By Mike Hardiman
Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Calgary Stampeders begin the defence of their 2014 Grey Cup championship with a rematch against their Grey Cup opponents, the Hamilton Tiger Cats.

Calgary defeated Hamilton 20-16 in last year’s championship game, capturing the club’s seventh CFL title and first since 2008. Head coach John Hufnagel joined Wally Buono as the only two Calgary head coaches to have won more than one Grey Cup with the Red and White. The Stampeders finished first in the West with a 15-3 record in 2014, tying the best season mark in club history and won the West for the 18th time.

Calgary is opening the season at home for the 11th straight season and this will be the sixth time in the past seven seasons dating back to 2009 the Stamps will open the season against an Eastern team. Calgary is 3-2 in its last five Week 1 games against teams from the East and last played Hamilton in the opener back in 2007, a 37-9 win for Calgary.

Calgary swept the Tiger-Cats in 2014, winning 10-7 at McMahon in Week 4 in the lowest-scoring game for the Stamps last season. Hamilton is looking for a win at McMahon for the first time since 2004, with Calgary winning 10 straight games at home versus the Tabbies.

The Stampeders posted a league-best 7-2 home record last season and are 34-11 at home in the past five seasons while Calgary was 7-1 against the East in 2014 and is 14-2 in the past two seasons. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Friday, June 26 at 7 p.m. MDT at McMahon Stadium in Calgary
Television: TSN Friday Night Football, ESPN2
Radio: Newstalk 770, SiriusXM Channel 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

The Stampeders have made few changes to the team that hoisted the Grey Cup back in November and are returning a veteran-laden team in hopes of winning back-to-back championships.

SB Nik Lewis (Mtl), C Brett Jones (NFL) and OT Stanley Bryant (Wpg) are the key departures from the offence while DE Shawn Lemon (NFL) and DT Demonte’ Bolden (released) are the only two starters not returning from last year’s defence.

RB Jon Cornish, HB Brandon Smith and HB Jamar Wall were all members of the 2014 CFL all-star team while Cornish picked up his third straight CFL Most Outstanding Canadian award.

Calgary won both games against the Tiger-Cats last season with QB Bo Levi Mitchell throwing for 472 yards and one touchdown in the two games. SB Marquay McDaniel was the Stamps’ leading receiver against Hamilton with 10 catches for 121 yards. Cornish missed both games due to injury but the Stamps still topped the 100-yard rushing mark in both games (totalling 249 yards), an impressive number considering Hamilton led the CFL in run defence with an average of less than 80 yards per game along the ground.

The Stamps rushed for over 100 yards in a game in all but two contests last season and finished the year with six straight games of over 300 yards of offence. Calgary’s defence dominated the Cats at home last season, allowing just seven points and 223 yards of offence while creating three turnovers and collecting three sacks. MLB Juwan Simpson led the way with 13 tackles in the two games against the Cats, followed by Wall with 12 and Smith with nine.

Good matchups to watch this week are Calgary’s top-ranked run offence versus Hamilton’s stingy rush defence and WR Eric Rogers of Calgary (eight catches, 168 yards, two TDs in the playoffs last season) against Hamilton’s cornerbacks.

Who to watch:

Jeff Fuller – WR, #3

2014 stats – 29 receptions, 378 receiving yards, 13.0 yard average, 5 TDs in eight games
2014 vs Ham. – 9 receptions, 115 receiving yards. 12.7 yard average, 1 TD in two games

Eric Rogers – WR, #80

2014 stats – 9 receptions, 149 receiving yards, 16.6 yard average, 2 TDs in two games
2014 vs Hamilton – did not play

Calgary offensive line
2015 – OT Edward Harrison, OT Dan Federkeil, OT Garry Williams, OG Spencer Wilson, OG Shane Bergman, C Pierre Lavertu, C Brad Erdos
2014 – The Stamps led the CFL in rushing (143.9 yards per game) and in fewest sacks allowed (26) for the second straight season                                            

Jasper Simmons – LB, #31

2014 stats – 80 tackles, 7 special teams tackles, 2 tackles for losses, 3 INTs, 1 pass knockdown, 1 forced fumble with Ottawa; led team in tackles
2014 vs Ham. – 10 tackles, 1 special teams tackle in three games

Joe Burnett – DB, #24

2014 stats – 18 tackles, 1 INT, 3 pass knockdowns – in five games with Edmonton
2014 vs Ham. – 3 tackles, 1 INT, 1 pass knockdown in one game

The Tiger-Cats                                                              

Hamilton has won the East in back-to-back seasons but is still looking for its first Grey Cup win since 1999.

Head coach Kent Austin’s squad is led on offence by QB Zach Collaros (#4), who missed both regular season games against Calgary last season but did pass for 342 yards and a touchdown in the Grey Cup against the Stamps. RB Nic Grigsby came over from Winnipeg late in the season and finished the year third in the CFL with 890 rushing yards.

The Tabbies have a good mix of receivers with speedsters Brandon Banks (#16) and Terrell Sinkfield (#14) and possession receivers SB Andy Fantuz (#83) and SB Bakari Grant (#84). Hamilton allowed 65 sacks last year so OL Ryan Bomben (64) was acquired from Montreal to help shore up the o-line.

Hamilton is starting the season banged up on the D-line with three veterans on the six-game injured list. DT Ted Laurent (#97) is last man standing and will try and anchor a young group. LB Simoni Lawrence (#21) and MLB Taylor Reed (#44) are mobile, playmaking linebackers while Hamilton’s biggest off-season loss was all-Canadian CB Delvin Breaux (NFL).

S Craig Butler (#28) heads a young secondary with former Stamp Brandon Stewart (#9) and DB Erik Harris (#41) as the other veterans in the back five.

Banks and Sinkfield are dangerous returners (three return TDs between them in 2014) and will be a good test for Calgary’s grasp of the league’s new return rules. 

Zach Collaros – QB, #4

2014 stats– 424 attempts, 279 completions, 65.8% completion rate, 3,261 passing yards, 15 TDs, 9 INTs, 91.9 QB rating – 13 games
2014 vs Cgy. – did not play due to injury

Brandon Banks – WR/KR, #16

2014 stats – 42 receptions, 529 receiving yards, 12.6 yard average, 5 receiving TDs; 90 kick returns, 1,319 return yards, 2 TDs – 2014 ll-Canadian, led CFL in punt returns
2014 vs Cgy. – 5 receptions, 54 receiving yards, 10.8 yard average, 0 TDs; 16 kick returns, 251 return yards in two games

Ted Laurent – DT, #97

2014 stats – 24 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 9 sacks, 1 forced fumble – 2014 All-Canadian; led team in sacks
2014 vs Cgy. – 2 tackles, 1 sack in two games

Stats (2014)

Week 1 in the CFL

Thursday, June 25, 5:30 p.m. – Ottawa at Montreal
Saturday, June 27, 3 p.m. – Edmonton at Toronto
Saturday, June 27, 6 p.m. – Winnipeg at Saskatchewan

Bye : BC