Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

1 – RIDERS A FORCE AGAIN – Not to say I told you so, but I told you so. The Saskatchewan Roughriders are, suddenly, back in an enviable position in the standings after dominating Ottawa 29-16  on Saturday to move to 7-7-and-1 overall. It’s not crazy to suggest they run the table with the remainder of the schedule as they play Edmonton, Calgary, BC to close it out. I foresee a home playoff game against the Lions and a further look into the crystal ball would appear to be the same Grey Cup showdown I predicted way back after the third week for the season: the Riders against Montreal. Sure, Winnipeg would be standing in the way of that but I believe the Bombers have peaked too soon.  

2 – PASSIONATE FANS – Fans really ride the highest peaks and the lowest valleys with their sports teams. Almost nobody remembers the drain the Riders were circling just two short weeks ago. Nobody remembers that Trevor Harris doesn’t know how to close out games. Nobody remembers that Corey Mace was a godsend of a coach who forgot how to coach for seven weeks but is now, once again, the Messiah leading the Riders to the promised land. It’s fun to watch, for me, as I always wish the best for my home team but I also consider myself to be more of an observer than I am a fan.

3 – NHL INJURY VAGUE REPORTS – The NHL season is quickly approaching and so too are the ridiculous injury designations. You will never find a more paranoid group of people than those who are in charge of hockey teams. They love to be as vague as possible with terms such as ‘lower body injury’, ‘upper body injury’, ‘week to week’, and ‘month to month’. The latest include Matthew Boldy of the Minnesota Wild, who is week to week with a lower body injury. Gee thanks. Then there is Drew Doughty who has a broken ankle.  Kudos to the Kings for going into detail that it needs surgery but then they say he will be listed as month to month, as if they haven’t a foggy idea when he may be ready to return. I guess there’s some top secret reason why they can’t say he will miss a minimum of three months. Winnipeg defenseman Ville Heinola needed an operation to correct an infection to his ankle that was broken last preseason and the Jets, I think, actually came clean on it and said they just don’t know when he will play again because they’ve never seen this before.

4 – NHL EXHIBITION WASTE – New Montreal forward Patrik Laine may have to wait a while before making his debut for his new team. Laine left Saturday’s game after taking a knee on knee hit. Toronto’s William Nylander got hurt during a game earlier in the week. You have to wonder if the preseason is an unnecessary waste of time. Teams know what their rosters are going to be, aside from maybe a spot or two so other than as a tool to ‘get in shape’, I don’t see why clubs would risk it. You see teams, all the time, exercise caution with players and those are games that count. So why gamble on a player’s health in games that don’t?  I’d also say players are already in shape and don’t need an exhibition game to round into form. The flipside to this, which nobody will admit, is that owners would want more regular season games to make up for the gouging of ticket revenue that they collect during the preseason. I’ve never once attended a preseason game. They should be free.

5 – NFL INJURIES – Teams in the NFL have been playing more and more loose with the league’s injury report and it is getting to the point where the league office needs to step in and do something about it. San Francisco RB Christian McCaffrey had a calf injury during the preseason and there was no mention that he may not be ready to start the year. However, just hours before the season opener, the Niners announced McCaffrey was actually dealing with an Achilles problem and then later in the week he was placed on Injured Reserve, ruling him out for the first six games. If you believe San Francisco didn’t know McCaffrey was looking at a prolonged absence all along, then I have a snow fort in Mexico to sell you.  

6 – BLIND SEATS IN UTAH – According to NHL media mouthpiece Pierre Lebrun, the Delta Centre in Salt Lake City can accommodate a little more than 11,000 fans per game but that capacity increases to over 16,000 when you take into account 5,000 more seats where you can only see one net. Serious.  Imagine a Canadian city making a bid for relocation or expansion and having 5000 seats where you can’t see one of the nets. I said during Covid that the NHL (and other sports leagues) doesn’t care one iota about the number of bums in the seats at games. That’s merely gravy to them. It’s all about corporate sponsorships and there are certain markets the league wants to be in regardless of how empty the stadium may be. This is why when Winnipeg owners issue their yearly threat later this season, the fans should tell them to not let the door hit them on the way out. Jets owners are going to leave when the time is right for them and whether or not the building is sold out is irrelevant to that decision.

7 – NHL EXPANSION – I’ve written in the past about NHL expansion and it would appear as though the league is bound and determined to add four more teams over the next four years and it wouldn’t be a shock to see the number of franchises reach 40 within the next ten years. If you thought it was hard to win now, the odds of your favorite team winning once more teams are added just got a lot longer again. What I’m curious to see is whether or not fans will continue to support teams that, yearly, have no chance to even make the playoffs let alone win a Cup. Take the San Jose Sharks, for example. They are, supposedly, building for the future but will soon have 4 more teams standing between them and respectability.  You can bet all future expansion drafts will look a lot like the ones Vegas and Seattle enjoyed so the new teams will have a head start on ones who are in the tank. Are fans going to continue to attend hockey games in San Jose a few years from now when the team STILL doesn’t matter? 

8 – RUSH SCHEDULE – The Saskatchewan Rush open their season November 30th, on the road, against Albany. They’ll play their first home game on December 14 against Halifax. For someone like me, who has to travel a significant distance to watch the games, seeing the 7 pm start times is very much a welcome change. I also like how the schedule is laid out with, at least, one road game in between home dates with the only exception being March 29 and April 4. The Rush are young, fast, talented, and appear determined to position themselves more towards the top half of the standings and I, for one, can’t wait for the season to get started.

9 – RUSH DRAFT RECAP – The NLL held its annual amateur draft last week and the Saskatchewan Rush traded down to get young offensive Junior A star Brock Haley from Vancouver. Haley fired 105 goals in 26 games with Whitby Jr A in 2022 and while it remains to be seen how that translates for him in the NLL, the Rush appear committed to giving him every opportunity to contribute right away. Haley was a first round, 7th overall, choice in the 2023 draft. The way the Rush have structured their roster, I would be surprised to see any of their draft picks from 2024 play a significant role this upcoming season but there is one curious pick in third rounder Jake Naso from Duke. Naso is Duke’s all-time leader in face off wins and ranks seventh in NCAA history in faceoffs won, finishing his collegiate career just under 60%.  

10 – SJHL CHANGE – Could there be a changing of the guard in the SJHL?  It’s only the second weekend, but it would appear as though Kindersley, Yorkton, Melville, and LaRonge are going to be forces to be reckoned with while long time strong clubs in Battlefords, Flin Flon, Nipawin, and Estevan are a little slow out of the gate. Humboldt, also a perrenial powerhouse for the last number of seasons, got waxed at home, 6-2 by the Terriers on Friday night. It’s good for the league when teams who have struggled for several years, instantly, right their respective ships.

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)