Argonauts to take on Tiger-Cats as ‘new journey’ begins

Ray puts Grey Cup behind him to start anew

TOrONTO • Call the Toronto Argonauts the defending champions all you want. They aren’t listening.

The Argos open the season Friday night at the Rogers Centre with a tailgate party, the raising of the championship banner and the presentation of their Grey Cup rings.

All they care about is the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who intend to spoil the evening.

“This year is a new journey. We’re starting over on this journey to the Grey Cup. Everybody is,” quarterback Ricky Ray said. “We’ve got to find what our identity is going to be this year as a team and find that level that we need to play at. That’s what we’re looking for [in] game one.”

This is not the first time Ray is beginning a new season after ending the last one in the championship game. He has participated in four Grey Cups, winning three (2003, 2005, 2012) and losing one (2002).

In the seasons following his first two titles, the Edmonton Eskimos finished 9-9 and 7-11, making the playoffs just once. Both title defences began with convincing Week 1 losses.

But Ray isn’ t really the retrospective kind of guy.

“We have a good group that’s returning back and we know what to expect from each other. But other than that, it’s a whole new season,” he said. “We are a different team, even with a lot of the same guys. We’ve got to make our own kind of mark out there, you know, play at a level that we’re going to define throughout the year.”

One key cog in the machine looking to define himself is running back Chad Kackert. Aside from last season’s triumph, he hasn’t won a championship since his senior year at Grace Brethren High School in Simi Valley, Calif.

Never having the chance to defend a title, Kackert is feeling out the process.

Sure, this season should carry a little more weight now that the Grey Cup MVP is the No. 1 option at running back, but he won’t allow the expectations that come with past accomplishments to weigh him down.

“It’s different coming into a season as a starter, being able to focus on the priorities of the team rather than just making the team,” he said. “Up to this point it’s been about not being complacent, appreciating what we have done in the past and learning from it and understanding there’s still room to get better and room to improve.”

It’s hard to improve upon a championship season, but the Argos were just a 9-9 team last year — one that won its final two regular-season games and three more in the playoffs.

Toronto finished fourth in total passing yards with 5,135 and last in total rushing yards with 1,612. In comparison, the Ticats finished first in the air (5,367) and fifth on the ground (1,793).

But the Ticats aren’t worried about last year either.

Toronto won three of their four meetings last year, including a 43-40 decision in the final game of the season. The Argos, already playoff bound, rested their starters while Hamilton quarterback Henry Burris put on a clinic with 497 yards and four touchdowns.

Speaking to reporters at the University of Toronto’s Mississauga Campus on Thursday, Burris brushed off any notions of bitterness.

“Honestly, it’s one of those situations to say congratulations to them, they did it last year but this is a new year. If they want to celebrate a party, hopefully we can make this our coming out party,” he said. “We’re going to be pumped up just as we would for any other game.… That’s all we’re focused on, to do what we came to do.”

Focus might be a little difficult on what is expected to be a busy evening. If the Argos can pack the house with the 25,000 fans they averaged in two home games against the Ticats last season, it could be even worse.

Hamilton’s new head coach Kent Austin — making his return to the CFL after a fiveyear stint in the NCAA — says he respects the defending champions, but won’t get caught up in all the fireworks.

“If we’re stargazing and worrying about that stuff, then we have let a distraction enter into the process of how we approach the football game and that’s not good,” he said. “Those things are not relevant to what we’re trying to do. They’re not relevant to our execution. They’re not relevant to our focus.”