(Hamilton) It will be a unique Gray Cup on Sunday at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.
The Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers will face off in the CFL championship game, something that has never happened before in Canadian league history. And on Monday, the organizing committee announced that the match would take place in front of a packed house.
The Alouettes will participate in the Gray Cup game for the first time since 2010, when they defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 21-18 at Commonwealth Stadium. It was the Birds’ second consecutive championship.
For their part, the Bombers will participate in the Gray Cup game for the fourth year in a row, and they will covet a third victory. After beating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2019 and 2021, the Bombers fell 24-23 to the Toronto Argonauts last year — after Argos defensive lineman Robbie Smith blocked an attempt on 47-yard field goal from kicker Marc Liegghio with 54 seconds left on the clock.
Alouettes quarterback Cody Fajardo will play his first Gray Cup game, although he won the championship as a reserve quarterback with the Argonauts in 2017.
Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros is one of several players on the team who will participate in the CFL championship game for a fourth year in a row. Collaros will take part in the final for the fifth time in his career, having also triumphed with the Argonauts in 2012.
On Sunday, however, Collaros will become the first CFL quarterback to start in four consecutive Gray Cup games.
The two head coaches are equally seasoned.
Montreal head coach Jason Maas was the Argos’ quarterback coach in 2012 and played in three Gray Cup games as a quarterback — including wins with Edmonton in 2003 and 2005. However, this will be his first participation as head coach.
For his part, Mike O’Shea will covet a third title in four appearances as head coach of the Blue Bombers. He also won the precious trophy three times as a player with the Argos (1996-97 and 2004), as well as in 2012 as special teams coordinator for the Toronto squad.
Despite their recent Gray Cup success, the Blue Bombers are 12-15 in the CFL championship game. The Alouettes have won seven times in 18 games.
The Blue Bombers (14-4) won their two games this season against the Alouettes (11-7), en route to winning the title in the West section. The Birds finished second in the East Division, and they had never recorded 11 victories in the same season since 2012.
