CFL action Saturday sees the Saskatchewan Roughriders visit the Calgary Stampeders.
While the Riders will see defensive end A.C. Leonard return from a three-game suspension, the Stamps will be missing two of their key receivers; Josh Huff and Kamar Jorden.
Defensive back Ed Gainey says he’s confident there will be two solid players to fill their spot tonight.
“Those are two key parts of their offence, guys who can pretty much take the roof off of the defence and make those big catches that they need,” Gainey said. “But when you’re playing a team like Calgary, you have to stay focused and just know that they’re the type of team that wins championships just for that reason; because when one guy gets hurt, the other guy steps up and it’s really not that much of a difference.”
With the return of Leonard, Gainey says he will be showing lots of energy.
“I feel like he’s going to come out with a chip on his shoulder,” Gainey said. “(In) the first couple of series, I’ll be looking for the announcers to be calling his name out, I’m pretty sure he’s going to come out there electrified and — like I said — (with) a chip on his shoulder trying to prove a point.”
Head Coach Craig Dickenson says they have game planned the same.
“The reality is the Stampeder offence, and the organization is built on process, so it’s going to be the same offence regardless of who is in there,” Dickenson said. “They have a certain standard they play to year-in and year-out, so I think the new guys they’re dressing are probably playing up to that standard, or they wouldn’t be dressing.”
Dickenson says the team is focused on playing their game.
“Calgary is 14-2 coming off of a bye, and that’s not an accident,” Dickenson said. “They’ve had good teams for a lot of years, and this team has struggled initially, but they’re well coached, it’s a well-oiled machine out there, they play well at home, they look a lot better in recent games than they did early.
“I don’t think our guys are going to take them lightly at all,” Dickenson added.
The game can be heard live on 620 CKRM Saturday. Our pregame show begins at 2:00, with kick-off at 5:00.
