By: Tyler Rabb – OttawaREDBLACKS.COM Staff
Photo: Scott Grant – Image Communications
Stamps Are Reigning Champs
The Calgary Stampeders are coming off a 2014 campaign that saw them capture the Grey Cup. Unfortunately, they also broke it.
As champs, the Stamps will be looking to defend the title this year. And as the cliché goes, defending a championship is much harder than winning it.
If Calgary can win the Grey Cup again this year, they’ll be the first CFL team to win back-to-back titles since the Montreal Alouettes did it in 2009 and 2010. They defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders in both championship games.
This Bo You Know
Katy, Texas native and Stampeders starting QB Bo Levi Mitchell was rated by TSN as the top player in the CFL in their Top 50 Players list earlier this year.
That’s a big jump from 2014, when Mitchell wasn’t even featured in the list. That most likely has to do with his injury-plagued 2013 season, where he only completed 94 passes and Calgary relied heavily former REDBLACK Kevin Glenn.
So far this season, Bo ranks fourth, right behind Henry Burris, among CFL quarterbacks with 1,622 passing yards, while only posting a 63.9% completion rating and seven TDs.
Faces in New Places
In the offseason Ottawa knew they had to upgrade their receiving corps. They identified former Stampeder WR Maurice Price as a trade target.
To complete the deal, the REDBLACKS had to part ways with one of their best defenders, Jasper Simmons. The four-year CFL vet had 80 tackles and three interceptions in Ottawa last year, he’ll definitely help the Stamps challenge to be CFL champs again this season.
Hopefully the return to McMahon Stadium will reawaken Price’s scoring touch, as he’ll look to get his first TD of 2015 against his former team.
End of an Era
After 11 outstanding seasons with the Stamps, SB Nik Lewis is now in a new uniform. The two-time Grey Cup champ signed with the Montreal Alouettes this offseason.
Over his illustrious career in Calgary, Lewis racked up 11,250 receiving yards. The combined career receiving yards for the remaining Calgary backfield is 3,834, almost a third of Lewis’ total.
Lewis was looking forward to finishing his career in Cowtown, but the Stamps had other ideas.
“It’s no secret that I wanted to play my whole career in Calgary. I can think of numerous times over the last 11 years that I didn’t think it was going to be possible … but we always found a way to make it work. I just think we ran out of time, honestly ”, stated Lewis shortly after signing with Montreal.
|
2015 Arrivals |
2015 Departures |
Mountain Time Matchup
The REDBLACKS head west for their second meeting of the season against the Stampeders at 10 p.m. EST on Saturday (August 15) night in Calgary. Catch the game on TSN 1/3/4/5 and RDS2 or listen to all the action on TSN 1200 and 104,7 FM Outaouais.
In their last meeting, the REDBLACKS stunned the Stamps, coming back from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat the defending Grey Cup champs 26-29 in overtime. Check out the highlights below.
