Justin Dunk
Ticats.ca
Luc Mulldiner has seen this team in the post-season before.
Two straight seasons the 6-4 288-pound defensive lineman has faced Montreal in the playoffs. Both of those meetings came when Mullinder was playing for Saskatchewan, and the Rough Riders met the Alouettes in successive Grey Cups in 2009 and 2010.
Mullinder’s experience in the CFL title game, and more importantly what it takes to get there, is a welcomed trait on a Ticats team looking to dethrone the two-time defending champions come Sunday afternoon.
”I understand what it takes during the week of practice and preparation,” he said after Hamilton’s first day or preparations for the Als on Wednesday. “You understand what level you need to be at and what intensity you need to approach the week with.”
Montreal heads into the Eastern semifinal on a three game slide, which includes a 43-1 drubbing at the hands of the B.C. Lions last Saturday in their regular season finale. However, Mullinder warns if he and his Tiger-Cat teammates think the Alouettes are going to show up feeling sorry for themselves on Sunday, they have another thing coming.
“They are the two-time defending Grey Cup champions, they’re not going to come out like they did against the Lions,” he said. “If any of the guys on this team think that they’re sadly mistaken. They have a great coaching staff over there, they’re led by Anthony Calvillo, the best quarterback to ever do it, so for us to expect that same team that we saw in B.C. is crazy.”
Realizing each and every post-season birth is an opportunity, which is not guaranteed each year, Mullinder is embracing the chance the Ticats have given themselves, qualifying for the playoffs after a solid regular campaign.
“It’s just a different type of atmosphere and intensity when the playoffs roll around,” he said. “This is where the big money players step up and you always find the guy that had a minor role, all of a sudden looking like a star. Expect anything.”
In his first stint as a Tiger-Cat Mullinder has been ready for anything thrown his way, always looking to help the team in any way possible.
“I came in knowing that my role would be different. I’m here doing whatever they ask me to do,” he said. “Whether it’s playing 40 plays or three plays – I’m a pro and I’ve been around for a while now, so I know when my number is called to make the best of it.”
Mullinder and his defensive mates have been pouring through Montreal film, but said the Lions performance from last week cannot be the sole focus of their studies.
”You want to watch a bit of every situation they have been in. I don’t think any one game is more important to watch,” he said. “If you take a sample out of all the games they’ve played I think you get a better bead on what their tendencies are.”
Number 90 will be striving to create a fond memory at Olympic Stadium.
“You embrace the opportunity because you don’t know when you’re going to get it again,” Mullinder said. “I’ve played this game eight years and playoff wins and Grey Cups are hard to come by.”
