The Eastern division's semi final destination is Olympic Stadium, the Als home filed advantage usually boosted by tens of thousands of extra Alouette fans in the stands, sometimes doubling the normal attendance at McGill.
Whether that happens this year will be one of the subplots of Sunday's game, Alouette fans perhaps in shock over the complete disaster of last week's season finale in Vancouver, where with the opportunity to host the Eastern Final, the Als instead went into the witness protection program, disappearing on the field and on the scoreboard.
With but a week to try and reverse all that went wrong, it will be interesting to see how much focus the Als can bring to the Big O on Sunday, a season in which Als fans probably had their usual serving of confidence suddenly offering up some serious things to consider.
Was that game in Vancouver a one off, a team that just didn't have the right focus when it counted most or was it indicative of a team that finally has run its course of CFL domination, an aging roster that will need a retooling without on last hurrah at a Grey Cup game, much to think about with a pivotal win or stay home game on the line.
The Alouettes came completely unglued last week, as poor a performance as we can remember ever seeing them deliver, whether that carries over into this semi final or is dismissed with a renewed deception by the Als remains to be seen and clearly will provide some clues as to where the Als are heading both for this season and into the next.
Hamilton no doubt made note of that game last week and surely must be heading into this semi final with some renewed confidence that this 2011 season could still provide for some positive moments for the inconsistent Cats.
Hamilton which has been in a neutral zone for about three weeks now, with nothing much to play out the season for other than practice reps, suddenly has to ramp it up to a whole new level, a chance to move on in this CFL season by taking down the Grey Cup champs and perhaps bringing a final punctuation mark to a dynasties run.
The momentum could very well be on the side of the Cats, who with this chance to claw their way back into the mix of Grey Cup possibilities, could salvage what has been a pretty disappointing season in steel town.
Sunday's eastern final is much more than just another football game, it could herald a change in the CFL's usual championship suspects for a few years to come.
Game Time 1 PM ET (10 AM PT) Olympic Stadium TSN
Pre Game
Hamilton Spectator-- Glenn focused on winning
Toronto Sun-- Cobourne aiming for big things
Globe and Mail-- Anthony Calvillo signals he's ready to do his part
National Post-- Tiger Cats put in overtime to perfect playoff plan
Canada.com-- Als still have confidence they can get the job done
Quick Snaps Montreal Alouettes
Quick Snaps Hamilton Tiger Cats
Post Game
Hamilton 52 at Montreal 44 (OT)
Attendance-- 33,051
Hamilton advances to CFL Eastern Final in Winnipeg
Globe and Mail-- Tiger Cats upset Alouettes
National Post-- Ticats reach East final with wild overtime win over Alouettes
Hamilton Spectator-- Ticats win East semi 52-44 over Als
Toronto Sun-- Bombers hosting Ti-Cats in East Final
Toronto Star-- Ticats stun Alouettes in OT
Canada.com-- Ticats oust Als in OT to advance to East final
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