When the Canadian Football League moved into the USA

Article by Duncan Gray

A 20^th anniversary get together was held last year for players of the winning team of the 1995 Grey Cup. What was a little unusual about it was that it was held in Baltimore, USA. It's not often spoken about now but that Baltimore Stallions championship win represented both the high point and the end of an attempt the CFL made to move into the American market in the 1990s.

 

That story became relevant again this year thanks to the relocation moves happening in the NFL. 

Since it was announced that the Rams are moving back to Los Angeles, fans in St Louis have been lobbying for the CFL to consider establishing a new franchise in their town. There's even a website, www.stlramscfl.com, promoting the idea.

The story of CFL expansion in the USA is one of failure, and not even glorious failure. Back in the 1990s the NFL was a very successful enterprise, but nowhere near as powerful as it is today. To the north meantime the Canadian League was in desperate straits. Crowds were poor, TV income was almost nil and every team except Edmonton was in danger of going bust. The idea was hatched that maybe they could make some money by having teams play south of the border.

So it was that the Sacramento Gold Miners, previously known as the Sacramento Surge in the defunct World League of American Football, played in the 1993 season as a West Division team. Four American teams played 1994, Sacramento, Shreveport Pirates, Baltimore CFL Colts and the short lived Las Vegas Posse. For 1995 there were five teams playing in a South Division. Sacramento had become the San Antonio Texans, Baltimore had become the Stallions, the Pirates were still in Shreveport and they were joined by Birmingham Barracudas and Memphis Mad Dogs.

Of all of these only Baltimore was a financial success. The others struggled to compete for fans not only with the NFL but against traditional NCAA and High School teams too. This was particularly true for the Birmingham Barracudas. Even the NFL can't compete with the NCAA's Auburn and Alabama in that state.

Baltimore was the successful team on the field too. After a 2&3 start in 1995 they won thirteen straight games and then comfortably saw off all opposition in the play-offs.

However, the Stallions success surely contributed to their demise. Demonstrating that a CFL team could attract 30,000 crowds in Baltimore just showed how attractive the city would be as an NFL venue. Before the Stallions even got to play their Grey Cup match, the Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell had announced that he was relocating his team to Baltimore for the 1996 season. Whether or not the NFL was intent on forcing the CFL out the US the move had that effect. There was no way the Stallions would be able to stay in Baltimore and compete for fans with the new Ravens.

Substantial losses had been made and the CFL abandoned its plans to run with two American teams, Baltimore and San Antonio, the next year.

This left the Canadian League in even more trouble than it started with. There were business sharks looking to buy the whole league dirt cheap and run it from a US base. Some would have got rid of the separate Canadian 12 men and 3 downs rules, some even wanted to move all the teams to the USA where no doubt it would have died like Donald Trump's USFL in the decade before (see, I said could be was topical) and Vince McMahon's XFL in the decade after.

The CFL retreated back to it's own territory. The Baltimore Stallions were saved by relocating them to Montreal where they became the Alouettes. Fortunately the league then received some financial support from a sympathetic NFL in exchange for co-operation agreements and that helped see it through its crisis.

That's all ancient history though. Today the CFL is stronger and more financially sound than it's ever been. There's no appetite to take risks or change anything without careful planning. They added one expansion franchise in Ottawa two years ago and that's been a great success, but they're not rushing to do it again.

With five teams in the West Division and only four in the East obviously the idea of adding a tenth team is attractive, if only to make scheduling fixtures a whole lot simpler. The main interest  is in having a franchise in Atlantic Canada where there's isn't one. Halifax, Nova Scotia, would be the ideal location but there isn't a suitable stadium there. Maybe if Halifax had been awarded the 2014 Commonwealth games instead of Glasgow... No, I don't really mean that. More likely for a new franchise will be one of the cities in Ontario which already have a University stadium, Windsor or Guelph maybe.

So is the league going to consider a St Louis franchise?

Commercially, the CFL is making inroads into the American market. Last summer,  before the NFL kicked off, ESPN showed twenty CFL games live and carried the rest of the season on its online service. A lot of American fans apparently liked having football to watch through the summer, some even preferred the attacking style of the Canadian Game. Viewing figures were good.

Playing a CFL game in St Louis, like an NFL International Series game in London, might be fun assuming the stadium could be configured for the bigger Canadian pitch. Travelling to Missouri  wouldn't be any harder than some of the journeys the teams already make inside Canada. But memories of the 1990s and the embarrassment that goes with them will surely scare off the CFL from any moves in that direction.

