GREY CUP: STAMPEDERS vs ALS - STAMPS WIN!

[OzSome]

Sorry I have to start the Grey Cup thread early this week as I will be away from Calgary starting tomorrow(Tuesday).

We finally have the two best teams in the CFL, #1 in East Montreal Alouettes vs #1 in the West Calgary Stampeders. Even though Montreal might be a tougher team to play compare to the Edmonton Eskimos, i feel much better seeing this two teams duke it out at the end. The Eskimos does not deserve to be in the playoff let alone the Grey Cup. They were the last place team in a tough West Division but that won't matter at all.

Calgary won both games against the Als this season. The first one was July 10(3rd game) 23-19 in Montreal. That was the game when Montreal were dominating in the first half then the Stamps bounced back and made some adjustment and ended up defeating the Als. I believed that was the turning point of the season for the Stamps. Then on September 12 at McMahon, the Stamps smoked the Als 41-30. The score was deceiving as the Als came back when the game was out of reach. The Stamps dominated that game all night.

I can see a lot of Stamps players get pumped up and play their first Grey Cup game. Nik Lewis haven't won a playoff game since he came over and play for the Stamps. DE Miguel Robede, who grew up in Montreal and also played for powerhouse Laval took advantage of the chances he was given by the coaching staff. I thought he was going to be a first rounder bust for the Stamps. Higgins and company did not give him a chance at all. Copeland played for Als and won Grey Cup with them. He is now going back in Montreal as an opponent.

OFFENSE: QB Henry Burris starting to have a reputation of can't win the big one. He had never won a playoff game as a starter until the Western Final. Burris proved everyone wrong and finally won a playoff game. I remembered we have this little goaltender for Calgary Flames back in the 80's. Everyone(fans, media and so on) were giving him a hard time and saying that he can't and never will win a big one. Well, Mike Vernon only won 3 Stanley Cup and one as a Flame. I can see a similarity here and can see Burris winning the Grey Cup and more. Backup for Burris are Barrick Nealy and Will Proctor. Ben Sankey is on the injured list.
I can see RB Joffrey Reynolds having a good game(btw, thanks for Western Final tickets Joffrey). We didn't see much of Summers as an RB but he did have a great game as returner. Reynolds, Summers and Cornish are good combinations. We have a bull in Reynolds, we have a slick running of Summers and Cornish can do both.

OFFENSIVE LINE: The 3 rookies Tsoumpas, Newman and Archibald played well against the top defensive linemen in the CFL (Wake, Hunt, Johnson and Williams). The 3 of them compliment the 2 veterans in Pilon and Lazeo. Other linemen in the lineup are Filice and Tim O'Neill.

RECEIVERS: I got a feeling that Ryan Thelwell will have a great game in Grey Cup and him ending up winning the Outstanding Canadian honour. Copeland been in the Grey Cup and I can see him getting pumped up especially that the game is at his old stomping ground. Ken-Yon Rambo is always there when the Stamps needed him. Not sure who the Als will match against him, though. Nik Lewis, one of my favorite Stamps. I like the guy because he is hard working and doesn't give up or complain if he is not getting the ball. He is also a good blocker even when he is having a rib injury. Whenever Burris needs a first down badly, he always look for Brett Ralph. Ralph usually knows where to stand and catch the ball to get the first down. My other favorite unsung hero Teyo Johnson. He doesn't get a lot of balls thrown at him but he helps the Stamps blocking the opposing DLine and LBs. He can also beat any LB on a one-on-one battle. Being tall and big sure helps as an extra OLine there. Other receiver is Canadian Jabari Arthur.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: I cannot count how many people appreciated how Mike Labinjo played in the Western Final against BC Lions. He was huge stopping BC Lions twice close to the goal line and he was also responsible for the forced fumble by Jarious Jackson late in the game which my other favorite DLine Charles Hughes recovered. I cannot wait to see Mike Labinjo have a huge game against the Als on Sunday. Big Eddie Freeman, Justin Phillips, Randy Chevrier, Juwan Simpson and Miguel Robede are the other DLine.

