Will the Als Mystique come to an end

To say the Alouettes who Saskatchewan open the season against have a mystical hex over the Roughriders is an understatement as the Montrealers since coming back into the league in 1997 have owned the Saskatchewan crew as they have beaten them in 18 of the 21 times they have met .They have played twenty times over this period in regular season play and a playoff game at Olympic Stadium in 2005.

The Riders have but one victory in Montreal over this same period and that was on October 8th 2001 when their defence put on a spectacular show in a 13-7 victory. The only other Saskatchewan victories were at home on October the Eighth 2004 when they defeated the Als 35 -19 at the then Taylor Field after falling behind 19-0.Then again last year they were winners with some last minute heroics 27-26.

The Alouette superiority over their prairie counterparts has many of the experts shaking their heads as this is the most one sided rivalry scenario in the entire CFL in the last ten years. There is the thinking that when travelling to La Belle Province the long flight which begins at 6 am from the Regina Airport and with a two hour time change and two hour Toronto lay over results in the team suffering from a severs case of jet lag when they get to their destination. They usually arrive so late in the day that they do not practice and just go straight to their hotel rooms and the intense Montreal humidity has also been listed as a factor that has drained the players of some of their energy particularly late in the game.

At any rate this year the Montreal braintrust which is led by Jim Popp who once worked for Bill Quinter in Saskatchewan as an assistant General Manager and is now the Director of Football Operations which means he is both Head Coach and General Manager have decided that changes are in order for this team to remain competitive and a leader in the Eastern Conference. The Red ,Blue and White have been in five of the last seven Grey Cup finals and three of the last four and were Grey Cup champions in 2002 in Edmonton. However to remain at the top it was felt that some veterans were expendable and were released.

That list includes receivers Sylvain Girard, Keith stokes, Terrence Edwards, Thyron Anderson. Dave Stella and O,neil Wilson. In addition canadian veterans like running back Eric Lapointe and defensive tackle deluxe Ed Phillion retired.

The key offensively once again is Quarterback Anthony Calvillio one of the CFL,s best who career wise has thrown for 49947 yards and 268 touchdowns and will soon become second as far as passing yardage is concerned in CFL history. Calvillo can pick apart a defence and thread the needle when he is faced with tight coverage situations. He still has two brilliant receivers to throw to in Kerry Watkins with 86 receptions for 1153 yards last year and the incomparable Ben Cahoon who had a career high 97 catches in 2006 for 1364 yards.They picked up former Rider Elijah Thurman from Calgary a few weeks ago and he had 57 receptions last year with the Cowboys.

Two former Roughrider coaches head up the Alouettte offense with Marcel Belfeuille the offensive Coordinator which was a position he held in Saskatchewan while former Rider receiver and receivers coach Tim Kearse is the new Als receivers coach.It has been rumoured that Belfeuille has relieved Calvillo of some of his play calling duties which is surprising in itself.

The Montrealers have a potent weapon in the backfield with running back Robert Edwards who accumulated 1155 yards on the ground and scored 17 tds last year.Their offensive line has gone thru some partial rebuilding but veterans like guard Scott Flory and Brian Chiu will continue to lead the way for Edwards and protect Calvillo.


Their defense will miss the leadership of Ed Phillion who was a leader and an intimadator from his defensive tackle spot.

On the surface it would appear that to many key personnel are missing from the perennial Eastern Champions but don't count them out as history has proven in the last ten years and with Calviilo healthy and at the throttle this team still has the ability to score points but their defence may give up a lot as well.

The Riders have named Kerry Joseph the starter at the pivot position and with his running ability he should give the Als revamped defense headaches .

This team has looked very sharp in the exhibition season winning both of their games and appears to be responding positively to rookie coach Kent Austins philosophy.

I look for The Green Machine to get off on the right foot and come up with a big victory at Molson Stadium.