So, sorry St Louis fans. I hear the latest attempt to start a pro league in the US, Major League Football, is struggling. Maybe your ambitions would be better directed there.

For more on the CFL's 1990s expansion into the USA I recommend this article from Rolling Stone Magazine.

CFL Offseason update - All teams reviewed

Article by Duncan Gray

The CFL off-season is about half way through and the league is using the hashtag #IsItJuneYet? to help us through. So it's time for us to check in on what's happening in football north of the 49^th Parallel.

 

The 2016 fixture list came out last week, pre-season will start on 9^th June with each team having two games. The opening game is on 24^th June when the Toronto Argonauts will host their bitter local rivals, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Also in Week 1 there's a Grey Cup rematch as Ottawa Redblacks travel to the champion Edmonton Eskimos. That should see the season started with a bang. The regular season continues until November and then there are three rounds of play-offs before we're back in Toronto for the Grey Cup on November 27^th.

CFL 2016 Schedule

 

So what's been happening since the 2015 Grey Cup? Well, lots. There's been a big round of coaching moves and a record number of players are in the free agent market.

 

Here's a team by team run down on some of what's happened so far.

 

Edmonton Eskimos
The fans didn't get long to celebrate the Esks first championship in 10 years. By the time their hangovers had cleared, a few maybe not even sober yet, news was breaking that head Coach Chris Jones was leaving to take over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He'd had a financial offer he couldn't refuse. What's worse Jones took a lot of his assistants with him. The Esks moved quickly to appoint a replacement. The man they chose was Jason Maas, the one time Edmonton quarterback who impressed everyone last year while he was the Offensive Co-ordinator of the team Edmonton beat in the Grey Cup, the Ottawa Redblacks.

On the player front at least three free agents have followed Jones to Saskatchewan. They've held onto receiver Adarius Bowman and linebacker JC Sherrit who have both signed new two year contracts though. New players coming in include former NFL offensive players Jacoby Ford and Joe McKnight.

 

Saskatchewan Roughriders

After their dreadful 2015 season the big news in Riderville is obviously the Chris Jones appointment. He's been given at least four jobs; Head Coach, General Manager, Defensive Co-ordinator and vice-president of football operations. Despite having a small home market the Riders are the most successful team in money terms. They can afford to pay Jones big money for each of his new jobs so it's not such a surprise that he made the move.

Jones started work quickly by cutting large numbers of the playing squad. Among the notable departures have been a couple of veteran fan favourites, defensive end John Chick and receiver Weston Dressler. Jones said he was making cap space to rebuild the team.

Lots of trades and signings have been made as Jones rebuilds. They'll be almost unrecognisable from last year's. The most prominent free agent signing so far has been defensive end Justin Capicciotti coming from Ottawa, who should be an upgrade on Chick.

 

Ottawa Redblacks
The loss of Jason Maas has been a big hit to the Redblacks. By time honoured tradition, when a coach leaves a team to take a job elsewhere which is a promotion from his existing position then no compensation for his contract has been paid, or requested. The Redblacks decided to buck that rule and have demanded compensation from Edmonton. The League Commissioner Jeffrey Orridge has arranged for the matter to go to arbitration.
The big player move is the signing of quarterback Trevor Harris from Toronto. After his success last year Harris would have been looking for a starting role. Instead he'll be back up to the League MVP Henry Burris.  Burris will be 41 years old by the time the season starts, he's lasted a lot better than Peyton Manning but he can't go on for ever, can he?
Big losses will be DE Justin Capicciotti and RB Jeramiah Johnson. The record breaking group of receivers from last year should still be intact though.

               

 

Calgary Stampeders
There's a change at Head Coach in Calgary too, but this one was expected. Having achieved his 100^th win as head coach John Hufnagel has stepped aside to promote offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson to the Head Coach position. Hufnagel stays on as General Manager and President.

The team has lost big name offensive players. Running back Jon Cornish has retired to spend more time with other people’s money while last year's top receiver, Eric Rogers, has signed a two year deal with the San Francisco 49ers. Jeff Fuller has gone from the receiving corps too, reportedly having become a Seattle Seahawk, at least until the end of training camp.
The Stampeders have re-signed RB Jerome Messam, who played for them at the tail end of last season and have acquired receiver Bakari Grant from the Tiger-Cats through free agency.

