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Quest for Grey Cup starts today
Courtesy TSN.ca:
The 2009 Canadian Football League season kicks off with a double-header on TSN Wednesday. First the Hamilton Tiger-Cats host the Toronto Argonauts at 7pm et/4pm pt. Then it’s a Grey Cup re-match as the Calgary Stampeders face the Montreal Alouettes at 10pm et/7pm pt.
Repeating a Grey Cup title has proven to be a tough task in the CFL. It’s only been done five times, with the 1996-97 Argonauts being the last team to accomplish the feat.
The Stampeders will be looking to be the sixth team.
“The thing is, we didn’t peak last year – in any of the phases (of football),” said Stamps quarterback Henry Burris. “This year, that gives us that challenge to go out there and build the right way and make sure we’re peaking at the right time – and actually peak this season.”
For a team that didn’t peak, Calgary was pretty good. They finished 13-5 and were second in the league with 568 points scored. The defence allowed just 387 points against, tops in the CFL. Coach John Hufnagel was named the CFL’s Coach of the Year after the Stampeders beat the Alouettes in the Grey Cup.
TSN football analyst Chris Schultz, who won a Grey Cup in 1991, said his Argos failed to repeat because they opted not to re-sign star quarterback Matt Dunigan and the team lost its competitive edge – the hunger was gone. In Calgary, at least, the quarterback will return – Burris just signed a four-year extension.
Dunigan points to another example of continuity that favours the Stamps.
“I like the fact that the Calgary Stampeders coaching staff is intact,” said Dunigan. “They are all coming back and that’s huge… I like the fact that they have the same continuity. They are going to be preaching the same system to their athletes.”
There are some major changes on the Calgary defence. Mike Labinjo is the only returning starter on the defensive line and rookie Tray Blackmon will be featured at middle linebacker.
If Calgary does repeat, they would be just the fourth team to win the Grey Cup as the host. The last team to pull that off was the B.C. Lions in 1994.
The Alouettes was the East at 11-7 last year and will have 2008 Most Outstanding Player Anthony Calvillo back at quarterback to lead an offence that led the league with 584 points scored. Avon Cobourne will chase the league’s first 1,000 yard rushing and 1,000 yard receiving season. He was on pace to do it last year before injuring his ankle.
One notable stat plagues the Alouettes. They were 0-4 playing in the West last season, and TSN’s football experts agreed that the imbalance between the divisions makes it tough for the Alouettes to stay sharp.
“This for me is the biggest story going into the 2009 season,” said Jock Climie of the divisional disparities. “Not just for (Montreal) but for the whole league… I actually open the newspapaer and expect to see the ‘x’ beside Montreal because they’ve already clinched the East. That’s how clear it seems to me that they are going to run away with this thing.”
Montreal might be the heavy favorite in the East, but there is cautious optimism in Hamilton and Toronto. Both teams missed the playoffs last season, but hope springs eternal heading into 2009.
Hamilton will likely be handing the reigns of the team to young quarterback Quinton Porter, while Terry Caulley and Tre Smith will carry the mail on the ground with Kenton Keith out until at least Labour Day with a knee injury. Climie said letting Porter play would be the right move.
“This guy is the real deal,” said Climie. “He struggled a little bit here in preseason, but I am looking forward to seeing this trend — bringing in big name quarterbacks or running backs and having them not pan out — reversed.”
Dunigan said he was also impressed with what he has seen from Hamilton so far.
“I just think they’ve got talent there,” Dunigan said. “I’ve seen it in training camp. I’ve seen it in the way Marcel Bellefeuille runs practices. With their coaching, I think they are getting better and I think this football team has big upside this year.”
Dunigan said he was also buoyed by what he saw off the field in Hamilton.
“I was there the other night on the 55-yard line, 40 rows up, taking in a game with my kids,” said Dunigan. “I was thrilled at what I saw in the stands — packed full of kids. The next generation of Hamilton Tiger-Cats fans are being born and are watching the football team. Let’s hope they can turn it around there. They’ve got a good football team, in my opinion, with what I’ve seen so far in training camp.”
The Argonauts have not won a game since Labour Day and have a new coach with no CFL experience. Still, there is hope that Bart Andrus and his staff can help quarterback Kerry Joseph return to the form that made him a league MVP and a Grey Cup champion with Saskatchewan in 2007.
“We’ve known that Toronto was desperately in need of some structure, and that’s what Bart Andrus and his staff have given this organization,” Dunigan said. “I like the mentality they are bringing to the table. I’ve seen them in two preseason games, and the steps they took from the first to the second were remarkable.”
The Argos also say they will have a new attitude this year. Zeke Moreno joined the team at linebacker, bringing experience and toughness to the defence. The offensive line gained similar intangibles with the additions of Dominic Picard and Rob Murphy.
“We’re gonna be kind of a more nasty team, I think,” said Murphy. “It works. You win with it and it catches on.”
