The CFL pre-season continues on here until June 23rd; after last week’s intro to the league and the format of how everything runs, it’s time to get you acquainted with key locations, names and faces for the coming weeks ahead! We start our league preview with the four teams from the East Division – Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton.

Montreal Alouettes

Founded: 1996 (Original franchise 1946-1987)

Home Stadium: Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, McGill University, Montreal (25,012)

Grey Cups: 7 (1949, 1970, 1974, 1977, 2002, 2009, 2010)

2015 Record: 6-12, fourth in East division, missed playoffs

GM: Jim Popp

Head Coach: Jim Popp

Starting QB: currently undecided

Famous Alumni: 

• Anthony Calvillo, QB (football’s all-time passing yards leader, beating even Favre and Peyton, with 79,816)
• Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, WR (no explanation needed)
• Mike Pringle, RB (all-time CFL rushing yards leader – 16,425 on 2960 carries, averaging 5.6 YPC)

Fun Facts: Percival Molson Stadium is the only one in the CFL that doesn’t contain perfectly square endzones due to a running track surrounding the field. Nobody seems to care, funny enough. Legendary QB Anthony Calvillo is also currently serving as the team’s offensive coordinator. The Als’ 2009 Grey Cup win against the Saskatchewan Roughriders ( which saw them win on a last-second field goal, their second attempt after Saskatchewan had successfully blocked the first one, but were penalized for too many men) is considered the greatest CFL championship in the history of the league. The current franchise relocated from Baltimore in 1996, after the Stallions captured the 1995 Grey Cup, the only American team to ever do so.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: Montreal fired their head coach Tom Higgins 8 games into the 2015 season, with GM Jim Popp once again taking over double duties, which carries over into this new season. The Als made a splash in free agency by signing newly-graduated Oregon QB Vernon Adams to a big deal, though the competition will be pretty tight for the starter’s job, with Clemson QB (and NYJ pick) Tajh Boyd and longtime CFL vet Kevin Glenn also in the mix. It gets messier still with the presence of other QBs Brandon Bridge, Rakeem Cato, and Jonathan Crompton, all of whom received regular-season playing time as well. The Als will again be in tough to make the playoffs this season, but if they can adequately address their situation at QB, which has been up in the air since the legendary Anthony Calvillo retired in 2013; whether it’s Vernon Adams or someone else, they’re almost certain to be improved from last year’s 6-12.

Ottawa REDBLACKS

Founded: 2013 (Original Rough Riders franchise lasted 1876-1996; Renegades 2002-2005)

Home Stadium: TD Place Stadium, Ottawa (24,000)

Grey Cups: 0 (9 as the Rough Riders – 1925, 1926, 1940, 1951, 1960, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1976)

2015 Record: 12-6, first in East division, lost Grey Cup

GM: Marcel Desjardins

Head Coach: Rick Campbell

Starting QB: Henry Burris

Famous Alumni: 

• Russ Jackson, QB ( 3-time Most Outstanding Player, 4-time Most Outstanding Canadian, 6-time All-Star, one of the greatest Canadian QBs in the history of the game)
• Tony Gabriel, TE (scored the game-winning touchdown in the 1976 Grey Cup)
• Rohan Marley, LB (the bastard son of Bob Marley, was also married to singer Lauryn Hill)
• Dexter Manley, LB (he of the lifetime NFL ban for cocaine problems)

Fun Facts: if you say the name “Glieberman” in Ottawa, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll get stabbed by someone. The financial mismanagement of this father & son team killed not only the historic Rough Riders in ’96, but the 2000s expansion Renegades as well. They are fucking idiots. (I am still hurt by the loss of the Rough Riders.) Fans in the stands also constantly talk shit about each other – “North Side Sucks!” and “South Side Sucks!” have been staples for decades at home games. Also, the team insists on spelling REDBLACKS in all capitals, and I honestly have no fucking idea why.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: Ottawa made the Grey Cup last year after an incredibly surprising year which saw starting QB Henry Burris win Most Outstanding Player, leading the league in passing yards at age 40, as well as a receiving corps that sported four thousand-yard receivers – Ernest Jackson, Greg Ellingson, Chris Williams, and Most Outstanding Canadian recipient Brad Sinopoli. The offense was a juggernaut, the defense had a strong defensive line and excellent secondary, and they had all the makers of a championship team… until conservative play-calling in a frigid Grey Cup game saw them lose to the Edmonton Eskimos. At any rate, Burris is back for another season, as the oldest player in the league at age 41, the big four of the receiving corps are back, and the biggest splash in free agency was signing away QB Trevor Harris from the Toronto Argonauts; he led the league in passing TDs last year while filling for injured starter Ricky Ray. Curiously, while Ottawa sees Harris as their starter for next season, the opening day of training camp saw an announcement that Burris had restructured his contract to allow for him to return for the 2017 season as well… so the waters have now been muddied considerably on what the REDBLACKS will do about their quarterbacks. Ottawa has the full ability to make another deep run this year, but in a tight division with Toronto and Hamilton, they’ll need to play even better than last year to ensure a playoff berth.

