Crescent Point Place in Weyburn has undergone a major face lift over the last half a dozen years. It makes me wonder why they didn't just build a new arena altogether. Nevertheless, the new lobby is likely going to garner rave reviews and the previous retrofit inside where there are luxury suites and the best media box in the SJHL are excellent.
A week ago, I thought the Melfort Mustangs might have the best number one line in the league. I'm not so sure after watching Drew George, Brock Appleyard, and Coltyn Sanderson. I'm also betting Yorkton will take issue too with their Breitkreuz-Ciolfi-Eisenhut combination.
If the Wings are to have a good season, they'll need banner years on the back end from Dylan Coupal and Ryan Whitell. They've inherited a big chunk of ice time in the wake of last year's graduations.
Estevan's going to be pretty good. Despite a decent start, head coach Karry Biette has made a number of player moves and it may take a while for the team to gel. Joel Kot is only a few games into running their powerplay, and Ben Findlay hasn't scored yet. Look for the Bruins to reel off four or five in a row in the near future.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders lost to the Toronto Argonauts yesterday and there is no question that special teams was the difference. Jim Daley should be embarrassed to have a rookie coach like Mike O'Shea completely outcoach him. Daley has been under fire all year and rightfully so. Some will say it's too late to fire a coach, and I disagree. It's too late to bring in somebody new, but not too late to replace Daley with either Ken Miller or Alex Smith. At the end of the day, special teams have cost this team a Grey Cup game, and probably two or three others in this regular season.
Usually, the Roughrider Roundtable is full of drunks and uneducated fans who do nothing more than blow hot air, however I was very impressed with a couple of callers last night. One came from a gentleman who has spent time in the Armed Forces and he talked about attending all of the Roughrider practices. He pointed out a number of things with the special teams that were very interesting, to say the least. The most important point was the yelling and screaming that is, apparently, being done. A second caller is a high school coach and he talked about how he always assigned two players to make sure the punter/kicker kicks the ball one hundred times out of a hundred. It's obvious the Riders don't do this or if they do, there are a couple of players failing miserably at the only assignment given to them on punts and kicks. Either way, it's unacceptable and these two players or the coach should have been shown the door long ago.
The circus act known as the Cincinnati Bengals lost again today. It's further evidence to my belief that you cannot win when your star players have motives other than the team at the forefront of their respective agendas. Sure, Terrell Owens had 102 yards and a touchdown today, but he was also fined for sending a Twitter message close to game time. The NFL has instituted a new rule that states there is to be no social media posts within 90 minutes of kick off. Another point on the Bengals: Carson Palmer has been terrible since opting not to undergo surgery on his throwing arm two years ago. He's finished.
The San Diego Chargers are the Saskatchewan Roughriders South. Poorly coached, bad special teams, and wasting away a roster that may be the most talented in the league.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are 2-and-0. You can catch the parade on TSN tomorrow morning provided SportsCentre isn't too busy telling us Mike Komisarek has been demoted to the third defense pairing. I get that TSN is in Toronto and, therefore, we are bound to receive a bit more info on the Leafs than we do other teams. But, it's overkill.
I am predicting the first NHL coach to be fired will be Claude Julien. My good buddy from Cape Breton, Perry Chandler, posted on my Facebook page yesterday that Julien should have been canned while his players were in the shower following game seven's loss to Philadelphia in the playoffs last year. He might be right. I watched the Bruins yesterday afternoon and I saw a team that had some goofy line combinations, uninspired play on defense, and a questionable powerplay that gave up two or three breakaways.
Why I hate salary caps: Edmonton will not be able to keep Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, and Magnus Paajarvi six years from now. If the Oilers develop a club that contends yearly for the Stanley Cup, they'll have to break it apart eventually due to the cap. It's like telling Tim Horton's they have to donate some of their profits and recipes to a competing dough-nut shop because they've been too successful. Look at the Pittsburgh Penguins. They said good-bye to their powerplay point-man (Gonchar) over the summer because they want to hang on to Malkin and Crosby for as long as possible. They may be able to do it, but they won't win Stanley Cups if those are the only two star players on the roster. If there was no salary cap, the Washington Capitals would have a good goalie. Even with the salary cap, the Florida Panthers are a joke. They send one of their best prospects back to junior even though he made their team because he will cost too much money. This, despite, a hard cap on rookie salaries as well as a hard cap on an overall team salary.
You have to wonder about the Tampa Bay Rays and manager Joe Maddon. Everyone loves Maddon, but that was a bird brain move in game two against Texas to start James Shields, who has given up more than 30 homers this year. The better play would be Matt Garza on the road against the power hitting Rangers and then get Shields in for either game three or four with the Rays at home and, presumably, with a win under their belt. Nevertheless, I like Tamps's chances in game five even though they have to go up against Cliff Lee.
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