Facing defending champs Laval at home a challenge for Dinos at Vanier Cup
QUEBEC (CP) — Calgary Dinos coach Blake Nill wants his young team to embrace the experience of playing the Vanier Cup game in a stadium where the visitors almost never win.
An overflow crowd of 18,000 is expected to ring the Telus Stadium field, virtually all cheering for the defending champion Laval Rouge et Or, who have won 64 consecutive home games dating to a 14-13 loss to the University of Montreal Carabins on Sept. 19, 2004.
The No. 3 Dinos will try to end that streak when they face No. 2 Laval in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship game on Saturday afternoon. Both teams are 11-0 this year.
“I don’t think my young kids are feeling any pressure,” Nill said Friday after his team went through a final walkthrough on the synthetic turf. “I’m amazed at how loose they are.
“Instead of telling the kids to be ready for the big crowd and the hostile environment and all that, I’ve been saying that I’ve always enjoyed playing here. This is my favourite place to play. I enjoy the hostile environment.”
The stadium seats 12,257, but 18,000 tickets have been sold and there will be throngs of fans standing around the perimeter and in the corners. Laval is per- haps the only Canadian university team that routinely draws large crowds to its games.
Laval’s streak includes a 29-2 victory over Calgary the last time the teams met in a Vanier Cup in 2010. That game, played in a snowstorm, saw the Dinos repeatedly make uncharacteristic errors, especially dropped passes.
Linebacker Doctor Cassama, one of three Dinos remaining from the 2010 Cup, has been filling in his teammates on what to expect.
“I was here my first year,” he said. “It’s very loud.
“We’ve never played in a place that gets this loud. Obviously, that’s going to be a big factor in the game. We have to overcome those things and settle down and play our game. But it’s hard. It’s a tough place to play.”
Laval kick returner and receiver Guillaume Rioux is aware of the homefield advantage.
“It pumps us up a lot,” said Rioux, who will have family in the stands for what will be his last game. “It gives us energy. For other teams, I can’t tell you, but I think it can be intimidating.”
History is not on Calgary’s side. The Dinos have faced Laval in playoff games three times since 2008 and lost them all by wide margins.