CFL
With a Grey Cup now in their display case, the Calgary Stampeders can call 2014 one of their greatest seasons. The narrow championship game win over Hamilton was the Stampeders seventh Grey Cup victory in franchise history and in many ways the most satisfying.
It was most satisfying because of the franchise record-tying fifteen wins, combined with the playoff victories that gave the Stampeders a franchise-best seventeen win season total.
It was also satisfying because of the large number of injuries to high-profile players. Despite those issues, the team persevered to the title.
The first game of 2014 should have given the team a hint as to what would happen during the year.
The offence exploded in the opening quarter as newly-announced starting quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell hit Maurice Price with a 102-yard pass-and-run play to conclude the first quarter. That big play served notice the Stampeders offence would be a force all season.
However, the Stampeders also received notice the injury bug would trouble them all season. In the second half, running back Jon Cornish was felled by a head-high hit from Montreal’s Kyries Hebert. Hebert was ejected for the hit and Cornish would not play again until late August. Price also departed the game with a wrist injury, sidelining him until Labour Day.
Despite reshuffling the line up the Stampeder rolled to a 4-0 start. That streak would end on August 1 when the B. C. Lions paid a visit to McMahon Stadium. The Stampeders let an 11-point lead slip away in losing 25-24 to the Lions.
That loss wouldn’t deter the Stampeders as they rattled off a six-game win streak, including, tellingly, two wins against the Edmonton Eskimos.
The final game of the win streak was the September 13 Toronto game. That win proved very costly however. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell left with a twisted knee and would miss three games.
Defensive end Charleston Hughes suffered a foot injury and wouldn’t see the field for the rest of the season.
Drew Tate stepped into the quarterback void and won two of his three starts. Mitchell would return for the October 18 date in Winnipeg.
The Stampeders mixed and matched their lineups en route to their successful 15-and-3 season. They received a giant boost in the final regular season game in Vancouver. Injured Marquay McDaneil returned to action and promptly hauled in twelve passes.
Clinching first place gave the Stampeders the chance to put their lineup together for their playoff game with the Edmonton Eskimos.
That afternoon the Stampeders shook off the disappointment of the prior year’s West Final with a solid 43-18 win over the Edmonton Eskimos. The Stampeders, in front of a raucous McMahon Stadium crowd, bolted to a 29-4 lead before defeating their provincial rivals.
That win set the stage for a Grey Cup trip and a date with the Hamilton Tiger Cats.
That game featured a strong start by the Stampeders but a slow second half with a dramatic finish.
The final score of 20-16 gave the Stampeders their seventh Grey Cup in history.
Most satisfying, it was the culmination of a strong season, wire-to-wire. The win also ended years of playoff and Grey Cup frustration.
Now the challenge is to do something no Stampeder team has ever done. That would be winning back-to-back Grey Cups. With quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell back, a strong receiving core set to return, Jon Cornish likely to be more healthy and a rock-ribbed defence, the Stampeders chances look promising.
But that’s what the off-season is for. Reflection …..and speculation!
