Courtesy CFL.ca

HAMILTON - Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray knows his head coach, Danny Maciocia, is about as popular in Edmonton as former Oilers defenceman Chris Pronger.

But Ray thinks it would be a huge mistake for the Eskimos to sack his boss after the franchise failed to make the playoffs for the second year running.

The Eskimos finished the season with a brutal record of five wins, 12 losses and a tie. They wrapped it all up in fitting fashion Saturday night with a 21-19 loss to the hapless Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“I hope Danny comes back,” said Ray, who missed the last third of the season with a separated shoulder. “I think he’s a good coach. I hear the fans talking about Danny, but I heard all that stuff in ‘05 when we won a Grey Cup with him.

“It’s a collective effort. Danny doesn’t just become a bad coach over the last couple of years. He’s a good coach.”

Tell that to the scores of enraged fans who want someone, anyone, to pay for the sudden ineptitude of a football team that qualified for the playoffs for 34 years in a row, a record in North American professional sports.

But Ray sees 2007 as Year 2 of a rebuilding program. As such, he wants team president Rick LeLacheur to avoid the temptation to hand out pink slips like Halloween candy.

“When you have a young team, you’re going to go through some growing pains,” Ray said, calmly. “When you play in a lot of close games, that can be the difference between making the play to win the game and not making the play. We’ve just had an inconsistent type of year.”

Ray looks around the dressing room and sees some positive signs — even if they’re invisible to most disenchanted Eskimos fans. Due to the rash of injuries, several promising newcomers saw precious playing time including backup QB Stefan LeFors, wide receiver Fred Stamps, defensive back Lenny Williams, and guard Aaron Fiacconi.

“The good thing is, I think we’ve got the right guys in place now, so we can hopefully go into next year without too many changes — so we can build off this experience,” Ray said. “I hope we don’t end up starting over again next year, otherwise we’ll get the same results.”

Don’t discount the weight of Ray’s voice within the organization. He’s the highest-paid player in the CFL with an annual salary of $450,000. He’s a franchise player with two Grey Cup victories to his credit. And he’s only 28.

When Ray speaks, LeLacheur listens. He has to, especially with Ray heading into the option year of his contract.

“We’ve been trying to get a little bit younger,” Ray said. “We’ve been having some growing pains. If we can keep things intact for next year, hopefully we won’t have to go through those growing pains again.”

The 2007 football season was a painful ordeal for Ray, right from the beginning. He played behind an injury-ravaged offensive line. His top receiver, Jason Tucker, laboured all year with a nagging knee injury that made it difficult to walk, never mind run.

In Week 13, Toronto linebacker Willie Pile roared off the blind side and pounded the Edmonton quarterback to the ground. Ray separated his right shoulder on impact.

Edmonton’s playoff hopes may have died on the spot. The Eskimos failed to win a single game with their franchise player out of the lineup.

“A lot of guys have had the opportunity to get some serious playing time because of injuries, and I think that’s going to help us out a lot in the next couple of years,” said Ray, looking for a rare positive in a sea of negative.

The last six weeks have been brutal for Ray. His team lost six straight, and he couldn’t do anything about it. Off the field, he bumbled around with his right arm out of commission.

“Eating, turning in a car, going to the bathroom, reaching to grab my seatbelt, putting on deodorant — it’s all tough,” he said. “You just don’t realize how many things you do with your right hand when you’re right-hand dominant.

“You’re so unco-ordinated when you try to do those things with your left hand.”

In spite of solid numbers put up by LeFors, the Eskimos looked just as unco-ordinated without No. 15 under centre.