The Alouettes ready to take up arms again against the Blue Bombers

The poster for the last Gray Cup will launch the new season in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Montreal Alouettes will return to action on Thursday in Winnipeg, six months after toppling the Blue Bombers and causing consternation from coast to coast.

While confidence reigns in the Montreal nest, Jason Maas’s protégés are finalizing their final preparations before playing a replay of the final. The slogan could not be clearer in the Alouettes camp: you need to move onhammered the head coach.

The triumph of 2023 is now a thing of the past, says Maas, while all attention is focused on the current year. Starting with a visit to the Manitoba capital.

In my experience of playing there, it’s always a hostile environment, very difficult to play in. We couldn’t ask for a better challenge to start the seasonsaid quarterback Cody Fajardo.

Every time we play Winnipeg, that’s a good metric. It is the reference in the CFL for about four or five years, so there are several things that they are doing right. This is a great opportunity for us.

No team can boast of having a track record as extensive as that of the Blue Bombers since 2019: their performances of 51-17 in the season and 7-2 in the playoffs during this prosperous period are unmatched.

Mike O’Shea’s troops have reached the final in the last four seasons, without exception, winning the Gray Cup honors in their first two appearances. The arrival of quarterback Zach Collaros in the Winnipeg fold is closely linked to this phase of success.

A challenge worthy of the defense coordinated by Noel Thorpe which arouses a lot of enthusiasm in the Montreal brigade, starting with Marc-Antoine Dequoy, happy to take back the collar and take on a very strong opponent from the outset. tough.

It’s a really good challenge to start the season. We know that it is a very well trained team. I think they did a lot of video sessions on this match [de la Coupe Grey] and looked at what they did wrongestimated the marauder.

They arrive with the knife between their teeth. We want to make sure we are at the same level, or even higher. It’s an element of pride […] It’s a bit like a home-and-away series, as if the game was played the following week, except it’s six months apart. It’s a continuation and it will be a good matchadded Dequoy.

The excitement is at its highest. This is exactly why we play football. It’s fun to start a season again, especially with the team we have this year. During the three weeks of training in Saint-Jérôme, I saw a ready, competitive team.

A backfield to make your own

The Alouettes’ ground attack is no longer dominated by William Stanback, now a Lions player, as he seeks redemption in British Columbia. The departure of the running back, who will reach his thirties at the start of the calendar, opens the way for the duo of Jeshrun Antwi and Walter Fletcher, as well as Sean Thomas Erlington in a complementary role.

The group of ball carriers, none of whose members have yet come to light with a sufficient sample of play – the trio totals less than 600 carries in the professional ranks – will have the opportunity to perform in front of a line with a tight attack that knows how to create breaches in the trenches.

The right side of the offensive quintet will also look somewhat different compared to last fall. Blocker Landon Rice is still without a contract, while guard Kristian Matte was relegated behind Philippe Gagnon during the first practices of the week.

Bad luck has struck Gagnon more often than not since his debut in the Ambrosie circuit in 2016, with a number of injuries, both minor and major, having forced him to stay away from the field.

The 31-year-old looked good in camp, where he took reps at various positions, and all indications are that he will get the start in Winnipeg. However, Maas has not yet commented on this.

We rotate and try to get as many reps as possible throughout the week. When we have composed our training [pour le match contre les Blue Bombers]you will see who will be in actionsaid the coach about Matte.

The 38-year-old veteran, back for a 14th campaign with the Alouettes, good for 3rd place in the history of the organization behind quarterback Anthony Calvillo (16) and guard Scott Flory (15), would be a substitute for choice, versatile, if placed in a second fiddle role.

On the way to winning the Gray Cup, the guard at the other end of the line, Pier-Olivier Lestage, injured in his knee, was missing during the entire playoff run, which deprived the offensive quintet of its best element.

It goes without saying that Antwi and Fletcher are among the first beneficiaries of the return to health of the Alouettes’ outstanding offensive lineman in 2023. Their task will only be easier to accomplish.