By François Ferland,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Montreal – Anthony Calvillo is recuperating very well from the ablation of his thyroid gland which happened last December. “I train every day”, he said. “I’m doing light workouts for now. They will become more intense next month.”
When the Alouettes’ veteran QB met the press in December and the subject of how many years were left in his brilliant career came up, he reminded everyone that he was now a full-time Montrealer and that he will stay in La Belle Province even once his career is over. Which meant of course, that as a true Montrealer, he even spoke to us about hockey and the Heritage Classic.
The subject came up, because Calvillo’s hometown Montreal Canadiens will be facing the Calgary Flames in an outdoor game at McMahon Stadium this year, the same stadium in which Calvillo and his Alouettes’ teammates hoisted the Grey Cup in 2009 in what is already considered a legendary game with a classic finish, and the full-time home to the Calgary Stampeders, the Alouettes’ great rivals these past couple of years.
“It could either be very cold or very nice in Calgary at this time of year,” said Calvillo. “You can expect anything.”
Calvillo didn’t follow hockey when he joined the Alouettes in 1998, but has since adopted the city so well that he gradually took an interest in the Habs.
“Especially during the playoffs, I’ll sit in front of my television and watch a game from start to end, and this is coming from a guy who doesn’t watch a lot of sports on TV, since I generally prefer, by far, to watch a game live in person.”
Intense emotions
Getting back to the game at McMahon Stadium and the incredible finish to the 2009 Grey Cup, Calvillo said that he would never forget the gamut of emotions he went through that night.
“Waves of intense emotions succeeded themselves at an incredible rhythm,” Calvillo remembers. “At the snap of a finger, we went from being extremely upset to total euphoria.”
The team won thanks to a Damon Duval field goal on the last play of the game after the Roughriders were penalized for having too many men on the field, following Duval’s initial missed attempt.
Thus, Anthony will probably watch the Heritage Classic at some point on Sunday night, although not just for the hockey this time, but also to relive some of the memories from that cold November night at McMahon Stadium in 2009.
