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A few years back, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were struggling, general manager Brendan Taman was often approached by fans who wanted him to trade Milt Stegall.

It wasn't that the fans were disgruntled with Stegall. In fact, it was quite the contrary. They were worried that unless he was traded to a contending team, one of the CFL's all-time great receivers might have to retire without playing on a Grey Cup winner.

"They thought we should trade him to get him a ring," Taman said. "I always looked at it that we should keep him so he could help us get one."

In what is almost surely Stegall's last season, the Bombers are in a position to give their star receiver one last chance at a Grey Cup championship. The first step comes tomorrow, when Winnipeg is host to the Montreal Alouettes in the East Division semi-final.

But if Winnipeggers are worried about Stegall feeling incomplete should the Bombers fall short of their goal, he's got news for them.

"Not at all," the CFL's career touchdowns leader said. "I have a good, comfortable life. Football is football but win, lose or draw, life goes on. There's a billion things that are more important than football.

"Don't get me wrong, when I'm on the field I'm relentless. But when I leave football I leave football on the field," Stegall said. "I would like to get a Grey Cup ring and that's why I play, but I've played 16 years in pro football, made some good money and met a lot of great people. If it doesn't happen, I'll still be okay."

Stegall's Grey Cup drought is a reminder of just how lean the playoffs have been for the Bombers of late. Winnipeg's last playoff win came in 2002, its last Grey Cup appearance in 2001, and its last Grey Cup victory in 1990 — the year before 40-year-old kicker Troy Westwood joined the team.

For a city that used to revel in how tough its football team becomes once the weather turns nasty, those are awfully long dry spells. Which is why Taman understands that, despite the Bombers (10-7-1) achieving their best regular-season record since 2003, a loss Sunday will mean another year of disappointment.

"Everyone has this fascination with regular-season records," Taman said. "Saskatchewan had a great regular season and great attendance, but if Calgary beats them [in the West Division semi-final tomorrow] have they had a better year [than 2006]?

"We're very similar. We had a good regular-season record but if Montreal comes in here and wins, have we had a good year?"

The other question the Blue Bombers will ask should they lose tomorrow is how they let the first-place bye in the East get away after holding it until the second-last week of the season.

It wasn't that Winnipeg played badly down the stretch, going 5-4 during the second half, it's that two of their losses came against a Toronto Argonauts team that won nine of its last 10.

"Looking at things, I can't evaluate it and say we were falling apart," Winnipeg head coach Doug Berry said.

There are lots of reasons why the Bombers should feel good about their chances heading into the matchup with Montreal on what is supposed to be clear day with temperatures in the single digits.

For one, they are coming off a 20-17 win last Friday over Montreal, their third triumph over the Als this season. And while the Bombers are getting healthier, adding defensive back Juran Bolden, defensive lineman Tom Canada and running back Charles Roberts for the game, the Als are still hurting.

Two recent losses along the Als offensive line, combined with quarterback Marcus Brady making his first CFL playoff start, give Winnipeg no excuse for failing to advance to next week's East Division final against Toronto.

"This is probably as strong as we could be at this time of year," Berry said. "But the three games we played against them this year were all very close."

So how does the prospect of having to beat a team for the fourth time in one season sit with Berry?

"[That] and it's back-to-back, so it's a double-whammy in that aspect," the coach said. "It's difficult, but we have the momentum to do it so we'll just see. There's no game on the sked for next week. We have to make one."