It’s been 222 days without Stampeders games at McMahon Stadium but that dry spell comes to an end on Friday night when the Red and White entertain the Edmonton Eskimos in their 2012 pre-season opener.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
“It’s been a long off-season,” said Stampeders general manager and head coach John Hufnagel, “and it’s been a long training camp and our football team is very excited about getting on the field Friday night and playing another team.”
After nearly two weeks of assessing the players solely in a practice or scrimmage environment, the coaches finally get to see how the roster candidates stack up against a real opponent.
“I’m looking forward to an opportunity to evaluate not only our veteran players,” said Hufnagel, “but a lot of our new players and see what they can do when the lights are on and things are going full speed.”
And what exactly are the coaches looking for?
“I want to see two things,” said Hufnagel. “I want to see great effort and discipline. Discipline meaning: playing by the rules, knowing their assignments, understanding the nuances of the game and knowing when they should be on the field or not on the field.
“After that, it’s tough decisions for the coaching staff when we do the cutdowns.”
>> Depth chart for Friday’s game
CFL rules demand that the roster be trimmed 48 hours after the first pre-season contest. The next test comes next Friday when the Stamps will travel to Regina to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders.