A GRAY DAY: No more talk, it’s time for Ticats and Bombers to go to battle on a soccer field.

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HAMILTON – It is time.

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For two teams, two rosters of players who made it to the finish line in a season played during a pandemic, the Gray Cup is here. Finally. Sunday. Yes, it is time.

Two seasons ago, when the world around us was “normal,” the Winnipeg Blue Bombers crushed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33-12 in the Canadian Football League championship game. After a lost season due to the pandemic, it begins again. The lists are different. The scene is different; the game will be played at Tim Hortons Field, the home ground of Hamilton. The Ticats, the best team in the East, will be looking to overtake the Bombers, the best in the West and also the three-point favorites according to bettors.

The Ticats or Bombers won’t think about stats or odds or what happened two years or what happened earlier this season: In Game 1, Winnipeg beat Hamilton 19-6. They will not think about the obstacles they have had to overcome, the precautions and preparation necessary to overcome a CFL season that started and will end late. But they are here. And they are ready to play the most important game of the season. Players say all the right things. There are no guaranteed earnings. Just trust. And desire to win.

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What is different about this week’s mindset compared to 2019? Everything, ”said veteran Ticats offensive lineman Chris Van Zeyl. “It’s all the culture in this locker room. In the past it was, ‘Oh yeah, we’re in the Gray Cup. We have this record. We’ve beaten them twice, but let’s go after them again. The mentality was something like ‘This is just another game’. It is not just another game. Everything intensified. The passion, the fans, everything. It is a different beast. You can’t treat it like just another game. You have to understand how things are going to escalate. Much more is at stake. People gamble for a living. It’s a great game, and I think if you treat it like anything else and don’t put everything into it, you’re doing yourself a disservice and you understand what happened in 2019. “

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Recent history is on the side of the Ticats. Teams that have played the Gray Cup at home have won the past three times: BC Lions in 2011, Toronto Argonauts in 2012 and Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2013. Hamilton is looking to become the second No. 2 team in the East to win the Cup in the last 16 years; the Argos did it in 2012. Another fact: Ticats defensive lineman Ja’Gared Davis is playing his fifth consecutive Gray Cup, including three with the Calgary Stampeders, while defensive back Tunde Adeleke is on his fourth in a row, including two with Calgary. One more fact: Hamilton has not won the Gray Cup since 1999.

“When you go that far, it’s just about winning, it’s about finding a way to get one more point (than the opponent),” Ticats head coach Orlondo Steinauer said.

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Putting the ball in the hands of Brandon Banks, 2019’s standout player, could provide a great offensive spark for the Ticats. After a slow start to the season, Banks has had a significant presence in recent weeks. Quarterback Dane Evans, who replaced Jeremiah Masoli early in last week’s 27-19 East final victory over Toronto, will be the one to try to get the ball to Banks and other Hamilton receivers.

“I feel good. I’m in a great mental space,” Banks said. “In 2019, I was getting a lot of pressure, I was worried about this and that. I’m more relaxed, I feel like I’m going to have a good day on Sunday, I’m going to go out. to have fun. This is a great opportunity for us in front of our local audience in a great atmosphere. “

Winnipeg ranked first in the CFL in points for and against this season. So yeah, the Bombers are really good. On Friday night, four Bombers won CFL teams: QB Zach Collaros (Top Player), Stanley Bryant (Top Offensive Lineman), Adam Bighill (Top Defensive Player) and Mike O’Shea (Head Coach) of the year). Collaros spoke about the excitement of winning a major individual award, but, for him and his teammates, the biggest award is ahead.

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“The season is not over yet,” Collaros said. “You go into training camp and you don’t think about winning the MVP or the Most Outstanding Defensive Player or the Most Outstanding Line or Coach of the Year. You have one goal in mind: the Gray Cup. Along the way, you will have these little checkmarks and goals to meet. The process has been great so far. We won some prizes, which is great, but the only thing that matters is Sunday. We have our eyes on that. “

To beat the Bombers, the Ticats must stop an efficient and punishing running game. He starts up front for Winnipeg, with an excellent offensive line anchored by left tackle Bryant. Behind Collaros is elite running back Andrew Harris, who amassed 623 yards rushing in seven games. He came back from a knee injury last week, helping his team beat Saskatchewan in the Western final 21-17.

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“Good defenses, I think, run the race,” Ticats defensive lineman Dylan Wynn said. “I’m kidding: what they tell you since you are a child is that you have to eat your vegetables. We all want to talk about sacks, we all want to talk about getting to the quarterback. But the truth of the matter is, if you don’t eat your veggies or stop running, you can’t have the fun dessert of hitting the quarterback. One thing we preach here is that we know Step 1 is stopping that race. “

The Ticats will be without former star defensive tackle Ted Laurent, who underwent an emergency procedure for appendicitis on Friday. Laurent will be replaced by Lee Autry. With Laurent out, the Ticats will shuffle their defense to add an additional Canadian, safety Stavros Katsantonis, into the lineup.

“Obviously Ted not going is a huge blow,” Steinauer said. “There is more than its production in the field, it is a difference in proportion. I feel sorry for Teddy, the person. It’s a big part of what helped us get here. “