Which team has the best Canadian starters

[DoubleBlue]

The saying goes that the teams with the best Canadian starters win. A look at what could be the starting seven for each team and the depth behind them shows that IMO. In some cases one could argue some positions have an A and a 1A on some teams. Most teams start eight Canadians to give the Coaches some flexibility in case of injury during a game.

But here's my projected 7 starters for the coming season, which I'm sure will not have unanimous agreement.

BC Lions: OG Jon Hameiester-Ries, OG Jesse Newman, OC Dean Valli, FB Jerome Messam, SB Paris Jackson, WR Frank Gore and DE Brent Johnson

Calgary: OG Steve Myddleton, OG Dimitri Tsoumpas, OC Tim O'Neill, WR Arjei Franklin, RB Jon Cornish, S Eric Fraser and DT Miguel Robede

Edmonton: OC Adam Fiacconi, OG Patrick Kobongo, OG Greg Wojt, DT Brian Bulcke, FB Samuel Fournier, WR Kamau Peterson and S Elliott Richardson

Saskatchewan: OC Jeremy O'Day, OG Gene Makowsky, OG Chris Best, WR Andy Fantuz, WR Rob Bagg, SB Chris Getslaff and DT Keith Shologan

Winnipeg: OC Ibrahim Kahn, OG Steve Morley, OG Brendon LaBatte, DT Doug Brown, DT Don Oramasionwu, FB Jon Oosterhuis and LB Pierre-Luc Labbe

Hamilton: OG Peter Dyakowski, OC Mawan Hage, OG Steve Rottier, DT Matt Kirk, CB Ryan Hinds, S Dylan Barker and SB Dave Stala

Toronto: WR Spencer Watt, OG Taylor Robertson, OG Cedric Gagne-Marcoux, OC Dominic Picard, OT Chris Van Zeyl, DE Ricky Foley and LB Mike Eiben

Montreal: OT Josh Bourke, OT Jeff Perrett, OC Luc Broudeur-Jourdain, OG Andrew Woodroff, SB Ben Cahoon, S Etienne Boulay and LB Shea Emry

Some teams like Montreal and Saskatchewan it would be easy to add more starters to the list. Winnipeg and Edmonton it was difficult finding seven. IMO

[cflisthebest]

@"DoubleBlue"

The saying goes that the teams with the best Canadian starters win. A look at what could be the starting seven for each team and the depth behind them shows that IMO. In some cases one could argue some positions have an A and a 1A on some teams. Most teams start eight Canadians to give the Coaches some flexibility in case of injury during a game.

But here’s my projected 7 starters for the coming season, which I’m sure will not have unanimous agreement.

BC Lions: OG Jon Hameiester-Ries, OG Jesse Newman, OC Dean Valli, FB Jerome Messam, SB Paris Jackson, WR Frank Gore and DE Brent Johnson

Calgary: OG Steve Myddleton, OG Dimitri Tsoumpas, OC Tim O’Neill, WR Arjei Franklin, RB Jon Cornish, S Eric Fraser and DT Miguel Robede

Edmonton: OC Adam Fiacconi, OG Patrick Kobongo, OG Greg Wojt, DT Brian Bulcke, FB Samuel Fournier, WR Kamau Peterson and S Elliott Richardson

Saskatchewan: OC Jeremy O’Day, OG Gene Makowsky, OG Chris Best, WR Andy Fantuz, WR Rob Bagg, SB Chris Getslaff and DT Keith Shologan

Winnipeg: OC Ibrahim Kahn, OG Steve Morley, OG Brendon LaBatte, DT Doug Brown, DT Don Oramasionwu, FB Jon Oosterhuis and LB Pierre-Luc Labbe

Hamilton: OG Peter Dyakowski, OC Mawan Hage, OG Steve Rottier, DT Matt Kirk, CB Ryan Hinds, S Dylan Barker and SB Dave Stala