LINEBACKERS: I didn't think Jojuan Armour had a good game against BC Lions. I've seen him missed tackles on Stefan Logan a few times. I thought he plays better as an MLB early this season. Look for him to have a better game against Avon Couburne. Shannon James was quiet last game but we all know how important he is to the team. He is strong to make good tackles in the middle, fast enough to go after the QB and can also play DB one-on-one against any RB. MLB Saleem Rasheed is not as noticeable as any other Middle Linebacker in the league but he does his job. Dwayne Carpenter, Mark Gootegoed, Marc Calixte are the others.

SECONDARY: JR Ruffin played his first game in the season and was matched against Geroy Simon. Even though Simon received over 100 yards, I thought he played well considering that his first game. Brandon Browner made an interception late in the game to pretty much sealed the deal. He got beat by Riece-Muller on one big play but I thought Riece-Muller didn't really have a good possession on that play. I am sure Lenny Walls will be back so it will be good to see the Twin Towers again together. Dwight Anderson always play aggressive game and he usually gets the receiver out of the game by talking trash at him. Brandon Smith might be small but the guy have a big heart and damn, he can hit as well. I am sure everyone noticed his hit on Logan that almost knocked him out of the game. Other Secondaries are Safety Wes Lysack, and Milton Collins, DB Keon Raymond and Marcus Howell. I am glad Calvin Bannister no longer plays for the Stamps.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Kicker Sandro DeAngelis were not called upon a lot in the Western Finals. He made good on field goal and he missed one on 48 yard line I believed. I can't really blame him for it though. I remember seeing Ted Hellard walking around getting upset when Sandro missed it. It was because we needed that field goal. Burke Dales actually had a good game pinning BC Lions closer to the end zone. He also made some good TD saving tackle late in the game. I thought the return plays by Summers made a huge difference for the Stamps. Before his first return, the Stamps are not getting good field position. Howell, which i harped on a lot earlier in the season is starting to get his confidence back and running the ball with authority. The coverage team have been good all season long and I think they are getting better as the season goes. Against the Als on Grey Cup, they have to be a lot better against Taylor who scored 2 return TD against the Eskimos on the Eastern Final.

Overall, I am very confident that the Stamps will win it. If they pressure Calvillo a lot, chances are he will start throwing INT. Calvillo can throw the ball and he can run. If they pressure him a lot and our DB doesn't give him any open receiver, he'll end up running a lot. Not sure if Montreal will have an advantage because they've seen Chris Jones aggressive defense before or not. This is going to be a good game and I cannot wait.

GO STAMPS GO!!!

[Flickered Flame]

Great post as always Oz!

[Fire]

The game should be a lot of fun, especially when the Stampeders beat the Allouettes in front of their own fans. It will be sweet.

[troutman]

A big advantage for MTL to be playing at home, but if CGY does not allow any special teams TDs, they should win the game comfortably.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by OzSome

We finally have the two best teams in the CFL, #1 in East Montreal Alouettes vs #1 in the West Calgary Stampeders. Even though Montreal might be a tougher team to play compare to the Edmonton Eskimos, i feel much better seeing this two teams duke it out at the end. The Eskimos does not deserve to be in the playoff let alone the Grey Cup. They were the last place team in a tough West Division but that won't matter at all.

I'm not sure MTL is that good. They feasted on the weak Eastern Conference, but generally got smoked by all the Western teams.

[mykalberta]

+1 to what has been said.

If Calgary can limit the turnovers and special teams plays then I think they will have no problems winning.

[ShaolinFlame]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

+1 to what has been said.

If Calgary can limit the turnovers and special teams plays then I think they will have no problems winning.

This has been the achilles heel for at leas two years now (this year has been better though). I am going to pray a little bit harder than usual that Hank and Joffrey hold on to that pigskin.

