By Richard Obrand,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – The long wait is finally over. Seven months after CFL fans witnessed one of the most bizarre and exciting finished to a Grey Cup in league history, an entire country will come together on the nation’s most patriotic day to start it all over again.
Thursday, Anthony Calvillo and the Alouettes visit what’s expected to be an extremely hostile Mosaic Stadium to take on Darian Durant and the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a Canada Day re-match. (7 p.m. EST: RDSHD, TSNHD, NRJ, CJAD, CHOM)
Regardless of how many times the story has been told and seen, it will never get old for Als fans. With under a minute remaining on the game clock and with his team trailing by two, Calvillo helped orchestrate one of the greatest Grey Cup comebacks of all-time.
With just 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Calvillo connected with receiver Kerry Watkins one last time in 2009 to bring kicker Damon Duval within striking distance, but just as his field goal attempt sailed wide right and as the Green-heavy crowd at McMahon Stadium rejoiced, orange flags scattered across the field – putting the celebration on hold for at least another few minutes.
A too many men on the field call against Saskatchewan gave Duval and the Alouettes a new lease on life and once again, the crowd of 46,020 prepared themselves for celebration.
This time however, it was the Alouettes fans who jumped out of their seats. Duval’s kick split the uprights, allowing Montreal to hoist Governor General Earl Grey’s trophy over their heads for the sixth time in franchise history.
As it should, the outcome of last year’s finale will have a distinct impact on this season’s premiere.
What to expect
We all know what’s at stake for both teams: revenge for the Roughriders and a statement that last year’s outcome was no mistake for the Als.
Both teams have undergone their fair share of changes during the off-season, with perhaps the biggest change being the Roughriders’ addition of Queen’s linebacker Shomari Williams through the CFL Canadian Draft.
Saskatchewan general manager Brendan Taman traded up to obtain the first overall pick in the draft from the Toronto Argonauts, to draft the highly-coveted Williams.
Williams had an impressive pre-season and managed to crack the Roughriders lineup and will certainly see action Thursday night.
For the Alouettes, the most significant changes to their roster may have been subtractions.
Future Hall-of-Fame centre Bryan Chiu retired a day before training camp opened, speedy kick returner Larry Taylor headed south to play for the NFL’s New York Jets and second-string quarterback Adrian McPherson was hurt during the team’s second pre-season game and is now on the nine-game injured list.
Chris Leak will fill in at backup duties, while Ricky Santos will take Leak’s normal spot in the third slot.
In a matchup featuring two of last year’s three Coach of the Year nominees in Marc Trestman and Ken Miller, expect Thursday’s encounter to be a strategic battle from the get-go.
Last season, the Als swept the season series against the Roughriders, beating them 43-10 in Regina in their first meeting in Week 3 of the regular season, then went on to beat them 34-25 in Montreal in Week 8.
While the Als seemingly had very little problems with Saskatchewan in their two encounters, the Roughriders improved drastically as the season went on and as everyone now knows, gave Montreal all they could handle in the Grey Cup.
So, when the Als walk onto the field for Thursday night’s matchup, rest assured that the rowdy crowd will make their sentiments towards the visiting team heard.
The Alouettes will visit the Roughriders at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium this July 1 at 7 p.m. EST – RDSHD, TSNHD, NRJ, CJAD, CHOM.