 

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Ti-Cats didn't get involved in the coach’s merry-go-round, mostly because their people have no-move agreements in their contracts in exchange for enhanced job security. Head Coach/GM Kent Austin had his contract extended by 4 years.

There's optimism that quarterback Zach Collaros will return from his September knee injury early in the season. Meantime Jeramiah Masoli, who proved himself the best back-up to Collaros, has had his contract extended. Hamilton's main priority was re-signing linebacker Ted Laurent and they managed it, despite Montreal putting in a rival offer. Receiver Terrell Sinkfield has signed a futures contract with the Minnesota Vikings. He'll be replaced by Chad Owens, the CFL's Most Outstanding Player of 2012 (see graphic). As the big star of the Argos Hamilton fans generally hated him, so it'll be an interesting transition. 

 

 

Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Another significant coaching move here, the Bombers filled their Offensive Coordinator vacancy by hiring the man most agree they shouldn't have fired as head coach four years ago, Paul LaPolice. You'll recognise LaPolice, he's the guy who did the detailed breakdown of plays on the TSN Halftime Show. Cue jokes from around the league saying he's only taken the job as he'll still be available to work for TSN during the play-offs....
Not so quick though, if there's one thing we learned from last season was that teams need two good quarterbacks. Winnipeg have Drew Willy and Matt Nichols in place. And they've made some good looking player moves so far. In have come Weston Drexler and Ryan Smith from Saskatchewan and top Canadian running back Andrew Harris from BC. They've also replaced kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, who had a disastrous end to last season and cost them a couple of games, with one of the best in Justin Medlock.

 

Toronto Argonauts

The big changes in Toronto have happened behind the scenes. At New Year the ownership of the franchise was transferred from David Braley, who also owns BC Lions, to Larry Tanenbaum. The team are re-locating too. It's goodbye to the lifeless Rogers Centre where they played second fiddle to the Blue Jays baseball team and were forced to play home games away. Their home will be the newly refurbished BMO Field on the shores of Lake Ontario which they'll share with Toronto FC of the MLS. Last week a roof was being added to the spectator area. BMO will host the Grey Cup this year.

The Argos have chosen to stick with their 36 year old future Hall of Fame quarterback Ricky Ray and in the process lost back up Trevor Harris who led them last season in Ray's absence. Rebuilding the O line to protect Ray has been a priority. Most notably, Brian Bulcke is coming in from Hamilton.

Moves to the NFL are taking their toll on the team. Kicker Swayze Waters has left to try his luck with the Carolina Panthers, and replacing him will be the aforementioned Lirim Hajrullahu which doesn't sound too promising though is probably inexpensive. Their defence has taken a hit as Cleyon Laing and Tristan Okpalaugo are going south too.

 

 

Montreal Alouettes

We knew before the end of last season that the interim head coach Jim Popp is going to continue in both the coach and GM roles this season.

I'm not going to pretend to understand what Popp's plan is with linebackers. They'll have their defensive leader Bear Woods back after injury cost him the whole of last season and they made a big effort to sign Ted Laurent from Hamilton. However having failed there they then cut Canadian Henoc Muamba who had a year left on his contract and caused such a frenzy when he became available in the second half of last season. The ex-Indianapolis Colt is reportedly going to try the NFL again, expect another bidding war if that doesn't work out. Montreal have signed receiver Kenny Stafford from Edmonton. The Alouettes tend to make one signing every year designed to make headlines. Last year it was Michael Sam. Don't know yet who it'll be this year.

 

BC Lions
The last Head Coach change is at BC. Jeff Tedford was unpopular with the players, in fact it may well have been mutual, and he resigned after the end of the season. The Lions have brought their former head Coach Wally Buono out from the backroom to run the team again.

They'll be without top Canadian running back Andrew Harris who's joined the Bombers, but they have managed to keep the services of a couple of players who were free agents, receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux and running back Chris Rainey. He'll be joined in the backfield by ex-Redblack Jeremiah  Johnson. There was speculation that veteran quarterback Travis Lulay would retire, particularly as he did a very good TV stint during the play-offs, but he's signed an extension and will be competing with Jonathon Jennings for the starting role.

 

Looking ahead

There's still a long way to go until we have final rosters of course. There's the college draft in early May and the team scouts are busy looking for unknown American players who'll try their luck in the team training camps in June.  As always, lots won't make it but one or two of them will turn out to be stars.

