The B.C. Lions celebrated winning the 99th Grey Cup on home turf last November. Will they be doing the same at the 100th edition of the big game in Toronto this coming November? Photo courtesy Mark Blinch/REUERS.
Just going to throw this out there: I’m an Edmonton Eskimos fan, but that doesn’t mean I think each of the seven other teams in the Canadian Football League are brutal. In fact, they aren’t. They have all put together talented rosters this year, and they each have rich histories full of championship glory.
Anyways, I digress.
The 2012 CFL season kicks off this weekend, and does so in a major way. The opening night doubleheader features a pair of intriguing games. Getting the season underway is a battle between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in The Hammer. Both teams enter with new head coaches – Cory Chamblin for the green Riders and George Cortez for the Tabbies – and looking to improve on last season’s performances. For the hometown Ticats, they’re looking to reach the Grey Cup for the first time since they hoisted it in 1999, just a year after losing 19-3 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East Final. Despite knocking off the heavily favoured, and two-time defending champion Montreal Alouettes in the East Semi-Final. In trying to improve on their dismal 8-10 record from a season ago, the organization also brought in a pair of acclaimed veterans from out west. Former Stampeders pivot Henry Burris is the new starter in Steeltown, and his new favourite target will likely be ex-Rider Andy Fantuz, who is sure to ready to line up against his old teammates.
The Riders, though they brought in a new – and very young – head coach, made significant offseason changes across the board. Their most notable acquisitions, however, were along the offensive and defensive lines. Former Blue Bomber Brendon LaBatte was signed to fill a big hole at guard, and University of Saskatchewan product Ben Heenan was made the first overall pick in this year’s CFL Draft. He will likely line up opposite LaBatte at the other guard position. The Riders also brought in another now former Blue Bomber in pass rushing specialist Odell Willis. The Meridian, Missisippi native is coming off a 13-sack season ago, in leading Winnipeg to a Grey Cup appearance. It was the third consecutive season in which Willis collected at least 10 sacks. Saskatchewan will be looking for Willis to replicate those numbers in 2012 as the team looks to return to the playoffs a year after missing them for the first time since 2001.
The second half of the opening night doubleheader features a Grey Cup rematch. On November 27, 2011, the British Columbia Lions outlasted the Blue Bombers 34-23 to win their sixth championship, and second one on home turf (1994). On June 29, 2012, the Lions will look to continue where they left off the 2011 season, with a win at home over Winnipeg. The biggest change for the defending champs from the offseason is that Wally Buono stepped down from his role as head coach to focus solely on his responsibilities as the team’s general manager. Stepping into the shoes of the five-time Grey Cup-winning coach is the Lions’ defensive coordinator and linebackers’ coach from 2008-2011: Mike Benevides. With last season’s Most Outstanding Player, quarterback Travis Lulay, returning with his familiar downfield receiving threats in Geroy Simon and Arland Bruce, the Lions are a real threat to repeat as Grey Cup champions.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers surprised a lot of people in 2011 with their run to the Grey Cup, especially after losing starting running back Fred Reid to a torn ACL mid-season and seeing QB Buck Pierce nursing some kind of injury virtually every week. Oh, and Pierce’s TD:INT ratio wasn’t worthy of a pivot playing in the Grey Cup. It was 14:18. Nonetheless, it was Winnipeg’s dominating defence and opportunistic special teams units that paved the way for the Bombers to win the East Division’s regular season crown and make it to the big game in Vancouver. Their sack master from a season ago, Willis, is not back with the blue and gold, and neither is defensive tackle Doug Brown, who retired in the offseason. The pressure off the defensive front will need to come from other players for the Bombers in 2012. Guys like Brandon Collier and Fernand Kashama have some big shoes to fill along Winnipeg’s defensive line this season. The Bombers also open the season with four straight road games (B.C., Montreal, Edmonton, Toronto), and I don’t see them escaping this stretch with better than a 1-3 record.
The weekend’s third contest is all about the return of Ricky Ray to Edmonton and the stadium he called home for nine seasons. The 32-year-old, two-time Grey Cup champion (2003, 2005) was dealt to the Toronto Argonauts last December in a deal which brought the quarterback he will oppose in both teams’ Week 1 opener: Steven Jyles. The trade came out of nowhere, but with the Argos hosting the 100th Grey Cup this November, the organization knew it needed to make a splash. By acquiring Ray and wide receiver Jason Barnes, his former Eskimos teammate, the Argos instantly improved an offence that struggled mightily to throw the ball downfield in 2011. New Argos head coach Scott Milanovichis an offensive-minded coach and he will be sure to let Ray air it out early and often versus his former team, and over the 18-game regular season schedule. The Argos look like a real threat in the East with their offence, but the play of their defence will dictate how far they go in the CFL’s centennial season.
I said this in January and I will say it again now. The Edmonton Eskimos will struggle this 2012 CFL season. Their struggles will result in a 6-12 record, which will get them last place in the CFL West Division standings and no trip to the playoffs. With one of the game’s most prolific passers no longer sporting the green and gold, the Eskimos offence is sure to have more off nights than on nights this season. And even though the Blue Bombers made it to the 2011 Grey Cup primarily as a result of the play from their defence, it’s highly unlikely Edmonton can duplicate that this year. Not that second-year head coach Kavis Reed has a bunch of misfit toys under him this year, because receiver Fred Stamps is the best player at his position in the league, but it’s going to be tough for Esks fans to support a team without a pedigreed quarterback under centre. The question I have, is when will Reed turn the quarterbacking duties over to former University of Oregon standout Jeremiah Masoli?
Canada Day weekend in the CFL concludes with a game actually being played on our national holiday. The Calgary Stampeders host the Montreal Alouettes in a battle between teams who both lost in their respective division semi-finals. The Stamps begin this season with Drew Tate as their number one QB, after longtime chart topper Burris was dealt to Hamilton for fellow pivot Kevin Glenn and offensive lineman Mark Dewit last January. Head coach John Hufnagel is putting all his eggs in Tate’s basket, hoping he’s the next coming of Jeff Garcia and/or Dave Dickinson, who is Hufnagel’s offensive coordinator. Tate kind of reminds me of Lulay, but with more of a chip on his shoulder. For the Stampeders’ sake hopefully he pans out, but I have my doubts about the University of Iowa product.
The Alouettes, although not entering this season as Grey Cup champions like they did each of the last two seasons, bring back the league’s most impressive and veteran roster. Future CFL Hall of Famer Anthony Calvillo will turn 40 years old on August 23, but he can still throw the pigskin like a 30-year-old in the prime of his career. A three-time Grey Cup winner, Calvillo owns a few worthy CFL records, including most career passing yards (73,412), most career touchdown passes (418), most career completions (5,444), most career passing yards in Grey Cup games (2,470 yards) and most completions in a regular season game (44). Even at age 39, Calvillo is still the premiere quarterback in the league and as he goes, so goes the Alouettes. Montreal’s defence has lots of questions to answer after surrendering 52 points in last season’s home playoff defeat to the Ticats. Should those questions be answered early in the season, especially on the road against an explosive Calgary offense, the Alouettes should return to the perch atop the East Division standings by the end of the regular season. However, the Argos might have something to say about that.
Predicted Standings:
East Divison
Montreal Alouettes 11-7
Toronto Argonauts 10-8
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 8-10
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 5-13
West Division
B.C. Lions 13-5
Calgary Stampeders 10-8
Saskatchewan Roughriders 9-9
Edmonton Eskimos 6-12
100th Grey Cup:
B.C. Lions 32 Toronto Argonauts 28
Liewicki Leaks 