1 – BYE, BYE JETS? LEAFS?: The Toronto Maple Leafs are down 3-1 in games to the Boston Bruins and the Winnipeg Jets are down 2-1 in games to the Colorado Avalanche but other than the fact both teams are trailing, that’s where the similarities end. The Jets are pinning their hopes on Vezina candidate Connor Hellebuyck and he’s been anything but that in the first round and until he finds his regular season form, the Jets can expect to keep right on losing as the rest of their lineup is greatly overmatched. Jets fans are like Rider fans. They overvalue how good their top players are and because of that, many are surprised that Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor aren’t in the same class as Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. And for as good as Josh Morrissey is, he’s no Cale Makar. The Jets do have excellent depth but it’s not going to matter as long as Hellebuyck is surrendering 5 a night. As far as the Leafs go, they are in every game but are coming up just a bit short. It’s a song that has been played for 8 years, however, so the close but no cigar statement rings hollow for their fans. It’s going to remain this way for them as long as they keep their core of Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares, and Rielly together. There simply isn’t enough money under the cap to keep their major pieces and also add to it the way they need to. Last year, after they lost to Florida, I figured Marner was the most untouchable of them all. Now, i’m thinking he could be the first to go. And, while it’s not possible to be underrated in Toronto, I often wonder if Morgan Rielly goes unappreciated and perhaps the Leafs make a big mistake and move him in an effort to free up some money. The Leafs aren’t done yet and Boston blew a 3-1 series lead last year so writing about their demise is definitely premature but it could also be an interesting offseason in Toronto. I’m also going to say it’s a foregone conclusion Sheldon Keefe finds the unemployment line if the Leafs go down in this series.
2 – RUSH HOUR: The Saskatchewan Rush season ended last Saturday with a thrilling 12-11 loss to the league’s top team, the Toronto Rock. The Rush had the lead at halftime and were in it the entire way and even came within a whisker of the tying goal with just two seconds left but Nick Rose made a huge save. All-time Rush great Mark Matthews burned his former team with 4 goals and 7 points to seal their fate but the future for Saskatchewan is a bright one. They are night and day better at Game 18 than what they were in Game 1. I still think they need a vast improvement on faceoffs, but other than that, I hope that just having players be a year older will also help them be a year better when next season begins in December. On a positive note, the announced crowd of 9069 on Saturday was the second largest of the year.
3 – RUSH-ING: Looking back on the season, if even one break goes Saskatchewan’s way in a number of games, they are in the playoffs. In the home opener against Rochester, the Rush were up 14-13 with five minutes remaining when they gave up three straight to end the game. The next home game against Albany, they lost in overtime, mainly due to their inability to win a faceoff to get an offensive possession (lost 22 of 25 overall). After a three week break, the Rush took a 9-5 lead against Vancouver into the fourth quarter, only to run out of gas and lose 11-9. March 8th, they lost in overtime to Buffalo in a see-saw affair in which face-offs also played a key role (lost 27 of 33). March 24th they were outscored 6-1 in the fourth quarter in losing 9-7 to Georgia. If they win even two of those six games, the Rush would have been a fifth place team overall. So, they are that close to being back near the top of the pile in the NLL.
4 – HISSSSSS: The Saskatchewan Rattlers begin their CEBL season in late May and signings are expected to ramp up in the coming days. To that end, the Rattlers have signed Elijah (EJ) Harkless to the team for the 2024 season. Harkless made his pro debut this season for the LA Clippers affiliate and played 20 games, averaging 11.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. Those are pretty solid numbers for a player entering the CEBL so he figures to be an importance piece. Last year’s stud performer, Justin Wright-Foreman, is playing in Italy and has averaged 16-points per game over his last three but is only 3 of 14 from behind the three point line over that same stretch. The Italian season is currently in week 29 of 30 so there’s hope that maybe Wright-Foreman will want to continue playing once his team is eliminated from competition.
5 – THE RETURN: Thank you for all the kind messages and posts after my column last week. I don’t take for granted the enjoyment some of you get out of reading what I have for thoughts and I have to say I don’t intend to change anytime soon. My opinions, for now, are mine and I’m allowed to share them until (and there may become a day) such time as it is deemed illegal to publicly oppose those who are ideologically left wing (otherwise known as crazy).
