Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

1 – NHL CHAMPIONS – The Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions after fending off three straight dominating Edmonton Oiler victories that saw the Panthers squander a 3-0 series lead and become, at risk, of becoming the first team to blow a Stanley Cup finals lead of 3-0 in more than 80 years.  The Oilers never did mount pressure in the latter stages of the third period as it took too long for them to pull their goalie and then when they did, it was evident the top players on the team were completely spent of whatever energy was left in the tank. Nevertheless, there is nothing to be ashamed of here. Only one team can raise the trophy and the Oilers came as close as you can get without doing it. Many say they’ll be back based on the make-up of their team but if I go by what Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff believes, I am not so sure about that. Cheveldayoff, at the conclusion of the Jets’ 2023 season, told the media that winning a Stanley Cup simply comes down to luck because once the playoffs begin everything becomes a fluke.  Getting into the playoffs is what takes the real hard work.  So, Colorado was merely lucky when they waxed the Jets 5-2, 6-2, 5-1, and 6-3 to bounce them from the first round.  

2 – TWO AWARDS? – Connor McDavid was named the MVP of the playoffs despite the Oilers falling short in their bid. It may be time to have two playoff awards. One for the best player and one who was the most valuable to his team. How can you have a champion who doesn’t have a player deemed to be the most valuable? From the games I watched, that player should have been Aleksander Barkov. The point production was at a point per game level and his one-on-one play overall was exceptional. Sergei Bobrovsky had a hiccup in games 4, 5, and 6 against Edmonton but was otherwise also sensational. Having said that, the best player was definitely McDavid although every time Evan Bouchard had the puck, I was on the edge of my seat anticipating a booming shot and a score. Last year, I would have given the ‘best player in the playoffs’ award to Leon Draisaitl. He had 13 goals in 12 games! But, because the Oilers never made the finals, he wasn’t even considered.  

3 – LONG SEASON – I know a lot of people love the NHL but the season is too long.  It needs to begin October 1 and be over by May 31. The 2024 season was the longest, in terms of days, in the history of the league. In a way, the NHL was lucky this year in that the NBA final was completely uninteresting but staying away from the NBA playoffs the best they can would be in the NHL’s best interests. I think it would be best to have the Stanley Cup awarded, wait a couple of weeks and do the awards ceremony, then wait another week for the draft, and then another week you have free agency. I’d even like the junior level to consider shortening their season. The Memorial Cup final this year was played on June 2. Junior hockey should be over no later than April 30.  Thirty years ago, the Memorial Cup ended May 22nd so my timeline is, admittedly, aggressive.  

4 – McGROARTY – When Cutter Gauthier forced his way out of Philadelphia and having to play for the demanding John Tortorella, you just knew that would, possibly, open the floodgates to other NCAA stars to trying to force the hand of the NHL team that drafted them and now we have Rutger McGroarty doing the same thing with Winnipeg. Kevin Cheveldayoff’s strong suit is trades. He has a number of fleecings on his resume through dealing Evander Kane and Pierre Luc Dubois to name a couple and it shouldn’t be difficult to add McGroarty to this list. McGroarty went 14th overall in 2022 so it’s not like he was a top five pick, yet some team some where will pay the Jets as though that’s exactly what he is. Seattle has surfaced as a possible suitor for another Jets forward, Nik Ehlers, so you have to wonder if maybe there is a multi-player opportunity here that could involve Shane Wright, Matty Beniers, and Jagger Firkus. Former Regina Pat Ryker Evans could be of interest too. There’s a match that can be made between the two clubs. Either way, I don’t get a sense the Jets need to hurry into anything. McGroarty can stay in school and take his chances there where he was almost permanently injured this past season after being on the receiving end of a devastating hit.

5 – KNIGHTS THOMPSON – The NHL Draft is took place in Las Vegas this weekend. Saturday morning at 10am, the Golden Knights were advertising an autograph session with netminder Logan Thompson. At almost that exact same time, the Knights announced they were trading Thompson to Washington for a draft pick.   Critics have long pointed to Kelly McCrimmon and the Knights being unloyal to their players and this trade will add fuel to that fire. Next week, it will come as no surprise when Jonathan Marchessault, a seven year veteran of the team and former Conn Smythe Trophy winner, signs a contract with another team because Vegas has no room under the cap to keep him due to bringing in Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanifin.

6 – KINGS UNIS – The Los Angeles Kings have unveiled new uniforms for the upcoming season and they look very similar to the ones worn in the early 1990s during the Gretzky era. The Kings had some public image difficulties with these at the time because they were so popular that gangs adopted the colors and logo and were committing crimes that were highly publicized. Hopefully that fad has gone the way of the dinosaur because they were, truly, the best uniforms in the league by a country mile and I think it’s great to have them back.

