It’s the final weekend of CFL action. I’ll miss Canadian football when it’s done, of course – but I have so much to do between now and May 2024 that I feel like I’m barely going to have time to catch my breath. Timing this week’s column with my report card deadlines has been an extremely elaborate balancing act.

In league news this week:

• Ottawa city council voted last week to approve a major redevelopment of the city-owned Lansdowne Park complex, which includes TD Place Stadium and Arena; home to the REDBLACKS and the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67s, the complex was renovated significantly when the CFL came back to town back in 2014, including rebuilding the south side grandstands, significantly retrofitting the arena, and completely redeveloping the surrounding parking lot in a more dense, walkable mixed-use residential and commercial area designed to attract patrons on game days and during the offseason. The stadium is great, but the rest has been decidedly mixed. In this new city vote, the north side grandstands will now be completely demolished and the arena underneath them dynamited as well. The stands and arena will both be rebuilt from scratch, but with the arena located to the east end of the property, looking onto the end zone, rather than having the north side stands sitting directly on top as they are in their current configuration. There will also be several new condo towers and other retail outlets added in the new design. The major issue with this deal, however, is that it allocates more than $400 million of taxpayer money to the Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group, the holding company that owns the REDBLACKS & 67s and is the stadium and facility managing partner… in a time when public transit is literally falling apart and cost of living is shooting through the roof, this is an egregious misappropriation of public funds and isn’t going to help the city as a whole. I am concerned that costs will continue to balloon.
• The Saskatchewan Roughriders released DB Nic Marshall after he was arrested for felony gun charges in his home state of Georgia; the charges include possession of a sawed-off shotgun, which carries a potential five-year prison sentence if convicted. Marshall was scheduled to be a free agent this winter after appearing in 17 games this year with the team.
• The CFL announced this week that it will return to a more balanced schedule for 2024; in the wake of COVID, the previous three seasons have all featured an (over)abundance of divisional matches; the new schedule will feature every team playing every other team a minimum of two times, with at least one home and away game for each of those contests. This is a welcome development – and with the East returning to highlight some depth for the first time in many years, I am curious to see just what will happen when teams don’t have to play each other so often anymore.

Onto the games!

DIVISION FINAL RECAPS

EAST DIVISION FINAL

(2) Montreal 37 vs. (1) Toronto 18: Wow. What an upset. The Als’ defence came to play for this game. Holy cow. The Argos, who were favoured by 10.5 at kickoff, gave up a pick-six on the opening drive of the game, and their incredibly impressive regular season all came crashing down in a rubble. Montreal forced nine turnovers – including four interceptions, two of which were turned over for TDs – and got enough offence to get the job done. Between the two pick-sixes and the 105-yard kickoff return TD late in the game from Montreal return Man James Letcher, Jr., the Alouettes had enough points from their defence and special teams alone to win the game. Toronto QB Chad Kelly had unquestionably his worst game of the season, and at such an inopportune time to boot. After such a great year, it’s no doubt a tough end to the season – but if there’s any solace to be had for these 16-2 Argos, the only other team to ever go 16-2 – the 1989 Edmonton team – similarly did not make it to a Grey Cup game, losing in the West Final to the 9-9 Saskatchewan Roughriders. Time to reset and get ready for next year – Toronto may have lost here, but they’re probably going to be very good once again next year.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Montreal

WEST DIVISION FINAL

(2) BC 13 vs. (1) Winnipeg 24: In the West Semi, good Vernon Adams, Jr. showed up. In the West Final… it was unfortunately bad Vernon Adams, Jr. that took the field. Winnipeg’s D completely stopped him up, forcing him into three interceptions and racking up nine sacks; he had just one TD on the night, on a 50-yard Hail Mary bomb to end the first half. Tough sledding for the Leos, who’ve now lost two straight West Finals in Winnipeg. The Bombers had a relatively quiet night on offence, but still moved the ball well enough on the ground, with Brady Oliveira recording yet another 100+-yard night and a TD; with WR Dalton Schoen out with an ankle injury, the rest of the team stepped up well in his absence. The only real blow for the Bombers was to LB Adam Bighill, who went down with a non-contact injury; he may have ruptured his Achilles, which would be a notable loss for their excellent defence in the coming Grey Cup matchup. A masterful player and emotional leader for Winnipeg, he’s been a key part of this team’s resurgence over the last five years – I hope he’s healthy and good to go for Sunday, but we’ll have to see.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

110th GREY CUP PREVIEW

TIM HORTONS FIELD, HAMILTON, ON

(1W) Winnipeg (15-4) vs. (2E) Montreal (13-7), Sunday, November 19th, 6:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN2): One of the most surprising stats to me about this year’s championship matchup is that in 110 years of Canadian football history, these two franchises have never once squared off for the privilege of hoisting the Grey Cup. For the Bombers, it’s their fourth consecutive trip to the Grey Cup, while for the Alouettes, it’s their first visit to a title game since 2010, when Hall of Famer Anthony Calvillo was out slinging deep balls and not calling plays from the sideline for Montreal. New Als owner Pierre-Karl Péladeau is probably stoked at this quick return to competitiveness – full credit to head coach Jason Maas for the turnaround this year. I’ll be curious to see longterm if Montreal can keep things stable with him at the helm, but after their mid-season swoon, they’ve really come into their own over these final few weeks of 2023. Last week’s big win shows that their D is unquestionably good enough to win championships; however, Winnipeg, with Zach Collaros under centre (fun fact: he’s the first QB in CFL history to start in four straight Grey Cup games), Brady Oliveira at RB, and a mess of talented receivers up and down the depth chart, are the league’s most explosive and dynamic offence. The Bombers’ greatest strength is their continued ability to mix things up and pull out the unexpected; but if the Alouettes’ D can force turnovers, they’re absolutely good enough to win. I’m pretty sure every single pundit was writing them off last week before that massive upset win – my eyes are wide open now. That’s the beauty of Canadian football – anything at all can happen. Still, hard to bet against a team that’s made the title game for four years in a row. Win or lose, Winnipeg HC Mike O’Shea is already at this stage in his career one of the best to ever lead a team in the CFL – year after year, these Blue Bombers continue to be the class of the league.

PICK: Winnipeg

Enjoy the game, everyone.