Eskimos win a fitting finale to a great season

Article by Duncan Gray

Winnipeg greeted the 103rd Grey Cup with decent weather and, after a rush of fans from Ottawa arrived, it saw a sold out Investors Group Field on Sunday night. The teams responded with a thrilling game that went down to the wire

 

 

Ottawa Redblacks 20 -26 Edmonton Eskimos

 

Ottawa started the game on fire. Henry Burris led his team down the field on the opening possession and finished it with a Patrick Lavoie touchdown pass. The Eskimos Kendial Lawrence then fumbled away the kick off return and Burris threw a second TD, this time for seven yards to Ernest Jackson. The extra point was missed but the Redblacks were 13-0 ahead before the Edmonton offence had got onto the field.
The Eskimos' fight back wasn't long in coming and they pulled back 10 points before the end of the quarter. A Sean Whyte field goal was followed by Burris being intercepted and Mike Reilly connecting with Adarius Bowman for a  23 yard TD. Before half time Reilly threw a second touchdown, this one to Akeem Shavers, and Edmonton had a one point lead.

 

There was a long half time break while the crowd was entertained by the band Fall Out Boy. This gave the coaches plenty time to make adjustments and the second half was very different to the first as the defences took charge. The Redblacks had edged back in front through a Chris Milo field goal but with the three minute warning getting close it was Edmonton who got the breakthrough. The field position they needed came from 65 yards made on back to back defensive pass interference calls. The second one only came after Head Coach Chris Jones was persuaded to throw a challenge flag when he didn't seem to want to. The call gave the Eskimos  first and goal on the Ottawa ten. Three plays later back-up quarterback Jordan Lynch made a one yard dive on third down to clinch the go ahead score.

From there, the Eskimos defence, which held Ottawa to scoring only seven points after the first quarter, saw out the game. QB Mike Reilly, who had survived a constant battering from the Redblacks pass rush, finished with 21 of 35 for 269 yards and two touchdowns. He was named the game's MVP.

 

Game Highlights

 

 

So the Eskimos had their long awaited Grey Cup victory and their city is rightly celebrating. Almost as soon as the game was over head coach Chris Jones had his name added to the list of names rumoured to be signing targets for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It doesn't look like he's planning to leave though.

The Redblacks  can be proud of what they achieved in only their second year. With an exciting style and fanatical sell-out crowds they've been a great addition to the league.

 

CFL Grey Cup Final Preview

Article by Duncan Gray

It's the last game of the season on Sunday night as the champions of the East and West Divisions meet. It's the Grey Cup, the CFL's Super Bowl.

 

 

Edmonton Eskimos v Ottawa Redblacks
Investors Group Field, Winnipeg

Sunday 29 November
live coverage from 11.30pm on BT Sport ESPN.

 

Weather forecast: Dry, light winds, -5°C  (That's fairly mild for Winnipeg at this time of year, it's been down to -18°C some nights this week.)

 

 

The two teams who've timed their best form to the last weeks of the season are meeting in Winnipeg on Sunday night.

For Edmonton it's the first time they've reached this stage since 2005 and they last won in 2002.  They finished the regular season with a 14&4 record and defeated their great rivals, the Calgary Stampeders, to become Western champions.

Ottawa are the fairy tale story. They only joined the league last year as an expansion team and have jumped from only two wins in their first season to champions of the East. It's no surprise that Rick Campbell has won the Coach of the Year award.

 

Players to watch

The Ottawa offence is led by the veteran quarterback Henry Burris who has quite rightly won the year's Most Outstanding Player award. Two other players won awards too (see further down). Four receivers had 1000 yard seasons but Greg Ellingson has been the stand out in the last couple of games. He made the sensational 93 yard touchdown which got Ottawa here. Then there's ex quarterback turned receiver Brad Sinopoli who's won the Canadian Player of the Year award. The defence were the CFL sack leaders, watch out for lineman Shawn Lemon who came in from the San Francisco 49ers as an injury replacement and has anchored the unit.

 

Edmonton's defence was stingiest in total points and yards allowed. Among it's stars are rookie back John Ojo, who opposing QBs try to avoid, linebacker JC Sherrit and sack leader Odell Willis. The offence is led by Mike Reilly at quarterback who's favourite receivers are slotback Adarius Bowman and wide receiver Derel Walker, the Rookie of the Year. Kendial Lawrence poses a threat on kick returns too.

