This And That

--Welcome to Friday and the usual thoughts running through my muddled mind.  As always, they come in no particular order


--The Riders wanted receivers in the draft.  Mission accomplished!  Is it a revival of the Canadian air force? Justin McInnis and Brayden Lenius give the team some young, talented Canadian pass-catchers.  Add him to Mitch Picton and that area of the roster is no longer a concern.  While you can't give official grades on drafts for a while, the early prognosis would be Jeremy O'Day did quite well in what was his first draft as a GM.  I would expect barring injury or an extended stint in the NFL that both will be on the opening day roster and both could start, but that might be a stretch. 

--The Toronto Argonauts appeared to have held a draft party Thursday.  That is solid!  Did any other teams do that. By watching the TSN coverage, it appeared as if the Argos invited some people to show up and they had a good showing. One can only wonder why the Riders didn't do a draft party.  Good on the Argos for drumming up interest. 

--Brad Marchand is getting under everyone's skin again.  I love it. I've said it once and I will say it again. I would have Brad Marchand on my team every day of the week. He is an agitator extraordinaire and he is a 100 point man. That combination is rare in the game.  Yes, every now and then he may cross that line, but he is the game's ultimate villain. Was the hit on Scott Harrington that hard?  Mrs. Scruffy has hit me in the back of the head harder than that while at Costco on a Saturday afternoon.  If that is anyone else, we aren't even discussing this. 

 Leafs fans hate him and for good reason.  Is he any worse than Darcy Tucker? 

--The Carolina Hurricanes aren't the most talented team in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but no team is working harder than Rod Brind'amour's squad which should be no surprise.  If a team was ever like their coach, it is this one. They made the Islanders look foolish at the end of Game 3 on Wednesday night  They just skated circles around them in the final 10 minutes.  Could "The Jerks" win the Stanley Cup?  Find Steve Martin and get him to a game. 

--What is a Roope Hintz?

--Have people forgotten about common courtesy?  It doesn't matter if I am downtown, south Regina, north Regina or wherever, I just keep seeing people who A) refuse to hold a door open for someone--man or woman or B) if they do, there is no thank you from the person whom you've held the door open for --man or woman. Let's be better!

--Is the Jon Ryan situation going to come right down to training camp?  You know he wants to be here and I'm sure the Riders want him as well.  Its just a matter of $$$$ if you ask me. 

--I have no problem with fighting in hockey as long as it isn't staged. I do have a problem with two players fighting at a spring camp and the bout being put on social media as the SJHL's La Ronge Ice Wolves did this past weekend.  Was the camp so bad that that was the only highlight?  Is that the image the Ice Wolves are trying to present?  Well, they do have former Blade Kevin Kaminski as their head coach and those who remember him know he would drop the mitts from time to time.  At the end of the day, this was just a stupid mistake.  I am guessing fights happen at spring camps all the time, but they aren't put on social media. 

--It takes some stones for 200 lady hockey players to say they aren't playing next year unless a major overhaul to their game is given.  The ladies are right in saying they won't play until they get the proper resources, but will anyone listen.  Here's hoping.  Say what you will about women's hockey, but the game is getting better and while it will never rival men's hockey in our lifetime, they deserve some recognition.   The NHL should be stepping in here and creating a WNHL much like the NBA with the WNBA.  Why can't this be done? You can't tell me they couldn't put teams in the original six locations and then some.  Would you follow a team if they put one in Saskatchewan?

--Who ya got in the WHL final? One has to think Prince Albert is the favourite, but I think this could be a long series.  Goaltending may very well decide it and if that's the case, expect some low-scoring games with Ian Scott and David Tendeck patrolling the pipes.  I may have to shell out and get WHL Live for the finals. It will be a great series. 

--That's all I got.. Have a great weekend!