Toronto: WR Spencer Watt, OG Taylor Robertson, OG Cedric Gagne-Marcoux, OC Dominic Picard, OT Chris Van Zeyl, DE Ricky Foley and LB Mike Eiben

Montreal: OT Josh Bourke, OT Jeff Perrett, OC Luc Broudeur-Jourdain, OG Andrew Woodroff, SB Ben Cahoon, S Etienne Boulay and LB Shea Emry

Some teams like Montreal and Saskatchewan it would be easy to add more starters to the list. Winnipeg and Edmonton it was difficult finding seven. IMO

for the record, the Riders started 11 most of the season.

they have the best Canadian Starters.

[Gornaldatron]

@"cflisthebest"

@"DoubleBlue"

The saying goes that the teams with the best Canadian starters win. A look at what could be the starting seven for each team and the depth behind them shows that IMO. In some cases one could argue some positions have an A and a 1A on some teams. Most teams start eight Canadians to give the Coaches some flexibility in case of injury during a game.

But here’s my projected 7 starters for the coming season, which I’m sure will not have unanimous agreement.

BC Lions: OG Jon Hameiester-Ries, OG Jesse Newman, OC Dean Valli, FB Jerome Messam, SB Paris Jackson, WR Frank Gore and DE Brent Johnson

Calgary: OG Steve Myddleton, OG Dimitri Tsoumpas, OC Tim O’Neill, WR Arjei Franklin, RB Jon Cornish, S Eric Fraser and DT Miguel Robede

Edmonton: OC Adam Fiacconi, OG Patrick Kobongo, OG Greg Wojt, DT Brian Bulcke, FB Samuel Fournier, WR Kamau Peterson and S Elliott Richardson

Saskatchewan: OC Jeremy O’Day, OG Gene Makowsky, OG Chris Best, WR Andy Fantuz, WR Rob Bagg, SB Chris Getslaff and DT Keith Shologan

Winnipeg: OC Ibrahim Kahn, OG Steve Morley, OG Brendon LaBatte, DT Doug Brown, DT Don Oramasionwu, FB Jon Oosterhuis and LB Pierre-Luc Labbe

Hamilton: OG Peter Dyakowski, OC Mawan Hage, OG Steve Rottier, DT Matt Kirk, CB Ryan Hinds, S Dylan Barker and SB Dave Stala

Toronto: WR Spencer Watt, OG Taylor Robertson, OG Cedric Gagne-Marcoux, OC Dominic Picard, OT Chris Van Zeyl, DE Ricky Foley and LB Mike Eiben

Montreal: OT Josh Bourke, OT Jeff Perrett, OC Luc Broudeur-Jourdain, OG Andrew Woodroff, SB Ben Cahoon, S Etienne Boulay and LB Shea Emry

Some teams like Montreal and Saskatchewan it would be easy to add more starters to the list. Winnipeg and Edmonton it was difficult finding seven. IMO

for the record, the Riders started 11 most of the season.

they have the best Canadian Starters.

Not quite… for example:
Week 7: OC Jeremy O’Day, OT Gene Makowsky, OG Chris Best, OG Marc Parenteau, SB Andy Fantuz, WR Rob Bagg, SB Chris Getzlaf, DT Keith Shologan, DE Luc Mullinder = Nine starters
Week 15: OC Jeremy O’Day, OG Gene Makowsky, OG Chris Best, SB Andy Fantuz, SB Jason Clermont, WR Rob Bagg, WR Chris Getzlaf, DT Keith Shologan, DE Luc Mullinder = Nine starters

With that being said, I agree that the Roughriders have the best Canadian starters… even though they were the losing team, they still had Shologan win Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian, which I thought was pretty impressive given Montreal’s starting Canadians. I think it might be too early to have a projected starter list since a lot can happen between now and July.

[disciplineandpunish]

@"Gornaldatron"

With that being said, I agree that the Roughriders have the best Canadian starters… even though they were the losing team, they still had Shologan win Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian, which I thought was pretty impressive given Montreal’s starting Canadians.

