Welcome back to another edition of Thoughts of the Week!
This week I wanted to start with a massive congrats to Canada’s women’s hockey team for their gold medal win against the United States. With shades of Patrick Kane in the 2010 Stanley Cup, Marie-Philip Poulin scored the overtime winner, but no one knew it went it. Fantastic work, ladies!
Speaking of national teams, the NHL has finally agreed to send their players to the Olympics this year.
This is excellent news as the 2018 edition of men’s ice hockey did not feel the same without NHL players. These guys love to go and represent their country, and it will be amazing to see the best compete against each other on an international stage.
Canada will be a heavy favourite as they have won the last Olympics NHL players attended. However, the United States will put up a big fight with a team featuring Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, and Patrick Kane.
Moving now to the NFL, which will begin in less than a week. The clear favourites from the AFC will be the Kansas City Chiefs. However, challenges will come in the forms of the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens.
In my opinion, I believe that Kansas City will struggle to start the season and suffer some losses early. A new offence line that, on paper, is much better than last season will need some time to jel. Combine that with tough matchups against the aforementioned Browns and Ravens in the first two weeks that may result in some L’s for Kansas City. They may hurt the Chiefs later in the season when they fully round into form.
Moving over to the NFC, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reign supreme. Brady just keeps winning, and I’m not sure how. The team around him in Tampa is impressive and will look to repeat as champs. That hasn’t happened since Brady did that with the Patriots in 2004 and 2005.
Looking for potential contenders in the conference, and you will find the likes of Matt Stafford with his new team, the L.A Rams, who will look to make it back to back seasons where they host city, also plays in the Super Bowl. How about the Green Bay Packers? Aaron Rodgers is entering his “Last Dance” mode with star receiver Devante Adams. Could Rodgers end his Green Bay career on a high note, over a decade since his first Super Bowl win?
Time will tell to see where the chips fall, but all I know is that I have the 4th pick in my fantasy football draft, and I’m thinking about who to take. Derrick Henry is right up there, but can he keep it going for another season. What about Alvin Kamara? The man who I stumbled into with a late-round pick back when he was a rookie. Do I go back to him again? We’ll see.
One of the final points I want to make this week concerns the upcoming Canadian federal election.
According to many polls, the conservatives have taken the lead in this race. For me personally, I don’t understand the need for an election right now. I figured the government was doing pretty well, given the circumstances.
I am confused as to why the Conservatives have taken the lead so quickly. However, when I drive around and see the number of signs supporting our Conservative MP, it doesn’t shock me as much.
There is an English language debate coming up in the next couple of days, and I will be interested to hear what all of the candidates have to say. We live in a very polarizing time, to say the least, and I believe that all candidates should showcase what makes them great instead of saying why the others suck. For right now, count me as undecided.
Anyways, that is it for this week’s edition of TOTW!
Talk to you later!