7 – RIDERS – The Saskatchewan Roughriders are 3-and-0 to start the season and look very much like a CFL powerhouse but it appears as though the majority of the fans aren’t quite ready to buy-in the way I am. The home opener crowd was the lowest the team has experienced in 18 years and I have to say I was quite surprised as I’m told winning is all it takes for fans to get back on board. What more do you want?  Well, if I am to believe the social media posts here are some of the things the fans want before they return: games on Saturday at 2pm in perfect weather that isn’t too hot, isn’t too cold, isn’t too wet, and isn’t too windy. Doesn’t seem like much to ask for is it? I can only tell you why I haven’t gone and while I’d like to point to the costs, the fact is that I am driving to Saskatoon to watch Rush and Rattlers and that costs me more in fuel, time, and money than a Rider game (ticket prices aside). While it’s true that beer is expensive and that seems to be a big complaint, what are you doing drinking beer if you have a long commute home? Okay, some of you are carpooling but it’s strange to see people complain about long drives and beer prices in the same social media post. So for me it’s like this and this may be difficult to comprehend: I just don’t have the interest that I used to have in it. Yes, I still follow the Riders and will watch games on television but even if the game is on TV and I’m doing something else, I will just catch the highlights. Driving, I don’t listen to the radio either.  I’ve got music or something else that is more appealing to me. My guess is the canceled season made a lot of people realize what is important to them and the CFL just didn’t rank all that high after all. I also wonder how many people supported the Riders out of a sense of community obligation in that they feel the franchise is a major part of our province and is what puts us on the map. To then be unappreciated could have been a wake up call to some and I still think if the organization, publicly, ate a bit of humble pie you’d see a big turnaround very, very quickly as far as the in-game attendance is concerned but there seems to be incredible stubbornness to the point they seem frightened to learn the attendance drop is, predominantly, self-inflicted.

8 – RATTLERS – The Saskatchewan Rattlers are watching their season circle the drain. After starting 3-and-0, the Rattlers have gone 2-and-6, including a 94-87 loss to the Niagara River Lions 0n Saturday evening at SaskTel Centre. The lost three starters in the second half including their best player, former Toronto Raptor Jalen Harris. To make matters worse, the rival Winnipeg Sea Bears are regrouping and looking fine using a couple of former Rattlers in Justin Wright-Foreman and Scottie Lindsay. Another former Rattler, Devonte Bandoo, has just signed with Vancouver and hoping to play soon after missing over a year due to a leg injury.  It’s hard to put my fingers on what ails the Rattlers other than it seems when things start to go bad, they go very south very quickly and the cold spells of missing baskets and losing out on rebounds last too long. 

9 – LONGER CEBL SEASON – Meanwhile, the CEBL announced on Wednesday that they are expanding the schedule from 20 to 24 games beginning next season. I, for one, applaud the move. It feels like just when you are getting into it, we are hitting the stretch drive. For example, the 5-and-6 Rattlers are already over halfway through the season, which really only lasts for 2 ½ months. I really can’t explain it, but I will watch a CEBL game over an MLB game and I will also pick the CEBL over the NBA playoffs (depending on what round the NBA playoffs are in and who’s playing) even though I know full well the NBA, obviously, has a far superior product. I think I’m just one of those people that appreciates leagues and sports while they are in their infancy or before they get too commercialized. The National Lacrosse League has the same effect on me. I will watch a Saturday night NLL game, especially if it’s the Rush, over Hockey Night In Canada most of the time.  

10 – SANDERS SCARE – Former NFL great Barry Sanders is recovering from a Father’s Day weekend health scare related to his heart. Sanders is 55-years-old, which as we know, is old and maybe, despite being in the top 1% as far as physical condition is concerned during his playing days, he’s allowed himself to deteriorate.  Hopefully, he stays up to date on all of his vaccines (not just the Covid one) and pays more attention to his personal well being (although he has publicly tweeted in the past about getting Covid despite up to date vaccines and strict mask usage). I would also say this should be a wake up call for all of us in that anything can happen at any time to any person regardless of physical condition. It’s all very normal even though it’s uncomfortable to confront. Thankfully, over the last three years or so the media has been publicizing more the sudden health events that have been happening to people (especially elite athletes) ever since the dawn of time.  I’ve gone back to check the archives prior to 2021-2022 to compile a list and it’s just not even close to the same as what we have now and I’m sure that’s the fault of the media and not that more people are experiencing health events.

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)