Who will win?
The bookmakers have Edmonton as seven point favourites to win the game. They beat Ottawa comfortably in their two meetings this season, but those were back in July and a lot has changed since then. I'll say the Eskimos will spoil the Ottawa “worst to first” narrative and take it, but with very low confidence.

 

Other News

 

Ottawa Redblacks dominated this year's Shaw CFL Awards which were presented on Thursday night.
MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER: Henry Burris, QB (Ottawa REDBLACKS)

COACH OF THE YEAR: Rick Campbell, Head Coach (Ottawa REDBLACKS)

MOST OUTSTANDING OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: SirVincent Rogers, OL (Ottawa REDBLACKS)

MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER: Adam Bighill, LB (BC Lions)

MOST OUTSTANDING SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER: Brandon Banks, REC/RET (Hamilton Tiger-Cats)

MOST OUTSTANDING ROOKIE: Derel Walker, REC (Edmonton Eskimos)

MOST OUTSTANDING CANADIAN: Brad Sinopoli, REC (Ottawa REDBLACKS)

 

Some Grey Cup notes

 

Spare a thought for CFL pundit Tyrell Owchar who contributes to the Two and Out podcast. Before the season started he declared that Ottawa had no chance of winning twelve games. If they did, he said, he would submit himself to a Brazilian waxing. The latest reports are that a suitable salon has been booked in Winnipeg for Ty to make good on the bet.

 

The Grey Cup was first presented in 1909. It was donated by Earl Grey, the Governor General of Canada, originally to be played for by amateur rugby clubs. It still bears the wording “Amateur Rugby Football Championship of Canada”.

 

This year's game brings reminders of the 1981 Grey Cup. That game featured the Edmonton Eskimos and a previous CFL franchise in Ottawa, the Rough Riders. Just like this year the Esks had had two bye weeks before the divisional final and came in as favourites. That Ottawa team hold the record for the team to make the final after the worst regular season record, they'd finished 5 & 11.

The game was a lot closer than expected. Edmonton, led by Warren Moon at QB, were 22.5 favourites to win but the final score was 26-23, the Eskimos won only by a last minute field goal!

There's another connection too, the Edmonton Head Coach was Hugh Campbell, the father of the current Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell.

CFL Divisional Finals Review

Article by Duncan Gray

Sunday night saw the places in next weekend's Grey Cup claimed. The two form teams should make the climax to the CFL season memorable.

 

Hamilton Tiger-Cats 28 - 35 Ottawa Redblacks

The Eastern Division Final was a close game throughout which came down to a remarkable final two minutes. Trailing by seven the Hamilton quarterback Jeremiah Masoli connected with Luke Tasker on consecutive 22 yard passes. The second was one of the catches of the season, Tasker caught it in a full stretch dive in the end zone to level the score at 28 all. A minute later they TiCats had Ottawa in deep trouble, facing a second down and 25 on their own 17 yard line. Henry Burris threw a huge pass into the wind which Greg Ellingson leapt to catch just short of halfway. He avoided two Hamilton defenders and sprinted down the right hand side line for the touchdown. As the final minute played out the inexperienced Masoli couldn't produce any more magic and the Redblacks had gone from last year's worst team in the league to winning a place in the Grey Cup.
Highlights

 

 

Calgary Stampeders 31 - 45 Edmonton Eskimos

What was expected to be a hard defensive game actually developed into a quarterback passing battle as the Eskimos claimed the Western Final, the Alberta bragging rights and their first place in the Grey Cup for ten years. Edmonton's Mike Reilly passed for 370 yards and a touchdown to each of his three main targets, Adarius Bowman, Kenny Stafford and Derel Walker. On the Stampeders side Bo Levi Mitchell had 381 passing yards and two touchdowns, caught by Eric Rogers (as usual) and a receiver who stepped it up for the night, Joe West. Crucially, the Esk's defence restricted running back Jerome Messam to just 56 yards, perhaps Calgary having an improvised offensive line made it easier for them, and they were able to make the game safe with a 29 point lead by the fourth quarter.
Highlights

 

 

CFL Divisional Semi-Final review and Finals preview

Article by Duncan Gray

The first round of the play-offs gave us two very different games, one was a blowout and the other decided on the last kick of the game. The teams who came through were the two who played in last years year's Grey Cup. For them the action moves to Ottawa and and Edmonton this Sunday. It will be another TV double header for us on BT Sport. The Divisional Final previews are further down the page.

