For the first time in the modern era the Montreal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders will face each other in the Grey Cup Championship.
It will be the fifth time in the last ten years that the first place teams advanced to the big game and since 2000 the West has won seven of the nine games. The only Eastern teams to win over that time were Toronto in 2004 and Montreal's last Championship in 2002.
The Als will be favored, Marc Trestman in his second year in charge in Montreal has his team back to the show with what seems like an even greater sense of urgency than a year ago. His team is coming off a dominant performance in the East Final and a franchise record 15-win season.
Montreal has the most experienced quarterback in the CFL in Anthony Calvillo and a defense that lead the league in the regular season in 21 of 25 categories, all of which will make the Als heavy favorites in the 97th Grey Cup Championship.
The Riders on the other hand won five games less than their Eastern opponents and have a quarterback that has started in exactly 22 games in the regular season and one playoff game in Darian Durant. Their defense has been solid but ranked well behind the Alouettes 'D' Vs the run at seventh and the pass at fourth.
It seems to be a done deal, the field slants big time in Montreal's favor in almost all areas, and yet anyone who has watched the 2009 version of the Saskatchewan Roughriders know better than to rule them out. In the Western Final even though the Riders had not lost to the Stamps in three games during the regular season, and had a quarterback in Durant that threw for more yards than Henry Burris in those games, more touchdown passes and fewer interceptions. Many felt the Stamps were favored in Mosaic Stadium last Sunday.
The great equalizer in this Cup matchup is the Riders resilience in 2009. They are a team in every sense of the word. When a star like Weston Dressler goes down, a young undrafted Canadian from Queens by the name of Rob Bagg picks up the slack and the offense doesn't miss a beat.
That inexperienced quarterback has won 14 of his 22 starts and tied one, and has the best winning percentage of any quarterback since 2000 for Saskatchewan which includes, Henry Burris and Kerry Joseph who in 2007 led the team to their third Championship in franchise history.
Of those 14 wins and one tie, Durant has come from behind in six of those wins and led the team back from a 10-point first quarter deficit in the West Final. During the regular season he was asked to execute a desperation two-point convert six times to keep his team alive and made everyone of those plays. The Riders just don't go away, and that is why, come Grey Cup Sunday, even though they will be heavy underdogs, you get the feeling that they and their fans wouldn't want it any other way. The role of underdog is a role, it appears, this team is very comfortable with.
The best in the West versus the beasts of the East. The most talented team in the league versus a bunch of scrappers from the prairies in a show down in Cow town.
Sunday can't come soon enough.
Due to a variety of factors in our telecast of the Western Final last Sunday we were not able to get in our salute to the Canadian Forces, something that we like to do every Friday Night and were hoping to continue in the playoffs.
This week the goal was to honor a true Canadian Hero in Warrant Officer Willy MacDonald who last Friday received the Vimy Award from Chief of Defense Staff; General Walt Natynchuk. The Vimy Award epitomizes the best of today's soldier and MacDonald was very deserving.
Willy MacDonald has been through three tours of Bosnia and one to Kosovo and in August of 2006 earned the Star of Military Valor for his bravery in Afghanistan. MacDonald under intense enemy fire, selflessly and repeatedly put himself in harms way in order to assist his wounded comrades.
Congratulations to Warrant Officer Willy MacDonald, a true Canadian Hero.