NEW-LOOK ALOUETTES EMBRACE OPPORTUNITY FOR FRESH START
So much has changed for the Alouettes in a relatively short amount of time. From the general manager to the head coach. The quarterback and the offensive line. The team will now charter to road games. They’ve even returned to the practice field at the base of the Olympic Stadium tower they used a decade ago.
All that needs to change now is the Canadian Football League team’s performance.
“If you keep doing the same things the same way and keep getting the same negative results, you need to change. We weren’t going in a positive direction,” said head coach Jacques Chapdelaine, who guided Montreal to four victories in six games after replacing Jim Popp last September.
That only one of those triumphs came against a team with a winning record — and truth be told, Calgary had little to play for in week 19 — matters little in the grand scheme. Chapdelaine, almost single-handedly, set the wheels in motion, altering the team’s culture, mindset and identity.
The rest was left to new GM Kavis Reed. He traded for Darian Durant, Jovan Olafioye and Brian Simmons. Reed signed Ernest Jackson, along with Keith Shologan and Jabar Westerman as free agents.
And now we’ll begin to discover whether this elixir might actually work. The Als launch their regular-season Thursday night (7:30 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN Radio-690) at Molson Stadium against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the only team for which Durant has played.
There was a time when the Als ruled the CFL and were the organization against which others measured themselves; when nothing short of reaching the Grey Cup game was expected. Heck, they did it eight times over an 11-year period, beginning in 2000. But that now seems like a lifetime ago. The Als haven’t won a title, let alone reached the championship, since 2010. They’ve missed the playoffs the last two seasons, haven’t had a home playoff game since 2014 and haven’t had a winning record since 2012. Their season-ticket sales have plummeted and getting fans to make the trek up the mountain has become an onerous task. This team has lost its relevancy.
Management and the players wholeheartedly believe the arrival of quarterback Durant, 34, will alter their fortunes. And in Chapdelaine, who will call the plays, they finally have an offensive coordinator with CFL experience. But will it be enough? The defence, long this team’s identity, has lost 25 per cent of its starters — linebackers Bear Woods and Winston Venable, defensivetackle Alan-Michael Cash and safety Marc-Olivier Brouillette — and figures to be more vulnerable.
“We’ll have to see but I can tell you already, from the practices we’ve had at training camp, we’re already better than we were,” rush-end John Bowman said. “Until you face live bullets, you don’t know what’s going to happen.
“I don’t think we’ve had the quarterback before,” added Bowman, entering his 12th season with Montreal. “We had young guys that had abilities that didn’t translate onto the field. (Durant) took a 3-15 team that had the best offence in the league at one point with Jacques. That’s not lost on us.”
The change in practice fields, meaning the players no longer must board school buses to Stade Hébert in St-Léonard, shouldn’t be lost. It buys more time in their 4 1/2-hour day for both management and the athletes. And the fact they no longer will be forced to fly commercial, their schedules dictated by the airlines, should have an impact.
“The structure that Kavis and Jacques are putting in is a structure. The way we do everything, it’s set up for (success) to happen,” said centre Luc BrodeurJourdain, who arrived in 2009 and has witnessed the highs and lows the franchise has endured. “We’re being treated like professionals and, at the same time, being treated like humans.”
The players are relishing the accountability and responsibility with which they’ve been presented; the fact they now have some input in the weekly game plans. Durant arrived early on Wednesday to watch film and have breakfast with teammates. Slotback Nik Lewis, often out the door before drying off from his shower, now hangs around, whether it’s to put in additional work or just chill.
“I think we’re allowed to lead now, some of us older veterans. We’re allowed to lead the team and set the standard,” said Lewis, entering his 14th CFL season. “It’s not about the coaches making us win or making us do extra work. It’s about us wanting to do it to be winners.
“You cherish it more. That’s what builds the bond.”
The Als’ schedule, as usual, is bizarre. Three of the first four are at home for a team that traditionally starts slow. They don’t meet an East Division opponent until July 19. Four of the last six, including the final two games, are on the road.
But the division, again, isn’t expected to be a murderer’s row. According to Bodog.com, the over/under win total for Ottawa is 9.5 — 8.5 for the Als, Hamilton and Toronto. When the dust settles next November, it might not take much.
There’s a statue of Jackie Robinson in front of Olympic Stadium Chapdelaine sees each day when he arrives by bicycle for work. He’s reminded Montreal’s a city that provides opportunity for fresh starts.
“I think Darian’s doing that. He’s embracing this opportunity. It’s fresh,” Chapdelaine said.
And everyone realizes the old Als had grown stale.