Stackhouse’s 10 Weekend Thoughts

2 – KIAZYK STEPS UP – The Rush announced about 45-minutes prior to the start of the game that Scigliano would be missing and that 20-year-old Thomas Kiazyk would get his first NLL start in goal. Not only that, but the Rush were unable to file the paperwork in time to have Laine Hruska back him up so they threw the pads and extra gear on practice roster forward Keegan Bell just to have a warm body to back up Kiazyk but there would be no chance Bell goes into the game unless Kiazyk got hurt. Early on, it appeared it was going to be a long night. Kiazyk gave up four goals in the first five minutes and while the shot clock said he faced 8, it seemed it was more like 5. After the first media timeout, the Rush offense cranked it up to a level I have never seen while Kiazyk started to slowly settle in and in the second half, Kiazyk looked like a bonafide NLL starter and while the final stats say 39-saves on 52-shots (.750), it was 35-saves on 44-shots (.795) after his slow start and in the second half, it was 24-saves on 29-shots (.828).  

3 – OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT – The Rush’s Robert Church had his best game of the season, by far, as he scored 5-goals and 5-assists while Ryan Keenan scored 2-goals and 7-assists. Keenan has 21-points in his last 3-games after starting the season with just 5-points in 4-games. After the 4th Albany goal and the media timeout, the Rush defense tightened up and really did a good job at keeping the Firewolves offense to the outside while Church, Keenan, Zach Manns, and Austin Shanks unleashed a barrage of shots on Albany goalie Doug Jamieson. Church and Manns combined for 29-shots just between the two. From here, the Rush head to San Diego next Saturday to face a 3-and-4 Seals team looking to end a 2-game losing skid while the Rush are now sitting in a tie for second place at 5-and-2 with Philadelphia, looking up only at the 5-and-0 Buffalo Bandits. Attendance last night was just 5800. If you had the ability to go and didn’t…your loss.

4 – VISORS – I saw a post on social media that identified five remaining NHLers who don’t wear visors.  There’s a case to be made that 2 or 3 of them are lucky to still be in the league but as far as Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie Benn are concerned, when those two players eventually hang them up it will mark an unofficial end to an era of hockey that I will be sad to see go. It’s not that I think players shouldn’t wear visors but I do believe the game has become more dangerous as equipment has evolved. Visors wouldn’t be necessary if the game wasn’t as fast as it has become and the game wouldn’t be as fast if we removed certain equipment from players who are out there in reckless abandonment. Fans and evaluators want both speed and danger. For me, I would rather sacrifice some speed and have the game played the way it was intended rather than how it’s evolved.

5 – ESTEVAN COACH CHANGE – The Estevan Bruins made a coaching change last week, parting ways with Jason Tatarnic, who had been at the helm for 4 ½ seasons. I’m a fan of Jason’s because I like coaches who get results. Tatarnic coached in Woodstock for eight seasons and advanced to the National Junior A Championship. He coached in Chilliwack for four years and advanced to the National Junior A Championship and he did the same with the Bruins. The 52-year-old Tatarnic is probably viewed in some circles as ‘old school’ which may make his shelf life a little shorter than it should be because we live in a world where feelings are easily hurt but as long as he still wants to coach, and as long as there is a team out there who truly wants to win, Tatarnic shouldn’t have a problem finding a new home.

6 – SJHL RACE – I came out of broadcast retirement last week to do two games on the radio for Flin Flon station CFAR. The two games further proved to me I should stay retired but it was a lot of fun to call hockey again and I’d be lying if I said I don’t miss it. One of the games I did was in Estevan where Drew Kocur made his head coaching debut and while the Bruins lost the game, they’ve since rebounded to win one and lose one in extra time. Meanwhile, the Bombers are in the middle of an impressive stretch that has them 22-0-2-and-1 in their last 25-games. Former Regina Pats goalie Matthew Kieper is 15-0-and-2, 1.80, .939 since being acquired from Canmore and he’s, singlehandedly, turned Flin Flon’s season around. Despite this incredible stretch, the Bombers still trail Melfort in the overall standings. The Mustangs are 32-and-6. The playoff race 4th through 8th is super tight with Yorkton at 47, Battlefords 45, Melville 43, Kindersley 42, and Humboldt 41 points respectively so the stretch drive is going to be fun to watch unfold.

