THE CANADIAN PRESS
Conquering ‘The Big O”
For home post-season games like Sunday’s Eastern Semifinal, over the last few years Montreal has moved to Olympic Stadium, a place with the capacity to hold over 66, 000 people.
“If they’re in the game it will be loud, if they’re not in the game it will be just like any other game at any other place,” said Avon Cobourne, who is one of a few Ticats to have played in the building, albeit it as a member of the hometown Alouettes.
All of the Black and Gold will have a chance to get familiar with the indoor surroundings when they go through the day-before-the-game walk through on Saturday afternoon.
“Some of the players will have to get used to the turf and just how expansive it is compared to Rogers Centre,” head coach Marcel Belllefeuille said. “It’s just bigger and deeper, the ceilings are higher so we’ll have to get used to that.”
The Alouettes are known for putting up points early on their opponents and they seem to start even faster within the confines of Olympic Stadium.
“Montreal has proven to be a team that comes out very fast at “The Big O” over the last three years in the playoffs,” Bellefeuille said. “You have to match it.”
Quarterback Kevin Glenn would like to see his team maintain a steady level of intensity, throughout the ball game against Montreal.
“Sometimes some teams come out fired up in the first quarter and then they lay it down for the next three,” he said. “We just have to make sure we keep it even, keep it even from the first quarter to the fourth quarter – we can’t have those lulls in the second half. We need to keep an equal level across the board for four quarters.”
If Hamilton can come out even or on top after one quarter of play, the Ticats will be in good shape at what will be a raucous Olympic Stadium.
Just In Time
Starting linebacker Jamall Johnson has healed up and is ready to go for the Eastern Semifinal, a huge boost to the Ticats defence in their attempt to slow Montreal, the league’s number one rated offence.
“Jamall is very important to us in terms of containing Brandon Whitaker, but also he has been one of our better guys getting to the quarterback,” Bellefeuille said. “Whether it’s been Buck Pierce in Winnipeg, Anthony Calvillo, he’s done a great job in the blitz game and making big plays for us — stripping the ball and sacking quarterbacks.”
Johnson sat out Hamilton’s last three regular season contests so he could be at full strength heading into playoffs, as did a couple other Ticats.
Receivers Chris Williams and Marcus Thigpen took turns being in and out of the lineup.
“This will be the first time we have Marcus Thigpen and Chris Williams on the field together in five weeks,” Bellefeuille said.
Obviously, having two speed demons — Williams finished first and Thigpen finished second in the annual TSN player poll ranking the fastest players in the league — and playmakers back starting together will make the Hamilton attack much more dangerous.
“They use their speed to their advantage,” Glenn said.
“Not all the time do you have to be the fastest receiver to get open – you have to know how to run routes and know what the defence is actually playing. But I think our guys do a good job of using their speed to their advantage, when they need to go fast, they go fast and when they need to slow down and set guys up they do that.”
Along with having number eight and 80 back in the arsenal, Hamilton has added a few new wrinkles for Sunday’s tilt.
“I’m sure Montreal has done the same thing, but we have wrinkles in all three phases,” Bellefeuille said.
“The last two weeks of the regular season we were very cognisant of the things that we were doing, knowing that it would be on tape, not wanting to give too much up. This week the players got some fresh plays and some different ways to get the ball to players and some different looks defensively and on special teams. They get excited about that because it challenges them during the week to prepare mentally.”
Glenn believes the new wrinkles on his side of the ball can give them a leg up against a banged up and a relatively untested Montreal defence.
“You add a new play and it’s always an extension of another play, to try and confuse the defence,” he said.
After finishing the regular season on Thursday November 3, Hamilton had extra time to ensure their new plays were understood in the classroom and executed well on the practice field, in preparation for Montreal.
Further Investigation
Ticats quarterback Kevin Glenn on the playoffs:
“It’s an exciting mood around the team. To be one of the six teams in the CFL playing for a Grey Cup you have to relish these opportunities. I think everybody is excited. We get to keep playing football a game we love to play. What better way to start a Grey Cup run then going to play the defending champs in their own house?”
Ticats running back Avon Cobourne talking about beating his former team:
“It’ll be big, but right now I’m not even looking at them as my former club, I’ve been in Hamilton for a year. I think we have the blueprint to do it, we’ve beaten them twice and they’ve been beat in their last couple games. We feel like if we emulate some of the things we did before and what happened the last couple weeks, then we can win.”
