Nik Lewis admits he was stunned last week when he learned teammate and roommate Jeremaine Copeland had been traded to the Toronto Argonauts.

But after letting the news sink in for a few days, a couple of things became clear to the veteran Stampeders slotback. Firstly, he was grateful for the opportunity to play with the talented Copeland for five seasons in Calgary. Secondly, Lewis sees a golden opportunity to apply the lessons he’s learned from Copeland the player and Copeland the friend and teammate.

“I have been wondering why this trade happened,” he wrote in a blog on his personal website, NikLewis.com, “but now I am realizing that it is my turn to take the reigns. It’s time for the student to step up and show that over the last five years, I learned how to take charge.

“My role changes and I am accepting that role. I want to win and I want to win now. I just wanted to say thank you to Cope for taking the time to guide me and not letting me fall victim to my ego or attitude. It was a great five years and now 699 Catches, 11,013 yards, and 73 touchdowns later, it’s time this duo leads separate teams. It’s going to feel really weird watching him take the field without me on July 1st, but he will still be Showtime, and I will still be Lew Lew.”

Lewis gives Copeland much credit for helping him develop as a player and as a person.

“Cope has made a big difference in the way I play the game. He has had a impact on my life that I wouldn’t be able to explain,” Lewis wrote. “I remember when I heard about us picking up Cope from free agency back in ’05. The team had cut my friend Sulecio Sanford during training camp and he was a starter at the time. We were roommates my rookie year. I was in the locker room and I was really upset and we had our night meetings still.

“Cope was in the training room, and I walked in and said that I wasn’t going to the meeting because of (what had) just happened. He looked at me and told me that I was apart of the reason he came to Calgary and asked me not to leave him by himself. It changed my whole attitude because I knew I had someone that I could look up to and learn from.”

After watching Copeland’s demeanour on the field and in the locker-room for the past five years, Lewis says: “I know what I have to do to keep this ship floating and to get back to the Grey Cup.”