Grey Cup Primer

VANCOUVER – The Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers battle for the Grey Cup on Sunday.

After a 2-4 start, the Blue Bombers finished atop the West Division and earned their spot in the championship game by beating the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West final.

The Argos weathered quarterback woes to finish second in the East before upsetting the league-leading Montreal Alouettes in the division final.

That win proved costly, though, as quarterback Chad Kelly broke his ankle. That leaves Toronto relying on backup Nick Arbuckle on Sunday.

A look at the 111th Grey Cup by the numbers:

1: Arbuckle makes his first Grey Cup start. The last two QBs to play in the championship for the first time each won (Cody Fajardo with the Montreal Alouettes in 2023, MacLeod Bethel-Thompson with Toronto in 2022).

2: The Argos beat the Bombers twice during regular-season play, but both games were tightly contested. Toronto won 16-14 at BMO Stadium on July 24, then took a 14-11 win in Winnipeg on Oct. 11.

4: Fourth-quarter comebacks have become a regularity at the Grey Cup. Six of the last eight were won by teams trailing in the final frame.

5: The Blue Bombers make their fifth straight Grey Cup appearance and Zach Collaros becomes the first quarterback to start five in a row.

8: This will be the eighth time the two sides have met in the championship game. Toronto won the first seven matchups.

9: Toronto trailed by nine points with 14:38 left in the 2022 Grey Cup in Regina The Argos held the Bombers scoreless across the fourth quarter and rallied for a 24-23 win.

15: The number of Argonauts playing in their first CFL championship game, including star running back Ka’Deem Carey.

17: The number of times Vancouver has hosted the Grey Cup with the last held in 2014.

18: The number of Blue Bombers with Grey Cup experience. Offensive lineman Stanley Bryant makes his seventh appearance.

50,000: Spectators expected at B.C. Place on Sunday. The 41-year-old stadium has a capacity of about 55,000.

VANCOUVER – The last time Toronto faced the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup, Robbie Smith delivered one of the biggest plays in Argonauts championship history.

Two years later as Toronto prepares for a rematch with Winnipeg on Sunday at B.C. Place Stadium, Smith’s clutch performance is but a distant memory.

“Pinball (Argos GM Mike Clemons) has a great saying,” Smith said. “It goes something like, ‘If what you did yesterday looks good today then you haven’t done much lately.’

“It’s something I try to live by because every day is a new day and I try not to live in the past. I’m going into a new situation, it’s a new slate.”

On Nov. 20, 2022, Toronto held a slender 24-23 lead as Winnipeg’s Marc Liegghio lined up a 47-yard field goal with 54 seconds remaining at Mosaic Stadium. 

Earlier, Smith had sacked Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros but received a third-down facemask penalty that helped get the Bombers to Toronto’s 40-yard line.

However, the six-foot-two, 245-pound Brampton, Ont., native more than made up for it by blocking Liegghio’s try to cement Toronto’s stunning victory.

“You know what’s funny?” Smith said. “I actually haven’t watched that game since.

“I try not to.”

Smith was more receptive to talking about Regina’s game played outdoors. B.C. Place Stadium’s retractable roof is expected to be closed Sunday.

“I wouldn’t complain about that,” Smith said. “That last Grey Cup in Saskatchewan was pretty cold.”

Winnipeg appears in a fifth straight Grey Cup and chases a third victory. 

The resilient Bombers opened the season with four straight losses and a 2-4 record before reeling off eight straight victories, losing one, and then capturing their regular-season finale to finish atop the West Division.

Collaros threw four TD passes to lead Winnipeg past Saskatchewan 38-22 in last week’s West final. Brady Oliveira, the CFL’s top player and Canadian, rushed for 119 yards and a TD.

The 2024 campaign has certainly been a roller-coaster for Toronto.

The CFL suspended starting quarterback Chad Kelly for the pre-season and Toronto’s first nine regular-season games for violating its gender-based violence policy. 

Kelly, the league’s outstanding player last year, was reinstated in August when the Argos were 5-4.

With Kelly back, Toronto (10-8) finished second in the East, then dispatched Ottawa 58-38 in the semifinal. 

That set up a division final rematch with the Montreal Alouettes, who forced nine turnovers and returned two of Kelly’s four interceptions for TDs in a 38-17 upset road win last year.

Toronto returned the favour last weekend, downing Montreal 30-28 at Molson Stadium. But Kelly (leg) was injured, so backup Nick Arbuckle makes his first Grey Cup start Sunday.

Toronto swept Winnipeg 2-0 this season but only by a combined five points. The Argos defence registered 12 sacks and nine turnovers (four fumbles, two interceptions, three times on downs).

Last weekend versus Saskatchewan, Winnipeg’s offence accumulated 482 net yards with no sacks allowed.

“I see a veteran group that’s played together a lot,” Smith said of Winnipeg’s offence. “I definitely see a formidable opponent but not one we’re scared of or will back down from.

“As a defensive lineman I’m going to say the front seven wins games and great front-seven play has been a key to our success.”

The contest will be one of conflicted allegiances for Winnipeg centre Chris Kolankowski’s family. The six-foot-one, 309-pound Kolankowski is a Toronto native who began his CFL career with the Argos, earning a 2017 Grey Cup ring.

Kolankowski, a Blue Bomber since 2021, has unpleasant memories of Toronto’s ’22 victory.

“That was tough because I live downtown and saw the celebrations and advertisements of when the Grey Cup was there,” he said. “In-season, I like playing there because I have a lot of family in Toronto.

“When I go back in the off-season, I hear a lot about the games against Toronto . . . I hope I can go back this season the right way. It (facing Argos) obviously adds a little different element to it but I feel like after this many years, it’s kind of just another game.”

Smith provides Kolankowski a tie _ and a distant one _ to the ’24 Argos. Kolankowski and Smith’s older brother, Christopher, were offensive linemen at York University.

Vancouver hosts the Grey Cup for a 17th time and 10th occasion at B.C. Place, but first at that stadium since 2014.

Game tickets were still available Saturday, ranging from $128.20 _ including taxes and fees _ for the upper deck of the 55,000-seat venue to $1,080.25 for a front-row seat.

Over 50,000 spectators are expected come opening kickoff.

“I live for big crowds, it makes the game what it is, it’s so exciting,” Smith said. “You feel the energy as soon as you walk into the stadium so I definitely don’t think it’s something to run from.

“It’s something to embrace.”

Toronto chases a CFL-best 19th Grey Cup title and has won its last seven appearances dating back to 1991. The Argos are also 8-0 versus Winnipeg in the big game.

Winnipeg makes a 29th Grey Cup appearance _ most in league history _ and seeks its 13th win. The last victory was a 33-25 overtime decision over Hamilton at Tim Hortons Field in 2021.

Winnipeg dropped last year’s game 28-24 to Montreal, also in Hamilton.

The Jonas Brothers _ Nick, Joe and Kevin _ are the Grey Cup’s halftime show. The internationally acclaimed trio performed in Vancouver in November 2023 during its The Album tour.

So will Smith, 27, duck out of Toronto’s locker room to take in the show?

“I love the Jonas Brothers,” he said. “But I’m sure I could catch a recap on YouTube or something like that.”

Country artist Owen Riegling of Mildmay, Ont., headlines the kickoff show. Toronto’s Sofia Camara performs the national anthem.

(Canadian Press)