Montreal Alouettes.com
MONTREAL – When the Alouettes hit the field at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium on Sunday afternoon, it will be the club’s first game under new Head Coach Jacques Chapdelaine.
Coming off a Week 14 bye, Montreal hosts the Toronto Argonauts, hoping that the change behind the bench can ignite some sort of spark for the remainder of the season.
“I really think our players are excited about coming back to work after the bye week,” Chapdelaine said in an interview with MontrealAlouettes.com. “The players are really looking forward to perform on the second of October against Toronto and show the fans who they truly can be.”
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Jacques Chapdelaine takes part in practice with the Alouettes (MontrealAlouettes.com)
Through 12 games of the 2016 campaign, the Alouettes sit at the bottom of the East Division with a 3-9 record. Despite what their record may say, Montreal looks like they have the pieces to make some noise in the East.
Duron Carter and Nik Lewis lead the team’s receiving corps with 832 and 743 yards respectively and BJ Cunningham is not far behind them. The return of wide out Kenny Stafford and running back Tyrell Sutton in Week 10 has also added another dynamic to the Als’ offence.
Linebacker Bear Woods is leading the CFL in defensive tackles with 89 and the Als are second in the league in total points allowed (295).
Now it’s up to those pieces to work together to try to get themselves back in the playoff mix and the coaching change could be exactly what they needed to energize them to do so.
As a former coach for teams visiting Percival Molson Memorial Stadium – Chapdelaine has been a coach for the Argos, Stamps, Lions, Esks and Riders – the Alouettes’ first-ever francophone head coach knows exactly how loud Montreal’s faithful can be and how important that is to the outcome of any contest.
“The biggest thing I can ask of our fans is that we will need them at the beginning of the game and we will need them right through the game.”
Jacques Chapdelaine
“The noise that they cause is such a challenge for offences that come into the stadium that try to attack our defence,” said Chapdelaine. “Certainly our defence itself can take advantage of that and we understand that as a team.”
Chasing a playoff spot in the East won’t be easy for Montreal, with two of their final games against the league’s best team in Calgary. But before they worry about the rest of the season, their focus is solely on Toronto.
And to beat Toronto, Chapdelaine recognizes his team will need the help of every single fan in the stands from the opening kickoff to the final whistle.
“The biggest thing I can ask of our fans is that we will need them at the beginning of the game and we will need them right through the game,” he said. “We want to play 60 minutes of football and we certainly hope that our fans are going to be there for all of the 60 minutes as well.”
-With files from MontrealAlouettes.com
