By Stampeders.com Staff
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a team preparing to take part in Canadian football’s ultimate game? The staff at Stampeders.com have come together to offer fans a behind-the-scenes look at what Grey Cup week is like for the boys as they prepare to square off against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday at BC Place. Check back daily for the latest news and photos as the Red and White attempt to bring the Grey Cup home to Cowtown.
Tuesday, Nov. 25
After a big win over the Edmonton Eskimos in the Western Final, the Stampeders get right back to business preparing for the 102nd Grey Cup, taking place in Vancouver.
The day started off with an orientation meeting led by head coach and general manager John Hufnagel. He took this opportunity to make sure his players stayed focused on the goal of the Grey Cup. It was particularly interesting that he mentioned 2012’s disappointing Grey Cup loss to the Toronto Argonauts and how it was important to have a proper mindset going into this week. Probably the best part of the meeting was when he mentioned to the players: “If you’re not willing to work, don’t get on the plane,” followed by sounds of agreement from the players.
Later in the day, equipment staff was busy clearing out the locker room and loading player gear for the journey to Vancouver where players will take part in a week of practices as they ready themselves for arguably the team’s biggest game of the year. It’s an odd feeling seeing the locker room of McMahon empty, now it’s time to make BC Place the new, if only temporary, home of the Stampeders.
At 6 p.m., players, coaches and support staff began to pile on the bus headed for the airport. Players were in good spirits and the excitement palpable as they made their way to the airport for the flight to Vancouver.
Once in Vancouver, Jon Cornish made a splash in his Western outfit as he met the media. No matter where we go, the Stamps always bring a little western flavour.
We know Stamps fans always travel well to these events, even when our boys are not playing in the big game. We have already heard from some fans that they can’t wait to meet up with us in Vancouver. The Red and White should be well represented.
Be sure to check back throughout the week as we show you the fun, festivities and work that goes into pulling off one of the largest sports festivals in Canada. Highlights this year will include practices, hosted Grey Cup parties and the award ceremonies that feature our own Jon Cornish – up for top Canadian – and last season’s rookie of the year, Brett Jones – up for top offensive lineman honours.
It’s going to be an incredible week and an amazing display of what makes this nation so great, hopefully culminating in our hometown heroes, the Calgary Stampeders, bringing home the Grey Cup. Go Stamps Go!
The wild ride that is Grey Cup week has officially begun.
Day 2 — the first full day in Vancouver, site of Sunday’s championship game — started off bright and early.
Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel along with Hamilton counterpart Ken Austin met with members of the media for the head coach’s media availability and breakfast. And, for the record and contrary to what happened in 2012, Coach Huff opted not to touch the Grey Cup that was set up between the two coaches.
During the proceedings, it was noted that Hufnagel was Austin’s first quarterback coach when the former University of Mississippi quarterback headed north to start his professional career playing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1987.
At the time of Austin’s arrival Hufnagel was a player/coach but had his year cut short after just three quarters of play when a season-ending injury forced him to concentrate primarily on coaching duties.
Along with Austin, Hufnagel tended to questions for the better part of an hour from members of the local and national media but stressed one thing.
“This team’s season ultimately will be judged on the success of Sunday’s game,” stated the former Penn State quarterback.
Building on the fact this team still has many members from the 2012 Grey Cup squad, Hufnagel commented that the motto for this year’s team has been simple since the start of training camp.
“Finish,” he said.
Highlights of today’s press conference can be viewed here.
After the press conference, Hufnagel rushed back to the team’s hotel to join his coaches and players for the team meetings.
Once meetings ended, coaches and players boarded separate offence and defence buses bound for BC Place. Being CFL West Division champions, the Stampeders have been tabbed as the home team for Sunday’s contest, thus giving them the right to use the Lions locker room.
George Hopkins, long-time equipment manager for the Red and White, and his staff spent considerable time and effort Stamp-a-fying the locker room with red and white touches and lots of horse logos.
Once the team arrived at BC Place, Bo Levi Mitchell, Nik Lewis and Jon Cornish all met with the media prior to taking the practice field. Lewis, being the longest-serving Stamp of the three, hinted to the massive crowd of media to expect big things from his team and him on Sunday.
“At the beginning of the year, the coaches stressed how important it is for me to feel good at the end of the season,” said Lewis. “It’s the end of the season and I’m at my best, I promise you that.”
Post practice today was filled with multiple activities as Lewis, Joe West, Keon Raymond and Hufnagel each sat down with TSN for feature interviews.
The hustle and bustle didn’t stop there as Cornish, Juwan Simpson, Mitchell, Marquay McDaniel and Shawn Lemon all did promo shoots for TSN also to be aired on Sunday.
With the end of the Day 1 practice, the Stamps finished their day with team meetings back at the hotel.
