Justin Dunk
Ticats.ca
Hamilton will start the second half of their 2011 CFL campaign this coming Monday, when Les Alouettes come to town for the aptly named Labour Day “Classique.”
The Labour Day contest will be the front end of back-to-back games with Montreal, two games that carry a lot of weight in terms of tie-breaking implications and standings within the CFL’s East Division. The Tiger-Cats grabbed a win in the team’s initial meeting in 2011, a 34-26 victory at Ivor Wynne on July 29.
“We know how Montreal plays, and we’ve already beaten them this year, but it’s a new game, a new week,” veteran receiver Dave Stala said, after his team hit the practice field on Tuesday. “This is an important one, we have four games against them so it could mean the series for us.”
Combined with the bye week, Hamilton will have played in just two games (last week versus Winnipeg and Labour Day) over a 26-day stretch, and after having played last Friday against the Blue Bombers, the Cats are enjoying a couple extra days off this week.
Certainly an excellent opportunity for players to get right physically for the stretch drive.
“We played on the weekend so that means we get a few days extra to rest, but trust me none of us are resting,” Stala assured. “There was a bunch of guys going through plays, I was in the weight room yesterday and I have to make sure I get in the weight room tomorrow.”
“It gives us some time to heal our bodies. The game’s on Monday and then we’re on a short week, so it all comes back around.”
Early season indications would show that the balance of power, after being held by the West Division for a number of years, has shifted back towards the Atlantic. Winnipeg leads the entire league with a 7-1 record and the East Division holds a 10-6 record against their Western counterparts.
“Definitely, if you look at the standings and the games that the East has won in this league this year, I think the East is definitely the stronger division out of the two right now,” Stala said.
Montreal has set the league-wide standard for quite some time, but the other teams in the East have taken their play to a higher level.
“They still have AC [Anthony Calvillo], so as long as he’s over there they can score points. I don’t think Montreal is getting worse, I think everyone is catching up,” Stala said.
Back-to-back’s are unique in any sport, but more so in football with all of the scheming and game planning that goes into the preparation for each opponent.
“It would be big to get a win this week because we go back to Montreal the following week,” Stala said.
“If you have a chance to win a football game you don’t want to hold back. You’re going to try to fire everything you have and when the following week comes you prepare different things for them.”
Stala’s head coach is solely focused on the first task at hand, although he has the back end of the double dip in the back of his mind.
“Both teams do what they feel is necessary to try and win the first game, and then you play off that game plan,” Marcel Bellefeuille said. “You have a few things in your back pocket, but your first goal is to win that game because that’s the one you’re playing in.”
With Montreal in town, the Labour Day Classique will certainly feel like a playoff game, and it should because the implications of the outcome will help determine playoff seeding come November.
