STAMPEDERS CAN REWRITE HISTORY WITH CUP VICTORY
The Calgary Stampeders can’t change their most recent Grey Cup history, of course.
But they can choose to ignore it. Or revise it.
“Look at our roster. There’s hardly anybody here who has been here for two years,” head coach Dave Dickenson said Sunday in Calgary after the Stamps beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West final. “There has been so much turnover. “That’s why I think it’s great what we’ve accomplished. We’ve done it with totally different teams. We’re not the same team. We’ve maybe at times had more explosive players, but we’re still a damn good team.”
They were a damn good team two years ago, too, the better team at 15-2-1 to the Redblacks’ 8-9-1 in fact, but Ottawa prevailed 39-33 in overtime in the 2016 Grey Cup game. Contrary to his recollection, the Stamps were only slightly different personnel-wise then. There are 27 current Stampeders who were with the team two years ago in the Grey Cup, including 18 of the 24 starters in last Sunday’s West final win over Winnipeg. That’s 75 per cent of the starters.
They are impactful, important players, too: quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, defensive stalwarts Ciante Evans, Brandon Smith, Micah Johnson, Alex Singleton, Junior Turner and Ja’Gared Davis, punter Rob Maver and kicker Rene Paredes. Most of that offensive line is still with the Stamps.
There are some new offensive playmakers, among them the biggest star of Sunday’s win, receiver Eric Rogers, who caught three touchdown passes. Running back Don Jackson is new; so are receivers Chris Matthews, Richard Sindani and Markeith Ambles. But this is not a totally different Stampeders team from two years ago. There will be a media focus on many of those holdovers, Mitchell prime among them.
That said, will Mitchell be carrying the baggage from that disappointing 2016 loss into Sunday’s game at Commonwealth Stadium? Or can he shrug it off ? “I can shrug it off. You guys can’t, you know?” he said Sunday, referring to media. “
“It’s not a rematch of 2016. It’s not the same Ottawa Redblacks. Different defence, different coordinator, different quarterback ... the only thing the same is the two logos.”
His argument is better made for the Redblacks.
Only 13 current Ottawa players were on the team in 2016 and precious few were impactful, important players: Brad Sinopoli, Greg Ellingson, Jonathan Rose and Antoine Pruneau among them.
So the current Stampeders are far more likely to have the 2016 game in their minds, whether they want to admit it or not. Vegas oddsmakers made the Stamps heavy favourites in 2016. But Ottawa stunned Calgary right out of the gate by taking a 27-7 lead. The Stamps stormed all the way back to tie it 33-33 and force overtime. In extra time, Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris completed his MVP performance with a touchdown toss to Ernest Jackson.
The Stamps returned to the 2017 Grey Cup and once again Mitchell had the ball in his hands within striking distance of a win, but threw an interception in the Toronto end zone with 20 seconds remaining and the Argos won 27-24.
In 2016, Mitchell won the most outstanding player. He should win it again Thursday over Hamilton’s Jeremiah Masoli. It would be the only part of that Grey Cup week he’d like to repeat, one suspects.
It took Mitchell some time to get the offence going in the West final, but he hooked up three times with Rogers, got the job done and should be confident Sunday.