CFL.ca Staff
VANCOUVER — The Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats took different paths to the 102nd Grey Cup, but they’re equally happy to be here in Vancouver.
‘Unfinished business’ seems to be the theme for both clubs entering Sunday’s 2014 finale, each coming off a loss in their previous Grey Cup appearance. The Stampeders fell to the host Toronto Argonauts in 2012, while the Ticats couldn’t overcome the host Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2013.
On Sunday, at least one of them will wash away the lingering bitter after taste.
“Finish,” said Stamps linebacker Juwan Simpson, after his team went 15-3 in the regular season and won the West Division for the second straight year.
“That’s been our theme the whole season – it’s really that simple.”
The Stampeders were 43-18 victors over the Edmonton Eskimos in last weekend’s Western Final, earning their second Grey Cup appearance in three years.
Playoff disappointment has been a dark cloud overhead over the past five years, for a perennial regular season powerhouse that just hasn’t been able to finish the job.
For that reason, you can understand why the Stampeders were never too excited about tying a franchise high 13 regular season wins, or even eliminating the hated Edmonton Eskimos in a blowout playoff victory.
Nothing for the Stampeders matters other than capturing the elusive Grey Cup Championship.
“Anything else we consider a failure,” said Simpson. “We have to finish this.”
The Stamps played in a Grey Cup final recently, when they were the favourite to knock off the Argos in 2012. Toronto jumped out to a 24-6 halftime lead in that one, however, earning an eventual 35-22 victory in a game that was never really close.
Two years later, said CFL leading rusher Jon Cornish, the Stampeders are a totally different team, despite having many of the same players.
“We lost last time we were in the Grey Cup, but this team is so different,” Cornish said shortly after the Stampeders landed in Vancouver on a cold rainy Tuesday night. “The core is the same, but I think we have a very different attitude.”
Simpson agreed, adding that his team’s approach already appears a lot more business-like than in 2012, when many Stampeders were getting their first full dose of getting to play in the Grey Cup Championship.
“Just a more focused group it seems like,” said Simpson. “Everyone seems to be more business oriented, from the standpoint that we know what this game is about.”
“2012 was such a different locker room as well. We’ve got a great group of guys. From day one, this just seemed like a focused bunch.”
“This is going to be a tough week with a lot of things going on, but I think we’ve got the guys to get through it.”
While the Stampeders are playing their second Grey Cup game in three years and are used to being a perennial CFL powerhouse, the Ticats are no less excited to be in the Grey Cup. In fact, the Ticats are so excited to play in Sunday’s game, they spent a good part of the five-hour flight to Vancouver studying.
“I think the mindset is about the game and getting the win,” said Zach Collaros, who will go head-to-head with Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell in a battle of unproven playoff quarterbacks. “It’s a business trip.”
“We’re going to do our best to focus solely on the game,” he continued. “As long as we lock in while we’re in our meetings and on the practice field and watching the film and all of those things, we’ll have a good week.”
Count Ticats’ Head Coach Kent Austin among those who think the team has lots to learn from last year’s Grey Cup loss. The Tabbies were young and had seemingly overachieved just to make it as far as the Grey Cup in 2013, while all of the pressure was on the hometown Riders to come through.
This year, though, the Ticats will be the ones facing pressure, especially now that they’ve been here before.
“The thing that will hopefully be different is that the players that played last year will have a better understanding of time management and what the distractions are,” said Ticats Head Coach and General Manager Kent Austin. “The week can get a little hectic, so there’s just a little familiarity with this week.”
Austin, now making his third Grey Cup appearance in just three years as a head coach, said each return trip to the final has been as special as the last.
That was the feeling on Tuesday night in Vancouver, as both teams arrived with all of Grey Cup Week ahead of them. This is what each team plays 18 regular season games for, and then some – the chance to play for the Championship, under the watchful eye of the entire nation.
Whether you’re a seven-year veteran and it’s your third Grey Cup, as is the case for Calgary’s Simpson, or you’re getting ready to play in your first ever Grey Cup like Hamilton’s Collaros, the one thing these teams can agree on is that being in the Grey Cup will never get old.
“I feel like I’m still super excited,” said linebacker Simoni Lawrence. “I got this boost of energy when we landed.”
“It’s the Grey Cup – you work your ass off all season for this moment, and you just want to take advantage of it.”
Both teams will hit the practice field on Wednesday morning, knowing that only one of them can finally earn the Grey Cup Championship crown.
