Strange for Horsemen to face Esks minus Ray

After surviving eight years in the Canadian Football League, Nik Lewis thought nothing could shock him. He was wrong. From the Mardi Gras promotion that encouraged women to bare their breasts at Ottawa Renegades games to the bizarre reign of Fred Fateri (the man with 800 pairs of shoes) in Calgary to the banning of Gainer the Gopher from McMahon Stadium — Lewis had pretty much seen it all.

Then came the news flash last December that caught Lewis’s attention all the way down in Texas.

Did the Edmonton Eskimos really deal 32-year-old Ricky Ray to Toronto for quarterback Steven Jyles, kicker Grant Shaw and a first-round (second overall) draft pick?

“I guess anybody can be traded,” Lewis said Thursday. “Like anybody can be traded right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if anybody got traded after Ricky Ray got traded.

“I was in Texas, and I was like, ‘wow, I can’t believe this.’ I thought it was a joke.”

No joke. And so the Stampeders will face the Eskimos tonight for the first time in 10 years without No. 15 in the mix for the Green and Gold. For Lewis, it won’t change much. “Doesn’t affect me,” he said. “Except, I might be on the field a little bit longer.”

Jyles will have something to say about that tonight at McMahon as he tries to prove his worth as a starter in the first exhibition game for both teams. No matter how many touchdowns drives Jyles orchestrates, no one in Edmonton will forget any time soon about the dearly departed Ray, who won two Grey Cups in the City of Champions.

“Jyles is a very dangerous quarter- back,” preached Calgary linebacker Juwan Simpson. “I mean, his numbers aren’t as good as Ricky’s, but he has a great receiving corps. He has a good running back. So he’s capable.”

When it comes to physical testing, Jyles is more than capable. He is younger than Ray. Stronger than Ray. Faster than Ray.

“The older you get, the more you realize it’s not all about the physical feats,” Simpson said. It’s about being smarter. Understanding the game. Once you understand the game and understand the personnel — for guys like Ricky — it’s a lot easier. That’s why you have guys who have played 13 years.

“They may not be as fast, big, or strong as a young guy coming in. But it’s the knowledge of the game that means a lot.”

At 29, Jyles is hardly a fresh-faced newcomer to the CFL. With six years of experience, he has already served as the starter in Winnipeg and Toronto. The question remains whether he can ever put all the tools together to excel on a consistent basis.

“I was shocked when I heard about the trade,” Simpson said. “A franchise player like Ricky who has done what he has done for the city of Edmonton? It was a shocker to me.

“But everything happens for a reason. I don’t know what happened behind closed doors. That’s none of my business. I’m just out here to play football.”

For his part, cornerback Keon Raymond can’t wait to renew acquaintances with Jyles.

“You know what? It’s going to be a strange playing against Edmonton without Ricky,” Raymond said. “Since I’ve been in this league, he was always an Eskimo.

“It’s all right, though. I’ve played against Steven Jyles. He’s a good quarterback. I played against him in college. He was the first guy I got my first collegiate reception from — Steven Jyles.”

That interception aside, Raymond has good things to say about his former foe.

“Steven has a strong arm,” Raymond said. “He can run. . . . So we have to make sure we keep him contained and don’t give him any free shots down the field.”

Raymond is a four-year CFL veteran, so he has seen a thing or two in his time. Even so, the Ray trade took him for a loop.

“I didn’t think he would ever leave Edmonton,” Raymond said “I thought he would finish his career there.”