CFL Divisional Finals

The road to the Grey Cup is almost complete and for one team, the drive to work won't be a very tough one.

The British Columbia Lions, hosts of this years Grey Cup punched their ticket into the national championship, with a convincing victory over the Edmonton Eskimos on Sunday, the back end of the two game eliminations to determine our Grey Cup participants.

In the east, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers overwhelmed the Hamilton Tiger Cats,  showing some of that early season form that many CFL fans watched week after week.

The divisional finals, perhaps weren't as entertaining as the previous week's semi-finals, but in the end the two teams that most deserved their berth in the Grey Cup came through with the wins, the path to those victories can be reviewed below.

Hamilton at Winnipeg

Prior to the Bombers/Cats divisional final, much was made about the departure of Terence Jeffers-Harris, the square peg that just wouldn't fit into round hole of team chemistry that Paul LaPolice was trying to build in Winnipeg.

Jeffers-Harris was dismissed from further duties with the Bombers in the days leading up to the Western Final and in a move that did raise eyebrows but seemingly was cleared by the league, the Hamilton Tiger Cats picked him up. And while he would not be allowed to play in the Eastern final, his arrival in the camp of the Tiger Cats was hailed by the Cats as a great move, bringing with him what was thought to be much knowledge of the Bombers game plan.

If so, it seemed pretty clear by the first quarter that whatever plans Jeffers-Harris might have relayed to his newfound friends in Hamilton, weren't current ones, or perhaps TJ didn't pay as much attention as he might have thought.

At any rate, the Bombers with Buck Pierce back in the line up had little trouble dispatching the Tiger Cats, the highly touted Bomber defence wreaking havoc with the Cats offensive play.  Ultimately sending  Kevin Glenn to the sidelines incapable of playing any further due to injury, the curse of Canad Inn stadium rising up to ruin Glenn's dreams of a Grey Cup trip once again (the last time he was a member of the Blue Bombers).

The Bombers offence provided a return to form for Pierce, who without fear took to his feet to claim key first downs, showing leadership to an offence that has struggled at times, but not when it counted the most so far this season.

But the real story for the Bombers in their 19-3 victory was their defence, one of the tops in the CFL (the other being British Columbia) the Blue defenders for the most part shut down any thoughts the Cats might have had of playing football further into November.

With the exception of a field goal, the Cats were shut out, swarmed, pummelled and hit time after time, the Cats could gain no momentum, delivering another inconsistent performance, part of a trend all year long where one amazing game (in this case last week's semi final) would be followed by a dog of an effort that leaves one to wonder as to the fate of a number of players and the coaching staff.

But that's talk for the off season, there's still one more game to go, the biggest one on the CFL calendar and this year the East will be represented by the Bombers, as it should.

They were one of the top teams in the CFL through the year, even during their slumps, they remained competitive, their defence for the most part carrying them through the dark patches, now it carries them on to Vancouver for Sunday's season finale.

Winnipeg Free Press-- Cup beckons Brown, Buck
Winnipeg Sun-- Bombers all out blitz: A fine stadium send off
Hamilton Spectator-- Bombers freeze out Ticats 19-3
Globe and Mail-- Blue Bombers bound for Grey Cup
National Post-- Defensive battle sends Blue Bombers to Grey Cup over Ticats

Edmonton Eskimos at British Columbia

Always a class act, Wally Buono, the sage of CFL coaches, began his post game interview by praising the work of his opponent on Sunday, outlining the many assets that Kavis Reed brought to his Eskimos this season, all of the comments heart felt and correct, but for all his hard work and achievement through the year, on this Sunday in November Reed's team came up second best and with their convincing 40-23 divisional victory, the Lions put the exclamation mark on their return to prominence this year.

The Lions who as has been noted through the year started out this season in horrendous fashion, continued their remarkable turn around with a crushing defeat of the rising Eskimos, leaving no doubt that they were the best the CFL West had to offer, once they got the early season malaise out of the way.

The comeback season which began in August, brought us the debut of Travis Lulay as one of the CFL's top quarterbacks, a title that he provided ample evidence towards with a definitive performance in the Western Final.

Lulay threw for touchdowns, among the most poignant a highlight reel toss to Geroy Simon providing an emotional moment with bereaved trainer Bill Reichelt, when he wasn't throwing the ball he was controlling the clock and running for yardage including, his own long distance trot for a TD. providing for as complete a game as the Lions have provided for all year.

On defence, as has been the case since August, the Lions were a force to be reckoned with, they shut down Ricky Ray for the most part, the absence of Jerome Messam and his running game clearly a minus in the Eskimo playbook in the Western final.

Timely interceptions snuffed any thoughts the Eskimos might have had of launching any kind of a comeback, but in reality, what points they did obtain really only helped make the game look respectable, for the most part they were outplayed in all aspects of the game.

The Lions win, sets up the opportunity for BC to win the Grey Cup in their own stadium in front of what should be a loud and boisterous sold out crowd, bringing life to BC Place and perhaps if the fates shall allow it, taking some of the bad vibes of the Canucks' loss in the NHL playoffs of the spring.

Of course, the Bombers will have designs on changing that narrative, it's a big task ahead of them, clearly the underdog as they make the journey from Manitoba to the heart of Lions country, but a resilient team they have been all year, so perhaps they have one more win left in their repertoire, Sunday will give us an idea on that, offering up the hope of a fairly entertaining cap to the CFL season.

Vancouver Province-- Lions D line crushes Esks
Vancouver Sun-- B. C. Lions roll to 40-23 win in CFL West Final
Edmonton Journal- Lulay leads charge as Lions tear apart Eskimos
Edmonton Sun-- Esks fell short of goal: Reed
Globe and Mail-- Lions crush Eskimos in West Final
National Post-- Lions stomp Eskimos, will host Winnipeg in Grey Cup