That is all for the CFL this year as it all came down to the Grey Cup game between the B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. While it ended earlier than that for many Rider fans including myself, I predicted in my previous column that the Lions would continue to roll and not look back, winning the 99th edition of the Grey Cup by a 28-25 score. While I did pick the winner, like most, I was a little off on the final result with the actual score being 34-23.
The Lions had a pair of touchdowns in the second half to help secure the victory. The ‘home team’ had a 14-0 lead in the second quarter and continued to accumulate points.
The Blue Bombers scored a late touchdown in the fourth and tried to mount a rally but it was not to be. The Lions become the first team in CFL history to start the season 0-5 and win the Cup. They also won at home, the first time since 1994. The Lions also won it that year as well.
Quarterback Travis Lulay was named the game’s most valuable player, more hardware to go along with the league’s most outstanding player award he got earlier in the week.
It was essentially the Lions Cup to lose in my opinion and they did not shoot themselves in the foot. It is too bad for Bombers fans who will have to wait at least another year before their team wins. The last time Winnipeg won was back in 1990 when they beat Edmonton 50-11 in Vancouver. The Bomber’s quarterback at the time was Tom Burgess and the runningback was Robert Mimbs.
Winnipeg had 28 points in the third quarter in that game, something they desperately needed in this edition of the Grey Cup. Despite how it ended for them, the team does deserve credit going from a dismal record last year to making it to the finale this year.
To hockey and last Monday was a rough one for a pair of NHL coaches who got canned by their teams. Washington decided to part ways with Bruce Boudreau who was the fastest coach to reach 200 wins while Carolina dumped Paul Maurice, again.
Boudreau was in a no win situation after his players essentially tuned him out. The coach tried something new this year and got off to a 7-0 start but it was not enough. After having some difficulty with star player Alex Ovechkin, the team turned to former player, now coach Dale Hunter. Hunter won a Memorial Cup in London and has coached some top-tier NHLers during their junior careers. The move is interesting but something had to be done.
The other move was Maurice getting the boot in Carolina. That was his second stint with the club and did well when he returned. However, this year the team has struggled and so an up and coming coach, Kirk Muller was brought in. Muller was on a lot of team’s radar and would have been scooped up by the end of the season. He was coaching with Nashville’s AHL affiliate.
This will also be his first NHL head coaching stint and should do well. Both coaches are now in the same division and every team except for Tampa Bay has made a change since last spring. The Lightning though were not far ahead as they brought in Guy Boucher in 2010.
