STACKHOUSE’S 10 WEEKEND THOUGHTS

1 – RUSH WIN – The Saskatchewan Rush improved to 2-and-1 with an 11-9 home field win over the Panther City Lacrosse Club on Saturday night.  It was another balanced attack on offense even though familiar names Robert Church, Mark Matthews, and Ryan Keenan did lead the way.  You can see that Marshall Powless is developing into an elite player but it was the defense and the goaltending of Alex Buque that was the difference.  Buque leads the league with an 8.81-GAA and an overall SPCT of 81% and that includes a meltdown in San Diego last month.

2 – RUSH DEFENSE – As a relatively new fan of the NLL, I am still learning the ins and outs of various aspects of the game.  One of those aspects is defense and I’ve been paying a lot more attention to it as of late.  In the San Diego game, the injuries to Ryan Dilks and Kyle Rubisch heavily contributed to the downfall and blown lead.  Dilks is still hurt, but Rubisch came back for the Panther City game and I felt he was maybe the best player on the field.  It’s also possible the Rush have a star in the making in rookie transition Jake Boudreau.

3 – RUSH CROWD – Fan attendance for Saturday’s game was 8663, which is an improvement from the home opener but still shy of where the organization would like to be, I’m sure.  By now, it’s evident to me that, in Saskatchewan, the pandemic (government orders) have greatly hurt the sports industry as far as fan attendance is concerned.  There isn’t a single team in any sport that can say they’ve noticed a spike since welcoming back patrons.  I will also give the Rush credit because they worked hard for those 8663 by sending out a steady stream of emails with promotional offers.  I wasn’t planning to go to this game, but I did at the last minute because of the marketing pitch.  

4 – QB EVALUATION – Brock Purdy looks like a legit starting NFL quarterback.  It’s just more fuel to the fire with regards to quarterback evaluation and the fact of the matter is that this position is, perhaps, the hardest to scout and project for future success in all of sports.  The Niners first pick in last year’s draft was Trey Lance and, at this point, they are going to have a tough sell to their fan base when they give the starting nod back to Lance.  But they pretty much have to because of the financial investment they’ve made in him.  

5 – QB ENVIRONMENT – I wrote about this before but it bears repeating – the environment and coaching style with which you bring in a quarterback is more important than the raw ability of the quarterback himself.  Trevor Lawrence appears to have turned his career around after a one year unmitigated disaster with Urban Meyer.  Josh McDaniels didn’t seem to know what to do with Derek Carr and it’s gone so bad they’ve sent him home.  Meanwhile, Jarrett Stidham is a QB that McDaniels had in New England for years as a backup and once he employed him as the starter with Las Vegas, Stidham looks good to go.  I bet that doesn’t happen on any other team.  And, what about Daniel Jones?  He was lost at sea until Brian Daboll came along.

6 – QB CHANGING TEAMS – The quarterback carousel this offseason will be interesting to say the least.  You are going to have Jimmy Garoppolo, maybe Matthew Stafford, maybe Baker Mayfield, Carr, maybe Lamar Jackson, maybe Kyler Murray, and who knows who else on the move.  There are some decently run teams out there who just need a good fit at quarterback to change their fortunes.  I have to think Carr with the Jets or even Miami (should Tua not play) is a good fit.  Should Mayfield finish the year strong with the Rams, they are going to have a decision to make on him or Stafford and should Purdy actually do the impossible and win the Super Bowl, do the Niners put Lance up on the trading block?

7 – GOALIE SPOTLIGHT – Canada has always been and always will be superior to all other countries as far as elite hockey players are concerned but the position of goaltending is an area where we do need to pick things up.  If there was a World Cup tomorrow, who would be Canada’s netminders?  I threw this out on Twitter earlier in the week and my own vote would go to Tristan Jarry to start with Stuart Skinner and Logan Thompson as backups.  That’s hardly an imposing trio when you look at the top netminders in the NHL.  As Canada gets set to defend gold at the World Juniors in the playoff round this week, the focus will be on the goalies.  If Canada loses it will be because they got less than quality netminding.

8 – CANADIAN GOALIES – Over the last seven years, here’s a list of names that have played goal for Canada at the World Juniors.  Mackenzie Blackwood, Mason McDonald, Sam Montembeault, Carter Hart, Connor Ingram, Colton Point, Michael DiPietro, Ian Scott, Joel Hofer, Nico Daws, Devon Levi, Dylan Garand, Taylor Gauthier, Sebastian Cossa, Brett Brochu, Thomas Milic, and Benjamin Gaudreau.  The jury is obviously still out on a few of these guys but the list is underwhelming to say the least.

9 – REF SORE FEET – Former Regina Pat Chris Schlenker is now an NHL referee and he is one of thousands affected by the incompetence that is Canada’s airline industry.  Schlenker had to borrow a jersey and go buy a new pair of skates for his game in Columbus on Saturday as his luggage is AWOL (surprise, surprise).  We don’t often consider the on-ice officials, but they are on the ice for the full 60 minutes and don’t get to sit on the players’ bench and take breaks.  Schlenker’s feet had to have been killing him by the end of the game.

10 – MOE SUNWING – By the way, Scott Moe gave Sunwing a verbal lashing on Friday for their decision to just abandon Saskatchewan until early February (and maybe longer, because you can’t trust a Canadian airline) and called on Sunwing to, expediently, get stranded people home.  As of Sunday, I was still aware of some folks who are out of the country with no clue as to what’s next for them so I’m going to assume this verbal lashing has gone ignored.  Would it be all that crazy for the provincial government to line up charter flights to get folks home?  There can’t be that many in limbo. 

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