By Jack Bedell
MontrealAlouettes.com
For all of its advantages, the beautiful summer games, the fall classics, and the November drama, the CFL schedule does have one serious disadvantage: A barren, six-month off-season.
However, whether it’s the anticipation of a new run at the Grey Cup, the excitement of seeing new personnel in action, or the draw of fresh rivalries, that long football drought does always manage to inject the opening day of a new season with as much nervous energy as a game can hold.
And as easy as it is to remember the Grey Cup isn’t won on opening day, there’s just no stopping the feeling that the fate of the whole season rides on that first game.
Heading into the Alouettes’ 2011 opener against the B.C. Lions this Thursday night, I thought it might be interesting to make a list of some of the most significant opening games in team history. I didn’t want to attempt a “best-of” list since that kind of beauty rests in the eye of the beholder. Instead, I tried to look at the Alouettes’ past openers in the context of the seasons they kicked-off.
I know it’s hard to leave off significant games like the Alouettes’ first-ever season opener, a 10-10 draw at Toronto’s Oakwood Stadium in 1946, or the team’s first home-opening victory at Delorimier, a 14-7 win over Ottawa in 1950, but I was looking for openers that led to a little more.
Here’s a look at my own Top-5 season openers:
1. August 28, 1954. At Hamilton, Civic Stadium, 24-6 W
This opening-game victory set off three straight years of Grey Cup runs on the arm of Sam Etcheverry. Even though the club couldn’t find a way to get over the hump presented by the Edmonton Eskimos in the championship game, their combined record over the next three seasons, 30-10, was undeniably excellent.
2. August 4, 1970. Vs Toronto, Autostade, 34-27 W
Again led by Sam Etcheverry, this time as new head coach, the Alouettes toppled the Toronto Argonauts to begin the 1970 season with the first win of a three-game winning streak that helped propel the Als to their first Grey Cup championship in two decades.
3. July 13, 1977. At Ottawa, Lansdowne Park, 27-17 W
Coming off a disappointing campaign in 1976, the Als opened their season strong with a convincing win over the defending Grey Cup champion Rough Riders. It was the first of a seven-win streak to start the year, and there’s no doubt it gave the squad all the confidence they needed to win Levy’s second Grey Cup as the Alouettes’ coach that November.
4. June 25, 2002. Vs B.C., McGill Stadium, 27-20 W
The Als kicked off the Don Mathews era in style against the Lions on their way to rolling the league with 13 regular season wins. The shift in style toward blitz-happy defence featuring LB Kevin Johnson and a precision offence led by QB Anthony Calvillo was palpable and apparent, even in Matthews’ first game as head coach. It was a combination that would pace the team to the Grey Cup with a win over the Eskimos at Commonwealth on November 24.
5. July 1, 2009. At Calgary, McMahon Stadium, 40-27 W
Having suffered a bitter defeat to this same Stamps team in Olympic Stadium to lose the 2008 Grey Cup, this dominating road victory really set the tone for a season defined by “unfinished business.” All three facets of the Alouettes’ attack were on display with LB Chip Cox pacing the defence, Calvillo controlling the air attack, and K Damon Duval controlling field position throughout. More than any opening game in my memory, this one illustrated the character of an Alouettes club. Under the direction of head coach Marc Trestman, the Als would bounce back from their earlier Grey Cup loss to Calgary to win the next two championships over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
As honourable mentions, I would probably want to add the Alouettes’ first game upon returning to Montreal in 1996, a 27-24 loss to the Argonauts in Olympic Stadium, and last year’s instant classic out in Saskatchewan, an amazing 54-51 overtime loss that’ll go down as one of the best CFL games ever played. Had those games ended in Ws, this would no doubt be a top-7 list.
Hopefully, Thursday night’s game against the Lions will be another memorable opening day victory for the Alouettes, one that begins another run towards a Grey Cup championship in 2011.
