It’s the final weekend of CFL action. I’ll miss Canadian football when it’s done, of course – but I’m also immensely glad I won’t have to wait as long for its return as I did between November 2019 and August 2021. We’ll have one final recap after this one… and I highly encourage you all to split-screen view the Grey Cup alongside the NFL this Sunday. It’s shaping up to be another good one.

In league news this week:

• The Toronto Argonauts were almost without the service of starting QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson and several other players for the East Final due to their attendance of a Raptors game on Thursday night. You might believe this to be a fairly routine case of players being either clueless about league COVID protocols, or otherwise wilfully disregarding them… but as it turns out, they attended the game specifically because they were asked to by both Argos management and by their parent company, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, in order to drum up support for the team during their playoff run. As a result of these violations, the league had to step in and bend their own protocols in order to allow the Argos to be at full strength for their game… players would’ve normally had to isolate for much longer, but after two days, Bethel-Thompson and his teammates tested negative twice and thus were cleared to play. All the same, incredibly irresponsible of management to not consider the implications of how their request violated league rules.
• The Argos are also currently investigating another situation involving some players allegedly fighting fans in the stands at the end of Sunday’s game against the Ti-Cats; according to video evidence, a fan spat beer on LB Chris Edwards, who then took a few swings at him. A further black eye on a team struggling to maintain its credibility after last week’s COVID debacle… and to boot, the league has indefinitely suspended the Argos’ VP of football ops John Murphy for also getting into it with some rowdy fans after the game. Yikes.
• The Ottawa REDBLACKS’ GM search continues; reports state that they’ve spoken with TSN talking head Duane Forde about the job, along with three members of the BC Lions’ front office – director of football ops Neil McEvoy, head of US scouting Ryan Rigmaiden, and Global scout Geroy Simon. Of those four names, both Forde and Simon both had lengthy CFL careers as players, with Simon earning an induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2017. All four men have extensive experience in the game, but Ottawa’s ownership group may be looking at as many as ten people in their search for Marcel Desjardins’ replacement.
• The Western University (London, ON) Mustangs defeated the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, SK) Huskies at Stade Telus-UL (Université de Laval, Quebec City, QC) to win the 56th Vanier Cup by a score of 27-20. The Vanier Cup is the Canadian college (university) football national championship, and with the victory, Western claimed their eighth title in school history. As an alumnus of Queen’s University (Western’s most hated rival, who they shut out to win the Yates Cup [Ontario provincial title] in November), I am naturally very salty about this victory.

Onto the games!

DIVISION FINAL RECAPS

EAST DIVISION FINAL

(2) Hamilton 27 vs. (1) Toronto 19: Just like when it looked like hope was running out for the Tiger-Cats, in stepped Dane Evans. Toronto had a 12-0 lead at the half, but Hamilton came roaring back thanks to some fearless quarterbacking from Evans, who kickstarted the comeback to defeat the Tabbies’ most hated rivals. With Jeremiah Masoli struggling early, Evans came off the bench to go 16-16 for 249 yards, a pass touchdown, and two rushing scores. Hamilton got on the board in the third quarter thanks to a fantastic punt return TD by Papi White, who ran it back 92 yards to score. In the fourth quarter, the Ti-Cats finally jumped ahead, and held on to the very end. Toronto’s offence had some pressure at points, but left a lot of points on the board by not being able to close out drives with touchdowns – field goals weren’t enough to get the job done.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Hamilton

WEST DIVISION FINAL

(2) Saskatchewan 17 vs. (1) Winnipeg 21: The Blue Bombers turned the ball over SIX – yes, really, SIX times – and still came away with the win. That’s a testament to just how unbelievably dominant their defence has been this season. Zach Collaros had an uncharacteristically poor night, throwing three interceptions to the Riders secondary, but he was bailed out by the return of star RB Andrew Harris, who had 23 carries for 136 yards and a major in his first game action in almost two months. There were also fumbles aplenty, keeping action spicy on a cold Winnipeg night; it was, at the end of the day, the relentless defensive pressure from Winnipeg’s front seven that was the major difference maker in this game. With five sacks on the night, and some timely pass defence with Saskatchewan pressing late, the D papered over all of the errors and mental mistakes the team made on the offensive side of the ball. Once again, the Riders return home empty-handed.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: 

108th GREY CUP PREVIEW

TIM HORTONS FIELD, HAMILTON, ON

(1W) Winnipeg (12-3) vs. (2E) Hamilton (10-6), Sunday, December 12th, 6:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN2): It’s a rematch of our previous matchup from 2019; but this time, Hamilton has a decided home field advantage. Unlike in a regular year, these teams only met once all season long; that was back in Week 1 with Winnipeg hosting, and the Bombers rode a strong defensive effort to a 19-6 victory. With the game happening so late in the year, cold weather is likely to be a factor; if the run game ends up factoring as large as I predict it probably will, then Winnipeg holds a decisive advantage on that front. One of the only areas I think where Hamilton perhaps has a shot of getting revenge on the reigning Grey Cup champs is in their secondary; with Cariel Brooks and Ciante Evans leading the way, as well as some thorough depth, Hamilton will need Zach Collaros – himself a former Tiger-Cat – to have as poor an outing as he did last week against Saskatchewan if they do want to win. That’s asking a lot, though. If the Bombers can give up six turnovers and still find a way to win, then the rest of the league is on notice. The road to the Grey Cup may run through Tim Hortons Field, but the trophy is still, for now, on the path to return back to Winnipeg.

PICK: Winnipeg

Enjoy the game, everyone.