 

For those outside of the BT Sport and ESPN market areas the CFL will be broadcasting the games live on their CFL Global YouTube Channel.

 

Divisional Semi-Finals

 

Toronto Argonauts 22 - 25 Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The Tiger-Cats came kept their hopes of playing in a third consecutive Grey Cup alive when Justin Medlock kicked a 47 field goal on the last play of the game to break a 22 all tie.
Toronto, with Ricky Ray at quarterback, were on top going into the fourth quarter with touchdowns having come on a short Brandon Whittaker run and a nine yard pass play to Chad Owens. Jeremiah Masoli, who was making his first QB start for Hamilton, was able to keep Hamilton in the game. He scored one TD on the ground, shared the running game with C J Gable and in the fourth quarter hit Bakari Grant for a 42 yard touchdown which tied the game and ultimately set up the last play win.
The Argonauts have done well through a lot of uncertainty this season and will be looking to build on their success with a new owner and new stadium after New Year. The Tiger-Cats now have Ottawa Redblacks between them and a third consecutive appearance in the Grey Cup.
Highlights

 

BC Lions 9 –  35 Calgary Stampeders

If the first game was as close as it gets the Western game wasn't. Calgary showed the form of reigning champions and comfortably saw off BC Lions. The star of the show was running back Jerome Messam. The Stamps signing on Transfer Deadline Day looked like the bargain of the year as he ran up 147 combined rushing and receiving yards and scored a touchdown. Bo Levi Mitchell connected with Eric Rogers for two other scores as BC had no answer for the Calgary Offence. The Lions suffered a big set back as they lost starting quarterback Jonathon Jennings before half time to a shoulder injury after he was sacked. They were already 24-3 behind though so it didn't make much difference.

Highlights

 

 

Game Previews

 

Eastern Division Semi Final –  Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Ottawa Redblacks

TD Place, Ottawa
Sunday 22^nd  November, live on BT Sport ESPN at 6.00pm UK time.

 

Weather forecast: 4°C, showers, possibly snow.

 

After their bruising encounter with the Argonauts, Hamilton have to gather themselves together as they face their third game against Ottawa Redblacks in four weeks. They lost the first two so will be starting as second favourites. The performance which stand-in quarterback  Jeremiah Masoli produced last week must give them hope as will the superiority of their special teams. Defending kick returns is a weakness of Ottawa so look for the speed of Brandon Banks to challenge them. However, the loss of defensive end Eric Norwood will be a serious blow to the TiCats.

The Redblacks will have a sell-out crowd backing them for what is the first post season football to be played in the city for over thirty years and the first Ottawa team in the play-offs for over twenty. They've hit top form at the right time and come into the game after four regular season wins in a row. With Henry Burris and his all star set of receivers they lead the league in total offence while their defence registered more sacks than any other team.

Who will win? The Ottawa bandwagon is rolling and I don't see it being stopped yet. TiCats coach Jeff Reinebold could be appearing in the Sky Sports studio sooner rather than later.

 

 

Western Division  Final – Calgary Stampeders at Edmonton Eskimos

Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton

Sunday 22^nd  November, live on BT Sport ESPN at 9.30pm UK time.

 

Weather forecast: 4°C, sunny intervals, moderate winds.

 

Early in the season it appeared there had been a major power shift in the CFL. Teams from the East Division were beating their Western rivals, they even swept the board in Week 2. By the end of the year normal service had been resumed, the Alberta teams both had 14 and 4 records and were clearly the strongest in the league.
Edmonton have home advantage thanks to having won two of three against the Stampeders and they've had three weeks since their last game to rest and recover and to plan. Their meetings with Calgary have been low scoring games and the Eskimo's league leading defence was key to their wins. Meanwhile quarterback Mike Reilly also has two of the best passing targets to threaten the Calgary line with, Adarius Bowman and Derell Walker.
With Jerome Messam proving he can cover the running back slot for Jon Cornish it looks like Calgary's offence are well balanced coming into the game. However their season long problem is still dogging them, last week they suffered injuries in the offensive line and yet again had to borrow players from the defence to cover. With the recent injuries having hit Canadian players Shane Bergman and Pierre Lavertu, head coach John Hufnagel has some big team selection decisions to make.
Who will win? Edmonton have had rest, Calgary have had game practice, it could go either way. Taking into account home advantage and the problems in the Calgary O line I'm taking Edmonton to grind out a result, but I'm not confident.

