The CFL pre-season continues on here until June 23rd; last week’s CFL Beat saw the East Division teams previewed here – this week is a preview of the five teams that make up the West Division of the CFL – Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Calgary, Edmonton, and B.C.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Founded: 1930

Home Stadium: Investors Group Field, Winnipeg, MB (33,500)

Grey Cups: 10 (1935, 1939, 1941, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1984, 1988, 1990)

2015 Record: 5-13, 4th in West Division; missed playoffs

GM: Kyle Walters

Head Coach: Mike O’Shea

Starting QB: Drew Willy

Famous Alumni: 

• Milt Stegall, WR (played 3 seasons in the NFL for the Bengals before coming north to WPG, where he holds the CFL for all-time touchdowns with 144; also a 9-time CFL All-Star but never won a Grey Cup)
• Tom Clements, QB (won 1976 Grey Cup with the Ottawa Rough Riders, as well as the 1984 Grey Cup with the Bombers; currently serving as the Green Bay Packers’ assistant head coach)

Fun Facts: the Blue Bombers are owned by a community-based collective, in extremely similar fashion to the Green Bay Packers, and are one of two CFL teams still with this model of ownership. They were also the first team not from Ontario or Quebec to win a Grey Cup, with their initial 1935 victory.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: The Bombers have missed the playoffs in four straight seasons, and it feels like the wheels of change are spinning with no real hope of resolution. The main point of any real success that Winnipeg will have while playing in a tough West Division will be if they can keep quarterbacks healthy; current starter Drew Willy missed a huge chunk of last season with a leg injury, prompting the Bombers to trade for the Edmonton Eskimos’ Matt Nichols to fill in during his absence. Assuming they remain healthy, this is a very good QB tandem that will be competitive with all others in the league, but the rest of the roster, particularly the defense, remains suspect; signing former Saskatchewan WR Weston Dressler and BC RB Andrew Harris will hopefully be a big boost for an offense in need of some weapons, though. Winnipeg remains the wild card they’ve been since 1990, with the ability to both massively surprise us with success or failure. Your best guess as to which is more likely, really.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Founded: 1910

Home Stadium: Mosaic Stadium, Regina, SK (33,427 for football)

Grey Cups: 4 (1966, 1989, 2007, 2013)

2015 Record: 3-15, 5th in West Division, missed playoffs

GM: Chris Jones

Head Coach: Chris Jones

Starting QB: Darian Durant

Famous Alumni: 

• Ron Lancaster, QB/DE (led Riders to the 1966 Grey Cup; 4 time CFL All-Star, 2-time CFL MOP)
• George Reed, RB (9-time CFL All-Star, 1965 CFL MOP, CFL record-holder for rushing TDs with 134)

Fun Facts: The Roughriders are the other CFL team currently owned by community shareholders in addition to Winnipeg. They are the #3 overall sports team in Canada in merchandise sales, behind only the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadians. Until 2013, you could joke about my alma mater, the Queen’s University Golden Gaels (Kingston, ON) having won the same number of Grey Cups (3) as the Roughriders, despite not playing for the trophy since the 1920s. Finally, it’s very easy to upset Ottawa fans about the Rough Riders/Roughriders controversy of the 20th century, especially since Saskatchewan lawyers blocked the new expansion team in Ottawa from taking their old name back (WE HAD IT FIRST DAMMIT!).

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: 2015 was disastrous for the Roughriders; starting QB Darian Durant went down with a torn Achilles tendon in the very first game of the regular season, making veteran backup Kevin Glenn, himself a longtime CFL starter, the new number one. With other key players such as WRs Chris Getzlaf, Taj Smith, LB Weldon Brown, and later Glenn himself all going down to injury, the team started the season 0-9, which got head coach Corey Chamblin and GM Brendan Taman fired at the halfway point. Fortunately, things are looking up for the Roughriders, with the hiring of 2015 Grey Cup-winning coach Chris Jones from the Edmonton Eskimos to fulfil both coaching and GM duties. Over half the players were released or traded during the offseason, and the new roster, with notable signings of DE Shawn Lemon and WR Rob Bagg, to go along with a healthy Darian Durant at QB, will make the 2016 roster far more competitive (and hopefully much luckier!) than their unfortunate 2015 campaign.

Calgary Stampeders

Founded: 1945

Home Stadium: McMahon Stadium, Calgary, AB (35,400)

Grey Cups: 7 (1948, 1971, 1992, 1998, 2001, 2008, 2014)

2015 Record: 14-4, 2nd in West Division; lost to Edmonton in West Final

GM: John Hufnagel

Head Coach: Dave Dickenson

Starting QB: Bo Levi Mitchell

Famous Alumni:

• Doug Flutie, QB (won the 1992 Grey Cup as the starter)
• Jeff Garcia, QB (played 1994-98, won the 1998 Grey Cup, and was a 4-time All-Star before jumping to the San Francisco 49ers)

Fun Facts: The 1948 Stampeders are the only professional Canadian football team to ever have a perfect season, when they went 12-0 and won the Grey Cup in Toronto against the Ottawa Rough Riders; the celebrations were so epic that they had a giant pancake breakfast on the steps of Toronto’s City Hall and were even riding horses through the lobby of that city’s famous Royal York hotel.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: Along with Edmonton, Calgary is the team to beat in the West. Longtime head coach John Hufnagel stepped down at the end of last season to pass the reins to his offensive coordinator, and former CFL MOP, Dave Dickenson, though Hufnagel retains his GM duties. This is a deep team with balanced run and pass games; starting QB Bo Levi Mitchell, while having a hilariously Amish-sounding name, has both a strong arm and is mobile in the pocket, while backup Drew Tate still often sees the field in short yardage situations such as QB sneaks. Throw in RB Jerome Messam and WRs Bakari Grant and Marquay McDaniel and you have a lot of bodies to spread the ball around. Stamps fans are spoiled, having a Grey Cup contender year after year in their fair city.

