Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Calgary Stampeders: Season Preview 2011

Training camps are finished and the cut down day has passed, as we head towards the kick off to the 2011 CFL Season, we take a look at the previews for each team.

Are the Stamps poised to become the talk of the league again?

Indications from the Stamps training camp and pre season efforts offer up clues that there may be a shift in the West again, with Calgary ready to take back the status of the team to beat in the West and maybe in the entire CFL.

The depth of the Stampeders starts with its coaching staff, where two of the leagues greats are in charge.

With Head Coach and GM John Hufnagel the Stamps have long been a force in the West, known best for a strong offensive look, led by last years MVP Henry Burris.  Now in his 13th CFL season, Burris has provided many a thrilling night a McMahon Stadium, this year he will have Dave Dickenson to offer up guidance on the offense, as Dickenson having put away the shoulder pads a few years ago, now takes over as offensive coordinator.

For the Stamps the idea that he might want to dust them off probably might have been tempting, especially since Stamps back up Drew Tate was injured in the last pre season game and will be out for at least the first third of the season.

However, rather than tap the former CFL star to contemplate a return, the Stamps went and picked up Michael Bishop to cover off the injury time for Tate, allowing for Canadian rookie Brad Sinopoli to continue to learn the ins and outs of the CFL game.
The best scenario for the Stamps of course is that Burris remains healthy and Tate eventually recovers, making Bishop the insurance policy that is good to have but not necessarily required.
Should that be the reality, its hard to see a challenge to the potential numbers that the Stamps can put on the scoreboard, and while defensively they may be a little less fluid, on most nights we imagine the Stamps offensive numbers will be more than enough to put a W in the proper column.
And it's likely that there will be enough of them to keep the fans at McMahon happy through till November.

Some of the previews from across the media that cover the CFL season can be found below:


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