On home turf, Bombers will be pumped
Bombers have never played post-season game at stadium that opened in 2013
In a CFL season of quirky facts and statistics, this one may best represent it.
On Sunday, the Edmonton Eskimos, a team that won seven, lost six, then won their final five games of the regular season, will play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Investors Group Field. Edmonton (1-0) has a better post-season record in the stadium than Winnipeg (0-0).
The Bombers haven’t played host to a playoff game since 2011 in old Winnipeg Stadium. The Eskimos won the Grey Cup in Investors Group Field in 2015.
Until this year, Edmonton had never lost a game in the joint. And that included the Oilers, winners of the NHL Heritage Classic here.
Receiver Clarence Denmark remembers the last non-Grey Cup playoff game in Winnipeg well.
He was the one member of today’s team who played in that 2011 contest. The temperature was -13C with a 19 km/h wind. The Bombers beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 19-3 and advanced to the Grey Cup game where they lost 34-23 to the B.C. Lions.
That was the year everybody started taking a turn winning it — B.C. in 2011, Toronto in 2012, Saskatchewan in 2013, Calgary in 2014, Edmonton in 2015 and Ottawa in 2016.
Winnipeg owns the longest Grey Cup drought in the league. It’s been 26-plus seasons. Is it finally their turn?
The slogan for the season is “For the W.” The last time Loserpeg was Winnerpeg was on Nov. 25, 1990. The Eastern Division Bombers beat Edmonton 50-11 in B.C. Place.
Offensive lineman Pat Neufeld was two years old. Running back Andrew Harris was three.
What would it be like if Winnipeg finally became Winnerpeg again?
“It would be insane here,” Neufeld said. “The city would go crazy. It would be like a mass of relief. It would be a very large monkey off the back of all the faithful Bombers fans or people in Winnipeg who follow sports in general.”
Indeed, the last time the Jets won a Stanley Cup playoff game was in 1996. The last time they won a series was in 1987.
Finally having a home playoff date this year in Winnipeg is a big deal. More than 26,500 tickets have been sold in the noisiest stadium in the league.
“When you take the time to reflect on it, it’s so cool to finally play a home playoff game in front of fans who haven’t seen one in the new stadium,” Neufeld said. “I think there’s going to be a pretty electric atmosphere. I think it’s going to be an exceptional experience to play in front of that crowd Sunday.”
A Winnipeg native who returned home after six seasons with the B.C. Lions, Harris is the one who gives Winnipeg fans the most hope — especially with the iffy status of quarterback Matt Nichols (who wasn’t on the field for the Bombers’ practice Friday due to the birth of his daughter) — to give this long-suffering fan base a chance to be a title town again.
The CFL Awards Most Outstanding Canadian finalist, who had a career year, can only imagine what it would be like if they bring the Grey Cup to town.
“When I moved back here, I could really feel it just walking around in the community, going to the grocery store or whatever. I could feel just how passionate they are and how hungry they are for a championship,” Harris said. “Thinking what it would be like to be part of the team that brought the Grey Cup back to my hometown, I can’t even imagine how nuts it would be and how crazy it would be.”
Harris was partly responsible for the Bombers not winning the Grey Cup in 2011. He was voted top Canadian in the game playing for the winning B.C. Lions. “Other than my daughter being born that was the highlight of my life,” he said.
You don’t have to be in Winnipeg long to feel the angst here. The Eskimos have won their last five games and the Bombers are 2-3 in their last five. The Eskimos have all sorts of starters returning from their insane list of injuries this season while the Bombers have had several players suffer injuries lately in addition to Nichols.
Winnipeg hasn’t scored an offensive touchdown in three of their last four games. And there’s a statistical mismatch involved in this one, with the Eskimos having the most productive offence versus the Bombers defence that has given up more yards than any team other than Montreal.
“In our locker-room, none of that is in the forefront of players minds. We only hear about that from outside of the building. We’re just so focused on what is happening right now,” Neufeld said. “When it comes to game time, all that stuff doesn’t matter. That’s for fans and media to worry about. You don’t get to 12 wins and playing host to a home playoff game if you’re not a good football team. Edmonton was on a seven-game winning streak and we were the team to put an end to that and then beat them again in Edmonton.
“We’re just excited to play in front of our home fans. It’s been a long time.”