It was a big day today as not only did we win our season-opening game, but my wife Jeri and I became Canadian citizens.
The citizenship ceremony was this morning at Fort Calgary. It was kind of a coincidence that it was Canada Day and that was a neat thing.
My wife and I, it’s really about a 15-month process so it’s a long wait. But my wife and I are dual citizens and proud to be Canadian.
It’s probably been 50-50 for me living in the States and Canada. I have kind of moved back and forth. But Alberta has been my home for a good chunk of my life and I always think of Alberta as my home. I dragged my wife up here and she’s loved living up here and she loves living in Calgary. It’s a good day.
The thing this morning that really struck me is that there were a lot of people there that it was a huge change in their lives. For my wife and I, we’re very proud and it was a big moment but there were some people who have come from all over the world where their lives have completely changed now that they get to live in Canada. That was an eye-opening experience.
Winning the game is obviously always fun. The key for us is to enjoy it for a couple of hours but we have to get back to work right away. We have a short week going to Toronto and they’re going to be hungry.
So we have to reload and do it all over again.
We were facing a very good offence and so you never know from that standpoint. But I have a comfort level with the players and the way we’ve practised and knowing that we’ve done a lot of right things and a lot of hard work. It doesn’t always pay off every game but I thought the odds were we would be able to hang in there.
Our guys really stepped up. There were three or four plays in the game that were difference-making plays that they came up with. Hats off to the guys for playing hard.
Stopping the run is important in this league. If teams can run the ball effectively, it really puts you in a bind on defence because now you start getting more conservative and you’re worried about everything.
If you can do a good job stopping the run, it kind of opens things up for the defence.
Rick Campbell
Defensive coordinator