MontrealAlouettes.com
MONTREAL – It was a cold morning at Alouettes practice on Wednesday, standardly held at Parc Hébert in Saint-Léonard. Montreal hit the turf in sweats and pinnies for the first time this week in preparation for Sunday’s do-or-die clash against the BC Lions. Unlike in recent years, Sunday’s game will be taking place at McGill, the Alouettes’ home stadium.
Simulating the chilly, and possibly snowy, conditions awaiting them this weekend, the team held a “wind practice” today, opting to make use of a wind turbine to simulate less than favourable outdoor conditions that may rear their head at McGill on Sunday. With the very realistic probability of the game taking place under the rain/snow, wind, or both, head coach Tom Higgins wasted no time in setting his players up to get a feel for what may lie ahead.
ON THE MEND
RB Tyrell Sutton (questionable) & KR/WR James Rodgers (questionable): both players took part in individual workouts off the main practice area, and Higgins singled out the importance in Day 3 (Friday) determining whether they will be cleared to practice and play. If Rodgers is unable to go, Higgins indicated KR/WR Mardy Gilyard would be the next man up from the bullpen on return duties.
The 27-year old wideout missed significant time earlier this season after injuring his knee in his first CFL start, where he hauled in 2 passes for 16 yards.
DE Gabriel Knapton (questionable): The Most Oustanding Rookie nominee pushed himself as hard as he could in practice today to see if any residual pain will surface tomorrow at practice. Higgins indicated Knapton is more likely to return this Sunday than teammate Aaron Lavarias.
DE Aaron Lavarias (doubtful): Higgins was less optimistic in Lavarias’s case, indicating the odds are slim that he will return in time to participate in Sunday’s contest against the Lions.
EAST DIVISION ALL-STARS
On Wednesday, the CFL announced that eleven (11) Alouettes players were named to the East Division All-Star team:
- RB Brandon Whitaker
- WR Duron Carter
- SB SJ Green
- T Josh Bourke
- C Luc Brodeur-Jourdain
- DT Alan-Michael Cash
- DE John Bowman
- LB Bear Woods
- LB Chip Cox
- CB Geoff Tisdale
- DB Jerald Brown
When asked about the significance of 11 players, tops in the league and in the division, being honoured, Higgins noted that their selection is a reflection of the team’s resilience in overcoming their early-season struggles.
“It’s tough when individuals are selected like that in a team sport,” the coach began. “When we were 1-7, we didn’t have any all-stars. We, as a team, got ourselves into a position where we competed for that first place, which gave us the opportunity to have the number of all-stars we did.”
Higgins stressed that recognition for performance is always nice, but that, in a team game, the sum of the parts is what counts in the end.
He also added that while Jeff Perrett did not receive the same recognition as his cohort Bourke, that both men were deserving of being a part of the list released today. Perrett and Bourke, along with Luc Brodeur-Jourdain, Kristian Matte, and Ryan Bomben, have anchored an offensive line that has limited opposing pass rushers to a mere 30 sacks, the second-fewest in the CFL. Higgins said that two tackles or two guards being named to the All-Star team is not something you usually see, when explaining the ommission of the other linemen.
THIS AND THAT
Higgins refuses to label any game a “must-win”, and this Sunday’s contest is no exception. “We’ve played 10 weeks of playoff football, games we had to win. There was very little room for error. I love this time of year, there’s so much on the line.”
The coach also shot down that he required the assistance of any caffeinated beverage to keep himself going late at night:
“I don’t drink coffee,” he chuckled.
OPPONENT OUTLOOK
“They’re a team you have to be careful of. They run hot and cold. We handled them when they came here and they dismantled us when we went to BC. There are no teams you ever take for granted, any team that’s in the playoffs deserves to be there: our only advantage is that we get to play them at home. It’s going to come down to pressuring their quarterback and protecting ours.”
Higgins mentioned that numerous members of the Lions front office and coaching staff are friends of his, including one-time Alouette and current Lions GM & VP of Football Operations Wally Buono, whom the head coach refers to by his given first name: Pasquale.
A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
Alouettes fans may not appreciate the head coach’s fondest playoff memory, but it’s one the 60-year old undoubtedly holds close to heart:
“It’s real simple: when I thought I went blind towards the end of the fourth quarter playing the Montreal Alouettes in 2003, in Regina. I got a Gatorade bath and I was wearing glasses at the time. All of a sudden, it was cold, and I couldn’t see, and I took my glasses off and saw that it was the gunk of Gatorade. The euphoria that is almost as good as your wedding day and the birth of your children, and [winning the Grey Cup] is something I’ll always remember dearly.”
The Eskimos, led at the time by Higgins, defeated the Alouettes 34-22 to capture the 91st Grey Cup, earning the coach one of two championship rings to date. On the strength of six catches for 148 yards, Ben Cahoon captured the Most Oustanding Canadian title at the conclusion of the contest.
