’t complying. Here’s the problem for me: allowing outdoor rinks to be open is an invitation for people to break the rules.I’m not going to argue whether or not the officers involved did a good or a bad job trying to de-escalate the situation but the reality is simply people are at the end of their rope. Police included. My greatest fear is somebody is going to get killed during one of these needless clashes, which are provoked by government overreach.

4 – NHL IN CALGARY – Calgary’s mayor was quoted in a news story concerning the Wiesblatt situation as saying allowing hockey players to get close to one another on a sheet of ice is dangerous,  ‘…there is body contact and you don’t want to be doing that.’  That statement alone tells me there is absolutely no way the Calgary Flames can host NHL games even with no fans in attendance unless the NHL’s Canadian division wishes to move towards no body contact and tries to play the sport in a socially distant manner. All you need for this Canadian division idea to get blown up is for one city to not allow it. There is no avenue for Calgary now or else they have to backpedal on why police officers were sent to break up the Wiesblatt friends and family game of shinny outside in the first place. Agree with the rules or not, it’s not possible to suggest a group of people who are in a social bubble and playing hockey outside is more dangerous than NHL teams flying in and out of Calgary for games inside with questionable ventilation. Even though the Flames may have their own bubble, interacting with six other NHL teams surely is more dangerous than what the Wiesblatts and friends were doing. Nenshi has painted himself into a corner, but being a hypocrite isn’t against the law so maybe the Flames will be alright.

5 – WHAT ABOUT WORLD JUNIORS? – The World Juniors are okay because they aren’t in Calgary, first of all. Secondly, all teams are in a bubble so that’s different than teams travelling in and out and Edmonton’s science may also be different than Calgary’s when it comes to body contact in sports. They allowed body contact for the NHL bubble this summer so unless new science has developed, there is no reason to think the World Juniors can’t be played.  

6 – TOO LATE – I didn’t really think of this until very recently, but when the SJHL and MJHL got back on the ice a couple of months ago what they should have done was resumed their playoffs that were postponed in March to allow those players to have full closure. In a perfect world with no government restrictive interventions, the season would have been over in November and then there could have been a break to set up for the ‘new’ season in January. Instead, we had 2020 ruined and the chances 2021 is not played are increasing more likely by the day. Two years. Just wiped out. One thing you can never get back no matter how hard you try – TIME.

7 – SCIENCE IN SOUTH DAKOTA – Aberdeen, South Dakota has a Junior ‘A’ team in the North American Hockey League. They played two home games last weekend with fan attendance well over 1300 for both games. Meanwhile, Canada can’t even figure out a way to get participants on the ice in facilities with no attendance at all. It’s amazing how governments can sure scientifically lock you down in uniformity but the unlocking science doesn’t really work the same way.

8 – QB RESTRUCTURE DEALS – BC’s Mike Reilly and Saskatchewan’s Cody Fajardo have already agreed to restructured contracts in anticipation of the 2021 CFL season. I know I’m being Debbie Downer on this but a lot has to change in order for the CFL to play. Keep in mind Canada’s health experts are encouraging social distancing and mask use to continue beyond vaccination and there will need to be fans in the stands for the CFL to go. Canada will also be slower to react to what else is going on around the world so until we see full stadiums in other countries, there is no chance of even partial crowds being greenlighted here. Speaking of vaccinations, Canada is slated to vaccinate 250,000 people a month starting in January. Unless things speed up, it’s going to be nearly a year before even 2.5-million Canadians get their needle and we will need more than that vaccinated for fans to be allowed at sports events in this country.

9 – BUFFALO FOR REAL – As the NFL regular season winds down, many pundits think the Kansas City Chiefs are well positioned to repeat as Super Bowl champions. Pittsburgh, despite a great record, does appear to have some issues and aren’t playing like a 1-loss team. Buffalo is the team to watch. They have gotten better with each passing week and may have a slightly better defense. The NFC is wide open between Green Bay, New Orleans, LARams, Seattle, and Tampa Bay. It’s going to be a fun playoff.

10 – NFL PLAY BY PLAY – I haven’t missed a single Sunday of NFL football this season so I’ve had the chance to listen closely to all the play by play teams as I watch Red Zone. I wish Joe Buck could do every single game, but since he can’t here are my top six play by play announcers in the NFL: 1) Buck, 2) Al Michaels, 3) Jim Nantz, 4) Mike Tirico, 5) Kevin Harlan, 6) Steve Levy. In the event CFL football returns this year, my guess is Dave Randorf becomes the new Chris Cuthbert and that would be just fine by me. He does a good job.

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