Wednesday will be another busy day for the boys. The Stampeders have position meetings starting at 8:20am followed by their standard Day 2 practice at 10 a.m. Tomorrow’s practice for the Stamps as well as the Ticats is closed to the media, but the players will conduct all necessary media interviews at the media luncheon tomorrow following practice.
The day started with early morning meetings followed by a 9 a.m. bus ride to BC Place for the Stamps second day of practice. After getting changed and getting taped, the team hit the field for a two-hour practice.
After working up an appetite, the players and coaches attended the media lunch where they were treated to turkey, ham, potatoes, salad and an array of tasty desserts — a perfect meal to have on American Thanksgiving.
“They did an amazing job preparing this meal for us today,” said Stamps defensive end Shawn Lemon.
Following lunch, team members were availalble to speak to the media. Nik Lewis grabbed the Global microphone and proceeded to interview several of his teammates.
“I enjoy messing with some of the guys,” commented Lewis. “I have questions too so it’s good I can get my questions answered sometimes.”
Bo Levi Mitchell did his usual scrum along with a sit-down interview with CFL.ca. Jon Cornish also spoke with the media and did a segment with TSN’s Cabbie. Look for those interviews in the coming days.
The Twitter Mirror was set up in the room and quickly became a popular destination. Several Stamps made their way over to strike a pose with their teammates and didn’t hesitate to retweet their creations. The Twitter Mirror will be set up at various locations throughout Grey Cup so keep your eye on @CFL and @calstampeders.
Players then had another round of meetings before dressing up and heading out to the CFL Player Awards ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. All three Stampeders who were nominated came away as winners including centre Brett Jones (Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman), running back Jon Cornish (Most Outstanding Canadian) and veteran long snapper Randy Chevrier (Tom Pate Memorial Award for his work in the community).
You can read all about the winners here:
>> Brett Jones named CFL’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman
>> Randy Chevrier earns Tom Pate Memorial Award
>> Jon Cornish completes award hat trick
>> Video: Jon Cornish comments
The team is back at it tomorrow with meetings and their final day of practice.
Friday was a momentous day not only for Grey Cup week but also for the entire Calgary Stampeders season.
This was the day the Stamps held their last full-fledged practice of the 2014 season as the club prepares to face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Sunday’s Grey Cup at BC Place. The team will be back on the field tomorrow but only for a light walkthrough practice to make final adjustments.
It was an intense, serious and productive week of practice, but the Stamps took an opportunity to have a little fun at the very end of the workout as Bo Levi Mitchell threw a pass to Brett Jones. That would be Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman award-winner Brett Jones, who in case you’re completely new to football is a very ineligible receiver.
Friday was also the day many of the players’ families arrived in Vancouver from Calgary or their hometowns from across North America. It was a happy but brief reunion as Sunday’s game remains the primary focus for the players. The remainder of the season, after all, is being counted in hours.
Meanwhile, TSN took care of some more details Friday as the network prepared for Sunday’s big broadcast. Photos were taken of some of the players who have emerged as contributors to the Stamps since TSN showed up at Calgary’s training camp to load up on images for the season. Players such as Eric Rogers, Frank Beltre and Adam Thibault were all the target of the camera lens.
The network typically films sit-down interviews with the coaches and key players the day before the game, but this week that business was handled two days ahead of time.
An intriguing feature to look forward to this weekend on TSN is Paul LaPolice’s chalk-talk with Stamps running back Jon Cornish.
An interesting aspect of Grey Cup is that the opposing teams don’t see much of each even though they’re practising at the same stadium and attending similar events, albeit at different times.
A comical moment took place on Friday as the Stamps bus arrived at BC Place shortly after noon just as the Tiger-Cats were filing out of the stadium after completing their morning session.
Confused by the convoy of transportation vehicles, a Hamilton player absentmindedly started boarding the Calgary bus and was startled when he encountered an unfamiliar group of players disembarking.
With so much on the line on Sunday, you can forgive the wayward Ticat for his lapse in concentration.
While the competing teams were zeroed in on Sunday’s kickoff, the Grey Cup party kicked into high gear for many of the fans. The streets were filled with jerseys, hats and scarves in the colours of every CFL club. Naturally, there was plenty of Red and White.
Continuing a tradition that started back in 1948 and helped launch the Grey Cup week celebration as we know it today, the Calgary contingent brought a horse into the lobby of a local hotel.
Also, Stamps House opened its doors to revelers from near and far, who enjoyed some olf-fashioned Western hospitality.
The contrast between the business-like demeanour of the players and the festive cheer of the fans on Friday was remarkable. By Sunday’s kickoff, however, everyone’s attention will be on the biggest game of the year.
The eve of the Grey Cup has officially arrived. In less than 24 hours the Calgary Stampeders will take the field at BC Place for the 102nd Grey Cup.
