Stamps always amped up for Esks
Battle of Alberta transcends anything that has happened in season to date
EDMONTON If you think there’s nothing at stake on Saturday night for the Calgary Stampeders, you are sorely mistaken.
Yes, the West Division is all wrapped up and the Stamps (13-2-1) will be hosting somebody at McMahon Stadium for the chance to go to the Grey Cup on Nov. 19.
But Saturday’s game (5 p.m., TSN) is against the Edmonton Eskimos (10-6-0) at Commonwealth Stadium.
The Stamps don’t want to drop a game to their closest geographic rival.
They don’t want to give the Eskimos any sort of psychological boost heading into the playoffs.
They do want to correct the mistakes that cost them last weekend’s game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
And they definitely do want to get the offence clicking in a way it hasn’t been over the past two games.
That means that veteran start- ers aren’t getting a week off. Not quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, not running back Jerome Messam, and certainly not any of the team’s receivers.
“My plan is ( you) play if you’re healthy,” said Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson. “I’m not going to ask guys to try to, I guess, play through things that are affecting them that won’t be better by next week.
“To me, I’m gonna certainly monitor guys as they’re in there. If things are going our way or if they’re not, I’m still going to push guys to get better and if you’re healthy, you play.”
When the Stampeders roster for Saturday night’s game was released Friday morning, it featured a staggering eight changes from last week’s roster.
At first glance, that might appear to suggest that the Stamps were, in fact, rotating guys in and out to gain some extra rest before playoffs began.
On closer glance, though, that’s simply not the case. Defensive end Ja’Gared Davis is arguably the biggest name to be removed from the active roster, but he was placed on the one-game injured list after getting hurt against the Riders.
“(Davis) tried to play through it but ultimately was not able to play,” Dickenson said.
Otherwise, the list of starters being taken off the active roster includes Marken Michel, who hurt his hamstring against the Riders and Shane Bergman, the offensive lineman who sprained his ankle last weekend.
The rest of the changes mostly consist of guys who have been getting playing time but haven’t quite established themselves as starters.
The new guys coming in, like running back Dominique Williams, have been knocking on the door for a while now.
“We’re going to have some new guys at least on the roster, but I’ve decided and want to make sure that our guys are trying to get better,” Dickenson said.
After the loss to the Riders, Dickenson made clear that the only way for the Stampeders to get better was to start practising better.
That would seem to be obvious, but it’s understandable if the slightest bit of complacency had sneaked in while the team stomped through their CFL schedule and clinched the West Division with a couple weeks to spare.
That complacency is gone now, as the Riders proved in no uncertain terms that the Stampeders weren’t invincible.
In response, the Stampeders insist they’ve risen to the challenge in practice.
“It’s exciting, actually,” Mitchell said. “It’s almost like getting beaten up and you almost can’t wait for the next fight. That’s how I take it. You come back to work every single week and we’re used to winning, but we’re not complacent and just happy with winning.
“We work very hard for it, so we celebrate when we do, but when we lose we take it the exact opposite. We take it to heart.”
On Saturday, they have the chance to take that hurt and show that they’re hard work in practice has paid off.
For a team with as much pride as the Stampeders, that means the stakes are sky-high.