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It’s the Canadian Mafia against the CFL’s model franchise. The holders of the Cup versus the team that wants it back.
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What better way for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to tune up for the heated double-header with the rival Green Riders than with a bout against the nearly-as-hated Calgary Stampeders?
Sunday’s home tilt with the CFL powerhouse will mark Winnipeg’s first game against a West Division rival in nearly two years.
Players like receiver Drew Wolitarsky say the mere prospect of it injected some much-needed juice into practice this week.
“It’s been forever since we’ve played a rival,” Wolitarsky said, Friday.
“It’s something we have gratitude for now to be able to play this game again. And to go out there and have an atmosphere like we do here, I’m excited.”
The Stampeders may not fill the house regularly like the Riders do.
But for Wolitarsky, in his fourth season, they’re every bit as easy to get jacked up for.
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“I know we have a thing with Sask, and that Banjo Bowl’s always crazy,” he said. “But Calgary, especially in the playoffs my first couple of years, that team we couldn’t get past. It kind of had this bad blood, like these guys are frustrating. So to beat them (in 2019)… was a beautiful feeling.
“I don’t know if for fans, but definitely for us it’s a game we take very seriously.”
That’s what his head coach likes to hear.
“You hope that everybody approaches it like it’s THE rivalry when you’re playing them,” Mike O’Shea said. “But it’s probably not. They have been just a fantastic franchise and team in the CFL for the last decade, for sure. Longer than that, probably.”
Five years ago, the Bombers began climbing the steep staircase that separated the teams.
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A 44-28 record over four seasons (2016-19) was better than every other team, but still paled in comparison to Calgary’s 53-17-2 mark.
When the teams went toe-to-toe in the 2019 West semifinal, and the Bombers prevailed over the defending champs, they felt like they could do anything.
So they did.
It was actually a win over Calgary two weeks earlier, in the 2019 regular-season finale, that provided the first taste of belief that eventually became a full slurp from the Grey Cup.
On Sunday, for the first time since who-knows-when, the Stamps, 1-2 and with star quarterback Bo-Levi Mitchell sidelined, come in as the underdog.
“We don’t really care about the label,” head coach Dave Dickenson said. “Because it never helped us win, anyway. We just want to get better.”
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It was Dickenson, you’ll recall, who came up with another label, coining the term “Canadian Mafia” when he was caught on camera in a heated moment griping about a penalty call in the 2018 West Final.
The Bombers and their all-Canadian triumvirate – O’Shea, GM Kyle Walters and president Wade Miller – have taken the badge and run with it.
Today, there’s a mutual respect between the former champs and the reigning ones.
“Continuity,” is what Dickenson likes about the Winnipeg way.
Starting at the top.
“What I liked about it is they gave Mike a few tries at it,” he said. “I knew Mike was going to be a good head coach, and he’s shown that. But sometimes people just get a little bit antsy, and don’t let a guy find his footing. But they did that with Mike, and he’s shown that was a great decision.”
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It’s true. Questions dogged the hiring of O’Shea when his first two seasons produced 7-11 and 5-13 records.
Fast-forward five seasons and the Bombers look a bit like all those Calgary teams.
“They actually have a lot more continuity than we have right now,” Dickenson acknowledged. “We are actually in a little bit of a turnover… cycling in a lot of new guys. But to be honest, it is very important to have that tradition, and what’s important to you as an organization. It can come from the coaches, but it has to be relayed down to the players.
“And the players really run the show. The players are the ones that set the culture and the expectations.”
Sound familiar?
That’s one of the reasons a rookie quarterback like Jake Maier can come in and win his first start for the Stamps.
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“They’ve got a plug-and-play system over there,” Bomber defender Alden Darby, a fourth-year CFLer, said. “You don’t want to take them lightly, no matter who’s hiking, who’s snapping the ball, who’s throwing the ball, rookie, veteran or not, they are the Stampeders.”
They just haven’t quite looked like it, yet.
“We’re working hard to get back to what we believe is Stampeder football,” Dickenson said. “Winnipeg has great continuity on both sides, staff and players, and that’s why they produce on the field.”
On Sunday these two franchises will clash, one looking to repeat, the other looking to reclaim.
It may not be Bombers-Riders, but it’s not far from it.
pfriesen@postmedia.com
Twitter: @friesensunmedia
Cup contenders Bombers, Stamps, clash in western grudge match - Winnipeg Sun
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