Today concluded a work week that saw Stamps players and coaches wrap up their week of preparation with one goal in mind — finishing off a great season with a championship victory on Sunday.
Prior to today’s walk-through the Stampeders were represented in the traditional Grey Cup Parade. Marching for the Red and White were Ralph the Dog and the Stampeders Outriders.
The Outriders then participated in the annual Cheer Extravaganza where they performed along with cheer teams from other CFL teams.
Ralph, the Outriders and the Grey Cup also made appearances in front of legions of Stamps fans at The Bourbon — Vancouver’s only country bar — which has been dubbed Stamps House for the weekend. It was Day 2 of the party, which saw fans win numerous prizes and challange themselves on the mechanical bull.
Back at BC Place the Stamps went through their final walk-through practice of the year where a flurry of local and national media showed up to interview the players one last time.
TSN broadcast the entire walk-through live and had their panel of Matt Dunigan, Jock Clime and Chris Schultz were on site. They conducted live sideline interviews with Nik Lewis, Juwan Simpson and Corey Mace during practice and even had the cable cam in use.
Just like every previous walk-through this season, the offensive linemen were the last Stampeders players to leave the field after finishing their weekly game of bocce ball.
On field interviews took place with players post-practice, followed by press conferences for Stampeders quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and running back Jon Cornish. Following the players’ press conferences, it was head coach and general manager John Hufnagel’s turn to take questions from the media.
>> Stamps TV: Behind-the-scenes at walk-through
Following practice the guys disbanded and checked out some of the Vancouver sites before returning to the hotel for one last session of meetings. After meetings each positional group went out for dinner as a unit.
Tomorrow’s game takes place at 3 p.m. PT with the Stampeders vying for a chance to claim their seventh Grey Cup.
Finally the big day has arrived and it’s time to decide who will take home the 102nd Grey Cup. The day started off with Stampeders Chaplin Rodd Sawatsky giving the players a stirring speech about how championships do not make champions, but are a result of individuals who possess the characteristics of a champion.
With that the boys had a hearty pre-game meal before gathering at the team busses for a police escort to BC Place to take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the 2014 Grey Cup.
While travelling to the Stadium, Calgary fans – remember, we said they travelled well – honked their horns and cheered as the bus passed by.
Upon arriving to BC Place, the Stampeders and their coaches immediately began to focus on the task at hand , determined to avoid the fate that befell the team back in 2012 when they lost the 100th Grey Cup to the Toronto Argonauts, despite being heavily favoured.
The stadium was a hive of activity as staff and league officials ran around in every direction, putting final touches on what promised to be an amazing show.
Before gates opened, Calgary’s touchdown horse for the Grey Cup arrived, meeting long-time Stampeders horse rider Karen Drake and taking a few laps, even leaving a couple of gifts in the end zone for staff to clean up. We’ll chalk it up to nerves.
Fans began spilling into BC Place when doors opened at 1:00 p.m., dressed in a wide variety of team colours and jerseys, representing all four corners of this great nation.
It was amazing to see battle lines fade and fans who, at different times have been adversaries during the season, sit side by side or embrace one another to take in what truly is one of the most distinctly Canadian events this country has to offer.
Players took the field around 2:00 p.m. for warm-ups and it became clear early on that this would be a loud and raucous group.
The walls nearest the field were packed with fans armed with phones hoping to snap a shot of their heroes or get a wave from a player. Others simply wanted to take in the atmosphere as you could feel, regardless of score, this was going to be a special day.
Before the opening ceremonies, the ground-level concourse buzzed with the arrival of a special guest to the football game by NFL superstar quarterback and Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson who met with commissioner Mark Cohon and even held the Grey Cup.
Opening ceremonies were filled with Canadian content including Canadian country recording artist Dallas Smith and the full lineup of CFL dance squads in a choreographed dance.
The teams were then introduced with the Stampeders receiving the loudest reception by a largely pro-west crowd.
After a stirring national anthem that would make any Canadian proud, it was time for kick-off and the 102nd Grey cup was finally under way.
The game went about as well as the Stamps faithful could hope, with the team executing well against a tough Hamilton squad.
The Horsemen proved to be too much, winning the match 20-16 and laying claim to the ultimate prize, the holy grail of Canadian football, the Grey Cup in front of a crowd of 52,056.
The game told the story of Calgary’s season as a whole. There was adversity, players got hurt but others jumped up and became just the next man up.
The offence was efficient and protected the ball well, while the defence bent at times but never broke.
When one man struggled, his teammates picked him up and carried him forward. When a mistake was made, the team rallied and ensured it would not turn the tide.
From the end of last year’s West Final to tonight, the team seemed focused on a single goal, to execute the theme they used all season; finish.
This year, certainly was the Year of the Horse.