Now that the Canadian Football League’s regular season has come to an end, Tiger-Cats fans in Hamilton can relax for at least the next week.
With Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal all seemingly in rebuild mode at the start of the 2019 season, Hamilton was expected to cruise to a first-place finish in the East Division.
And that’s basically how it went down, but I’m not sure anyone expected a rookie head coach to lead a team with an untested backup quarterback that was thrust into the spotlight to the 150-year-old franchise’s best ever record.
But it happened.
Despite losing star quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to a season-ending knee injury in July, head coach Orlondo Steinauer and QB Dane Evans kept the train on the tracks and roared past all expectations.
The Ticats won 15 games, destroying the team’s previous record of 12, scored the second most points in franchise history (second only to the 1999 Grey Cup winning team) and won its final six games on the schedule — the most to end a season since the 1972 championship team won its last 10 games — and finished 9-0 at home for the first time in club history.
This team’s list of accomplishments is extraordinary, but it’s fair to say the Tiger-Cats aren’t done yet.
Hamilton will host either the Montreal Alouettes or Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL’s Eastern Final on Nov. 17 and the question around town is ‘who would you rather the Ticats play?’
The Cats swept their home-and-home series against Edmonton, winning 30-27 on Sept. 20 at Commonwealth Stadium and 42-12 on Oct. 4 at Tim Hortons Field.
Hamilton won two of their three meetings against the Alouettes, 41-10 on June 28 in Hamilton and 38-26 on Oct. 26 in Montreal, and lost 36-29 at Percival Molson Stadium on July 4.
Looking at the results, I would think that most fans would want the Ticats to host the Eskimos in a couple of weeks, but most people I’ve spoken with are hoping for a Hamilton-Montreal matchup.
The sense is that most fans want to watch a ‘true’ final between East Division foes and let the best team win.
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