Mitch Kasprick is the “Motown Curmudgeon” aka “Motown Mitch”
Odds and Ends, Thoughts and Questions, from this past week in sports –
Just so there’s no confusion when I’m spewing my bias, I am a fan of the Winnipeg Jets, Arizona Coyotes, Manitoba Moose, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Winnipeg Goldeyes, Toronto Raptors, all curlers from Manitoba, and all Canadian athletes competing on the international stage.
I am NOT a fan of Gary Bettman or as I call him, Count Chocula. I am a big believer in the 7Ps. You’ve been warned.
1. Jets: The Winnipeg Jets are done for the season and the buzzards are looking for a scapegoat. It looks like everybody is fair game. Sometimes you are going to lose but it looks like in today’s world people NEED to blame somebody. WOW! Maybe and I mean maybe if we were Stanley Cup favourites but this Jets team was a fringe contender at best. Take a deep breath and relax people.
2. NHL: I got yelled at when I was asked who I’m cheering for to win the Cup now that the Jets have been knocked out and I said they can all kiss my a**. I was then informed that I had to pick somebody. Ok. I pick Columbus because I like Torts. He can be as curmudgeonly as me sometimes.
3. Jets: I wonder if the Jets brass might make an assistant coach or two a scapegoat this off-season? (see #1)
4. Jets: I think a question that needs to be asked right now is which year was the aberration, this season or last season? I think it was this season but that’s just me.
5. Jets: I was furious when Paul Maurice continued to use Jacob Trouba on the top powerplay unit after Dustin Byfuglien was healthy and playing but then it occurred to me that Kevin Cheveldayoff and Paul Maurice were evil geniuses. They were building a Trojan Horse. They were propping up Trouba’s stats to improve his trade value. They already know there is no way he is re-signing this summer. Now on the market, they have a coveted right-shooting, top pairing, shutdown defenceman that can give you 50 points. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!
6. NHL: With the way the playoffs are being officiated I wonder if GMs might revert back to bigger, grinding players. It looks like the NHL has no interest in stopping the assault on their skilled players. Some things never change.
7. IIHF: The IIHF gets its fair share of criticism and rightly so but this move is actually an improvement, although not perfect.
At this year’s Men’s Worlds, @IIHFHockey will use 3 on 3 in OT for the gold medal game until a winner is decided, with an eye towards expanding it to other tournaments.
— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) April 27, 2019
8. Jets: Now there are rumours going around that the problem in the Jets dressing room is the captain. I believe the captain probably has a problem with a bunch of the younger players that think they’re privileged and don’t have to work or buy into the system. I’m not saying Blake Wheeler is perfect and I’ve definitely had issues with his play over the years but there is no way I believe he is the problem. (see #1)
9. Jets: I think this Jets off-season is going to be their most interesting off-season since their arrival in Winnipeg. It all starts with Jacob Trouba and then the rest of the dominoes will start to fall. This could be a very different looking team come September.
10. Jets: A lot of Winnipeg Jets fans are wondering if Paul Maurice has taken this Jets team as far as he can and if he is on a very short leash next season?
11. NHL: The NHL apologizing to the Vegas Golden Knights over a blown call is an absolute joke. There have been thousands of blown calls over the years and I don’t remember this happening before. Count Chocula just keeps making it easier and easier for fans to hate his guts and to hate Vegas.
12: Blue Jays: Friday in Toronto was officially Vladdy Day in Canada. Toronto Blue Jays fans are certainly loving their new toy.
13: Raptors: Kawhi Leonard wasn’t kidding when he said he was saving his best for the playoffs. Fourty-five points in game one of the second round certainly confirmed that.
14: NHL: Oh boy, now we get to listen to Mitch Marner contract speculation for the next THREE months on TSN and SportsNet.
15: Jays: The Jays have battled back from a brutal start and have reached the .500 mark at 14-14. The thing is they are playing some entertaining baseball. Now with Vladdy Jr. on the scene, they could be fun to watch for the rest of the season.
16: WHT Podcast: In case you missed it WHT Podcast 092 can be heard here >>>> 092. Special guest ex-Jet, Scott Campbell joins us to discuss the Winnipeg Jets season, their first-round loss to the St. Louis Blues, Jacob Trouba, Paul Maurice, and next year’s roster.
17: Jets: Not in the past, not now, and not in the future will the Winnipeg Jets or any other NHL team win on skill alone. Every player needs to work hard and compete to give their team a chance to win every night and that will never change. I feel quite comfortable saying that I don’t think ALL Winnipeg Jets players bought into this.
18: NHL: It would be nice if the NHL’s linesmen could figure out what icing is.
19: Blue Jays: I’m a huge Toronto Blue Jays fan and I along with other Jays fans have been looking forward to the arrival of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. but the amount of hype around his arrival was incredible. This kid is facing a huge mountain of expectations.
20: Jets: Would you want Tyler Myers back if the Jets trade Jacob Trouba and don’t get a defenceman back in the deal?
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Thanks, Mitch
I agree with all the Jets and NHL related points Especially the officiating and Bettman apologizing to his pet franchise.
Thanks for reading Bruce