This may well be the mother of all games for both clubs guys, especially if Calgary beats Winnipeg next week. A Winnipeg loss and Montreal will be playing for 1st place and an Eastern Final birth. IF... Winnipeg loses! The Lions too are playing for 1st place and a birth in the Western Final. The difference in what is at stake is that the Lions can get it IF they beat Montreal regardless of what Edmonton and Calgary do in their respective games so the Lions will be playing full bore regardless.
Question to Montreal fans:
If Winnipeg beats Calgary do you think Trestman will change his starting line-up and "save" some of his players knowing 1st place would be out of reach? I've always felt that in the CFL the players play their hearts out no matter what is hanging in the balance but some common sense must prevail here. Do you play your best guys and do they keep their foot on the gas and risk injury or do you give the other guys game experience and the chance to hone their skills? If they do this it would be something the Lions would welcome. What do you guys think?
The tradition is for the Alouettes to sit their starters in meaningless games
If BC is playing for 1st place
And the Alouettes have nothing to gain
The results could border on the absurd
Last season the Alouettes played the Argos on the last game of the year
Cut rates at Olympic Toilet Bowl
And everyone playing “hot potato” with the football
McPherson was under-whelming
And I often wonder how many careers have been destroyed
In “junk-games” like this.
Tate against Pierce should be a great game
Hopefully the young guy will pull off another solid performance
And we can play (yet again)
“the mother of all games”
Then if we can just convince AC
To play his best when the chips are down
This whole conversation would be a little less moot
For BC, home field advantage may not be such an advantage if both or either Edmonton and Calgary win their games. I'm not sure in this crazy season who holds the head-to-head advantage in the West Division at this point. At any rate, BC must win, so they will definitely have pressure on them. For Montreal, the Als have always had problems playing in BC. If the Als organization had any savvy, they would fly out early and find some practise spot in Vancouver to minimize jet lag.
Should Winnipeg win, the game is still important to the Als, but I would definitely play the back-ups. At this late point in the season, you want to rest some of your veterans, while still remaining competitive. As you may be aware, our sceondary was decimated with 5 starters out; some may be back for this one - we'll see. That's not an excuse, merely a fact. There are no nothing games in week 19!
I am hopeful, but not terribly optimistic at this point about the Als' shot at a 1st-place finish this season. Montreal had two golden opportunities to do so against the Bombers and Stamps and came up short both times.
However, who knows what can happen in any given week?
“At any rate, BC must win, so they will definitely have pressure on them.”
Only if either the Stamps or the Esks win their game. If they both lose then the Lions can lose and will still take 1st. They won their division series against both the Esks and Calgary.
I’m also thinking that there is still something for the Als to play for should Winnipeg take 1st place but it would depend on the outcome of both Edmonton’s and Calgary’s games. Should the Lions have to win to take 1st the Als might want to make it very difficult for them so they could force them to play a semi. This leaves the Lions vulnerable to getting knocked off and should the Als make it to the Grey Cup they would avoid playing the Lions. The Lions have done well against the Als, especially in B.C. Place. They also beat the Als in their last two Grey Cup meetings. I must give credit to the Mrs. for coming up with the idea. I thought it was quite astute!
Absolutely great point!
The Alouettes would do well to avoid playing the Lions in BC for the Grey Cup
It’s a subtlety
But could be a very important factor
The Als,like other teams, have to declare their roster 24 hours before game time; when they declare their roster, they won't know the outcome of the Stampeders and Bombers game; for this reason, there will not be many changes even if Stampeders win. The only options could be: Emmanuel Marc in place of Wkitaker and Adrian playing most of the game,in place of Anthony.
