Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
The good news for the Calgary Stampeders is with four weeks remaining in the CFL schedule they have wrapped up first place in the West Division.
The potentially bad news for the Stampeders is with four weeks still remaining in the schedule they have wrapped up first place in the West. Add in Calgary having a bye in the final week and the Stampeders’ next meaningful game won’t be until the Nov. 20 Western Final, which is more than six weeks away.
Dave Dickenson, who is making a strong case to be named AGF Coach of the Year in his first season as head coach, understands a loss in the Western Final would relegate the Stamps into the category of great teams that failed to win the one game that really matters.
How Dickenson guides the Stampeders down the homestretch may be even more important than what he did earlier in the race.
“I’ve got a plan, I’ve got an idea,” Dickenson said during his weekly radio show on News Talk 770. “The main thing is playing my guys if they are healthy.
“I want them to get better. As a player you don’t play that many games in your career. You don’t want to take a week off. We may rest a few guys here and there. If you’re banged up a little you may sit down. But if you’re healthy, the odds are you are playing and I want good performances.”
The Stampeders have, for lack of a better term, stampeded through the CFL this season like a herd of wild horses. Calgary is 13-1-1 heading into Saturday’s game against the Montreal Alouettes (4-10). The Stampeders have won 12 straight games and are unbeaten in in 14.
A 16-1-1 finish would give Calgary the most points of any CFL team in an 18-game season. The 1989 Edmonton Eskimos were 16-2 but lost the Western Final to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who went on to win the Grey Cup.
That little bit of history is not lost on Dickenson.
“If you could tell me we could get that (16-1-1) and guarantee me that Grey Cup, I would be down with that,” he said in the same interview. “I don’t know if that is the most important (thing), but we would love to do something that someone else hasn’t done. Why wouldn’t you want to be a team that is remembered.
“But the team that was 16-2 did not win the Grey Cup. I don’t think people remember that team as (much) as other teams probably. The goal is to win the title. You want to go about it the best way you can.”
History shows winning the West gives you about 50/50 odds of playing in the Grey Cup. Since 2000, the West’s first-place finisher has lost seven times in the division final. Those teams advancing to the Grey Cup have won six times, including Calgary in 2014 and Edmonton last year.
Dickenson has also kept an eye on the logjam behind the Stampeders. The BC Lions (9-5), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-6) and Edmonton (8-7) all remain in contention for second place.
“We know the West is as tough as any time as I’ve seen,” he said. “I really feel any of the four teams that make it in the West have a legitimate chance to win the Grey Cup.”
Bo Levi Mitchell is expected to take most of the remaining snaps at quarterback in 2016 (The Canadian Press)
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Calgary leads the CFL in points scored (525), touchdowns (53), fewest sacks allowed (14) and least turnovers (20).
Individually, running back Jerome Messam leads the league with 1,002 rushing yards on 181 carries. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell has completed 366 of 540 passes for 4,871 yards, a league-high 29 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
What to do with Mitchell presents Dickenson with a bit of a dilemma. Play him and risk injury or rest him and risk rust.
“I would be surprised if he didn’t (play),” said Dickenson. “We do still have a bye on the last week so that’s got its own little piece of problems. If we didn’t have that bye we might have ended up doing something different.
“I’m not going to get too far in the future but Bo is going to play (against Montreal) and do what he’s been doing all year, which is leading our team to victory by playing great and having a great season.”
The Als are last in the East but Dickenson believes the game will be a good test for his team.
“I’m anxious to see our guys, if they find that energy and focus that we’ve had all year,” he said. “Montreal is desperate.
“They have to beat us to keep things going. We know they will be ready.”
“Our guys are excited to keep playing and they want to keep winning. As long as we are improving and our team feels good about things and we don’t peak at this time of year.”
Dave Dickenson
Messam said many players have personal reasons to continue playing hard for the rest of the regular season.
“A lot of guys got things going in their contracts and guys want to hit a couple of incentives just to get a little extra money,” he told The Canadian Press.
“I’m sure guys are going to be fighting through little nicks and bruises to hit what they need to get. I’m sure guys will be smart with their bodies.”
Injuries to receivers like Bakari Grant and Joe West have allowed players like Kamar Jorden and DaVaris Daniels to step up.
“I’m not going to rush anybody back now we have the West locked up,” said Dickenson. “I’m playing the guys that are producing and doing their job.”
Calgary doesn’t face a team with a winning record for the rest of the season. It plays Toronto (5-10) next week at home before finishing on the road against Montreal.
Dickenson doubts motivation will be a problem.
“Our guys are excited to keep playing and they want to keep winning,” he said.
“As long as we are improving and our team feels good about things and we don’t peak at this time of year.”
