Als, Riders advance to Grey Cup game

Canwest News Service

Published: Saturday, November 21, 2009

For the first time since the Great Depression, teams from Montreal and Regina will clash for Canadian pro football supremacy.

Back in 1931, the Montreal Winged Wheelers blanked the visiting Regina Roughriders 22-0 at Molson Stadium. Winged Wheelers' Warren Stevens helped spark the offence with the first TD pass in Grey Cup history, to Kenny Grant. Earlier that year, the Canadian Rugby Union had first approved the forward pass.

Saskatchewan Roughriders' Darian Durant, Jeremy O'Day and Eddie Davis (L-R) celebrate with the trophy after defeating the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL West Final football game in Regina, Saskatchewan November 22, 2009.

David Stobbe

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After a 78-year lull, the Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders ensured a rematch next Sunday at Calgary's McMahon Stadium. The Alouettes, who finished 15-3 during the regular season, proved they were the class of the CFL with a resounding 56-18 victory over the visiting B.C. Lions in Sunday's East Division final.

"We weren't a 15-3 team by accident . . . ,'' Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo said after the game.

The Roughriders, meanwhile, dumped the Calgary Stampeders 27-17 in the West Division final.

The Alouettes, who are returning to the Grey Cup game for the seventh time this decade, have only the 2002 title to show for their efforts in that time. They will be out to avenge last season's 22-14 Grey Cup loss at the hands of the visiting Calgary Stampeders.

The Roughriders are back in the Grey Cup game for the first time since capturing the 2007 title, 23-19 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Montreal is 7-11 in Grey Cup history, including St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy's 7-6 victory over the Hamilton Wildcats in 1944. Regina/Saskatchewan is 3-13 all-time.

© The Edmonton Journal 2009