7 – WILDLIFE – As I travel the province at night the one thing I’ve noticed in recent years is the incredible increase in the number of wildlife, especially deer on our highways. I see more carcasses than ever before and on my way back from Estevan on Wednesday night I counted five near encounters with deer and in many of those instances there was more than one congregating or running across the highway.  A month or so ago while driving back from Saskatoon following a Rush game, I came upon two moose sauntering down the Yellowhead Highway just on the Yorkton side of Foam Lake. By the time I got stopped, I was in between the two of them and fortunate for me that one did move enough to the right that while it still required some fancy steering I was able to avoid contact. The moose on my left simply looked over his shoulder as if to say ‘oh hey’ and just kept on trotting. I’d be curious to know how much it costs taxpayers to pay for body work on vehicles that hit wildlife each year and whether the number of wildlife accidents has increased significantly.

8 – HARKLESS NBA – The Canadian Elite Basketball League season doesn’t fire up until May and I’m a bit concerned they could find themselves in a situation where they are looking for a new Commissioner should Mike Morreale jump to the CFL but that’s a topic for another day. There are still a lot of people who don’t know about this league or the Saskatchewan Rattlers in particular so it may come as a surprise to a few readers to learn that Elijah Harkless, who played the first half of last season with the Rattlers, has played a handful games in the NBA with the Utah Jazz after inking a contract with them last month and remains on the active roster.  He’s averaging about 15 minutes per game, 2.8-points per game and 2.2-rebounds per game. Harkless was a very good CEBLer but not the best. The talent that has been coming into the league continues to improve with each passing year and it’s about time the CEBL starts to get more recognition as a legitimate breeding ground for the NBA.

9 – SKENES CARD – An 11-year-old sports card collector who pulled the only autographed Topps Paul Skenes card from a pack earlier this week has turned down an offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates to trade it to the organization in exchange for two season tickets behind home plate for 30-years, a softball game at PNC Park for 30-people, a meet and greet with Skenes during Spring Training, along with additional up close and personal experiences with the team. Skenes’ girlfriend has offered to allow the 11-year-old to sit beside her in her suite while some late night talk show host that I’ve never heard of wants to just ‘see’ the card and has offered four VIP tickets to a taping of his show that, I’m assuming almost nobody watches. It’s too bad what’s happened to late night TV. Gone are the days of Letterman and Leno and now we have a mish mash of nobodies who aren’t the least bit funny but I digress. I hope the kid keeps the card for many years and cashes in later in life. Season tickets to the Pirates should be considered punishment rather than a reward.

10 – MORE ON DINE AND DASH – Last week, both Mitchell Blair and I wrote about the situation at a Yorkton restaurant where a group of hockey parents was unsatisfied with their service but they accepted their meals for takeout and then refused to pay and walked out.  The feedback to me about hockey parents (some of which comes from other hockey parents) has been nothing short of astonishing.  I’ve heard similar tales of intolerable behaviour at restaurants as well as one very recent incident where an out-of-town minor hockey team was kicked out of a Yorkton hotel for being unruly. One restaurant employee told me they are banned from commenting on the bad experiences publicly because it could come back to hurt the business if hockey teams no longer frequent the establishment. She said there are plenty of good groups but also too many bad ones. If she could offer advice it would be to call ahead so the establishment can make plans to accommodate you. They want your business and want you to leave with a pleasant experience. My understanding is that the guilty people who did the dine and dash have been identified but it’s not been made public even though I think it should very much be made public so that not all teams in all communities are painted with the same undeserving brush.

(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)