THE CANADIAN PRESS
The right to hoist the Grey Cup has been contested for nearly a century, but this year the Canadian Football League championship game will feature a matchup never seen before.
The Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders will do battle for Canadian football supremacy for the first time ever next Sunday in Calgary in the 97th edition of the illustrious Grey Cup game.
The Alouettes have been fixtures in the CFL final lately, making their seventh appearance since 2000. However, they haven’t had much success in the big game, with only one win in that span — a 25-16 win over Edmonton at the 2002 Grey Cup. Last season, they lost the championship on their home turf, 22-14 to the Calgary Stampeders.
Saskatchewan, conversely, will be making just its eighth appearance since 1948, when the team changed its name from the Regina Roughriders. But they have a recent Grey Cup victory to their credit, defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19 in the 2007 championship. Quarterback Darian Durant, who led Saskatchewan to victory on Sunday, was the third-string pivot on the 2007 championship team.
"After we won the Grey Cup I took a knee on the field and I told myself that when I had the opportunity I was going to make it back," said Durant after Sunday’s win. "I’m glad that we made it back but it’s not finished. We have to win it."
The Alouettes made it to their second straight Cup final in style, hammering the B.C. Lions 56-18 at home in the CFL East final. Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo tied a CFL playoff record with five touchdown passes.
"No matter how many points we put up, the objective was to win," said the 37-year-old Calvillo. "It was exciting to do what we did today, I’ll enjoy it, but we have to get ready for next week."
The Roughriders advanced by knocking off defending champion Calgary 27-17 in the West final, denying the Stampeders to play in a Grey Cup final in their own stadium.
The Stampeders had to deal with a boisterous crowd of 30,945 fans in Regina as the Roughriders hosted the West final for the first time since 1976. Saskatchewan fans have a history of travelling with their team, so there should be a considerable contingent of loud, green-clad fans at McMahon Stadium next Sunday.
Calgary hasn’t hosted the Grey Cup since 2000, when the Lions beat the Alouettes in a 28-26 thriller.
Country rock legends Blue Rodeo will play the halftime show. Previous performers include iconic Canadian bands The Tragically Hip and The Guess Who.