 

 

Next Week

The winners of these games will travel to Winnipeg to play in the 104^th Grey Cup. Before that the year's Most Outstanding Player awards will be announced.

CFL Divisonal Semi-Final previews

Article by Duncan Gray

It's November. The weather's turning cold in Canada but the CFL action is getting hotter. There are six teams and two rounds of games left before the Grey Cup at the end of the month. The two games this week are scheduled to be shown live as a double header on BT Sport ESPN on Sunday evening.

 

The CFL announced this week that the play-off and Grey Cup games will be streamed live worldwide on YouTube. However it hasn't been made clear if the stream will be available in the UK and Ireland where BTSport is broadcasting the games, or in the Americas and Australia which is covered by ESPN.

 

 

Game Previews

 

Eastern Division Semi Final – Toronto Argonauts at Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton
Sunday 15^th November, live on BT Sport ESPN at 6.00pm UK time.

 

Weather forecast: 12°C, no rain, light winds.

 

The two bitter Southern Ontario rivals have had strong periods during the season as they built ten win records but they've both struggled towards the end. Toronto led the league during the weeks while the TiCats were clearly the best during the middle period. That was when Hamilton swept the three games between them. However neither team has been strong in the later third of the season, the Als went three and three, Hamilton two and four.

If Toronto are going into the game with one advantage it's that they have two first string quarterbacks. Future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray has been restored to the starting slot after missing most of the season with a shoulder injury. No one thinks he's back to his best but all that experience counts for a lot and they do have Trevor Harris as back-up. The offence has been boosted by the addition of ex Seattle and Cleveland receiver Phil Bates while they'll probably have both Chad Kackert and Brandon Whitaker at running back.
Hamilton on the other hand are reduced to second and third string quarterbacks after they lost Zach Collaros to injury. Jeremiah Masoli proved to be the best available last week though it's suggested Jeff Matthews might be fit to return. Beyond that the offence has benefited by the return of running back C J Gable and slotback Andy Fantuz. Their defence is still very strong, but it's not the scary force of mid season which threatened to break all sorts of records. Jeff Reinebold's Special teams unit have made a big contribution all year so watch for them having a trick or two up there sleeves.
Who will win? Home advantage is big at Tim Hortons Field, the crowd will be large, loud and shouting "Argos suck". But there's history in the CFL that says four wins by one team over another in a season doesn't happen.  Toronto had a much less intense game last week, I think they might just spring a surprise.

 

 

Western Division Semi Final – BC Lions at Calgary Stampeders

McMahon Stadium, Calgary

Sunday 15^th November, live on BT Sport ESPN at 9.30pm UK time.

 

Weather forecast: 1°C, chance of snow, light winds.

 

There's a saying in the CFL that the season really only starts at Labour Day. It's a teams performance down the stretch that matters. BC Lions are a team which is peaking at the right time. They struggled most of the year but a late season surge and week 18 and 19 wins over Hamilton and Toronto were enough to sneak them into the play offs. Their return to form actually coincided with rookie quarterback Jonathon Jennings taking over from the injured Travis Lulay. Other big name players keeping the BC fans hopeful include running back Andrew Harris, wide receiver Emanuel Arceneaux and linebacker Adam Bighill who was the only unanimous choice in the Divisional All-star teams announced this week.

The Calgary Stampeders haven't beaten by any team except the Eskimos since July. Their top running back Jon Cornish is expected to miss this game. He missed a few games earlier in the season and the Stamps still won, and now they have Jerome Messam to provide cover. Expect Bo Levi Mitchell to keep making connections to the CFL's leading receiver Eric Rogers.

Who will win? I'm going to go with home advantage. The Lions will provide a serious challenge but expect Calgary to edge it.

 

 

Next Week

The winners of these games will travel to Ottawa Redblacks and Edmonton Eskimos for the Divisional Finals.

 

 

Other News This Week
The three teams which didn't qualify for the play-offs have started work for next year. To the surprise of very few, Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced that offensive coordinator Marcel Bellefeuille won't be having his contract renewed for next year. In contrast, almost everyone was surprised when the Montreal Alouettes announced that their general manager and interim head coach Jim Popp will continue as head coach next year. No word yet on who'll be offered the most high profile job, head coach at Saskatchewan Roughriders.