Roster: Interactive / Text / PDF
Media notes
By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – The first part of the mission – clinching the East Division – is over. And now the hard part – maintaining a level of consistency – begins.
Having already guaranteed themselves top spot in the East Division with a 27-8 road win two weeks ago against the Toronto Argonauts, some might think the script would call for the Alouettes would stumble face-first into the final act of the CFL season.
But it looks as though the Als are determined to force a rewrite and seem poised to do so following their convincing 32-11 win against the visiting Calgary Stampeders last Sunday.
While their motivation to win last week may have been brought on in large part by their defeat to Calgary in last season’s Grey Cup, this week the Als have another incentive to win… and to score as many points as they can in the process – long-standing partner TELUS will be contributing $100 to the Fondation du Centre jeunesse de Montréal for each point the home team puts on the board (up to a total of $5,000).
And the foundation may be in for some serious luck, as the Alouettes currently reign as the league’s top point producers with 445 points so far this season, not to mention the fact that the Als have scored a blistering 63 points in two games this season against their Week 16 opponent, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Unbeaten so far…
With their 6-0-0 record against their own division on the line, the Als (12-2-0) welcome the Ticats (6-8-0 for their third and final encounter of the season this Sunday at Percival Molson Stadium (2 p.m. TSN HD, RDS HD, CKAC SPORTS, CJAD 800 AM).
Hamilton enters the week in the midst of a three-game losing streak that began against the Als in late September; a 42-8 loss at Ivor Wynne Stadium in which the Tabbies garnered just 138 total yards and used three different quarterbacks.
What’s at stake
The Ticats’ recent misfortunes come as a great surprise to the CFL community as 2009 has seemed very promising for the young team, which hasn’t enjoyed a winning season since 2004. Despite the losing streak, however, the Alouettes should not view coach Marcel Bellefeuille’s group as an easy W as Hamilton’s season may very well depend on Sunday’s result.
With Winnipeg’s recent resurgence, the Ticats have gone from playoff lock to battling with the Bombers for the second, and probably last, post-season position in the East Division.
As far as Montreal is concerned, the big question on the mind of fans across Quebec is whether or not running back Avon Cobourne will suit up this week after sitting out last game due to injury.
The Alouettes will next welcome the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this Sunday at 2 p.m. at Percival Molson Stadium (TSN HD, RDS HD, CKAC SPORTS, CJAD 800 AM).