Toronto Argonauts

Founded: 1873

Home Stadium: BMO Field (26,500 for football crowds)

Grey Cups: 16 (1914, 1921, 1933, 1937, 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1983, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2012)

2015 Record: 10-8, third in division, lost East semifinal

GM: Jim Barker

Head Coach: Scott Milanovich (yes, #1 XFL Draft pick QB Scott Milanovich!)

Starting QB: Ricky Ray

Famous Alumni:

• Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, RB (largest contract in CFL history and MOP of the 1991 Grey Cup, one of the most exciting ever)
• Ricky Williams, RB (scampered north when the NFL suspended him in 2006 for weed. Gave no fucks about it.)
• Michael “Pinball” Clemons, RB (won 4 Grey Cups with the Argos and holds the CFL record for most all-purpose yards with 25,396)
• Damon Allen, QB (retired at age 44 in 2008, holds the record for combined passing and rushing yards in all of pro football, with 84,301)
• Doug Flutie, QB (6-time CFL MOP and QB for the NFL Bears, Patriots, Bills and Chargers)

Fun Facts: John Candy, Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall owned the Argos in the early ’90s; they also offered a CFL-record contract to Rocket Ismail ($18.2 million over four years – an absolutely unheard-of amount which has not come close to being equalled – QBs, which make the most money on average of all players in the league today, typically have contracts between $200-500,000 at the very most.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: Toronto had by far the most difficult season of any team in the league from a travel perspective – their old home, the Rogers Centre, was shared with MLB’s Blue Jays, who took priority over them; with the Jays making a deep playoff run for the first time in 22 years, as well as the presence of the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, the Argos were forced to play “home” games in Hamilton, Ottawa, and even a 12,000-seat stadium in Fort McMurray, Alberta (the same that was ravaged by forest fires this year). Still, they finished with a 10-8 record, all the more impressive with starting QB Ricky Ray out for much of the season after offseason shoulder surgery. Backup Trevor Harris led the team well in his absence, but with Harris now departed for Ottawa, Ray will have to step up once again to show he’s still got what it takes after being out for such a prolonged period of time. Overall, though, much of the team is the same from last year, and with a new permanent home in BMO Field, which they share on equal tenancy with MLS’ Toronto FC, the Argos have a chance to get things back on track. Toronto is an extremely important market for the CFL, and with so much competition from hockey, basketball, and baseball, the survival (and relevancy) of the Argos is an extremely important part of the overall health of the CFL as a whole.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Founded: 1950 (the Hamilton Tigers, est. 1869, and Hamilton Wildcats, est. 1941, merged to create the current franchise)

Home Stadium: Tim Hortons Field (24,000)

Grey Cups: 8 (1953, 1957, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1986, 1999)

2015 Record: 10-8, second in East divison; lost East final

GM: Eric Tillman

Head Coach: Kent Austin

Starting QB: Zach Collaros

Famous Alumni:

• Angelo Mosca, DT (won 5 Grey Cups, was a pro wrestler in the WWF known as both King Kong Mosca and The Mighty Hercules; famously got in a fight with BC Lions QB Joe Kapp over a hit in the 1963 Grey Cup, where he hit several times with his cane… check out the video here!)
• Matt Dunigan, QB (2-time Grey Cup champion and current studio analyst for Canadian sports network TSN)
• Bernie Faloney, QB (3-time Grey Cup champion who chose the CFL over the San Francisco 49ers in 1954 because the Canadian dollar was worth more… kind of a shocker!)

Fun Facts: Tim Hortons, the quintessential Canadian coffee joint, is headquartered in Hamilton, and thus the stadium takes the naming rights from them; for whatever reason, there seems to be a major wind tunnel effect, and the new stadium, which replaced the ancient Ivor Wynne Stadium, is hellish for kickers. The TiCats were also owned by insane Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard in the 1980s, who claimed at one point he was losing “a million dollars a year” on the team despite their on-field success. The TiCats are the only CFL team to ever beat an NFL team, when they topped the Buffalo Bills on August 8, 1961. Every year, the TiCats and archrival Argos play the Labour Day Classic at Hamilton’s home stadium, with a 31-15 advantage all-time in the series.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: Hamilton were the favourites to win the East division last year, but when starting QB Zach Collaros went down with a torn ACL in September, they ended up second after losing their final two games of the season to Ottawa. Collaros is likely to miss the start of this season as well, and so Hamilton will most likely have to go with a patchwork solution at QB until he is ready to return. Otherwise, this is a deep and balanced team, with an excellent defense, and all-star kick and punt returner Brandon Banks leading the way on special teams. If they can get by at whoever they end up starting at QB for the first little bit of the season, they’ll be positioned nicely to win the East and return to the Grey Cup, where they lost heartbreakers in 2013 and 2014 to Saskatchewan and Calgary.

That’s it for this week – check back next week when we preview the five West division teams!