Justin Dunk
Ticats.ca
Clean slate, fresh start, however you want to put it, the CFL’s second season is upon us.
“Once the playoffs start, what happened the last couple weeks really doesn’t matter, what happened the first week of the season doesn’t matter,” Ticats quarterback Kevin Glenn said. “It’s about 0-0 and going out and playing a three-game season. Whoever comes up undefeated in that three-game season is going to end up winning the Grey Cup.”
The Ticats assured themselves a spot in the post-season a few weeks back and when the opportunity to move higher than third in the East division standings was removed, head coach Marcel Bellefeuille focused on having his team at full strength for the playoffs. He rested a slew of veterans who were nicked up and allowed others to play. For example, receiver Chris Williams, who Bellefeuille thought could use some game conditioning in Hamilton’s regular season finale in Toronto, in order to be at an optimum level heading to Montreal for the Eastern Semi-final on Sunday.
“The last game in Toronto we did what we had to do to be healthy for the playoffs,” Bellefeuille said. “We sat a number of starters – credit to Toronto for the win, but from our perspective our number one objective was something else.”
Mission accomplished for Hamilton’s head coach as veterans like Jamall Johnson, who is set to return to practice on Wednesday, are feeling as close to 100 per cent as possible after having been put through the rigors of an 18 game regular season.
“We’ve grown quite a bit this season and I am happy with the direction we’re going in,” Bellefeuille said. “We’re getting healthy at the right time.”
Along with the Tiger-Cats health, Bellefeuille likes the way his group has battled in games where they suffered injuries to key contributors, most notably Hamilton’s fourth quarter comeback in Montreal on October 16. The Cats were down 21-9 heading into the final frame and scored two touchdowns to give themselves a chance at tying the score on a two-point conversion in the final minute.
”We did play well there — and that was one of the things I talked about with the players – that was another one of those moments that helps define this bunch,” Bellefeuille said. “We were able to lose Jamall Johnson during that game, we were able to lose Chris Williams and fight back on the road to put ourselves in a position where we had a chance to win a football game.”
Hamilton will travel back to Montreal, but will play in a different stadium. The Big O will be the home field for the Alouettes on the weekend and the Ticats are happy that Montreal is their first round opposition.
“It’s a shorter trip and the elements don’t play into the game,” Bellefeuille said. “At the end of the day we’re going to play the Grey Cup champions in a playoff game and that will create a nice challenge for us.”
“I did want to play them first because they’re a veteran team and they would be better coming out of a bye,” running back Avon Cobourne said. “I felt like coming out of a bye they would be crisp and ready to go so I would rather see them first before any other team.”
Cobourne, who won two Grey Cups with the Alouettes in 2009 and 2010 before signing with Hamilton in the off-season, hopes some of his championship experience will pay dividends for the Black and Gold.
“I’m hoping some of that Grey Cup magic will rub off on this team,” he said
Admittedly, Cobourne and Glenn don’t care where the Ticats play in the post-season and feel the team’s best football lies ahead.
“Pay attention to the playoffs,” Glenn said, “and we’ll show you what the real Hamilton Tiger-Cats are about.”