6 – OHHHHH BABY!: The last great Canadian broadcaster, Bob Cole, died on Thursday at the age of 90. While those who are a bit older than me grew up on Foster Hewitt and Danny Gallivan, I grew up on Bob Cole (and Dan Kelly). Cole owns just about every single famous NHL soundbite that I replay from my youth and even some of my adulthood. I think of one of Wayne Gretzky’s backbreaking goals against Calgary during his Oiler heydays. I think of Mario Lemieux undressing Shawn Chambers and Jon Casey in the Stanley Cup finals against Minnesota. Eric Desjardins’ overtime winner against the Kings in the finals. He also had his own trademark ‘Oh Baby’, which I believe first started on that famous Lemieux goal I mentioned. I never liked Toronto, but the Doug Gilmour overtime winner against St. Louis when he finished off an elaborate wraparound was truly epic. There are more, but these are the ones that come immediately to mind.
7 – TIMES HAVE CHANGED: What made Cole great and what makes everyone else that has come after him a lot less than great was that all of Cole’s calls came from the heart. They were not scripted, they were not fake. He called the game as he saw it and his words were genuine. His excitement was authentic. To a man (and woman I guess), every single play by play announcer of today is hoping they will get to be on the mic for an iconic moment and they’ve got some clever phrase or a contrived version of thrill that comes across as phony. I think some of them truly believe their call is what makes a moment great instead of just being thankful it’s their voice saying whatever happens to naturally come to mind in that illustrious moment. Even the NHL’s best play by play man of today (Chris Cuthbert) allowed his ego to take over on his most famous call, the Sidney Crosby golden goal, and because of that it really isn’t all that great of a call at all. How many times can the Toronto radio man say ‘holy mackinaw’? It’s not real emotion. Too many announcers today feel as though they need to amp up the excitement and, frankly, it doesn’t sound good. In fact, I’d say over half of the NHL television and radio play by play broadcasters are so caught up in themselves that they are unlistenable. Cole was the very last of his ilk. There will never be another. Not. Even. Close.
8 – SAY WHAT?: Earlier this week, I saw a post on X from a person who attended a PWHL game who said that before the contest started, the crowd in attendance was asked to read a pledge out loud together that commits a person to speaking up against so called hateful speech and actions ‘because it is about more than just the game’. I could be wrong but that isn’t going to endear the pro woman’s hockey game to more fans. There are also a significant number of people who, simply, disagree with the pledge and think that taking a stand against biological males playing female sports is wrong. Regardless of how one feels about these issues, I have a larger concern about getting the crowd to recite a ‘pledge’ of any kind.
9 – SAY WHAT? II: I’ve always said that you don’t need to shove women’s sports down anyone’s throat (like what is happening with professional woman’s hockey) in order to get people to watch. If the product is good, people will tune in. Personally, I watched more of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament in March than I did of the men’s. What ends up ruining it are stories from so-called journalists that detract from the accomplishments by writing articles, such as the one in The Athletic this week, that says Caitlin Clark’s appeal isn’t based solely on basketball. The writer, who is a loser and doesn’t deserve the attention of name recognition, claims that Clark’s $28-million endorsem*nt deal is also worth what it is because she’s a white female in a sport dominated by black women. She’s also straight and joining a league that has significant hom*osexual player population, and she comes from America’s heartland, which is a place where Americans feel their beliefs and values are ignored or disrespected by the geographical edges of the country (New York and Los Angeles).
10 – FURTHERMORE: For those of you triggered over me pointing out the now all-too-common young person sudden death epidemic, I am sorry to cause you a bit of internal emotional discomfort. Howie Schwab, former ESPN host, died at the age of 63 last week (and no that is not ‘old’ for those of you defending all of these deaths). He reported back in June 2023 that he had a sudden onset of blood clots as well as fluid in his lungs and heart. Meanwhile, 50-year-old Golf Channel host Stephanie Sparks passed away on April 13th. Her cause of death is listed as unknown. Again, we know this is now a new normal for people of all ages but should it be?
(Mike Stackhouse is a freelance writer/broadcaster)
