Former Ticats star says 2013 season in Guelph was ‘a blast’

Don’t blame the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for feeling like they have a case of deja vu when they take the field in Guelph, Ont., Friday night.

Fresh off a dramatic 25-23 win over Montreal last week, Hamilton will close out their preseason schedule against the Toronto Argonauts at the University of Guelph, a place the Ticats called home during the 2013 Canadian Football League season.

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. and you can listen to the action on 900 CHML. A half-hour after the final whistle, catch The 5th Quarter postgame show on CHML, 900chml.com and on CHML’s Facebook page.

The Cats spent 2013 playing games at Alumni Stadium on the university’s campus after Hamilton’s old Ivor Wynne Stadium was demolished to make way for Tim Hortons Field.

The team practiced all season long at McMaster University and took buses to the school virtually every day from their former head office on 1 Jarvis Street in Hamilton.

“What a fun year that was,” recalled former Ticats receiver Luke Tasker when asked to reminisce about the 2013 season.

“I came in the exact same week as ‘Speedy B’ believe it or not,” said Tasker, “and my first night in the city I drove right past the skeleton, at the time, of Tim Hortons Field.”

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Tasker was new to the CFL that year and still remembers his first game on Sept. 28, 2013, in Week 14 against the Calgary Stampeders.

“We bussed up to Guelph that day, we were getting dressed in trailers, the coaches were in a tent,” recalls Tasker. “It was actually a blast.”

The 31-year-old Tasker, who was the second-youngest player on the team at only 22 at the time, had four receptions for 53 yards in is first game against the Calgary Stampeders but the Ticats lost 35-11.

Tasker scored his first career touchdown the following week at Rogers Centre in Toronto when he caught a pass from quarterback Henry Burris and ran into the end zone to help Hamilton win 33-19.

His first exposure to the uniqueness of the CFL came in Guelph in a rematch against the Argos, which ended in a 24-18 victory for the Ticats.

“I caught a ball over the middle, got tackled from behind and they stripped the ball out,” said Tasker. “The ball took a strange bounce towards the Toronto end zone and it happened to get accidentally kicked out of bounds through their own end zone which resulted in a safety.”

“We got two points and got the ball back. It was really a bizarre turn of events.”

Despite their nomad-like status in 2013, the Tiger-Cats finished the season with a record of 10-8 and went all the way to the Grey Cup final where they lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders at old Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

Hamilton will open the 2022 regular season June 11 against the Riders at new Mosaic Stadium.

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The Argos have held their training camp on the university’s campus this spring and will try to rebound from a 23-17 loss against Ottawa last week and enter the regular season on a winning note.

Toronto will have a bye during the opening week of the regular season and is scheduled to start their campaign on June 16, at home against Montreal.