By Jeff Crane
Stampeders.com

In a room more familiar this season with celebration, it was strange to hear the silence in the Stampeders locker room.

Some players shuffled back and forth exchanging subtle words of comfort while most sat in their lockers with a look of disbelief.

After enduring multiple hardships during the regular season, the crushing loss against bitter rival Saskatchewan in front of the hometown crowd seemed surreal.

“Number one, hands down,” says veteran linebacker Juwan Simpson when asked where this loss ranks for him in terms of disappointment. “It was the same in 2010, but I felt like this team was much better. You had guys who were really dedicated this year and I think that’s what hurts the is most is that guys bought in.”

After finishing the regular season 14-4 with a berth to the West final secured, the expectations were high for a Stampeders team that ranked at or near the top in nearly every CFL statistical category.

Additionally, the Stampeders boasted a crop of all-star calibre talent including the CFL’s top running back in Jon Cornish, defensive player of the year nominee in Charleston Hughes and the league’s most accurate kicker in Rene Paredes, to name a few.

However, Keon Raymond knows stats don’t guarantee anything in the CFL.

“It’s hard to win in any league when you commit so many turnovers,” says a sombre Raymond. “I think that was a big key as to why we lost.”

While the sting of the loss lingers in the minds of most players, some have already begun to wonder about what the off-season will bring.

With the expansion draft for the newly minted Ottawa RedBlacks franchise set for Dec. 16, players like Simpson wonder what the Stamps will look like in 2014.

“It’s always been a reality coming into this season,” says Simpson. “We knew this team wouldn’t be the same next season. Coming into the playoffs we knew this was going to be our last time together.”

For many players, that uncertainty of what could have been with this special group is what is going to haunt them the most.