Since when did assessing a team’s Canadian talent begin and end with one Grey Cup game?

And how do you measure starters across teams when some teams dress more or fewer Canadians depending on the position? We’re going to compare Andy Fantuz to Scott Flory? Getzlaf to Etienne Boulay? Clermont to Shea Emry?

[cflisthebest]

Riders rely more on Canadian talent than the Alouettes.

[disciplineandpunish]

@"cflisthebest"

Riders rely more on Canadian talent than the Alouettes.

LOL.

For one thing, relying on Canadian talent is quite different from having the best Canadian starters.

For another, please prove to me how the Riders ‘rely’ on Canadian talent more than the ALouettes.

[pw13]

@"DoubleBlue"

Toronto: WR Spencer Watt, OG Taylor Robertson, OG Cedric Gagne-Marcoux, OC Dominic Picard, OT Chris Van Zeyl, DE Ricky Foley and LB Mike Eiben

If he is healthy and re-signed, Adriano Belli will also start for Toronto, IMO. And Andre Durie started all of 2010 and I see no reason why he wouldn’t continue to start. Same with Jason Pottinger.

BTW, Mike Eben was a great receiver but he has not come out of retirement. But Kevin Eiben is still starting. ;->

[PIGSEYE]

Winnipeg: OC Ibrahim Kahn, OG Steve Morley, OG Brendon LaBatte, DT Doug Brown, DT Don Oramasionwu, FB Jon Oosterhuis and LB Pierre-Luc Labbe

Ian Logan (S), Cory Watson/Brock Ralph/Aaron Hargreaves (R).

[cflisthebest]

@"disciplineandpunish"

@"cflisthebest"

Riders rely more on Canadian talent than the Alouettes.

LOL.

For one thing, relying on Canadian talent is quite different from having the best Canadian starters.

For another, please prove to me how the Riders ‘rely’ on Canadian talent more than the ALouettes.

The Alouettes could in theory use all American Receivers and not miss a beat.

the Riders on the other hand have all those Canadian Receivers… and well… THEY were the difference for the Riders.

the difference overall is experience and coaching.

[disciplineandpunish]

@"cflisthebest"

The Alouettes could in theory use all American Receivers and not miss a beat.

the Riders on the other hand have all those Canadian Receivers… and well… THEY were the difference for the Riders.

the difference overall is experience and coaching.

LOL. You’re acting as if receiver is the determining position when assessing the importance of Canadian talent. The fact that our receiving corps is largely American does not mean that we don’t rely heavily on our Canadians. We just rely on them at different positions. We have an all-Canadian O-line, MLB (Emry), and two-man safety position (Proulx and Boulay), in addition to Cahoon and Kerry Carter (starting fullback).

Our all-Canadian O-line is just as important to us as your mostly Canadian receiving corps is to you.

[DoubleBlue]

@"pw13"

@"DoubleBlue"

Toronto: WR Spencer Watt, OG Taylor Robertson, OG Cedric Gagne-Marcoux, OC Dominic Picard, OT Chris Van Zeyl, DE Ricky Foley and LB Mike Eiben

If he is healthy and re-signed, Adriano Belli will also start for Toronto, IMO. And Andre Durie started all of 2010 and I see no reason why he wouldn’t continue to start. Same with Jason Pottinger.

BTW, Mike Eben was a great receiver but he has not come out of retirement. But Kevin Eiben is still starting. ;->

Good catch there Paul, unfortunately Mike isn’t playing for the Argos now, the guy had great hands. I agree Belli, Durie and Pottinger can all start. I just went with I thought were the top seven.

[greenandwhite]

I agree with disciplineandpunishment. Its like comparing apples to oranges when trying to assess who has the best Canadian starters. He made a good point that Montreal relys on Canadians at different positions than Saskatchewan, Edmonton, etc. We could do a breakdown of each position, but I dont think we can generalize to the entire team.