Winning in Calgary has been elusive for Hamilton Tiger-Cats

McMahon Stadium in Calgary is akin to Death Valley for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who will be hoping to continue their late-season playoff push Friday night when they visit the Stampeders.

The last time Hamilton (5-10) won a game in Calgary (10-5) the starting quarterback for the Ticats was Canadian Football Hall of Famer Danny McManus. The year was 2004 — 18 long years ago.

CHML’s coverage of Friday’s game begins with the pregame show at 8:30 p.m. Kickoff is set for 9:45 p.m. A half-hour after the final whistle, catch The 5th Quarter postgame show on CHML radio, CHML’s Facebook page and online at 900chml.com.

Hamilton, which is 0-7 on the road in 2022, is coming off a big, 18-14 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders last week, which has kept the Tiger-Cats’ playoff hopes alive. But the Cats still have some work to do if they have any hope of playing in the Canadian Football League‘s post-season.

With a home-and-home series against the Ottawa Redblacks to end the regular season still on the horizon, Hamilton has two routes to earn a ticket to the playoff party.

If the Cats run the table from here on in and Montreal loses two of its final three games Hamilton will finish in second place in the East and host the division’s semifinal playoff game. The Tiger-Cats can also secure third place in the East if they finish the season with the same, or more, points than the Riders.

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A loss on Friday night would not eliminate the Cats, but it would drop Saskatchewan’s magic number (the combination of Saskatchewan wins and Hamilton losses) to clinch the crossover playoff spot down to two.

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Ticats linebacker Simoni Lawrence is slated to play for the first time since Week 10 after recovering from a knee injury, while receiver Steven Dunbar Jr. returns to the lineup after missing the last two games due to a non-football-related issue.

The Ticats and Stamps met in Week 2 at Tim Hortons Field in a game that saw Hamilton squander a 24-3 lead at halftime and ended up losing 33-30 in overtime.

Friday’s contest marks the 100th game between the Ticats and Stampeders. Calgary leads the all-time series 67-32. Hamilton is 9-39 all-time at McMahon Stadium.

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3 quick stats:

• Hamilton running back Wes Hills was named a CFL Top Performer in Week 18 after recording career highs with 25 carries and 132 rushing yards, the second-highest total in the league this season. His 25 rush attempts is the most by any Hamilton player since 2006 when Josh Ranek ran 27 times for 164 yards.
• Calgary QB Bo Levi Mitchell is 13-1 all-time versus Hamilton but he is now the backup to Jake Maier, who has never started against the Ticats in his two-year CFL career. Maier has completed 76 per cent of his passes this season for 1,828 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.
• Tiger-Cats linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox needs nine defensive tackles to reach 100 in a season for the first time. Santos-Knox’s previous high is 82 when he was playing with Winnipeg in 2018. He has recorded 10 defensive tackles in a game twice this year.