A win Monday would be worth its weight in gold for the Montreal Alouettes.
A CFL team chasing a .500 record for most of the season, the Alouettes (7-7) can both clinch a playoff spot and a home postseason game with a Thanksgiving Day victory over the visiting Ottawa Redblacks (3-11).
The Alouettes face a Redblacks team with an altered sideline.
Coach Paul LaPolice was fired after a 34-19 loss to the BC Lions on Sept. 30. Special teams co-ordinator Bob Dyce assumed the interim role with four games left in the regular season.
Redblacks quarterbacks coach Will Arndt will be calling the plays at Percival Molson Stadium.
“The greatest thing that I want to do is that I want to make sure the players are in a position to be successful,” Dyce said. “I don’t want to rush into anything. I know we’re on a short time frame but I want to do things right for these four games.
“I have a lot of respect for those guys in the locker room and I want to make sure that we do things right and that’s going to allow us to set a strong foundation here.”
Alouettes general manager and interim coach Danny Maciocia insisted his team won’t underestimate Ottawa.
“I think that this is a team that is very proud and they have a coach that’s able to motivate his players,” Maciocia said of the opponent. “I’m convinced that they will give us a hell of an effort. It will be very important to match their intensity that they will bring to us.”
“We don’t want to disrespect them, that’s really important. They are professional players, they are coached and they have their pride.”
The Alouettes welcome the return of star running back William Stanback. The two-time all-star and CFL rushing leader last season hasn’t played since breaking his ankle in the season-opener against the Calgary Stampeders.
“When you add that element, it can definitely dictate a lot of things that the defence can and can’t do,” Alouettes quarterback Trevor Harris said of Stanback.
“It also helps us establish the run being able to, late in games, use our play-action game, be able to hand him the football and know that we’re gonna go downhill and be able to get positive yards.”
Stanback is a significant upgrade to Montreal’s offence, but Maciocia remains cautious about how much he’ll play Monday. Montreal has a quick turnaround after Monday’s game with another Friday in Ottawa.
The coach required three pain-free practices from Stanback to insert him into Monday’s lineup. That achieved, Maciocia will play one of his most dominant players albeit in a limited manner.
“What is important is for us to be really strategic with William,” Maciocia said. “He hasn’t played since the start of the year. We have two games in five days. I don’t think we can afford to give him 20 carries on a Monday and 20 carries on Friday, it’s not realistic.
“We need to have a plan, which we have already established with the coaches. We shared it with the players, including Will, so he will have a word to say in our success on Monday I hope but he isn’t a player that will lead 60 or 70 plays.”
Harris acknowledged Stanback is an asset on offence, but also pointed out the Als managed at .500 record without him. Other running backs filled it for the star during his absence.
“To say that our other backs haven’t done a great job would be a disservice to them because I think Walter Fletcher is an absolute budding star in this league,” Harris said. “And Jeshrun Antwi, explosive plays when you just don’t expect it and all of a sudden he pops for 70 [yards].”
In addition to the shakeup at head coach, the Redblacks also added two new faces to their coaching staff this week. Doug Malone, who was an offensive line coach for the Lions, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, joined as an offensive consultant.
Cory McDiarmid joining as a special teams assistant means he’s served on the coaching staff of every current CFL team except the Tiger-Cats.
MONTREAL ALOUETTES (7-7) VS. OTTAWA REDBLACKS (3-11)
POWELL RETURNS: The Redblacks get running back William Powell back Monday. The 34-year-old last played in Ottawa’s 17-3 loss to Stampeders on Aug. 5 when he sustained a knee injury.
ROMICK 100: Defensive end Nigel Romick will play his 100th career game Monday. The 31-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ont. has spent all eight of his CFL seasons with the Redblacks.