Edmonton Eskimos

Founded: 1949

Home Stadium: Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, AB (56,302)

Grey Cups: 14 (1954, 1955, 1956, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1993, 2003, 2005, 2015)

2015 Record: 14-4, 1st in West Division, won Grey Cup against the Ottawa REDBLACKS

GM: Ed Hervey

Head Coach: Jason Maas

Starting QB: Mike Reilly

Famous Alumni:

• Warren Moon, QB (longtime Houston Oilers QB and 5-time Grey Cup winner, 2-time Grey Cup MOP, 1983 CFL MOP)
• Henry “Gizmo” Williams, RB (5’6″, 185 lbs, a forerunner to Darren Sproles & Devin Hester – one of the greatest kick returners in CFL history with 31 kick return touchdowns – 26 punts, 2 kickoffs, and 3 on missed FGs)
• Chris Getzlaf, WR (currently on the roster; brother of NHL Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf)

Fun Facts: The Eskimos won 5 straight Grey Cups between 1978-82, and this streak of dominance is considered to be the best that the CFL and all of Canadian football has ever seen in its history. The team also made the playoffs in 34 consecutive years between 1972-2005, a feat no other team has equalled in any North American pro sports league. Commonwealth Stadium is the largest stadium in the CFL, and is also the traditional home of the Canadian national soccer teams due to its size and its use of a real grass field until 2009.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: After winning the 2015 Grey Cup, the Eskimos lost long-time head coach Chris Jones to Saskatchewan, which guaranteed him the GM job in addition to being their new head coach; they turned around and hired, to much controversy, Jason Maas, the former OC for the Ottawa REDBLACKS whose breakout season as a coordinator took Ottawa to the Grey Cup game, landed QB Henry Burris an MOP season at age 40, and got 4 wide receivers to over 1000 yards on the year. At any rate, the controversy ensued due to Ottawa demanding compensation for the loss of their OC, which the league ultimately denied, giving some football ops staff a bit of a hissy fit. At any rate, Maas is set up for continued success in Edmonton, with QB Mike Reilly being one of the best in the league, and could have easily won MOP himself had he not missed time due to injury last season. The Eskimos main receiving corps of Adarius Bowman, Cory Watson, Derel Walker, and Chris Getzlaf is just as deadly as the REDBLACKS crew that saw such success last season, and the defense, built around DE Odell Willis, is just as formidable, with the ability to absolutely stifle offences both in pass coverage and in rushing defence. Edmonton will be right in the thick of things to repeat as champions once again this season, and it won’t be a shock to see Jason Maas’ stock as a coach continue to rise if the team does well; the NFL could quite feasibly be knocking on his door in another couple years if he keeps going on this trajectory of success.

British Columbia Lions

Founded: 1954

Home Stadium: BC Place, Vancouver, BC (54, 500)

Grey Cups: 6 (1964, 1985, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2011)

2015 Record: 7-11, 3rd in West Division, lost to Calgary in West Semifinal

GM: Wally Buono

Head Coach: Wally Buono

Starting QB: Jon Jennings

Famous Alumni:

• John Beck, QB (yes, he of former Washington Redacteds starters – no, he wasn’t good up here, either)
• Austin Collie, WR (Peypey’s favourite GRIT target from his Indy days!)
• Jim “Dirty Thirty” Young, WR/RB (first Canadian Interuniversity Sport [CIS] player drafted to the NFL – Minnesota Vikings, 1965, from Queen’s University)
• Cameron Wake, DE (now currently ripping it up as the leading pass rusher for the Miami Dolphins, as we’ve seen the past several seasons)

Fun Facts: One of the main rivals of the BC Lions is actually the Montreal Alouettes, clear across the other side of the country; the two teams have a long-running Labour Day series that is similar to the game traditionally played between Toronto and Hamilton that same weekend. The Lions are also the first team from Western Canada to win a Grey Cup at home, in 1994, and also the only team to beat an American-based team in a Grey Cup, also in 1994 against the Baltimore Stallions.

The Training Camp Scuttlebutt: Yes, BC made the playoffs last season, but a 7-11 record is nothing to write home about; head coach Jeff Tedford resigned after the season, returning longtime GM and former head coach Wally Buono to the sidelines. The Lions will have a QB controversy on their hands this season, with former starter Travis Lulay still on the roster, but after missing much of last season recuperating from shoulder surgery, rookie Jon Jennings emerged as the new starting pivot. Undrafted out of Division II Saginaw Valley State University, Jennings started the final 8 regular season games and playoff game for the Lions, going 66% on his attempts for 2004 yards, 15 TDs, and 10 picks. However, if he falters as the starter at the beginning of this season, Lulay will be chomping at the bit to regain his job. It’s hard to say what will become of BC this year – losing versatile RB Andrew Harris is a blow, and the team overall is old – even with Buono, a famously clever and wily coach, returning to the sidelines, the team will be in tough for the playoff hunt. I think it’s still reasonable for me to predict that even if things go well for the Lions, they’ll still end up third in the West behind the two clear powerhouses in Calgary and Edmonton.

That’s it, that’s all, folks! Week 1 of the regular season begins June 23rd – hope you grab a Molson, some all-dressed chips, and maybe some poutine, and kick back with me on DFO as teams kick off.