[JohnnyFlame]

I was not impressed by Burris or the offense in the West Final. I thought they did barely enough to win and the game was won thanks to a combo of the defense and some major Lions choking!!! Burris to really get the monkey off his back needs a good performance in the Grey Cup. Personally I think the jitters should be gone now and they will play a confident game in Montreal. If so I see them being able to win a tight contest.

[flip]

The soundest argument in favour of Henry Burris as the CFL's outstanding player -- as opposed to the Alouettes' Anthony Calvillo -- was advanced by Allen Cameron of the Calgary Herald. Cameron noted that Burris, who will quarterback the Stampeders in Sunday's Grey Cup against the host Alouettes, has an 8-3 record against winning teams this season. Calvillo, by contrast, is 3-4. And consider this: Calvillo threw 21 of his 39 touchdown passes against two teams -- the feckless Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats -- whose combined record was a glittering 7-29.

Good write up on Calvillo's numbers being padded from the Regina Leader Post.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpo...f-6614eb638c04

[yads]

Should be a hell of a game. Opened as a pick'em now has MTL -1. I think MTL is still really good though so I'm not buying Calvillo's padded stats quite yet. Go Stamps.

[worth]

Originally Posted by ShaolinFlame

This has been the achilles heel for at leas two years now (this year has been better though). I am going to pray a little bit harder than usual that Hank and Joffrey hold on to that pigskin.

Yeah, in the playoffs the last couple of years have been killer.

But this year something changed. They were tied for first with BC at +20 in the turnover ratio which is wicked.

Limit the turnovers and you will always have a chance. Cough up the ball and you're giving the game away.

GO STAMPS GO

[browna]

Originally Posted by worth

Yeah, in the playoffs the last couple of years have been killer.

But this year something changed. They were tied for first with BC at +20 in the turnover ratio which is wicked.

Limit the turnovers and you will always have a chance. Cough up the ball and you're giving the game away.

Unless something happens with the roof of the Big O and makes this an outdoor game, it shouldn't be an issue, especially for Renyolds. I was at those home playoff games at McMahon when he fumbled the cold ball away for the better part of two playoff losses in the last while.

Don't ask me why but I think Renyolds will be the star or at least a very important peice. Not a lot of talk about running backs (this is the CFL after all) affecting this game, but I think the game plan will dictate that he's going to have a great day and overshadow the passing game to an extent.

[Ethaniel]

Calvillo's stats are padded just as much as the fact Detroit could walk over every team in their division for 8 wins per team.

[Hustle]

Should be a close one. I do think the Stamps are the better team, but as the game is in Montreal..... well that makes it a lot closer.

Really hoping that Browner is good enough to go on Sunday. That would be a HUGE loss to the Calgary secondary.

[worth]

Originally Posted by browna

Unless something happens with the roof of the Big O and makes this an outdoor game, it shouldn't be an issue, especially for Renyolds. I was at those home playoff games at McMahon when he fumbled the cold ball away for the better part of two playoff losses in the last while.

Don't ask me why but I think Renyolds will be the star or at least a very important peice. Not a lot of talk about running backs (this is the CFL after all) affecting this game, but I think the game plan will dictate that he's going to have a great day and overshadow the passing game to an extent.

That is if Cortez doesn't forget about him.

Yeah, I was at those playoff games as well. That sucked bigtime.

[browna]

Cavillo wins MOP.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by browna

Cavillo wins MOP.

Terrible snub. Oh well, just another reason for the Stamps to come out hard.

[worth]

better be a rallying cry for this team. If they sweep BC 4-0 and sweep MTL 3-0 this season that will be unreal.

i bet there are some pretty pissed off stamp players right now.

[flip]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Terrible snub. Oh well, just another reason for the Stamps to come out hard.

I don't know if I'd call it a snub.

Burris had tougher competition and Calvillo had better numbers. They went with numbers.

Touchdowns, albeit against crappy competition, are still touchdowns regardless.

Could Burris have won, sure. Should he have won? meh.

[socalwingfan]

Just found out the game is on Versus!! Go Stamps!!! I was a season ticket holder for many years - gonna have to bust out the Dave Sapunjis jersey