In the 150-year history of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats the franchise has achieved many milestones.
The Tiger-Cats have won the Grey Cup 15 times and Hamilton has hosted the Canadian Football League‘s championship final on 10 occasions, with the 11th coming in 2021.
There have been many legendary players who have donned the team’s black and gold uniform over the years, including Angelo Mosca, Garney Henley, Rocky DiPietro, Joe Montford and Danny McManus.
However, as the franchise celebrates its sesquicentennial anniversary, there have been only two years — 1989 and 1998 — in which the Ticats have won 12 games.
Isn’t that an incredible statistic?
What may be just as incredible is that the Ottawa Roughriders/Renegades/Redblacks franchise has accomplished the feat just once, four years ago.
The Toronto Argonauts have done it five times while the Saskatchewan Roughriders have accomplished the feat seven times.
Every other team is in the double-digits in terms of reaching the 12-win plateau in a season — Montreal Alouettes (10), B.C. Lions (12), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (14), Edmonton Eskimos (19) and the Calgary Stampeders (23, including in each of the last seven years).
A win over Edmonton Friday night at Tim Hortons Field would give the Cats 12 wins on the year, with three more games left on the schedule to establish a new franchise mark.
However, the only way this year’s club could possibly be mentioned in the same breath as some of the best teams in franchise history (1967, 1972 and 1999 to name just three) is if Hamilton wins the Grey Cup this season.
Anything less than a championship will cement the 2019 Ticats’ legacy as having a great season, but not one of the best ever.
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